Digital Commons Network^™

Population Increase, Environment, Food Access And Development In Africa: The Role Of The African Union, Amado J. Kaba

Journal of African Policy Studies

This paper examines the impact of the massive population increase in Africa in the post World War II era and the environmental challenges the continent confronts in trying to feed such a high number of people. The paper is divided into three sections. The first section examines the demographics of Africa, which show that the continent has increased its total population by 750 million people from 1950 to 2008. The second section of this paper then presents arguments by scholars pertaining to the environmental challenges, especially for agriculture, facing Africa as it finds ways to feed this massive number of …

Pathologies In De-Bureaucratic Public Organizations In Nigeria, Joseph E. Imhanlahimi

Journal of African Policy Studies

Because of the nouveau and rapidly growing interests in, and acceptance of, de-bureaucratization (popularly called "deregulation" in Nigeria), as a more attractive organization concept than bureaucratization, the central concern of this paper is an identification and objective analysis of bureau-pathologies in de-bureaucratic public organizations in Nigeria, in response to those of bureaucratic organizations which have already been analysed in the literature. The major and prevalent bureau-pathologies identified and analyzed are inconsistency and unpredictability, informality and denials, unlimited or uncircumscribed flexibility, personalization, limitation of de-categorization, laziness, and goal displacement. Their effects can be summarized as the prevalence of worrying degree of …

From Importer To Exporter: The Changing Role Of Nigeria In Promoting Democratic Values In Africa, J. Shola Omotola

Journal of African Policy Studies

This paper takes a critical look at Nigeria's changing role in the promotion of democratic values in Africa since its return to democracy in 1999. The paper argues that the changing role of Nigeria from an importer to an exporter of democracy can be understood in terms of the global wind of change; Nigeria's African centre-piece policy; perception of threats to its leadership position in Africa especially from South Africa; and the personality of Obasanjo given his international credentials and stature. The paper however notes that inherent contradictions in the domestic political economy such as nsmg poverty, inequality and politics …

Information, Public Policy Analysis And Sustainable Development In Nigeria, Joseph E. Imhanlahimi, M. O. Ikeanyibe

Journal of African Policy Studies

Information and public policy analysis are critical factors in adequate public policy formulation, implementation and evaluation if the public good is to be achieved in Nigeria. This paper has carried out a critical examination of the interface between information and the public policy process and the effect on public policy analysis and has found that there is a crucial interrelationship among them in order to promote sustainable development. The paper found that the interrelationship is however, seriously interfered with or obstructed by a variety of dominant constraints. The constraints include inadequate human capital, financial resources, large-scale secrecy in government business, …

Of Corruption And Anti-Corruption Strategies In Nigeria: The More You Look The Less You See, Sylvester Olubani Fajonyomi

Journal of African Policy Studies

This statement from the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria reflects the outcome of the regime's efforts at fighting corruption in its first four years (1999-2003) in office: "Some members of the Nigerian public have expressed their opinion to the effect (that) our anti-corruption crusade in the last four years has been deficient in credibility because it appeared to lack the support of the Federal Executive Council who only rarely expressed their support in public. The situation has to change with the new cabinet. Each and every one of you must do more than give a nodding support for …

2025 Conference Program, Georgia Southern University

GS4 Student Scholars Symposium

No abstract provided.

Chatgpt Didn’T Write This . . . Or Did It? The Emergence Of Generative Ai In The Legal Field And Lessons From Mata V. Avianca, James H. Curlin Iv

Arkansas Law Review

It’s no secret: Artificial Intelligence (“AI”), for better or worse, is revolutionizing the world. The legal field and legal education at large are not immune to this explosion of possible uses for AI technology. However, as with any technological advancement, AI and Generative Language Models bring with them many challenges, including the implications of their use. One such challenge was vividly presented in the case of Mata v. Avianca, often referred to as “The ChatGPT Case.” Mata is a cautionary tale of the potential missteps that can trip up the unwitting user who naively relies on the lofty promises of …

