Digital Commons Network^™

Home Is Not Always Where The Heart Is: Examining The Inadequacy Of Legal Measures In The Deportation Of American Intercountry Adoptees, Katie X. Kaessinger, Esq.

San Diego International Law Journal

Despite entering the United States legally as children through intercountry adoption, thousands of American adoptees face deportation as adults because their parents failed to finalize their citizenship. Many of these adoptees have no meaningful linguistic, cultural, or familiar ties to their birth countries, and most have lived in the United States practically their entire lives. This Article explores the legal implications regarding the deportation of intercountry adoptees. More specifically, this Article argues that the deportation of intercountry adoptees reflects a grave systemic failure that violates international human rights law, rather than a mere shortcoming of domestic immigration policy.

Consulting various …

Soaring To New Heights Through The Lens Of The Scarlet Macaw–A Post-Loper Bright Interpretation Of The Endangered Species Act’S “Significant Portion Of Its Range” For A Climate-Driven “Foreseeable Future”, Kathryn Wood

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

This Comment will argue for particular interpretations of “significant portion of its range” and “foreseeable future” under the ESA to prioritize species preservation in the face of climate change.

The analysis begins by describing key aspects of the ESA, including its historical background, its conceptual definitions, its prescribed method for determining endangered species and threatened species, its listing process, and critical habitat requirements. This Comment then discusses climate change as a source of threat and endangerment “within the foreseeable future,” and whether acts worsening climate change can constitute an unlawful taking. Next, this Comment considers how the Supreme Court’s decision …

The Law And Policy Of Gender Provisions In Multilateral And Regional Trade Governance, Maria Panezi

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

Trade is neither gender-neutral in its design nor in its outcomes. This Article offers a bird's-eye view of the law and policy of gender provisions in multilateral and regional trade governance, examines the conceptual boundaries of incorporating gender into trade policy, and evaluates legal and policy approaches that can make trade more responsive to the asymmetries that disproportionately affect women. Using Canada as a case study, the Article examines one of the most comprehensive national frameworks for mainstreaming gender in trade, including the Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus) methodology and the inclusion of dedicated gender and trade chapters in several …

Necessary Biosafety Precautions For Patented Gmos: Ramifications Of Inconsistent Parties Between The Cartagena Protocol And Trips Agreement, Lauren Clements

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

Genetically Modified Organisms (“GMOs”) compose a class of potentially patentable biotechnology that are prominent in international markets. Developed countries like the United States, function as leading producers of these patented GMOs and therefore play a significant role in their development and transnational export. Minimum protections for these forms of biotechnology are outlined in the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (“TRIPS Agreement”), which permits the patenting of GMOs that ultimately enter the stream of international commerce. Notwithstanding the potential risks GMOs present to the environment, public health, and the economy, the TRIPS Agreement fails to address any form …

Political, Legal & Ethical Implications Of The United Nations Resolution 1441 & Its Resulting Iraq War, Anika Elyse Segall

Honors Projects

This paper analyzes the political, legal, & ethical implications of the United Nations Resolution 1441 & its resulting Iraq War. The central question of this paper is answered in these sections: 1. Politics: Is it politically convincing (whom did it convince and not convince) to invade Iraq?  2. Law: Is it legally convincing (which body of law) to invade Iraq? 3. Political Ethics: How has this informed how the US has conducted foreign policy and war-making in the Middle East since 2003?

Scaffolding Minimum Age Thresholds, Eve Rips

Tulsa Law Review

No abstract provided.

Beyond Liberal Apologies, Toward Abolitionist Trans Politics, Koda Sokol, Kaden Paulson-Smith

Journal of Feminist Scholarship

In the wake of Trump’s second election, the liberal fantasy of a benevolent state reared its head: the right policy, politician, or police officer will end anti-trans oppression. This article heeds the warning from generations of abolitionists before us that violence is not a defect of the state but endemic to it. By consequence, reforms that strengthen the state by expanding avenues for criminalization, resourcing the police, and incorporating more people into the military further jeopardize those subject to premature death, trans or otherwise. The current U.S. political regime’s overt cruelty provides an opening for widespread reckoning with the state’s …

The Alaska Wolf War: Action On The Prince Of Wales Island Complex, Edward A. Fitzgerald

Alaska Law Review

This Article examines Alaska's management of the Alexander Archipelago wolf on the Prince of Wales Island Complex, pursuant to constitutional and statutory requirements. It begins by reviewing the history of unsuccessful efforts to declare the wolf a threatened or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act. It then analyzes Bennett v. State, which focused on the changed management regime and devastating wolf harvest of the 2019–20 season. The Article argues that the district and Alaska Supreme Court's decisions in the case were flawed because they failed to properly implement the "hard look" doctrine.

