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Richmond Law Magazine: Autumn 2026

Richmond Law Magazine

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The Insular Cases “Are Not A Life Preserver”: The Covenant And Self-Determination In The Northern Mariana Islands At Fifty, Neil Weare

Cardozo Law Review

The Insular Cases—Supreme Court rulings from the early 1900s addressing the constitutional status of U.S. Territories—are facing what Justice Neil Gorsuch has called “a long overdue reckoning.” In 2022, Gorsuch declared that the Insular Cases “deserve no place in our law” because they “have no foundation in the Constitution and rest instead on racial stereotypes.” Justice Sonia Sotomayor agreed, stating that the Insular Cases “were premised on beliefs both odious and wrong.” Together, these Justices—who do not agree on much—expressed a shared “hope [that] the Court will soon recognize that the Constitution’s application should never depend on . . . …

Chevron Usa Inc. V. Plaquemines Parish: Did The Removal Clarification Act Of 2011 Abrogate The “Causal Nexus” Requirement For Removal Pursuant To 28 U.S.C. § 1442—The Federal Officers Removal Statute?, E. Farish Percy

Cardozo Law Review

On June 16, 2025, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Chevron USA, Inc. v. Plaquemines Parish to address whether the causal-nexus requirement survived the Removal Clarification Act of 2011’s amendment to 28 U.S.C. § 1442, the federal officer removal statute (FORS). The consolidated cases before the court include some of the more than forty civil cases that were brought by Louisiana parishes against various oil companies seeking to hold them responsible for the loss and deterioration of Louisiana’s coastal wetlands caused by the oil companies’ alleged violations of a Louisiana state permitting law. The cases were filed in 2013 and …

The New Investment Horizon For The National Football League, Sam Nacht

Cardozo Law Review

In August 2024, the National Football League became one of the last major North American sports leagues to permit private equity investment in its member teams. The league’s new bylaws, however, impose significant restrictions on this investment: only six pre-approved private equity funds may invest, each purchase is capped at a ten percent equity stake, and all investments are subject to a minimum six-year lock-up period. While these restrictions reflect the league’s understandable caution about outside influence, they may have inadvertently created a significant antitrust problem. This Note argues that the NFL’s private equity bylaws constitute an unreasonable restraint of …

Territorial Inequality In A Warming World: The Icj’S Climate Opinion And The Future Of Self-Determination For Puerto Rico, Ashley Olita Nemeth

Cardozo Law Review

This Article examines how climate change and Puerto Rico’s territorial status operate as mutually reinforcing constraints on the archipelago’s right to self-determination. While Puerto Rico is highly exposed to intensifying climate impacts, its status as an unincorporated U.S. territory limits its ability to respond, resulting in federal control over fiscal policy, disaster recovery, and economic regulation, as well as exclusion from international climate finance mechanisms. Together, these structural limitations create a “climate-colonial feedback loop” in which environmental harm deepens political and economic dependency, further undermining adaptive capacity and autonomous development. The Article advances a two-part analysis. First, it demonstrates how …

Rewriting Downes V. Bidwell, Rose Cuison-Villazor

Cardozo Law Review

This Essay engages in a thought experiment. Employing the “rewriting” approach to Supreme Court cases recently used by legal scholars, this Essay provides an alternative version of the case considered most important among the Insular Cases—Downes v. Bidwell—where the Supreme Court adopted the territorial incorporation doctrine to hold that Puerto Rico is “foreign to the United States in a domestic sense.” To this day, Downes and the other Insular Cases serve as precedent for the proposition that the constitutional rights of U.S. territorial residents may be treated differently. But how would the Supreme Court have ruled if it employed Critical …

Empire By Gaslight, Christina D. Ponsa-Kraus

Cardozo Law Review

This Article argues that the constitutional law of U.S. colonialism as it applies to Puerto Rico should be understood as a form of collective gaslighting. The United States has been gaslighting Puerto Ricans for a century-and-a-quarter. By defining their constitutional status as a series of contradictions—starting with defining Puerto Rico as “foreign,” but only in a “domestic sense”—the federal government has caused Puerto Ricans to question their capacity to judge their own reality, thereby solidifying U.S. power over the island and undermining Puerto Rican resistance. Not only has the United States been gaslighting Puerto Ricans since annexation, but it has …

Doctrinal Interregnum In The Law Of United States Territories, Anthony M. Ciolli

Cardozo Law Review

The past decade witnessed an unprecedented renaissance in interest in the constitutional treatment of U.S. territories. Once derided as “a marginal debate about marginal places” or “‘a footnote within a footnote’ of an already niche field,” law journals published a staggering seventy articles between 2022 and 2023 focused on the law of the territories. The American Bar Association, whose founder Simeon Baldwin played an instrumental role in laying the foundations for the racist Insular Cases, and which itself actively discriminated against the territories for more than a century, passed numerous resolutions repudiating many of its past positions. Even Congress, after …

