Digital Commons Network^™

The Persistence Of Common Law Limits On Armed Travel In The Early Republic: Surety And Affray Laws In Historical Context, Saul Cornell

SMU Law Review

In New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen, the Supreme Court abandoned the two-step test that had emerged after its landmark, but controversial ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller. The new approach announced in Bruen rejected the second prong of this test, casting aside means end scrutiny, or balancing, in favor of a “text, history, and tradition” approach. More recently, in United States v. Rahimi, the Court clarified some of the confusion over its Bruen test. One ongoing problem that lawyers and judges face when implementing this framework flows from the nature of materials …

Regulating The Forever Wild, Edward W. De Barbieri

SMU Law Review

Communities in rural areas regularly come into conflict with government bodies regarding the use of protected lands. From New York, to Alaska, to Nevada—and many places in between—a common question emerges: who should have authority to regulate human activity on and around wilderness lands? It is not a new phenomenon for urban dwellers, often controlling money and political power, to use influence and a specter of conservation to control what is permitted in rural spaces. Resulting unrest among rural resi­dents may be the result of the exclusion of poor, racially underrepresented, indigenous, and other residents who earn their livelihood from …

The Law Of First Impression, Amy J. Griffin

SMU Law Review

Judicial decision-making is governed by a complex web of unwritten operational rules—rules made by judges themselves. Some of these rules, like stare decisis or canons of interpretation, garner endless attention. Others remain unnoticed, becoming entrenched without ever being evaluated.

This Article is the first to identify and evaluate one such category of rules—those governing issues of first impression Public and academic attention is focused almost entirely on judicial fidelity to precedent, not what courts do in its absence. But issues of first impression are decided regularly by all U.S. courts, and the first impression label can have concrete legal effects. …

Improving Regulatory Notice, Joshua Ulan Galperin, E. Donald Elliott

SMU Law Review

Effective notice of law is the cornerstone of any legal system, and yet many federal administrative agencies do not give small businesses, NGOs, and interested citizens notice of the vast amount of new or modified law they produce. They merely publish the text in the Federal Register, which works tolerably well for larger enterprises but not their smaller competitors and citizens’ groups. Despite these facts, few scholars have explored how agencies provide notice of the law. Even fewer have proposed ways that agencies could improve the methods they use for giving more effective notice of significant regulatory changes and …

The Homeowner Strikes Back: The Rise Of Antisquatter Laws, Sam Fowler

SMU Law Review

Beginning in 2024, a host of states across the country began enacting or considering new laws targeting squatting that seek to expedite the removal of squatters. Generally, these antisquatting laws create criminal penalties for squatters, allow sheriffs to remove squatters, and shorten the time for eviction. This wave of legislation is generally attributed to several viral videos and news stories about squatters that seem to game the system by moving into unattended homes, even those where the rightful owners or tenants are living, and then claiming they have a lease. The owners will generally call the police, who are unable …

Republicanism In The Age Of Democratic Revolution: The Democratic-Republican Societies Of The 1790s, Matthew Schoenbachler

History

No abstract provided.

Availability And Use Of Digital Technology Among Women With Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: Scoping Review, Pamela J. Wright Phd, Ms, Med, Rn, Cen, Charlotte Burts, Carolyn Harmon, Cynthia F. Corbett Phd, Rn, Faan

Publications

Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrinopathy among women that requires self-management to improve mental and physical health outcomes and reduce risk of comorbidity. Digital technology has rapidly emerged as a valuable self-management tool for people with chronic health conditions. However, little is known about the digital technology available for and used by women with PCOS. Objective: The purpose of this scoping review was to identify what is known about digital technology currently available and used by women with PCOS for PCOS-specific knowledge, self-management, or social support. Methods: The databases PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, and Compendex were searched using …

Title 18’S Property Conundrum, Karen E. Woody, Joshua L. Clardy

SMU Law Review

“Property,” in legal terms, carries significant weight. Once an object is heralded as “property,” that object becomes a step closer to being afforded the protections of the Constitution, offered equitable remedies at a court’s disposal, or even subjected to taxation by the state or federal government. Defining an object as “property” also puts it within the reach of the Title 18 property fraud statutes. Title 18’s fraud statutes have been often lauded by federal prosecutors for their “extraordinary utility.” In their current iteration, these statutes criminalize schemes to defraud “money,” “property,” and “the intangible right of honest services.” But what …

