Courts Commons^™

Existing Together From The Beginning: Freedom To Contract And Black Mutual Aid, Cara Mcclellan

Northwestern University Law Review

In a new wave of litigation, conservative legal organizations are attempting to rely on Reconstruction-era civil rights legislation to prevent nonprofits, charities, foundations, and other privately organized groups from engaging in race-conscious work. Unlike the Supreme Court’s recent rollback of affirmative action, which dealt with universities’ ability to consider race in admissions as state actors and as recipients of federal funding, a series of lawsuits now challenge the ability of private organizations to consider race in how they invest money and resources to create social impact. Adding fuel to the fire, on January 21, 2025, President Trump issued an Executive …

Not Colorblind, Kimberly West-Faulcon

Northwestern University Law Review

This Essay criticizes the use of the term “colorblind” in reference to attacks on racial diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies. It argues it is inapt and unconscionably obtuse to use colorblindness terminology to selectively target inclusion-motivated race consciousness for automatic illegality. The Essay’s central project is to examine claims underlying attacks on racial inclusion policies such as the Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College lawsuit to expose the legal endgame that anti-DEI forces seek to make a centerpiece of America’s future. In so doing, it surfaces the differential scrutiny of race consciousness …

Standing On Stare Decisis After Students For Fair Admissions, Areeb Asif, Lindsey Roloff

Northwestern University Law Review

The Supreme Court recognized nearly half a century ago in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke that “the ‘nation’s future depends upon leaders trained through wide exposure’ to the ideas and mores of students as diverse as this Nation of many peoples.” Nevertheless, the Court seriously undercut efforts to bring such a future to life by striking down race-conscious admissions programs in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. University of North Carolina (collectively SFFA). Though SFFA’s binding effect is limited to educational institutions, …

Reforming The Indian Bar: The Limits Of Technological Solutions, Varsha Aithala, Karthik Suresh

Articles

A majority of Indians do not have effective access to legal services, despite the constitutional promise of access to justice. There are two intertwined reasons for this: the unavailability of a sufficient number of good quality lawyers, and the high costs of accessing legal services. The Indian legal profession is highly unequal, with ‘prestige’ being the currency of upward professional mobility. The professional regulator, the Bar Council of India, simply lacks the capacity to regulate quality. As a consequence, clients lack the information to access lawyers, and to understand the outcomes they desire from them, and the fees they have …

Law School News : Spotlight On Trial Advocacy With Jamie Gau, L'16 : Alum And Adjunct Professor Reflects On The Strengths Of Rwu Law's Trial Advocacy Program 08-25-2025, Helga Melgar

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

In The Pursuance Of A Robust Legal Framework To Address Deepfake Harms: An Analysis Of The Indian Legal Discourse, Jyothsna Gurumurthy

Indian Journal of Law and Technology

A common issue we face in the field of law and technology is the constant game of catch-up that the law is required to play to keep up with advances in technology. Deepfake Technology (primarily based on generative adversarial networks, as explored in this article) exemplifies this game of catch-up and provides a fertile ground for academics and regulators/law makers to explore and understand what it means for a technology regulating law or rule to be robust and enforceable. By examining the judicial handling of deepfake claims within a publicity rights discourse in India, this article suggests the adoption of …

The Impact Of Mental Health Courts On Public Attitudes Held Toward Justice-Involved Individuals With Mental Illness, Maeve Porter

Student Theses

Prior research has established that mental health court programs play an important role in reducing recidivism and mental health symptoms of defendants. However, there is a lack of understanding of the stigma that justice-involved individuals may encounter upon release from mental health court into the community, and the extent to which the general public is aware of mental health court programs. The present study sought to address public perceptions regarding mental health courts, their efficacy, and their participants based on the awareness and availability of these specialized courts in two similar states (New York and New Jersey), one in which …

August 2025 Annual Report, Perlmutter Center For Legal Justice At Cardozo Law

Perlmutter Center Reports

The August 2025 Annual Report documents the Perlmutter Center for Legal Justice’s work at Cardozo Law during Spring and Summer 2025, highlighting major legal victories, partnerships, student clinical programs, policy advocacy, community outreach, and staff achievements. Prepared for The Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Foundation, it details the Center’s efforts to address wrongful convictions, challenge flawed forensic science, expand pro bono collaborations, and advance criminal justice reform, while also providing staff updates, financial information, and program impact summaries.

