Digital Commons Network^™

From Kickbacks To False Claims: The Causation Consequences Of The 2010 Anti-Kickback Statute Amendment, Daniella Stoltz

University of Chicago Legal Forum

The 2010 amendment to the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) sought to strengthen federal healthcare fraud enforcement by clarifying that Medicare and Medicaid claims submitted to the government “resulting from” AKS violations constitute false claims under the False Claims Act (FCA). However, two words, “resulting from,” have created a deep circuit split over the requisite causation standard. The First, Sixth, and Eighth Circuits require but-for causation, demanding proof that false claims would not have been submitted but-for the illegal kickback. The Third Circuit adopted a looser standard, requiring only some evidence of the illegal kickback and the submitted claim. Rather than focus …

The T+0 Imperative: Modernizing Markets By Shortening The Settlement Cycle, Julia Schreder

University of Chicago Legal Forum

In January 2021, the GameStop short squeeze exposed a major vulnerability in the U.S. financial regulatory system: the T+2 settlement cycle. During the GameStop event, the two-day lag between trade execution and settlement amplified volatility, strained firms like Robinhood, and ultimately limited investor participation. As part of its response, the Securities and Exchange Commission moved from two-day to one-day settlement.

But many of the conditions that led to the GameStop short squeeze persist. Existing securities laws are inadequate to contend with a rapidly evolving online, retail trading landscape. Retail investors are easy targets for bad actors and are frequently left …

When The Rules Burn: A New Approach To Governmental Discretion In Firefighting Operations, Nathan Li

University of Chicago Legal Forum

The Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) broadly waives the federal government’s sovereign immunity, but the discretionary function exception (DFE) preserves immunity for acts grounded in judgment or choice. A doctrinal tension arises from the Supreme Court’s instruction in Berkovitz v. United States that the DFE does not apply when a directive “specifically prescribes a course of action.” In high stakes contexts such as wildfire suppression, government actors sometimes deviate from such mandatory directives to make split-second, policy-driven decisions. Yet, in most cases, courts still treat these violations as discretionary acts protected by the DFE, often without explaining how this outcome …

Reckoning With Retaliation: Objective Reasonableness In Sox Whistleblower Cases, Jacob S. Levin

University of Chicago Legal Forum

Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 to prevent systemic fraud. To this end, Congress included unparalleled anti-retaliation protections for whistleblowers in 28 U.S.C. § 1514A, aimed expressly at ending the “corporate code of silence” which enabled large-scale fraud to go undetected.

To fall within the scope of SOX’s anti-retaliation provisions, a whistleblower must demonstrate he had an “objectively reasonable belief” that his employer’s conduct violated the laws or regulations enumerated in § 1514A. However, the Act does not define what a whistleblower must show to establish an “objectively reasonable belief” that their employer engaged in fraudulent conduct. Over time, …

Beyond Elrod: Extending The Presumption Of Irreparable Harm To The Second Amendment, Roland Kim

University of Chicago Legal Forum

In response to gun violence, many states have attempted to implement gun control laws. Some of these gun control laws have been challenged under the Second Amendment, with parties seeking preliminary injunctions to halt these laws’ enforcement until a final judicial decision has been reached.

In legal disputes over whether to grant a preliminary injunction over various gun control laws, circuits are split as to whether an alleged violation of the Second Amendment is presumptively irreparable, i.e., unable to be adequately remedied after a final judgment. In the First Amendment context, the Supreme Court established in Elrod v. Burns that …

Vapes In Violation: The Case For An Fdca-Based Negligence Per Se Claim Against E-Cigarette Manufacturers, Grace Hering

University of Chicago Legal Forum

The unexpected and dramatic rise in youth e-cigarette consumption in the past decade has left both private and public actors racing to catch up to a quickly evolving and potentially disastrous market. As litigation against e-cigarette manufacturers continues to develop, it is increasingly evident that one of the biggest obstacles to bringing private claims will be avoiding preemption under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA).