Front Matter

SMU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Levels Of Generality, The Limits Of Originalism, And The Supreme Court’S Second Amendment Jurisprudence, Amanda L. Tyler

SMU Law Review

Just how originalist is the Court’s Second Amendment jurisprudence after United States v. Rahimi? This is perhaps one of the biggest questions left in the decision’s wake. As it turns out, the answer is not altogether clear post-Rahimi. This is because the case produced some seven separate opinions, many of which—even though they agree as to the bottom line—get there by very different paths. This Article suggests that Rahimi, perhaps more than any other recent decision by the Court, underscores the crucial role that levels of generality in constitutional interpretation play, while illustrating the problems with …

The Mutability Of Dangerousness: Domestic Violence And Second Amendment Restoration After Rahimi, F. Lee Francis

SMU Law Review

This Article considers whether the Constitution permits the permanent disarmament of individuals once deemed dangerous—particularly in cases involving domestic violence. In United States v. Rahimi, the Supreme Court reaffirmed that the Second Amendment protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms, subject only to regulation consistent with historical tradition. That tradition, as examined under New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, does not support lifetime bans absent an ongoing threat.

The Article argues that dangerousness is not immutable. Founding-era laws recognized disarmament as a temporary, conditional measure tied to present conduct, not a …

Interaction Between Structural And Cultural Barriers In Relation To The Mental Health Service Usage Of Latino Young Adults, Mia Rubino

Psychology Honors Papers

The inaccessibility of mental health services among ethnic minority populations is often attributed to neatly categorized “cultural” factors or “structural” factors, as is seen in research regarding underutilization of such services among Latino populations. While these terms seek to provide clarity for complex human experiences, in natural occurrence, cultural identity and societal structure are inextricable from each other, and must be studied as such. The present study sought to examine the possible interaction effects of structural and cultural barriers on the subsequent help-seeking behaviors of Latino young adults in a qualitative investigation. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight individuals of …

Axiomatic Shifting Paradigms: Wittgenstein’S Language-Games, Gödel’S Incompleteness Theorem, Language, Law, And The Limits Of Formalism, Charles Edward Andrew Lincoln Iv

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

This Article shows how Ludwig Wittgenstein’s idea of “language-games” and Kurt Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorems mark the outer limits of legal formalism and other leading interpretive theories—textualism, originalism, and purposivism. It begins by tracing Wittgenstein’s progression from a “picture theory” of language to the view that social context drives meaning more than any simple correspondence between words and reality. Gödel’s work on formal systems, suggesting that mathematics—long held as the pinnacle of logical certainty—itself cannot be both consistent and complete, reinforces the notion that purely “logical” approaches cannot capture the full range of linguistic and social nuances at play in law. …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Simplified Education On Respiratory Infections For South Asian Immigrants Parents Of Children 3 Months To 18 Years Of Age., Iman Khanam

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

BACKGROUND: Health literacy has been shown to be a major contributing factor to an individual’s ability to manage symptoms and therefore their health outcomes as well. Data demonstrates that those of South Asian descent tend to lack the health literacy necessary to manage health. Respiratory infections are one of the most common childhood illnesses. It is important that parents understand how to appropriately manage their child’s symptoms.

METHODS: A pre-intervention questionnaire was obtained from participating parents prior to the intervention. The post-intervention questionnaire was obtained at least one week after the intervention. A paired t-test analysis was conducted based on …