How Did We Get Here?, Michael J. Klarman

Fordham Law Review

President Donald J. Trump’s second administration has transgressed basic rules and norms of democracy and the rule of law in myriad ways. Below, I have laid out my own top ten list of transgressions, though others could surely have made out a good case for their own “favorites.” It would not be difficult to come up with a longer list, yet the purpose of my Levine Lecture is less to describe where we are than to explain how we got here. Following an enumeration of Trump administration transgressions, my lecture turns to two questions. First, why have traditional checks on …

The Role Of Reliance In Stare Decisis Doctrine, Rochelle Hestnas

Fordham Law Review

The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent treatment of reliance interests in stare decisis doctrine is in flux. The Court has overruled long-standing precedent such as Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey with scant analysis as to how reliance interests factor into stare decisis doctrine, despite continuing to name reliance as a factor that should be considered. Arguments for whether and how reliance interests deserve protection are inherently challenging because it cannot be the case that every precedent should stand. Using Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization as a case study, this Note analyzes the Court’s claim …

The Alien Enemies Act Of 1798, Andrew Kent

Fordham Law Review

For the first time since World War II—and for the first time ever outside a formally declared war—an American president has invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to detain and deport noncitizens. Enacted during the Quasi-War with France, the Act’s operative language remains largely unchanged today. In March 2025, President Donald J. Trump proclaimed that members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua present in the United States are “alien enemies,” asserting that their activities, allegedly coordinated with President Nicolás Maduro’s government, constitute an “invasion” or “predatory incursion” within the meaning of the statute. Litigation challenging the invocation of …

News That Will Not Break: How The First And Fourth Amendments Can Jointly Protect The Press From Secret Government Intrusions Into Newsgathering, Julianna Margolin

Fordham Law Review

The modern constitutional and statutory framework permits the U.S. government to obtain journalists’ confidential source information and work product by secretly serving third-party service providers with subpoenas. While the First Amendment protects journalists and the Fourth Amendment guards against unreasonable government searches, new technology and the involvement of third parties complicate the balance between independent newsgathering and government access.

This Note examines reporters’ privilege jurisprudence stemming from the seminal U.S. Supreme Court decision Branzburg v. Hayes, which declined to recognize a categorical privilege. This Note also explores the subpoena power in the digital age as it converges with privacy …

Public Libraries, Limited Forums: Critiquing The Fifth Circuit’S Decision In Little V. Llano County, Spencer Emelia Petrick-Knoll

Fordham Law Review

Conflicts over the collections of public libraries have become increasingly frequent in the twenty-first century. In 2025, the Fifth Circuit held that library collections are government speech, thereby preventing patrons from challenging book removals. This Note critiques that decision and analyzes which First Amendment doctrine should govern the curation decisions of a public library. It examines the historical evolution of the public library and First Amendment doctrine to argue for classification of the public library’s collection as a limited public forum. This classification allows libraries to make reasonable, viewpoint-neutral decisions about retaining books in their collections while ensuring that viewpoint …

Splitting The Baby: Determining The Causation Standard In Family And Medical Leave Act Retaliation Claims, Eliana C. Singer

Fordham Law Review

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) guarantees employees unpaid leave following certain qualifying events. The FMLA not only provides substantive rights but also prohibits retaliation against employees who exercise those rights. When employees face unlawful retaliation, they can bring retaliation claims against their employers. However, there is disagreement among courts as to how to evaluate these claims. More precisely, courts are split concerning whether employees must prove their use of leave was a but-for cause of retaliation, or merely that it was one of an employer’s mixed motives for retaliating. The U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Second and …

The Mirage Of Meta Pixel Code: Redefining Pii In The Era Of Generative Ai, Sophie Venter

Fordham Law Review

Data privacy laws are intended to put consumers in control of whether their identifying data can be sold and used for targeted advertising. However, these laws do not provide adequate protections in the era of generative artificial intelligence (AI). This Note examines one way that existing privacy law permits companies to profit from selling data for targeted advertising without obtaining user consent: transferring video watching data in a pixel code. Some U.S. Courts of Appeals have determined that these data transfers do not sufficiently identify users and the videos they watched to constitute violations of user privacy. This has led …

Lord Of All I Survey: United States As Imperial Trustee Of The Insular Territories, Dolace Mclean

Cardozo Law Review

This Article examines the language of colonization established in the seminal Supreme Court case of Downes v. Bidwell, which has resulted in America’s five existing overseas territories becoming long-term colonies of the United States. Downes was decided in 1901, and it set up the U.S. Supreme Court’s Insular Cases jurisprudence in which the territories are considered unincorporated into the United States and therefore are subject to Congress’s plenary authority through the Territorial Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. Supreme Court has had a few opportunities to overrule the Insular Cases but has declined to do so. This Article argues …

How Many Pieces Form A Forbidden Picture? Protecting Privacy Through The Mosaic Theory Of The Fourth Amendment, Sam Ciaccio

MC Law Review

No abstract provided.