This Comment argues that one untested yet promising pathway for injured plaintiffs to avoid preemption is to bring FDCA-based negligence per se claims. By examining precedent involving other FDCA provisions, this Comment assesses …

Curfew And Its Constitutional Limits: Analyzing The Judicial Standard Of Review For Curfews In Times Of Emergency, Alec Greven

University of Chicago Legal Forum

Curfews imposed against an entire civilian population are extremely rare. Despite this, the amount of curfews has recently skyrocketed in the United States as government officials use this sweeping power to respond to emergencies. This Comment evaluates the constitutional rights implicated by general curfew orders, namely the right to travel and the right to speak in public forums. Then, this Comment surveys the current circuit split. Lower courts significantly diverge in their standard of review of curfew orders and apply three very different forms of review: deference, intermediate scrutiny, and strict scrutiny. This Comment argues that courts should subject general …

Compassion Or Crisis?: Distinguishing Intent Under § 1324 In Sanctuary And Trafficking Cases, Leah Cussen

University of Chicago Legal Forum

Section 1324 of Title 8 of the U.S. Code prohibits “harboring” undocumented immigrants. But for decades, courts have disagreed over what counts as harboring and what mens rea is required to prove it. These questions have only grown more urgent as immigration has been repeatedly framed as a national crisis. A lack of uniformity in the application of § 1324 has enabled expansive enforcement of the anti-harboring provision, allowing a single statute to target both humanitarian actors providing sanctuary and traffickers exploiting immigrants.

Today, a circuit split reflects two competing approaches. The Third, Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth Circuits use a …

When Disaster Strikes: Assessing The Takings Clause In The Context Of Government-Caused Property Destruction, Abby Berman

University of Chicago Legal Forum

In rare but dire emergencies, the government must destroy the property of innocent homeowners to prevent further harm to a community. Although the law often forgives such destruction to protect the public good, courts have inadequately resolved how to compensate innocent property owners for their losses. This Comment unpacks how doctrine has split among circuit courts regarding whether the Takings Clause requires just compensation for innocent property owners whose property has been destroyed by government action in response to an emergency. As a resolution to this circuit split, this Comment proposes that courts should adopt a multi-factor test, utilizing the …

False Claims, Real Threats: Cybersecurity Noncompliance And The False Claims Act’S Materiality Standard, Charlotte Bairey

University of Chicago Legal Forum

This Comment examines the challenges of applying the False Claims Act’s (FCA) materiality standard to cybersecurity noncompliance by federal contractors. Although the Department of Justice’s Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative seeks to hold government contractors accountable for misrepresenting their adherence to federal cybersecurity standards, courts have inconsistently applied the “holistic” framework for determining materiality established by the Supreme Court in Universal Health Services v. Escobar. Cybersecurity-related FCA claims face unique obstacles when it comes to showing materiality because noncompliance is widespread, national security interests complicate the government’s payment decisions, and government agencies may continue contracting with noncompliant entities out of necessity. This …

Killer Heat: The Disaster Fema Refuses To Own, Robert R.M. Verchick

University of Chicago Legal Forum

Extreme heat, also known as a “heatwave,” is by far the leading weather-related cause of death in the United States.1 In 2023, extreme heat took 2,300 lives—more than all the deaths attributed to hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, droughts, wildfires, winter storms, and floods combined. Harms from extreme heat, which are especially severe in disadvantaged communities, will only increase as the climate continues to break down. Despite these facts, in more than 70 years of comprehensive disaster response, no president has ever declared a “major disaster” based on extreme heat, nor has the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) ever recommended he do …

Majority Rule And Bankruptcy Resolution Of Mass-Harm Events, Sarah Paterson, Adrian Walters

University of Chicago Legal Forum

Mass-harm events invariably precipitate mass tort liabilities. Since the enactment of the Bankruptcy Code in 1978, firms have resorted to Chapter 11 to address mass tort claims in cases involving asbestos-related disease, defective products, the opioid crisis, and historic sexual abuse. Of late, the use of bankruptcy to resolve mass tort claims has been the subject of sustained criticism from inside and outside bankruptcy law’s professional and academic communities. Much of this has been provoked by the Purdue Pharma filing and the bankruptcy court’s approval of a plan of reorganization that created a liability shield for the Sackler family in …

Exploring The Reduction Of Runway Incursions Through Training, Vasilios (Billy) Constaintine Metallinos

