Digital Commons Network^™

Let’S Talk About The Biological Reality Of Sex, Baby, John Parsi

FIU Law Review

Sex is at the very core of individual identity. It affects the conception of the self and the way others view the individual. Every day, one’s sex may open and close doors, access to communities, and opportunities. Laws that define sex may affirm scientific knowledge and protect people, or threaten to unravel the facts and the reality of sex. A deep unmooring of sex is underway, and this Article aims to halt it. On day one of the current presidential term, January 20, 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order on “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological …

Cruel And Unusual Punishments And The Constitutional Status Of The Idea Of Progress, R. George Wright

FIU Law Review

To this point, we have developed some idea of what progress might have meant to the constitutional Framers, ratifiers, and later judges. We need not attempt the fruitless task of doing any precise head count of the variations of the concrete meaning, perceived likelihood, or value of progress among those parties. Doubtless some persons were more optimistic than others.178 But we need only assume that enough constitutional Framers, ratifiers, and judicial interpreters sufficiently shared any mainstream understanding of progress. Any such constitutional legitimacy of the idea, or the multiple ideas, of progress licenses the language of progress embraced in Trop.

When Convenience Compromises Rights: How The European Union And Washington State Confront Facial Recognition Risks, Debora Rodriguez Lugo

FIU Law Review

As facial recognition technology (FRT) becomes increasingly embedded in policing, concerns and controversies over the lack of consent, misidentification, and mass surveillance grow. This Comment compares how the European Union (EU) and Washington State (Washington) regulate law enforcement’s use of FRT to mitigate risks to individual rights. The EU governs FRT use through a robust legal framework, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Law Enforcement Directive (LED), and the Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act), which offer protections against these risks. In contrast, Washington’s pioneering statute, Wash. Rev. Code section 43.386, promotes transparency and limits the use of FRT. …

The Protection Of Geographical Indications Under Comparative Lens: Whether Law Artificially Creates Scarcity Of Goods, Domenico Di Micco

FIU Law Review

The economic principles of supply and demand dictate that market prices are contingent on the conditions under which supply and demand converge. Within this theoretical framework, the concepts of scarcity and abundance assume paramount significance. When goods are scarce, prices tend to escalate, while in cases of abundant supply, prices tend to decline. But what factors determine scarcity and abundance? In many cases, scarcity is inherent to the nature of the commodity (for example, diamonds are rarer than common stones). In other cases, such as geographical indications, scarcity is constructed through the legal denomination associated with the commodity, thereby creating …

2025 Report To The Editor-In-Chief, Thomas E. Baker

FIU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Digital Dialectic: Why Every “Ai-Generated” Work Has A Human Author, Lea Bishop

FIU Law Review

Are ChatGPT and Midjourney tools or creators? Ownership of billions of AI-assisted creative outputs hangs in the balance. Copyright scholars have long debated whether an autonomous artificial intelligence could qualify as an author, but this remains a hypothetical question. Despite widespread application of the term “AI” to software products of the 2020s, autonomously creative artificial intelligence still does not exist. Today’s commercial AI products—such as ChatGPT, Midjourney, Dall-E, Copilot, Gemini, Claude, Suno, Perplexity, and Lumo—are simply the newest generation of computer software. They do not qualify as “artificial intelligence” in either the scientific or science fiction senses. They are mere …

The Accidental Regulator-In-Chief: The Federal Reserve's Path To Power, Jamie Grischkan

FIU Law Review

The independence of the Federal Reserve, long an article of faith among lawmakers, is under attack. From the attempted removal of a member of the Board of Governors to an Executive Order subjecting the Federal Reserve's regulatory and supervisory actions to executive oversight, both the formal legal architecture and informal political norms that have long insulated the central bank from presidential control are being challenged in unprecedented ways. Amidst growing calls to reevaluate the Federal Reserve's mandate and strip the central bank of its regulatory and supervisory authority, recovering the neglected history of the Federal Reserve's role as a regulator …

Do Attorneys Matter In Civil Rights Litigation?, Nancy Leong, Mary Emmerling, Aili Miyake, Rochelle Orlando

FIU Law Review

Civil rights cases brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 are very difficult for plaintiffs to win. Commentators generally blame stringent doctrinal and pleading standards for plaintiffs’ low rates of success. This Article instead focuses on factors related to attorneys who litigate civil rights cases: the identity of the attorney (i.e., whether the attorney is a solo practitioner or affiliated with a firm or a nonprofit), the prior experience of the attorney in litigating civil rights cases, and whether these two elements are related to plaintiff success. We identified and coded the dockets for 463 civil rights cases, or 20% of …

Table Of Contents, Fiu Law Review

FIU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Introduction, Jorge L. Esquirol

FIU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Geographical Indications For Agricultural Products: Inconsistencies And Conflicts In Europe And The Global Arena, Lorenzo Bairati

FIU Law Review

Food systems are regulated by a global and hybrid legal framework. In fact, while supranational and international sources play an increasingly important role, private regulators are also becoming more and more involved alongside traditional public policy-makers. Within this context, Geographical Indications (GIs) serve as the main tool in the European Union and beyond to protect quality agri-food products.

