Digital Commons Network^™

Who’S The Lawyer Now? Professional Identity In A Genai World, Aric K. Short

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

Conviction, Character, Courage: The Case For Integrating Values Into The Professional Identity Formation Of Tomorrow's Lawyer-Leaders, Katya S. Cronin

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

Moral Virtues, Professional Identity, And Leadership, Timothy W. Floyd

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

The Large Impact Of Small Groups On The Character-Based Leadership Development Of Law Students, Benjamin Rigney, Janice Craft

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

Deporting Disability, Tania Valdez

Faculty Publications

Since the enactment of the earliest migration laws in the United States, people with disabilities have been targeted for exclusion and expulsion based on stereotypes that they are either dangerous or not productive. Although some of the pejorative language regarding disability in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) has changed over time, certain statutory provisions and the very structure of the INA still allow ableism to operate broadly in immigration adjudications. This Article focuses on the subtle, but pervasive, ways that immigration law disfavors noncitizens with disabilities. In particular, this Article examines ableism in the context of removal (commonly known …

Kentucky's Alford Predicament: The Case For Curbing Qualified Guilty Pleas In The Commonwealth, Ben Whatley

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Deportation After Death By Incarceration: A Right To Redemption, Jennifer Lee Koh, Tin Nguyen

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The New Parens Patriae, Meredith Johnson Harbach

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Zeus Network And The Commercialization Of Conflict: A Critical Analysis Of Exploitation, Representation, And Reality Television, Delante Clark

Graduate Scholarship and Creative Works

This study examines Zeus Network as a prominent example of the commercialization of conflict within contemporary digital media. Through reality based programming that frequently emphasizes confrontation, public humiliation, emotional volatility, and interpersonal disputes, the network has cultivated a profitable entertainment model built upon spectacle and controversy. Drawing upon conflict theory, critical race theory, and media sociology, this paper investigates whether Zeus functions as a platform for cultural representation and economic opportunity or as a system that monetizes dysfunction for audience consumption. Particular attention is given to the portrayal of Black women and Black communities, whose experiences often become central to …

Stop Holding New York Workers Back: An Evaluation Of Non-Compete Agreements, Maxwell J. Nares

Seton Hall Journal of Legislation and Public Policy

No abstract provided.

A Poetic Call For And A Reflection And Commentary On Clarity, Understanding, Hope, Courage, And Compassion, Carroy U. Ferguson

Psychology Faculty Publication Series

Finding a published poem I had written as a teenager, titled “The Heavens Weep.” this article uses that poem as the basis for a commentary that reflects on the state of the world today (2026),  As a commentary, the article uses the poetic and metaphoric words in the poem as a relevant "reality check" for what is still going on today.  In essence, the commentary is about a call for Clarity, Understanding, Hope, Courage, and Compassion, or what I call Archetypal Energies, Higher Vibrational Energies that operate deep within our individual and collective psyches to creatively urge us to "see" …

Who’S The Lawyer Now? Professional Identity In A Genai World, Aric K. Short

Faculty Scholarship

This article examines how generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is reshaping the legal profession and, more fundamentally, lawyers’ professional identities. As AI systems increasingly perform tasks traditionally associated with legal practice, the article argues that technological competence and adaptability have become essential components of professional identity formation. It contends that lawyers must move beyond viewing AI as merely a tool for efficiency and instead confront the ways in which it is transforming expectations of competence, professional responsibility, and legal expertise.

The article further explores what may remain uniquely human in legal practice as AI capabilities expand. It argues that practical wisdom, …

From Understanding To Production: A Qualitative Case Study Of Instructional Alignment And Bar Examination Readiness At One Law School, Mackenzie E. Gray

Education (PhD) Dissertations

Many law students who understand the law struggle to produce it under examination conditions.This qualitative case study examined how instruction in three settings at one ABA-accredited law school (first-year doctrinal, upper-division doctrinal, and for-credit bar preparation courses) shaped students’ perceptions of their readiness for the California Bar Examination. Grounded in metacognitive transfer theory, the study drew on 18 classroom observations across six courses, semi-structured interviews with seven students and four professors, and a simulated bar examination scored against a criterion-referenced rubric, all collected during the Spring 2026 semester. Interview data were analyzed through codebook thematic analysis. Five themes resulted. Students …

Impunity: A Case Study Of Sex Trafficking In Nevada Brothel Prostitution, Christen Price

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

It is well-documented that legalization and other forms of official protection for prostitution lead to an increase in sex trafficking, including by encouraging demand for prostitution. This paper will consider the relationship between official protection, organized crime, and sex trafficking in pro-prostitution legal regimes, both historical and contemporary. Prostitution is legal in rural counties in Nevada that have fewer than 700,000 residents, if prostitution occurs within a brothel. There is significant overlap between sex trafficking and legal brothel prostitution in Nevada, as well as a nexus to corruption and organized crime, illustrating the normalization of coercion that occurs within legalized …

