Climate Equality Litigation and Transformative Justice Monica Visalam Iyer Abstract Perhaps the most optimistic view of the climate crisis is that it presents an opportunity, or even a necessity, to forge a new vision of the world that we share. If we are to face the threat of global warming, this must be done not…

Disabling Travel: Quantifying the Harm of Inaccessible Hotels to Disabled People Kristen L. Popham, Elizabeth F. Emens & Jasmine E. Harris Table of Contents Introduction 3 I. Firsthand Accounts of Disabled Individuals Burdened by Violations of the Reservation Rule 13 A. Experiences of Travelers Unable to Acquire Accessibility Information About the Hotel Because the Hotel…

Constitutional Incentive to Care: Immigrant Children’s Mental Health Erin Kurvers Table of Contents Introduction 1118 I. Migration Patterns, Legal Protections, and Mental Health Needs 1121 A. Trends in Migration of Unaccompanied Migrant Minors to the United States 1122 B. Federal Requirements for the Treatment of Unaccompanied Migrant Minors 1125 1. Flores Settlement Agreement 1126 2….

Vague Made Vogue: The Unconstitutionality of the Particularly Serious Crime Bar Haylee R. Bunner Table of Contents Introduction 1002 I. The Evolution of the Particularly Serious Crime Bar and the Void for Vagueness Doctrine 1006 A. The Current State of the Particularly Serious Crime Bar 1006 1. Evolution of the Particularly Serious Crime Bar 1008…

Election Administration in Constitutional Trouble? An Investigation into Partisanship Requirements Shannon Hardy Table of Contents Introduction 1063 I: Background 1065 A. Current Election Administration: Structures and Issues 1065 B. Carney v. Adams: Issue and Argument 1071 C. Freedom of Association Precedent 1072 1. Constitutional Challenges and Politics 1072 2. Political Association and Employment 1074 3….

When Police Mess Up: The Lack of a Defense to Inadequate Police Investigations Ethan Singer Synopsis Inadequate police investigations, where police fail to take reasonable investigatory steps, are one of the leading causes of wrongful convictions. Frequently, due to the difficulties criminal defendants and their attorneys face in conducting their own investigations, a defendant’s best…

Not So Sweet: Sugarcane Burning, Florida’s Right-to-Farm Act, and Unconstitutional Takings Grace Coleman Table of Contents Introduction 2 I. The Everglades 5 A. History of the Everglades 5 B. The Everglades Today 8 C. Sugarcane Production 10 1. Sugarcane Burning Negatively Impacts Human Health 13 2. Sugarcane Burns in the Everglades Agricultural Area Have Discriminatory…

Death Wish: Standards for Deciding to Waive Eighth Amendment Protections Against Cruel and Unusual Manners of Execution Lauren Goff Table of Contents Introduction 3 I. Challenging Methods of Execution and Waiving Eighth Amendment Rights 8 A. Eighth Amendment Analysis of Methods of Execution 8 B. Waiver of Eighth Amendment Rights and the Right to Be…

Starved for Justice: International Complicity in Systematic Violations of the Right to Food in Haiti Sandra C. Wisner Abstract A series of international economic assistance programs in Haiti has led to a protracted and worsening food crisis in the country, amplifying the country’s vulnerability to starvation and malnutrition, as well as natural disasters, like earthquakes…

Vamsi A. Damerla* “Summary eviction proceedings are the order of the day. Default judgments in eviction proceedings are obtained in machinegun rapidity, since the indigent cannot afford counsel to defend. Housing laws often have a built-in bias against the poor. Slumlords have a tight hold on the Nation.”[2] —Justice Douglas Abstract Every day in the…

Arielle Gerber[1]* Abstract Corruption has destructive impacts on people and governments worldwide. Through the creation of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, alongside the passage of a Whistleblower Protection Directive, the European Union has signaled its commitment to fighting corruption and encouraging transparency in both the public and private sectors. However, implementation of the Whistleblower Protection…

Anu Chugh[1]* Abstract Risk assessment tools have become instrumental in bail reform; the tools increase access to due process by diminishing bias and standardizing decision-making. States across the country have adopted these mechanisms to assist in decision-making in the criminal adjudication process, such as in bond determinations and sentencing proceedings. This Note examines the need…

Sue (Yifan) Su* Abstract The Customs and Border Protection preclearance program (“CBP Preclearance”) has rapidly expanded over the last seventy years. An ambitious security operation extending the U.S. territorial border as well as legal obligations, CBP Preclearance affords vast extraterritorial enforcement powers to hundreds of airport customs agents stationed outside of the continental United States….

