Digital Commons Network^™

The Evolution Of Sodomy Decriminalization Jurisprudence In Transnational And Comparative Constitutional Perspective, Ayodeji Kamau Perrin

Faculty Scholarship

In this Article, I demonstrate that legal mobilization by activist litigants combined with a comparative methodological jurisprudence has been central to the “transnational legal process” of the generation and diffusion of the sodomy decriminalization norm since the 1950s. My analysis of the transnational comparative jurisprudence relies on a comprehensive legal survey of seven decades of decriminalization jurisprudence (1954–2022), primarily using successful cases. Although the scholarship on the well-known Dudgeon, Toonen, and NCGLE cases often asserts the influence that these cases had on subsequent domestic court constitutional jurisprudence, I suggest that it is the domestic privacy jurisprudence of lobbyists, …

Introduction: Securing Reproductive Justice After Dobbs, Aziza Ahmed, Nicole Huberfeld, Linda C. Mcclain

Faculty Scholarship

When we conceptualized this symposium, Roe v. Wade was still the law of the land, albeit precariously. We aimed to commemorate its fiftieth anniversary by exploring historical, legal, medical, and related dimensions of access to abortion as well as the challenges ahead to secure reproductive justice. With the leak of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization on May 2, 2022, we shifted to mark the dawn of a new era. In the nearly identical official opinion announced on June 24, 2022, Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the majority (6-3), overturned Roe and Planned Parenthood …

Toward A Liberal Common Good Constitutionalism For Polarized Times, Linda C. Mcclain, James E. Fleming

Faculty Scholarship

In Common Good Constitutionalism, Adrian Vermeule urges his fellow conservatives to change the way they think about the American Constitution. Instead of maintaining a constitutionalism that emphasizes aggregating popular preferences, limiting government, and securing individual rights, he promotes a constitutionalism that emphasizes the common good and cultivates the attitudes and competences requisite to its pursuit. For the common good constitutionalist, a government is established primarily to do good things for people. It envisions an active government, including a strong president, a strong administrative state, and judges exercising reasoned judgment about which results would contribute to the general welfare, correctly understood, …

Dobbs V. Jackson Women’S Health: Undermining Public Health, Facilitating Reproductive Coercion, Aziza Ahmed, Dabney P. Evans, Jason Jackson, Benjamin Mason Meier, Cecília Tomori

Faculty Scholarship

Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health continues a trajectory of U.S. Supreme Court jurisprudence that undermines the normative foundation of public health — the idea that the state is obligated to provide a robust set of supports for healthcare services and the underlying social determinants of health. Dobbs furthers a longstanding ideology of individual responsibility in public health, neglecting collective responsibility for better health outcomes. Such an ideology on individual responsibility not only enables a shrinking of public health infrastructure for reproductive health, it facilitates the rise of reproductive coercion and a criminal legal response to pregnancy and abortion. This commentary …

(Re)Criminalizing Abortion: Returning To The Political With Stories, George J. Annas

Faculty Scholarship

Abortion stories have always played a powerful role in advancing women’s rights. In the abortion sphere particularly, the personal is political. Following the Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade, abortion politics, and abortion storytelling, take on an even deeper political role in challenging the bloodless judicial language of Dobbs with the lived experience of women.

Continuous Reproductive Surveillance, Michael Ulrich, Leah R. Fowler

Faculty Scholarship

The Dobbs opinion emphasizes that the state’s interest in the fetus extends to “all stages of development.” This essay briefly explores whether state legislators, agencies, and courts could use the “all stages of development” language to expand reproductive surveillance by using novel developments in consumer health technologies to augment those efforts.

