Digital Commons Network^™

20 Years Post-Schaffer: Why Shifting The Burden Of Proof In Idea Due Process Hearings Is The Only Way To Ensure “Fape” For Students With Disabilities, Alexa Udy

University of Baltimore Law Review

No abstract provided.

Navigating Sustainable Burial In Southern Nevada, Kristen Gibson

Calvert Undergraduate Research Awards

Navigating Sustainable Burial in Southern Nevada investigates the accessibility of environmentally conscious end-of-life options for individuals throughout the region. Sustainable burial practices, including green burial, water cremation, and natural organic reduction, provide alternatives to traditional burial and cremation methods. Research was conducted through an analysis of Nevada statutes, local reporting, funeral service resources, and public discussions related to sustainable burial. The research revealed that although Nevada expanded legal recognition of sustainable burial by legalizing natural organic reduction, public access to clear information and available services remains limited. These findings informed the creation of a choose-your-own-adventure booklet designed to translate legal …

Gold & Blue Law Edition, Spring 2026, St. Mary's University - San Antonio, Texas

Gold & Blue Law Edition

This is the Spring 2026 edition of Gold & Blue Law Edition which is St. Mary's University's official School of Law publication.

Situating Ai Within The History Of Technological Adaptation In Law, Karin Mika

SLU Law Journal Online

This Article argues that the current anxiety surrounding generative artificial intelligence (AI) in the legal academy is the latest iteration of a recurring historical cycle. By examining the introduction of other technological enhancements in the law, the author demonstrates that each technological shift was initially met with skepticism regarding the potential loss of critical thinking skills. However, history shows that these tools ultimately pushed the profession away from a focus on mechanical form and toward a deeper engagement with substantive analysis and strategic advocacy. Rather than posing an existential threat, AI represents a logical next step that can automate the …

Press Freedom As A First Amendment Paradigm, Gregory P. Magarian

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

Using State Sentencing Enhancements To Protect Journalists From Physical Assault, Anthony L. Fargo

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

The Entanglement Of Facts And Values: An Overlooked Problem For Legal Positivism, Stephen A. Simon

West Virginia Law Review

Scholars have long been fascinated by the relation between law and morality, and in particular by the question of whether identifying the law requires making moral judgments. H.L.A. Hart and other legal positivists insist that we can identify the law without making moral judgments. By contrast, Ronald Dworkin and other opponents of legal positivism hold that determining law’s meaning necessarily involves moral reasoning. The most prominent contemporary case against legal positivism, developed by Dworkin, argues that interpretation—giving meaning to legal language—inherently requires moral judgments. While Dworkin’s arguments are powerful, the discourse has overlooked another basis for rejecting legal positivism: one …

Consent Absent Consensus: A Principles-Based Framework For Institutional Sexual Consent Policies, Tammi Walker

West Virginia Law Review

Title IX requires educational institutions to address sexual misconduct but provides no clear standard for defining consent. In the absence of federal guidance, colleges and universities operate in a regulatory vacuum, producing inconsistent definitions, legal uncertainty, and contested understandings of what consent requires. Without a structured framework, institutions struggle to balance survivor protection, due process, and practical implementation. This Article introduces a principles-based framework that supports clearer, more coherent consent policies. It identifies three interdependent elements of valid sexual consent: (1) Respect for Choices and Autonomy, which requires voluntary agreement free from coercion or pressure; (2) Informed Expectations and Transparency, …

Drawing Lines In The Substance: Questioning The Inconsistent Application Of West Virginia's Recidivist Statute In Cases Involving Controlled Substance Violations, Patrick Hassen

West Virginia Law Review

For decades, West Virginia’s recidivist statute required courts to sentence repeat felony offenders to life in prison even if their offenses were not violent. Over the years, the statute mandated life sentences for triggering offenses as minor as writing a bad check or failing to register a new phone number with the police. Unsurprisingly, the statute has come under its fair share of constitutional attack for violating the state Constitution’s proportionality principle. In 1981 the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia held the state’s proportionality principle requires a strict interpretation of the recidivist statute in favor of the defendant. …

A Damning Doctrine: State-Created Danger, Sierra Dotson

West Virginia Law Review

United States Supreme Court should take to promote uniformity in the correct interpretation of the doctrine and in applying the state-created danger exception.

