Law Commons^™

Generative Ai And The Purpose Of Legal Scholarship, Michael L. Smith

Faculty Articles

What does generative artificial intelligence mean for the future of legal scholarship? The topic has been the talk of the town around academic watercoolers. Some legal scholars have tried their hand at producing legal scholarship using generative Al. The accompanying commentary is varied, but advocates for the technology suggest that generative Al may become a common tool for legal scholars, leaving those who refuse to adapt at a severe disadvantage.

In this article, I contemplate a world in which legal scholars routinely use generative Al to produce academic writing. I argue that an instrumental view of legal scholarship's value-a view …

Certiorari Transparency, Alexandra L. Klein, Michael L. Smith

Faculty Articles

Amid increasing controversy over the Supreme Court’s amassing of power, rejection of precedent, reliance on the shadow docket, and Justices’ undisclosed acceptance of lavish gifts, legal scholars, commentators, and politicians have called for bold and far-reaching reforms to the Court, including term limits for Justices, stripping the Court of jurisdiction in certain cases, and adding Justices to the Court. This Article proposes a more subtle reform to the Court’s proceedings: the Court should make its certiorari de-terminations, in which it decides which cases to take up and review, public. Currently, the Court exercises near-complete discretion over the cases it decides …

The Rhetoric Of Law In Executive Order No. 12,333, Noah C. Chauvin

Faculty Articles

Scholars have long disputed the extent to which Congress may permissibly regulate the nation's foreign intelligence apparatus. Positions in this debate range from the view that Congress and the President share power over intelligence to the opinion that intelligence matters fall within the President's exclusive Article II authority. This Article examines the extent to which the text of Executive Order No. 12,333-the intelligence community's governing charter-supports the most expansive conceptions of presidential authority over intelligence matters. It concludes that the Order is best understood as recognizing Congress's power to pass laws governing the conduct of intelligence-laws that preclude executive refinement …

Michael Scott Is Not A Juror: The Limits Of Ai In Simulating Human Judgment, Sean Harrington, Hayley Stillwell

Faculty Articles

Can AI replace human jurors? More specifically, can large language models predict how jurors interpret evidence and reach decisions based on legally salient facts and demographic characteristics? As legal scholars and practitioners increasingly explore AI-generated jury simulations, this Article offers the first empirical test of whether models like GPT-4, Claude, and Gemini can faithfully replicate juror reasoning. The answer, for now, is no. Across a series of mock trial scenarios involving redacted confessions, GPT- 4, Claude, and Gemini repeatedly failed to replicate how real jurors interpret evidence or exercise judgment. Their errors were not random, but systematic. Hidden prompts, built-in …

Meat Is Dead, Melissa D. Mortazavi

Faculty Articles

The legal and cultural landscape surrounding meat in the United States is evolving as plant-based alternatives, GMO farm animals, and cell-cultivated meat move from test tube to table. While global demand for meat rises amid environmental, ethical, and resource challenges, cell-cultivated meat emerges as a scientifically viable alternative, offering identical nutritional value without the drawbacks of conventional livestock production. Despite federal regulatory approval from USDA and FDA, multiple states have enacted unusually restrictive laws—including bans— targeting cell-cultivated meat. These are motivated largely by economic protectionism, but also deeper cultural anxieties tied to tradition and identity. This Article argues that food …

Species Of State Constitutional Lockstepping, Michael L. Smith

Faculty Articles

When interpreting state constitutional provisions, state courts frequently take a "lockstep" approach by adopting the United States Supreme Court's interpretation of analogous federal constitutional provisions. Critics often portray lockstep interpretation as misguided and have identified varieties of lockstepping, including unreflective, reflective, prospective, and methodological lockstep interpretation. This Article contributes to these discussions by identifying several additional forms of lockstep interpretation that have thus far gone undiscussed: lazy, mandatory, atextual, and sticky lockstepping.

Several of these variations highlight distinct failures of state courts to independently interpret state constitutions. This includes lazy lockstepping, where state courts tend to engage in repeated, thoughtless …

What Is Terrorism?, Karl T. Muth, Alice Locatelli

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

Is Gotham's Joker a terrorist? What about a school shooter? As we approach the twenty-fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the United States still lacks a monolithic legal definition of 'terrorism,' creating a dangerous 'motive gap' between federal statutes. This Article analyzes the friction between the motive-heavy definition of 'domestic terrorism' in Title 18 (which includes a mens rea aspect) and the conduct-focused definition of 'terrorist activity' in Title 8 (which focuses on overt acts). Using the hijacking of Flight 93 and the Columbine shootings as case studies, we demonstrate how Title 18's political requirement creates a coverage void for …

Not Quite Fit To Fly: A Reflection On Due Process And Agency Rulemaking In The Faa’S Approach To Pilot Certification, Emily Ryter

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

Judicial and legislative involvement in agency rulemaking is a relevant and particularly salient topic. The authority of an agency to make sound policy with flexibility and discretion often comes into conflict with the judiciary’s duty to prevent arbitrary regulations, which lack solid evidence or convincing rationale. Considering that more than three million passengers fly every day, it is no surprise that establishing a robust certification process for pilots is among the Federal Aviation Administration’s top priorities. The courts and the Legislature have also recently made notable strides to exert more control over the standards for medical certification. In July, the …

Decluttering The Orbital Commons: A Proposal For The Regulation Of Privately Created Space Debris, Rose W. Cobey

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

Space is one of the only resources shared by every person in every country at all times. The problem of space debris is therefore one that affects everyone living on our planet. Scientists and politicians have warned about crowding, collisions, and murky liability for decades, and each of these issues will only worsen without intervention. Space debris has caused damage on Earth since the Space Race, and it now endangers people and property in orbit. We are at an ever-increasing risk of building a wall around our planet and locking ourselves inside. In the last ten years, a new wrinkle …

Void In Space: How Loper Bright And The Major Questions Doctrine Affect The Federal Communications Commission’S Regulatory Authority Of Orbital Debris, Hernan Valles

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

Since the dawn of the space race, countries have been reaching for the stars. Recently, companies have joined the race. The space race and technological advancement of near-Earth orbital satellites have caused a buildup of debris in near-Earth orbit. The exponential increase of orbital debris in Earth’s orbit threatens the environmental system of the planet, the safety of astronauts aboard the International Space Station, the structure of other spacecraft, and modern economies relying on operational satellites to provide rapid communication, navigation, and weather forecasting information.

