Law Commons^™

Bridging The Digital Divide: The Role Of Evolving Space Law In Ensuring Equitable Access And Ethical Use Of Climate Data, Caitlin B. Riordan

Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality

No abstract provided.

Making Room For Cultural Humility In An Anti-Dei Space, Shelley Ward Bennett

Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality

This Article analyzes the intersection of state anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) laws and the American Bar Association (ABA) Standard 303(c)’s cross-cultural competency education mandate and offers suggestions for how these policies can coexist. The surge in anti-DEI laws issued in twenty states over the last four years has created challenges and uncertainty for public law schools and their professors seeking to include cultural competency instruction in their curriculum. Though some have expressed concerns that the requirements of state anti-DEI laws and Standard 303(c) may conflict, this Article proposes that such a conflict should not be presumed because Standard 303(c) …

Reimagining Self-Regulation In Sexual Misconduct Complaints: Trust Through Transfer, Allyson M. Mcbride

Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality

To increase trust in the judiciary’s ability to self-regulate, any formal complaints about a judge should not be handled by a colleague down the hall, but a judge from a different circuit. In this Comment, I propose automatic transfer out of circuit to improve the handling of sexual misconduct complaints specifically. I first describe the different ways judicial conduct is regulated in the federal system. I then discuss the problem of sexual misconduct in the judiciary. Finally, I outline why it is problematic for judges to adjudicate complaints about their intra-circuit colleagues and recommend that all complaints be automatically transferred …

True Man, Captive Mother: Abortion As A Fundamental Self-Defense Right, Nicholle Vandy

Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality

Abortion healthcare has faced significant challenges since the Supreme Court held in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that there exists no constitutional right to abortion. Contrastingly, the right to bear arms, grounded in the right to self-defense, has strong constitutional protections, as highlighted in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen. The extension of the right to self-defense is exemplified by the proliferation of Stand Your Ground laws in numerous states.

This Comment examines the growing tension between self-defense doctrine, particularly through Stand Your Ground laws, and the increasing criminalization of abortion in various states. It …

Dual Purposes Of A Plea Bargaining Simulation: Pedagogical Skills Training And Controlled Data Collection Experiment About Crime Victim’S Access To Justice Via Counsel, Tung Yin

Indiana Journal of Law and Social Equality

No abstract provided.

Fading Prestige: A Comparative Analysis Of Trademark Dilution's Impact On Luxury Fashion Brands In The United States And European Union, Pravalika Surakanti

IP Theory

The paper focuses on the concept of trademark dilution in relation to luxury fashion brands in international markets. Focusing on the United States and the European Union, it will look at the different approaches these regions take and how certain holdups in dilution law affect fashion companies’ global brand protection strategies. The paper looks at the application of the Federal Trademark Dilution Act, the EU Trademark Directive, and other essential laws to their respective jurisdictions’ cases to determine the trends of trademark dilution claims. It is found that both regions provide luxury fashion houses with substantial protection; however, the European …

Foreign States, Private Proxies, And “Discretionary” Torts On U.S. Soil, George K. Foster

Indiana Law Journal

The tortious act exception to sovereign immunity offers a vital path for tort victims to seek redress against foreign states for harms committed on U.S. soil. Yet some courts have narrowed the exception in troubling ways when rejecting claims alleging clergy abuse cover-ups, cyberattacks, and other serious misconduct. Some have held that the exception applies only to torts committed by state officials and employees, excluding private actors even when acting under state direction. Others have deemed conduct “discretionary”—and therefore immune—even when it patently violated U.S. law or contractual obligations. This Article challenges both readings. Drawing on legislative history, common law, …

The Law’S Failure To Protect Our Drinking Water From Pfas, Emily Levine

Indiana Law Journal

How did per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), the forever chemicals known to harm human health and appear in most Americans’ blood, spread so widely in drinking water? Why didn’t someone with the power and knowledge to stop this crisis step in sooner? Simply imposing limits on PFAS levels in public water systems is the bare minimum to protect American drinking water—a necessary step but only the starting point of a long path toward creating a regulatory framework that can withstand the whims of changing presidential administrations and political influences.