The Immorality Of Originalism, Jack M. Beermann

Faculty Scholarship

The central claim of this essay is that in interpreting the U.S. Constitution, it is immoral to choose original intent over social welfare, broadly conceived. Once this argument is laid out and defended on its own terms, I support the central claim with a variety of arguments, including the defective process pursuant to which the Constitution was enacted, the deeply flawed substantive content of the Constitution, the incongruity of fidelity to the views of a generation of revolutionaries, the current virtual imperviousness of the Constitution to amendment, the failure of the Constitution to resolve fundamental questions concerning the allocation of …

Using Multiple Lenses To See An Invisible Group, Kathleen J. Farkas, Jaroslaw Richard Romaniuk

Faculty Scholarship

Social work in Poland and in the United States shares the values of human dignity and self-determination, but there are often value conflicts in terms of how various groups experience social roles and social expectations. This paper explores the use of multiple lenses to understand the past and current conditions for LGBT+ people in Poland. An international, university-level collaboration uses a framework of “invisible groups” to highlight the needs of those who are on the margins of society and whose human and individual rights are suppressed. The article reviews the results of a recently published on-line survey of LGBT+ populations …

Ai Is Here. Here’S How New Mexicans Can Prepare, Sonia Gipson Rankin, Melanie E. Moses

Faculty Scholarship

Last December we asked the AI chatbot ChatGPT to solve a programming assignment given to computer science students at UNM. It wrote some Python code, but it generated an error. We gave the chatbot the error message and were astounded by how good its response was.

Exploring The Effectiveness Of Virtual Reality Role-Playing In Debating Repatriation Of Artworks In Active Learning Art History Classes, James Hutson, Trent Olsen

Faculty Scholarship

This paper addresses the pressing issue of repatriation debates for artworks, heightened by notable instances like the return of the Benin Bronzes and discussions around the Elgin Marbles. Given the challenges in conducting effective classroom debates on such sensitive topics due to the pandemic, generational shifts in learning preferences, and increased student anxiety, this study identifies a gap in the integration of active learning strategies in a virtual setting. The primary aim of this research is to examine the efficacy of virtual reality role-playing games (VR-RPGs) in enhancing student engagement, immersion, presence, and learning outcomes within a virtual learning environment …

Care Work, Gender Equality, And Abortion: Lessons From Comparative Feminist Constitutionalism, Linda C. Mcclain

Faculty Scholarship

Julie Suk, After Misogyny: How the Law Fails Women and What to Do About It (2023).

Julie Suk’s ambitious book, After Misogyny: How the Law Fails Women and What to Do About It, contributes to a feminist literature on equality and care spanning centuries and national boundaries, yet offers timely diagnoses and prescriptions for the United States at a very particular moment. That “moment” includes being four years into the COVID-19 pandemic and over one year into the post-Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey world wrought by Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. That moment …

Managing Fires And Ecosystems Indigenous Fire Ecologies Session_Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Wildland Fires Workshop, Cynthia Twyford Fowler

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Prevalence Of Adulteration In Dietary Supplements And Recommendations For Safe Supplement Practices In Sport, Andrew R. Jagim, Patrick Harty, Jacob L. Erickson, Grant M. Tinsley, Dan Garner, Andrew J. Galpin

Faculty Scholarship

The prevalence of dietary supplement use among athletes continues to rise with 60–80% of athletes often reporting current or previous use of dietary supplements. While select dietary ingredients have been shown to improve acute performance and enhance training adaptations over time, it is important to still consider the risk vs. reward for athletes before opting to consume a dietary supplement. Previous work has indicated that certain dietary supplements may pose risks for inadvertent doping, may be susceptible to mislabelling, could be banned by certain governing bodies of sport, or pose health risks for certain populations. The purpose of the current …

Two Decades Of Trips In China, Peter K. Yu

Faculty Scholarship

This chapter reviews China’s engagement with the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) in the past twenty years. It begins by highlighting TRIPS-related developments in the first decade of China’s WTO membership. The chapter then discusses the country’s ‘innovative turn’ in the mid-2000s and the ramifications of its changing policy positions. This chapter continues to examine the US-China trade war, in particular the second TRIPS complaint that the United States filed against China in March 2018. It concludes with observations about the impact of the TRIPS Agreement on China, China’s impact on that agreement and how the …

Self-Assessment Tool (Sat) For Improving How Higher Education Institutions And Stem Units Address Sexual Harassment By Faculty And Administrators, Susan Saab Fortney, Theresa Morris

Faculty Scholarship

Based on their systematic review of studies related to sexual harassment and higher education, researchers describe sexual harassment as an epidemic in higher education that constitutes one of the major challenges to an inclusive work and study environment. Persons involved in addressing sexual harassment recognize the extremely high institutional and individual costs associated with dealing with sexual harassment. Rather than reacting to sexual harassment that occurs, this Self-Assessment Tool assists institutions in examining and improving how they prevent and address sexual harassment.

