Digital Commons Network^™

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, …

Comparative Authoritarian Law, Madhav Khosla, Benjamin L. Liebman

Faculty Scholarship

In recent years, comparative constitutional lawyers have turned their attention to the study of democratic backsliding. However, such scholarship is yet to draw on the now extensive literature on traditional authoritarian systems. The bifurcation of regime type that has structured comparative legal research for decades — for comparative constitutional lawyers and for scholars of specific authoritarian regions — is now under strain. With the global rise of authoritarianism and the growing use of law by authoritarian states, the world is harder to neatly separate into two camps than it once might have been. This Article reflects on how we might …

Misjudging A Reasonable Jury: Evidence That Courts Dismiss Meritorious Harassment Claims, Elizabeth C. Tippett, Jamillah Bowman Williams

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Courts assessing summary judgment motions in Title VII harassment claims commonly grant the motion on the basis that the alleged harassment is insufficiently “severe or pervasive” to meet the legal standard. This mixed-methods study empirically tests whether there is a gap between how judges and potential jurors assess the same set of facts on the severe or pervasive element of a Title VII harassment claim. We presented study participants with facts from 80 federal harassment cases. In each case, the defendant employer moved to dismiss the case, arguing that no reasonable jury would find the alleged harassment sufficiently severe or …

From Care To Capital: Rethinking Resilience In The Philippine Labor Export System, Alexa J. Abendano

Senior Theses

Global migration has been a defining feature of the neoliberal world economy due to its ability to transform how nations manage care, labor and survival across borders. Within this system, the Philippines stands out as a country that has institutionalized labor migration as a development strategy since the 1970s. This paper examines how the Philippines states labor export policy shapes the vulnerability and resilience of migrant care workers, specifically those employed as domestic helpers in Hong Kong. By drawing on scholarship about global care economies, remittances, precarity, neoliberalism and resilience, this paper analyzes how emotional and reproductive labor are commodified …

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 …

Drug Scheduling As Institutional Design, Matthew B. Lawrence, David E. Pozen

Faculty Scholarship

Controlled Substances Act (CSA), U.S. drug law has simultaneously fueled mass incarceration, inhibited needed access, and enabled an opioid crisis. To make better choices, this Article argues that the CSA’s institutional design must account for three distinctive features of psychoactive drugs: the prohibition problem (drug bans tend to backfire when demand is inelastic), the pharma problem (drug companies have supercharged incentives to manipulate markets and exploit consumers), and the pluralism problem (drug policy involves irreducibly political questions that no expert discipline can answer). On their own, each of these problems calls for reform to the CSA. Taken together, they call …

The Eunomics Of Intellectual Property, Shyamkrishna Balganesh

Faculty Scholarship

Originally developed by the legal theorist Lon L. Fuller, eunomics is the “study of good order and workable arrangements,” directed at understanding the structure, form, or ordering adopted by an area of law. Yet, unlike the ordinary analysis of institutional design, eunomics views the form adopted by an area of law as neither preordained nor wholly contingent. Instead, eunomics sees form as playing an important role in clarifying and developing the goals of an area through a means-ends interaction. This Article develops the central insights of Fuller’s eunomics project for intellectual property. Until now, most theoretical accounts of intellectual property …

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.

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 …

The Archaeology Of Alienation: Representation Of Death For The Mentally Illness In Lawang, Malang, Aninda Diandra Rahmadewi, Irmawati Marwoto Imj

International Review of Humanities Studies

Alienation as a novelty in archaeological research which in this study aims to explain how mentally illness patients are buried at Lawang Mental Hospital as an alienation and how the representation of the graves of patients with mentally illness. Alienation is a form of experience by individuals who are marginalized from society, one of which is people with mentally illness. Alienation in mentally illness does not only occur during their lifetime, but continues until they die. Lawang Mental Hospital, built in 1884, is the only mental hospital that has a special cemetery for mentally illness patients. The method used focuses …

Preserving Cultural Memory And Identity Of Eviction Through Digital Archives: A Case Study Of @Tamansarimelawan Instagram Account, Zulfi Al Hakim, Himawan Pratama, Mochamad Aviandy

International Review of Humanities Studies

This study examines how the Instagram account @tamansarimelawan plays a significant role in preserving collective memory and the identity of marginalized groups through digital archives. In the context of the Taman Sari urban village community, which resisted land eviction for the construction of row houses in Bandung, this research explores how Instagram as a social media platform contributes to the formation and maintenance of collective memory and community identity. Using content analysis of the @tamansarimelawan account, the study investigates the mechanisms through which social media functions as a digital repository, a medium for fostering a sense of belonging and continuity, …

From The “Paris Of The East” To Modern Phnom Penh: Colonial Legacies In Cambodian Urban Planning, Jin Ke, Ade Solihat