This Article aims to explore these instruments in depth in order to analyze several critical aspects from the perspective of global governance, i.e., the networked, hybrid, and diffuse legal space that develops through the participation, negotiation, and strategic interaction between public and …

Comparing Access To Land: Drawing Parallels In Diverse Jurisdictions, Helena Alviar Garcia, Anamaría Muñoz Rincón

FIU Law Review

By exploring the intersection between transitional justice initiatives and transformative constitutionalism, this article proposes that fruitful comparative study covering similarities and differences between diverse definitions of property—challenges and possibilities of accessing it and the main characteristics of the disputes over it—in four jurisdictions can be advanced. A close examination of the classic liberal paradigm framing the transitional process reveals the ways in which a progressive and justice-driven understanding of property falls short in all the countries considered. To examine this, we look at how property clauses, substantively and procedurally, are construed in transformative constitutions sitting at the heart of the …

The Italian Rice Production: Between Tradition And Globalization, Bianca Gardella Tedeschi

FIU Law Review

The Article examines the Italian rice sector as a case study in how law mediates the tensions between territorial agricultural traditions and the pressures of globalization. Focusing on the rice-producing districts of Piedmont and Lombardy, the Article argues that the resilience of Italian rice production cannot be explained solely by agronomic or economic factors. Rather, it depends on a dense legal and institutional framework that structures water governance, quality control, market organization, and contractual relations across the supply chain.

The Article develops three principal claims. First, it shows that the competitiveness of Italian rice production rests on an integrated model …

The Making Of Egyptian Cotton: An Alternative Narrative Between Empire And Global Capital, Dina I. Waked

FIU Law Review

Egyptian cotton has become a celebrated brand. Referring to cotton as “Egyptian” signals a certain quality, luxury, and durability. Egyptian cotton has, thus, become its own trademark, a signifier of value, and a symbol of national heritage. This image is carefully curated. It is now protected under a licensing scheme of branding and marketing that assures that fraudulently claimed “Egyptian cotton” does not benefit from the added value this geographic location ascribes to it. The Egyptian Cotton Association was thus created 2005 to license and accredit the brand. Part of the curation of the brand image is a historical narrative …

Virtual Harm, Real Consequences: Constitutional Justifications For Criminalizing Ai-Generated Child Pornography, Adam Abdin

FIU Law Review

Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have enabled the creation of hyper-realistic child sexual abuse images without any real child involved. These AI-generated depictions pose a unique challenge: they replicate the most pernicious form of pornography—child pornography—while potentially being claimed as “speech” immune from regulation. This paper argues that it is both constitutionally permissible and morally imperative to criminalize AI-generated child pornography. This article presents two doctrinal pathways to justify a ban. First, such content can be treated as unprotected speech under existing First Amendment exceptions. Courts have long held that child pornography and obscenity lie outside First Amendment protection, and …

Correspondence, Ellen Davies-Rodgers, 1949

Documents

Correspondence from Mrs. Harper Sibley, Rochester, New York, to Ellen Davies-Rodgers, 1949 February 22. It is a response to a letter that Ellen wrote to Mrs. Sibley. Mrs. Sibley seems to be addressing her opinions and beliefs regarding inter-racial marriage. Ellen annotated the letter and wrote her own thoughts in the margins.

Document, Curriculum Vitae, Ellen Davies-Rodgers, 1991

Documents

A copy of Ellen Davies-Rodgers' Curriculum Vitae, Davies Plantation, Brunswick, Tennessee, 1991.