The tool focuses on issues related to sexual harassment by faculty, administrators, and persons in supervisory positions, including …

Perceptions And Barriers To Adopting Artificial Intelligence In K-12 Education: A Survey Of Educators In Fifty States, Karen Woodruff, James Hutson, Kathryn Arnone

Faculty Scholarship

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is making significant strides in the field of education, offering new opportunities for personalized learning and access to education for a more diverse population. Despite this potential, the adoption of AI in K-12 education is limited, and educators’ express hesitancy towards its integration due to perceived technological barriers and misconceptions. The purpose of this study is to examine the perceptions of K-12 educators in all 50 states of the USA towards AI, policies, training, and resources related to technology and AI, their comfort with technology, willingness to adopt new technologies for classroom instruction, and needs assessment for …

Populist Constitutionalism, Anya Bernstein, Glen Staszewski

Faculty Scholarship

A Supreme Court majority has expressed hostility to administrative agencies. Yet, as this Article explains, agencies provide the primary site in our government for pluralistic contestation among disparate policy views. A political vision we identify as agonistic republicanism—a convergence among deliberative democrats, republican theorists, and agonism supporters—places such multilateral deliberation and debate among differing social groups at the foundation of democracy. A contrary vision, authoritarian populism, imagines a single leader embodying the will of a unified people with little use for the institutional mediation of divergent perspectives. This view, prominent in politics, enters legal theory through the rhetoric of judicial …

Federalism, Leadership, And Covid-19: Evolving Lessons For The Public’S Health, Nicole Huberfeld

Faculty Scholarship

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an enduring effect across the entire spectrum of law and policy, in areas ranging from health equity and racial justice, to constitutional law, the law of prisons, federal benefit programs, election law and much more. This collection provides a critical reflection on what changes the pandemic has already introduced, and what its legacy may be. Chapters evaluate how healthcare and government institutions have succeeded and failed during this global 'stress test,' and explore how the US and the world will move forward to ensure we are better prepared for future pandemics. This timely volume identifies …

To Democratize Algorithms, Ngozi Okidegbe

Faculty Scholarship

Jurisdictions increasingly employ algorithms in public sector decisionmaking. Facing public outcry about the use of such technologies, jurisdictions have begun to increase democratic participation in the processes by which algorithms are procured, constructed, implemented, used, and overseen. But what problem is the current approach to democratization meant to solve? Policymakers have tended to view the problem as the absence of public deliberation: agencies and courts often use algorithms without public knowledge or input. To redress this problem, jurisdictions have turned to deliberative approaches designed to foster transparency and public debate.

This Article contends that the current approach to democratization is …

Thermoresponsive Polymers With Lcst Transition: Synthesis, Characterization, And Their Impact On Biomedical Frontiers, Yichun Yuan, Konpal Raheja, Nathalie B. Milbrandt, Sophia Beilharz, Steffy Tene, Solomon Oshabaheebwa, Umut A. Gurkan, Anna Cristina S. Samia, Metin Karayilan

Faculty Scholarship

Advances in thermoresponsive materials have significantly impacted many biomedical fields. The unique behavior of reversible phase transition close to the physiological temperatures makes these types of materials a great candidate for a wide variety of biomedical applications including bioimaging, biosensing, injectables, smart surfaces, adhesives, biomanufacturing, and tissue engineering. Thermoresponsive behavior, mainly lower critical solution temperature (LCST) can be easily tuned by shifting the balance between hydrophobicity and hydrophilicity (e.g., by using comonomers or changing end groups) and modifying the molecular weight and architecture of the polymer. Hence, synthetic and characterization tools are critical in tailoring and precisely determining these properties. …