International Review of Humanities Studies

Phnom Penh was once known as the “Paris of the East,” serving as a major urban center in Indochina during the French colonial period. Colonial authorities shaped the city through functional zoning, planned street networks, and European-style architecture, all of which reflected hierarchies of power embedded in urban space. Despite the extensive destruction caused by the Khmer Rouge regime and subsequent postwar reconstruction, traces of colonial urban planning and architectural heritage remain clearly visible in the contemporary development of Phnom Penh. This study adopts a literature-based approach combined with historical analysis, spatial analysis, and architectural case studies to examine how …

Los Sistemas De Apoyo Para Personas Indígenas Con Discapacidad Como Garantía De Derechos Lingüísticos Y Justicia Epistémica En México, Antonio R. Uc Galera

Journal of Maya Heritage

La derogación formal de la figura de interdicción consagrada en los Códigos Civiles Sustantivos y la implementación de figuras jurídicas novedosas como sistemas de apoyo y personas, representa de los avances más trascendentes en materia de discapacidad. Su aplicación legislativa impacta a las personas de las Comunidades Indígenas con discapacidad como garantía de derechos sus lingüísticos, ya que estas nuevas figuras jurídicas en materia civil brindan herramientas de comunicación, apoyos cognitivos y de comprensión, incluyendo lectura fácil, implementación de traductores, instrumentos que apoyan la movilidad, entre otros, según las necesidades de la persona en particular. Este artículo propone un análisis …

Legal Paradoxes Of Transition: Transitional Justice And The Rule Of Law Between Nürnberg And Saddam Hussein Trials, Rasha Abdelsamea Ahmed Baghdadi

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

This thesis critically examines the legal paradoxes embedded within transitional justice (TJ) discourse, using the Nürnberg and Saddam Hussein trials as case studies to interrogate the complex relationship between justice and the rule of law in TJ discourse. It highlights the inherent tension between forward-looking societal reforms and the pursuit of backward-looking justice, challenging the foundational assumptions of TJ as a universal tool for justice and peace. It also questions the validity and credibility of "transition" as a phase between the past and the future. It contends that TJ, driven by Western liberal epistemic foundations, functions as an exclusionary …

The Extradition Treaty Between The United States Of America And The Republic Of Colombia: Public International Law And The Judicial Substitution Paradox, Andrés Téllez-Núñez

Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Health Care Financialization, Erin C. Fuse Brown, Hayden Rooke-Ley

Journal of Health Care Law and Policy

No abstract provided.

Adaptable Ai Apprentices: Law Practice Sidekicks, Henry H. Perritt, Jr.

University of Miami Law Review

Two case studies involving motorcycle-accident negligence and administrative law in the context of drone regulation violations explore the transformative potential of generative AI in legal practice. Four AI engines—DeepSeek, Claude, ChatGPT, and Grok—were asked to analyze transcripts of client interviews by identifying legal claims and assessing their strengths and weaknesses.

The results demonstrate that current AI technology effectively processes natural-language client interviews, identifies viable legal theories, and assesses claim strengths and weaknesses in both tort and administrative law contexts. The AI systems demonstrated proficiency in parsing legal theories and citing relevant statutes and administrative regulations, though case citations were frequently …

A Comparative Analysis Of The Rule Of Lenity And National Power Structures, Albert Kwon

Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Queer Of Color Critique And The Politics Of Epistemic Agency: Rural Educators Desettling Curricular Expectations, C.A. Langerud, Madelaine Adelman, Daniel D. Liou

Journal of Queer and Trans Studies in Education

The purpose of this research is to use queer of color critique (QOCC) as an analytical framework to explore rural K-12 educators’ epistemic agency. The research focuses on educators’ engagement with a national initiative by an advocacy organization to distribute LGBTQ+ and racially diverse books to K-12 schools. The analysis centers on the educators’ praxis of epistemic agency against settled expectations associated with including queer and trans People of Color’s (QTPOC’s) stories in their schools. Our findings on educators’ epistemic agency center on three areas of knowledge and activity. First, educators demonstrate their ability to be aware of their local …

Adversarial Comparativism: The Role Of Emotion In United States–China Comparative Law Projects, Matthew S. Erie

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Contemporary comparative law operates across a landscape riven by protectionism, nationalism, and securitization, all of which complicate comparative law projects. Nowhere is this more evident than in the U.S-China relationship, the most important bilateral relationship in the world. Despite economic “delinking,” the U.S. and Chinese legal systems are interacting more than ever; however, how this interaction works is poorly understood. This Article proposes “adversarial comparativism” to explain this dynamic. It is an approach to comparative law and politics that includes different modalities: competition, aggressiveness, transactionalism, misunderstanding, opportunism, and gaslighting. Many of these are underpinned by emotion. As such, while this …

Rethinking The Refugee: From Migrant Hierarchies To Migration As A Human Right, Roni Amit

Seton Hall Law Review

No abstract provided.

