Digital Commons Network^™

The Chagos Archipelago: A Failure Of International Law To Protect Powerless Peoples, Cali Smith

Cardozo International & Comparative Law Review (CICLR) Blog

The opening act of 2024 featured David Cameron, the United Kingdom’s (UK) latest Foreign Secretary, dashing the hopes of a displaced people; the island natives of the Chagos Archipelago. The Chagos islanders (Chagossians) have waged a decades long battle for the right to return to their homeland, from which they were forcibly removed in the 1960’s and 70’s. The former Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, indicated that the UK was in negotiation regarding the resettlement of the Chagossians to their native islands. However, on January 9, 2024 Cameron stated that the return of the Chagossians to their islands was “not possible.” …

Shades Of Green: Navigating The Legality Of Environmental Marketing, David Zack

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal (AELJ) Blog

A majority of Americans are concerned about climate change.1 This fear seems to be a driver of consumer spending decisions. According to a study by PDI Technologies, 68% of Americans are willing to spend more on environmentally sustainable products than their competitors that are not sustainable.2 This number has steadily grown over the past two years.3 This figure is even greater for key marketing demographics. 77% of Gen Z, 72% of millennials, and 76% of parents would be willing to do so. Because of this, companies have increasingly sought to position and market themselves as green companies.

This post was …

Assessing Standing In Fda V. Alliance For Hippocratic Medicine, Katie Negroni

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

Last week the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine. This case arose out of a challenge to the FDA’s authorization of mifepristone, one of the two drugs currently approved for use in medication abortions. The Supreme Court considered two issues: first, whether the respondents had Article III standing to challenge the FDA’s 2016 and 2021 actions with respect to mifepristone’s approved conditions of use, and second, whether the “FDA’s 2016 and 2021 actions were arbitrary and capricious.” In 2016, the FDA loosened restrictions around the authorization and use of mifepristone, including eliminating the requirement …

Escalating Conflict-Related Sexual And Gender Violence In The Ongoing Sudan Conflict, Agnes Poplawski

Cardozo International & Comparative Law Review (CICLR) Blog

Since its independence from Great Britain and Egypt in the late 1950s, Sudan has been in a state of perpetual internal conflict. When Omar al-Bashir seized power and became Sudan’s president in 1989, the state had split into northern and southern Sudan, resulting in South Sudan’s secession. Sudan’s economy began to deteriorate, mass street protests erupted, and the military-civilian government was soon created and overthrown in 2021 when General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan took over. Since this time, the country had been run by a council of generals led by two military figures from opposing groups, bringing us to Sudan’s current …

Reply Brief Of Edward A. And Doris Zelinsky In The New York Tax Appeals Tribunal, Edward A. Zelinsky, Doris Zelinsky

Amicus Briefs

Three reasons of state law independently compel a refund of the New York income tax Professor Edward A. Zelinsky paid on the Cardozo Law School salary Professor Zelinsky earned during the COVID period from March 15, 2020 through December 31, 2020. That salary was not New York source income because Professor Zelinsky earned that COVID period salary at his home in Connecticut “wholly without” New York’s borders. 20 N.Y.C.R.R. § 132.4(b). In addition, New York’s “convenience of the employer” rule does not apply to that COVID period salary because Professor Zelinsky’s remote work at home was for Cardozo’s necessity rather …

Small Print, Big Impact: Examining The Effects Of Forced Arbitration, Myriam E. Gilles

Testimony

Testimony Before the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary

1l Final Review Sessions, Cardozo Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, Cardozo Office Of Student Services & Advising

2023–2024 Flyers

Con Law - April 8, 2024

Property - April 10, 2024

Contracts - April 15, 2024

Criminal Law - April 17, 2024

Dean Melanie Leslie’S Office Hours, Benjamin N. Cardozo School Of Law

2024 Event Invitations

Join Dean Leslie and Professor Emeritus Richard Weisberg, author of ‘Vichy Law and the Holocaust in France,’ for a discussion on World War II, the Nazi occupation of France and how the French legal system was changed to perpetuate the Holocaust in France.

Cardozo Law News Brief: April 5, 2024, Benjamin N. Cardozo School Of Law

Cardozo Law News Brief 2024

Featured Faculty:

• Jessica Roth
• Samuel Weinstein
• Kate Levine
• Jocelyn Getgen Kestenbaum
• Young Ran (Christine) Kim
• Alma Magana
• Jessica Roth
• Edward Zelinsky

Events:

• The 2024 Cardozo Colloquium on Global and Constitutional Theory
• The FAME Center Presents: A Conversation with Mark Weber

Unmasking Deepfakes: Navigating The Copyright Quagmire, Ben Gross

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal (AELJ) Blog

In the ever-evolving landscape of digital technology, the emergence of deepfake technology has raised profound concerns, especially in the realm of copyright law. Deepfakes, sophisticated synthetic media created using artificial intelligence, can manipulate or replace existing content, often blurring the lines between reality and fiction.1 As these digital creations become more prevalent, questions surrounding their implications under copyright law have taken center stage.

