Law Commons^™

Restoring The Organization For The Security And Cooperation In Europe’S Role In Human Rights And Security After Russian Invasion, Roman Nekoliak

Human Rights Brief

This Article diagnoses a systemic erosion of rights-based multilateralism driven by geopolitical realignment, reduced leadership by traditional human rights defenders, the rise of authoritarian coalitions, and the growth of transactional and securitized diplomacy. This Article argues that revitalizing the Organization for the Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) around a rights-centered, cross-dimensional concept of security is essential to restoring both regional stability and the credibility of international human rights commitments. It places the war in Ukraine within broader patterns of democratic backsliding, institutional paralysis, and the rise of authoritarian governance, demonstrating how domestic repression and interstate aggression mutually reinforce one …

The Supreme Court And Public Law In 2023, Kate Glover Berger

The Supreme Court Law Review, Third Series: Osgoode's Annual Constitutional Cases Conference

This article discusses the Supreme Court of Canada’s public law judgments in 2023. It was the basis for the opening address at the 27th Annual Osgoode Hall Law School Constitutional Cases Conference. In the Conference’s tradition, this annual review is divided into two parts. The first part (Part II of the article, following Part I: Introduction) presents institutional and quantitative data about the Court’s work in 2023. It focuses on the composition of the Court, the historically low number of judgments released in 2023, rates of agreement and dissent, and the dominance of public law on the Court’s docket in …

Safety Valves In Charter Analysis:A Quick Fix Rather Than A Structural Solution, Jamie Chai Yun Liew

The Supreme Court Law Review, Third Series: Osgoode's Annual Constitutional Cases Conference

A safety valve is a flap, lid or device that acts as a fail-safe. For those unfortunate to have experienced backflow into your home, a safety valve installed in a sewer line permits wastewater to exit while blocking unwanted backflow. It is a reliable and indispensable tool in this context. The legal world has adopted this term in constitutional analyses. This paper examines whether legal safety valves do provide relief. First, the paper provides an overview of how safety valves have been installed in the Supreme Court of Canada’s legal analyses. Then the paper provides a sober discussion of how …

Always Elsewhere: Constitutional Rights In Ccr, Audrey Macklin, Josh Blum

The Supreme Court Law Review, Third Series: Osgoode's Annual Constitutional Cases Conference

The Canada-United States Safe Third Country Agreement (“STCA”) requires refugee claimants travelling overland to seek protection in the first country of arrival as between Canada and the United States. The Federal Court determined that the United States’ detention practices did not comply with minimum human rights standards, such that Canada breached section 7 obligations to the applicant refugee claimants by deflecting them back to the United States. The Federal Court of Appeal overturned the decision, and the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the appeal. The authors review the CCR judgment and present it as a cautionary tale about how a …

A Necessary Realignment:Section 7 Engagement In Canadian Council For Refugees, Jacqueline Swaisland, Alison Imrie

The Supreme Court Law Review, Third Series: Osgoode's Annual Constitutional Cases Conference

This paper explains how the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in Canadian Council for Refugees repudiates decades of section 7 jurisprudence in the immigration law context and mandates that it be realigned with the section 7 jurisprudence outside of it. The paper sets out how Courts in the immigration context continue to apply decades-old jurisprudence which unilaterally declared that section 7 cannot be engaged by a person’s removal from Canada. It also explains how the Courts incorporated a remoteness barrier into the causation analysis which further prevented section 7 scrutiny of government action in the immigration context in all but …

A New Justification For Section 12 Hypotheticals Andtwo Rules For Constructing Them, Lisa Kerr, Michael Perlin

The Supreme Court Law Review, Third Series: Osgoode's Annual Constitutional Cases Conference

The use of the reasonable hypothetical device in the section 12 context has been a source of unceasing controversy. The Supreme Court has tried to lay the debate to rest; but we argue that there are convincing and practical reasons for the use of hypotheticals which the Court could do more to explain, as a way to persuade skeptics. These reasons are tied to the realities of the criminal justice system and how mandatory penalties can shape penal outcomes in covert ways, apart from, and in addition to, delivering cruel and unusual punishment to individuals. Along with articulating this new …

Murray-Hall V. Québec (Attorney General):Reconciling The Criminal Law Power With Cooperative Federalism, Yashoda Ranganathan, Hera Evans