The Last Human Question: Generative Ai's Existential Threat To Consensus And Law, Joshua Fairfield

West Virginia Law Review

The true risk of artificial intelligence (“AI”) is not that the toasters will rise up. It is that AI will be competent to perform human tasks and indifferent to human welfare. The risk is that we will be outcompeted by generative automated processes that create output similar to ours (although never the same, as this Article explains), but which need none of the outputs of the economy for food, shelter, or human flourishing. Further, a more precise and existential description of the threat is that generative AI will disrupt and crowd out humanity’s evolutionary superpower, our ability to generate agreement …

A View Under The Hood: Duquesne Kline's Law And Computing Program, Wesley M. Oliver, Katherine L.W. Norton, Martin Mckown, David Horrigan

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Artificial Intelligence And Machine Learning Improving The Livelihood Of Individuals With Disabilities In Various Capacities, Daveon Lilly

West Virginia Law Review

Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) and Machine Learning (“ML”) are swiftly reshaping accessibility for individuals with disabilities, offering fresh opportunities for inclusion in education, the workplace, and daily life. This Note explores the integration of AI and ML into assistive technologies and discusses how this integration bolsters access and independence for people with various disabilities. It also examines the legal frameworks, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (“Rehabilitation Act”), that govern the implementation of these technologies and address challenges such as algorithmic bias, data privacy, and the digital divide. While AI and ML have made …

Training New Lawyers With And For Generative Ai: A Semester-Long Experiment Scaling Clinical Friction In The Doctrinal Classroom, Frank W. Volk

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

How Ip Ends, Dave Fagundes, Aaron Perzanowski

Articles

Real and personal property may last forever, but intellectual property (IP) ends. Despite the doctrinal complexity and practical significance of the mechanisms that terminate IP rights, scholarship has scarcely focused on them, and none has analyzed these doctrines as a unified field. As a result, the discourse about the ways IP ends remains impoverished, with courts, legislatures, and commentators offering imprecise and inconsistent formulations that obscure the rationales for these doctrines. This Article offers the first comprehensive taxonomy of IP’s terminal mechanisms, providing much-needed conceptual and definitional coherence. It then reveals the underappreciated policy leverage these mechanisms can deliver and …

Ageless Law: The Case For (Some) Age Discrimination, Nina A. Kohn

North Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

Voices From Beyond The Grave: Protecting The Audio Of Murder Victims Through (Intellectual) Property Law, Alexandra M. Hudson

Washington and Lee Law Review

For most, the audio of a deceased loved one is a treasured keepsake. For the families of violent crime victims, it can be a harrowing reminder of their loved one’s death. And it can also be a source of content for true crime podcasters.

When a person dies from a violent crime and their killer is prosecuted, the audio associated with the crime (body camera footage, 911 calls, surveillance footage, etc.) frequently becomes public record. Public record laws vary greatly across the United States but typically err toward disclosure to promote government transparency. Broad public record laws benefit the public …

Private Coverage, Public Risk: The Role Of Cyber Insurance In National Security Governance, Deborah L. Johnson

Faculty Publications

This Article explores the growing yet underexamined role of the commercial cyber insurance market in shaping the United States' approach to cybersecurity readiness. It argues that, as cyber threats against U.S. critical infrastructure and essential services increase, commercial cyber insurance has quietly come to function as a de facto governance tool in national cybersecurity. In hospitals, water and energy systems, and other public-facing sectors, policy language, underwriting questionnaires, and post-breach claims practices help define what counts as "reasonable" security, influence how organizations plan for and respond to incidents, and affect the pace and scope of recovery after an attack. Yet …

Situating Ai Within The History Of Technological Adaptation In Law, Karin Mika

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

This Article will first trace this history of technological disruption and adaptation in the law. It will then situate the current AI moment within this established pattern, arguing that AI’s capabilities create an unprecedented opportunity to accelerate a pedagogical shift from foundational structure to sophisticated substance. Further, it will explore AI's significant potential as an equalizer for multilingual students. Finally, it will address the legitimate risks of AI, concluding that a framework grounded in professional ethics and critical human oversight is the key to harnessing its benefits responsibly. The challenge is not to resist this new technology, but to adapt …

Augmented Advocacy: Ethical Constraints And Regulatory Gaps In Ai-Driven Legal Practice, Molly M. Rowlands

West Virginia Law Review

The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (“AI”) and particularly generative AI (“Gen AI”) is reshaping the legal profession in unprecedented ways. AI-powered tools enhance efficiency, improve accuracy in legal analysis, and expand access to justice by automating research, contract review, litigation support, and predictive analytics. However, these benefits come with significant ethical, regulatory, and procedural challenges, including competency concerns and AI “hallucinations,” data confidentiality risks, algorithmic bias, and the environmental impact of AI-driven computing. This Note critically examines the evolving role of AI in legal practice and evaluates the inadequacies of existing regulatory frameworks—such as Rule 11 of the Federal …

Sticks And Blackstone: Regulatory Takings And The Definition Of Property, Maryann Herman

West Virginia Law Review

When private property is subject to regulation, courts sometimes find that it effects a taking requiring just compensation under the U.S. Constitution. This Article explains that what is deemed a regulatory taking can depend on the definition of property the court applies. There are two predominant ways property is defined: either as a bundle of rights or as a person’s dominion over a thing. The bundle of rights, or bundle of sticks, definition conceives of property as a collection of various, discrete rights held by a property owner and others in relation to a thing. These rights can be disaggregated …

Practical Reason In The Portfolio Economy: Accept: Amend, Or Abandon, The Flsa?, Kevin Frazier

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Behind The Suit: How Recovering A Biblical Worldview And Implementing Spiritual Formation Practices Can Improve The Mental Health Crisis In The Legal Profession, Makayla G. Johnson

