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Internal Distortion By Elisabeth L. Roach, Elisabeth L. Roach, Elisabeth Roach

B.F.A. Practicum Exhibition (ART 498)

I want to make people uncomfortable with my art. I use drawing, photography, and 4D elements to create gross, distorted, and unsettling pieces that stir conflicting feelings within the viewer.  Inspired by Maria Lassnig's abstracted self-portraits, I distort my own image to convey my physical and emotional anguish. Using myself as the subject of the work allows me to express pains and lived experiences directly.

While most of my work is figurative, I prioritize texture, color, and contrast over form.  The resulting works are painterly and dramatic like those of Francisco Goya. They reveal the process of their making and …

A Study On Architecture, Daven W. Lewis

Professional Practices (ART 399)

My name is Daven Lewis and I am a multidisciplinary artist who mainly focuses with the mediums of metalsmithing and woodworking. I am currently an undergraduate at Murray State University, with an estimated graduation in the fall of 2027. Through my practice, I make work about modern architecture and its correlation to the loss of craftsmanship found in everyday life, using metal and wood to create geometric sculptures meant to emphasize the forms I see in this architecture every day. Through my work I aim to talk about the increasing industrialization of the world, along with the complacency that coincides …

Navigating The Tension Between The Rule Of Law And Judicial Discretion Without Robot Judges, Michael H. Simon

Mercer Law Review

The rule of law is a multifaceted concept about which there is no generally accepted understanding of what that phrase precisely means or all that it includes or excludes. It is, however, something that is widely praised and that almost all governments and officials claim to follow. One of the few areas in which there appears to be consensus is that the rule of law requires that like cases be treated alike. When a substantive legal rule directs only one correct answer, it is not difficult to treat like cases alike. There are many disputes, however, that come before trial …

Environmental Law, Travis M. Trimble

Mercer Law Review

In 2025, in a Clean Water Act (“CWA”) citizen-suit challenge to a landowner’s filling of a tract of land on St. Simon’s Island, Georgia, under a nationwide dredge-and-fill permit issued by the United States Army Corps of Engineers (the “Corps”), the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit held that the landowner did not waive its right to challenge whether the tract was a wetland by virtue of submitting a form to the Corps in connection with its obtaining coverage under the permit that stated that the landowner accepted that the tract at issue was a jurisdictional water …

Federal Income Taxation, Andrew Todd

Mercer Law Review

In 2025, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit issued a handful of published opinions involving U.S. federal income tax issues. One of those cases, United States v. Schwarzbaum, presented an issue of first impression in the Eleventh Circuit: whether civil penalties for a U.S. citizen or resident’s willful failure to file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (commonly known as the “FBAR”) are “fines” within the meaning of the Eighth Amendment and, therefore, are subject to the constitutional prohibition on excessive fines. This Article surveys that opinion.

Immigration Law Survey, Abolade Oyetunji

Mercer Law Review

This Article reviews a sample of cases from the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit from January 1, 2025, through December 1, 2025, in which immigration law was the central focus. Across the opinions included in this Article, the Eleventh Circuit addressed matters of first impression, reinforced Congress’s restraints on judicial review of certain decisions made by immigration agencies, and navigated a post-Loper Bright Enterprises. v. Raimondo landscape, asserting independent interpretive authority due to the Supreme Court of the United States’s repeal of Chevron, U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. in 2024.

This Article begins …

Trial Practice And Procedure, John O'Shea Sullivan, Leesa M. M. Guarnotta

Mercer Law Review

The 2025 Survey period yielded a range of decisions impacting trial practice in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, from detailed analysis of the constitutional requirements for personal jurisdiction, expounding upon the limited opportunities for interlocutory appeal, and reinforcing pleading standards. This Article analyzes some of this Survey period’s notable opinions on issues of first impression in the Eleventh Circuit, but it is not intended to be an exhaustive discussion of the Eleventh Circuit’s important decisions during the Survey period.

