Digital Commons Network^™

Soil And Sovereignty: An Analysis Of Federal And State Laws Affecting Foreign Investment In U.S. Agricultural Land, Brantley Swindell

Mercer Law Review

Foreign ownership of U.S. agricultural land has risen significantly in recent years. From 2014 to 2023, the share of agricultural acres owned by foreign interests increased by 67%. Although the share of agricultural acres owned by foreign countries and interests only amounts to just over 3% of the total U.S. private farmland, the U.S. federal government and many states have passed laws to prohibit, restrict, limit, regulate or create requirements for foreign ownership of agricultural land and real property. As of 2025, twenty nine states have passed laws to regulate such foreign ownership.

This Comment outlines the regulations on foreign …

Cardozo Law News Brief: February 27, 2026, Benjamin N. Cardozo School Of Law

Cardozo Law News Briefs

Highlights from the February 27, 2026, Cardozo Law News Brief include:

• Student leaders hosted expert panels during P*LAW Week 2026, bringing together the Cardozo community to address pressing public interest law issues under the guidance of the Center for Public Service Law.

• Professor David Rudenstine was quoted in USA Today discussing heightened tensions between the Trump administration and the press.

• Professor Peter Markowitz spoke to NewsNation about no-bond ICE detentions and the growing number of successful habeas petitions challenging federal detention practices.

• Professor Tyson-Lord Gray authored a Law360 article analyzing interstate litigation strategy surrounding SNAP regulatory challenges.

Faculty news …

Hold Your Horses: The Eleventh Circuit Recognizes A Direct Cause Of Action Under The Takings Clause In Fulton V. Fulton County Board Of Commissioners, Brock Gumbel

Mercer Law Review

“[No person shall be] deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.” In just twelve words, the drafters of the Bill of Rights guaranteed property owners a significant protection. The Fifth Amendment Takings Clause is not an express ban on government takings. Rather, it guarantees that when the government takes property from private citizens, it must provide just compensation. Although this guarantee is generally well established, its enforcement in federal court introduces unique and significant challenges.

Plaintiffs must have a cause of action to invoke …

The Culture Cure: Behavioral Supervision And The Regulation Of Financial Institutions, David B. Lourie

Mercer Law Review

This Article advances a normative claim: U.S. financial regulators must move beyond primarily adversarial, enforcement-driven models and adopt behavioral supervisory tools—particularly elements of culture assessments—to proactively help guide ethical firm conduct and mitigate systemic risk. Importantly, the proposal here is incremental and resource-efficient. Many recommendations place the onus on firms to assess and demonstrate their culture, while regulators set expectations, review outputs, and selectively verify findings. The framework proceeds in progressive stages—beginning with voluntary, partnership-based initiatives, moving toward light-touch integration within existing examinations, and scaling only where persistent governance weaknesses or systemic risks warrant closer attention. This tiered approach reflects …

Catching Up With The Constitution? Georgia Fixes Its Fatal Burden Of Proof For Findings Of Intellectual Disability In Capital Cases, Meagan R. Hurley

Mercer Law Review

In 1988, Georgia became the first state to prohibit the execution of individuals with intellectual disability—a landmark reform spurred by the execution of Jerome Bowden, a Black man with an IQ of 59. Yet, due to a drafting error, the statute imposed an insurmountable burden: requiring defendants to prove their intellectual disability beyond a reasonable doubt. For nearly four decades, that fatal flaw rendered Georgia’s protection illusory. Not a single capital defendant facing intentional murder charges prevailed. While nearly every other jurisdiction adopted the far more workable “preponderance of the evidence” standard, Georgia stood alone, out of step with both …

Stuck In The Waiting Room: Medina V. Planned Parenthood’S Restriction On The Enforcement Of Spending Statutes Through 42 U.S.C. § 1983, Rebekah Rooks

Mercer Law Review

42 U.S.C. § 1983 was originally enacted in response to Ku Klux Klan violence during the Reconstruction era that had gone largely unpunished in state courts. The statute granted individuals an alternative means to enforce their “rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws” in federal courts. What began as a lifeline for civil rights violations soon expanded to allow enforcement of all rights secured by federal and constitutional law. This broad interpretation of § 1983 language expanded the statute’s reach to include private enforcement of federal spending statutes against the states. The expansion ignited extensive debate over …

Requesting Less, Winning More: A Plaintiff Strategy To Eliminate Low-Value Anchors, Emily V. Shaw, Jade E. Larson

Mercer Law Review

Picture this: You are a plaintiffs’ lawyer representing a permanently injured client in a high-stakes lawsuit. You think you can earn millions of dollars for your client based on their injuries—but something is holding you back: your client’s past medical bills. To date, she has only had to pay around $20,000. You worry that this fact might make your request for several million dollars in non-economic damages seem excessive to a jury. So, you make a plan: on the eve of trial, you withdraw your request for economic damages and stick to only requesting non-economic damages in the millions. There …

From Phone Booths To Digital Booths: Rethinking Fourth Amendment Privacy In The Age Of Open Source Intelligence, Major Theodore H. Massey Iii