Community Members’ Experiences Training As Medical Journal Reviewers, Jeri Jewett-Tennant, Kurt C. Stange, Ashwini R. Sehgal

Faculty Scholarship

Purpose: Although medical research dissemination is intended to benefit members of society, few members of society actually participate in the process of publishing findings. This study shares findings from community members’ (including patients and the public) experiences being trained as medical journal reviewers. Methods: We analyzed findings from two focus group interviews of community reviewers (N = 29) to identify themes in their experiences with the training program. Results: Community members trained as journal reviewers appreciated learning the context under which manuscript development and review occur from authors and funders, the value of the community member perspectives to science, and …

A Novel Approach To Legacy Donations With Long-Term Benefits Supported By Mathematical Analysis, Daniel Solow, Robin Symes

Faculty Scholarship

A novel approach to legacy donations, called the “Master Fund Strategy,” is proposed. Potential long-term financial benefits for both donor and nonprofit organizations (NPOs) when compared to a “Traditional Fund Strategy” are established through mathematical analysis and computer simulations, providing nonprofit marketing and fundraising professionals an alternative way to lock in bequest funding. In particular, formulas are developed for computing relevant financial quantities associated with the two strategies. Conditions are presented under which the Master Fund Strategy is better than the Traditional Fund Strategy, in the sense that there is a point in time when the net present value of …

Polyethylene Glycol-Mediated Directional Conjugation Of Biological Molecules For Enhanced Immunoassays At The Point-Of-Care, Dheerendranath Battalapalli, Purbali Chakraborty, Disha Jain, Umut A. Gurkan, Robert A. Bonomo, Mohamed S. Draz

Faculty Scholarship

Rapid and reliable point-of-care (POC) diagnostic tests can have a significant impact on global health. One of the most common approaches for developing POC systems is the use of target-specific biomolecules. However, the conjugation of biomolecules can result in decreased activity, which may compromise the analytical performance and accuracy of the developed systems. To overcome this challenge, we present a polymer-based cross-linking protocol for controlled and directed conjugation of biological molecules. Our protocol utilizes a bifunctional thiol-polyethylene glycol (PEG)-hydrazide polymer to enable site-directed conjugation of IgG antibodies to the surface of screen-printed metal electrodes. The metal surface of the electrodes …

Prescribed Fire Use Among Black Landowners In The Red Hills Region, Usa, Cynthia Twyford Fowler, La’ Portia J. Perkins, Adam Coates, J. Kevin Hiers, Seth W. Bigelow

Faculty Scholarship

The Red Hills Region of southern Alabama, northern Florida, and southwestern Georgia is one of the most prominent areas in the United States for conducting prescribed fire research and is the birthplace of fire ecology. The culture of prescribed burning in the Red Hills has been influenced by multiple ethnic groups, including the Seminole and Creek nations, Black landowners, and White researchers. Given the distinctive reliance of the region on prescribed fire, it is noteworthy that the combined issues of Black land loss, underrepresentation, and incentives for using prescribed fire on private lands in the southeastern United States have generated …

Legal Clutter: How Concurring Opinions Create Unnecessary Confusion And Encourage Litigation, Meg Penrose

Faculty Scholarship

Good judges are clear writers. And clear writers avoid legal clutter. Legal clutter occurs when judges publish multiple individually written opinions that are neither useful nor necessary. This essay argues that concurring opinions are the worst form of legal clutter. Unlike majority opinions, concurring opinions are legal asides, musings of sorts—often by a single judge—that add length and confusion to an opinion often without adding meaningful value. Concurring opinions do not change the outcome of a case. Unlike dissenting opinions, they do not claim disagreement with the ultimate decision. Instead, concurring opinions merely offer an idea or viewpoint that failed …

Neuroaffirmative Approaches To Extended Reality: Empowering Individuals With Autism Spectrum Condition Through Immersive Learning Environments, James Hutson, Caitlyn Mcginley