Children, Clicks, And Constitutional Blind Spots: The First Amendment And The Regulation Of Social Media For Minors, Pepper Miller

Mercer Law Review

“A fundamental principle of the First Amendment is that all persons have access to places where they can speak and listen, and then, after reflection, speak and listen once more.” This oft-quoted maxim from Packingham v. North Carolina has become a touchstone for the wave of litigation challenging state laws that restrict minors’ access to social media platforms. But, in the rapidly advancing age of social media, should the principle still stand that all persons, specifically minors, are entitled to unfettered access to such novel spaces where they can speak and listen? Underpinning the discussion of this issue lies “a …

Eye In The Sky: The Eleventh Circuit Allows Warrantless Surveillance Of The Home Via Pole Cameras In United States V. Gregory, John T. Roberts

Mercer Law Review

What does “search” mean? Defining the word seems simple enough, yet, courts have struggled to provide a consistent answer under Fourth Amendment jurisprudence. This difficulty has only been exacerbated by rapidly advancing technological innovations in the field of surveillance. Specifically, courts across the country are split on whether long-term surveillance of an individual’s home via a pole camera is considered a search under the Fourth Amendment.

In United States v. Gregory, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit addressed this issue head on, holding that surveillance of this kind is not considered a search under the Fourth …

Masthead

Mercer Law Review

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Mercer Law Review

No abstract provided.

Editor's Note, Skylar E. Toto

Mercer Law Review

No abstract provided.

Real, Not Rhetorical: Children’S Rights As The Strongest Constitutional Defense Of Obergefell Against Religious-Liberty Challenges, Tanya Washington

Mercer Law Review

Justice Kennedy’s decision to center adults’ rights in the Obergefell majority opinion—despite his awareness of children’s legal vulnerabilities—created space for Justice Thomas, in his Davis statement, to ignore children altogether and to reframe the constitutional question as a clash between adults’ rights: the right to marry and to be free from discrimination versus the right to exercise one’s religious beliefs and to refuse to engage in conduct that abrogate those beliefs. This distorted constitutional framing eclipses entirely the rights of children in same-sex families and the concrete harms they will face if their parents are barred from marrying—harms that provide …

Trapped By Immunity: Women, Prisons, And The Need For Obvious Clarity, Alexandria E. Hatten

Mercer Law Review

For many Americans, the mere thought of the prison system evokes great fear and uncertainty. The fear is justified and reflected through rampant reports of sexual abuse, exploitation, and abuse of power by prison officials. Lack of privacy in prisons is largely supported and expected. The general population of prisons have unique safety concerns which require closer surveillance and diligent observation by correctional officers. Prison officers are tasked with ensuring that all contraband stays out of inmate possession—notwithstanding the constant changes of the general population. The security interests of a prison also extend to prison visitors. The known security concerns …

All Rights Reserved . . . For Disney: Corporate Mouse Traps, A Frozen Public Domain, And How A.I. May Usher In A Whole New World For Copyright, Matthew A. Shatto

Mercer Law Review

Copyright, as a body of law, is a recent development in the human consciousness, originating in 1710 with England’s Statute of Anne. Nevertheless, in the three hundred years that followed, more copyright laws were enacted than murder statutes throughout recorded history. With these successive statutes, corporations have effectuated the largest land grab ever seen. Modern copyright law is the elephant in the room in discussions of wealth inequality, perpetuating evil inside and between countries. Moreover, it has deprived humanity of cultural roots, locking ideas behind a paywall that funnels wealth to the few and stymies ingenuity through the sterilization of …

No More Guessing Games: Rebuilding Clarity In Georgia’S Ante Litem Notice Statute, Ethan Debruicker Terrell

Mercer Law Review

Imagine a child’s shape sorter toy—the kind with square, circle, and triangle-shaped holes and equivalent pegs in the same shapes. The toy forms a foundation in a child’s development because, among other things, it teaches the child to problem-solve by (1) recognizing the problem (different-shaped pegs that must go in the sorter a certain way) and (2) solving it (placing each peg in the correct hole to sort the pegs). For simplicity’s sake, let us imagine the toy only has a square and circle-shaped hole with square and circle-shaped pegs. As the child intuitively learns the “rules” of the toy, …