Mercer Law Review

The use of Open Source Intelligence (“OSINT”) by the U.S. intelligence community marks a paradigm shift in national security practices, leveraging vast troves of publicly available and commercially acquired data. Yet this shift raises urgent constitutional questions regarding the applicability of the Fourth Amendment’s protections in the digital age. As OSINT practices increasingly rely on sophisticated aggregation techniques and artificial intelligence tools, the line between publicly available information and constitutionally protected privacy interests begins to blur. This Article critically examines whether certain forms of OSINT collection and analysis, particularly those that aggregate digital data at scale or use predictive algorithms, …

Mergers And Cooptive Acquisitions, Alexandros Kazimirov

Mercer Law Review

A new wave of emerging companies developing foundation models has unleashed fierce competition in generative artificial intelligence. These emergents have significant innovation capabilities threatening incumbent tech companies. To protect themselves, incumbents have responded by partnering with leading product developers and subsuming smaller startups through quasi‑mergers.

To determine whether quasi‑mergers are cooptive acquisitions, this Article scrutinizes the Google–Character, Microsoft–Inflection, and Amazon–Adept transactions. These case studies describe the deployment of acquired assets before and after the merger and explore their potential effects. However, the analysis is plagued by the uncertainty inherent in nascent competition. Consequently, through contextual comparisons of circumstantial evidence like …

In Memoriam: Professor Richard J. “Jack” Grunawalt, The Editors

International Law Studies

We remember Professor Jack Grunawalt, Feb. 2, 1934 – Sept. 22, 2025

Concurrent Regimes For The Concept Of “Common Heritage” In Seabed Mining, James Kraska, Digvijay Rewatkar

International Law Studies

This article examines the re-emergence of unilateral deep seabed mining by the United States and its implications for the concept of the common heritage of mankind. Triggered by Executive Order 14285 and the resurrection of the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act, the U.S. approach challenges the multilateral framework established under Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the 1994 Implementing Agreement. While the prevailing view holds that unilateral seabed mining is prohibited by customary international law and that only the International Seabed Authority (ISA) may lawfully operationalize the common heritage principle, …

Recent Case Decisions

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Sovereign Lands, Brent D. Chicken, Tanner M. Boyzuick

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

West Virginia, Andrew S. Graham

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Utah, Alan M. White

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Pennsylvania, Nathaniel I. Holland, Benedict J. Kirchner

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Oklahoma, Patrick Mcbride, Sandra K. Fraley, Mathew S. Schlensker, Jinah Jung

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

North Dakota, William J. Black

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

New York, Delainey Banks

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

New Mexico, Blake C. Jones

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Nevada, Grace E. George

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Nebraska, Sarah Trainer

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Michigan, M. Vafa Barissi, Delainey Banks

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Louisiana, Paul Upsons

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Illinois, Delainey Banks, Madison Pemberton

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Colorado, Jim Tartaglia, Jane Michalakes-Gunning

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Editor's Introduction & Front Pages, Bryce Cormack

Oil and Gas, Natural Resources, and Energy Journal

No abstract provided.

Parents’ Lived Experiences With Competitive Integrated Employment For Children With Intellectual And Developmental Disability, Dr. Aisha J. Omar

Developmental Disabilities Network Journal

This phenomenological qualitative study explores the lived experiences of Kentucky parents seeking Competitive Integrated Employment (CIE) for their children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). Guided by the research questions—How do parents experience this process, and what barriers or supports do they encounter?—the study highlights systemic challenges despite legislative efforts such as the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. In-depth interviews with five parents revealed three themes: (a) parental transformation and the pursuit of meaningful work, (b) systemic challenges in accessing CIE, and (c) overcoming protective instincts: navigating fear, independence, and self-advocacy. Findings suggest a …

Du Essentia Hominum: Regulating The Artificial Intelligence Crisis, Natalie K. Snodgrass

Helms School of Government Undergraduate Law Review

In May 2023, the Center for AI Safety, a nonprofit dedicated to reducing the risks of artificial intelligence misuse, held a conference to discuss a single sentence statement. This statement was signed by an international group of experts, including chief AI executives, nuclear physicists, politicians, and more. Artificial Intelligence serves as one of the modern world's greatest achievements and potentially greatest problems. Generative AI is not human, yet its creations pose problems in human copyright law and the First Amendment. This Note will address the development of AI, along with the reason why there is a need to regulate this …

Eyes On Every Corner: Pole Cameras And The Living History Of The Fourth Amendment, Benjamin D. Semark

Helms School of Government Undergraduate Law Review

The right to security in personal effects has been well-established since the foundation of the United States of America. This right finds its roots in the English common law right against trespass. Although ancient, it has proved timeless, adapting and growing with new technology and societal expectations. Courts have expanded the interpretation of this right, adapting its reach to maintain the spirit of the Fourth Amendment with rulings such as Katz, Jones, and Carpenter. However, this Amendment is on the cusp of a Katz-like rework to accommodate technological advancements. The Supreme Court has not yet fully …