By Aaron Jacobs Abstract For years, the price of a New York City taxi medallion—a permit required for a driver to operate a yellow cab—soared higher and higher, reaching more than one million dollars. After Uber and other rideshare companies entered the industry in the early 2010s, medallion prices crashed suddenly and precipitously, plummeting to only around…

Turner’s Insurmountable Burden: A Three-Circuit Survey of Prisoner Free Speech Claims By Kristen Schnell[1]* Abstract The last case in which the Supreme Court struck down a prison regulation for violating the federal Constitution was the landmark case of Turner v. Safley, handed down nearly thirty-five years ago. Turner also marked the first time the Court established a clear…

A Fourth Amendment Loophole?: An Exploration of Privacy and Protection Through the Muslim Pro Case Isabelle Canaan Abstract Smartphone and mobile applications cater to our individualized preferences by using information gleaned from our online activity. These efficient and hyper-connected devices are extensions of our physical bodies, accompanying us everywhere we go and generating location data…

Naresh Perinpanayagam Victoria Ochoa Abstract The New Zealand case of Minister of Justice v. Kyung Yup Kim is extraordinary for three reasons. First, it is the world’s first test case for the extradition of a non-Chinese citizen to China. Prior to this case, there was no precedent where a domestic court of last resort had…

Todd Anthony Walker* Abstract Legal controversies surrounding race and racism have persisted in America from its inception, but not without intervention. Supreme Court decisions in Dred Scott, Plessy and Brown trace the Court’s jurisprudential evolution while, legislatively, the passage of the post-civil rights Amendments, and, more recently, The Civil Rights Act of 1964, demonstrate Congresses’…

Lindsey Roberson* & Johanna Lee** Abstract This paper presents the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (“TVPA”) as a promising, yet underutilized, statute for litigators seeking justice for foreign victims of forced labor in global supply chains. It begins by outlining the current legal landscape of cases that may be successfully brought under the Alien Tort Statute…

Rebecca Darin Goldberg[1]* Table of Contents Introduction I. The Benefits and Risks of Facial Recognition Software A. What is Facial Recognition and How Does it Work? B. The FBI’s Facial Recognition System 268 C. Challenges with Facial Recognition Accuracy and Misuse D. Facial Recognition as an Investigative Tool E. Issues with Eyewitness Identification in Criminal…

Kelley Changfong-Hagen[1]*   Table of Contents Introduction I. New Employee Activism in the Technology Sector A. Google B. Microsoft C. Amazon D. Facebook II. The Changing Conception of Work III. Employee Activism and the Protections Under Federal Labor Law A. Protected Concerted Activity Under the National Labor Relations Act B. Contrasting the First Amendment Approach…

Victoria Hay[1]* Table of Contents Introduction I. Educational Requirements Imposed On People in the Criminal Legal System Who Have Cognitive Disabilities  A. Prevalence of Cognitive Disabilities Among Incarcerated People  B. The Current State of Discretionary Parole C. Educational Requirements in the Criminal Legal System 1. Requirements for Parole 2. Requirements During Incarceration 3. Conditions of…

WHEN LIBERTY IS THE EXCEPTION: THE SCATTERED RIGHT TO BOND HEARINGS IN PROLONGED IMMIGRATION DETENTION Freya Jamison Table of Contents Introduction 148 I. The Constitutional Problem of Indefinite Immigration Detention 150 A. The Prolonged and Potentially Indefinite Incarceration of Noncitizens Under the Immigration Detention Statutes 150 B. The Supreme Court’s Jurisprudence on the Due Process…

