Civil Rights and Liberties
2020 Summit for Civil Rights – Awards Ceremony
December 1, 2020
Thanks for joining us, your support, and for engaging in an important and timely conversation. We look forward continuing on the journey of establishing a more just and equitable society.
Continue ReadingThe Prison Phone Industry Exemplifies How Eliminating Private Prisons is Insufficient to Protect Inmates from Being Exploited for Profit
September 15, 2021
Anne Bolgert* Awareness of the exploitation of the private prison industry has been growing in both popular culture and political discussions. However, focus on only eliminating private prisons ignores the impact of private industry in public prisons and jails, as exemplified by the prison phone industry.
Continue ReadingThe Constitutionality of SB 1142
April 28, 2022
By Chase Lindemann[1] On March 1, 2022, Oklahoma State Senator Rob Standridge introduced Senate Bill 1142 to the Oklahoma Senate Floor.[2] SB 1142’s title states that this bill is an act “prohibiting certain schools and school libraries from maintaining or promoting certain books.”[3] If a parent believes that there is a violation of SB…
Continue ReadingNot-So Affordable Housing: Regulatory Blocks on Accessory Dwelling Units in the Twin Cities
March 3, 2023
JLI Vol. 41 Staff Member Jacque Randolph explains the benefits of and barriers to using Accessory Dwelling Units for affordable housing in the Twin Cities.
Continue Reading“Mind Your Own Damn Business”: Why Governor Walz Is Right that The Right to Control Your Body Should Not Be Based on Geography
October 19, 2024
By: Claire Cavanagh View/Download PDF Version: _Mind Your Own Damn Business_ – Why Governor Walz Is Right that The Right to Control Your Body Should Not Be Based on Geography (Cavanagh) Minnesota Governor, Tim Walz (Walz), has been selected as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate. Throughout the campaign, especially during the vice presidential…
Continue ReadingThe Newclear Family: The Broadening Recognition of Non-Traditional Families and Where to Draw the Line
April 11, 2018
by Ally Nicol
In the past fifty years, American politics and public opinion have shifted regarding parentage and what constitutes a family. In the wake of cases such as Holtzman v. Knott, Johnson v. Calvert, K.M. v. E.G., Obergefell v. Hodges, and In re M.C., the rights of same-sex and other “non-traditional” parents have been clarified and expanded. Biology and marriage have long been the most commonly used means of establishing parental rights, and now those recognitions, particularly in the wake of Obergefell, are widely available to most couples. While this recognition has been long-awaited in the LGBT community, issues remain regarding legal parent status based solely on biology and the legal status of non-traditional families. As the law expands to recognize a more diverse spectrum of parents, new issues will arise regarding when parental status should not be granted, as opposed to how parental rights should be expanded.
An American Caste System: A Conversation with Professor Sheryll Cashin
December 30, 2020
Is there a caste system in the United States? Check out this video for a thought-provoking conversation with Professor Sheryll Cashin, Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Law, Civil Rights, and Social Justice at the Georgetown University Law Center.
Continue ReadingChildren’s Online Privacy in the Age of Influencers
September 24, 2021
The children of family vloggers are often on-screen from the moment they are born—“birth vlogs” are a popular subgenre. Pregnancy is chronicled in excruciating detail, often with a focus on “gender reveals” and a highly anticipated buildup to the reveal of the child’s name.
Continue ReadingGentrification, Displacement, and Disparate Impact Liability: How Gentrification Theory is Not Cognizable Under the Fair Housing Act
May 2, 2022
by Adam Mikell* In the United States, the topic of housing has an ugly history comprised of decades of government-sanctioned discrimination and segregation carried out through racially-motivated practices such as “neighborhood composition” rules, racial covenants, steering, and redlining. In 1968—the tail end of the Civil Rights Movement—the Fair Housing Act (FHA) was passed to…
Continue ReadingThe Respect for Marriage Act: Limitations, Protections, and Future Implications
March 3, 2023
In this blog post, Staff Member Elise Skarda reviews the impact of the much-anticipated Respect for Marriage Act, and, due to the Act’s limits, proposes further actions to be taken to protect same-sex marriage.
Continue ReadingTitle IX’s 50th Anniversary: Time for the NCAA to Step in the Arena and Start Playing by the Rules
September 30, 2024
View/Download PDF Version Title IX 50th Anniversary (Emendorfer) By: Rachel Emendorfer
Continue ReadingStretched Thin: Parents Lacking Resources Who Are Accused of Negligent Child Abuse Need Solutions, Not Prisons
January 21, 2020
The purpose of punishment is not served when the criminal justice system prosecutes poor, and often undereducated, parents for the unintended deaths of their children. Punishment as retribution is excessive for an already grieving parent, and an act cannot be deterred, either specifically to the offender or generally to society, if it was unintended in the first place. Finally, incapacitating parents by way of imprisonment does not ultimately serve the social good because their imprisonment sets up their surviving children for increased risk factors. Punishing a parent who has already received the worst punishment of all—loss of a child—cannot be justified.