Finally, A Fair Shot: Supreme Court Shoots Down The Moment-Of-Threat Doctrine In Barnes V. Felix, Noah Ring

Mercer Law Review

The Framers designed America’s legal system with the belief that no one, not even the government, is above the law. The right to hold government officials accountable before a court reflects the Framers’ vision that justice resides in the people themselves. Unfortunately, countless citizens who suffer excessive force are barred from presenting their stories to the jury. Nowhere is the clash between liberty and authority more visible than in encounters between police and citizens. Every day, those who wear the badge are forced to make difficult judgment calls in volatile situations.

In 2024, 147 officers lost their lives in the …

What Attorneys “Ott” To Do: The Supreme Court Clarifies Judgmental Immunity In Georgia, Valeria Notte

Mercer Law Review

The Supreme Court of Georgia dealt a swift blow to the Court of Appeals of Georgia’s interpretation of judgmental immunity in a recent decision. For over three decades, the court of appeals recognized a subjective defense that shielded attorneys from liability for mistakes made while representing a client. Under this interpretation of judgmental immunity, attorneys prevailed on motions for summary judgment by demonstrating that they had exercised their honest professional judgment in making the challenged decision. Now, in Cox-Ott v. Barnes & Thornburg, LLP, a unanimous opinion by the supreme court held that attorneys are no longer entitled to the …

404 Error - Relevance Not Found: Georgia’S Shift To Stricter Scrutiny Of 404(B) Evidence In Wilson V. State, Savannah Walker

Mercer Law Review

For decades, Georgia courts have treated Georgia Rule of Evidence 404(b) (“Rule 404(b)”) as an “evidentiary rule of inclusion,” an approach centered on the idea that if a prior act appeared relevant, it belonged in front of the jury. This practice was grounded in the belief that relevant prior criminal acts, like other forms of evidence, “should not lightly be excluded when central to the prosecution’s case.” In Wilson v. State, the Supreme Court of Georgia narrowed the standard for the admissibility of other-acts evidence, signaling a continuing judicial shift toward stricter evidentiary control that aligns more closely with the …

From “Filed Under Seal” To “Frivolous On Appeal”: Potts V. Richardson And Georgia’S Movement Toward Enforceable Professionalism, H. Walker Purvis

Mercer Law Review

Potts v. Richardson marks a turning point in Georgia’s professionalism movement. On its face, the case involved an application of Georgia’s anti-SLAPP statute and the privilege afforded to communications made in connection with judicial proceedings. But the Court of Appeals of Georgia did more than resolve a defamation dispute. By imposing a $2,500 sanction under Rule 7(e) for what the court deemed a frivolous appeal, it in effect sanctioned a lawyer for conduct that violated the Georgia Lawyer’s Creed and Aspirational Statement on Professionalism.

Georgia has been a leader in the modern professionalism movement for decades. Central to that commitment …

An Occupational Therapy Toolkit: Integrating Lymphedema And Patient Education In Oncology, Brianna Schwake

Occupational Therapy Capstones

Occupational therapy can be beneficial in oncology care, but a lot of professionals do not understand how occupational therapy fits in or what it even does. Lymphedema therapy is also overlooked and undereducated, while also being a rising need in therapists that are specialized in lymphedema.

This capstone synthesizes in-depth knowledge within the area of oncology and lymphedema through clinical skill development, education, and advocacy.

Focus Area:

• Clinical Skills
• Advocacy
• Education

Purpose:

Goal to create sustainable resources and interventions to empower patients and caregivers, advocate for the role of occupational therapy, and address overlooked needs such as mental health, caregiver …

Concrete Crumbles, Drew M. Dzurko

Graduate Artistry Projects and Performances

Concrete Crumbles examines instability within contemporary American political and social life through photography, collage, and installation. Using construction zones and damaged infrastructure as primary subject matter, the project investigates how material transformation and fragmentation can function as metaphors for political precarity, media saturation, and the erosion of civic stability. Photographs are printed on copy paper, physically cut, rearranged, collaged, and scanned into unstable compositions that resist fixed perspective and seamless representation. These processes emphasize labor, impermanence, and reconstruction while challenging photography’s traditional association with objectivity and permanence.