Table of Contents Introduction 100 I. United States Presence in the Marshall Islands: Historical Harm and Current Crises 103 A. New Name, Same Game: U.S. Colonization Becomes U.S. Trusteeship in the Marshalls 104 B. Slums and Suburbs: Displacement, Overcrowding, and the Creation of the “Ebeye Problem” 109 C. Environmental Harm and its Impact on Human…

Table of Contents I. Colombia’s Historic Peace Accord 364 II. Third Party at the Table 365 A. The Accountability Question 369 B. Opposition to Gender 372 C. A Closer Look at Gender in the Accords 375 D. Organizing at the Intersection of Race, Ethnicity & Gender 378 III. The Long Road to Implementation 381 I….

Table of Contents I. Federal Anti-Terrorism Operations in the Wake of September 11, 2001 61 II. Counter-Terrorism Surveillance and the Information-Sharing Environment 63 A. Surveillance Without a Factual Predicate 65 B. Suspicious Activity Reporting 67 C. The Information-Sharing Environment and Fusion Centers 69 III. Weaving the Web of Informants and Provocateurs 71 IV. Agent Provocateurs…

Abstract Colombia has the highest rate of assassinations of human rights defenders in Latin America, and women defending Afro-descendant and Indigenous territories are particularly at risk. Threatened Afro-descendant women defenders observe that the wave of violence against them, including femicide and rape, is designed to silence them, control their territories, and intimidate their communities. They…

ABSTRACT This Article investigates current international environmental crimes perpetrated against the indigenous peoples of the Brazilian Amazon and details how and why these crimes must be investigated and prosecuted at the International Criminal Court (ICC). First, this Article illustrates the severity of the environmental crimes in the Brazilian Amazon, in order to explain why these…

Table of Contents Introduction 3 I. Right to Education According to the Brazilian Courts 6 II. Institutional Design of the Brazilian Class Action: Improvements and Setbacks 14 III. Collective Versus Individual Litigation of Early-Childhood Education Rights 21 Concluding Remarks 24 Introduction In determining its development agenda, to be implemented between 2016 and 2030, the United…

How a Group of Afro-Colombian Women’s Rights Activists and New York Law Professors Came Together to Raise Awareness[1] Colombia has emerged as a global reference for establishing political solutions to seemingly intractable conflicts. After five decades and numerous negotiations attempts, the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (“FARC”) reached a peace agreement…

Abstract In the wake of the historic inclusion of racial and gender justice provisions in the 2016 peace accord with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (“FARC”), gender violence in Colombia continues with devastating effect, and with a particularly harmful impact on Afro-descendant and Indigenous women and their communities. Colombia continues to experience violence, including…

Abstract The demobilization of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (“FARC”) since November 2016 has created a power vacuum, as multiple forces vie for areas previously controlled by FARC. This has resulted in new vulnerabilities in many majority Afro-Colombian areas of Colombia to SGBV at the hands of paramilitaries, guerillas, narco-traffickers, state actors, and mining…

Abstract In Colombia, the struggle over land rights often pits the cultural and economic interests of indigenous and marginalized peoples against the governments that are supposed to protect their rights under law. Rural Afro-Colombian women seeking to vindicate their land rights find themselves at the mercy of multiple vectors of discrimination: they are black; they…

Abstract When sentencing a convicted criminal defendant, judges in many U.S. states will use a risk assessment tool to help determine the length of the defendant’s sentence. Some of the more sophisticated risk assessments in use today are proprietary computer algorithms created by private companies. These algorithms use statistical probabilities based on factors such as…

Abstract Almost every county in the United States elects its chief Prosecutor, but the chief Public Defender, if there is one, is generally an appointed position. In four states, however, some or all of the Public Defender offices have elected leaders. Although prosecutorial elections have been heavily studied and criticized, relatively little attention has been…

This past July, the Trump administration announced the creation of a new body with a curious name—the “Commission on Unalienable Rights.” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo described the effort as an attempt to “ground our discussion of human rights in America’s founding principles.” However, universal human rights norms exist to hold states accountable: they cannot…