Yet there is a void among U.S. regulators in setting rules that mitigate orbital debris …

Outer Space Employment Tax And Grounded Enforceability: A Node-Based Approach Under International Space Law, Binbin Guo

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

As commercial space activities move from state-led exploration to market operations, outer space is changing from a mission space into a workspace. As a result, the traditional connecting point for employment taxes, centered on the workplace, begins to lose force. This Article develops the concept of outer space employment taxation and argues that its key issue is not taxation in orbit, but enforceability. International space law does not directly provide the tax base, tax rates, or specific withholding rules. But through state responsibility, authorization and continuing supervision, and registration coupled with jurisdiction and control, it already provides institutional interfaces through …

Are Trains In Space Legal? Examining Problems With A Multilateral Space Resource Management Regime And Public-Private Partnerships, Maitland Rames

Journal of Air Law and Commerce

As governments plan to expand into outer space and private parties continue to participate in space operations, the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, Including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies (Outer Space Treaty) has the potential to inhibit any ambitions for all but the most basic exploratory missions. That is because Article II of the Outer Space Treaty forbids national appropriation in space, which calls into question the legality of any infrastructure and land use in space. This uncertainty has far-reaching implications for the future economy of space. Fortunately, …

Banking Vs. Tech: The Fight For The Future Of Money, Gopika Shah

Case Western Reserve Law Review

No abstract provided.

Access Over Impact: Reorienting Oira’S Meetings With The Public, Griffin S. Kenny

Case Western Reserve Law Review

No abstract provided.

Masthead, Volume 76 Issue 4 (2026)

Case Western Reserve Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Tale Of Two Emails: The Political Economy Of Higher Education Under Executive Assault, Christopher D. Thomas

Case Western Reserve Law Review

No abstract provided.

Volume 76 Issue 4 (2026), Case Western Reserve Law Review

Case Western Reserve Law Review

No abstract provided.

Symposium - Federal Research, Academic Speech: The Legal Limits Of Executive Authority In Higher Education, Case Western Reserve Law Review

Case Western Reserve Law Review

No abstract provided.

Keynote Address – Dei Executive Orders, Dear Colleague Letters, And The Constitution, Bryan Adamson

Case Western Reserve Law Review

No abstract provided.

Introduction – Academic Freedom And Vulnerability, Elizabeth L. Rosenblatt

Case Western Reserve Law Review

No abstract provided.

Essay – Rethinking The Fund Termination Sanction, Samuel R. Bagenstos

Case Western Reserve Law Review

No abstract provided.

Rights In Theory, Detention In Practice: The Constitutional Paradox Of Guantánamo Bay, Fatimah A. Elghazawi

Case Western Reserve Law Review

No abstract provided.

Essay – When Disability Is Different: Reasonable Accommodations And Higher Education Dei, Katherine A. Macfarlane

Case Western Reserve Law Review

No abstract provided.

Academic Freedom’S Demise, Ruth Colker

Case Western Reserve Law Review

No abstract provided.

Discrimination Through The Direct Threat Defense: A Case Study Of Healthcare Providers With Hiv, Melinda R. Week

Case Western Reserve Law Review

No abstract provided.

Banned, Burned, And Bound: Increasing Protections Surrounding Students’ Right To Receive Information In K-12 Schools, Catherine A. Mcclure

Case Western Reserve Law Review

No abstract provided.

Legalizing Magic Mushrooms: A Different Set Of Laws For A Different Kind Of Drug, Edward S. Adams

Case Western Reserve Law Review

No abstract provided.

Examining Reproductive Equity In The Post-Roe United States, Yali Pang, Anna Grace Causey, Nakeina E. Douglas-Glenn, Research Institute For Social Equity Rise

Research Institute for Social Equity

Four years after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, state-level variation in reproductive rights policy is associated with substantial geographic inequities in access to abortion and reproductive health care across the United States. The adoption of restrictive or protective reproductive rights policies is closely tied to legislative control, underscoring the political drivers of reproductive inequity. The evidence suggests that advancing reproductive equity will require coordinated national, state, and local response to strengthen healthcare infrastructure, reduce economic barriers, and establish durable legislative protections for reproductive rights.

Table Of Contents, Cardozo Journal Of Equal Rights & Social Justice, Vol. 32, Iss. 2

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

No abstract provided.

How To Stop Mass Shootings Without Violating The Second Amendment: Designing Regulations To Prevent Acts Of Mass Violence That Pass The 6:3 History And Tradition Test, Robert D'Alessandro

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The article proposes that states can constitutionally implement ammunition possession limits to reduce mass violence by aligning such laws with the "history and tradition" test established by the current Supreme Court. It argues that modern caps on ammunition are analogous to early American gunpowder restrictions, which were enacted for public safety to prevent catastrophic explosions in populated areas.