Legislation Commons^™

Cyber And Tech-Based Partner Stalking In Jefferson County, Norah Wulkopf

Undergraduate Theses

Since stalking laws were enacted in the 1990s, they have been historically difficult to enforce. As less and less of our lives become private due to our ever-present devices, stalkers frankly have more access to their targets than ever before. The tenuous nature of stalking laws and the growing resources for stalkers place targets of stalking in a very precarious situation: the legal system has never been adequately equipped to handle stalking cases, and local justice systems do not have the resources to handle tech-based crimes. Through interviews with actors in the criminal justice system, this presentation considers how these …

It’S Time For A Change: A Proposal To Abolish Solitary Confinement From Canadian Prisons, Amy Rico

Bridges: An Undergraduate Journal of Contemporary Connections

Despite Canada’s reputation for being a leader in human rights, its treatment of prisoners requires a closer examination. In particular, prisoner and human rights advocates have widely criticized the use of solitary confinement in Canadian federal and provincial prisons as a form of torture. Solitary confinement imposes excruciating and demeaning conditions on prisoners, jeopardizing their mental and physical welfare. Following court decisions deeming solitary confinement unconstitutional, the federal government replaced the formal use of solitary confinement with structured intervention units. However, these units continue to be a reformulated version of the original practice, sustaining the torturous conditions subjected to inmates. …

A Statutory Proposal To Remove Divorce From The Courtroom, Stephen R. Feldman

Maine Law Review

Over the past decade the divorce rate in the United States has more than doubled. Although the reasons suggested for this rapid rise are varied, the resultant impact on the judicial system is clear: divorce cases greatly overburden the courts. Presently they account for about one half of all civil cases filed. Unlike most other civil suits of which nearly half are dismissed or settled, divorce requires a court decree for relief unless the parties reconcile and abandon their suits. In addition to the actual granting of the divorce decree, court time is needed for pre-divorce motions for temporary support …

Cover Page, Masthead, And Table Of Contents

Journal of Legislation

No abstract provided.

How We Broke Impeachment And Why We Need To Fix It: Presidential And Cabinet Level Impeachments, 1974–2024, Perry H. Apelbaum

Journal of Legislation

From 1974 to 2024, the House of Representatives initiated a total of 6 presidential and cabinet level impeachments—4 more than were brought in the Nation’s first 185 years. In the aftermath of the “gold standard” set during the Nixon impeachment inquiry, the process has experienced a steady decline in fairness and effectiveness and increase in partisanship, with the result being the weakening of our constitutional system of checks and balances.

During this period, impeachment proceedings have become more frequent and less meaningful, rarely led to disclosures of significant non-public information, and not resulted in conviction by the Senate The procedural …

The Last Great American Dynasties: Lessons In Monopoly Prevention From Mergers In Entertainment And Aviation, Margaret Bibby

Journal of Legislation

On November 1, 2022, Taylor Swift first announced The Eras Tour. The pent-up demand for a Taylor Swift concert was massive: she had not toured since the Reputation Stadium Tour in 2018, the Lover Fest Tour set for 2020 was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and her streaming numbers and popularity were higher than ever. The Eras Tour announcement stated that Ticketmaster would be the sole ticketing platform, and 3.5 million fans, known as “Swifties,” registered for a chance to purchase tickets. When presale opened on November 15, 2022, disaster struck for millions of fans. Swifties were met with …

Theorizing The Point-Of-Order Interpretive Canons, Chun Hin Jeffrey Tsoi

West Virginia Law Review

In Law Within Congress, Jonathan Gould suggested that rulings of the House or Senate chair under the advice of their respective parliamentarians might inform statutory interpretation. This Article fleshes out the theoretical foundations of that approach. While such approach is much narrower than the broad reliance on Congress’s rules by other theorists of the “process-based” school, it also comes with strong theoretical justifications and advantages that set it apart. Part I illustrates the broad appeal of “process-based” theories by showing that even textualists have strong theoretical reasons to endorse them. Part II then surveys the theoretical advantages specific to the …

Algorithmic Bias In Hiring: Amending Title Vii To Prohibit Ai Discrimination, Michael H. Leroy

Journal of Legislation

I propose amendments to Title VII to address discriminatory hiring related to AI technologies. Section 703(c)’s definition of an “employment agency” should be modified to include “any person who uses artificial intelligence” to procure employees. I also propose a new definition in section 703 that incorporates the expansive definition of AI in 15 U.S.C. 9401(3). These small changes would make AI hiring firms more responsible for discriminatory screening and selection of job applicants, and better protect applicants who are adversely selected by sex, race, disability and other protected characteristics.

Completing Social Security: Paid Leave And The Social Security Act, Molly Weston Williamson

Journal of Legislation

The Social Security Act of 1935’s twin flagship programs, unemployment insurance and retirement benefits, each provide cash benefits to replace lost wages when income is cut off due to harms beyond our control. But the Social Security Act fails to protect workers against wage loss due to serious but temporary illness, which poses a risk to economic security that parallels job loss and old age. This missing insurance protection is better known today as paid leave.

The omission of wage loss insurance for serious illness leaves a profound gap in the Social Security Act that was recognized since the law’s …

Volume 51, Issue 2 - Full Combined Issue

Journal of Legislation

No abstract provided.