States and municipalities are increasingly attempting to use climate nuisance litigation to hold fossil fuel companies such as BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil, and Royal Dutch Shell, accountable for climate change. Climate plaintiffs across the country are requesting a total of approximately two hundred billion dollars in damages. If these plaintiffs manage to win their…

In the wake of the opioid crisis and the increasing role of prosecution as a way to combat the sale and use of drugs, this Note considers the twenty-year mandatory minimum sentencing enhancement for when “death results” under the Controlled Substances Act. In deciding Burrage v. United States, the Supreme Court settled the circuit split…

The Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 has been controversial for almost as long as it has been law. It allows individuals to get exemptions from laws of general applicability based on religious belief. There has been a large body of scholarship performing empirical analysis on RFRA, but notably missing is a post-Hobby Lobby study…

Abstract In July of 2019, the United States established a federal advisory commission that is poised to undercut economic and social rights protections by narrowly re-defining human rights to exclude them. Limiting the interpretation of human rights in this way has profound implications for human rights norms and for advocates. This limitation undercuts the reality…

What underlies the Administration’s effort to examine human rights through the State Department’s newly created Commission on Unalienable Rights? And what is at stake? The asserted purpose of the Commission, as announced in July 2019 by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, is to examine human rights in light of “foundational documents” and provide advice to…

On March 9, 2015, a black student threw feces against a statue of British imperialist Cecil John Rhodes, located at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. The incident sparked the formation of #RhodesMustFall, a black radical student movement that sought to address institutional racism at the university through its demand to decolonize the…

The United States Supreme Court issued a bombshell opinion regarding immigration court procedure on June 21, 2018: Pereira v. Sessions. On its face, the case is a boon for certain noncitizens seeking relief from deportation. Yet, as this Essay explains, Pereira’s implications are far greater. Although the Court’s opinion never mentions jurisdiction, Pereira necessarily means that immigration courts lack jurisdiction…

Human rights advocates often confront trauma and stress in their work. They are exposed to testimony about heinous abuses; work in insecure locations; visit physical sites of abuse; review forensic, photographic, and video evidence; directly witness abuses; experience threats; and can also suffer detention, be attacked, or be tortured themselves. Such exposure risks adversely impacting…

The following transcript has been lightly edited for clarity. Sandra Paunksniene, SIPA: Good evening ladies and gentlemen, guests and panelists. Tonight we gather to discuss, as mentioned, a timely and very important topic, health care in danger: the continuing violence against medical assistance in armed conflict. My name is Sandra Paunksniene. I work with the School…

Our article “Modern Self-Defense: The Use of Force Against Non-Military Threats” explores the legal bases States could draw on in using military force to respond to significant threats or harms that are not military in nature but that may be optimally tackled with some form of military action where the United Nations Security Council (Security Council) has…

States all over the world are enacting new laws that criminalize insults, and using existing insult laws with renewed vigour. In this article, we examine state practice, treaty provisions, and case law on insulting speech. We conclude that insulting speech is currently insufficiently protected under international law and regulated by confused case law and commentary. We explain that the three principal international treaties that regulate speech provide conflicting guidance on the right to insult in international…

For any given refugee crisis, securing equitable and sustainable arrangements for refugee protection and assistance remains a fundamental problem. An instructive example is the ongoing and deliberate regional containment of most Syrian refugees to countries neighboring Syria. Four countries in the Middle East currently bear a disproportionate and unsustainable share of the responsibility and cost,…

On May 31, 2016, the European Commission together with Facebook, Twitter, Google’s YouTube, and Microsoft (the ICT Companies) issued a voluntary Code of Conduct on Countering Illegal Hate Speech Online that requires removal of any hate speech, as defined by the European Union. The impetus for this Code included the rise of intolerant speech against…

The authors have graciously asked me to comment on their interesting and welcome proposal, and I am happy to do so. One must applaud all efforts to ameliorate the horrendous problem of refugee flows, one that is vastly greater today than in 1997 when I advanced my own “modest proposal” for refugee burden-sharing. The current…