A Framework For Interpreting Emojis In Legal Contexts, Anne Merritt

Dalhousie Journal of Legal Studies

In the 2023 case of South West Terminal Ltd. v. Achter Land & Cattle Ltd., a Saskatchewan court found that a thumbs-up emoji, as a standalone item of communication, constituted the acceptance of a contract between a buyer and seller. The trial judge noted that such communication was “the new reality in Canadian society” for which courts should be prepared to interpret novel units of language arising in the digital age. However, an analysis of recent Canadian cases involving emojis shows that courts have not been prepared, with inconsistencies in how emojis are represented in evidence, how they are …

27th Annual Open Government Summit: Your Guide To The Access To Public Records Act & Open Meetings Act (Powerpoint Slides) 08-01-2025, Attorney General State Of Rhode Island

School of Law Conferences, Lectures & Events

No abstract provided.

Changemakers : Camille Capraro : Juris Doctorate : Working For The Ocean State's Future 08-2025, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Ai In The Judiciary: The Singapore Case, Nydia Remolina Leon

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This paper examines the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) within the judicial system of Singapore. Singapore's judiciary has embraced AI not as a tool for adjudication, but as an augmentative instrument for legal research, procedural efficiency, and access to justice. It provides a detailed account of AI use cases in the courts, including case summarization, evidence review, assistance for selfrepresented litigants, and tools like the Divorce Assets Informative Division Estimator. The discussion then turns to the legal profession, exploring how law firms in Singapore are adopting AI technologies. The paper also addresses how AI implementation in the judicial system is …

Cross-Talk, Alicia Bannon, John Q. Barrett, Tyler Rose Clemons, Wilfred U. Codrington Iii, Mark C. Niles

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

John Q. Barrett (“JQB”)

We now enter the exciting segment of the program called cross-talk.

Tyler Rose Clemons (“TRC”)

One of the things that this conversation has brought up for me is whom is the Court overturning precedent on behalf of? What interest? Whose interest is it that the Court is acting to vindicate when it says we got it wrong before, and it is so important that we get it right that we are willing to take this supposedly drastic remedy of overturning our own precedent?

What I was thinking about immediately during Judge Livingston’s remarks was West …

Stare Decisis And The 1l Classroom: Can Legal Reasoning Be Taught Without Judicial Respect For Precedent?, Mark C. Niles

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

I began my career as a law professor in 1998 and, in every year but one, since then I have taught at least one first-year required law school course. I have taught Civil Procedure each of these years and some version of a required Constitutional Law course in about half of them. I want to say just a little bit about stare decisis and its importance in our legal system from the perspective of a law professor teaching first-year students.

I have found that although teaching Civil Procedure involves a focus on a range of substantive issues including judicial …

Stare Decisis And Zombie Laws, Alicia Bannon

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

In recent years, the Supreme Court has shown little interest in stare decisis—the principle that courts should honor precedent—as an animating value in constitutional interpretation. This has put many fundamental rights in a vulnerable posture. This Essay focuses on one underappreciated dimension of the decline in respect for stare decisis as it relates to fundamental rights: the relationship between stare decisis and what I will call, and what others have called, “zombie laws.”

Zombie laws are laws that were rendered inoperative by courts but never rescinded; for example, an abortion ban that became unenforceable after Roe v. Wade. …

Doubting Thomas And Questioning Stare Decisis Under The Roberts Court, Wilfred U. Codrington Iii

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

“[S]tare decisis is ‘not an inexorable command.’ ” Frankly, every time I read these words in a judicial opinion of late, I shudder. And, in fact, it seems like I am reading these words— and shuddering—with increasing regularity.

