Digital Commons Network^™

Cybersecurity Risk Shifting, Deborah R. Farringer

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

The Change Healthcare cyberattack of 2024 paralyzed the health care system for months, creating an exceedingly far reaching and devastating impact on providers, suppliers, and patients across the country. While the scope of the attack was unprecedented, the cyberattack itself was not new, unique, or isolated. Indeed, this attack came just months after the close of a year in which the United States’ Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) recorded the highest number of reported breaches of protected health information and the highest number of breached records. With a medical record fetching nearly four times …

Patients Versus Profits, David A. Simon

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Two motives drive much of American health care. The first is the motive to heal the sick—the patient motive. The second is the motive to generate financial gains—the profit motive. This Article asks the following question: where do these two motives intersect and diverge? Using three emerging technologies as examples, this Article provides a framework for answering this question. It then uses this framework’s insights to explain when and how legal and extra-legal institutions can be used to improve care, either by constraining the profit motive or aligning it more closely with the goals of patient care. This Article concludes …

Legal Reform And Cultural Resistance: Examining The Role Of Law And Custom In Ending Fgm In Egypt, Souhaila Hafez Abo Seada

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the persistent gap between legal reform and social practice in efforts to end Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Egypt. Although FGM has been criminalized since 2008, with stronger penalties introduced in 2016 and 2021, the practice continues, revealing the limits of law when it operates alongside powerful social, religious, familial, and medical norms. Using a qualitative case-based approach grounded in legal pluralism and Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis, the study draws on 11 semi-structured interviews with participants from civil society, religious institutions, the legal profession, the medical sector, and communities where FGM persists, alongside legislative, demographic, and documentary …

Finding Luis: A Creative Nonfiction Account Of Law & Society, Jason M. Leggett

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This essay explores the contradictions in legal theory and human experience through creative nonfiction. Its main purpose is to argue that a truly just society requires acknowledging the profound influence of individual narratives on the law. This is supported by blending personal narratives, critical analysis, and philosophical inquiry to reveal the gap between codified law and lived realities for marginalized individuals. This unique Legal Poetics methodology employs a series of six vignettes, such as the author's and Luis's shared experiences with traumatic brain injury and the denial of justice, as data. By integrating autoethnography, law as narrative, and performativity theories, …

Fbi National Stolen Art File: Lost Artifacts And Missing Data, Allison N. Arnold

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This data exploration project studies the FBI’s National Stolen Art File (NSAF). The NSAF is a repository for information on stolen artistic and cultural objects. By design, the objects in the NSAF should have distinguishing features and some monetary value, with a present minimum of $5,000 USD. As a public awareness tool, the objects in the NSAF should have a reasonable chance of being identified and potentially restituted in the future.

Using object data taken from the NSAF on August 25, 2024, my data exploration work includes a narrative of the data preparation process and a series of data visualizations. …

Originalism, Official History, And Perspectives Versus Methodologies, Keith N. Hylton

Faculty Scholarship

This paper addresses a well-worn topic: originalism, the theory that judges should interpret the U.S. Constitution in a manner consistent with the intent of its framers. I am interested in the real-world effects of originalism. The primary effect advanced by originalists is the tendency of the approach to constrain the discretion of judges. However, I identify another effect of originalism: the creation of official histories, a practice that imposes a hidden tax on society. Another question I consider is whether originalism should be considered a methodology of analyzing the law or a perspective on the law; I argue that originalism …

Priority Without Progress: The Fda's Neglected Tropical Disease Voucher Program After 18 Years, Maple Goh, Kevin Outterson, Aaron Kesselheim

Faculty Scholarship

Introduction: To incentivize drug and vaccine development for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), US Congress created the Priority Review Voucher (PRV) program in 2007. Sponsors that obtain Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for an eligible product receive a voucher redeemable to accelerate review of another product.

Methods: We reviewed the program’s public health impact by examining all 14 vouchers awarded for NTD products between 2007 and 2024, including the timing of FDA approval relative to World Health Organization (WHO) Prequalification, Essential Medicines List inclusion, first use in endemic countries, and voucher disposition.