Continue ReadingThe Law in Politics: A Conversation with Rep. Ryan Winkler
January 12, 2021
In this interview, staff member Jon Erik Haines met with Minnesota House Majority Leader Rep. Ryan Winkler. Mr. Winkler is the Democratic Majority Leader in the Minnesota House of Representatives and represents suburban district 46A, which contains Golden Valley, St. Louis Park and Plymouth. As a graduate of the University of Minnesota Law…
Continue ReadingConstitutional Arguments for the Legal Recognition of Bigamous Marriages
October 7, 2021
by Esther Raty* Introduction Bigamy, “the act of entering into a marriage with one person while still legally married to another,”[1] is illegal in the United States.[2] If a person’s first marriage remains intact, their second marriage is not legally binding and can even lead to criminal charges.[3] Bigamy laws prohibit individuals in polygamous and…
Continue ReadingMore than Miranda: Exploring Preventive Solutions to Juvenile False Confessions
May 31, 2022
Juveniles, at a right rate, waiver their Miranda rights during interrogations with police, but they are also more likely to make false confessions. This blog explores solutions to this problem, including modifications to Miranda and requirements for counsel.
Continue ReadingFace It: Police Can’t Be Trusted with Facial Recognition Technology
March 7, 2023
As facial recognition technology becomes more common, governments must confront the more sinister aspects of this new field, including privacy concerns, threats to free speech, and government surveillance. This piece by JLI Online Editor Joseph Scanlon breaks down the issues with police’s use of facial recognition technology.
Continue ReadingSleep Tight? Not on This Bench: Grants Pass and the Criminalization of Unhoused Individuals
October 4, 2024
By: Liddy Patterson, Volume 43 Staff Member View/Download PDF Version: Sleep Tight – Not on This Bench – Grants Pass and the Criminalization of Unhoused Individuals (Patterson) Houselessness is a pervasive and heartbreaking crisis across the United States. Life as an unhoused individual is scary, exhausting, and overwhelming. In the winter, many individuals are denied…
Continue Reading2020 Summit for Civil Rights – Opening Statements
November 16, 2020
The Minnesota Journal of Law & Inequality (JLI) co-hosted the virtual 2020 Summit for Civil Rights with the Institute on Metropolitan Opportunity and Georgetown Law’s Workers’ Rights Institute on July 30 and 31, 2020. The Dean of the University of Minnesota Law School, Garry Jenkins, provided the welcome remarks to kickstart the 2020 Summit…
Continue ReadingCovid-19 in Prisons: Human Rights Violations and Inmate Exploitation
January 29, 2021
Heather Chang* The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in the Spring of 2020 required unprecedent changes. While business and individuals have adapted their policies and behaviors to reflect health and safety recommendations, the prison system remains rigid and dangerous. As of January 12, 2021, The Marshall Project reports that at least 343,008 prisoners tested positive…
Continue ReadingThe Shadow of Buck v. Bell: How Ignoring the United States’ History of Forced Sterilization Has Fostered an Environment Ambivalent to Widespread Abuse
November 11, 2021
by Mercedes Molina* Since Buck v. Bell was decided in 1927, approximately 70,000 people have been legally forcibly sterilized. The legal framework put in place by that infamous 1927 case still exists, despite the repeal of most state’s compulsory sterilization laws.
Continue ReadingPurging False Narratives Around Cash Bail
October 28, 2022
By Christian Purnell. With Illinois’ Pretrial Fairness Act (PFA) set to take effect in a matter of months, opponents are stepping up their efforts to spread misinformation about the law on social media. Homing in on a provision of the PFA that abolishes cash bail in the state’s pretrial system, Twitter trolls, and even…
Continue ReadingHow Current Law Fails to Protect Defendants with Mental Illnesses from the Death Penalty
March 27, 2023
By Bailey Martin Eighteen men were executed in the United States in 2022[1], and so far, seven more men and women have been executed in 2023.[2] Despite numerous arguments that these individuals suffered from severe mental illnesses, last-minute appeals and clemency requests were unsuccessful.[3] Furthermore, upcoming scheduled executions continue this pattern of executing individuals…
Continue ReadingDelaying Justice: How Jurisdictional Gaps Fuel the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Crisis in the United States
October 21, 2024
By: Alejandra Arboleda, Volume 43 Staff Member View/Download PDF Version: Delaying Justice – How Jurisdictional Gaps Fuel the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Crisis in the United States (Arboleda) Hand-in-hand, thirty-eight Dakota men began to harmonize, calling out each other’s names to ensure no one was missing.[1] Four thousand spectators gathered to witness a…
Continue ReadingEviction/Housing Issues During COVID-19—Interview with Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid’s Joey Dobson
April 30, 2020
JLI staff members Maddie Sheehy, Adam Johnson, and Peter Schuetz recently interviewed Joey Dobson (Housing Policy Attorney at Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid). The group discussed how the pandemic can exacerbate health and safety issues in housing (mold, infestations, heat, etc.), the eviction moratorium, and how housing attorneys are advocating for their clients now and will be moving forward.
Continue ReadingThe Burying of Boumediene v. Bush
February 11, 2021
Kevin Thomson* At the University of Minnesota Law School in 2018, Chief Justice John Roberts declared that the court “erred greatly” when it gave into political pressure and upheld the internment of Japanese Americans in the “shameful” decision Korematsu v. United States. The Court is at its best, said the Chief Justice, when it stands…
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