The High Cost Of Low Pay: How Mississippi's Compensation System For Indigent Defense Violates The Sixth Amendment, Whitney L. Dowell

MC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Restoring The Right To Effectiveness: How An Unreasonably High Burden For Proving Ineffective Assistance Violates The Sixth Amendment, May Hebert

MC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Red, White, And Due: How The Due Process Clause Can Prevent Homeless Encampment Cleanouts From Sweeping Individual Rights Under The Rug, Codie Hicks

MC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Judges In Command: How Judicial Creativity In Interpreting The Ftca Harms Military Discipline, John Clyde Ready

MC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Closing Loopholes Or Creating Gaps: The Future Of Obstruction Of Justice Laws After Fischer V. United States, Helaina Theos

MC Law Review

No abstract provided.

In Brief, Case Western Reserve University School Of Law

In Brief

Table of Contents

• Message from the Dean
• The Country's Pioneering Health Law Center
• Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of our War Crimes Research Office
• Foundations of Practice: Beginning the Journey from Law Student to Lawyer
• CWRU Law School's Teams Win Two National Championships in 2026
• Scholarly Impact
• 2025-2026 Conferences and Lectures Roundup
• Alumni Spotlight
• Class Notes
• In Memoriam
• Campus Comeback
• Diploma Day

Weird Cops (Agency Police), Farhang Heydari

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

The police badge has migrated deep into the administrative state. Parks, schools, transit, housing, revenue, conservation, insurance, and gaming agencies now field tens of thousands of sworn “Agency Police”—often with full arrest powers despite missions far removed from general public safety. The footprint of these officers is significant and expanding, outpacing the growth of traditional law enforcement. Far from being limited to certain communities, Agency Police attract support across the political spectrum, from law-and-order policymakers to reformers. And yet, Agency Police are largely ignored in legal scholarship. The result is that a large slice of U.S. criminal enforcement is poorly …

Regulating Police Robots, Farhang Heydari, Max Isaacs, Barry Friedman

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Once considered a mere novelty, ground robots and aerial drones are quickly becoming a mainstream policing tool. Autonomous police robots, equipped with a panoply of cameras and sensors, have been sent into parks, schools, and train stations. Agencies across the country are piloting “Drone as First Responder” programs, which automatically dispatch drones in response to 911 calls. Police have used robots to disorient, immobilize, and use force against suspects.

Police robots may provide public safety benefits, but they may also carry real risks. The widespread adoption of highly mobile robots equipped with cameras, sensors, and analytics will only hasten the …

A Bibliography Of Faculty Scholarship, Kathryn J. Dufour Law Library

Scholarly Articles

The purpose of this bibliography is to record in one place the substantial body of scholarship produced by the current faculty at the Catholic University, Columbus School of Law. From its humble beginnings under the tutelage of founding Dean William Callyhan Robinson, through its adolescent period when, like so many other American law schools, it was trying to define its pedagogical niche, to its eventual merger with the Columbus University Law School in 1954, the law school at Catholic University has always retained a scholarly and remarkably productive faculty. The sheer quantity of writing, the breadth of research and the …

Editorial Foreword Ijsls Volume 6 Number 1, Sulistyowati Irianto

The Indonesian Journal of Socio-Legal Studies

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Legalist Verses Realist Accounts Of United States V. Skrmetti, Neil S. Siegel

Faculty Scholarship

Although the Supreme Court is increasingly adopting an understanding of sex discrimination that is biologically focused and/or formalistic, this Article argues that the Court does not consistently apply that conception when doing so benefits transgender Americans. The Court’s conclusion in United States v. Skrmetti that no facial sex classification exists in Tennessee’s law banning gender-affirming care for transgender—but not cisgender—minors is irreconcilable with its conclusion five years earlier in Bostock v. Clayton County that Title VII’s prohibition on sex discrimination prohibits employers from firing employees just because they are transgender. Perhaps tellingly, only Justice Gorsuch, Bostock’s author, and Chief Justice …

Law School Record, Vol. 73, No. 1 (Fall 2026), Law School Record Editors

Law School Record

• Message from the Dean
• Legal Education in the Age of AI
• Speaking Out Beyond The Bench
• Theory In Practice
• Asked and Answered
• Meet the Five Alumni Now Clerking at the US Supreme Court
• Meet Lucy Msall, MLS '23 Newest Member of the Law School Faculty
• Faculty awards and recognition
• Trial By Fire: Inside the Law School's Intensive Trial Practice Workshop
• Development News
• Law School Unveils Portrait Honoring Geoffrey Stone, '71
• In Memoriam
• A Tribute to Professor Randal C. Picker, '85
• Giving Back: Peter Kolker, '66

Haruskan Debitur Mengatakan "Ya"? Menyoal Persetujuan Debitur Dalam Pengalihan Piutang Oleh Bank, Ihsanuddin Nursyie

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

Financial Services Authority Regulation No. 26 of 2024 concerning the Expansion of Banking Business Activities requires the inclusion of an assignment of receivables clause in credit agreements and, where such a clause is not provided, requires the debtor’s consent before the assignment is carried out. This article analyzes the appropriateness of debtor consent as a protection instrument in the assignment of receivables through cessie. This research employs a doctrinal legal method by analyzing legislation, legal doctrines, and relevant literature. The findings indicate that debtor consent is not an inherent requirement of cessie, while the risks to debtor protection are more …