Articles, Essays, & Tributes
Profit, Mission, and Protest at Work
By MARION CRAIN. Full Text. The classic understanding of capitalism maintains that the social responsibility of business is to increase its profits. But in the last decade, many firms have announced commitments to various social justice issues, folding them into corporate mission statements, codes of corporate social responsibility, and branding. Firms engaging in so-called “woke…
Sound Marks
By DEBORAH R. GERHARDT and JON J. LEE. Full Text. A lion roars just before a film rolls. A doughboy giggles. A giant green man laughs a hearty, “Ho, Ho, Ho.” These iconic sounds are all federally registered as trademarks. They identify specific brands and distinguish their products and services from the competition. Human brains…
“Criminalizing” Depositions in Arbitration
By MITCH ZAMOFF. Full Text. Civil litigation–style deposition practice is preventing commercial arbitration from reaching its full potential as an economical, efficient alternative to a civil lawsuit. Although there is consensus among alternative dispute resolution experts that meaningful limits must be imposed on arbitration discovery to unlock the efficiency benefits of arbitration, depositions continue to…
Reproductive Objectification
By MEGHAN M. BOONE and BENJAMIN J. MCMICHAEL. Full Text. The American system of rights is individualized—premised on the concept of singular, physically separate, and autonomous people. The rise of the fetal personhood movement complicates this basic understanding. If rights attach to singular, autonomous people, and fetuses are legally people, then the body of a…
Police-Made Law
By BRENNER M. FISSELL. Full Text. This Article presents evidence that police are writing laws that they enforce. This newly discovered phenomenon compounds the existing understanding of police “making” law through the exercise of discretion. They make law in a far more direct way, functioning as quasi-legislators at the local level—identifying a social problem, drafting…
Notes
Answering the Call: How Reconfiguration of the Nation’s Mental Health Crisis Call Line Can Facilitate Reimagination of Community Well-Being and Public Safety
By LUCY CHIN. Full Text. When the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline went live in Summer 2022, communities across the country began to confront the question of how this new, expanded behavioral health resource would integrate into the country’s preexisting, emergency response systems. The program seemed to promise the solution to an increasingly visible problem—as…
The Mississippi River Basin Compact: A New Governance Structure to Save the Mississippi River
By JOHN STACK. Full Text. The Mississippi River is one of the most significant and yet one of the most imperiled water bodies in the United States. It faces a myriad of problems, from rampant pollution, widespread flooding, wildlife habitat loss, and considerable droughts. Indeed, this is a critical time for the Mississippi River. Fall…
States’ Obligation to Provide for Trans Youth: How Medicaid Requires (Most) States to Provide Access to Puberty Blockers
By GRACE WORCESTER. Full Text. Over the last few years, many states have endeavored to strip minor access to gender-affirming healthcare, and these efforts have seen considerable success. By the end of 2023, twenty-two states had enacted legislation that limits youth access to gender- affirming healthcare. In line with these efforts, many states have created…
Headnotes
Teaching “Is This Case Rightly Decided?”