Judicial Review Of Settlements Under The Class Action Fairness Act And Deference Due To The Department Of Justice And State Attorneys General, Michael E. Solimine, Hailey E. Martin

Journal of Legislation

The Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 (CAFA) makes it easier to remove consumer class actions from state to federal court and, among other things, regulates the procedure of federal court approval of settlements of those cases. CAFA requires that before any court approval or disapproval, the parties must notify the Attorney General of the United States, and the attorneys general of states where members of the class live, of the pending settlement in order to receive any objections or other input. While such notice is frequently sent, since most class action cases settle out of court, it appears that …

Historical Firearm Licensing And Permitting Laws, Robert J. Spitzer

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

No abstract provided.

Life In Limbo: Cryptocurrency And Fosta As The Pillars Of Cyber-Trafficking, Rebecca Liu

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

As the internet continually advances into Web 3.0, human traffickers thrive in using online platforms to prey on their victims, creating a new form of human trafficking: cyber-trafficking. In 2018, Congress passed the Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (“FOSTA”) to dampen the stringent protection that 47 U.S.C. § 230 (“Section 230”) offered to internet intermediaries in cyber-trafficking litigation. However, Congress’s intended effect in passing FOSTA failed, as courts continue to interpret FOSTA narrowly, upholding the stringent protection that Section 230 offers internet intermediaries. Beyond FOSTA’s indifferent impact, governmental bodies struggle adapting to Web 3.0’s landscape, neglecting to intervene with traffickers’ …

Saving Agency Adjudication, Aaron L. Nielson, Christopher J. Walker, Melissa F. Wasserman

Articles

When discussing the federal judiciary, commentators typically fixate on the 800 or so “Article III” judges who are nominated by the President, confirmed by the Senate, and enjoy life tenure and salary protection. Yet most federal adjudication does not take place in federal courthouses at all. Instead, it occurs in nondescript hearing rooms in administrative agencies—if not telephonically. Indeed, the more than 12,000 agency adjudicators scattered across the federal government collectively issue millions of decisions per year on subjects ranging from Social Security and veterans benefits to immigration and patent rights. In recent years, however, scholars and agency adjudicators have …

Holding Ground In The Cerulean Tide: Minority Party Legislators' Strategies For Advancing Climate Policies In Landslide States, Sukjae Lee

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This dissertation addresses a key puzzle: Why do states sometimes adopt nationally polarized policies, such as climate change legislation, even when doing so does not align with strict partisan interests? The analysis focuses on “landslide states,” where a single party overwhelmingly dominates, and the minority party cannot realistically expect to gain a majority. In these environments, reduced partisan conflict allows minority party legislators to break from traditional partisan paths. As a result, I argue that electoral motivations drive them to signal moderation by advancing liberal policy agendas or incorporating provisions that minimize backlash from their core constituents in landslide states. …

The Waiting Is The Hardest Part: The Constitutionality Of Firearm Waiting Periods, F. Lee Francis

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

This Article examines the constitutionality of firearm waiting period laws through the lens of the Supreme Court’s evolving Second Amendment jurisprudence. Although such laws are frequently defended as prudent public safety measures, their validity turns not on legislative purpose but on constitutional principle, particularly as framed in District of Columbia v. Heller and New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen.

Under those decisions, the scope of the Second Amendment is determined not by judicial balancing of contemporary interests, but by reference to the Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation. The Article surveys that tradition and finds no …

When Rights Require Permission: The Discriminatory History Of Licensing Laws For Firearm Possession, Bob Barr, Joseph G.S. Greenlee

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

No abstract provided.

The Wrongly Read Right: Insurrection And The Second Amendment Right To Bear Arms, Aman Mcleod, Jacob M. Jones

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

Several judges and scholars have interpreted the Second Amendment as creating a right to bear arms to facilitate armed resistance against the government whenever it threatens to impose tyranny. These arguments have been made in books, scholarly articles, and court decisions. Many of the proponents of the pro-armed insurrection interpretation of the Second Amendment root this point of view in the history of the right to bear arms in the Anglo-American legal tradition. This Article argues that the Second Amendment does not create a right to bear arms to resist government authority because such a right is inconsistent with several …

Familial Fairness: Guaranteeing The Right To Counsel For Indigent Parents In Juvenile Dependency Proceedings, Jake Toth

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

Fairness principles enumerated in the seminal case Gideon v. Wainwright stand for the proposition that fundamental fairness and due process require appointment of counsel for indigent litigants. However, this principle has been constrained to criminal contexts. Many other types of litigation are just as impactful as a criminal proceeding, including juvenile dependency proceedings. Nevertheless, indigent parents do not enjoy an unqualified representation right.

This Comment traces the history of the representation right and how it has been treated in a juvenile dependency context, beginning with Gideon itself and examining other cases such as Eldridge and Lassiter. It then examines …

For Patients’ Sake! Can We Get Some Clarity? Defending The Privilege And Confidentiality Of Patient Safety Work Product, Alyssa Boob

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

In 2000, the Institute of Medicine published To Err is Human: Building a Safe Health System, a report revealing the shocking rate of medical errors plaguing the United States healthcare system. Faced with the horrifying consequences of these medical mishaps, Congress sprang into action. It enacted the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 (PSQIA), which authorized the creation of Patient Safety Organizations (PSOs). Intended to increase transparency and communication amongst healthcare providers, PSOs collect provider medical error data—termed Patient Safety Work Product (PSWP)—and suggest areas of improvement.

The Act grants privilege and confidentiality protections to any information …