Student Retention And Persistence At Jccc, Eve Blobaum

Sabbatical Projects

Community colleges enroll diverse student populations with varied academic preparation, socioeconomic backgrounds, and personal circumstances. These factors contribute to lower retention and persistence rates compared to four-year institutions. This work adds to the research on community college retention and persistence by attempting to identify factors related to student retention and persistence at Johnson County Community College, a large suburban community college in the American Midwest. Using 21 variables drawn from Community College Survey of Student Engagement data collected online in Spring 2021, a sample of 289 students was analyzed to identify variables with a statistically significant (p < 0.05) association with next-term retention, fall-to-fall retention, or persistence. The findings reveal that only credit hours completed is consistently associated with retention and persistence. While credential-seeking and financial aid are associated with next-term retention (p = .002 and p < .001, respectively), neither was associated with long-term outcomes. Age group was associated with fall-to-fall retention (p = .043) and persistence (p = .031) but not with next-term retention. Additionally, while being married and living with dependent children were associated with persistence (p = .005 and p = .002, respectively), neither was related to either of the retention measures. These results underscore the complexity of retention dynamics and highlight the need for further research to validate the utility of the CCSSE instrument at the institutional level and explore whether these results are anomalous.

Religious Bias And Texas’S Bluebonnet Learning English Language Arts Lessons, Mark Chancey

Religious Studies Research

In November 2024, after months of heated public debate, Texas approved new English language arts reading lessons for public elementary schools (kindergarten through fifth grade) that devote notably more attention to the Bible than to other religious texts and to the Christian tradition than to other religions. This article describes the controversy over these lessons and provides examples of the various ways in which they privilege Christianity over other traditions.

Popularizing Autogestión: Punk, Zapatismo, And Anarchist Ethics In Mexico City, Livia K. Stone

Faculty Publications – Sociology and Anthropology

Autogestión (self-management), has been a popular articulation of radical politics since its emergence in the 1960s. This article examines how Mexico City's anarcho-punk scene transformed autogestión in the 1990s from an anarcho-syndicalist principle into a unique ethical practice detached from industrial material production. It was then popularized and made more mainstream through university rock festivals. As these were Zapatista benefit concerts, autogestión became inadvertently attached to Zapatismo and detached from anarchism and punk. This history is a crucial one for understanding the political development of an entire generation of the political left in Mexico City who were young in the …

A Note From The Editors And Author Biographies

Emerging Writers

The Co-editors describe the contents of this issue and present the author biographies.

Coffee Shops And Community, Julia A. Franz

Emerging Writers

This paper focuses on the role of coffeehouses as community hubs through a comparative analysis of two locations of a locally owned coffee company in Georgia. It examines how the physical design and values of each shop offer unique forms of social interaction. The St. Simons location encourages spontaneous, intergenerational conversations; while, the Brunswick shop strengthens pre-existing community ties among working families and retirees. The profile explains how, by incorporating local history, sustainable sourcing, and communal spaces, the coffee company shows how design and principles shape social dynamics. This profile highlights how coffeehouses can serve as more than commercial spaces …

How I Fell In Love With Writing, Julia Lee

Emerging Writers

This is a story of being a first-generation student to come to America. This article includes the hardships of my arrival and how my relationship with writing grew because of the support of my English instructor.

Fostering Cyber Defense: Investigating Effective Methods To Enhance Cybersecurity Awareness, Dmitri H. Morris

Emerging Writers

In the current rapidly evolving digital era, the importance of cybersecurity has become paramount, with millions of records stolen daily and the cost of cybercrime reaching trillions of dollars annually. While the importance of cybersecurity is increasing, many individuals continue to implement poor cybersecurity practices, such as utilizing weak password construction strategies, opening phishing attachments, and handling data irresponsibly. These practices place individuals and the entities that employ them at risk, highlighting a critical need for greater cybersecurity awareness. Addressing this need requires effective strategies to increase awareness and alter individual behaviors. This paper provides a thorough examination of two …

The Negative Impact Of Book Banning On American Students, Andrew Carruthers

Emerging Writers

The purpose of this research article is to analyze the impact of book banning on American K-12 students in the United States of America and to convey the negative effects of that impact. Book banning is a form of censorship that involves the restriction and/or prohibition of a book, typically by removing it from a library, bookstore, or school reading list. American book banning in the modern era is typically carried out with the intent of shielding the American youth from content considered to be inflammatory, controversial, and/or inflammatory. This article argues that this method is counterintuitive and also serves …

