Law and Society Commons^™

The Budding Hemp Industry: The Effect Of Texas House Bill 1325 On Employment Drug Policies, Meina Heydari

Student Scholarship

Contemporary attitudes toward cannabis use in the United States have shifted from War on Drugsera prohibition toward decriminalization over the past two decades. As states that do not seek to decriminalize marijuana nonetheless enact legislation legalizing CBD, policy tensions arise. In 2019, Texas joined the ranks of states that legalized hemp and hemp-derived products with the passage of House Bill 1325. In light of this legislation, this Article discusses the implications of legalized cannabidiol (CBD) on employment drug policies in Texas. The benefits of CBD legalization must be weighed against the practical implications to effectively balance policies that aim to …

Identity: Obstacles And Openings, Osamudia R. James

Articles

Progress regarding equality and social identities has moved in a bipolar fashion: popular engagement with the concept of social identities has increased even as courts have signaled decreasing interest in engaging identity. Maintaining and deepening the liberatory potential of identity, particularly in legal and policymaking spheres, will require understanding trends in judicial hostility toward "identity politics," the impact of status hierarchy even within minoritized identity groups, and the threat that white racial grievance poses to identitarian claims.

Justice-Free Zones: U.S. Immigration Detention Under The Trump Administration, Eunice Hyunhye Cho, Tara Tidwell Cullen, Clara Long

United States Department of Homeland Security

In the last three years, the Trump administration has grown the immigration detention system in the United States to an unprecedented size, at times holding more than 56,000 people per day. Since 2017, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has anchored this growth in places where immigrants are most likely to be isolated from legal counsel, remain in detention without real opportunity for release, and are more likely to lose their cases. These new detention centers also exhibit patterns of mistreatment and abuse, including medical and mental health care neglect, that have been present since the inception of ICE’s detention system …

National Security And Judicial Ethics: The Exception To The Rule Of Keeping Judicial Conduct Judicial And The Politicization Of The Judiciary, Joshua E. Kastenberg

Faculty Scholarship

This article is divided into three sections, and it incorporates original research from the personal correspondences of several judges and justices. This article includes unpublished correspondences from various judicial collections at the Library of Congress, the Bentley Historical Library at the University of Michigan, the Washington and Lee School of Law’s special collections, the Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan Presidential Libraries, the National Library of Australia in Canberra, and Canada’s National Archives in Ottawa. The first section analyzes the current framework governing judicial disqualification based on the separation of powers doctrine as well as the right to an impartial judiciary, …

Beyond Culture: Reimagining The Adjudication Of Indigenous Peoples' Rights In International Law, Beatriz Garcia, Lucas Lixinski

Intercultural Human Rights Law Review

This article argues that the current model of Indigenous rights adjudication foregrounds essentialized notions of culture, backgrounding interests of Indigenous peoples (IPs) that are not necessarily related to culture. Culture imposes a burden that limits the possibilities of human rights for Indigenous peoples, which is at least in part attributable to the current model's lack of precision. We show that the jurisprudence on IP rights by international adjudicatory bodies focuses on culture without meaningful attempts to explain and define it, is imprecise on how culture affects the reading of the human right for which it serves as the basis, as …

Civil Rights In Living Color, Vinay Harpalani

Faculty Scholarship

This Article will examine how American civil rights law has treated “color” discrimination and differentiated it from “race” discrimination. It is a comprehensive analysis of the changing legal meaning of “color” discrimination throughout American history. The Article will cover views of “color” in the antebellum era, Reconstruction laws, early equal protection cases, the U.S. Census, modern civil rights statutes, and in People v. Bridgeforth—a landmark 2016 ruling by the New York Court of Appeals. First, the Article will lay out the complex relationship between race and color and discuss the phenomenon of colorism—oppression based on skin color—as differentiated from …

