Law Commons^™

Hablando Sobre Inmigración: How Members Of The House Of Representatives In 118th Congress Frame The Issue Of Immigration, Guadalupe Castañeda Martinez

History and Political Science | Senior Theses

Historically, Immigration has played a critical role in forming the nation’s identity, economic prosperity, and promoting cultural diversity. Considering that the issue of Immigration has been in the news and is considered by many to be important and in need of policy solutions, little progress has been made on passing comprehensive immigration reform since the 113 th Congress in 2013. How members of Congress talk about Immigration is important because framing can influence public opinion, shaping perceptions of the issue and affecting policy decisions. Members may use their platform to communicate how they think about policy issues. Research has been …

"The Land That Feminism Forgot": Birthzillas, Madwives, And The Politics Of Chilbirth, Amber Vayo

Doctoral Dissertations

“The Land that Feminism Forgot” is an in-depth exploration of the politics of childbirth that draws together qualitative and quantitative evidence to theorize the connections between treatment in childbirth and maternal mortality. Situating the qualitative research in the larger national context, the second chapter offers a State Reproductive Autonomy Index that provides an overview of the reproductive policy landscape at the national level. The dissertation then explores the role of institutionalized childbirth, medical mistrust, and obstetric violence in the U.S.’s longstanding maternal mortality crisis and offers policy suggestions in key public health areas. Through 120 qualitative interviews with people who …

Network Tango: Examining State Dispositions Toward Attribution In International Cyber Conflict, Robert Riley Turner

University Honors Theses

Cyberspace is an environment of international conflict often sought out due to its ability to create significant effects at little cost, and obfuscating the ready attribution of hostility. One avenue toward streamlining the attribution of hostile actions in cyberspace is the introduction of a due diligence of data transparency amongst states. This level of data transparency must somehow be incentivized. The following study surveys the geopolitical dispositions of three major powers that utilize cyberspace as a venue of conflict: The United States, China, and Russia; in order to determine how each nation might interact with an international due diligence of …

Still Awaiting Justice: An Analysis On The Impact Of Anti-Immigrant Sentiment On The Reproductive Autonomy Of Migrant Women, Annays Esperanza Yacaman

Senior Independent Study Theses

My research aims to explain the impact of anti-immigrant sentiment on the reproductive autonomy of migrant women. Legislators typically act as their constituents feel on a certain issue, so I aimed to explore how legislators responded with legislation when their constituents held higher levels of anti-immigrant sentiment, hypothesizing that this would lead to more legislation limiting the reproductive autonomy of migrant women. I explore topics of eugenics and how anti-immigrant sentiment has led to modern day eugenics.

My hypothesis did not manifest itself in the expected way, but the results do provide evidence for a causal link between legislation meant …

Public Financing Of Elections In The States, Nicholas Meixsell

Honors Theses

In the US, there is a history of the courts striking down campaign finance reform measures as unconstitutional. As such, there are few avenues remaining for someone who is interested in 'clean government' reforms. One such avenue is publicly financed elections, where the state actually provides funding for campaigns. These systems can be quite varied in the restrictions and contingencies they attach to the money, and for examples one has to look no further than the states There are many states that have some form of public financing for elections, and by looking at the different states' systems we are …

Evolving Standards Of Decency: The Intersection Of Death Penalty Theory And Supreme Court Jurisprudence, Rachel S. Sullivan

Senior Independent Study Theses

The American death penalty must be abolished in order to establish a more just system of punishment. This thesis examines the arguments of eight political theorists and their connections with five essential Supreme Court cases on capital punishment in order to determine the Court's theoretical view of the American death penalty. This theoretical view is that justices who affirm the constitutionality of capital punishment use philosophical theories, while justices who critique capital punishment rely upon context-dependent analyses. If the Court ever rules that capital punishment is unconstitutional in all circumstances, these latter theories will be dispositive.

