Digital Commons Network^™

The Normative Canons Of Criminal Law, Brian G. Slocum

Vanderbilt Law Review

The rule of lenity is an ancient maxim directing that ambiguities in criminal statutes be interpreted in favor of defendants. Courts rarely rely on the rule of lenity, though, and its future is currently being debated. Justice Kavanaugh argues for its elimination, even as Justice Gorsuch argues for it to be strengthened. Most commentators agree with Justice Gorsuch, typically advocating that the rule of lenity be made more powerful. This Article argues for a different approach: The rule of lenity can be strengthened by limiting it to resolving linguistic ambiguity. 

This Article explains why the rule of lenity plays an …

Weird Cops (Agency Police), Farhang Heydari

Vanderbilt Law Review

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 …

Marine Spatial Planning In The Asean Countries: Lesson Learned For Future Ocean Governance In Malaysia, Husni Alhan Md Salimun, Mohd Fadzil Akhir, Nazli Aziz, Che Din Mohd Safuan, Wan Izatul Asma Wan Talaat

Journal of Environmental Science and Sustainable Development

Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) has emerged as an important governance instrument for balancing ecological protection, economic development, and social inclusion amid the rapidly intensifying blue economy in Southeast Asia. Although several ASEAN Member States (AMS) have initiated MSP processes, the existing literature on MSP governance in this region  remains fragmented and largely descriptive, limiting systematic cross-country comparison and evidence-based lessons. This study addresses this gap by assessing MSP governance performance across ASEAN countries and againts internationally recognized MSP governance benchmarks. A structured narrative review was conducted using selected PRISMA-informed procedures for literature identification and screening. Academic publications from 2003 to …

Buffeted By Change, Researchers Seek Continuity And Investment: Results From The Ithaka S+R Us Researcher Survey, Chelsea Mccracken, Dylan Ruediger, Ruby Macdougall

Copyright, Fair Use, Scholarly Communication, etc.

Executive summary

The research enterprise in the United States, established after the second world war, is experiencing massive disruption. US colleges and universities are grappling with federal and state disinvestment and intervention at a time when AI and other technologies are reshaping how research is conducted and its findings are communicated. As a result, researchers at US higher education institutions are operating in an unstable environment. Against this backdrop, the findings from our survey of 4,003 researchers, fielded in late 2025, demonstrate that they remain committed to carrying out essential work and that they are doing so in innovative ways—through …

Good Governance In The Concept Of Climate Justice: Decarbonisation Policies In Economic Considerations Of Losses And Sacrifices, Daryanti Daryanti, Albertus Sentot Sudarwanto, Erna Dyah Kusumawati, Rosita Candrakirana

Journal of Environmental Science and Sustainable Development

Projections of losses resulting from the impacts of climate change in Indonesia are estimated to reach USD 30.5 million, affecting four key sectors: agriculture, water supply, health, and the maritime sector. This study shows that good governance based on climate justice in the implementation of decarbonization policies is the most important factor in avoiding long-term economic losses caused by the adverse impacts of climate change or investing in climate resilience. This study employed a normative methodology using a statutory approach to examine efforts related to climate change mitigation and adaptation. The findings of this research indicate that regulations in Indonesia, …

Digital Media And Its Effect On Domestic And International Copyright, Jasmine Martin

Latin American & Caribbean Law Review

This article explores the history of modern copyright law and identifies the pitfalls of a legal framework built around physical media, such as the doctrines of first sale and fair use. As markets have shifted to digital distribution, these doctrines have been weakened or displaced by licensing regimes that redefine ownership as limited access. The article argues that this transition has systematically eroded consumer rights, allowing copyright holders to impose restrictions through contracts and technological controls that bypass traditional protections.

Invisible Empires: Transnational Illicit Trade & The Global Threat To Law And Justice, Víctor Hugo Guerra Hernández

Latin American & Caribbean Law Review

Transnational illicit trade has evolved beyond the mere economic and individual concerns of public or private sectors isolated. It now poses a profound threat to the integrity of democratic institutions, the rule of law, and global justice systems. This article explores the intricate links between illicit international trade and transnational organized crime within the concepts of a postmodern State. The article demonstrates how these criminal and clandestine networks undermine state sovereignty, fuel corruption and international briberies, and erode public trust. By analyzing the legal, political, and socio-economic dimensions of illicit markets, from old fashioned contraband activities to modern trafficking of …

Illegal And Informal Mining And The Violation Of Fundamental Rights: The Peruvian Case, Carla Mares Ruíz

Latin American & Caribbean Law Review

This article critically examines the impact of illegal and informal mining in Peru and its relationship with the violation of fundamental rights, with particular emphasis on the rights to health, a healthy environment, and effective judicial protection. It also examines the regulatory evolution of the formalization process for artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM), placing special emphasis on the resounding failure of these laws and the perverse effects of the continuous extension of REINFO (Comprehensive Registry of Mining Formalization), particularly with regard to the expansion of ilegalmining and the promotion of impunity. The paper also explores the environmental, social, and criminal …

Algorithmic Law In Contemporary Brazil: From Cyber-Libertarianism To Constitutional Rights, Pedro Rubim Borges Fortes

Latin American & Caribbean Law Review

This article provides a reflection of Brazilian algorithmic law, exploring how law regulates algorithms by defining prohibitions, permissions, standards, and rights in contemporary Brazil. Importantly, the concept of “algorithmic law” implies a normative idea, that is, that law should regulate algorithms, defining prohibitions, permissions, standards, and rights. This study examines the ideological transformation of law and technology, as Brazilian society moved from a libertarian approach to a perspective of establishing protective legislation, regulation, and constitutional rights to technology users. It explains the ‘Civil Rights Framework for the Internet.’ the ‘General Data Protection Law,’ the legislative project of an Artificial Intelligence …

2026 Annual Justice Festival Program, Caudill College Of Arts, Humanities, And Social Sciences

Justice Festival at Morehead State University

The program for the 6th Annual Justice Festival held on October 6, 2026 on the campus of Morehead State University.

