Legislation Commons^™

The Forgotten Jurisprudence Of Parole And State Constitutional Doctrines Of Vagueness, Kristen Bell

Cardozo Law Review

The majority of carceral sentences in the United States include the possibility of discretionary release on parole. Most such sentences, however, are unconstitutionally vague. Their unconstitutionality has gone unnoticed because contemporary scholarship and litigation about vague laws have focused on the U.S. Constitution in lieu of state constitutions. This Article unearths historic state court decisions holding that sentences that end through the discretionary judgment of a parole board are “void for uncertainty.” Although state void for uncertainty doctrines share some similarity with the federal vagueness doctrine, they are far more demanding as applied to criminal punishment. By urging revival of …

The Equal Rights Amendment And The Equality Act: Closing Gaps Post-Bostock For Sexual Orientation And Gender Identity Minorities, Sarah Blazucki

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

In 2020, the Supreme Court held in Bostock v. Clayton County that the “because of sex” protection in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) included an individual’s “homosexual and transgender status.”1 This landmark decision expanded employment protections under the law, for the first time providing broad federal protections to sexual orientation and gender identity minorities.2 It was a sweeping decision, granting protections to millions of people.3 Yet many worry the protections are incomplete, for several reasons. First, the Court explicitly used the language “homosexual and transgender,”4 potentially leaving unresolved if other minority sexual orientations and …

The House Doesn't Always Win, Jennifer Owen

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

In June 2015, fourteen South Korean casino executives were arrested on charges of soliciting Chinese players to gamble in their casinos. This single event foreshadowed a seismic change in the Australian casino market that few would have anticipated. The events which unfolded led to the two largest casino operators in Australia being found unsuitable to operate their casinos, and unable to hold their licenses. Collectively, these two casino groups reported revenues of $5.0bn in 2019, accounting for 92% of the total Australian casino market.

Both are now operating under various forms of special supervision until it can be demonstrated that …

The Central American Minors Program: Advocating For Private Sponsorship, Magaly Velasco-Escobar

Master's Theses

Under this recommendation, minors would be interviewed by qualified officers at resettlement agencies in their home countries to assess credible fear, those deemed eligible but lacking an eligible relative would be referred for a private sponsorship pathway. Sponsors would be vetted and qualified using protocols currently in place by the Welcome Corps and Refugee Foster Care. Ideally, the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) would coordinate between the private sponsors and overseas resettlement agencies, given they already do the work of vetting eligible sponsors for minors. ORR could create a program staffed with qualified individuals to coordinate this program or provide …

Curtailing Coercion Of Children: Reforming Custodial Interrogations Of Juveniles, K'Reisa Cox

Journal of Legislation

No abstract provided.

The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act: Doctrinal And Policy Problems, Robert Leider

Journal of Legislation

In response to recent mass shootings, Congress passed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. The Act encouraged states to implement red-flag laws, adopted a more punitive approach to federal gun control, expanded the domestic violence misdemeanors that prohibit firearm possession, and implemented more stringent regulations on young adults purchasing firearms. Because of the difficulties in passing federal gun control laws, Congress hastily passed the Act after a small, bipartisan group of Senators agreed on its text. This stunted legislative process left the new law riddled with ambiguities and technical deficiencies. This Article explores the constitutional, doctrinal, and policy problems created by …

Pirates, Rogues, Revolutionaries, And Lobbyists: A Legislative History Of The Panama Canal Purchase Act Of 1902, Graham Markiewicz

Journal of Legislation

Just three pages of legislative text was enough for the United States to embark on the one of the grandest engineering feats of all time. This Article examines the history, policies, and processes that led to the passage of the Panama Canal Purchase Act of 1902. Beginning and ending with civil wars in Latin America, this Article tells the story of how foreign affairs influence Washington, D.C., and vice versa. It follows closely a rotating cast of characters seeking fame and fortune who resorted to any lengths to achieve them. It winds through stories of revolutions, corruption, pirates, and cutthroat …

Charter Schools: A Missed Opportunity To Improve Education Through Innovation, Maria Chiara Parisi

Journal of Legislation

The U.S. education system, unlike other fields, has failed to encourage and learn from innovation. Charter schools—publicly-funded schools with the freedom to develop innovative practices—offered an opportunity to address the education system’s resistance to change. The hope was that charter schools could serve as laboratories of innovation for new school models that traditional public schools across the country could later adopt.

Despite these good intentions, the charter school movement has not resulted in the change early advocates hoped for. Charter schools often recycle old practices instead of experimenting with new ones. And when a charter school does develop a successful …

Table Of Contents

Journal of Legislation

No abstract provided.

A Federal Legislative Proposal To Address The Demise Of The Bivens Remedy, Henry Rose

Journal of Legislation

No abstract provided.

Is It Fair? Is It Competitive? Is It Human?: Artificial Intelligence And The Extent To Which We Can Patent Ai-Assisted Inventions, Hubert Ning

Journal of Legislation

No abstract provided.

A Response To “Thou Shall Not Ration Justice”: Applied Behavior Analysis Causes Harm, Ariana Cernius

Journal of Legislation

No abstract provided.