Results: Eight (57%) achieved WHO …

Private Equity, Public Utility, Kristen Van De Biezendos, Melissa Powers

Faculty Scholarship

The explosion of investment in artificial intelligence and cryptocurrencies has spurred a data center boom, with politicians jostling to attract companies to build data centers in their states. The potential financial windfall from these data centers has also attracted the attention of private equity firms, which are seeking to capitalize on the potential riches to be made in supplying these projects with electricity by buying regulated public electric utilities. These utilities are unusual in our capitalist system, in that they are subject to both state and federal regulation regarding their duties to serve the public and the amount they can …

Platform Privileges: A Framework For How Antitrust Law Should Police Digital Platforms’ Use Of Material Non-Public Information, Eric H. Siemens

Missouri Law Review

Where the Gilded Age Rockefeller oil monopoly once spurred antitrust reforms in the United States, the tech giants of Silicon Valley have ignited a similar frenzy for reform in legislators and populist scholars today. The unprecedented and rapid growth of digital platforms such as Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon has forced policymakers to confront the question of whether traditional antitrust law is sufficient to deal with the new-age giants. This has spurred calls on both sides of the political aisle for increased antitrust enforcement, leading Missouri Senator Josh Hawley to go as far as to argue that “[t]he Big Tech …

Money Over Everything: Reimagining Health Care Enforcement, Jacob T. Elberg

Missouri Law Review

Annual press releases from the Department of Justice trumpet billions of dollars in annual recoveries and optimism that its health care enforcement regime deters even more fraud than it addresses. Yet DOJ’s consistent recoveries can be seen as a sign that fraud continues unabated. While some scholars have questioned the deterrent value of the government’s model of enforcement through civil settlements, little attention has been given to what may be the most important aspect of DOJ’s effort—its focus on money both as the sole measure of harm and the sole means of deterrence.

Pickering And Choosing: The Positive Outcome Of An Eighth Circuit Ruling Among The Chaotic World Of Government Employee Free Speech, Luke M. Severt

Missouri Law Review

Public employees do not shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the workplace gate. Nor do they shed them when they log on to their computer to send an email to their co-workers, superiors, or similar fellow government employees. In Mayfield v. Missouri House of Representatives, the Eighth Circuit undertook a multistep analysis to determine whether the defendant, as a public employer, violated the constitutional rights of its longtime employee, Tad Mayfield, when it terminated him only three days after he sent an email to state legislature leaders asking them to implement a mask mandate to …

Breaking Up The Dog Fight: Restoring Order To Supplemental Jurisdiction After Wullschleger, Lucas Reed

Missouri Law Review

In 2024, the United States had a “jurisdictional dog fight” on its hands; one between a defendant’s right to access federal courts through removal and a plaintiff’s status as “master of the complaint.” At stake was not mere technical procedure but the very balance between state and federal authority. When defendants began removing cases with embedded federal questions to federal court only to have plaintiffs amend their complaints to eliminate federal “hooks,” the resulting legal battle would test the boundaries of precedent and the logic governing forum selection. Royal Canin U.S.A., Inc. v. Wullschleger provided such a test.

Humanity Is Evolving Its Consciousness: The Role Of Archetypal Energies As Guides During An Unfolding Weeding Out And Alignment Process, Carroy U. Ferguson

Psychology Faculty Publication Series

Humanity is evolving its consciousness at individual and collective levels.  Given these seemingly tumultuous times, as of this writing (January 2026), to make such a statement may sound like a strange thing to say.  However, I suggest that if you are alive today and if you are reading these words, these are the very times for which you were born—to assist Humanity as it evolves its consciousness with your unique gifts, whatever they may be.  That is, this period of our individual and collective human being-ness may be characterized as an unfolding period of weeding out and alignment with the …

Debating The Self-Pardon: A Dialogue Of The Evidence For And Against The Constitutionality Of A Presidential Self-Pardon, Michael Conklin, Peter B. Bayer

