Digital Commons Network^™

Religious Tax Exemptions: Free Exercise And The Johnson Amendment, L. Garrett Stratton

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Age, Ambiguity, And Administrative Overreach: How U.S. Import Law Keeps American Motorsport In The Slow Lane, Conor Abbamonte

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Ice Is In Your Children's Schools: How Trump's Immigration Raids Could Revive The Case For A Constitutional Right To Education, Alyssa A. Ettore

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Who Can Be Disarmed? The Critical Need For The Return To Means-End Scrutiny In Rejection Of Bruen’S History And Tradition Test, Candacie Hilliman

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Extraordinary And Compelling: Considering Actual Innocence In Compassionate Release, Peter Arleo

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Disclose Tenant Rights: A Call For Congress To Pass A Conditional Spending Grant For State-Mandated Tenant Disclosure Forms, Salvatore Imbornone Iii

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Strengthening Ethical Ai: Counteracting Racism In Predictive Policing, Nicholas Giaquinto

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Trained, Trusted, And Vetted, But Still Unarmed: The Army Is Bucking Congress And The Court By Continuing To Prohibit Concealed Carry, Major Jonathon L. Krisko

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

The constitutional right to bear arms in public for self-defense is not “a second-class right, subject to an entirely different body of rules than the other Bill of Rights guarantees.” We know of no other constitutional right that an individual may exercise only after demonstrating to government officers some special need. That is not how the First Amendment works when it comes to unpopular speech or the free exercise of religion. It is not how the Sixth Amendment works when it comes to a defendant’s right to confront the witnesses against him. And it is not how the Second Amendment …

It’S Gone To The Dogs: The Need For Regulation In Professional Service Dog Training, Crystal J. Elsner

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

Currently, no state requires professional service dog trainers to pass any test or obtain any occupational licensure to prove their competency. While the Americans with Disabilities Act and its implementing regulations do not require that dogs complete a professional training program to be considered service dogs, many individuals with disabilities choose to use such programs. The unregulated nature of the industry allows inexperienced individuals to market themselves as professionals, which can harm not only the dogs receiving training but also the humans that will eventually take them home. Further, the lack of industry oversight leaves room for bad actors to …

Legislative Debate-Attributed Suicidality Among Lgbtq+ Adults: The Buffering Effect Of Community Belongingness, Keith J. Watts, Shawndaya S. Thrasher, Laneshia R. Conner, Nicole Campbell, Louis G. Baser, Dekeitra Griffin, Sydney P. Howard, Missy Spears, Justin X. Moore

Counseling & Human Services Faculty Publications

Background: In recent years, the sociopolitical landscape in the United States has shifted due to an increase in state-level legislation regarding LGBTQ+ rights, a trend that has been particularly pronounced in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. While the mental health impacts of enacted laws are increasingly documented, a critical gap remains in understanding the psychological toll of the legislative debates themselves—the prolonged periods of public discourse surrounding the restriction of rights. Methods: Utilizing data from the 2025 Queer Kentucky Survey (N = 817), this exploratory study examined the association between LGBTQ+ community belongingness and acute suicidality attributed specifically to anti-LGBTQ+ legislative …

Analyzing Best Practices In Reintegration, Education, Restorative Justice, And Reentry, Sergio Grossi

Open Educational Resources

This collaborative assignment in SOC 301 (Penology) requires students to critically examine best practices in reintegration, prison education, rehabilitation, and restorative justice through comparative international case studies, such as APAC, Bastøy Prison, or the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program. Working in groups, students analyze at least five peer-reviewed sources to assess both documented benefits (e.g., reduced recidivism, improved reintegration) and key challenges (e.g., scalability and sustainability). The scaffolded structure—proposal, draft, final paper, and presentation—strengthens research skills, critical thinking, and evidence-based academic communication.

Determining Driving Ability Following Traumatic Brain Injury, Shauna M. Corrigan

Occupational Therapy Capstones

Introduction: A traumatic brain injury (TBI) can be a severe injury that causes lasting effects such as visual changes, challenges with concentration and memory, and problems with coordination and balance (Centers for Disease Control, 2024). This can impact an individual’s ability to safely return to the valued occupation of driving. Occupational therapists will commonly assess an individual’s ability to return to drive following a TBI, but they experience challenges in doing so due to a lack of standard method in assessing one’s safety while operating a motor vehicle (Baker et al., 2015; Tamietto et al., 2006; Classen et al., 2009; …

Aggregation At The Bottom, Seema Tahir Saifee

University of Colorado Law Review

No abstract provided.