Between Two Worlds: Acculturation And The Self In The Disaffiliation From Ultra-Orthodox Judaism, Gitel Perel Gordon

Selected Full-Text Dissertations 2020-

Disaffiliates from the Ultra-Orthodox Jewish community exhibit particularly high rates of psychopathology and face a variety of social, psychological, and cultural challenges when they step away from their insular religious communities. The present study built on the disaffiliation-as-immigration framework to explore how disaffiliates negotiate acculturation to mainstream secular society. Specifically, the study investigated how a sample (N=256) of U.S.-based Ultra-Orthodox disaffiliates relate to both the mainstream (secular society) and heritage (Ultra-Orthodox) cultures, and how these processes shape identity and psychological adjustment. Participants completed a series of self-report measures assessing aspects of their acculturation process, self-concept, and psychological well-being, as well …

Ai, Experimental-Based Discovery And Preclinical Ind-Enabling Studies Of Selective Bmx Kinase Inhibitors For Development Of Cancer Therapeutics, Rwan Wael Elsanhoury

Selected Full-Text Dissertations 2020-

The current work aims to design and provide a preliminary IND-enabling study of selective BMX inhibitors for cancer therapeutics development. BMX is an emerging target, more notably in oncological and immunological diseases. In this work, we have employed a predictive AI-based platform to design the selective inhibitors considering the novelty, IP prior protection, and drug-likeness properties. Furthermore, selected top candidates from the initial iteration of the design were synthesized and chemically characterized utilizing 1H NMR and LC-MS. Employing a panel of biochemical (enzymatic) and cancer cell lines, the selected molecules were tested against these assays. In addition, we used artificial …

Sm Providers’ Perspectives On Treating Selective Mutism In Children With Autism, Brooke M. Koeppel

Theses and Dissertations

Research indicates that selective mutism (SM) and autism frequently co-occur, yet there remains limited empirical research examining treatment practices for youth presenting with both conditions. The presence of co-occurring SM and autism has important implications for intervention planning and implementation, particularly in light of differences in communication, rigidity, and social engagement commonly observed in autistic youth. Accordingly, the present study examined how frequently SM providers treat youth with co-occurring SM and autism, the treatment strategies they endorse using, and whether providers modify or adapt interventions to better meet the needs of this population. SM providers reported on their clinical exposure …

Leading For Wholeness: Black Girlhood, Morrison And Hurston, And The Epistemology Of Flourishing In Independent Schools, Kamaya Prince Thompson

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates how Black girls in US independent schools experience Zora Neale Hurston’s, Their Eyes Were Watching God, and Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon, alongside the larger, traditional literary canon taught within high school English classrooms as texts that can shape their sense of self. In this project, wholeness is defined through a tripartite framework consisting of three interconnected parts: Self (a deepened sense of identity and ways of knowing), Community (experiences of belonging, safety, mentoring, and joy), and Purpose (the development of values, meaning, and a sense of connection both to the community and self). These aspects are …

A Hero’S Horizon Of Mirrors: Dovette, Deve, Dovrà, William James Kerrane

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines James Joyce’s Ulysses as a modern transformation of the Ulysses myth through the philosophical framework of Ernst Cassirer’s theory of symbolic forms and W.B. Stanford’s historical study of the Ulysses tradition. While Stanford demonstrates how the figure of Ulysses has been continually reinterpreted across literary history—from Homer’s cunning hero to Dante’s transgressive explorer and the restless modern figures of the nineteenth century— this study argues that Joyce’s Ulysses represents a uniquely philosophical adaptation of the myth in which heroic identity becomes a function of symbolic consciousness rather than physical action. Drawing on Cassirer’s philosophy, which defines myth, …

Have Gun, Will Travel: The Domestic Intelligence Implications Of Travel-To-Target Distances In Domestic Violent Extremist Attacks, Kyle W. Mcdonnell

Theses and Dissertations

Domestic violent extremist (DVE) attacks in the U.S. present a fluid and dynamic threat to national security. While past research has extensively examined the ideological drivers of DVE violence, relatively little focus has been placed on their geographic mobility, particularly how far DVE actors travel from their hometowns to attack sites and what insights this provides for intelligence and law enforcement. This dissertation explores how geographic proximity, ideological motivation, and logistical constraints shape DVE travel patterns. Using a comprehensive dataset covering U.S.-based DVE incidents from 2001 to 2025, this study employs a mixed-methods approach combining quantitative geospatial analysis with qualitative …

An Rebt Intervention To Reduce Stress And Enhance Putting Performance Among Student-Athlete Golfers, Jasmine Bryant

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the effects of a Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) self-talk intervention on golf putting performance, irrational beliefs, and stress in competitive high school golfers. Three participants (ages 14–17) completed a baseline session followed by three weekly REBT intervention sessions at a golf course. Measures included the Irrational Performance Beliefs Inventory, Perceived Stress Scale, Sports Anxiety Scale, Self-Talk and Performance Facilitation Likert Scale, and a pressured putting task. Results were mixed: one participant demonstrated a large improvement in putts made (h = 0.82), while performance gains were minimal for others. Sports anxiety showed reliable change for two participants, …

