Digital Commons Network^™

Self-Defense Or Served Justice? Kirstin Lobato Case, April L. Wayne

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

Kirstin Lobato spent 16 years in prison for the crimes of voluntary manslaughter and sexual penetration of a dead body. The Innocence Project took on her case and helped to exonerate her in 2017. After critical evidence that was withheld during the original trial was brought forward, Lobato was retried and had her conviction reversed. She was awarded $34 million in retribution for her time in prison due to her mistrial.

Technology And Me And You: Getting Comfortable With Ai, John Lande

Faculty Publications

This short essay reflects on the author’s surprising dive into artificial intelligence (AI) despite his longstanding caution about adopting new technology. As a self-described tech-wary curmudgeon who avoids unnecessary upgrades and stays off social media, the author explores how AI – specifically, a custom-built RPS (Real Practice Systems) Negotiation and Mediation Coach – nonetheless has proved to be unexpectedly valuable.

Drawing from personal experience, the essay suggests how people can become comfortable using AI, suggesting how they can overcome hesitation and use AI productively. Rather than treating AI as a black box or magic solution, it emphasizes the importance of …

Algorithmic Bias In Hiring: Amending Title Vii To Prohibit Ai Discrimination, Michael H. Leroy

Journal of Legislation

I propose amendments to Title VII to address discriminatory hiring related to AI technologies. Section 703(c)’s definition of an “employment agency” should be modified to include “any person who uses artificial intelligence” to procure employees. I also propose a new definition in section 703 that incorporates the expansive definition of AI in 15 U.S.C. 9401(3). These small changes would make AI hiring firms more responsible for discriminatory screening and selection of job applicants, and better protect applicants who are adversely selected by sex, race, disability and other protected characteristics.

Completing Social Security: Paid Leave And The Social Security Act, Molly Weston Williamson

Journal of Legislation

The Social Security Act of 1935’s twin flagship programs, unemployment insurance and retirement benefits, each provide cash benefits to replace lost wages when income is cut off due to harms beyond our control. But the Social Security Act fails to protect workers against wage loss due to serious but temporary illness, which poses a risk to economic security that parallels job loss and old age. This missing insurance protection is better known today as paid leave.

The omission of wage loss insurance for serious illness leaves a profound gap in the Social Security Act that was recognized since the law’s …

Volume 51, Issue 2 - Full Combined Issue

Journal of Legislation

No abstract provided.

Judicial Review Of Settlements Under The Class Action Fairness Act And Deference Due To The Department Of Justice And State Attorneys General, Michael E. Solimine, Hailey E. Martin

Journal of Legislation

The Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (CAFA) makes it easier to remove consumer class actions from state to federal court and, among other things, regulates the procedure of federal court approval of settlements of those cases. CAFA requires that before any court approval or disapproval, the parties must notify the Attorney General of the United States, and the attorneys general of states where members of the class live, of the pending settlement in order to receive any objections or other input. While such notice is frequently sent, since most class action cases settle out of court, it appears that …

Historical Firearm Licensing And Permitting Laws, Robert J. Spitzer

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

No abstract provided.

Supreme Court Gives States The Green Light To Go Ham: The Dormant Commerce Clause In Renewable Energy In Light Of National Pork Producers, Ellie Carl

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

Two years ago, the Supreme Court slaughtered the Dormant Commerce Clause in its decision in National Pork Producers v. Ross. While the case is not explicitly about environmental law, it significantly affects environmental laws and policies, especially pertaining to state renewable portfolio standards. These state policies are especially prone to Dormant Commerce Clause litigation, given the interstate nature of electric grids. This paper argues that the scope of the Dormant Commerce Clause in light of this decision is appropriate for ensuring that states have adequate wiggle room in renewable energy regulation, but not an excessive amount of leeway so …

Streamlining Wildlife Regulation, Robert L. Fischman

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

A recent burst of revisions in the bedrock regulations governing projects that may adversely affect wildlife represents a generational shift in policy. Streamlining federal decision -making drove much of this reform. Streamlining offers a path to address climate change without abandoning a longstanding commitment to wildlife conservation. The conservation community recognizes the need to build new infrastructure to reduce the rate of climate change through air emissions. The most urgent priority is decarbonizing the electrical ~rid through renewable energy generation and a better transmission network. Adaptation to the "new abnormal" of climate-driven environmental disruption demands federal approvals for a host …