Building Layered Defenses To Reduce Illegal Gun Violence, Samuel Kan

Arkansas Law Review

The government and stakeholders in society must act within their span of control to eradicate excessive and illegal gun violence. It is not surprising that a majority of Americans “say gun violence is a very big problem in the country[,] . . . they expect the level of gun violence to increase[, and] . . . it is too easy to legally obtain a gun” in the United States. This Article tackles this politically charged issue and recommends specific strategies for the government and stakeholders in society to reduce unlawful firearm violence and its harmful effects. At the heart of …

This Land Is Your Land, This Land Is My Land: The Keys To Unlocking Eight Million Acres Of Checkerboarded Public Land, Dalton Springer

Arkansas Law Review

The term “checkerboarded land” has become associated with alternating public and private square-mile lots in Western states such as Wyoming, Colorado, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Nevada, and Arizona. In the mid-19th century, the United States was in the throes of Manifest Destiny. President Abraham Lincoln signed the 1862 Pacific Railway Act which aimed to connect the eastern United States with the newly acquired western territories by developing the Transcontinental Railroad. As an incentive for building the rail line, the federal government granted the even-numbered one-square-mile sections of land to the railroad companies, while retaining the odd-numbered one-square-mile sections for itself. …

Algorithms Of Destruction: Examining Israel’S Ai-Powered Military Response In Gaza, Hayley Shay

Prologue: A First-Year Writing Journal

No abstract provided.

Prologue Vol. 16

Prologue: A First-Year Writing Journal

No abstract provided.

Understanding Physical Therapist Student Defined Success: A Qualitative Study, Katie Graves, Lindsay Gietzen

Pacific Journal of Health

Purpose: To (1) investigate student defined success in physical therapist education, and (2) generate key themes from the students’ perspective related to success to enhance physical therapist and health professions education. Method: A qualitative study was conducted through a series of focus groups with 13 first-year and 13 second-year Doctor of Physical Therapy students. Study participants were asked open-ended questions regarding student success and the associated contextual factors. An inductive coding method with thematic analysis utilizing Dedoose software identified major themes. Results: The use of focus groups allowed for in-depth participant discussion, with sample excerpts presented. Data analysis yielded five …

Breaking Down The Walls: Changes To Single-Family Residential Zoning To Improve Housing Affordability And Inclusivity, Jackson Barton, J.D.

Lincoln Memorial University Law Review Archive

Single-family residential zoning has long been a method to keep unwanted individuals and families out of wealthier, more affluent neighborhoods. What area an individual or family lives in can dictate many aspects of their lives, including their job opportunities, access to health care, and their kids’ education options. By implementing changes to single-family zoning and allowing higher population density in suburbs and small towns, cities and states can create neighborhoods that are welcoming to a wide range of the socioeconomic spectrum.This comment discusses the changes that many states, municipalities, and cities have made to their long-standing zoning schemes in the …

The New And Improved Vawa: A Look Into State Law And Local Nuisance Ordinances After The 2022 Reauthorization, Alexis Stevens, J.D.

Lincoln Memorial University Law Review Archive

The Violence Against Women Act has protected victims of domestic violence, dating violence, stalking and sexual harassment for over 30 years now. The Act has been reauthorized four times, providing stronger protection for victims each time. The most recent reauthorization in 2022 includes protection for domestic violence victims against chronic nuisance ordinances. These ordinances allow municipalities to punish landlords and tenants if a tenant calls the police too many times to the property, including times in which a domestic violence victim, seeking help, calls the police on their perpetrator. Many states have enacted statutes that align with the 2022 Reauthorization …

Governing Climate Mobility: A Case Study Of Urban Education Policies In Mexico City, Mattie Carroll

Working Papers

Mexico’s migration landscape is shaped by internal displacement, return migration, and transit migration, increasingly influenced by the social and environmental pressures of climate change. Mexico City, as both the capital and most populous urban center, plays a central role in receiving and shaping the experiences of mobile and displaced populations.This paper uses climate mobility as an entry point to examine the intersection of migration, education policy, and integration in Mexico City.
Drawing on the mobilities paradigm, the study challenges fixed categories of migration and settlement, emphasizing how movement is embedded in everyday life and reshapes both people and places. Rather …

Federalizing Professionalism: How The Seventh Circuit Rewrote Indiana Ethics Law, Leonard C. Brahin, J.D.