Crimes Of The Powerful And The Looting Of Contemporary Nigeria: An Integrated Theoretical Perspective, Charles Ubah

African Journal of Criminology and Justice Studies

Crime of the powerful is a humongous social problem with the potential to ravage development and threaten the corporate existence of nation states. The case of contemporary Nigeria is the focal point of analysis in this paper. The objective of the paper, therefore, is to investigate the menace in Nigeria from an integrated theoretical perspective. The methodology was exploratory survey and review of literature which were content analyzed. The theoretical framework is a kind of Modified Multiple Reinforcing Social Forces Theory. Findings indicate that, beside its high prevalence rate, elite criminality in the various forms of corruption, property and environmental …

Understanding The Flow: Deconstructing The Link Between Immigrants And Fentanyl, Madeline F. Nesbitt

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis explains how a false link between undocumented immigration and fentanyl becomes widely accepted in the United States. Empirical data show that most fentanyl enters through legal ports of entry and that U.S. citizens account for the majority of those caught transporting it. Why, then, do 41% of Americans attribute overdose deaths to migrants trafficking fentanyl? This project examines how this myth is built, repeated, and sustained, and what policy consequences follow from it.

When complex social problems lack clear culprits, political actors often manufacture them through scapegoating. Current literature documents how political actors link immigrants to drug crimes, …

Rethinking Reentry In The United States: A Comparative Analysis Of Incarceration Strategies In Norway, Singapore, And Austria, Amelia Ulmer

CMC Senior Theses

The prison reentry system in the United States remains a pressing social, economic, and political issue, as hundreds of thousands of prisoners are released each year with few resources to assist them with their transition. In fact, these previously incarcerated people are arguably set up to fail, which leads to over half of them reoffending within two years. This thesis analyzes how the United States should reform its current prison system based on lessons learned from three international case studies. These three case studies, Norway, Singapore, and Austria were chosen as countries that have globally low recidivism rates and unique …

The History Of Mass Incarceration And Its Implications, Evan Sevaly

CMC Senior Theses

In this thesis, I develop a model to answer four questions about US incarceration: why did incarceration increase between 1973 to 2009, why have incarceration figures experienced an overall decrease since then, and what explains their oscillation, why has the penal system consistently incarcerated marginalized groups at disproportionate rates, and why is the US an incarceration outlier compared to other industrialized countries? I split the competing explanations to these questions into four schools of thought: the perspective that neoliberalism caused mass incarceration, the perspective that surpluses in finance capital, land, population, and state capacity caused mass incarceration, the perspective that …

Constitutional Rights, Human Dignity, And The American Dream: A Historical Analysis Of U.S. Immigration Policy After 9/11, Shelby Mcilroy

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis examines how United States immigration policy transformed after September 11, 2001 and asks whether modern immigration enforcement remains consistent with constitutional principles, human rights protections, and the broader ideals associated with the American Dream. The project investigates how immigration shifted from a primarily civil administrative system into one increasingly defined by surveillance, detention, and punishment. The central question guiding this research is whether the securitization of immigration has reshaped not only enforcement practices, but also the meaning of constitutional protections and human dignity for both citizens and noncitizens.

To answer this question, this thesis conducts a historical policy …

Federal Credit And Post-Disaster Economic Recovery: A County-Level Study Of Sba Lending From 2002 - 2022, Tanveer Singh Chabba

CMC Senior Theses

The United States Small Business Administration (SBA) is a government organization founded in 1953 that plays a central role in disaster response by providing capital contracts and low-interest loans to affected firms and households. This thesis will examine whether the SBA’s disaster lending program supports county-level economic recovery in the aftermath of a disaster period. My initial hypothesis is that after a natural disaster, an increase in SBA loan activity should help mitigate income losses and support economic recovery, leading to a consistent level of county-level Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) growth in future years. Using a constructed dataset that links …

Determining Knowledge Gaps In Natural Disaster Preparedness: An Exploratory Analysis Of Socioeconomic Variables And Response Quality, Michelle S. Repass

Theses and Dissertations

This exploratory study examines potential knowledge gaps in natural disaster preparedness across socioeconomic groups in Lee County, Alabama and identifies communication barriers affecting response behavior through the lens of the knowledge gap hypothesis. Survey data from 20 residents were analyzed using an objective socioeconomic status (OSES) score based on household income and highest level of education. Results indicate that while most respondents reported access to weather alerts and favorable behavioral responses that align with current guidelines from the National Weather Service, gaps are present in comprehension, response timing, and engagement in risky behavior that could delay protective action. Findings suggest …

The Future Of U.S. Higher Education: Equity Implications Of Shifting Immigration Policies, Research Institute For Social Equity Rise

Research Institute for Social Equity

This report examines the impact of U.S. immigration policies on higher education and international students from 2000 to 2025. It traces five major policy eras, from the post- 9/11 security overhaul and Obama-era expansion to the restrictive turns of 2017–2020 and 2025, and analyzes how shifting regulations have influenced enrollment patterns, economic contributions, and student well-being. Despite hosting more than 1.1 million international students in 2023–2024, the U.S. share of the global student market has fallen from 20% to 16%, underscoring how policy volatility and restrictive measures weaken national competitiveness. Drawing on federal data, scholarly research, and institutional reports, this …

Congolese Journalists: Professional Identity And Legitimacy, Hannah L. Heiskell

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This paper examines how Congolese journalists construct their professional identity

and legitimacy while working under conditions of conflict and state pressure, and how

international media outlets discursively represent them through Western journalistic norms.