Journal of Aviation Technology and Engineering

Runway incursions are prevalent aviation safety issues that result in adverse outcomes. The focus of this qualitative case study was exploring the reduction of runway incursions through training for pilots. Applying social cognitive theory (SCT) provided this study with a theoretical underpinning. Conducting interviews and a focus group with 17 participants allowed for the collection of enough data and resulted in identifying the importance of training in preventing runway incursions. Based on the thematic analysis conducted, it was identified that evidence-based, scenario-based, and continuous training can be used to reduce runway incursions caused by pilot deviations. The results contribute to …

Elections, Courts, And Democratic Crisis: Constitutional Structure And The 2020 Election, Manoj Mate

University of Chicago Legal Forum

This Article analyzes how the U.S. constitutional order responds to democratic crisis by examining Supreme Court cases dealing with the effort to overturn the 2020 election, and the response to the January 6th Capitol attack. It analyzes the Court’s approaches to constitutional structure in key cases and how these approaches impact constitutional capacity to address democratic crises. The Article discusses how the effort to overturn the 2020 election sought to exploit key weaknesses in the U.S. constitutional framework. It then examines how the Supreme Court adjudicated cases related to the effort to overturn the 2020 election, including Moore v. Harper, …

Emergencies, Alien And Domestic, Samuel Issacharoff

University of Chicago Legal Forum

Democracies survive some emergencies, even emerging stronger after some crises despite temporary suspensions of liberty. Democracies die when faced with other emergencies. This Article explores why. It addresses the claimed need to limit rights of electoral participation in response to the rise of antidemocratic forces through the lens of militant democracy in Europe and the Insurrection Clause of Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment in the United States. When examined through the context of claimed exigency, the ability of democracies to survive or even thrive after emergencies turns heavily on whether the source of the perceived threat is foreign or …

Realizing The World Health Organization’S Constitutional Mission: Equitably And Everywhere, Sam Halabi, Lawrence Gostin

University of Chicago Legal Forum

COVID-19 revealed deeply embedded inequalities in countries’ capacity to respond to public health disasters. From 2020 to 2024, the content and scope of international health law expanded to address these deep inequities, including a new pandemic agreement and significant changes to the International Health Regulations (IHR). Recent moves by the Trump Administration leveled significant losses on this new global health law infrastructure. At the heart of this infrastructure is the World Health Organization (WHO)—the UN’s specialized agency, which for 77 years has led the world toward realizing the human right to the highest attainable standard of mental and physical health. …

Crisis And The Constitution: The Role Of Civil Liberties In Times Of National Security Threat, Michele Goodwin, Allison M. Whelan

University of Chicago Legal Forum

In this Article, we contribute to the unfolding debate around civil liberties and civil rights in times of political, cultural, and health crises. As this Article was drafted, the National Guard was deployed in Los Angeles, California and Washington, D.C. by the President of the United States. In Oregon, a federal judge issued a final order barring the Trump administration from deploying troops to Portland. These events renew questions related to federalism, states’ rights, individual civil rights, and civil liberties. As chaos unfolds, what is the rule of law and role of civil liberties in times of real or purported …

Liability For Disaster Risks, Daniel A. Farber

University of Chicago Legal Forum

A growing body of law addresses liability for harms caused by disasters. The bases for liability are diverse: common law torts, statutes covering specific risks, and takings doctrine. Litigation can involve government or private defendants, while the disaster could be anything from an oil spill to a flood. This Article maps this complex legal terrain and discusses three cross-cutting themes in disaster liability. One theme is the action/inaction distinction, which can create a perverse incentive to postpone or forego mitigation efforts. The second theme involves the interplay between legislatures and courts in designing and implementing liability rules. The final theme …

A Continuum Of Responsibility: An Examination Of The Human Right To A Healthy Environment Of Present And Future Generations, Sarah Dávila A.

University of Chicago Legal Forum

Youth-led advocacy has been at the forefront of the protection of the right to a healthy environment in the face of a triple planetary crisis: loss of biodiversity, environmental degradation, and climate change. Globally, youth have called upon international bodies to provide guidance as to how States and private actors can be held accountable for human right violations. They have demanded that States protect not merely the human rights of present generations, but those of future generations. This Article explores recent developments in international human rights law, including the recent Committee on the Rights of the Child General Comment No. …

