Digital Commons Network^™

The Sound Of The Police: Police Radio Encryption And Freedom Of The Press, Toluwanimi Fajolu

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Social Promise Of Hybrid Entities, Frederick M. Spight Jr.

American University Business Law Review

Many Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are struggling to stay afloat. These historic, and historically underfunded, institutions suffer from a chronic shortage of resources, leading to the notable closures of schools, like Concordia College. Some critics question the modern place of the HBCU as a relic of a bygone era. This article argues, however, that HBCUs are worth sustaining and provides the legal tool to do so: the hybrid entity. 

Hybrid entities arose from the social enterprise movement, which sought to harness the power of both nonprofit and for-profit organizations. Operating under the philosophy of “doing well, while doing …

Incentivized Delegation In Corporate Criminal Investigations: State Action, Unconstitutional Conditions, And Fifth Amendment Erosion., Ying Zhou

American University Business Law Review

This Article identifies and critiques “incentivized delegation,” an enforcement regime in which the Department of Justice (DOJ) conditions prosecutorial leniency on corporations’ completion of specified, prosecution-oriented, internal investigations of employee misconduct. While courts readily find state action when the government formally delegates investigative functions, they have not squarely addressed whether corporate investigations undertaken to secure prosecutorial leniency—without explicit governmental direction—should likewise trigger state-action scrutiny. United States v. Coburn illustrates the blind spot: by insisting that state action requires overt governmental direction and control, the decision exposes a fundamental failure to appreciate how the government can embed investigative mandates within the …

Vice, Morality, And Immigration: Critiquing And Examining The Application Of Legal Moralism In The Criminalization Of Immigrants For Vice-Related Crimes, Sofia Garcia

Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality

No abstract provided.

True Man, Captive Mother: Abortion As A Fundamental Self-Defense Right, Nicholle Vandy

Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality

Abortion healthcare has faced significant challenges since the Supreme Court held in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that there exists no constitutional right to abortion. Contrastingly, the right to bear arms, grounded in the right to self-defense, has strong constitutional protections, as highlighted in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen. The extension of the right to self-defense is exemplified by the proliferation of Stand Your Ground laws in numerous states.

This Comment examines the growing tension between self-defense doctrine, particularly through Stand Your Ground laws, and the increasing criminalization of abortion in various states. It …

Dual Purposes Of A Plea Bargaining Simulation: Pedagogical Skills Training And Controlled Data Collection Experiment About Crime Victim’S Access To Justice Via Counsel, Tung Yin

Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality

No abstract provided.

Rewriting The Sentence: Second Look Sentencing In Rhode Island, Carter Hazzard

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

State V. Roman, 335 A.3d 782 (R.I. 2025)., Kylie Rau

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Assessing The Efficacy Of Homeland Security Task Forces (Hstf) Per Executive Order 14159, Robert J. Hehl, Stella Difronzo, Maribel Ramirez, Treyson Carino, Samuel Zwiener

CJC 450 - Criminal Justice and Criminology Capstone

This Capstone Research Assessment (CRA) will assess the efficacy of Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) operations in Rhode Island as mandated under Presidential Executive Order 14159 (January 20, 2025), Section 6(b), Protecting the American People Against Invasion. Through review of national data, interviews of HSTF Rhode Island partner agency members, government and peer reviewed journals, and open-source reporting, this assessment will examine the efficacy of the HSTF mission including interagency coordination, resource allocation, and enforcement effectiveness. Furthermore, this CRA will assess the extent to which HSTF units have achieved intended objectives and identify operational and environmental limitations impacting overall success. …

The Nature Of Domestic Violent Threats To Ri Educational Institutions, Robert J. Hehl, Delenn Ferrer, Amelia Conkey, George Ivas

CJC 450 - Criminal Justice and Criminology Capstone

This Capstone Research Assessment focuses on the nature of domestic violent threats to educational institutions, ranging from kindergartens to universities, public and private, which have historically been affected by said threats. Through analysis of human sources, government and private institution reporting, this assessment will focus specifically on threats to Rhode Island educational institutions. This assessment will conclude with possible mitigating strategies. While this assessment focuses on Rhode Island institutions, these findings can also be broadly applied to other states across America as Best Practices.

Brace For Impact: Castleman, Bruen, Rahimi, And The Collision Course Of Domestic Violence And Gun Violence Jurisprudence, Gill, Colleen

Santa Clara Law Review

In June 2022, the Supreme Court articulated a new standard of judicial review for Second Amendment cases in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen. Though the Court claimed that Bruen’s “history and tradition” standard was consistent with previous Second Amendment analyses, lower courts struggled to apply it. Two years later, the Court revisited Bruen for the first time in United States v. Rahimi. However, Rahimi came with a unique set of facts – at its core, it was a case about domestic violence restraining orders.