Lead Telecommunications Cables: A Call For Concern?, Zachary Young

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

From the late 1800s until the 1950s, telecommunication companies across the United States utilized lead casing to protect their telecommunication lines. As technology developed and different types of plastic coatings were created, telecommunication companies phased out the use of lead cables. However, the lead cables remain in the air and buried in the ground, even continuing to provide telephone service for some. The failure to remove these cables, most of which are not in use anymore, has generated a slew of issues for the modem-day telecommunication companies that have inherited these cables from their predecessors. As the protective casing decays, …

Biglaw's Race Problem, Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Anthony V. Alfieri

Articles

Ever since the 1970s when BigLaw firms began to hire Black lawyers into their associate ranks, these firms have wrestled with problems in both recruiting and retaining Black associates. During the ensuing decades, BigLaw firms have minimally increased the low numbers of Black attorneys who have become partners, particularly equity partners, within their organizations. Numerous scholars have explored how racial bias and discrimination, both within BigLaw firms and greater society, have contributed to such failures in the recruitment, retention, and promotion of Black lawyers. In his new book The Black Ceiling: How Race Still Matters in the Elite Workplace, Professor …

Generative Al's Illusory Case For Fair Use, Jacqueline C. Charlesworth

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Pointing to Authors Guild, Inc. v. Google Inc., Authors Guild, Inc. v. HathiTrust, Sega Enterprises Ltd. v. Accolade, Inc. and other leading technology-driven fair use precedents, artificial intelligence (AI) companies and those who advocate for their interests claim that mass unauthorized reproduction of books, music, photographs, visual art, news articles, and other copyrighted works to train generative AI systems is a fair use of those works. Though acknowledging that works are copied without permission for the training process, the proponents of fair use maintain that an AI machine learns only uncopyrightable information about the works during that process. Once trained, …

If You Cannot Afford An Attorney, None Will Be Appointed For You: Exploring Rates Of Representation By Counsel In Texas Misdemeanor Courts, Andrew L. B. Davies, Shelby Sirivore, Victoria M. Smiegocki

Deason Center Reports

All misdemeanor defendants in the United States have the right to be represented by a lawyer if they are facing the possibility of incarceration. Yet implementation of that right is often left to local policymakers, and rates of non-representation (defendants proceeding without lawyers) vary enormously. Through an examination of data from Texas counties in 2019, we find non-representation rates were highest in the state’s poorest and most rural counties. But we also find signs that local policy choices matter. Counties with public defender offices, and those with less restrictive policies on financial eligibility for indigent defense services, appointed lawyers to …

A Unicorn No More? The No-Trade Clause And Its Potential To Reshape Nba Contractual Negotiations, Paul Gerstle

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

The no-trade clause, which, in the simplest of terms, allows a player to block his organization from trading him, is somewhat of a unicorn in NBA contractual circles. It has been sparsely used in the National Basketball Association (NBA) history, and there are certainly some good reasons for this. Allowing a player to control his fate without any potential for a trade puts his team in a straitjacket. Thus, teams have long kept their distance from the no-trade clause, with only ten players in NBA history having a no-trade clause in their contract. Most of these players have been legends …

Church And State Collide: The Constitutional Implications Of Louisiana's Ten Commandments Bill, Kimberly Aliaga

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

: In the summer of 2024, Louisiana’s governor signed House Bill 71 (HB71), which mandated all K-12 schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms. While proponents of the bill claim it serves a secular purpose to promote morality and historical literacy, precedent cases like Stone v. Graham (1980) suggest otherwise. By requiring the display of the Ten Commandments in public classrooms, HB71 is a violation of the Establishment Clause and Free Exercise Clause found in the First Amendment. This article analyzes the bill by comparing it to similar cases, and by applying both the Lemon and Endorsement Test to …

Profits And Paramilitaries: The Kiobel Conundrum And Corporate Liability, Ben Duffield, Mark Norton

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

In 2013, the Supreme Court severely limited the extent to which U.S. courts could adjudicate on international human-rights violations with their ruling in the landmark case Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. (2013). This change has led to strong divisions among lower courts about how to determine whether a foreign-based tort may “touch and concern” the territory of the United States with sufficient force to allow the case to have standing. This is especially true for foreign-based torts brought against corporations. This division has had a substantial impact on the ability of foreign citizens to find legal redress for human …

Closing The Distance Between Congress’S Intent And Fosta’S Text, Grant F. Gurr, Henry Purser

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

It has now been almost thirty years since Congress enacted the Communications Decency Act (CDA), and during that time, sex trafficking has become deeply intertwined with social networking and online advertisements. Internet service providers not only facilitate and profit from online sex trafficking and related crimes like the distribution of child pornography, but, thanks to CDA Section 230, these companies are largely immune to victim-led legal challenges. In 2018, Congress passed the Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA) to limit this immunity and provide victims with legal recourse. However, scholarly consensus suggests that FOSTA has failed to achieve its intended …

Publisher's Note, Kris Tina Carlston

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

No abstract provided.