Prisons For Profit: Neoliberal Rationality's Transformation Of America's Prisons, Kelsey Clark

Senior Independent Study Theses

This project examines the dramatic changes in the American prison system that resulted from privatization and deregulation. Using Wendy Brown’s conceptualization of neoliberal rationality, this study focuses on the important neoliberal transformation that resulted in a dramatic increase in privatization of prisons. This transformation has affected more than the institutions themselves, as some argue that even individual rationality has been transformed by neoliberalism. The purpose of this study is to analyze the transformation of American prisons from publicly run to privately operated. The analysis includes how this has affected American prisons and the rationalities of those who advocate on behalf …

Microaggressions, Trigger Warnings, And The Fight To Redefine Free Speech: An Analysis Of The Judiciary's Response To Campus Speech Codes Through Liberal And Communitarian Perspectives, Madeleine G. O'Neill

Senior Independent Study Theses

As campus speech codes enjoy a renaissance surrounding microaggressions and trigger warnings, understanding how and whether such speech codes can stand up to constitutional scrutiny is crucial. This project offers a historical overview of the evolution of free speech in U.S. history, with a particular focus on the jurisprudential history of hate speech and the “first wave” of litigation surrounding campus speech codes in the 1980s and ’90s. I use two theoretical frameworks, liberalism and communitarianism, to analyze the judiciary’s response to speech codes and to understand whether that response aligns with either framework. Lastly, I offer three proposals for …

The Political Economic Dimensions Of Executive Compensation Reform: Can The Foundations Of Shareholder Primacy Be Sustained In The Post - Crisis Regulatory Environment?, Dezso Peter Arpad Farkas

LLM Theses

What is absent in much of the literature on executive compensation reform is a deeper appreciation of the shift that has occurred since the latest financial crisis away from performance-based corporate governance arrangements to an approach that seeks to put the brakes on a runaway train, the shareholder value model and its relentless pursuit of shareholder wealth at all costs. By situating this debate into a broader discussion of corporate purpose, corporate governance and the law’s role in how business corporations are run in their social, economic and political environment this project seeks to shed some light onto what really …

Liberty, Security, And Judicial Review In The War On Terror: An Analysis Of Supreme Court Approaches To Deference In A Post-9/11 Context, Jacob Oppler

Senior Independent Study Theses

In times of war, the government acts to suppress threats to national security, often curtailing or restricting American civil liberties. Over the course of American history, the Supreme Court has reviewed this legal conflict between civil liberties and national security policies during war. Scholars generally observe the Court’s judicial review as deferential to the government. The War on Terror presents new and different challenges to American civil liberties. While this legal conflict has emerged again under the conditions of a war against terrorism, the war itself is markedly unlike past wars in American history. This research seeks to explain how …

Judicial Influence And The United States Federal District Courts: A Case Study, Justin R. Hickerson

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Justice Across The Hemispheres: The Effect Of The Pinochet Arrest On Domestic Courts In Chile And Spain, Audrey A. Hansen

Honors Theses and Capstones

This study examines whether the 1998 arrest, by order of a Spanish judge, of former Chilean President Augusto Pinochet in London for crimes of genocide and terrorism impacted the attitude of Chilean and Spanish courts toward prosecuting their own country’s human rights violations. It argues that after 1998 Chile’s judiciary increased prosecutions against former regime officials, while the Spanish judiciary upheld Spain’s 1977 Amnesty Law and declined to participate in the national discourse on the country’s past human rights violations. This research includes a comparative case study of Chile and Spain, their recent histories, their judiciaries’ attitudes towards prosecution of …

Mexico's Implementation Of The Biodiversity Convention And The Catagena Protocol In The Gmo Era: Challenges In Principles, Policies, And Practices, Juan Antonio Herrera

PhD Dissertations

Recent developments in genetic modification and the use of Living Modified Organisms (LMOs) in agriculture have ignited a debate over the potential effects of these organisms on biological diversity. This controversy materializes in the clash between the international environmental and trade regimes. Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs), such as the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) focus on the preservation of biological diversity and, in the case of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (Cartagena Protocol), the safe transfer of LMOs. These Agreements encourage States to base national decisions to allow LMO imports on environmental and risk assessments using the precautionary principle. …