Human Being And Being Human In Frankenstein Through The Lens Of Catholic Social Teaching, Faria S. Sookdeo

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation argues that looking at social issues, such as racism, adverse effects of advancement in and use of science and technology, and environmental concerns, in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein through a Catholic Social Teaching (CST) lens enables an understanding of the nature of humans that brings marginalized and non-marginalized creatures, both human and non-human in a common community and emphasizes and that our behaviors towards such creations are what define our humanity and are vital to the preservation of our environment, subjects that are as relevant today as they were when Shelley first published Frankenstein in 1818 and when the …

Middle Grades English Language Arts Teachers’Experiences Of Care: A Narrative Case Study, Kathleen Rose O’Farrell

Theses and Dissertations

This narrative case study examined how four middle grades English Language Arts (ELA) teachers enacted care in a suburban Northeastern U.S. middle school. Drawing on interviews, classroom observations, instructional artifacts, and notes, the study developed narrative portraits to examine how care was experienced and enacted within daily instructional practices. Guided by Nel Noddings’s (2013) care theory and Geneva Gay’s (2018) culturally responsive care framework, the study explored how teachers sustained meaningful and equitable instruction amid post-pandemic academic, social-emotional, and technological shifts. Findings revealed care as the instructional foundation, making equitable and meaningful literacy learning possible with three interrelated dimensions: trust, …

“America Is For Americans Only”: Journalistic Professionalism, Populism, And Latino Ethnic Media In The 2024 U.S. Presidential Election, Maria Villarroel

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines how journalistic professionalism shaped news coverage of Latino-related issues during the 2024 U.S. presidential election across mainstream and Latino ethnic media outlets. In a polarized political environment, immigration and the “Latino vote” were not only central campaign issues but also sites of radicalized rhetoric that frequently targeted Latino communities and journalists. In this context, journalists were tasked with reporting on highly contentious, hostile narratives while adhering to professional norms. This study argues that these norms influenced how journalists selected, framed, and contextualized political rhetoric, and how media coverage further elevated immigration and Latino communities as key electoral …

The Burden Of (Hand)Writing: The Lived Experiences Of Secondary Students With Dysgraphia, Eleesha S. Romasko

Theses and Dissertations

Developmental dysgraphia is a disability that impacts the writing of students and has long-term effects on their education. While past research has primarily focused on clinical aspects, there is scarce qualitative research. The purpose of this study was to give a voice to the experiences of secondary students (grades 6-12) with dysgraphia using a phenomenological approach. The study was grounded in Piaget’s cognitive constructivism and uses a Heideggerian hermeneutic phenomenological approach to understand the lived experience of students with dysgraphia. The research utilized purposive sampling to find four participants with dysgraphia who were in grades 6-12. Data was collected through …

Teacher And Administrator Perspectives On Participation In Professional Learning Communities And Their Impact On Collective Teacher Efficacy: A Multi Case Study, Maria Kambourakis

Theses and Dissertations

Urban educators face ongoing challenges in establishing collaborative cultures that effectively maximize student achievement. To address this research problem, this qualitative case study investigates how teachers and administrators perceive their participation in Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) and how these perceptions shape Collective Teacher Efficacy (CTE). Grounded in Bandura’s social cognitive theory of collective efficacy and DuFour’s PLC framework, the research explores how structured collaboration enhances educators' shared beliefs in their ability to positively impact student learning. The researcher employed a qualitative case study design involving eight teachers and two administrators across two non-public, urban K-8 schools in Brooklyn, New York. …

Embracing Pluralism In Catholic Schools: Administrative And Faculty Perspectives On Multiculturalism In Education, Gerard J. Buckley

Theses and Dissertations

This quantitative, nonexperimental study examined faculty and administrative perspectives on multiculturalism in Catholic schools across New York State. Archived New York State Education Department (NYSED) data were analyzed to identify student race/ethnicity enrollment trends in Catholic schools from 2013 to 2025, alongside survey data measuring Catholic school educators’ perceptions of multiculturalism. Survey participants included faculty and administrators from seven dioceses across New York State. Data were analyzed using ANOVAs and multiple regression. The study addressed two primary areas: changes in racial/ethnic enrollment over time and differences in educator perceptions on multiculturalism based on demographic and professional factors. Findings showed a …