Missouri Law Review

In light of recent events, the constitutionality of presidential self-pardons is set to potentially become one of the most pressing constitutional questions of the twenty-first century. This Article consists of a dialogue between two scholars regarding the evidence for and against the constitutionality of presidential self-pardons. By providing their best arguments for and against each side, readers are left better equipped to reach their own educated conclusions. The benefits of discussing this issue before anyone attempts to self-pardon are considerable, as doing so could contribute to solutions, potentially averting, or at least helping to resolve peaceably, a true constitutional crisis. …

Russia’S Soft Power In Nahdlatul Ulama’S Art Exhibition Russia-Indonesia: Within The Framework Of Art, Nurul Rahmawati, Ahmad Fahrurodji

International Review of Humanities Studies

This study analyzes the construction of Russian cultural diplomacy in news media coverage of art exhibitions. Russia-Indonesia: Within the Framework of Art. The research uses the method Critical Discourse Analysis with Norman Fairclough's model and concept soft power Joseph Nye and the skeleton Taxonomy of Soft Power from Ohnesorge to map actor relations in cultural diplomacy practices. The results show that Russia utilizes art, religious symbols, and collaboration with Nusantara Utama Gallery and the involvement of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) artists as an instrument of soft power to build appeal and legitimacy among the Indonesian Muslim public through cross-media discourse …

Between Borders And Bodies: Sovereignty, Universality, And The Crisis Of Enforcement In International Law, Aliaa Riad Hassanien Aliaa Riad

Theses and Dissertations

Atrocities such as genocide and war crimes persist not despite international law, but within its very structure. Although international law is designed to protect humanity, it repeatedly fails to do so due to its inability to enforce its most fundamental norms. In the absence of enforcement, the law exists—but merely stands still. This failure stems from the structural contradictions embedded in the system—specifically, the tension between the principles of sovereignty and universality. As a result, international law has become a selective, politicized, and ineffective framework. Incidents such as the Rwandan genocide and the civil wars in Syria and Sudan demonstrate …

Masthead

Missouri Law Review

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Missouri Law Review

No abstract provided.

Eugenics And The Carceral State: Progressive-Era Reform & The Creation Of The Modern Criminal Justice System, Laura I. Appleman

Missouri Law Review

No abstract provided.

Rule 11’S Unfulfilled Promise To Protect Noncitizen Defendants, Allison Mccarthy

Missouri Law Review

The federal criminal legal system is a deportation pipeline. Almost all noncitizen defendants waive their constitutional right to a trial and instead enter guilty pleas that have grave immigration consequences. Despite the constitutional guarantee of due process for all criminal defendants regardless of immigration status, many noncitizen defendants enter guilty pleas that are not both knowing and voluntary. Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11(b)(1)(O) requires that courts, prior to accepting a guilty plea, provide a general warning that immigration consequences may result from a criminal conviction. Adopted in the wake of the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Padilla v. …

House Of Cards: An Examination Of Missouri’S Inconsistent Tax Assessment Regime And The Questionable Role Of The Court As Arbiter, Isabel Fenoglio

Missouri Law Review

“Taxes are what we pay for civilized society.” No one has offered a simpler rationale for the American tax system than the former Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. Despite their inevitability, taxes remain universally dreaded and misunderstood by Americans, but none more so than property taxes. Without property taxes, life as everyday Americans understand it would cease to exist. From streets to schools, from libraries to fire departments, the budgets of indispensable public services, which enable communities to flourish, would collapse.

Google Geofences: Navigating The Fourth Amendment In The Digital Age, Maverick L. L. Lewis

Missouri Law Review

In December 2018, twenty-three-year-old Jorge Molina was wrongfully arrested for murder based on location data received from a Google geofence—a virtual perimeter around a specific geographic location, created using Google’s location services. Despite law enforcement confirming his alibi within twenty-four hours, Molina spent six days in jail before he was released. As a result, Molina lost his job and car, suffered reputational damage, and was forced to drop out of college. Molina’s stepfather was later arrested and charged for the murder after law enforcement learned he had been using Molina’s old phone, which was still logged into his email. In …

Back To Basics: Statutory Interpretation And The Demise Of The Dol’S Tip Credit Rule After Loper Bright, William T. Perryman

