Digital Commons Network^™

Deep Seabed Mining And The Law Of The Sea: Strategic Competition, Institutional Failure, And The Third Age, Michael W. Lodge

International Law Studies

Edited and annotated speech by Michael Lodge, former Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority (2017–2024), delivered at the U.S. Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island, on March 11, 2026.

"People" Not "Persons": Noncitizens And The Fourth Amendment, Juan Caballero

Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review

American history is littered with threats and attempts at mass deportation. The Trump administration’s announced policy of mass deportations is the most recent manifestation of such a policy and one that perhaps poses an unprecedented threat to the rights and liberties of noncitizen communities. The administration’s aggressive rhetoric, militarized border policy, and embrace of new technology together portend a new era of surveillance and control over noncitizen communities. This threatens to supercharge previous and ongoing surveillance efforts within the immigration enforcement paradigm, such as the Department of Homeland Security's Alternatives to Detention (“ATD”) program. These programs place participants under a …

Probable Cause Deportation, Dorien Ediger-Seto

Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review

Immigrants increasingly face deportation and visa denials due to dismissed charges and unverified reports. Unlike the more commonly discussed conviction-based grounds of inadmissibility and removability, the reason-to-believe class of inadmissibility grounds require no conviction, or even admission of guilt, to trigger immigration consequences. They simply require that the Attorney General or

Department of Homeland Security have a “reason-to-believe” that certain types of criminal activity have occurred: a low evidentiary standard, often equated to probable cause. In these cases, just the allegation of certain crimes—supported by anything from an unverified Border Patrol report that drugs were found in a noncitizen’s car …

Paying Dividends: An Empirical Examination Of How Student Compensation Enhances Externships, Neha Lall

Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review

Externships provide impactful experiential education opportunities that enable law students to acquire the skills, networks, and self-awareness they need to launch their legal careers. Since 2016, the American Bar Association (“ABA”) has allowed students to receive compensation in addition to credit in field placement courses. Despite the increasing popularity of paid externships, questions linger about whether law schools can maintain high quality learning experiences when students are on the placement’s payroll. In the first empirical examination of its kind, this Article analyzes a carefully curated four-year dataset detailing externship program enrollment, evaluation, and student demographic data from one school, The …

The Colorado River Water Supply Crisis In A Few Graphs: Part 1, Jack Schmidt, Anne Castle, Eric Kuhn, Kathryn Sorensen, Katherine Tara

The Traveling Wilburys of the Colorado River

In 2026 and for only the third time in the 21st century, there was no accumulation, and no recovery, of total Basin live storage6 during the snowmelt season. Nor was there any accumulation or recovery of total live storage in Lake Powell and Lake Mead during the 2026 snowmelt season. Total Basin live storage (hereafter, total Basin storage) is all the water available in the Colorado River Basin’s reservoir “savings account” and stored in reservoirs within the watershed.7 On June 1, total Basin storage was 22.94 million acre feet (maf), only 1.62 maf above the previous minimum of March 20238 …

Rbr Management, Llc V. Eighth Judicial District Court [State Of Nevada], 142 Nev., Adv. Op. 44 (June 18, 2026), Erika Loveland

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Emergency medical service providers and ambulances are not "provider[s] of health care" under NRS 41A.017, so claims against them are not professional negligence claims and require no expert affidavit.

An Analysis Of Human Trafficking In Alabama, Kimberly Abrams

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this analysis is to gain a thorough understanding of human trafficking in the Alabama. The illegal issue of this analysis is for those who lack a sense of human trafficking, which surrounds the communities where they reside. The theory guiding this study is due to the complexity of the issue globally around the world as it explains the causes of human trafficking amongst victims, which include those who experience poverty, lack of access to job opportunities, natural disasters, and lack of legal protection for immigrants. Additionally, the purpose of this dissertation is to provide insights into the …

The Impact Of Modern Police Equipment And Training On Reported Anxiety And Depression Of Police Officers, Matthew Roy Burford

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This quantitative study investigated the relationships among law enforcement officers’ access to modern equipment, their confidence in their training, and their reported levels of anxiety and depression. The study also tested whether confidence in training moderated the association between equipment and mental health outcomes. Mental health symptoms were measured using the Beck Depression Inventory (Beck et al., 1961) and the Beck Anxiety Inventory (Beck et al., 1988). Two researchers-developed instruments to assess officers’ perceived adequacy of their equipment and confidence in their training. Participants were recruited from law enforcement agencies across the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and data were collected through …

Rebuilding The Foundation: A Discussion On Affirmative Action And Its Role In Improving Our Education System, Jacinda Thermidor

Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development

(Excerpt)

For a long time, affirmative action policies have been fixated on race and gender. Justifiably so, since both define historically marginalized groups that still need explicit federal protections to ensure that people in these groups move through economic and educational spaces effectively and safely. Legislators have attempted to meet this need for protection by explicitly naming race and gender as protected classes in anti-discrimination laws. However, legislators have overlooked a factor that not only is the underlying issue behind inequities in education but can help achieve the goals that Supreme Court Justices and legislators had in mind—this factor is …

Should I Supersede Or Should I Go: Individual Protection And Private Company Interests In Implementing A Federal Biometric Privacy Law, Jessica Oshanani

Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development

(Excerpt)

Section I of this Note will define and discuss biometrics. Section II will discuss key biometrics legislation and Section III will explain the impact of BIPA on other state biometric privacy laws.

Next, Section IV will explain the impact of biometric privacy violations and separate controlling state laws on individuals, while Section V will explain the impact of biometric data laws on private companies.

Section VI will identify potential federal laws on the horizon, then Section VII will explain the concept and application of preemption.

Finally, Section VIII will discuss the benefits of administrative agency overview, and Section IX …

The Cruelty Is The Point: How The Extreme Psychological Effects And Punitive Ineffectiveness Of Solitary Confinement Culminate In An Unconstitutionally Disproportionate Punishment, Zachary Bosak

Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development

(Excerpt)

This Note will propose that solitary confinement can be wholly abolished under the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution. This Amendment provides in full that “[e]xcessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” When taken in a broad, isolated sense, the meaning of and purpose behind this Amendment are straightforward and uncontroversial; the founders meant to protect Americans from “methods of punishment” considered unreasonably severe and inhumane. However, when one attempts to place this Amendment within the context of a legal issue, its clarity erodes, and questions arise as to its applicability. …

Masthead

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

No abstract provided.

Foreword, Grace Perez

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

No abstract provided.

A.A. V. J.M.: The Virginia Court Of Appeals Excludes A Whole Class Of Prospective Adoptive Parents, Paul A. Dryer

Liberty University Law Review

A set of “bad facts” ultimately led to undesirable legal precedent and unintended consequences with respect to the “power to render” adoptions in Virginia. In 2019, Baby Doe was left orphaned in Afghanistan after her parents were killed as a result of military operations in the country. After Baby Doe was taken to the U.S. Bagram Air Force Base for treatment, Joshua Mast (J.M.)—a member of the Marine Corps Judge Advocate—attempted to obtain custody of Baby Doe out of fear for the adequacy of medical care if she were to remain in Afghanistan. J.M. and his wife petitioned the Fluvanna …

And Scene: Cross-Border Torts And The “Last Act” Under Virginia’S Lex Loci Delicti Rule, Wesley A. Vorberger

Liberty University Law Review

How does a court go about determining which jurisdiction’s substantive law applies to the parties in a particular dispute? Usually, the resolution of this question is straightforward: if the parties are from one jurisdiction and the event giving rise to the lawsuit occurred entirely within that jurisdiction, then that jurisdiction’s substantive law applies. However, when the parties are domiciled in one state, but the entirety of the liability-producing event occurred in another state (i.e., a multi-state tort), courts will apply one of several approaches to determine which substantive law applies. Some courts apply a flexible approach that evaluates the factual …

Timing Isn’T Everything: Rethinking The Intersection Of Virginia Standing Doctrine, Bankruptcy Law, And Virginia’S Statute Of Limitations Applicable To Personal Injury Causes Of Action, Joshua B. Davis

Liberty University Law Review

This Article posits that the interaction between Virginia standing doctrine, bankruptcy law, and Virginia’s two-year statute of limitations applicable to personal injury causes of action creates a timing issue that can lead to harsh and unnecessary consequences for certain plaintiffs. Under the Supreme Court of Virginia’s decisions in Kocher v. Campbell and Eye Consultants of Northern Virginia, P.C. v. Shaw-McDonald, the continued viability of a plaintiff’s personal injury cause of action can depend entirely on whether the plaintiff—who mistakenly fails to properly claim the personal injury claim as exempt on the bankruptcy schedules—files for bankruptcy before or after filing …

Perceptions Of Legitimacy In Three Forms Of Probation Supervision For People With Serious Mental Illness, Sophia Sarantakos, Emily Claypool