     It is too easy for the EPA Administrator, either out of …

Shifting Structural Power: The Tech Energy Transition, Amy L. Stein

Indiana Law Journal

For the first time in over a decade, flat and stagnant electricity demand is expected to skyrocket. This increased demand is driven in large part by data centers that support artificial intelligence, crypto mining, and cloud computing. This is straining the electric grid, its stakeholders, and legal constructs in significant ways. Legal energy scholarship has spent the last fifteen years focused on the challenges of managing an electric grid transitioning to clean energy, in a world where privately owned electric utilities maintain powerful monopolies across the country. But there are no accounts of how the balance of power in this …

Interrogating The Facts Of The Case, Anna Roberts

Indiana Law Journal

Buried within many criminal judicial opinions is the origin of their “facts”—the interrogation room. Criminal law pedagogy should expose this origin. If we treat the alleged product of interrogation as “what happened,” as criminal cases (and professors) sometimes do, we obscure the ways in which interrogators are trained to incriminate and to co-create confessions. We also risk obscuring subsequent layers of reporting by police, prosecutors, or judges.

Recent scholarly literature urges criminal law professors to teach differently, warning that we distort, sanitize, and bolster the carceral state when we erase governmental agents and bypass procedure. Treating the “facts of the …

Misinformation And The Jury, Gustavo Ribeiro

Indiana Law Journal

This Article bridges critical gaps between the growing body of social science research on misinformation and the persistent challenges jurors face in evaluating potentially unreliable evidence in courtrooms. Misinformation—a pervasive issue undermining decision-making in democratic societies—mirrors the difficulties jurors encounter in distinguishing truth from falsehood amid compelling but unreliable evidence. The consequences of such challenges are dire: wrongful convictions, racial disparities, and the erosion of public trust in the legal system.

This Article is the first piece of legal scholarship to provide a comprehensive discussion of current research on the psychological mechanisms underlying susceptibility to misinformation—such as the illusory truth …

Patenting Ai Discoveries In Life Sciences: Overcoming Eligibility, Disclosure, And Inventorship Challenges, Dhohyung Kim, Ryan P. Hiler

IP Theory

The pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries face transformative opportunities through artificial intelligence and machine learning integration. However, these technological advances create distinct patent law complications that traditional drug development does not encounter. This article analyzes three interconnected obstacles: establishing eligible subject matter under 35 U.S.C. § 101, meeting disclosure standards under § 112(a), and determining proper inventorship when AI systems contribute substantially to claimed inventions. Drawing from recent USPTO guidance and Federal Circuit precedent, this analysis offers evidence-based strategies for patent practitioners, research scientists, and business leaders seeking robust intellectual property protection for AI-integrated pharmaceutical innovations.

Ai Can't Adlib: Theorizing An Improvisation Carveout In The Work For Hire Doctrine, Audrey Pope

IP Theory

AI-generated actors and digital replicas are an increasingly pressing concern in the filmmaking industry. While this technology is only one of the myriad ways that generative AI is set to change Hollywood, debates about its use reflect a throughline in debates about AI generally: Can this technology do a convincing, much less desirable, job of what humans have done before? This Article argues that, at least in one particular context, the answer is no. It focuses on the art of adlibbing. It explains the unique position of improvisation within copyright law and proposes one mechanism—a carveout in the work for …

Recentering Creativity In Copyright Law Discourse, Joshua Yuvaraj

IP Theory

Copyright discourse often centers around creativity; as a rationale for copyright, and as a threshold for copyright to subsist in songs, books, art and other creative works. Yet creativity remains an ethereal concept: if we do not know what it means, we cannot evaluate whether copyright law is promoting it, nor can we properly understand what it means for a work to be "creative" where that is required for copyright to subsist. An emerging strand of copyright discourse seeks to respond by examining scientific insights into the cognitive process of creativity to highlight how copyright law should be reshaped to …

Interpreting Anti-Boycott Laws In The Shadow Of The First Amendment, Joseph A. Tomain

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Thirty-eight states have enacted “anti-BDS” laws. These laws require people or entities doing business with the state to certify that they do not participate in the Boycott Divestment Sanction movement against Israel. Typically, these laws define boycott as a “refusal to deal, terminating business, or other actions” that limit commercial relations with Israel or Israeli entities. It is highly contested in the courts and commentary whether these anti-boycott laws violate the First Amendment. Assuming arguendo that the “refusal to deal” and “terminating business” clauses do not implicate the First Amendment, that leaves the residual clause. At least one court and …

