Law Commons^™

Unraveling A Ball Of Confusion: Layers Of Criminal Intent, Facebook, Rap, And Uncertainty In Elonis V. United States, 135 S. Ct. 2001 (2015), Cameron L. Fields

Mississippi College Law Review

“So, round and around and around we go. Where the world's heading nobody knows...Just a ball of confusion."

Elonis v. United States was a much-awaited case needed to clarify many questions within its realm. Part of the case's allure was its facts: threats, rap, and Facebook. While the alluring circumstances were well-presented, the potential for clarification was not realized. As the quotes from the various opinions above suggest, a song from the oldies had hinted at this ruling correctly when its lyrics said it's "just a ball of confusion." This Note seeks to unravel this ball of confusion to give, …

It Takes A Village, Not A Schoolhouse: The Deprival Of Parents & Students' Rights To Privacy & Expression In Context Of Bell V. Itawamba, Marcellus D. Chamberlain

Mississippi College Law Review

The notion that "it takes a village to raise a child" is a proverbial adage that still maintains the same, if not greater, relevance today. This simply means the successful upbringing of a child depends not only on the parents, but also on the child's village, which consists of trusted members of the community, extended family, friends of the family, and other mentors. As the child transitions into adulthood, there is an expectation among the village members that the child will use the lessons he or she learns about life and its responsibilities to honor the village accordingly. Some of …

Trick Or Treat?: Mississippi County Doesn't Clown Around With Halloween Costumes, Austin Vining

Mississippi College Law Review

In a poll conducted by Vox and Morning Consult, forty-two percent of Amreicans admitted to fearing clowns. That's a higher percentage than those who fear a terrorist attack (forty-one percent), a family member dying (thirty-eight percent), or an economic collapse (thirty-seven percent). Further, this is significantly more than those with "classic" fears such as heights (twenty-four percent), needles (seventeen percent), or ghosts (nine percent). The survey also revealed that two-thirds of Americans wanted law enforcement officials or government agencies to stop clowns.

Across the country, government officials reacted to concerned constituents' fears by banning clown costumes in certain situations. The …

Protecting "Sincerely Held Religious Beliefs": Lessons From Mississippi Hb 1523, Lindsay Krout Roberts

Mississippi College Law Review

The United States Supreme Court's revolutionary ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, which guaranteed marriage equality for homosexual couples in every state, gave life to a new challenge in the area of free exercise of religion: to what extent should persons with religious objections to same-sex marriages be forced to participate in them? Should a Christian baker be legally required to bake a wedding cake for a homosexual marriage to which he or she objects? Must a county clerk with religious objections to homosexual marriage sign a marriage license for a same-sex couple?

In an attempt to pre-empt these types of …

Masking God In Resurrection School V. Hertel: One School’S Efforts To Exercise Religion During An Ongoing Pandemic, Sean Turnipseed

Mississippi College Law Review

SARS-CoV-2, colloquially termed “COVID-19,” dramatically altered the world in which we live. But no one would have guessed the virus would spark a flurry of litigation under the U.S. Constitution’s Free Exercise Clause. Shortly after the virus began to spread, former President Donald Trump advised a twoweek plan with hopes to “flatten the curve” of COVID-19’s impact. The plan encouraged individuals to avoid gatherings with ten or more people, work and attend school from home, eat at home rather than in restaurants, and avoid discretionary travel and shopping, to name a few. But the two-week plan did not effectively thwart …

Book Review, Justin R. Huckaby

Journal Articles

In The Tragedy of Religious Freedom, Marc 0. DeGirolami explains the delicate nuances of the legal theory of religious liberty and the risks that arise from its application in the sensitive area of the First Amendment's religion clauses. There are several different theoretical approaches to cases involving the religion clauses. DeGirolami endorses the approach he describes as the method of tragedy and history. This method approaches the pluralistic nature of religion with the understanding that there are many different values at play in cases involving religion and that sacrifices will be made in all cases. Courts should also consider the …

Using Feathery Birds To Disguise Hateful Speech: Avatar, Hillary: The Movie, Citizens United, And How Birds Of The Same Feather Flock Together, Angela Mae Kupenda

Journal Articles

Some types of hateful speech may be called commercialism or entertainment. Yet, this speech disguises hate. This speech seems to be harmless entertainment, as harmless as doves or feathery birds. However, in reality this speech drowns out the truth in the marketplace, as individuals appear to become more gullible in watching film and other commercial speech. This essay explores this quandary by asking, and attempting to answer, four questions. First, is there any possible negative influence from commercial media, especially film, in the marketplace of ideas about nonwhites (i.e., has the truth about race and about nonwhites already won out …

(Re)Complexioning A Simple Tale: Race, Speech, And Colored Leadership, Angela Mae Kupenda

Journal Articles

Rather than acting as a whitening agent, the law should reflect the natural (re)complexioning of society and adapt to the melting pot that is America. The term "(re)complexioning" is used because the idea that the complexion of America was white at the beginning is false. Prior to the "discovery" of America, native citizens were indeed more deeply complexioned than Whites. Any (re)complexioning of the law since, to reflect the colors of America, then, is just to resort to the recognition of factual premises unjustly rejected when America was usurped from those of color and denied to others of color after …

Foreword: Religious Participation In Public Debate, Matthew Steffey

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.