Digital Commons Network^™

Saying What The Law Might Be? Courts, Geofence Warrants, And The Fourth Amendment Labyrinth, Ciara Lavin

Cardozo Law Review

Since 2016, Google has received thousands of geofence warrant requests from law enforcement, requesting Google to scan through its vast database of users to identify who and what devices entered into, or exited out of, a set of coordinates in a specified period of time. Several cases began making their way through the federal courts to delineate the legality of such warrants—with challenges spanning the vast amount of data they search, their relative accuracy, and whether they comported with the Fourth Amendment. Then, in the summer of 2024, two federal appellate courts handed down decisions just weeks apart: the Fourth …

The Green Amendment As A Substantive Canon, Blake Zimmerman

Cardozo Law Review

State-level environmental rights amendments, commonly referred to as “Green Amendments,” embody inspired ideals of the environmental conditions owed to all. Their aspirational language—promising a clean and healthful environment for present and future generations—intuits bold action. Nonetheless, when leveraged as a standalone cause of action, the Green Amendment’s ability to exact substantive outcomes has proven less inspired, and jurisprudence in the three Green Amendment states—New York, Pennsylvania, and Montana—reveals several shortcomings. These include that the Green Amendment has been interpreted as providing only procedural rights, the Green Amendment generally does not reach private parties, the Green Amendment’s broad language begets circumspect …

The Rhythm Of Reform, Michael Waldman

Cardozo Law Review

This year, we celebrate the 250th anniversary of our independence. In January 1776, Thomas Paine published Common Sense. Paine was an immigrant who had arrived only two years before. The pamphlet went viral, a widely bootlegged bestseller with 120,000 copies sold in its first three months in print. It galvanized support for independence and argued that the collection of colonies should become a republic. Paine wrote: “[I]n America THE LAW IS KING.”

Is that still true? We are finding out.

Today our Constitution and the institutions of self-government face extraordinary pressure. In the first two months of 2026 alone, …

Cardozo Law News Brief: April 17, 2026, Benjamin N. Cardozo School Of Law

Cardozo Law News Briefs

Highlights from the April 17, 2026 Cardozo Law News Brief include:

• Professor Jessica Roth spoke to NPR about why no arrests have resulted from the Epstein files, noting the lack of context surrounding released materials.
• Professor Zalman Rothschild authored an op-ed in The Washington Post arguing that the Supreme Court should uphold childhood vaccination mandates and warning against expansive interpretations of parental rights.
• Professor Rebecca Ingber was quoted in The Washington Post on the Senate’s war powers vote, emphasizing the legal realities of U.S. involvement in Iran.
• Professor Saurabh Vishnubhakat spoke to Law.com about the Supreme Court’s Cox decision and …

The Fate Of Atkins In A Post-Dobbs Era: How State Discretion Risks Harm To Intellectually Disabled And Black Defendants, Chole Quinn Sotomayor

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights and Social Justice (ERSJ) Blog

The Supreme Court’s stance on the death penalty has evolved over time. In Furman v. Georgia, the Court held that the death penalty violated the Eighth Amendment, only to reinstate it in Gregg v. Georgia four years later.  As the Court continued to interpret “evolving standards of decency,” it later categorically barred the execution of defendants with an intellectual disability in Atkins v. Virginia.  To determine if an individual is intellectually disabled, they must demonstrate subaverage adaptive skills that existed before age eighteen.  The Court has also recognized that IQ scores carry a ±5 margin of error and has …

Brief Of The American Immigration Lawyers Association And Immigration Law Scholars As Amici Curiae In Support Of Respondents, Lindsay Nash

Amicus Briefs

Amicus curiae brief submitted by the American Immigration Lawyers Association and immigration law scholars in support of the respondents in Mullin v. Doe and Trump v. Miot before the Supreme Court of the United States. The brief argues that the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) statute strictly limits the Executive Branch's authority to terminate TPS designations and requires continuation of protection unless the statutory conditions justifying designation no longer exist. The amici further contend that TPS serves a critical humanitarian function by protecting individuals from removal, detention, and loss of work authorization while conditions in designated countries remain unsafe.

The Territorial Continuum: American Samoa, Criminal Adjudication, And Territorial Administration, Emmanuel Hiram Arnaud

Cardozo Law Review

The standard account of American territorial expansion posits that territorial acquisition moved along a spectrum of sovereignty. The federal government acquired new inhabited land through conquest or purchase, and the Constitution tasked Congress with organizing and administering the new territories until they were ready to become states. That pattern came to an abrupt halt in 1898 when, at the conclusion of the Spanish-American War, the Supreme Court, fearing the extension of citizenship to and the permanent integration of non-White populations into the American polity, suddenly pronounced that the Constitution authorized the holding of colonies. The Court thus sentenced new territories, …

Fixing Forty Years Of Failure: Objective Solutions To Batson’S Subjective Shortfalls, Katherine E. Donoghue

Cardozo Law Review

It is a sunny afternoon in rural Georgia. A young Black man goes for a jog. On his route, he crosses the train tracks and heads into a predominantly White neighborhood. As his sneakers rhythmically hit the pavement, he hears the rev of a pickup truck behind him. Shortly after, he hears a second truck. The young jogger picks up his pace, but so do the trucks. The trucks chase him and eventually surround him. Two White men get out with shotguns. One stands ready, barrel raised. The other approaches the jogger and fires a bullet into his chest.