This post was originally published on the Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal website on April 5, 2024. The original post can be accessed via the Archived Link button above.

Gender Quotas For Boards Of Directors: Norway And The United States, Lucy Paiste

Cardozo International & Comparative Law Review (CICLR) Blog

Despite unprecedented progress for women in the workplace, at the highest rung of the corporate ladder, the status quo remains. Women now account for more than half of the college-educated workforce in the United States and more than half of all currently enrolled law students. Looking further up, however, progress is slower. In 2023, for the first time in history, female CEO’s outnumbered CEO’s named John. Globally, women only occupy twenty percent of seats on corporate boards. More educated women participate in the corporate world at higher rates than ever, but what explains deficient representation at the top?

This post …

The State Of 2nd Amendment Litigation: A Conversation With Everytown Law On U.S. V. Rahimi, Cardozo Public Interest Law Student Association, Cardozo American Constitution Society (Acs)

2023–2024 Flyers

No abstract provided.

Bostock And Its Progeny: A Path To Protection For The Lgbtq+ Community, Colton Shelly

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The Bostock v. Clayton County decision marked a pivotal moment in extending federal protections under Title VII to the LGBTQ+ community, prohibiting employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. This ruling has had far-reaching implications, influencing various cases across federal and state courts, though its application varies, leading to a diverse landscape of protections.

The Abolition Of Woman, Lynne Marie Kohm

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The article argues that modern feminist jurisprudence, while initially aimed at advancing women's rights, has deviated from its original goals and now contributes to the erosion of the unique identity and value of women. This shift is evident in areas such as reproduction, gender fluidity, and motherhood, where legal and academic discourse increasingly deconstructs the concept of womanhood, leading to its potential abolition.

The Supreme Court And The Federalist Society Network: The Conversation That Determined Whose Vote Counts, Deborah Toscano

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The article examines the role of the Federalist Society Network (FSN) in shaping the Supreme Court's decision in Shelby County v. Holder, which invalidated Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA). The FSN's legal framework, emphasizing state sovereignty and the Tenth Amendment, influenced the Court's expansion of the "equal sovereignty" doctrine, leading to the dismantling of a key provision of the VRA. This decision reflects a broader shift in federalism, prioritizing state autonomy over federal oversight in voting rights.

Who Gets To Reap What They Sow? Addressing The Exclusion Of Undocumented Immigrants From Income Tax Benefits And Designing A Solution, Gabriela Amaral

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The note argues that undocumented immigrants significantly contribute to the U.S. tax system, including Social Security, but are disproportionately excluded from receiving benefits, raising concerns about economic fairness and equal protection under the law. It advocates for a more inclusive policy, particularly through work authorization, to address this inequity.

Annotated Legal Bibliography

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Legislating Courts, Michael C. Pollack

Articles

No abstract provided.

Unconscionability & Involuntary Arbitration Agreements: The Systemic Exploitation Of Immigrant Labor In The United States, Isabel Ortega-Romero

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The note examines the inadequacy of the doctrine of unconscionability in protecting immigrant workers from exploitation through unfair contracts and arbitration agreements. It advocates for legal reforms, including the regulation of arbitration agreements and the recognition of unconscionability as a tort, to address these issues.

The Need For Fentanyl-Specific Drug Education In Schools, Emma Guggenheimer

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The note advocates for the implementation of state legislation requiring fentanyl-specific drug education in K-12 schools to combat the escalating opioid epidemic, particularly among teenagers. It emphasizes the critical role of schools in providing comprehensive education to raise awareness about the dangers of fentanyl and prevent overdose deaths. The proposal includes mandates for fentanyl-awareness campaigns, updated curricula, and the use of tools like fentanyl test strips and naloxone in schools.

Taxing The Metaverse, Young Ran (Christine) Kim

Articles

The buzz surrounding the Metaverse has been growing steadily for the past couple of years, but the tax implications of this novel ecosystem remain fuzzy to most tax scholars. Such uncertainty is concerning, given the potential and momentum of this emerging technology. Although the Metaverse evolved from online video games focused only on user consumption, it now allows users to produce income and accumulate wealth entirely within the Metaverse. Current law seems to defer taxation of such until a realization or cash-out event. This Article challenges this approach and offers novel arguments justifying Metaverse taxation. Because economic activity within the …

Bounded Entities And (Some Of) Their Discontents, Saurabh Vishnubhakat

Articles

In his new article An Organizational Theory of International Technology Transfer, Professor Peter Lee offers two richly detailed accounts at once. One is a novel theoretical framework of "bounded entities" that generalizes both from the classic theory of the firm and, of more recent vintage, from the knowledge-based theory of the firm to specify a broader notion of organizations that are bounded in the sense of robust internal integration through corporate or contractual means. In short, such entities are not firms but resemble them in consequential ways. The other account is a practical elaboration of bounded entities that are multinational …