Not All Violence In Relationships Is “Domestic Violence", Tamara L. Kuennen

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

The article proceeds in four parts. Part I describes in more detail the work of Donileen Loseke, and Part II applies her methodology by taking stock of the constructs as they currently exist. Part III examines social science data available since Loseke published her study, demonstrating that the current construct reflects, in reality, only a subset of relationship violence and a subset of the people who experience it. Part IV examines whether the main service designed to help people experiencing relationship violence today—law—perpetuates, rather than challenges norms. I argue that it does the former, because legal decision makers, like the …

Do Prosecutors Really Represent The People? A New Proposal For Civilian Oversight Of Prosecutors, Laurie L. Levenson

Duquesne Law Review

No abstract provided.

Development In Over The Rhine: Can Otr Defeat The Pitfalls Of Gentrification And Create An Economically Diverse Community?, Madeline High

Freedom Center Journal

This paper focuses on the emergence of gentrification, the negative consequences it creates, and the ways in which these consequences can be alleviated. These topics are addressed both through a broad national lens and through a more narrow focus on Over-the-Rhine (OTR), a neighborhood in Cincinnati, Ohio. This paper specifically focuses on displacement in the realm of housing, culture, and economics as well as the potential creation of long-term segregation, and on how such displacement has led to a loss of autonomy of existing residents. The rise of gentrification and its impact is explored through an examination of literature, personal …

Remaking Environmental Justice, Clifford Villa

Faculty Scholarship

From movements for civil rights in the 1960s and environmental protection in the 1970s, the environmental justice movement emerged in the 1980s and 1990s to highlight the disparate impacts of pollution, principally upon people of color and low-income communities. Over time, the scope of environmental justice expanded to address concerns for other dimensions of diversity. New and continuing challenges tell us that we need to reframe our understanding of environmental justice to ensure better protection for people going forward. One way to reframe this understanding may be to apply the heuristic of vulnerability analysis as proposed by legal theorist Martha …

Getting Past Possession: Subsurface Property Disputes As Nuisances, Joseph A. Schremmer

Faculty Scholarship

Property rights in the subsurface of land are adapting to accommodate modern activities like massive hydraulic fracturing (fracing). Property rights will need to continue adapting if they are to accommodate other developing activities like large-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS). Courts and commentators rarely approach the nature of subsurface property directly. They tend instead to discuss appropriate standards for tort liability when disputes arise—for example when artificial fissures from a frac treatment extend into and drain oil or gas from a neighbor’s land. The case law and literature generally approach unauthorized subterranean invasions as trespasses. Because the tort of trespass …

An Analysis On Biometric Privacy Data Regulation: A Pivot Towards Legislation Which Supports The Individual Consumer's Privacy Rights In Spite Of Corporate Protections, Carla Llaneza

St. Thomas Law Review

This Comment will address the different ways in which biometric data has become an integral part of everyday American life, whether it be through the use of facial recognition for national security or the use of fingerprinting to access an individual’s smartphone. Part II will further discuss how biometric data privacy legislation, specifically as set out in the Biometric Illinois Privacy Act (“BIPA”), has become prominent and will analyze its effects on the legal rights of consumers to bring suit against private entities. Part III will discuss the present solutions available to consumers who fall victim to companies who distribute …

Pandemic, Protests, And Prison Reform? Why 2020 Is A Catalyst To Rethink Drug Policy, Keelia Lee

St. Thomas Law Review

This Article will argue for the abandonment of the current criminal justice system as it relates to drug offenses and for its replacement with a medical model to address the healthcare problem of addiction. The medical model approach calls for complete decriminalization of all controlled substances coupled with better rehabilitation and reintegration policies. This Article argues the criminalization of drugs has targeted minorities under the guise of keeping communities safe. It will look at the differences between the United States and Portugal, a country that has implemented the medical model, while also analyzing recent legislation in the United States addressing …

Shut Up And Dribble: The Racial Subordination Of The Black Professional Athlete, Daniela Tenjido