Cultivating Free Speech Culture, Joseph A. Tomain

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Defending dissent to safeguard speech and political opposition is a challenging and necessary task for a self-governing democracy. Moreover, it is a collective task. Succeeding in this endeavor sometimes requires defending speech with which one disagrees, especially in a nation as pluralistic as the United States. Although imperfect and inconsistent, there are numerous examples where strange bedfellows join together to achieve this goal. While First Amendment law helps us reach the goal, law alone is not enough. We also need a cultural commitment to defending dissent. This Essay argues that cultivating a culture that values robust free speech protection is …

Welfare Litigation, State Courts, And Social Citizenship, Andrew Hammond

Articles by Maurer Faculty

For half a century, federal courts have stood at the center of welfare rights enforcement. That era is ending. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act’s historic cuts to Medicaid and SNAP will generate an avalanche of benefit terminations, work requirement sanctions, and overpayment actions from state agencies. And with a federal judiciary increasingly hostile to the private enforcement of public law, state courts will become not just a concurrent forum for welfare litigation, but an increasingly important one. Understanding how state courts have handled welfare litigation over the past three decades, then, is essential to anticipating what comes next. This …

Reproductive Wrongful Convictions: The Making Of "Unfit" Mothers, Valena Beety

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This Article draws a straight line from wrongful convictions of women in the past to criminal charges based on pregnancy and parenting behaviors today. Faulty forensic evidence and biased evidence based on sex-stereotypes have, in combination, been used to convict innocent women, particularly in situations where an accident or health event was misconstrued to be a criminal act. Seventy-four percent of known exonerated women were wrongly convicted where no crime occurred. Similarly, in criminalizing pregnancy behaviors, police, medical personnel, or prosecutors erroneously label a non-criminal event, such as a miscarriage or stillbirth, as criminal. Criminal charges are being brought against …

“Spinning Wheel Got To Go Round”: Developments In The Law Affecting Electronic Payments And Financial Services, Sarah Jane Hughes, Tom Kierner, Stephen T. Middlebrook

Articles by Maurer Faculty

The past year reminds us of the rock lyrics from “Spinning Wheel” on Blood, Sweat & Tears’s 1968 self-titled record—“What goes up, must come down/Spinning Wheel got to go round”—because there have been many changes in strategy and reversal of policy since President Trump’s inauguration in January 2025. Our Survey documents these changes and reversals as they affect electronic payments and financial services. This year’s Survey also reports on warnings from state and federal regulators aimed at bank and non-bank providers of consumer financial services. Part II examines an FTC enforcement action related to the unfair and deceptive marketing of …

In Memoriam: Ken Nunn ’67, James Owsley Boyd

Keep Up With the Latest News from the Law School (blog)

Over the holiday break we lost a distinguished friend and alumnus with the passing of Ken Nunn ’67. He was 85.

Anyone who’s ever spent time in Indiana has likely seen or heard Nunn. His appearances in television commercials, on highway billboards, and on radio spots made him one of the most recognizable figures in the Hoosier State. And on days when the weather was just right, it was almost an Indiana University rite of passage to spot him—gray hair, sparkling smile—rolling down Kirkwood Avenue in a convertible.

3l Jayden Boudreau Earns Prestigious Skadden Fellowship, Maurer School Of Law - Indiana University

Keep Up With the Latest News from the Law School (blog)

The Skadden Fellowship Foundation announced this week that 3L Jayden Boudreau is one of only 34 law students from across the country—and the only one from an Indiana law school— that has been selected as a 2026 Skadden Fellow, one of the most prestigious honors in public interest law.

The award will support Boudreau’s innovative ACLU LGBTQ & HIV Project, focused on protecting the rights of queer and transgender youth in school settings through legal advocacy and systemic policy engagement. He will spend two years in New York City, working at the national headquarters of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Orenstein To Receive 2026 John Henry Wigmore Award For Lifetime Achievement, Maurer School Of Law - Indiana University

Keep Up With the Latest News from the Law School (blog)

Professor Aviva A. Orenstein, the Karen Lake Buttrey and Donald W. Buttrey Chair at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law, has been named the recipient of the 2026 John Henry Wigmore Award for Lifetime Achievement.