Protecting Bearded Seals In Alaska: The Esa, Critical Habitat Designations, And Climate Change, Caitlyn Leary

Alaska Law Review

Rapid climate change in the Arctic has accelerated the loss of sea ice, threatening the survival of one of Alaska's most vital species: the bearded seal. In 2012, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) listed the bearded seal as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Ten years later, the agency designated approximately 174 million acres of occupied critical habitat for the seals on the northern coast of Alaska, along the Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort Seas. NMFS reasoned that a large designation was necessary to account for the dynamic and seasonal nature of sea ice. In 2024, however, the U.S. …

Introducing The Covenantal-Noncentralization Index (Cni) For Assessing Localism, Social Capital, Community Challenges And Community Health, Kahlib Fischer, Edwin Christmann, Melissa Stewart, Todd Robatin, Zachary Federico, John Kebles, Lucy Lambert, Alex Mishra

Journal of Law and Government

Numerous indices measuring social capital and community challenges at the local level exist, but none attempt to offer a measure of community health as an independent variable in comparison to community challenges as a dependent variable. Therefore, we propose the Covenantal-Noncentralization Index (CNI) in an effort to provide a more nuanced understanding of social capital at the local level as well as to differentiate between an independent variable index consisting of family stability, religious adherence, non-profit activity, and charitable giving and dependent variables representing various community challenges: violent crime, childhood poverty, STD rate, high school diploma completion, GDP, and unemployment. …

The Dangers Of Unregulated Artificial Intelligence: Should The United States Adopt International Ai Regulations?, Katrina P. Perea

Widener Commonwealth Law Review

No abstract provided.

Savoring Food Safety: California Stirs The Pot For Safer Food Additive Standards While The Fda's Recipe Loses Its Flavor, Paige Rufolo

Seton Hall Law Review

No abstract provided.

September 2024 – August 2025 Case Law On American Indians, Thomas P. Schlosser

American Indian Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Power Of Secondary Patents: Measuring The Effect Of Key Secondary Patent Types On Granted Protection Period And Generic Entry Time, Robin Feldman, Ramy Alsaffar, Tanziuzzaman Sakib, Gideon Schor, Vaughn Goehrig, Beatrice Goddu

Seton Hall Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Meaning Of Ai And Its Implications For Antitrust Law, Giovanna Massarotto

Seton Hall Law Review

No abstract provided.

Le Régime Juridique De La Filiation Illégitime Au Liban : Contribution À L'Étude Du Droit De La Famille, Adeline Sfeir

Proche-Orient, Études juridiques

No abstract provided.

Land Without Legacy: The Case For Market-Based Appraisals On Hawaiian Home Lands, Alexis C. Owens

Seattle University Law Review

The Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920 (HHCA) was enacted to restore Native Hawaiians to ancestral lands and promote long term economic self-sufficiency. More than a century later, that promise remains unfulfilled. This Note argues that a central but overlooked barrier lies in the HHCA’s mandated use of the replacement cost appraisal method, which systematically undervalues homestead properties by excluding market forces. In one of the most expensive housing markets in the United States, this approach suppresses home equity, the primary means of intergenerational wealth building, and restricts beneficiaries’ access to credit and financial stability. By severing the connection between …

The History Of The Constitution Is Our Future., Maggie Blackhawk

Michigan Law Review

The Constitution of the United States establishes a government; it also stands as the fundamental law of a people. It shapes daily life, distributes power, and sets a direction for the future. And yet when we ask about the reach and meaning of the Constitution, we are increasingly told to look backward. The answers to our future are said to lie in the past.

What Personhood Means, Laura Portuondo

Michigan Law Review

A review of Personhood: The New Civil War over Reproduction. By Mary Ziegler.

Fetal Personhood And Inheritance By Unborn Children, Alyssa A. Dirusso, Emily Price

ACTEC Law Journal

This article will first discuss the status of the law with respect to inheritance rights of the unborn, including both posthumous children and posthumously-conceived children. This paper next describes the fetal personhood movement and its recognition of not only life but also death before birth. The article explains the current law on survivorship and inheritance rights. Then this article discusses the implications of death before birth on intestate distributions. These implications lead the authors to recommend a default rule barring unintentional nevernatal inheritance. The authors support, however, practical provisions for the unborn for those who choose to do so.