By Steven Arrigg Koh. Full Text. “Is this case rightly decided?” From the first week of law school, every law student must grapple with this classroom question. This Essay argues that this vital question is problematically under-specified, creating imprecision in thinking about law. This Essay…
De Novo Blog
A NEW TAKE ON TAKINGS: BIG PHARMA’S CONSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGES TO BIDEN’S INFLATION REDUCTION ACT
By: Marie Lundgren, Volume 108 Staff Member I. BACKGROUND In 2003, Congress passed the Medicare Modernization Act, marking the largest expansion of benefits in the 38-year history of U.S. public healthcare.[1] When the Medicare program was first enacted in 1965, it covered hospital stays (under…
READY, AIM, FIRE? EVALUATING THE FUTURE OF LIABILITY FOR THE FIREARMS INDUSTRY DURING NEW-WAVE PLCAA LITIGATION
By: Will Roberts, Volume 108 Staff Member I. MECHANISMS FOR FIREARMS INDUSTRY LIABILITY In 2005, Congress enacted the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) which significantly shielded members of the firearms industry from civil liability for over a decade.[1] PLCAA prohibits “civil action[s]…
CONVENIENT OR CONFRONTATIONAL?: SAMIA WIDENS CONSTITUTIONAL LOOPHOLE
By: Mark Hager, Volume 108 Staff Member On June 23, 2023, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Samia v. United States, the latest in a line of cases regarding the use of non-testifying co-defendant confessions in joint criminal trials.[1] Together, these cases operate as…
THE FIGHT FOR PRIVACY: CALLING FOR BROAD ONLINE PRIVACY REFORM IN THE AGE OF BEING CHRONICALLY ONLINE
By Lea Chapoton, Volume 108 Staff Member In the wake of 2022’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization[1] decision and the ensuing barrage of state laws limiting abortion access, online discussions surged with strategies for maintaining reproductive freedom in potentially hostile circumstances. One popular piece…
SUPREME SPECULATION: WHAT ORAL ARGUMENTS HINT ABOUT HOW JUSTICES ARE LEANING IN CAMPOS-CHAVES V. GARLAND
By Hans Frank-Holzner, Volume 108 Staff Member On January 8, 2024, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Campos-Chaves v. Garland,[1] a consolidation of three immigration cases concerning the statutory notice requirements the government must meet before it can order a noncitizen removed without a…
BETTING ON THE FUTURE: DISCUSSING PATHS FORWARD FOR MINNESOTA TO LEGALIZE SPORTS BETTING
By Benjamin Albert Halevy, Volume 108 Staff Member From pull-tab vending machines at bars to tribe-owned casinos sporting slot machines and blackjack tables, Minnesota is no stranger to gambling within its borders. Yet, sports gambling, the fastest growing sector of gaming, remains wholly illegal within…
DE-TRUMPING THE 2024 ELECTION? REVIEWING MINNESOTA’S ROLE IN THE MOVEMENT TO BAN DONALD TRUMP FROM THE BALLOT
By Callan Showers, Volume 108 Staff Member On November 2, 2023, the Minnesota Supreme Court heard oral arguments on whether Donald Trump can lawfully appear on Minnesota’s ballots in the 2024 Presidential election due to his participation in efforts to overthrow the 2020 election, culminating…
A HAZY FIVE HOURS: MINNESOTA SHOULD NOT REINVENT THE WHEEL IN ADDRESSING THC BEVERAGES IN RESTAURANTS
By Shannon Schooley, Volume 108 Staff Member In 2023, Minnesota legalized recreational cannabis.[1] Although Minnesota followed twenty-two states and the District of Columbia in doing so,[2] its legal landscape presents unique regulatory challenges.[3] Minnesota’s full-scale recreational legalization comes on the heels of a partial legalization…
NO PLACE LIKE HOME . . . UNLESS YOU CAN’T GET IN: THE LACK OF NON-DELIVERY PROTECTIONS FOR MINNESOTA TENANTS
By Cheyenna González Pilsner, Volume 108 Staff Member On August 2, 2023, Identity, a new housing complex near the University of Minnesota, notified its tenants they would be unable to move in on the lease-given day of August 27, 2023, citing construction delays.[1] This notice…
MICHIGAN’S NEW POINT OF NO RETURN: EVOLVING AGE RESTRICTIONS ON MANDATORY LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE
By Chad Berryman, Volume 108 Staff Member In July 2022, the Michigan Supreme Court decided People v. Parks, in which it held that mandatory life without parole sentences for eighteen-year-olds convicted of first-degree murder violate the Michigan Constitution’s prohibition of cruel or unusual punishment.[1] This ruling…
Thirty-Five Years of Inaction: The Unfulfilled Promise of the Medicaid Equal Access Provision
By Delaram Takyar. Full Text. In 1989, Congress amended the Social Security Act to ensure that Medicaid recipients would have the same access to medical providers as people covered by private insurance and Medicare. This was meant to remedy the wide disparities in access to…