The Supreme Court Law Review, Third Series: Osgoode's Annual Constitutional Cases Conference

Murray-Hall v. Québec (Attorney General) provides needed certainty and coherence regarding the scope of the criminal law power. Murray-Hall reconciles the criminal law power with the principle of cooperative federalism which favours giving effect to legislation of the provinces and federal government enacted within their respective (potentially overlapping) areas of legislative competence. An expansive interpretation of the criminal law power could upset the balance between federal and provincial powers articulated in section 91 and section 92 of the Constitution Act, 1867. Murray-Hall articulates three principles that limit the scope of the criminal law power, helping to reconcile the criminal law …

Prescribing Plenary Powers:The Evolution And Intersection Of Criminal Andhealth Jurisdiction In Canadian Federalism, Benjamin Perryman

The Supreme Court Law Review, Third Series: Osgoode's Annual Constitutional Cases Conference

Using the Supreme Court of Canada’s recent decision in Murray-Hall v. Québec (Attorney General) as a focal point, this paper tracks the evolution and intersection of the federal criminal law power and the provincial health law power in Canadian federalism cases. Part II of the paper examines existing methods used to prescribe plenary powers, including interpretative narrowing (formalism), expansion of concurrent federalism (double aspect), and purpose review (colourability). The paper shows that the Supreme Court of Canada has applied these prescriptions to the federal criminal law power but rarely to the provincial health law power. Part III looks around the …

The Legality Of Incorporating Provincial Law Into A Criminal Offence, Colton Fehr

The Supreme Court Law Review, Third Series: Osgoode's Annual Constitutional Cases Conference

The drafters of the 1867 Constitution Act were unmoved by the argument that the substantive criminal law ought to be crafted by each individual province as a means to preserve regional values. They instead assigned the criminal law power to the federal government to better promote legal stability and clarity when the state attempts to deprive a citizen of their liberty. A recently rejuvenated practice of incorporating provincial offences within the definition of criminal offences unfortunately ignores the rationale underlying this division of authority. Identifying this inconsistency would have proven useful in Murray-Hall v. Québec (Attorney General) as a more …

Understanding Public Support For Courts In Canada, Erin Crandall, Andrea Lawlor

The Supreme Court Law Review, Third Series: Osgoode's Annual Constitutional Cases Conference

Do Canadian citizens support their courts, and what factors influence that support? While it is well recognized that public confidence in the judicial branch is crucial for its effective functioning, how to measure and analyze this confidence is debated. This article explores how social scientists conceptualize and study trust and perceptions of legitimacy in courts. Using data from the Canada Election Studies spanning 2008 to 2021 and an original survey conducted in 2023, this article provides an overview of the current state of trust in Canadian courts, the known correlates of confidence, and recommendations for maintaining public support. We find …

From Margarine To Cannabis:The Ongoing Evolution Of The Criminal Law Power, Asha Kaushal, Robert Danay

The Supreme Court Law Review, Third Series: Osgoode's Annual Constitutional Cases Conference

This paper examines the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in Murray-Hall v. Quebéc (Attorney General), upholding Québec’s restrictions on personal cultivation and possession of cannabis despite federal legalization. This decision is contextualized within a broader empirical analysis of the Supreme Court’s jurisprudence on the criminal law power under section 91(27) of the Constitution Act, 1867. By systematically reviewing Supreme Court cases from the Margarine Reference to Murray-Hall, the authors identify two trends: (1) increasing judicial deference to provincial legislative jurisdiction in criminal law matters since the enactment of the Charter, and (2) a continued judicial willingness to limit federal jurisdiction …

Perspective, And Perspectives, On Police Powers, Steve Coughlan

The Supreme Court Law Review, Third Series: Osgoode's Annual Constitutional Cases Conference

R. v. Zacharias is a complex, and on one important issue inconclusive, decision about the extent of police powers and the balance between individual rights and societal interests. The case decided that the “reasonable grounds” justifying a warrantless arrest could not include any information which had been obtained unlawfully. This rule had been long-established with regard to search warrants but had been the subject of conflicting decisions in lower courts in the case of arrests. Zacharias leaves no doubt that arrests which occur due to prior Charter breaches will be a further breach — a “consequential” breach — of the …