The work is informed by historical and contemporary influences including Brassaï, Germaine Krull, …

Assessing College Tuition And Wage Prospects For Careers In Archaeology, Angelina H. Gutierrez

Honors Capstones

The pressures of rising college tuition are raising questions about whether a degree in higher education is worth the return on investment in today's society and economy. This study aims to acknowledge the issues of affording college and the opportunities granted in the face of college wealth premiums from the perspective of the field of archaeology. The college wealth premium is understood as additionalopportunities and increased salaries offered to those with a degree in higher education compared to those without. Using the Midwestern United States as a case study, I discuss the gender/race wage gap, college debt, loan inequity, and …

The Cadaver As The First Patient: Early Integration Of Pathology In The Preclinical Anatomy Laboratory, Sruthi Shriram, Lauren Desantis, Tulika Singhal, Kevin Ta, Courtney Shields, Muhammad Jawwad Arshad, Varna Taranikanti, Madison Konja

Posters

No abstract provided.

Kern National Network At Ouwb: Helping Medical Student Ideas Come To Life While Promoting Student Wellness And Academic Success, Shivapriya Chandu, Ahmad Abu-Mahfouz, Rohit Ray, Riya Chhabra, Berkley Browne-Holtz

Posters

Poster Winner - Medical students experience evolving stressors and wellness needs throughout training. From preclinical coursework to board preparation and clinical rotations, priorities may shift over time. This project addresses the following research question: How can we effectively improve student wellness initiatives through student engagement during the M1- M3 medical school years?

Implementation Of Self-Directed Learning In Preclinical Respiratory Course, Tai Metzger, Kaycee L. Fillmore, Inaya Hajj-Hussein, Dwayne Baxa, Kyeorda Kemp, Virginia Uhley, Claudio Cortes

Posters

Self-directed learning (SDL) is essential to incorporate into the medical curriculum to develop lifelong learning skills. The Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) defines four specific components of SDL that must be incorporated into medical education. We created an team-based SDL activity and evaluated whether this format aligned with the SDL components defined by the LCME, using students’ evaluations and reflections.

Optimizing Patient-Facing Ai Chatbot Questions To Improve Readability And Actionability In Anesthesia Education, Sarah Kadado, Bianca Elias, Roy Soto

Posters

In anesthesia, high patient anxiety and limited counseling time increase the need for clear, usable information. Artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots (e.g., ChatGPT) are increasingly used for patient anesthesia education. Many AI-generated responses exceed the recommended 6th-8th grade reading level for patient education information. Responses also often lack actionable guidance for patients. This study quantifies how optimizing patient-facing prompts improves readability, understandability, and actionability.

Anatomy Of Teamwork: Leveraging Peer Feedback To Build A Bespoke Team Charter Assignment, Emily Tenniswood, Stefanie Attardi

Posters

Post-COVID-19, students in our M1 Anatomical Foundations of Clinical Practice (AFCP) courses increasingly request faculty guidance or intervention in managing intra-dissection team conflict.

Equitable Exposure, Unequal Outcomes Summative Performance Following Clinical Integration Anatomy Laboratories, Christopher Ramus, Stefanie Attardi

Posters

Cadaver-based anatomy education remains essential but faces high content demands, limited physical and personnel resources, and a continually condensed timeline. These challenges necessitate efficient instructional efficient instructional strategies. Pedagogical research supports active learning strategies for better retention, engagement, and application.

Perceptions Of Radiology Residency Staffing Models Across Years Of Training, Alex Zhang, Alexander Swantek, Adela Pouzar, Sayf Al-Katib

Posters

Case staffing is the primary method by which radiology residencies teach at the workstation. Despite this, the styles and methods for how staffing is performed have not yet been comprehensively described. Understanding these models and evaluating resident perspectives can inform best practices and enhance radiology education.