Oh Brother, Where Art Thou Royalties?: Reflecting On The Emergence Of Bluegrass And Appalachian Folk Music In Promoting The American Music Fairness Act, Mark Edward Blankenship Jr.

Journal of Legislation

The film Oh Brother, Where Art Thou ironically illustrates two points that are relevant in in the context of copyright law within the music industry. First, it displays the strength of radio play on new artists’ lives, careers, and incomes, which was crucial for bluegrass and string-band artist. Second, the film highlights the distinction between the sound-recording copy-holder’s exclusive right to publicly perform their copyrighted sound recording live and the absence of any such right concerning terrestrial radio broadcasts. The absence of a public-performance right for broadcasts of copyrighted sound recordings by terrestrial radio stations (and the resulting non-incurrence of …

To Meet Or Not To Meet, That Is The Question: An Analysis Of The Meeting Requirement Of The Arkansas Freedom Of Information Act, Jerry L. Canfield

Arkansas Law Notes

The Arkansas Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) of 1967 provides open public access to “all meetings, formal and informal, special or regular, of the governing bodies of all municipalities, counties, townships, and school districts and all boards, bureaus, commissions, or organizations of the State of Arkansas.” Through the years, FOIA’s open meetings provision has been amended as to executive sessions, to provide for recording of meetings, and to provide for meetings via electronic means in the event of a declared disaster emergency. However, the basic requirement that meetings of governing bodies be open to the public has remained unchanged since …

Bureaucratic Overreach And The Role Of The Courts In Protecting Representative Democracy, Katie Cassady

Helm's School of Government Conference - 2021-2024

Although only four departments at the United States’ founding, the American bureaucracy has expanded to address nearly every issue of public life. While these agencies are ostensibly under congressional oversight through monetary allowance and the supervision of the President as part of the executive branch, they consistently usurp their discretionary authority and bypass the Founders’ design of legislative power vested solely in a bicameral legislature.

The Supreme Court holds an indispensable role in mitigating the overreach of bureaucratic agencies. However, despite their obligation to protect the rights of the American people, the courts’ inability to hold bureaucrats accountable has diluted …

Drug Ideologies Of The United States, Macy Montgomery

Helm's School of Government Conference - 2021-2024

The United States has been increasingly creating lenient drug policies. Seventeen states and Washington, the District of Columbia, legalized marijuana, and Oregon decriminalized certain drugs, including methamphetamine, heroin, and cocaine. The medical community has proven that drugs, including marijuana, have myriad adverse health side effects. This leads to two questions: Why does the United States government continue to create lenient drug policies, and what reasons do citizens give for legalizing drugs when the medical community has proven them harmful? The paper hypothesizes that the disadvantages of drug legalization outweigh its benefits because of the numerous harms it causes, such as …

Policy Over Publicity: Evaluating Andrew Cuomo's 'Outrageoulsy Ambitious And Irrefutably Smart' Education Spending Dilemma, Colin Mckillop

Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development

(Excerpt)

For low- and middle-income high school students in New York, the prospect of attending college, especially on a full-time basis, has become increasingly bleak in recent years; tuition and other attendance costs continue to grow without a rise in education quality, “sixty-one percent of students graduate with college debt,” and debt held at graduation is increasing at “almost double the rate of inflation.” Thus, such students and their families were likely ecstatic on January 3, 2017, when Andrew Cuomo, the former Governor of New York, held an aggrandizing press conference to highlight the “1st signature proposal of his 2017 …

State Criminal Laws Could Be A Light In The Dark For The Hidden Victims Of Forced Marriage, Rebekah Marcarelli

Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development

(Excerpt)

“There’s something you need to know about me . . . I am dead,” said Fraidy Reiss, a survivor of an abusive forced marriage, as she stood alone on a stage, speaking to a crowd. “I know what you’re thinking, [I don’t] look particularly dead . . . you might want to tell that to my family [because] they declared me dead almost thirteen years ago.”

Reiss, who founded the organization Unchained at Last to help forced marriage victims like herself, grew up in an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn. Right after finishing high school, Reiss was asked to …

The Exacerbating Role Of Technological And Connectivity Challenges On Older Detroiters’ Health In A Pandemic, Nicholas Schroeck, Carrie Leach

Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental, & Innovation Law

The COVID-19 pandemic hit communities of color hard. The City of Detroit was particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 due to racial, socioeconomic, and environmental health factors. To analyze the exacerbating role of technology and connectivity challenges on older Detroiters' health in a pandemic, we first examined Detroit’s demographics. This analysis involved looking at the continued evolution of the City's population toward older adults, as well as the impact of COVID-19 and the healthcare services on Detroit’s elder population. Next, we examined Detroit’s internet access challenges, including the presence of digital exclusion among older adults in Detroit, the impact of COVID-19 on …

Pooling Patents For Pandemic Progress: Mrna Vaccines And The Broader Context Of Modernatx Inc V. Pfizer Inc., Francis Brefo

DePaul Journal of Art, Technology & Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.