That …

Is Tax “Law”?, Luís C. Calderón Gómez

Articles

Although taxation remains a hotly contested issue in debates by both politicians and political theorists—over the optimal size of government, distributive (and sometimes corrective) justice, or even the legitimacy of current private property arrangements—taxation has been largely ignored by legal theorists, to the detriment of both tax law and legal theory.  This Article argues that tax law, driven by its battle against tax evasion, is in deep conflict with widely accepted conceptions of “legality”—that is, the qualities that make a rule distinctively and normatively “law.”  This matters because legality is a key buttress in jurisprudential and political theory accounts that …

From Waiver To Shield: The Routine Misapplication Of The Federal Tort Claims Act’S Discretionary Function Exception, Alexander Sitnikov

Cardozo Law Review

When a pedestrian trips and falls on a defective sidewalk, liability usually turns on negligence. But when the property surrounding the sidewalk belongs to the federal government, tort liability often vanishes altogether. This result is just one of the many shortcomings of the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) and one of its most controversial and heavily litigated provisions: the discretionary function exception (“DFE”). This Note explores the current judicial interpretations of the FTCA and DFE, which often work in conjunction with state laws and federal regulations. Despite the central public policy rationale and congressional intent surrounding the FTCA and its …

A “Consistent And Ongoing” Right: The Sixth Amendment Right To Counsel At Initial Bail Hearings, Gemma Sunnergren

Cardozo Law Review

Despite the potentially devastating consequences of pretrial incarceration and the complexity of modern bail applications, many individuals charged with crimes across the country are not appointed counsel to guide them through their bail hearings. Traditionally, application of the Sixth Amendment’s right to counsel in various pretrial proceedings has been evaluated under the “critical stage” framework, finding defense counsel necessary when a proceeding puts one’s trial rights at risk or is sufficiently trial-like—i.e., adversarial and requiring complex legal arguments. In the absence of a clear Supreme Court ruling, states have been left to conduct their own analysis, with many declining to …

Selective Flexibility: The Hidden Evolution Of Startup Corporate Law, Alvaro Pereira

Cardozo Law Review

This Article challenges the longstanding assumption that corporate law is largely irrelevant to non-listed companies and venture capital ( “VC”). Through a novel cross-country legal index covering twenty years and twelve jurisdictions, this Article shows that corporate laws have evolved through a process of “selective flexibility,” where certain legal barriers to VC deals are lifted, while others are stealthily preserved. For example, numerous reforms have enabled multiple-vote shares, but few have authorized the customization of board powers, limiting the universe of founder-investor agreements—and, ultimately, the development of startup ecosystems and VC markets.

Drawing on a comprehensive dataset of billion -dollar …

Delivering Fairer Tipping Practices, Nyc Department Of Consumer And Worker Protection, Alexandra Burke

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights and Social Justice (ERSJ) Blog

On January 30, 2026, Mayor Mamdani and Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (“DCWP”) Commissioner Samuel Levine announced that food delivery app companies Uber Eats, Fantuan, and Hungry Panda owed more than $5 million in worker restitution, civil penalties, and damages to resolve violations of the Minimum Pay Rate for delivery workers. Like New York City, other municipalities across the United States should enact statutory protections for delivery workers, investigate compliance, and enforce penalties to ensure workers' rights and justice.

Cardozo Law News Brief: March 27, 2026, Benjamin N. Cardozo School Of Law

Cardozo Law News Briefs

Highlights from the March 27, 2026, Cardozo Law News Brief include:

• Professor Rachel Landy was quoted in the Los Angeles Times and Newsweek on a Supreme Court ruling limiting internet providers’ liability for copyright infringement, noting the music industry may need to seek legislative solutions.
• Sarah Chu, Director of Policy & Reform at the Perlmutter Center for Legal Justice, spoke to Undark about a new study challenging the reliability of firearms analysis in forensic science.
• Professor Peter Markowitz was quoted in NewsNation on the rise of no-bond ICE detention cases and the growing number of successful legal challenges.
• Professor …

Brief Of Amici Curiae Immigration Law Professors In Support Of Respondent, Peter L. Markowitz, Lindsay Nash

Amicus Briefs

Amicus curiae brief submitted by immigration law professors in support of the respondent in Bondi v. Lau before the Supreme Court of the United States. The brief argues that lawful permanent residents returning from travel abroad may not be treated as seeking admission unless they satisfy the statutory criteria set forth in the Immigration and Nationality Act. It further contends that ambiguities in deportation statutes should be resolved in favor of noncitizens under the longstanding immigration rule of lenity.