Open Source Perfume, Amanda Levendowski

Cardozo Law Review

Perfume is a powerful art and technology, but its secrets are closely held by a privileged few by some counts, there are more astronauts than there are perfumers. As critics have noted increasingly since 2020, those select few perfumers often share similar backgrounds. The Western perfume industry prizes perfumers with elite pedigrees, which often precludes marginalized perfumers. It also perpetuates non-Western cultures, that push some marginalized perfumers into teaching themselves perfumery. But teaching oneself through recreating and remixing existing fragrances presents a different challenge. As interviews with American, British, and French perfumemakers reveal, intellectual property (IP) plays a complicated role …

Impact Ipsa Loquitur: A Reverse Hand Rule For Consumer Finance, Susan Block-Lieb, Edward J. Janger

Cardozo Law Review

The topic of this symposium—Automating Bias—considers how artificial intelligence can produce, reinforce, and hide racial and other forms of discrimination in consumer finance. The animating intuition is that the complexity and opacity of algorithms and artificial intelligence in consumer lending create a greater need for disparate impact analysis to combat lending discrimination. This view was articulated forcefully by the current Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Rohit Chopra, when he was still a commissioner at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Digital Footprints: Technology, Race, And Justice, Cassandra Jones Havard

Cardozo Law Review

Data aggregation is ubiquitous. To widen credit access, lenders now use nonconventional sources of personal technological information to measure borrower creditworthiness. Alternative data credit scoring is touted as a useful solution for borrowers with little or no credit history or “thin credit files.” The supposedly neutral algorithm provides a predictive analysis of the borrower’s ability to repay, thus allowing the borrower to obtain credit within the formal banking network.

Alternative data has the potential to expand access to financial services for underserved populations and make credit markets more competitive. Machine learning, or predictive behavioral analytics, collects and sorts the borrower’s …

No Child Left Online: Influencer “Sharenting” As A Breach Of Fiduciary Duty, Caroline Harrod

Cardozo Law Review

A controversy erupted on the video-sharing app TikTok in the summer of 2022, with audiences accusing a parenting influencer of exploiting her toddler daughter by posting compromising videos of her on the platform. The child’s mother, Jacquelyn, who runs the account @wren.eleanor, frequently shared videos of then-two-year-old Wren engaged in everyday activities such as riding a bicycle, going to the park, and eating snacks with the duo’s 17.1 million followers. Jacquelyn also regularly posted paid partnerships with brands such as SHEIN and Kohl’s, and, in lieu of working a regular job, provided for Wren through earnings from online content creation. …

All For One, One For None: Arrington V. Burger King Worldwide And The Single-Entity Defense For Franchises, Tyler Nappo

Cardozo Law Review

Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act (Sherman § 1) proclaims contracts, combinations, or conspiracies in restraint of trade or commerce to be illegal. Thus, for an agreement to fall within Sherman § 1’s boundaries, there must be a joining together of separate actors or entities. However, for over a century since the Sherman Act’s enactment, courts have struggled to draw the line between separate business entities and single entities. This distinction became more defined with the Supreme Court’s holding in Copperweld Corp. v. Independence Tube Corp. that parent companies are incapable of conspiring with wholly owned subsidiaries. But Copperweld …

Emotionally Harmed? It Might Not Matter: An Analysis Of Cummings V. Premier Rehab Keller And Its Implications For Title Ii Of The Americans With Disabilities Act Of 1990, Sotir Zhupa

Cardozo Law Review

On April 28, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down an opinion that shocked the disability rights community. In Cummings v. Premier Rehab Keller, P.L.L.C., the Court ruled that compensatory damages for emotional distress may not be recovered by claimants who sue for disability discrimination under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (section 504) and section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010..

Cummings involved a woman, Jane Cummings, who is both deaf and legally blind. Because of her disabilities, she communicates through American Sign Language (ASL)—her first and primary language—and cannot communicate …

Cardozo Law News Brief: March 29, 2024, Benjamin N. Cardozo School Of Law

Cardozo Law News Brief 2024

Featured Faculty:

• Jessica Roth
• Stewart Sterk
• Luis Calderon Gomez
• Emmanuel Arnaud
• Young Ran (Christine) Kim

Events:

• The 2024 Cardozo Colloquium on Global and Constitutional Theory
• The FAME Center Presents: A Conversation with Mark Weber

The Dormant Commerce Clause And The Dubious Constitutionality Of State Regulation Of Social Media, Charles Bachmann

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

There is growing recognition in the medical community that social media applications are harmful to mental health, particularly for young people. Researchers have observed an inverse relationship between social media use and various measures of psychological well-being. The testimony of former Meta insiders like Frances Haugen and Arturo Béjar has brought the issue into the political mainstream, highlighting the fact that social media operators are aware of the harmful effects of their products. Although the exact mechanisms are still under study, the prevailing theories suggest that the very structure of social media applications promotes unhealthy, and potentially addictive, habits among …