"Health" In Hems Means Complete Well-Being, Claudia E. Tordini, Richard S. Franklin

ACTEC Law Journal

This article focuses on the definition of “health” as used in the ascertainable standard exception of Internal Revenue Code § 2041(b)(1)(A), most frequently articulated in trusts as “health, education, maintenance and support” (HEMS). It is clear that a discretionary power to distribute for one’s own health is permitted without causing a taxable general power of appointment, but there is a dearth of authority indicating the meaning of health for this purpose. This article provides the research and foundation for understanding that health as used in HEMS is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the …

The Canons Fell Silent: An Analysis Of The Supreme Court's Failure To Use Statutory Interpretation Tools In Sackett V. Epa, Lauren Carlsen

Washington Law Review

In 2023, the United States Supreme Court denied decades of precedent, agency action, and the proper use of canons of interpretation in its decision in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency (Sackett). This case adopted the “continuous surface connection” test, which requires an indistinguishable surface water connection between a wetland and a navigable water to assert Clean Water Act jurisdiction over the wetland. This limitation on agency authority under the Clean Water Act was created through a statutory analysis that failed to apply the “Plain Meaning” and “Whole Act” canons of statutory interpretation. The Court narrowly applied the meaning of …

"Speech Swept Up"—The Constitutionality Of State Prohibitions Of Conversion Therapy For Lgbtq+ Youth, Lauren A. Chivers

Washington Law Review

Since 2012, individual states have passed laws prohibiting state-licensed mental health professionals from engaging in conversion therapy with minor clients. Despite the breadth of research undermining its efficacy and documenting harms, the practice of conversion therapy persists. State regulation of conversion therapy—and thereby licensed professionals’ conduct with their clients—has emerged as a contentious issue for the judiciary. Most significantly, the U.S. Supreme Court weighed in on the matter for the first time in 2026. In Chiles v. Salazar, the Court addressed a challenge to Colorado’s conversion therapy ban, confronting fundamental questions about this unsettled area of First Amendment law. …

Regulating Wellness: Reimagining Legal Frameworks In The Age Of Preventative And Aspirational Health, Barbara Zabawa

UMKC Law Review

The 2025 Wellness Law Symposium was held October 3, 2025 at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law.

Wellness Disputes, Maria Cudowska

UMKC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Visual Arts Are The Only Arts With Morals: Generative Ai And Aural Arts, Megan Pilege

UMKC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Wellness, Transhumanism, And The Death Of Health Law, Leah Fowler

UMKC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Off-Label Neuroimaging, Jane C. Moriarty

Law Faculty Publications

The growth of neuroimaging evidence in the courtroom is consistent with the increased reliance on technical and machine-based specialties at trial. Litigants routinely seek to introduce neuroimaging evidence in both civil and criminal trials to supplement traditional medical, psychiatric, and psychological opinion testimony. A substantial portion of neuroimaging evidence is still in the developmental stage—what I term “off-label neuroimaging.” Unsurprisingly, evaluating the reliability of developing neuroimaging poses challenging questions for gatekeeping courts. Among the complex evidentiary issues neuroimaging presents for courts and litigants, this Article considers one foundational question: How should courts determine whether neuroimaging evidence is sufficiently reliable for …

Addressing Homelessness And Hunger Through A Human Rights Approach Focused On Collective Responses, R. Denisse Córdova Montes, Tamar Ezer

Georgia State University Law Review

The United States is experiencing unprecedented levels of homelessness and food insecurity. In 2024, the number of unhoused persons on a single night reached the highest ever recorded, and in 2023, 13.5% of the population lived in food insecure households, including 7.2 million children. Both homelessness and food insecurity disproportionately impact individuals based on race and gender.

In this context, community-led tools, such as community kitchen events and public feedings, have played an important role in providing those experiencing extreme hardship with access to adequate food and safe community spaces.

However, rather than supporting these efforts or addressing the root …

U.S. Regulation And Litigation Regarding Gmos: A Cautionary Tale Of A Piecemeal Framework, Michael R. Reese, George V. Granade

Northern Illinois University Law Review

Bioengineered crops using genetically modified organisms (GMOs or GM) are big business in the United States. In little more than two decades, GM agriculture constitutes more than 90% of crops such as corn, soy, and canola. The acceptance of GMO foods by consumers, however, has not been as robust—leading to demand for labeling regulations so consumers can identify whether their foods contain GMOs. U.S. law governing GMOs, particularly food labeling, lacks a comprehensive regulatory scheme and is instead highly fragmented. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has debated how to label such foods for over a decade, issuing no rules …