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"In the context of criminal-legal community supervision, standard and specialized probation officers are often tasked with coordinating services for adults diagnosed with serious mental illness (SMI) on their caseloads. The coordination of services varies across different programs including traditional probation, specialty probation, and mental health court. Given the proliferation of programs focused on mental health in the criminal-legal system, the perspectives of front-line workers or street-level bureaucrats in criminal-legal agencies are a rich source of information about what is happening on the ground and could provide insights into the potential translational barriers of policy to practice. A deeper examination of …

From Acrimony To Forgiveness: How Adolescents Make Sense Of Childhood Maltreatment, Katherine Irwin

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"This paper examines 16 adolescents’ narratives about the abuse they experienced during childhood. To date, most research examining child abuse (CA) survivorship and recovery has been conducted with adults who look back on their early experiences. Consequently, this study fills gaps in our knowledge by offering a youth-centered view of survivors’ efforts to cope with CA. The data come from a 12-year qualitative study of a group counseling program for high school students in Hawaiʻi. The findings revealed that a minority (n = 2) of the teens had negative views of their lives and futures, while the majority (n = …

A Content Analysis Of The Sutherland Address, 2001-22: A Qualitative Exploration, Phillip Shon

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Previous indicators of scholarly influence have been primarily quantitative, measuring a scholar’s influence through citation counts. This body of literature has overlooked the reflections of distinguished scholars, such as the recipients of the Sutherland Award, in the discipline as a form of scholarly influence. The current paper examines the Sutherland Address from 2001 to 2022. The key findings indicate that the majority of Sutherland Addresses reproduced existing sociological canons, while a minority of Sutherland Award winners explicitly rejected Sutherland’s sociological assumptions and their influence on criminology. Such findings suggest that Sutherland exerts a hidden influence on the recipients of the …

A Qualitative Analysis Of Gender Inequality In Southeast Missouri Law Enforcement Agencies, Madeline Marie Whistler, Christopher Bradley, H. Hamner Hill

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Does gender inequality impact the careers of female law enforcement officers in the Southeast Missouri region? Using a qualitative single instrumental case study, seven cis-gendered female law enforcement officers who were employed at local law enforcement agencies within the Southeast Missouri region were interviewed to investigate the central research question. Four themes emerged from the data that illustrated their experiences: sexual exploitation and harassment, a lack of work-life balance, the presence of gender stereotypes, and patriarchal hierarchy and male dominance in the workplace. The findings suggest that the experiences of female law enforcement officers are heavily impacted by the behavior …

A Plea For Open Access To Qualitative Criminology: With A Python Script For Anonymizing Data And Illustrative Analysis Of Error Rates, Scott Jaques, Andrew Wheeler

Qualitative Criminology (QC)

"Qualitative researchers are expected, sometimes required, to publish their data open access (OA). This is for the sake of science, impact, and social justice. Yet, understandably, qualitative criminologists are worried about what this means for their workload and their ability to protect subjects’ confidentiality. To be solutions-oriented, we developed an open-source Python script for anonymizing qualitative data. It uses named-entity recognition and fuzzy-rule based merging to identify and replace personally identifiable information (PII) with unique pseudonyms. This tool doesn’t eliminate the need for manual work, but it reduces the cost and associated risk. In this article, we describe and explain …

Ndls Communicator: Week Of 06.15.26, Notre Dame Law School

NDLS Communicator

The Latest News

• Notre Dame Law School Announces Top Academic Awards for the Class of 2026
• Global Visiting Professors Enrich Scholarship and Community at Notre Dame Law School

Student News

• Joseph Reilly receives Lardy Scholarship Award for 2026-27
• Notre Dame J.S.D. Candidates Present at the 2026 J.S.D. Roundtable hosted by the American University Washington College of Law

Faculty Briefs

• Bruce Huber
• Fr. Pat Reidy
• Pattrick Corrigan
• Haley Proctor
• Paul Miller
• Jimmy Gurulé
• Paolo Carozza
• Carter Snead
• Nicole Stelle Garnett
• A.J. Bellia
• Roger Alford
• Derek Muller
• Msgr. John Paul Kimes
• Diane Desierto
• Rick Garnett
• Yan Yu
• Vincent Philip Muñoz

ND Law …

International Law Situations: Internment Of Belligerent Forces, Raul (Pete) Pedrozo

International Law Studies

This Situation examines the duty of neutral States to detain belligerent warships, their officers, and crews during an international armed conflict. At the outset of the armed conflict between the United States and Iran, Iranian warships sought refuge in India and Sri Lanka following the sinking of the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena. India and Sri Lanka, as neutrals, have a duty to detain those warships and their officers and crews for the duration of the armed conflict and take appropriate measures to render the ships and their personnel incapable of taking to sea during the conflict.