Emergency Lending By The Federal Reserve, Richard Clarida, Kathryn Judge

University of Chicago Legal Forum

The Federal Reserve established an array of innovative emergency lending facilities during the Great Financial Crisis and expanded the scope of its emergency lending yet further in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. This Article provides a retrospective of how the Federal Reserve used its emergency lending authority across these two episodes, identifying patterns and revealing some differences. It sheds light on the conditions that enabled the Federal Reserve to establish the facilities that it did, including the roles played by Congress and Treasury in providing the equity funding that made certain facilities possible. It shows how in each episode, the …

Towards A New Humanism?, Fatiha Bennani

Basamat

This contribution revisits Edward Said’s call for critical humanism. It discusses humanism as an ethical and intellectual stance against domination and cultural closure, and highlights its relevance for rethinking criticism, universality, and responsibility today.

Knowledge, Power And Fear: Reflections On Exile, Edward Said And The 'Mainstreaming' Of Postcolonial Literary Thought, Valérie Orlando

Basamat

This article reflects on exile as a key lens in Edward Said’s thought and on the links between knowledge, power, and fear. It discusses how postcolonial literary theory became “mainstream” and examines what may be lost when critical ideas are institutionalized.

Create @ State 2016, Arkansas State University - Jonesboro

Create@State

No abstract provided.

Create @ State 2014, Arkansas State University - Jonesboro

Create@State

No abstract provided.

Create @ State 2013, Arkansas State University - Jonesboro

Create@State

No abstract provided.

Create @ State 2012, Arkansas State University - Jonesboro

Create@State

No abstract provided.

Of Blood And The Buddha: A Nichiren Primer On Counseling Clients, John W. Teeter Jr.

Florida Journal of International Law

Should you pray when you bleed? More specifically, should a Buddhist woman refrain from chanting and reciting from the Lotus Sutra during her menstrual cycle? This was the query fielded by the fiery prophet Nichiren in 1264 in Kamakura, Japan. Nichiren's response, however, is far more than a doctrinal resolution of an esoteric theological uncertainty. To the contrary, Nichiren's advice is a model of analysis, common sense, and compassion that today's attorneys would be wise to emulate. As set forth below, Nichiren's cautious, sensitive, and pragmatic approach provides an enlightened template on how we can best counsel our clients in …

Due Process In The Brazilian Presidential Impeachment, Ricardo Perlingeiro

Florida Journal of International Law

This Essay discusses the applicability of the U.S. notion of procedural due process of law to the presidential impeachment process within the Brazilian Constitution. It takes a critical approach based on the Inter-American system of human rights protection and includes a comparison with the European human rights model. The analysis is illustrated by means of the Brazilian Federal Senate's impeachment of Dilma Rousseff on August 31, 2016 on charges of having "opened additional lines of credit by presidential decrees, without the authorization of the National Congress," and "(illegally) entering into loan transactions." As a result, the ex-President Rousseff was removed …

The Consequences Of Attempted Human Perfection: Genetic Enhancement And Why It Is Immoral, Kiran S. Sajnani

Mako: NSU Undergraduate Student Journal

In the field of biomedical ethics, genetic enhancement—the alteration of human DNA to increase characteristics beyond normal function—is a highly contested topic. Genetic enhancement presents serious ethical issues, especially when gene therapy seeks to treat or prevent disease. This paper makes the consequentialist case that genetic enhancement, whether somatic or germline, is intrinsically unethical because of its ethical, societal, and systemic ramifications. The autonomy of future persons is violated by germline enhancement, which also runs the risk of deepening socioeconomic gaps and escalating intergenerational inequity. Even though it only affects the individual, somatic augmentation undermines human diversity and agency by …

Cardozo Law News Brief: January 23, 2026, Benjamin N. Cardozo School Of Law

Cardozo Law News Briefs

Highlights from the January 23, 2026, Cardozo Law News Brief include:

• The Perlmutter Center for Legal Justice and Derrick Hamilton celebrated the passage of New York State’s Prison Justice Omnibus Package, marking a major step toward prison reform.

• Professor Lindsay Nash spoke to The Associated Press about a leaked ICE memo allowing warrantless home entries, warning of serious constitutional concerns.

• Professor Kate Levine was quoted in The Economist on police accountability in the wake of the Uvalde school shooting.

Faculty news includes:

• Professor Rebecca Ingber appeared on the Main Justice podcast to discuss the legality of U.S. actions in Venezuela. …

  ---

  Go to article