Editor In Chief & Managing Editor's Note, Julia Waters, Annabelle Crawford

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

No abstract provided.

Fences, Fields, And Fourth Amendment Rights: Limiting The Powers Of Game Wardens, Ryder Schone

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

Since the establishment of the Open Fields Doctrine in 1924, both private and public lands not immediately surrounding a home or commercial building have been open to search and seizure by U.S. game wardens. Owing to a century of access without judicial supervision, the powers of game wardens have expanded to a state of overreach which violates the Fourth Amendment rights and privacy of citizens. This paper proposes a federal statute that clearly delineates the circumstances under which game wardens can enter private property. Legal scholars generally agree on the need for reform; however, current discussions often fail to address …

Front Matter

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

No abstract provided.

Eb-5 Visas: Selling Citizenship?, Riley Amdor

Immigration Law Blog

This article analyzes the EB-5 Investor Visa Program, specifically discussing whether this program could be considered a means of selling of United States citizenship and, conversely, how it may be beneficial to the U.S. economy. This will be done by examining the EB-5 Program requirements and the contributions it has made to the United States. On one hand, the EB-5 Program provides a direct path to citizenship if an immigrant can invest enough money in a U.S. company. On the other hand, the economic benefits that result from the EB-5 program are vast, stimulating the U.S. economy. Conversely, President Trump’s …

Administrative Closure: A Codified Shield For Justice And Judicial Efficiency, Abhilasha Khanal

Immigration Law Blog

Immigration Judges and the Board of Immigration Appeals have long fought for the ability to manage their dockets efficiently, often using administrative closure to prioritize high-impact cases and de-escalate low-priority removals. This article explores how the codification of administrative closure safeguards this critical judicial tool against shifting political agendas. By examining the history of administrative closure, from its contentious beginnings to its recent formalization, this article highlights why its preservation is essential for protecting vulnerable immigrants while maintaining judicial efficiency.

Rights Violations Faced By Women And Girls Migrating Through The Darién Gap, Jessica Alejandra Arroyave Buitrago

Immigration Law Blog

This article aims to highlight how the rights of women and girls migrating through the Darién Gap are specifically violated due to their gender, making them disproportionately vulnerable to certain forms of rights violations.

Jerome Hall Law Library Expanding Partnership With Gpo To Preserve Government Information, James Owsley Boyd

Keep Up With the Latest News from the Law School (blog)

The Jerome Hall Law Library at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law is expanding its preservation of U.S. government documents in print, one of several dozen Federal Depository Libraries across the country stepping up to ensure public access to vital records of American history.

Of the more than 1,100 FDLs nationwide, only 63 serve as Preservation Stewards, a national program launched by the U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) in 2016 to support the long-term preservation of federal government publications. The Jerome Hall Law Library is one of them.

“We were eager to contribute to preserving legacy print collections that …

Spring 2025

Ergo

No abstract provided.

Rulemaking Behind Closed Doors: Governor Abbott’S Secret Rulemaking. Worse Yet, All State Agencies Are Colluding With The Governor, Ronald Beal

SMU Law Review Forum

In 2019, the Texas Legislature granted the Governor new powers to review the rulemaking process for certain state agencies. Since then, the Governor has apparently extended this authority of review over the rulemaking process to more agencies than he was authorized to. Some journalists and scholars, including this Author, have attempted to access the proposals and comments submitted to the rulemaking process by the Governor’s Office—and yet the records are withheld by the Texas Attorney General under claimed exceptions to the Texas Public Information Act. Despite the Attorney General’s claims, this Author and others maintain that any records of these …

What’S In A Name? Policing, Juliet., Shanée Brown

SMU Law Review Forum

“Child welfare” and “child protection” are misnomers. These terms do not accurately depict the investigatory nature of the system purported to help families, or at the very least, save endangered children. Contrary to public opinion, the “child welfare system” comprises of state actors who police parents and children. It is the naming of this system that convinces the public that these agencies are excised from the category of law enforcement, persuading many that the agencies engage in social work and not police work. Calling the system what it really is—family policing—is a step toward achieving justice for families adversely impacted …

Cover

MC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

MC Law Review

No abstract provided.