This Note uses Rahimi to showcase the limits of the history …

Dental Board Of California, William Truong, Katie Gonzalez, Marcus Friedman

California Regulatory Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Extreme Risk Protection Orders On Homicide And Suicide: Are There Any Red Flags?, K. Alexander Adams

Wyoming Law Review

Twenty-two states have instituted Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) laws, also known as red flag laws. These laws allow law enforcement, family members, and others to petition courts to temporarily seize firearms from an individual believed to be a danger to themselves or others. These laws have been passed with the goal of reducing firearm-related homicide and suicide. This Article tests whether these laws save lives by using a generalized synthetic control model, improving upon the previously used difference-in-difference and standard synthetic control models. This preliminary study suggests ERPOs, as currently written, fail to statistically significantly reduce total homicide, total …

Black Americans' Interactions With Law Enforcement: The Black Church's Response, Shalanda Ehiozee

Doctor of Ministry

This research interrogates the disproportionate frequency of lethal law enforcement encounters involving Black Americans, contextualizing these fatalities within the systemic racial hierarchies foundational to the United States. By tracing the historical evolution of policing from antebellum slave patrols to contemporary practice, this study contends that modern law enforcement serves as a sophisticated mechanism of racial and social control.

To examine this phenomenon, the research employs a qualitative, multidimensional methodology that synthesizes Comparative Caste Analysis, case study examination, and a Christological framework. This inquiry is further bolstered by a longitudinal analysis of African American ecclesiological activism, culminating in a theological reflection …

Modeling Determinants Of Significant Noncompliance In The U.S. Mining Sector: A Fixed Effects Logistic Regression Approach, Eli Johnson

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This study examines environmental compliance behavior among mining facilities regulated under the U.S. Clean Water Act (CWA). Using a national quarterly panel of National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)-permitted mining facilities, the analysis evaluates whether local socioeconomic and demographic indicators are associated with the likelihood that a facility enters significant noncompliance (SNC) status. Facility compliance histories are compiled from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO) database and is merged with county- and state-level socioeconomic indicators and election data. A fixed-effects logistic regression model is used to account for time-invariant facility heterogeneity. The results suggest that …

Full Issue, Wyoming Law Review Editorial Board

Wyoming Law Review

No abstract provided.

High Expectations? Minnesota’S Cannabis Social Equity Statute Falters, Claire Cavanagh

Minnesota Journal of Law & Inequality

No abstract provided.

Immigrants Vs. Artificial Intelligence: The Human Cost Of Ai In Asylum Decisions, Jems Guirguis

Minnesota Journal of Law & Inequality

No abstract provided.

Refunding The Community: What Defunding Mpd Means And Why It Is Urgent And Realistic, Jli Vol. 39 Editorial Board

Minnesota Journal of Law & Inequality

No abstract provided.

Foreign States, Private Proxies, And “Discretionary” Torts On U.S. Soil, George K. Foster

Indiana Law Journal

The tortious act exception to sovereign immunity offers a vital path for tort victims to seek redress against foreign states for harms committed on U.S. soil. Yet some courts have narrowed the exception in troubling ways when rejecting claims alleging clergy abuse cover-ups, cyberattacks, and other serious misconduct. Some have held that the exception applies only to torts committed by state officials and employees, excluding private actors even when acting under state direction. Others have deemed conduct “discretionary”—and therefore immune—even when it patently violated U.S. law or contractual obligations. This Article challenges both readings. Drawing on legislative history, common law, …

Interrogating The Facts Of The Case, Anna Roberts

Indiana Law Journal

Buried within many criminal judicial opinions is the origin of their “facts”—the interrogation room. Criminal law pedagogy should expose this origin. If we treat the alleged product of interrogation as “what happened,” as criminal cases (and professors) sometimes do, we obscure the ways in which interrogators are trained to incriminate and to co-create confessions. We also risk obscuring subsequent layers of reporting by police, prosecutors, or judges.

Recent scholarly literature urges criminal law professors to teach differently, warning that we distort, sanitize, and bolster the carceral state when we erase governmental agents and bypass procedure. Treating the “facts of the …

Misinformation And The Jury, Gustavo Ribeiro

Indiana Law Journal

This Article bridges critical gaps between the growing body of social science research on misinformation and the persistent challenges jurors face in evaluating potentially unreliable evidence in courtrooms. Misinformation—a pervasive issue undermining decision-making in democratic societies—mirrors the difficulties jurors encounter in distinguishing truth from falsehood amid compelling but unreliable evidence. The consequences of such challenges are dire: wrongful convictions, racial disparities, and the erosion of public trust in the legal system.