Faculty Scholarship

Traditional teaching and working environments often prioritize extroverted qualities, disadvantaging individuals with conditions that impact social engagement, such as autism spectrum condition (ASC). These individuals usually thrive in calmer, low-key learning environments but face challenges in lecture-style classes, and traditional office environments leading to marginalization in academic and professional settings. This study explores the neuroaffirming potential of extended reality (XR) in creating immersive learning and working environments tailored to the unique needs of individuals with ASC. By focusing on four key factors—indirect social engagement, digital communication preferences, sensory sensitivity, and avatar-based communication—XR technologies can provide a supportive and accommodating environment …

Sex Differences In Resting Metabolic Rate Among Athletes And Association With Body Composition Parameters: A Follow-Up Investigation, Andrew R. Jagim, Margaret T. Jones, Andrew T. Askow, Joel Luedke, Jacob L. Erickson, Jennifer B. Fields, Chad Kerksick

Faculty Scholarship

The purpose of this study was to examine sex differences in resting metabolic rate (RMR) and associations between measured RMR and body composition parameters in athletes. One-hundred and ninety collegiate men (n = 98; age: 20.1 ± 1.6 yr.; body mass: 92.7 ± 17.5 kg; height: 181.6 ± 6.2 cm, body mass index: 28.0 ± 4.7 kg/m2) and women (n = 92; age: 19.4 ± 1.1 yr.; body mass: 65.2 ± 11.0 kg; height: 168.0 ± 6.6 cm, body mass index: 23.0 ± 3.6 kg/m2) athletes volunteered to participate in this study. Athletes completed a body composition assessment using air …

A Randomized Controlled Trial To Examine The Impact Of A Multi-Strain Probiotic On Self-Reported Indicators Of Depression, Anxiety, Mood, And Associated Biomarkers, Kylie E. Walden, Jessica M. Moon, Anthony M. Hagele, Leah E. Allen, Connor J. Gaige, Joesi M. Krieger, Ralf Jäger, Petey W. Mumford, Marco Pane, Chad M. Kerksick

Faculty Scholarship

Objective: To examine the efficacy of supplementing with a multi-strain probiotic (MSP) on changes associated with mood, anxiety, and neurotransmitter levels.

Method: In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled fashion, 70 healthy men and women (31.0  ±  9.5  years, 173.0  ±  10.4  cm, 73.9  ±  13.8  kg, 24.6  ±  3.5  kg/m2 ) supplemented with a single capsule of MSP (a total daily dose of 4 × 109 colony forming units [CFU] comprised of a 1 × 109   CFU dose from each of the following strains: Limosilactobacillus fermentum LF16, Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus LR06, Lactiplantibacillus plantarum LP01, and Bifidobacterium longum 04, Probiotical S.p.A., Novara, …

Apheresis Collection Of Mononuclear Cells For Chimeric-Antigen Receptor Therapies, Robert W. Maitta

Faculty Scholarship

Collections of lymphocytes to be genetically modified to treat hematologic malignancies have seen a dramatic increase over the last few years as commercial products have been approved. Reports of new products in development that can possibly treat solid organ malignancies represent a massive change in the field. Apheresis is at the center of the collection of cells for the manufacture of these chimeric-antigen receptor therapy products. The expansion of these collections represents one of the areas of apheresis procedures growth. This review will summarize concepts important to this type of collection and variables that need to be optimized to obtain …

Why The Court Should Reexamine Administrative Law's Chenery Ii Doctrine, Gary S. Lawson, Joseph Postell

Faculty Scholarship

Part I of this article begins by discussing some fundamental constitutional principles that were raised, sometimes implicitly and indirectly, in the Chenery cases. Those principles point to limits on administrative adjudication that go well beyond those recognized in current doctrine. We do not here seek to push those principles as far as they can go, though we offer no resistance to anyone who wants to trod that path. Instead, we identify and raise those principles to help understand the scope and limits of actual doctrine. Our modest claims here are that constitutional concerns about at least some classes of agency …