Lincoln Memorial University Law Review Archive

While sitting in diversity and adjudicating a federal question, federal courts are occasionally tasked with handling ethical questions about attorney conduct. Despite the frequency that such issues emerge, there are neither uniform federal ethics rules for attorneys nor a consensus amongst the circuits on how to apply (or even use) state ethics rules. Some federal courts have adopted the ethics rules of the state in which they sit. Others have no rules at all. In the Seventh Circuit, federal courts have adopted and interpreted the ethics rules of the states where they sit, independent from state courts and commissions that …

A Court Under Scrutiny: How Ethical Failures Endanger The Legitimacy Of The Supreme Court, Presley A. Overbey, J.D.

Lincoln Memorial University Law Review Archive

This Note explores the deepening legitimacy crisis facing the United States Supreme Court, arguing that ethical failures among its justices have eroded public confidence in the institution and threaten the foundational principles of American democracy. Beginning with an analysis of Institutional legitimacy and its relationship to public acceptance, this Note articulates why legitimacy, not merely power or authority, is essential to the judiciary’s function. Tracing the historical development of the Court and its evolving public perception, this Note Examines recent ethical controversies involving Supreme Court justices that have contributed to its growing unpopularity. It critiques the Court’s existing ethical framework, …

Federal Habeas Corpus: Actual Innocence Or Actual Indifference, Meganne Lee-Rogers, J.D.

Lincoln Memorial University Law Review Archive

It is a fact that innocent people have been convicted of crimes they have not committed and sentenced to imprisonment or death. Habeas corpus is a long standing, fundamental right to challenge improper detention. While one intended use of habeas corpus was to seek release from custody due to innocence, federal law has made the process to obtain such relief nearly impossible.This Note explores the history of habeas corpus and its transformation of what it looks like in America today through the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA). A specific focus is placed on the pitfalls created by the …

Judicial Interpretations Of Emancipation: Comparative Analysis Of Antebellum Court Decisions In The Slaveholding States, Evan Matthew Gelobter, J.D.

Lincoln Memorial University Law Review Archive

This article examines judicial interpretations of emancipation laws in the antebellum South, focusing on Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. It investigates how courts enforced and occasionally challenged legislative restrictions on manumission, revealing the judiciary’s dual role in both preserving and, in rare cases, moderating the institution of slavery. Through a comparative analysis of landmark cases, the study highlights the tension between statutory mandates and judicial discretion, illustrating how legal frameworks reinforced racial hierarchies while occasionally permitting emancipation under narrowly defined circumstances, such as relocation to free states or foreign territories. The article demonstrates that courts consistently prioritized …

Fourth And Fifth Circuits Split Over Geofencing In Fourth Amendment Interpretation, Mollye O'Rourke, J.D.

Lincoln Memorial University Law Review Archive

In 2024 the Fourth and Fifth Circuits split over the issue of location history retrieved via geofencing. The Fourth Circuit held in United States v. Chatrie, that enabling one’s cell phone location history is consent for the government to retroactively view location history without a warrant. However, the Fifth Circuit held in United States v. Smith, that when the government uses location history data, it conducts a general search, which they said is unconstitutional even with a warrant. This note analyzes the split and proposes a modification of the third party doctrine that would maintain the equilibrium of powers between …

‘Good Old John Decker’: Confronting Entrepreneurial Challenges In The Mid-Nineteenth Century Rio Grande Borderlands, Grace C. Maciel

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

'Good Old John Decker': Confronting Entrepreneurial Challenges In The Mid-Nineteenth Century Rio Grande Borderlands (May 2025)