Officers On Patrol: Perspectives Of An Arrest On Past And Present Law Enforcement Officers, Shanee N. Ellington

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

While attempting to apprehend suspects, police officers must contend with complex obstacles arising from the arrest's legal, ethical, and sociopolitical context. Officers had to follow their department’s guidelines while also developing legal procedures when carrying out an arrest. The study focused on how an officer’s perception of arrest decisions and procedures encapsulated challenges and ethical dilemmas. Through a semi-structured interview with twenty respondents, this research explored the implications of arresting behaviors on officers’ professional identity formation and development. The data analysis followed the grounded theory approach, which focused on identifying differences and similarities between former and current officers over time. …

Structural Logics Of Presidential Immunity, Aziz Z. Huq

Duke Law Journal

In Trump v. United States, the Supreme Court wrought two new presidential immunities from criminal prosecution. Supplemented by a pair of penumbral evidentiary rules, these immunities inhibit criminal indictment or conviction of the president, and indeed the criminal prosecution of a substantial number of subordinate officials, across many imaginable fact-patterns. The Court justified its interventions on consequentialist, and not originalist or precedential, grounds. But its analysis of immunity’s actual and likely effects was radically incomplete. It focused narrowly on the person of the president, eschewing any attempt to situate or relate that individual’s incentives and behavior to the wider institutional …

What Can Legal Knowledge Do For Access To Justice?, Kathryne M. Young, Heidi H. Liu

Duke Law Journal

Worker misclassification is one of the most pervasive and harmful civil justice problems in the U.S. The inaccurate and illegal categorization of workers as independent contractors costs U.S. workers billions of dollars annually in overtime pay and health benefits—a problem that has become even more pervasive with the expansion of the gig economy.

Yet, worker misclassification is only one dimension of the broader “access to justice crisis” in the United States—the unsolved legal problems and unmet legal needs that touch most people’s lives and livelihoods at many points, but especially impact low-income people and people of color. These legal issues …

Reconnect Or Disconnect?: Using Technology To Address Loneliness And Social Isolation For Aging Adults And Its Regulation, Laura C. Hoffman

Akron Law Review

No abstract provided.

Fluid Agency In Ai Systems: A Case For Functional Equivalence In Copyright, Patent, And Tort, Anirban Mukherjee, Hannah H. Chang

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

Modern artificial intelligence (AI) systems lack human-like consciousness or culpability, yet they exhibit fluid agency: behavior that is (i) stochastic (probabilistic and path-dependent), (ii) dynamic (co-evolving with user interaction), and (iii) adaptive (able to reorient across contexts). Fluid agency generates valuable outputs but collapses attribution, irreducibly entangling human and machine inputs. This fundamental unmappability fractures doctrines that assume traceable provenance—authorship, inventorship, and liability—yielding ownership gaps and moral “crumple zones.”

This Article argues that only functional equivalence stabilizes doctrine. Where provenance is indeterminate, legal frameworks must treat human and AI contributions as equivalent for allocating rights and responsibility—not as a claim …

Representations And Perceptions Of Inequality Between Resignation And Protest: A Sociological Approach, Toufik Rahmouni

Revue Marocaine de Droit, d'Economie et de Gestion (Moroccan Journal of Law, Economics and Management)

This article examines social inequalities through lived experience and everyday perceptions. Moroccan society produces multiple forms of inequality embedded in social order, socialization processes, and internalized value systems. Using an empirical survey, the study identifies how respondents describe and classify inequalities and how these perceptions relate to feelings of injustice and relative frustration. It also explores the main attitudes adopted in the face of inequality and discrimination—ranging from resignation and moral/religious endurance to forms of dissent and protest. The analysis suggests that perceived inequality does not automatically translate into open protest; many actors rely on pragmatic cost–benefit reasoning and develop …

Litigating Workplace Sexual Harassment In China: Practical Challenges & Proposed Solutions

Washington International Law Journal

Abstract: The development of China’s anti-sexual harassment laws and policies over the past few decades has raised the hopes of many. However, the sheer volume of regulations can easily create the false impression that the Chinese legal system is effectively dealing with workplace sexual harassment. Statistics show that the number of lawsuits filed in Chinese courts remains trivial, even though workplace sexual harassment continues to be widespread. This article argues that courts in China misunderstand how to apply important concepts in litigation such as how to define sexual harassment and employer liability. The difficulty of carrying the burden of …

Exploring The Role Of Occupational Therapy In The Delivery Of Trauma-Informed Services To Hospital-Based Clients Ot, Frank Czuba

Journal of Applied Disciplines

Hospitalization can traumatize clients and impact overall health outcomes, leading to increased hospital readmission rates and resulting in a negative impact for both clients and providers. Limited information exists regarding how hospital-based occupational therapists evaluate and address trauma, even though incorporating trauma-informed principles into professional practice can enhance the occupational therapy process. The study explored the comprehension and perceived significance of trauma-informed tenets among occupational therapists delivering services in hospital-based settings. A quantitative research study with an exploratory design was implemented to explore how occupational therapists (OT) understand and utilize trauma-informed practices with their clients in a hospital setting. An …

Better Off In The Big Leagues: Why Juveniles Who Get Direct Filed Have More Rights When Analyzed From A Constitutional Standpoint, Lexi Kest

Nova Law Review

No abstract provided.