First off, of course it is not. At times, the Supreme Court has sanctioned manifest injustices in the law. The prime example is the Court’s 1896 decision in Plessy v. Ferguson, which sustained racial segregation under the Fourteenth Amendment. With the blessing of the judiciary, this interpretation of the Reconstruction Constitution supported a regime of racial segregation until, more than …

On Stealth Overruling, Tyler Rose Clemons

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

From Loper Bright v. Raimondo to Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Roberts Court has shown itself more than willing to overturn longstanding pillars of American jurisprudence explicitly. While such cases and other pathbreaking opinions have understandably garnered the lion’s share of attention, the Court has also demonstrated an increased willingness to tweak, modify, or even functionally overrule doctrines without expressly stating that it is doing so. I call this phenomenon “stealth overruling.”

A Conversation About Stare Decisis, The Honorable Debra Ann Livingston, John Q. Barrett

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

John Q. Barrett (“JQB”)

Chief Judge Debra Ann Livingston, welcome back to St. John’s.

The Chief Judge has been a friend to us for many years. It is an honor to host someone of her talent and someone in her position: the Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

We’re going to have a conversation for the first part of the program, about judging, her work, and stare decisis.

But first, we need to meet you and hear a little bit about your background—where you are from—and the path that took you to the …

Can The Law Protect My Craft? How Gaps In Copyright Of Knitting Patterns Symbolize A Greater Struggle For Protecting Traditionally Feminine Forms Of Intellectual Property, Kysa Walzer

Seattle University Law Review

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the application of intel-lectual property rights within the context of copyright protection of knit-ting patterns. The article will discuss the underutilization of copyright pro-tection for knitters and crafters and its larger impact upon craft and indus-try traditionally comprised of women. Part I introduces knitting patterns and a short history of copyright protections. Part II discusses the specific areas within knitting patterns and the knitting community which give rise to legal grey areas for copyright protection. Part III discusses the larger implications of copyright and intellectual property in spaces where women traditionally make …

Table Of Contents

Seattle University Law Review

Table of Contents

Volume 48 Masthead

Seattle University Law Review

Volume 48 Masthead

Keynote Address: Community Over Constitution, Riddhi Mukhopadhyay

Seattle University Law Review

In this keynote address, Riddhi Mukhopadhyay challenges the veneration of the U.S. Constitution by highlighting its origins in exclusion and its continued failure to protect marginalized communities. Drawing from her experience in civil legal aid and gender justice, she argues that the Constitution was drafted to consolidate power among white, wealthy men and continues to reflect that legacy through racial, gender, and class-based inequities. While acknowledging the significance of constitutional amendments and landmark cases, Mukhopadhyay emphasizes that meaningful change has always come from community-led action, not top-down reform. Additionally, Mukhopadhyay calls on lawyers and legal advocates to center community, practice …

The Lost Child: A Critique On Transracial Adoption Rhetoric, Hallie Conyers-Tucker

Seattle University Law Review

Transracial adoption in the United States reflects a deeply rooted history of colonialism, cultural assimilation, and racial hierarchy, masked by rhetoric focused on the “best interest of the child.” The author critiques that rhetoric and traces how adoption practices and policies, both domestic and international, have evolved to reinforce systemic inequities. Through historical analysis of the forced adoption of Native American, Black, and Asian children, it reveals how the best interest standard has been wielded not to protect children but to uphold political and racial ideologies. The author argues that the prevailing adoption framework relies on child-saving and color-blind narratives …

A Global Reconstruction: Black Internationalism And The Human Rights Regime, Britta Redwood

Seattle University Law Review

Black American advocates for civil, political, and economic rights have long taken an internationalist approach and fostered connections with international organizations and transnational movements. This engagement has also been a generative force and played role in shaping international law. Beginning in the early years of the twentieth century, Black intellectuals and leaders, spearheaded by the NAACP and the UNIA, focused on human rights as a means for addressing and repairing the harms wrought by slavery, Jim Crow, and racism. From the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 through the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Genocide Convention, and the drafting of …