Grace C. Maciel, M.A., Texas A&M International University

Chair of Committee: Dr. Jerry Thompson

This thesis presents the first scholarly study of John Decker, a French-born immigrant whose rise as a merchant and civic figure in the 19th-century U.S.–Mexico borderlands offers a compelling case of adaptability, resilience, and immigrant success. Settling in Rio Grande City and Camargo, Tamaulipas, Decker built a lasting presence during a period marked by regional volatility, navigating war, revolution, and economic transformation. His story is explored across five chapters, …

Andrew Fields V. Bop

2025 Decisions

USDC for the Middle District of Pennsylvania

Michael Ritz V. Equifax Information Services Llc

2025 Decisions

USDC for the District of New Jersey

Pretrial Decision-Making In Brazil Under Inter-American Human Rights Law, Thiago Nascimento Dos Reis

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

In recent decades, pretrial detention has been a key contributor to Brazil’s mass incarceration. This is true, despite domestic and international norms limiting pretrial detention to exceptional circumstances and mounting evidence linking it to worse outcomes for arrestees in their criminal proceedings and post-release life prospects. As a longitudinal multivariate pretrial research in Brazil, this Article investigates the key mechanisms and factors that explain pretrial detention in relation to inter-American human rights standards. This Article conducts a quantitative case study of the first one hundred days of detention for all 2,158 non-confidential flagrant arrests in the first eight months of …

Single-Owner Sociedades Within The Corporate Landscape Of Latin America, Nicolás José Muñiz Arias

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

The concept of a sociedad in Latin America has undergone profound changes throughout this century. Following the example set by the French Code de commerce of 1807, the sociedad was initially viewed as a contractual arrangement between two or more partners who make contributions to a business for purposes of sharing in the resulting profit or loss, wherein a plurality of partners was an intrinsic component. Nonetheless, the notion of a sociedad has evolved to entail the establishment of a separate legal entity, making the plurality of partners requirement increasingly obsolete for its formation and/or operation.

This Article describes the …

Rectifying Historical Wrongs: The Case For The Indigenous’ Inherent Right To Self–Govern Child Welfare In Canada, Ariana Kravetz

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

No abstract provided.

Front Matter And Table Of Contents

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

No abstract provided.

Save Old Newspaper Building, Andrew Wilkins

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

Atlanta has a long history of demolishing its beautiful historic buildings. Known for its rapid growth and modernization, the city has sacrificed much of its architectural heritage in favor of new development. This trend has been ongoing for decades, leading to the erasing of Atlanta’s cultural history and the irreversible modification of the city’s built environment.

With so many of Atlanta’s great historic buildings gone, we must preserve what still remains. Currently, Downtown Atlanta’s most dilapidated and historically significant building is the Atlanta Constitution Building. Once a beautiful gem, this neglected old structure sits on the corner of Forsyth St. …

Grafted Symbiosis: Strategically Revitalizing The Abandoned Atlanta Medical Arts Building Via Jeanne Gang’S Theory Of Grafting, Matthew Reddick

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

The Atlanta Medical Arts building, vacant for decades, stands at risk of demolition amid large-scale redevelopment efforts. Without an existing program to sustain it, how can we activate the site in a way that ensures both its immediate utility and long-term viability? This thesis explores a strategy for adaptive reuse, drawing from both parasitic architectural methodologies and Jeanne Gang’s concept of architectural grafting—while also critiquing the shortcomings of each approach. Rather than opting for a seamless integration, the design embraces disjunctive architecture by introducing a contemporary addition that is intentionally distinct from the historic Beaux-Arts shell, yet strategically …

Trade And Domestic Distortions: The Case Of Informality, Rafael Dix-Carneiro, Pinelopi Goldberg, Costas Meghir, Gabriel Ulyssea

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

We examine the effects of international trade in the presence of a set of domestic distortions giving rise to informality, a prevalent phenomenon in developing countries. In our quantitative model, the informal sector arises from burdensome taxes and regulations that are imperfectly enforced by the government. In equilibrium, smaller, less productive firms face fewer distortions than larger, more productive ones, potentially leading to substantial misallocation. We show that in settings with a large informal sector, the gains from trade are significantly amplified, as reductions in trade barriers imply a reallocation of resources from initially less distorted to more distorted firms. …