St. Thomas Law Review

Most popular sports in the U.S. today are dominated by Black athletes. The professional Black athlete today has opportunities that the majority of his nonathlete counterparts do not. Judging objectively, professional Black athletes “made it.” Lucrative lifestyles and international fame, however, has come at a high price in recent years. In the era of the Black Lives Matter movement, a domestic race war, and the increase unleashing of violence against the Black community by police, Black athletes are caught in the middle. Athletes are natural born leaders. This has led to the strong convictions and rightful protest by many of …

The Birth Of A Monster: An Open Discussion On Anti-Blackness Segregation To Present, Nichelle Womble

St. Thomas Law Review

Racism and discrimination remain topics of focus that continue to shape the lives, experiences, and results of the American people. These aspects continue creating privileges, systematically and socially, for Whites while disadvantaging Blacks. Today’s White person claims to not see color, but is that the truth? Perhaps they do not see color, but maybe a more honest statement is that they do not see blackness. Where did it all begin? To answer these questions, this paper explores “The Birth of a Monster,” better known as “whiteness,” by encompassing white privilege and supremacy. It will paint a picture from segregation to …

Florida's Late Entrance To The Ongoing Trend: Sexual Orientation In The Workplace, Ernesto Rivero

St. Thomas Law Review

John Doe is an exceptional firefighter who also happens to be a homosexual. John performs his duties every day to the utmost of his ability; however, in response to his sexual orientation, John is verbally harassed daily, underpaid for his line of work, and subsequently discharged from his position. This is a consequence of practicing his protected constitutional right of same sex marriage at his workplace. Every individual ought to have a fair and inclusive workplace free from discrimination; that is not the case in today’s America. Although employees are protected from discrimination by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 …

Advancing Technology And The Changing Conception Of Human Rights, Olympia Duhart

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Domestic Violence And Self-Defense: Respecting Women's Autonomy By Creating A Woman-Centered Law Of Self-Defense, Caroline Gillis

Upper Level Writing Requirement Research Papers

No abstract provided.

The #Metoo Movement In Comparative Perspective, Dr. Joanne Sweeny

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

Introduction.

The #MeToo movement is one of the most far-reaching social media movements in history and its impact can still be felt years later. As the hashtag in the name suggests, the #MeToo movement gained the bulk of its momentum on Twitter but the movement’s actual origins began on MySpace in 2006. Tarana Burke, a long-time activist, founded the nonprofit organization Just Be Inc., which serves survivors of sexual assault and harassment. Burke came up with the concept of “me too” in 1997 when she was counseling a 13-year-old survivor of sexual abuse at a youth camp. Burke states that …

Onlyemployees: Ending The Misclassification Of Digital Sex Workers In The Shared And Gig Economy, Mary Marston

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

I. Introduction

Mia Khalifa was only paid a total of $12,000 in shooting fees during her ten-month career in the adult film industry, but she remains one of the most searched adult film stars of all time. Social and monetary discrepancies between adult film stars’ payment and the revenue made by pornography studios parallel the difficulties other sex workers face, like exotic dancers and prostitutes, especially in terms of their misclassification as independent contractors instead of employees.

In addition to this misclassification, sex workers face a lack of financial and physical protections in traditional sex work. These lack of protections, …

Criminalizing Asylum: Dna Testing Asylum Seekers Violates Privacy Rights, Scarlett L. Montenegro

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

Introduction.