The Colorado River Upper Initial Units Take Center Stage, Eric Kuhn, Anne Castle, Jack Schmidt, Kathryn Sorensen, Katherine Tara

The Traveling Wilburys of the Colorado River

In 1956, Congress authorized the Upper Initial Units—Flaming Gorge Reservoir,

Navajo Reservoir, and the Aspinall Unit (UIUs)—for a variety of water use

purposes in the Upper Colorado River Basin, including compliance with the

1922 Colorado River Compact (1922 Compact). The historical record is clear

that the primary reason these reservoirs exist is to satisfy the math of the 1922

Compact and the obligations it imposed on the Upper Division States

regarding flows at Lee Ferry.

Victim Behaviour And Phone Snatching In Kano Metropolis: A Literature Review Based On Victim Precipitation Theory, Mu'azu Ya'u Abdullahi

African Journal of Criminology and Justice Studies

This paper reviews studies on the problem of phone snatching in Kano Metropolis, with focus on the behaviour of victims. Many studies have explained the crime by linking it to poverty, unemployment, and weak policing among others. However, less attention has been given to how people’s everyday actions may increase their risk. Using Victim Precipitation Theory, this review shows that behaviours such as openly displaying phones, walking alone in unsafe places, or using phones while distracted create easy chances for offenders. The review also notes that wider issues, such as poor street lighting and active black markets, combine with victim …

Tech Oligarchs And Corporate Vigilantism, Joao Marinotti, Asaf Lubin

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Big Tech’s unchecked power has evolved from a regulatory crisis into one concerning the rule of law itself. Shielded by the First Amendment, Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, corporate law, and contract law, technology giants have circumvented traditional government oversight, amassing a level of power that eclipses even that of some sovereign states. No longer guided by cautious boards of directors, today’s tech empires are often ruled by impulsive billionaire CEOs, who, through a single policy change or algorithmic tweak, can upend individual rights, destabilize global markets, and erode democratic governance itself.

The scale of such dangers …

Student Perceptions Of Artificial Intelligence-Generated Child Sexual Abuse Material: A Qualitative Content Analysis, Paige Horton, Amanda Isabel Osuna

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

The rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI), especially generative AI and deepfake technology, has introduced new challenges in the production and dissemination of child sexual abuse material (CSAM). While existing research has examined the technological and legal implications of AI-generated child sexual abuse material, less is known about how the public, especially young adults who are most likely to use AI technologies, perceive these developments. The present study addresses this gap by examining undergraduate student perceptions of AI-generated child sexual abuse material at a medium-sized private university in the Southeastern United States. Using data from a Qualtrics survey, this study …

Empire By Gaslight, Christina D. Ponsa-Kraus

Faculty Scholarship

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 …

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 …

Legal Scapegoating Of Transgender People, Democratic Vulnerability, And The Problem Of Judicial Blinders, Suzanne B. Goldberg

Faculty Scholarship

Over the past decade, lawmakers have proposed an extraordinary number of restrictions on transgender people across nearly every area of public and private life — bathrooms, health care, athletics, education, identity documents, military service, prisons, and more. This Article argues that these measures are best understood as legal scapegoating, meaning the use of law to galvanize public discomfort and hostility toward a targeted group. While demagogic rhetoric can also galvanize those reactions, the concrete restrictions of a legal scapegoating effort raise two further risks, one for democratic governance and the other for judicial review. First, legal scapegoating normalizes government’s use …

Source & Solidarity, Sari Mazzurco

Michigan Law Review

Trademark law has become the new frontier of unionbusting. Companies like Trader Joe’s, Starbucks, and Medieval Times have brought unprecedented suits against their employee unions for trademark infringement in relation to their organizing activities. This sort of litigation puts courts in the difficult position of reconciling trademark protection with unionization rights. Their attempts to apply standard trademark doctrines in this context reveal a deeper problem: Current trademark law is incoherent when applied to labor unions.

This incoherence stems from a disconnect between current trademark law and the original purpose behind its application to labor unions. This Article recovers that basis …

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 …

Fabricating The Crime Of Undocumented Presence, Eric S. Fish, Doug Keller

Fordham Law Review

In 2025, the Trump administration’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) declared that it is a federal crime simply to be an undocumented immigrant. Congress has enacted no such crime. Congress has made it a crime for an immigrant to enter the United States in a manner that “eludes examination or inspection.” For nearly 100 years, this “elude” offense has been understood to occur only at the moment an immigrant enters the country. But the Trump administration’s OLC has reinterpreted this crime as a continuing offense. Under this new reading, an immigrant who entered unlawfully eludes examination until the moment of …

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 …

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 …

What Can States Teach? The Right To Education After Mahmoud, Will Simon

Fordham Law Review

In the summer of 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court set new limits on what public schools could require students to learn. Mahmoud v. Taylor pitted a school district interested in promoting pluralism against religious parents who wished to withdraw their children from classroom instruction that promoted celebration and acceptance of LGBTQ+ people. The Court found a violation of those parents’ constitutional right to freely exercise their religion, which both expanded the control parents can exert over their child’s public school education and increased the likelihood of similar claims going forward. As federal courts hear this newly expanded set of First …

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 …

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 …

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.

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.

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