Equality Rights And The Canada-U.S. Safe Third Country Agreement, Sharryn J. Aiken, Colin Grey

The Supreme Court Law Review, Third Series: Osgoode's Annual Constitutional Cases Conference

Under the Canada-United States Safe Third Country Agreement (“STCA”), Canadian immigration officials return refugee protection claimants arriving from the United States to have their claims determined in that country, and vice versa. This paper tries to tease out the equality rights arguments under section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms likely to be advanced in an ongoing constitutional challenge to the STCA and its implementing regulations. The paper briefly explores why equality rights challenges have often been given short shrift in cases involving “migration control”. We argue such cursory treatment is inappropriate in the challenge to the …

Poverty & Period Products: Achieving Menstrual And Abortion Justice Through Public Benefit Programs, Allyson Crays

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

Low-income people need and deserve access to quality menstrual products through public benefit programs as a public health and reproductive justice issue. Whether someone is managing their monthly period, a medical abortion, or post-pregnancy discharge, menstrual products are essential to ensure that person’s safety and bodily

autonomy. Low-income people on public benefit programs who menstruate face a variety of stigmas and barriers, and these programs are in a unique position to increase access to menstrual products to work toward menstrual and abortion justice. This Article outlines the history of public benefit programs and the stigmas accompanying them. It also details …

From Dred Scott To Barbara: Birthright Citizenship, Racial Exclusion, And The Enduring Promise Of The Fourteenth Amendment, Jenna A. Milbrodt

CMC Senior Theses

The Fourteenth Amendment’s Citizenship Clause has guaranteed birthright citizenship to all children born in the United States for hundreds of years. Yet, President Trump’s January 20, 2025, executive order threatens to strip that right from children born to parents unlawfully in the country and temporary visitors. This order, if permitted to stand, would change the definition of US citizenship and render countless children stateless persons without citizenship rights. This paper examines whether birthright citizenship in the US, properly understood, extends to children of unlawful immigrants and temporary visitors. To answer this question, three time periods of change in citizenship rights …

Board Of Registered Nursing, Sydney Verga, Katie Gonzalez, Marcus Friedman

California Regulatory Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

The Brady Materiality Standard, Brandon L. Garrett, Adam M. Gershowitz

Faculty Scholarship

The Brady doctrine requires prosecutors to disclose all favorable and material evidence to the defense. To effectuate that rule, the U.S. Supreme Court has defined materiality as a “reasonable probability” that the evidence would have affected the outcome at trial. But apart from that definition, the Court has resisted offering any further guidance to lower courts. While far too little is known about how Brady materiality claims are actually adjudicated, there is strong evidence that courts often reject Brady claims involving withheld evidence on the grounds that the evidence was not significant enough to be material.

To examine how Brady …

Ai Tips And Traps, Patrick Barry

Books

Based on a series of popular courses and workshops that Professor Patrick Barry has created for students, professionals, and anyone else interested in taking a skills-based approach to artificial intelligence, this book gives you a chance to engage with important AI concepts, experiment with exploratory AI exercises, and then ultimately develop your own customized list of AI traps to try as well as AI traps to avoid.

Call Off The Dogs: Rethinking Sniffer Dog Searches In Canadian Criminal Law, Sara Gordon

All Faculty Publications

The Supreme Court of Canada has repeatedly held that police sniffer dog searches are Charter-compliant based on a low standard of reasonable suspicion because they are minimally intrusive, narrowly targeted, and can be highly accurate. Since the Court last considered their constitutionality, however, extensive empirical research has fundamentally challenged assumptions about the reliability and accuracy of police sniffer dogs, as well as the harm to individuals subjected to these searches. Moreover, the phenomenon of handler cueing can operate to transmit a police officer’s unconscious biases—even those they would consciously reject—to their dogs, further reducing accuracy and leading to false alerts …

Native American Law Explainer, Kincaid Brown

Law Librarian Scholarship

Native American tribes are the original sovereign peoples of the lands that now comprise the United States, with histories, governments, and cultures that predate the founding of the nation by thousands of years. Long before European colonization, hundreds of distinct tribal nations exercised independent political authority over their territories. Although the United States entered hundreds of treaties recognizing tribes as distinct political entities, federal Indian policy evolved over time through periods of treaty-making, forced removal, allotment, assimilation, termination, and, since the 1970s, tribal self-determination. The legal relationship between tribes and the federal government is grounded in the U.S. Constitution, as …

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 …

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 …

Annual Report, Fiscal Year 2026, Tennessee. Department Of Correction

Annual Reports

This document is the annual report for the Tennessee Department of Correction during the fiscal year.