Disrupting Transnational Human Trafficking Networks: A Practitioner's Perspective On Intelligence-Driven, Offender-Focused Strategies, Rochelle Keyhan

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

This article examines human trafficking through the lens of organized crime and explores how this perspective can be applied to contemporary trafficking cases in the United States. While trafficking is often prosecuted as an isolated criminal act, many incidents are linked to larger transnational and domestic organized crime networks. The discussion highlights the activities of notorious syndicates, including international cartels, street gangs, and well-funded networks of sex buyers, demonstrating how these entities exploit vulnerable populations for profit. Reframing human trafficking as a sector within organized crime shifts investigative and prosecutorial strategies away from victim-dependent models, which often require survivors to …

The Confluence Of Conflict-Induced Vulnerability, Organized Crime, And Sex Trafficking In Receiving States: A South African Civil Society Perspective, Monique Emser

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

The crime-conflict nexus has been well-documented in conflict-affected and post-conflict states. Criminal networks make use of manifold methods and strategies to exploit individual and structural vulnerabilities, particularly those affected by war, displacement, and precarious migration journeys, forming the backbone of most conflict-induced trafficking ecosystems, whether in countries of origin, transit, or receipt. This article examines the intersection of sex trafficking, diaspora communities, and organized crime within South Africa as a receiving state from a civil society perspective. It underscores the deficiencies in traditional, reductionist, enforcement-based approaches to counter-trafficking by the state, where nested subsystems, such as those produced by endemic …

The Nature Of Human Trafficking Enterprises: Analysis Of U.S. And International Prosecutions--And The Path Forward, Jay Albanese

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

The primary objective of this research is to develop a description and typology of the nature of serious cases of human trafficking and how traffickers, their victims, and consumers (the demand) overlap and interact across locations. This study examines known human trafficking enterprises for which sufficient evidence has been obtained to result in prosecution. These are also serious cases because US federal and international prosecutions result when the offenses are interstate or international in scope. Using a sample of US cases prosecuted over three calendar years (2021-2024), combined with an international sample of cases, an effort is made to develop …

Sex Buying, Sex Trafficking, And Organized Crime: Introduction To A Special Issue, Marcel Van Der Watt, John A. Winterdyk

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Disrupting The Bonded Economy Of Sex Buying, Sex Trafficking, And Organised Crime Through Policy Change, Dellene Clark

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Emerging criminological research underscores how the economic drivers of trafficking for sexual exploitation reinforce organised criminal markets while reproducing the structural vulnerabilities of those in prostitution. Using South Africa as a case study, this article argues that evidence-based legislative reform is necessary to confront the systemic conditions that enable exploitation. It contends that achieving substantive equality requires recognising the criminogenic role of sex‑buyer demand in sustaining trafficking pipelines and criminal profitability. The Swedish/Nordic demand‑reduction model illustrates how asymmetrical criminalisation can suppress demand, reduce reliance on trafficked persons, and diminish the financial incentives that underpin organised crime. Such an approach reorients …

Behind The Screen: Online Sex Buyer Networks And The Organized Criminal Promotion Of Exploitation, Ava Kamdem, Vanessa Bouché, Ben Silver, Nick Freeman, Justin Euteneier

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

This study investigates the extent to which online sex buyer communities in the United States function as organized criminal networks pursuant to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime’s definition of organized criminal groups. Drawing from theories of organized crime, social network analysis, and digital ecosystems, we conceptualize sex buyers not as isolated actors but as participants in coordinated, mutually reinforcing networks that share information to facilitate exploitation, mitigate risk, and sustain criminal behavior. To test this framework, we scraped over 1.2 million posts from a publicly accessible sex buyer forum, comprising 72,974 unique users and nearly 800,000 direct …

Higher Education And Resilience: An Exploration Of Sexual Misconduct Survivors' Lived Experiences And The Impact On Their Educational Journey, Patricia Denise Williams

Theses & Dissertations

HIGHER EDUCATION AND RESILIENCE: AN EXPLORATION OF SEXUAL

MISCONDUCT SURVIVORS’ LIVED EXPERIENCES  AND

THE IMPACT ON THEIR EDUCATIONAL JOURNEY

Patricia Williams, PhD

University of the Incarnate Word, 2026

This study explored the lived experiences and resilience of victims/survivors of sexual misconduct while pursuing education at an Institution of Higher Learning (IHL). Students between the ages of 18 and 24 are more likely to be sexually victimized than be victims of robbery at IHLs (RAINN, n.d.). The impact of sexual misconduct can leave victims/survivors with long-term trauma, causing negative academic outcomes and a host of behavioral and emotional issues (Banyard et …

Juvenile Lifers: Adapting To Life While Doing Life, Tristin Faust

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This qualitative study examined psychosocial maturation among individuals sentenced to life imprisonment for offenses committed during adolescence. Archival interview and survey data were analyzed for 30 men who had been resentenced and released after serving an average of 31 years in prison. Findings revealed a developmental progression across four stages: pre-incarceration, initial incarceration, catalysts for change, and later incarceration. Participants described entering prison with developmental immaturity compounded by trauma, unstable home environments, educational disruption, and antisocial peer influence. Their early years of incarceration were marked by anger, fear, misconduct, and survival-oriented behavior. Over time, participants identified discrete events and ongoing …