The End Of Constitutional Amendment In The U.S. ?, Floersheimer Center For Constitutional Democracy, Brennan Center For Justice

2025–2026 Flyers

No abstract provided.

The End Of Constitutional Amendment In The U.S.?, Floersheimer Center For Constitutional Democracy, Brennan Center For Justice, Wilfred U. Codrington Iii, Jessica Bulman-Pozen, Richard L. Hasen, Andrea Katz, Julie Suk

2026 Event Invitations

Join the Brennan Center for Justice and the Floersheimer Center for Constitutional Democracy for a panel featuring leading constitutional law scholars, including Jessica Bulman-Pozen, Betts Professor of Law at Columbia Law School; Wilfred U. Codrington III, Walter Floersheimer Professor of Law at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law; Andrea Scoseria Katz, Associate Professor at WashU Law School; Richard L. Hasen, Endowed Chair in Law at UCLA School of Law; and Julie Suk, Hon. Deborah A. Batts Distinguished Research Scholar and Professor of Law at Fordham Law School, for a self-moderated, fireside-chat-style discussion on whether the formal amendment process has become …

Brief For Amici Curiae Immigration Law Scholars In Support Of Petitioners-Appellees' Petition For Rehearing En Banc, Lindsay Nash

Amicus Briefs

Amicus curiae brief submitted by immigration law scholars, including Cardozo School of Law Professor Lindsay Nash, in Buenrostro-Mendez v. Bondi and Covarrubias v. Vergara before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The brief supports rehearing en banc and argues that 8 U.S.C. § 1225(b)(2)(A) does not authorize mandatory, no-bond detention of noncitizens apprehended within the interior of the United States. Drawing on statutory text, legislative history, and the historical development of immigration detention, the amici contend that such detention authority has historically been limited to individuals seeking admission at the border.

The Changing Legal Landscape Of Cookie Banner Claims: Is Arbitration The Answer?, Jared Berklee

Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution (CJCR) Blog

Website cookie banners have become a ubiquitous part of internet browsing and are often overlooked by the average consumer. When cookies malfunction or a website operator fails to obtain proper user-consent, it creates risk for potential privacy-related litigation regarding misrepresentation of data-collection practices. In several recent class action lawsuits filed in California, plaintiff-users claim to have opted out of non-essential cookies, but malfunctioning cookie banners continued to log user information. Often alleging unauthorized interception of their electronic communications under the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) or intrusion upon seclusion, consumers have brought claims against a variety of entities, including …

Facing The Constitution: How Facial Recognition Technology Threatens Fourth Amendment Protections And Deepens Racial Inequality, Bailey Mandell

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights and Social Justice (ERSJ) Blog

It is very unlikely you have ever consented to a police lineup. Yet if you have a driver’s license or a social media account, you may already be in one. A new kind of digital lineup has emerged, one that never ends and requires neither your knowledge nor consent. Facial recognition technology (“FRT”)is a biometric identification method that creates a digital template of a person’s face using measurements such as the distance between the eyes, the width of the nose, the length of the jawline, and the shape of the cheekbones. Algorithms then compare that template either to a second …

Cardozo Law News Brief: March 20, 2026, Benjamin N. Cardozo School Of Law

Cardozo Law News Briefs

Highlights from the March 20, 2026, Cardozo Law News Brief include:

• Professor Monroe Price, former dean of Cardozo Law and a distinguished scholar, passed away at age 87, remembered for his decades of leadership, mentorship, and contributions to the law school community.
• Professor Lindsay Nash spoke to the Houston Chronicle about local police coordinating with ICE, noting ongoing legal challenges surrounding immigration enforcement.
• Professor Wilfred Codrington III was quoted in Bloomberg Law on the selection of a new leader for the American Constitution Society.
• Professor Tyson-Lord Gray spoke to USA Today about SNAP policy, explaining longstanding federal limits on …

Ix International Moot Court Competition In Law & Religion, Benjamin N. Cardozo School Of Law

2025–2026 Flyers

After many successful editions, the International Moot Court Competition in Law and Religion (9th ed.) is happening in 2026 in the glittering city of marbles: Rome, Italy!

The Program will run from March 12 to March 14, 2026 at the St. John’s University Rome campus.

Teams from different countries will argue a case before the European Court of Human Rights and the Supreme Court of the United States. Pre-eminent scholars and actual judges from the two jurisdictions will sit as judges of the two Courts.