Lunch Shaming And The Right To Privacy, Ira P. Robbins

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Lunch shaming is the practice of penalizing students who cannot afford to pay for their meals, resulting in them being denied food, served alternative meals, or publicly identified. The origins of lunch shaming can be traced to the financial pressures faced by school districts that struggle to balance tight budgets with the mandate to provide free or reduced-price meals to eligible students. Despite legislative efforts and advocacy campaigns aimed at mitigating the problems associated with lunch shaming, the practice persists, exacerbated by rising food costs and the expiration of pandemic-era food programs.

Many law journal and other articles have correctly …

Originalism As Disruption, Susan D. Carle

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

This Article challenges the conventional understanding of originalism as a method that promotes unchanging constitutional meanings. Drawing on four and a half decades of experience since Attorney General Edwin Meese first championed originalism as a conservative project, this Article demonstrates that originalism has generally proven destabilizing rather than stabilizing to constitutional law. Landmark cases such as New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harvard College, and Shelby County v. Holder show that the Supreme Court frequently deploys originalism when it seeks to upend settled constitutional doctrine, contradicting claims …

Law’S Limits: Abortion And The Social Determinants Of Health, Maya Manian

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

After Dobbs: How the Supreme Court Ended Roe but Not Abortion (“After Dobbs”) is a prescient and timely response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade and upended nearly five decades of constitutional protection for abortion. In this meticulously structured oral history, law professor David S. Cohen and sociologist Carole Joffe center the voices of abortion providers, clinic administrators, funders, and advocates from across the country. After Dobbs, not only documents the extraordinary persistence of abortion supporters in the face of legal devastation but also bears witness to …

Upr Report Submissions, Sarah Dávila A., Lauren E. Bartlett

Faculty White Papers

No abstract provided.

Not Eu Enough: The Eu's Proposed Multilateral Investment Court As An Infeasible Replacement For The Intra-Eu Isds Mechanism After The Achmea Decision, Rohit Rakhit

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

In the landmark case Slovak Republic v. Achmea BV, the European Union Court of Justice (CJEU) invalidated Article 8 of the 1992 Dutch-Slovak bilateral investment treaty (BIT), holding that it conflicted with EU law. Article 8 included a provision which mandated that any party initiating an investor-state dispute governed under the Dutch-Slovak BIT bring the dispute in front of an arbitration tribunal. Since this form of investor-state dispute resolution was customary in the EU, states and investors became concerned about what the future of investment arbitration would look like in the EU. As a solution, the EU proposed the implementation …

Read But Not Understood? An Empirical Analysis Of Consumer Comprehension In Homeowners Insurance, Daniel Benjamin Schwarcz, Brenda Cude, Kyle D. Logue, German Marquez Alcala

Articles

Modern contract law assumes that consumers meaningfully assent to the standard forms that govern their daily lives. However, this assumption is widely regarded as a legal fiction for two key reasons: first, most consumers do not read standard forms, and second, even those who do often struggle to fully comprehend their terms and implications. Although the lack of consumer reading has been well documented through empirical research, consumers’ ability to comprehend standard-form contracts has received surprisingly little attention.

This Article addresses the latter issue by empirically examining whether providing excerpts from the dominant standard-form homeowners insurance policy improves consumer understanding …

Climate Lies And Unjust Profits, Vanessa Casado-Pérez, Yotam Kaplan, Yael Lifshitz, Niv Meyerson

Emory Law Journal

The climate crisis has reached a dangerous tipping point. Our dependence on fossil fuels continues largely unchecked, reinforced by corporations that use their influence to block reform and protect their profits. At the same time, the federal government has dismantled critical environmental safeguards, including by rescinding the greenhouse gas endangerment finding and rolling back vehicle emission standards. Together, these actions threaten to strip away some of the last protections standing between us and escalating climate catastrophe.

In this grim landscape, communities across the nation are turning to the courts with renewed urgency, seeking justice and reform through climate litigation. Yet, …