This Article is the first piece of legal scholarship to provide a comprehensive discussion of current research on the psychological mechanisms underlying susceptibility to misinformation—such as the illusory truth …

Preface, Crystal Barnes-Bullock

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Fatality Of Rights-Based Argumentation: Conservative Co-Optation, Liberal Fragmentation, And The Battle For The Narrative, Yesha Shah

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

Rights-based liberal argumentation has become increasingly vulnerable to conservative co-optation. Because rights language is often indeterminate and easily reinterpreted, conservatives can appropriate liberal rhetoric, recast it in service of contrary ends, and redirect attention away from substantive policy consequences. This Article examines that dynamic through case studies on abortion, criminal justice reform, and affirmative action, and argues that liberals should rely more heavily on cost-benefit analysis as a complementary framework for political messaging. More concrete and empirically grounded than abstract rights rhetoric, cost-benefit analysis may be less susceptible to rhetorical hijacking while still supporting progressive policy outcomes.

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University of the District of Columbia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Criminalizing The Platform: Fosta-Sesta, Internet Governance, And The Erosion Of Online Speech, Fenny Gandhi

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

For decades, sex work operated in the shadows—negotiated in alleyways, mediated by third parties, and shaped by constant risk. Today, much of it happens online, where a screen can mean the difference between autonomy and danger. But, when the law pushes an industry underground, it does not eliminate it; rather, it reshapes how it operates, often in ways that increase vulnerability and reduce accountability. Sex work is the exchange of specific sexual services for money. The experiences of people who engage in sex work are diverse and influenced by social structures and economic realities. The internet provides consensual sex workers …

Touchdown: Upholding Precedent For Proper Venue In United States V. Lozoya, Mikayla Gross

Nebraska Law Review

“The friendly skies are not always so friendly.” This Note supports the Ninth Circuit’s en banc opinion in United States v. Lozoya, which determined that the landing district is the proper venue for prosecuting in-flight crime. The Ninth Circuit’s en banc ruling overturned the requirement to prosecute in-flight crimes in flyover districts, which created practical and evidentiary burdens for the prosecution and defense. The establishment of the landing district as the proper venue for in-flight crime prosecution promotes practical adjudication, justice for victims, constitutionally sound trials for defendants, uniformity for inflight prosecution, and encompasses Congress’s intent when enacting 18 U.S.C. …

Restoring The Fair Cross-Section Guarantee Of The Constitutional Right To An “Impartial Jury”: A Critical Examination Of The Nebraska Court System’S Systemic Default And The Supreme Court’S January 2026 Reform Of The Juror Questionnaire And Jury Data Rules, Russell E. Lovell Ii, David S. Walker

Nebraska Law Review

This Article will analyze the comprehensive demographic jury data reforms adopted by the Nebraska Supreme Court through new Court Rules and a new Juror Qualification Form (“Questionnaire”) promulgated October 2024 (“January 2026 Reforms”) and effective January 1, 2026. The Court has embraced major reforms that are cause for optimism that the Court will continue the journey to reinvigorate the guarantee that juries be drawn from a fair cross-section of the community served by the trial court as required by the Sixth Amendment and the Nebraska Jury Selection Act of 1979 (“NJSA”).

The full significance of these reforms may not be …

When We Don’T Get Community Right In Restorative Justice Spaces: Cancel Culture And Failure To Transform, Aparna Polavarapu

Nebraska Law Review

This Article argues that community is a central but deeply misunderstood feature of restorative justice. Restorative justice asks us to understand harm as a break in relationship that creates obligations for the person harmed, the person who caused harm, and the community. Community is theorized to play a key role in working towards reintegration and social change, both goals of restorative justice. Yet in practice, community is often misused or underused in ways that weaken these goals. Practitioners are observing an increase in cancel culture actions by groups that claim affinity with restorative and transformative justice. However, by weaponizing the …

Restorative Justice Behind Bars: Evidence Supporting A Post-Adjudication Brief Intervention, Dennis E. Mcchargue Ph.D., Ashley Votruba, Casey N. Tisdale, Sarah M. Noone

Nebraska Law Review

This Article details a post-adjudication restorative justice intervention implemented in Nebraska during the 1990s. This Article summarizes research findings from samples of individuals in prison and on probation, demonstrating meaningful reductions in recidivism and harm. This brief restorative justice intervention is low-cost, group-based, and uses surrogate victim impact statements as opposed to victim-offender mediation. This intervention offers a realistic template for statutory and policy reform in jurisdictions that cannot implement more resource-intensive restorative models.