The Gap: Addressing The Missing Piece In HawaiʻI’S Anti-Discrimination Laws On Credit And Lending, Wendy Mun

Seattle University Law Review

This author addresses the significant gap in Hawaiʻi’s anti-discrimination laws, specifically the lack of explicit protections for LGBTQ+ individuals against credit and lending discrimination. Although federal laws like the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) and recent interpretations by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) extend some protections, they remain vulnerable to shifting federal priorities and interpretations. The author explores how other states, particularly California and Washington, have enacted robust statutory protections that clearly prohibit credit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. They argue that Hawaiʻi, despite its large LGBTQ+ population, must amend its credit protection laws to reflect …

The U.S. Drug Policy Hamster Wheel: A Critical Discourse Analysis Of Seattle’S New Drug Ordinance, Hallie Conyers-Tucker

Seattle University Law Review

The author critically examines Seattle’s new drug ordinance using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to reveal how legislative language influences the policy's actual effect. Although the ordinance claims to prioritize diversion and community health, the use of permissive language such as “may” and “shall” grants broad discretionary power to law enforcement and undermines the stated intent. The author situates the ordinance within a broader historical context, highlighting how drug policy in the United States has consistently been shaped by racialized and stigmatizing narratives. Additionally, the author argues that meaningful reform requires reframing the discourse around substance use to support public health …

Something Concrete: How Labor Advocates Can Best Respond To The Ambiguity Of Glacier Northwest, Ateş Serifsoy

Seattle University Law Review

The Supreme Court’s much-anticipated decision in Glacier North-west, Inc. v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local No. 174 (Glacier) marked a critical moment for workers’ rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and the longstanding practice of Garmon preemption. Yet, initial fears of a significant rollback of workers’ rights, driven by sensational headlines, were met with an unexpectedly narrow Court opinion. This Comment examines Glacier’s implications for Gar-mon preemption and the right to strike. It offers the historical background of the doctrine of labor law preemption before Glacier; presents a detailed analysis of Glacier itself, including its …

A New Exclusionary Rule To Protect Bodily Integrity And Discourage Pretext Stops, Josephine Ross

Seattle University Law Review

The author proposes a novel state-level exclusionary rule to reduce racial profiling and protect bodily autonomy during police encounters. The current Fourth Amendment jurisprudence fails to deter pretextual stops and frisks because the exclusionary rule often turns on officer fault and "good faith," allowing racially motivated practices to go unchecked. As federal rollbacks on diversity and data collection hinder efforts to track racial bias, the author argues for a statutory evidentiary rule that automatically excludes drug evidence found during (1) traffic stops, (2) pat-downs for weapons, and (3) consent searches, regardless of an officer’s intent or the legality of the …

Navahine V. HawaiʻI Dept. Of Transportation: The Keiki Will Lead Us, Catherine Smith

Seattle University Law Review

The author analyzes the landmark case Navahine v. Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation, which culminated in the world’s first constitutional climate settlement. Catherine Smith, serving as an expert for the youth plaintiffs, situates the case within Hawaiʻi’s legal tradition of prioritizing children’s rights and intergenerational equity. She explores the evolution of children’s constitutional protections, contrasting Hawaiʻi’s progressive jurisprudence with the dominant adult-centric legal framework on the mainland. She critiques four recurring analytical missteps in U.S. courts that marginalize children’s interests and highlights Hawaiʻi’s public trust doctrine and cultural values, such as the Aloha Spirit, as models for addressing climate-related harms. …

Constitutional Futurism As Pedagogy, Jeremiah Chin

Seattle University Law Review

Constitutional Law has transformed from a course on history to a discussion of current events. Cases like Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard College, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, and Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo reveal that the study of constitutional law is not a static, or even linear, discussion of constitutional text and history. Law is a shifting, changing enterprise that reflects social constructions of power, authority, and identity. How do we teach, learn, and understand constitutional law that is so laden with history, riddled with theories of consistency and adherence to precedent, but ultimately subject …