Senior Honors Theses

A Biblical worldview is the foundation upon which the United States government and legal system is built, however in recent years the understanding of a Biblical Worldview has been in decline. This shift has had a profound impact on the legal field, causing a loss of purpose and meaning in the profession, which research asserts has in part caused many mental health issues found in the legal field. With this in mind, the following study will include information regarding the extent to which the implementation of spiritual formation practices, when practiced specifically by those in the legal profession, could impact …

Corporate Fiduciary Duties And The Climate And Biodiversity Crisis, Eric W. Orts, Sandra G. Schafhäutle

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

This Article argues that addressing one of the most urgent environmental challenges facing humanity today—the global climate and biodiversity crisis—calls for a transformation at the heart of corporate law: its fiduciary duties. After demonstrating how current corporate fiduciary duties are implicated in this crisis, we argue for reform of fiduciary duties operating at two levels: those governing directors and officers of business corporations, and those governing institutional investors and asset managers. We then distinguish between two general kinds of corporate fiduciary duties: permissive and mandatory. We contend that corporate law should accommodate a more expansive understanding of fiduciary duties by …

The Energy And Environmental Footprint Of Ai, Michael P. Vandenbergh, Ethan I. Thorpe, Jonathan M. Gilligan

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to create major economic and social benefits, but also to rapidly escalate electricity demand and its associated environmental impacts. Information availability has been a cornerstone of environmental law for half a century, and this Article argues that providing information to individual, corporate, and other users about the electricity demand and environmental impacts of AI can reduce those impacts without delaying development of the technology. Little is known about how different large language models (LLMs) compare on these metrics, though. To address whether users have access to the information necessary to address this shortcoming, the …

Four Decades, No Progress: Time For A Columbia River Basin Compact, Liesl L. Bogaard

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

Since the Power Act’s passage in 1980, the government entities who develop and implement energy policy in the Pacific Northwest have operated under a congressional mandate to protect fish and wildlife in the Columbia River Basin. However, nearly half a century later, the number of wild salmon and steelhead returning to their native spawning grounds is still in decline, largely due to dam operations in the Columbia and its tributaries. This Note examines the history of hydroelectric power generation in the Columbia River Basin and its impact on fish populations, drawing parallels between the environmental crisis in the Columbia River …

Owning Geothermal Energy, Gabriel Eckstein

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

Geothermal energy holds vast potential for decarbonizing the U.S. energy system, yet the sector remains significantly underdeveloped, supplying only 0.4% of the nation's electricity. A principal barrier to growth is the fragmented and ambiguous legal landscape currently governing ownership of geothermal resources: thirty-three states lack any clear statutory or common-law framework identifying who owns subsurface thermal energy. This Article examines the physical characteristics of geothermal energy, recent developments in the U.S. geothermal sector, and the principal doctrinal approaches that might govern ownership of subsurface heat, including the ad coelum doctrine, common-pool and open-access frameworks, the rule of capture, and public …

Reconsidering The Take It Down Act, Cate Thorpe

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

In the past decade, there has been an increase in digital forgeries leading to the phenomena many have called “revenge porn.” This form of Nonconsensual Intimate Imagery (NCII) has been facilitated by AI-models that allow users to create false images or videos of someone’s likeness, often referred to as deepfakes. In an attempt to combat the dissemination of such forged NCIIs, Congress enacted the TAKE IT DOWN Act. The Act institutes a notice-and-removal procedure for victims to request the removal of  NCIIs depicting their likeness on covered platforms. While the TAKE IT DOWN Act sufficiently addresses some concerns, certain aspects …

Fluctuating Hallucinations: On The Boundaries Of Immigration Judges’ Discretion In The Determination Of Asylum Based On Political Opinions, Yan Zhang

Immigration Law Blog

This article examines the enigmatic nature and blurred boundaries of the discretionary power exercised by immigration judges in asylum cases, highlighting how the scope of such discretion—whether broad or narrow—proves decisive for the applicants and their families. Through a comparative analysis of specific cases, the article underscores the critical importance of immigration judges seeking to discern and follow the true intent of the law—specifically, by deeply understanding and defining the threshold of “persecution,” delineating the boundaries of “political opinion,” and appropriately weighing and prioritizing immigration policies within their specific historical contexts. Furthermore, it is essential that judges conduct a comprehensive …

Mobility Without Retention: Reforming The Compact Of Free Association To Address Human Capital Flight, Ellery Miller, Porter O'Reilly

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

In the aftermath of United States nuclear testing in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), which rendered several atolls uninhabitable, the country now confronts a different threat: sustained human capital flight. To compensate the RMI for nuclear damages, the United States signed into law the Compact of Free Association (COFA), a treaty structured around three core commitments: (1) defense and security, (2) economic assistance, and (3) unrestricted migration rights. Under COFA, Marshallese citizens may live and work in the United States without a visa, which has resulted in large-scale outmigration of the working-age and educated population. This Note argues …