Addressing previous research and centering local perspectives, this study uses critical

discourse analysis to compare language, framing, and narratives across Congolese and

international media texts, and the works in which they produce. Attention is given to how

agency, professionalism, and constraint are represented within each discourse. The analysis

focuses on metajournalistic discourse, or journalism talking about journalism, to examine

how professional norms and boundaries are articulated and …

Reconciling Discretion With The Rule Of Law: A Rawlsian Analysis Of Civil Disobedience By State Actors In Liberal-Democratic Schemes, Reid Devoge

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This dissertation starts from the position that the stability of liberal-democratic political schemes relies on its citizens mutually accepting a basic conception of political justice. While these conceptions of justice may vary, most incorporate the inter-connected concepts of autonomy, liberty, liberalism, and the rule of law. Within this conception of a liberal democracy, a potentially destabilizing issue arises when a legislatively passed law is put into effect, but a portion of the citizens perceive it as unjust. If legitimate (i.e., lawful) actions do not sufficiently resolve the concern, civil disobedience (i.e., disobeying the law) is a potential recourse, but this …

The Impact Of Defunding The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (Snap-Ed) In Louisiana, Virginia Bordelon, Senlin Chen, Yuxin Nie, Denise Holston, Jessice Stroope

Distinguished Undergraduate Researcher Program

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) was a federally funded initiative that aims to improve nutrition knowledge, promote physical activity, and provide education through Policy, System, and Environmental (PSE) strategies. This study examined the relationship between the defunding of SNAP-Ed and how nutrition and physical activity were affected among low-income families. Data for this study originated an interview with a Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) economist, an interview with SNAP-Ed field agent, and survey responses from 32 adult participants familiar with SNAP. The SNAP recipients use the education program resources to assist in healthy recipes, physical
education …

Applying Photovoice To Uncover Fundamental Causes Of Health Inequality In Local Health Contexts, Marisa Booty, Madelyne G. Culbertson, Mason Taylor, Dakota Heise, Heather Stone, Katherine Leanne Kommer, Jennifer Gulley, Jeanette Hart, Christina Nentwick, Margaret Mcgladrey

Sociology Faculty Publications

Introduction: Participatory action research methods like Photovoice are uniquely equipped to identify structural determinants of health based on lived experiences of how they influence proximal and distal population health outcomes. This study uses Photovoice data to examine how structural determinants impact community health needs.

Methods: Qualitative thematic analysis used focus group discussion data (25 transcripts) from four Kentucky counties that embedded Photovoice into their local health department community health assessment processes. Coded excerpts were examined for ways in which participants' community health concerns reflected structural issues rather than individual health behaviors.

Results: Participants perceived issues such as houselessness, food insecurity, …

Blurred Lines: Did Booker Change Federal Sentencing Outcomes?, Hugh Mundy

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Medications For Opioid Use Disorder In Correctional Facilities: A 2022 Cross-Sectional Survey Of Health Care Staff, Claire Wolfe, Sabrina Gaiazov, Dr. Pamela Valera, Will Mullen, Ross Macdonald, Christian Heidbreder

School of Social Work Faculty Publications

A national, anonymous, online survey was administered inviting 3,161 correctional health professionals to examine the associations between facility characteristics and the availability of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) in jails and prisons. Responses from 268 participants representing 212 correctional facilities were analyzed. We used multivariate logistic regression to identify associated facility characteristics, and open-ended responses were analyzed using content analysis. Facilities in the Western United States had higher odds of providing MOUD compared with those in the Midwest (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 3.67, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.28–10.99). Jails had higher odds of offering MOUD than prisons (AOR …

Asset Forfeiture As An Animal Welfare Law: A Case Study On South Carolina's Bond-Or-Forfeit Statute, Morgan Mercer

Animal Law Review

This Comment examines South Carolina’s 2024 bond-or-forfeit statute (H.B. 3682) as a case study in the growing trend of extending existing legal frameworks to promote animal welfare. Traditionally, asset forfeiture treats animals purely as property subject to seizure. However, by shifting the costs of caring for seized animals from public agencies to the animals’ owners, H.B. 3682 embeds a concern for animal well-being into a framework historically focused on economic and property interests. This Comment argues that bond-or-forfeit statutes are part of a broader trend toward recognizing animals as sentient beings with welfare interests distinct from their owners’ property rights. …

Richmond Electronic Monitoring: The City Sees You While You're Sleeping, Fakira D. Johnson

Law Student Publications

The United States has increasingly recognized its reputation as a prison state, with widespread acknowledgment of its high incarceration rates. As of 2021, the United States imprisoned one out of every five prisoners in the world. Additionally, of its own population, the United States imprisoned one out of every one hundred people.

In response to this notoriety, worsening prison overcrowding, and the heightened risks posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, all fifty states, the District of Columbia, and the federal government increased their utilization of alternative measures to traditional incarceration. As both an addition and an alternative to traditional incarceration, criminal …

Town Of Lempster, New Hampshire, Incorporated 1767, Annual Reports For The Year Ending December 31, 2025, Lempster Town Representatives

Lempster, NH Annual Reports

This is an annual report containing vital statistics for a town/city in the state of New Hampshire.