In the past editions, Teams from the United States, Hungary, Russia, Spain, the UK, Belgium, …

The Case For A Third Reconstruction, American Constitution Society, Cardozo Chapter

2025–2026 Flyers

Join the American Constitution Society for a discussion with Professor Rahman about the need for reconstructionist approach to policy-making and institutional change in response to the second trump presidency.

Breakfast With Douglas Letter, Cardozo Public Service Scholars Program, Jacob Burns Center For Ethics In The Practice Of Law

2025–2026 Flyers

A conversation on constitutional litigation and public service in and outside of the federal government.

The Jacob Burns Center For Ethics In The Practice Of Law And The Public Service Scholars Invite You To: Breakfast With Douglas Letter, Jacob Burns Center For Ethics In The Practice Of Law, Public Service Scholars, Douglas Letter

2026 Event Invitations

A conversation on constitutional litigation and public service in and outside of the federal government with Douglas Letter, Chief Legal Office at Brady United, and Professor Jessica Roth. Mr. Letter is former General Counsel for the U.S. House of Representatives under Speaker Nancy Pelosi. For 40 years, he worked as a public servant at the U.S Department of Justice. Mr. Letter also served in the White House Counsel's Office under President Bill Clinton.

International & Constitutional Law Implications Of U.S. Attacks On Iran, Cardozo Law Institute In Holocaust And Human Rights (Clihhr), Floersheimer Center For Constitutional Democracy

2025–2026 Flyers

Join the Cardozo Law Institute in Holocaust and Human Rights (CLIHHR) and Floersheimer Center for Constitutional Democracy for a critical discussion on the escalating conflict in the Middle East.

Cardozo Journal Of Equal Rights & Social Justice 2026 Symposium: Executive Overreach: Evaluating The Unitary Executive Theory & The Doj, Cardozo Journal Of Equal Rights And Social Justice, Benjamin N. Cardozo School Of Law, Wilfred U. Codrington Iii, Jessica A. Roth, Ashraf Ahmed, Evan T. Barr, Haiyun Damon-Feng, Nathaniel Donahue, Rebecca Roiphe, Harry Sandick, Peter M. Shane, Jocelyn Simonson

2026 Event Invitations

Please join us in the Third Floor Lounge for "Executive Overreach: Evaluating the Unitary Executive Theory & The DOJ," where we will discuss legal theories surrounding the Presidency, including upcoming decisions like Trump v. Slaughter and the continuing relevance of Humphrey's Executor. Additionally, we will discuss current events at the DOJ, specifically surrounding vindictive and selective prosecution and Presidential control over the DOJ. A breakfast reception will begin at 9:30, and a lunch reception will occur after the event.

Executive Overreach: Evaluating The Unitary Executive Theory & The Doj, Cardozo Journal Of Equal Rights & Social Justice (Ersj)

2025–2026 Flyers

The Unitary Executive Theory & Multi-Member Agencies:

• Peter M. Shane, Distinguished Scholar in Residence & Adjunct Professor of Law at NYU School of Law
• Haiyun Damon-Feng, Assistant Professor of Law at Cardozo Law School
• Ashraf Ahmed, Associate Professor of Law at Columbia Law School
• Nathaniel Donahue, Golieb Fellow at NYU School of Law
• Wilfred Codrington III Walter, Floersheimer Professor of Constitutional Law

Agencies With Executive Functions: The DOJ:

• Rebecca Roiphe, Joseph Solomon Distinguished Professor of Law at New York Law School
• Jocelyn Simonson. Herman Badillo '54 Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School
• Harry Sandick, Partner at Patterson Belknap Webb …

After Universal Injunctions: The Practical Perils Of Trump V. Casa, Rajiv Malhotra

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights and Social Justice (ERSJ) Blog

On his first day in office, President Trump signed an executive order seeking to drastically limit birthright citizenship—a longstanding constitutional principle under which individuals born in the United States automatically acquire citizenship, regardless of their parents’ immigration status. While many supporters of President Trump commended the order as a necessary protection against illegal immigration, constitutional law scholars on both sides of the political spectrum did not share this enthusiasm. The executive order was widely understood to conflict with the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, which codifies statutory protections for birthright citizenship. …

The Trump Administration’S Theory Of Constitutional War Powers: “The President Could Decide”, Rebecca Ingber

Online Publications

President Donald Trump has launched another unlawful war, this time in the service of regime change in Iran. The administration has been threatening the use of force for weeks, but provided very little public justification, description of what the president hoped to accomplish, or explanation for how the use of force would effectuate such goals. It has also to date presented no legal justification whatsoever. Much of what we know at this moment about how the administration views, and how it lawyers, questions of war powers can be derived from the one legal memorandum the administration has released on the …