Humanitarianism Through Alan Kurdi Photograph: A Discourse Of Governing Suffering, Nada Mahmoud

Theses and Dissertations

Humanitarianism has become one of the powerful languages of modern times, in which compassion, ethics, and moral obligations are mediated to alleviate suffering. This thesis investigates humanitarianism not exclusively on the basis of its moral sentiments but on its functioning as a system of power that governs people’s conduct. It examines how different technologies of power feed into the operationalization of humanitarianism to transform it into a system for governing suffering. By decoding the elements of its power, the thesis aims to understand humanitarian reason through the humanitarian loop, from generating knowledge, categorization and representation, to the legal and normative …

How Disability Inclusion Shapes Student Experiences In Egyptian Public Universities, Ramez Maher

Theses and Dissertations

The inclusion of students with disabilities in higher education is a critical aspect of equity, social justice, and human rights, particularly in Egypt, where systemic barriers continue to hinder access to education for this demographic. Despite the enrollment of approximately 19.4 million students in 2018, only 38,135 students with disabilities were admitted, highlighting the significant challenges they face in accessing higher education.   Through a qualitative approach employing reflexive thematic analysis, this study explores the interplay of institutional policies, cultural attitudes, and accessibility challenges that affect the educational experiences of students with disabilities in Egyptian public universities. The analysis of 21 …

Felony Murder: What Courts Ignore In Ohio Rev. Code § 2903.02(B), Richard S. Walinski

Et Cetera

Ohio has two levels of felony murder. One is aggravated felony murder, 2903.01(b). It is an approximate equivalent of the common-law felony-murder rule. The other is a felony-murder rule for the lesser offence of simple murder, 2903.02(B). In felony-murder cases prosecuted under Ohio Revised Code § 2903.02(B), the nearly universal practice among the lower courts in Ohio is to ignore certain explicit text in the statute.

To warrant a conviction, 2903.02(B) requires that death have occurred as a proximate result of the defendant’s having committed or having attempted to commit one of many predicate offenses that the General Assembly labeled …

Correcting A Carry-On Conundrum: A Proposal To Expand The Dot’S Ability To Regulate Unfair And Deceptive Practices In The Airline Industry, Antonio Linek

Et Cetera

This Note examines the Department of Transportation’s attempt to regulate airline ancillary fees through 89 F.R. 34620. The Rule required airlines to disclose certain ancillary fees in an obvious manner, early on in the booking process. Airlines for America challenged the Rule in the Fifth Circuit in Airlines for Am. v. Dep’t of Transp. The court held that 49 U.S.C. § 41712 allows the DOT to prohibit unfair and deceptive practices, but not to impose prescriptive rules. This holding conflicts with older Seventh Circuit authority approving similar agency action, creating a circuit split. This Note argues that the Fifth …

A Lawyer’S Responsibility To The Rule Of Law, Joseph Mead

Et Cetera

The American legal system faces a growing crisis as the gap between vested rights and judicial remedies expands. Attacks on the legal profession deter lawyers from taking on lawsuits challenging the federal government, potentially expanding the gap between right and remedy. This essay describes how the legal profession has responded to this moment and urges attorneys to renew their commitment to the rule of law.

The Unspoken And The Unseen: An Analysis Of Victim Gender And Linguistic Framing Of Sexual Assault In Judicial Discourse, Sarnika Ali

Quantitative Social Science Undergraduate Senior Theses

Sexual assault is a profound legal and social crisis. However, it is also fundamentally a linguistic one. The words used, or conspicuously not used, to describe victims, perpetrators, and their actions are not neutral arbiters of fact. They are powerful mechanisms that shape perceptions of harm, attributions of blame, and assignments of credibility. The central battleground for survivors is credibility, and while a “credibility discount” is often applied to female victims, the male victim is rendered nearly invisible. This research is therefore guided by one central, overarching question: how does a sexual assault victim’s gender influence the judicial language used, …

The Difficulties Of Property Development, A. Amrani

Revue Marocaine de Droit, d'Economie et de Gestion (Moroccan Journal of Law, Economics and Management)

This paper presents the difficulties encountered by the Compagnie Générale Immobilière (CGI) in the real estate sector. These challenges risk seriously compromising its mission to facilitate home ownership for low and middle-income groups. The nature and complexity of factors involved in property development are diverse: technical, land-related, financial, legislative, regulatory, and socio-economic. Housing prices are rising sharply and continuously while purchasing power evolves very slowly or stagnates. Housing affordability is increasingly out of reach for low and middle-income categories. This price increase is explained partly by the evolution of housing price components and partly by the requirements of local authorities …