Race, Sex, And Age Disparities In Homicide Clearance Rates In Tennessee: An Intersectional Approach, Teliyah Cobb

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Demographic factors can influence homicide solvability. This study examines the relationship between victim characteristics and homicide clearance rates in Tennessee from 2001 to 2023. Using an intersectional approach, it assesses whether victim characteristics both individually and in combination are related to case solvability. Variables of interest include: (1) victim race, age range, and sex; (2) year the case was reported; (3) crime type; (4) whether the case was cleared; and (5) the circumstances leading to clearance. A total of 11,534 homicide cases from the Tennessee Incident-Based Reporting System were analyzed.

Findings indicate that individual victim characteristics do not significantly predict …

J Mich Dent Assoc August 2026

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

Each month, the Journal of the Michigan Dental Association delivers news, information, and features about Michigan dentistry to our state's oral health community and the MDA's 6,200-plus members. It remains the main publication reaching Michigan dentists and is available worldwide through ADA Commons.

The August 2026 (Volume 108, No. 8) issue of the Journal is published in print format to provide updates and insights for Michigan's oral health community and MDA members. Print editions occur every other month beginning with January.

The August 2026 issue of the Journal of the Michigan Dental Association explores clinical, professional, legal, leadership, and public …

Piracy, Terrorism, And The Law: Differential Equations In Hostage Situations, Gabriel Hallevy

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Pirates have taken the crew of an American ship hostage. They promise to release the hostages only if another pirate who is held in an American prison for commission of piracy crimes against American citizens, is released. Should the U.S. government enter into negotiations with them? Should they send armed forces and risk the hostages? Should they release the prisoner immediately and unconditionally? The article models and analyzes possible policies regarding sensitive situations involving hostages and other related risks using differential equations. The solutions are surprisingly simple, but not necessarily intuitive. Our analysis aims to demonstrate how powerful mathematics is …

Mediation As A Mechanism For Resolving Family Disputes In Lebanon: An Analytical Study Of Current Practice And Development Prospects, Amer El Masry

BAU Journal - Journal of Legal Studies - مجلة الدراسات القانونية

This study examines the effectiveness of mediation as a mechanism for resolving family disputes in Lebanon, with a particular focus on the gap between the legal framework governing mediation and its practical application. The research addresses the extent to which mediation, in its judicial and consensual forms, can provide effective and fair solutions to family disputes within a legal system characterized by multiple personal status laws, diverse judicial authorities, and the absence of a specialized framework for family mediation. It further explores challenges related to the protection of vulnerable parties, the balance of power between disputants, institutional integration, and public …

The State’S Responsibility To Prevent And Investigate Violations Of The Right To Life In The Beirut Port Explosion, Ali Wehbi Dib

BAU Journal - Journal of Legal Studies - مجلة الدراسات القانونية

The right to life is recognised in International Human Rights Law (IHRL) as the "supreme right." It is considered a jus cogens norm, fundamental for both individuals and society as a whole. IHRL provides a general guarantee of the right to life. To effectively protect it, the state must take all feasible measures to prevent violations of the right to life and to respond to them. This includes investigating incidents and, when appropriate, prosecuting and punishing those responsible.

The Beirut Port explosion on 4 August 2020 was one of the most powerful non-nuclear explosions in history. It resulted in the …

Ethics Under Siege: The Conflict In Tigray Through The Lens Of Just War Theory, Daniela Widya Purba

Journal of Strategic and Global Studies

This research article explains the ethical principles of the conflict in Tigray based on the Just War Theory. By using the descriptive qualitative methodology, this research article draws data from secondary sources which includes; academic journals, news reports, as well as international legal instruments to analyze the moral trajectory of the conflict. This research begins with jus ad bellum, to assess Ethiopia’s government justification in declaring conflict within Tigray. While the government fulfilled the criteria of just cause and legitimate authority, the question stands on the ambiguous political intentions and the failure to enact peaceful alternatives before resulting in waging …

Paediatricians' Liability To Patients' Parents For Negligent Genetic Testing, Anthony Sangiuliano

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice has recently held that a paediatrician might owe a duty of care to a patient’s parents when performing genetic testing on the patient and communicating test results to the parents. The parents may be able to claim damages against the paediatrician for breach of this duty if, in reliance on a miscommunication about the test results, they conceive a subsequent child who is later born with a disability. I call the tort alleged by the parents in these circumstances a subspecies of “paediatric triangular torts.” In this article, I demonstrate the conceptual feasibility of …

Teaching Old Statutes New Tricks: Towards Equitable Participation In Transportation Act Section 4(F) And Nhpa Section 106, Laura Mott

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.