Missouri Law Review

The Fifth Circuit recently delivered a significant blow to the Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) regulatory authority in Restaurant Law Center v. U.S. Department of Labor, which vacated a rule delineating the permissible scope of non-tip-producing work for employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) for employers claiming a “tip credit.” The challenged regulation—often referred to as the “80/20 rule” with a “30-minute rule” addendum—sought to limit the amount of non-tip-producing work a tipped employee could perform if the employer claimed a tip credit. What renders this decision particularly notable is the Fifth Circuit’s relatively swift invalidation of a long-standing …

Disinterestedness In Bankruptcy Cases: Does It Really Matter?, Michelle M. Harner

BYU Law Review

The title of this Essay asks whether disinterestedness (of professionals) in bankruptcy cases really matters. Spoiler alert: Yes, it really does.

A Proposal For Citizenship As Reparations For Descendants Of The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, Dan Olson

Student Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Fighting The Black Snake: The Dapl And The Case For Indigenous Environmental Stewardship, Kenny Moll

Student Theses 2015-Present

This thesis analyzes the current scope of environmental injustice on Native lands in the U.S. Specifically it examines The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) and its impacts on the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North Dakota. Western colonialism and capitalism have dominated North American ecosystems since their forcible introduction hundreds of years ago, causing the commodification of natural resources and leading to injustices such as that of the “Black Snake.” However, the story of The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s resistance will be analyzed through the framework of Indigenous philosophy and environmental justice. Chapter 1 analyzes the implementation of the DAPL and …

Constitutional Interpretation As Problem Solving: How The Modalities Work, Jack M. Balkin

Texas A&M Law Review

The standard forms of constitutional argument—the modalities—are central to one of the most important approaches to constitutional interpretation: constitutional pluralism. Both originalists and non-originalists use the modalities. This Essay explains how they work. The modalities of constitutional argument are shared cultural tools for thinking about the Constitution, analyzing legal problems, and formulating arguments to resolve them. Constitutional interpretation is a kind of problem solving, and the modalities are our legal culture’s toolkit for analyzing and solving constitutional problems.

Our use of the modalities presumes that at any point in time, some arguments are better than others. This assumption is central …

Originalist Arguments In Free Speech History, Samantha Barbas

Texas A&M Law Review

Contrary to what historians and legal scholars have often assumed, originalism has played an important role in American free speech history. During the 1950s, originalist interpretations of the First Amendment as prohibiting the crime of seditious libel became popular in legal argumentation, court rulings, and in popular culture more generally. The reason for the popularity of these arguments was the Red Scare. Liberal lawyers, judges, and scholars deployed originalist arguments in their battles against government anti-Communist measures. They argued that the original meaning and purpose of the First Amendment was the ban on punishment for criticism of the government, and …

Race, Memory, And Authority In Constitutional Interpretation, Henry L. Chambers, Jr.

Texas A&M Law Review

This Essay considers how America’s history and memory regarding race complicate constitutional interpretation. If scholars interpreted the Constitution merely to determine what the majority view of the Constitution may have been when it was ratified—its original public meaning (“OPM”)—the loose use of history and memory to interpret the Constitution might be acceptable. What the People—whose membership is contested—thought the Constitution meant when it was framed is interesting, so long as it does not bind us today. However, as Jack Balkin notes in Memory and Authority: The Uses of History in Constitutional Interpretation, lawyers and judges attempt to use history …

Memory Warriors, Pluralists, And Abnegators In Constitutional Interpretation: An Essay On Jack Balkin's Pluralist Originalism In Memory And Authority, Jed Handelsman Shugerman, Zachary Shugerman Handelsman

Texas A&M Law Review

One of the most compelling and generative aspects of Jack Balkin’s Memory and Authority: The Uses of History in Constitutional Interpretation is its synthesis of constitutional theory, history, and the growing field of the “politics of memory,” and especially the concept of the “memory entrepreneur.” The book project itself is entrepreneurial, if you will, in its cultivating, connecting, and building from different disciplines, academic languages, and national narratives (in that the “politics of memory” is already such an international and interdisciplinary field itself).