Sojourner Truth’S Vision: A Life Dedicated To Ending Injustice, Nyla R. Stokes

Emerging Writers

This essay explores the profound legacy of Sojourner Truth, a pivotal figure in the fight against injustice. Through a personal narrative interwoven with historical analysis, the author reflects on their initial ignorance of Truth's significance and how a school project transformed their understanding. The paper delves into Truth's life, including her experiences as a formerly enslaved woman, her impactful speeches and her collaboration with other notable activists. It examines the complexities of her identity as a Black woman in the 19th century, the societal perceptions of femininity, and the challenges she faced within the feminist movement. The author also draws …

Evaluating Saliva Based Glucose Testing For Accessible Diabetes Care In Tanzania, Shannon Dhindsa

Public Health Theses

Background: In Tanzania, limited healthcare infrastructure and reliance on invasive diagnostic methods significantly hinder effective diabetes screening and management. Individuals with diabetes often go undetected and have lower immune systems that make them prone to further infectious complications. Thus, properly managing this chronic condition can prevent additional infectious diseases. Salivary glucose testing offers a non-invasive, innovative alternative with the potential to transform the early detection and management of diabetes, especially in resource-constrained settings.

Design: This cross-sectional study, conducted at Muhimbili National Hospital's Diabetes Clinic in Dar es Salaam, evaluates the feasibility of salivary glucose testing using a colorimetric glucose-oxidase-peroxidase point-of-care …

The Sword And The Serpent, Gina Dittmeier

Children's Book Writing and Illustrating (MFA) Theses

This project provides insight into the monstrous bridegroom trope in fairytale and its influence in modern fantasy literature. The monstrous bridegroom trope has several different variations, but all of these variations result in a young and innocent woman marrying a monster. Through my critical essay, I look at this trope through a modern feminist lens, exploring the different variations of the trope in fairy tales, modern fairy tale adaptations, and fantasy literature. The essay brings in modern ideas of toxic masculinity and toxic femininity and applies them to the fairy tale inspiration of fantasy literature. The monstrous bridegroom trope and …

Adapting Instruction In Germany: Differentiation Strategies In Diverse Classrooms, Grace Hull

International Professional Development Partnerships (IPDP) Consortium

This study explores differentiation in German public and special education schools. Special schools, with smaller classes and specialized training, provide individualized, systematic instruction. In contrast, public schools face large class sizes and limited resources, leading to surface-level differentiation such as ability grouping. While grouping strategies appeared across settings, personalization was deeper in special schools. Hands-on and movement-based activities were common in public classrooms, enhancing engagement. Findings emphasize the impact of class size, teacher preparation, and support on the effectiveness of differentiation in meeting diverse student needs.

Rukeyser Biannual, No. 3 (Spring 2025), Muriel Rukeyser Living Archive

Rukeyser Biannual

No abstract provided.

Teaching Beyond Borders: A Black Educator’S Experience In Chile With Ipds, Ciera Watson

International Professional Development Partnerships (IPDP) Consortium

This project explores my experience as a Black woman and Childhood Education major participating in the International Professional Development Schools (IPDS) program in Chile. Through classroom visits, cultural immersion, and reflective practice, I gained a deeper understanding of global education, equity, and the value of diverse learning environments. I also discovered how teaching abroad can expand culturally responsive pedagogy (Ladson-Billings, 1995) by highlighting the importance of connecting instruction to students’ cultural realities and advocating for equity in global contexts.

“Change Is Inevitable”: How The First Amendment Safety-Valve Theory Can Expand Protections For Student Expression, Leslie Klein, Jonathan Peters

Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality

This article challenges the traditional notion that the regulation and protection of student expression in public schools should be based primarily or exclusively on the marketplace theory, which often reinforces the status quo. The safety valve theory is more appropriate and should be applied, especially in the current political and social climate, to inspire an expansion of student speech and press rights that would support expressive activities seeking to change the public discourse around important issues. Students who can speak freely will be more willing to accept decisions that go against them, and a school environment in which passionate or …

The Failure Of Fcc Diversity Initiatives: A Postmortem And A Proposal, Christopher Terry, David Pritchard

Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality

No abstract provided.