The John Henry Wigmore Award, presented by the Evidence Section of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS), honors individuals whose careers have made exceptional contributions to the field of evidence law. Previous recipients include leading scholars in evidence whose work has shaped teaching, scholarship, and practice.

“The award is presented to evidence scholars who have made leading contributions to the understanding of …

Professor Yvette Butler Named 2026 Recipient Of Derrick A. Bell, Jr. Award, Maurer School Of Law - Indiana University

Keep Up With the Latest News from the Law School (blog)

Indiana University Maurer School of Law Professor Yvette Butler has been selected as the 2026 recipient of the Derrick A. Bell, Jr. Award, the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Section on Minority Groups announced late Friday (Dec. 12).

“Professor Butler’s commitment to advancing racial justice and elevating the voices of marginalized communities embodies the highest ideals of our profession,” said Indiana Law Dean Christiana Ochoa. “Her work reflects the courage, clarity of purpose, and unwavering advocacy that defined Derrick Bell’s legacy. We are immensely proud to see her recognized with this award and look forward to the continued impact …

Sec Committee Approves Ai Recommendations Drafted By Indiana Law Faculty Member Alvin Velazquez, Maurer School Of Law - Indiana University

Keep Up With the Latest News from the Law School (blog)

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Investor Advisory Committee (IAC) Friday (Dec. 5) approved new recommendations urging public companies to provide clearer, more consistent information about how they use artificial intelligence. The recommendations passed with strong support: 14 votes in favor, two abstentions, and two against.

The proposal, drafted by Indiana University Maurer School of Law Professor Alvin Velazquez, responds to the rapid rise of AI across corporate America and widespread investor concern that current disclosures are confusing, inconsistent, or overly promotional.

Judicial Ethics, The Supreme Court, And The Rule Of Law, Charles G. Geyh

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This Essay begins with a short history of judicial ethics regulation in the United States, ending with the adoption of codes of conduct by every state and federal judicial system except the Supreme Court of the United States. It then turns to a series of ethics controversies encircling the Supreme Court and its justices, which culminated in the Supreme Court adopting a Code of Conduct in 2023. Tapping into the social science literature, it argues that for codes to improve the ethical climate of an institution they must encourage psychological ownership of and “buy-in” to a code by those subject …

Lowell Baier: 1940-2025, Maurer School Of Law - Indiana University

Keep Up With the Latest News from the Law School (blog)

Over a remarkable 51-year career, Lowell Baier moved with uncommon ease between professions—attorney, entrepreneur, advocate, historian, and author—yet every path he pursued seemed to guide him inevitably toward a life defined by service, scholarship, and conservation. Baier, who passed away on November 21, leaves behind a legacy as vast, varied, and vital as the landscapes he fought to protect.

Baier’s life was a testament to service: to the land, to the law, to institutions that shaped him, and to people who shared his passions. His legacy will endure in protected landscapes, inspired students, strengthened institutions, and the many lives he …

Vol. 69, No. 13 (November 24, 2025)

Indiana Law Annotated

No abstract provided.

Dean's Desk: We’Re Providing Encouragement To Would-Be Lawyers, Christiana Ochoa

Christiana Ochoa (7/22-10/22 Acting; 11/2022-)

As dean of the Indiana University Maurer School of Law, I have the privilege of witnessing firsthand how transformative legal education can be—not only for individual students, but also for the communities and institutions they go on to serve.

But there’s a problem: many promising undergraduate students have been told, explicitly or implicitly, that law school isn’t for them. Some don’t have anyone to turn to for advice and guidance.

Some have been discouraged from considering legal education because their backgrounds don’t fit the traditional mold of what society envisions an attorney to be. Maybe they are first-generation students and …

Fred H. Cate Appointed To 23andme Research Institute Privacy Advisory Board, Maurer School Of Law - Indiana University

Keep Up With the Latest News from the Law School (blog)

Indiana University Maurer School of Law Distinguished Professor Fred H. Cate, one of the nation’s foremost authorities on information privacy and security law, has been appointed as an inaugural member to the newly formed Privacy Advisory Board of the 23andMe Research Institute, a leading nonprofit medical research organization focused on advancing genetic and health discoveries.

The appointment cements the Law School’s position as a global leader at the intersection of law, data governance, and privacy.

Vol. 69, No. 12 (November 17, 2025)

Indiana Law Annotated

No abstract provided.