On June 16, 2015, President Trump announced his 2016 presidential campaign and claimed that Mexicans are criminals who “[h]ave lots of problems . . . they’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists . . . It’s coming from all over . . . Latin America.” President Trump has publicly expressed his hostility towards immigrants by calling them “animals” and blaming them for drugs and gangs in the United States. While in office, President Trump tweeted that immigrants were invading the United States and suggested that “we must immediately, with no Judges or Court Cases, bring them back from …

Recalibrating Suspicion In An Era Of Hazy Legality, Deborah Ahrens

Seattle University Law Review

After a century of employing varying levels of prohibition enforced by criminal law, the United States has entered an era where individual states are rethinking marijuana policy, and the majority of states have in some way decided to make cannabis legally available. This symposium Article will offer a description of what has happened in the past few years, as well as ideas for how jurisdictions can use the changing legal status of cannabis to reshape criminal procedure more broadly. This Article will recommend that law enforcement no longer be permitted use the smell of marijuana as a reason to search …

The Sativas And Indicas Of Proof: Why The Smell Of Marijuana Should Not Establish Probable Cause For A Warrantless Vehicle Search In Illinois, 53 Uic J. Marshall L. Rev. 187 (2020), Cece White

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Transition Without Transformation: The Legacy Of Sudan's Comprehensive Peace Agreement, Gene Carolan

Articles

In recent years, the transitional justice framework has expanded to include a broader notion of transformative justice, which strives for socio-political reform in addition to legal accountability. Over the course of two civil wars, Sudan has grappled with various attempts at transition and transformation with mixed results. Though the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement brought an end to decades of North–South conflict, South Sudan’s subsequent descent into civil war has been characterised by a flawed transition and a lack of any immediate transformative potential. This paper analyses the Comprehensive Peace Agreement’s transitional mechanisms. In doing so, it explores how certain mechanisms …

As Seen Through The Eye Of The Camera: A Portrayal Of How Cultural Changes Societal Shifts And The Fight For Gender Equality Transformed The Law Of Divorce, Taylor Simpson-Wood

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Dangers To The American Rule Of Law Will Outlast The Next Election, Paul Gowder

Cardozo Law Review de•novo

According to many constitutional lawyers and political scientists, the presidential administration of Donald Trump (for scholars on the left), or the response to that presidency (for scholars on the right) poses serious dangers to American constitutional democracy and the rule of law. However, this Essay argues that a more careful understanding of the contemporary dangers to the American rule of law are both broader-based and longer-term: inequality among the public, and epistemic polarization among the public as well as among legal elites (including constitutional law professors themselves), undermine the capacity of the American people to use the political tools available …

Judicial Elections, Public Opinion, And Their Impact On State Criminal Justice Policy, Travis N. Taylor

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

This dissertation explores whether and how the re-election prospects faced by trial court judges in many American states influence criminal justice policy, specifically, state levels of incarceration, as well as the disparity in rates of incarceration for Whites and Blacks. Do states where trial court judges must worry about facing reelection tend to encourage judicial behavior that results in higher incarceration rates? And are levels of incarceration and racial disparities in the states influenced by the proportion of the state publics who want more punitive policies? These are clearly important questions because they speak directly to several normative and empirical …

The Right Family, Noa Ben-Asher, Margot J. Pollans

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The family plays a starring role in American law. Families, the law tells us, are special. They merit, among others, tax deductions, testimonial privileges, untaxed inheritance, parental presumptions, and, over the course of the twentieth century, the Supreme Court has expanded individual rights stemming from familial relationships. In this Article, we argue that family matters as much for when it is ignored as for when it is featured. We shed light on the use of the family in the law by contrasting policies in which the family is the key unit of analysis with others in which it is not. …

Replacing Death With Life? The Rise Of Lwop In The Context Of Abolitionist Campaigns In The United States, Michelle Miao

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

On the basis of fifty-four elite interviews[1] with legislators, judges, attorneys, and civil society advocates as well as a state-by-state data survey, this Article examines the complex linkage between the two major penal trends in American society during the past decades: a declining use of capital punishment across the United States and a growing population of prisoners serving “life without the possibility of parole” or “LWOP” sentences. The main contribution of the research is threefold. First, the research proposes to redefine the boundary between life and death in relation to penal discourses regarding the death penalty and LWOP. LWOP …

De Facto Shareholder Primacy, Jeff Schwartz

Maryland Law Review

No abstract provided.