Inequality Inquiry >> Category

The Clash Between LGBTQ Anti-Discrimination Law and Freedom of Speech in 303 Creative v. Elenis: Which Will Take the Cake?

April 2, 2023

By Elizabeth Wellhausen* In December 2022, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments for 303 Creative v. Elenis, a case that is basically a “redo” of Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission.[1] In Masterpiece, a baker refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple because same-sex marriage conflicted with his religious views.[2] The…

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Minnesota Crisis Pregnancy Centers and The Positive Pregnancies Bill

May 9, 2023

By Lizzy Miller* Introduction In 2022, the federal constitutional right to abortion previously found in Roe v. Wade was overturned by Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.[1] Crucially, Dobbs found that “the  state has an ‘important and legitimate interest’ in protecting fetuses that it does not have in preventing contraception.”[2] While abortion remains constitutionally protected…

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Breonna Taylor is Not Forgotten: Department of Justice Finds Civil Rights Violations by the Louisville Metro Police Department and the Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government

By Alejandrea Brown* Police violence and misconduct against Black people in America is not a new phenomenon. Studies have shown that Black people are 3.23 times more likely than White people to be killed by the police.[1] The lack of accountability concerning police misconduct and violence against the Black community is also not new trend.[2] …

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Expungement: The Missing Federal Piece

May 10, 2023

While states have created their own expungement laws, nothing similar exists under federal law. In this blog post, staff member Diana Kawka explores federal expungement law and offers solutions to solve this gap.

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Examining the Constitutionality of Targeted Residential Protest Bans

May 12, 2023

By Alexandra Schrader-Dobris Introduction: Minnesota cities are steadily banning targeted residential protests in response to several Black Lives Matter demonstrations following George Floyd’s death in 2020.[1] That summer, over one hundred Black Lives Matter (BLM) protesters picketed outside Minneapolis Police Union President Bob Kroll’s house, calling for his resignation as a result of his failure…

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Will Minnesota’s New Automatic Expungement Laws Have an Effect on Federal Sentences?

February 14, 2024

By Britane Hubbard* On January 1, 2025, Minnesota’s new automatic expungement statutes will go into effect.[1] Under this new law, the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension will identify eligible people and grant them expungement relief if they qualify.[2] Offenses eligible for expungement range from petty misdemeanors to felonies.[3] The possibility of a new wave of expungements…

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Seneca Re-Ad Industries Reinforces Why Congress Should Eliminate 14(c) Certificates

March 29, 2024

Seneca Re-Ad Industries Reinforces Why Congress Should Eliminate 14(c) Certificates By: Matthew Schmitz* Early this year the District Court for the Northern District of Ohio reviewed the application of a key component of American minimum wage law: Section 14(c) certificates.[1] The case, brought by workers with disabilities and appealed by their employer, seems to represent…

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“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…

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Sleep 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…

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Delaying 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…

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Two Years Since Dobbs: How Access to Contraceptives and IVF Has Changed

November 9, 2024

By: Claire Albrecht, Volume 43 Staff Member View/Download PDF Version: Two Years Since Dobbs (Albrecht) I. Introduction Prior to June 24, 2022, the government “could not control a woman’s body or the course of a woman’s life: It could not determine what the woman’s future would be.”[1] On that date, the Supreme Court denied women…

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Waupun Correctional Institution: A Case Study in the Failures of the PLRA’s Administrative Remedies Requirement

November 22, 2024

By: Claire Girod, Volume 43 Staff Member View/Download PDF Version: Waupun Correctional Institution – A Case Study in the Failures of the PLRA’s Administrative Remedies Requirement (Girod)   The Eighth Amendment protects prisoners from cruel and unusual conditions of confinement. Court intervention is often credited by commentators as the driving force keeping correctional facilities from…

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Artificial Intelligence and Facial Recognition: Biases & Privacy Concerns

November 25, 2024

Volume 43 Staff Member Jems Guirguis interviews Omer Tene, a Partner at Goodwin Procter in a wide-ranging discussion of the challenges posed by AI and facial recognition. Recommended Readings: Thaddeus L. Johnson & Natasha N. Johnson, Police Facial Recognition Technology Can’t Tell Black People Apart: AI-powered facial recognition will lead to increased racial profiling, Scientific American…

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Fifth Circuit En-Banc Split Produces Dangerous Theories of Racialized Politics

January 27, 2025

By: Dawn Dudley, Volume 43 Staff Member View/Download PDF Version: Fifth Circuit En-Banc Split Produces Dangerous Theories of Racialized Politics (Dudley) In November, the Fifth Circuit issued an equally divided en-banc ruling regarding whether a white student was discriminated against because of his race in violation of Title VI.[1] Title VI prevents discrimination based on…

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FBI Breaks It, FBI Buys It: Will SCOTUS Finally Make Sure the Feds Pick Up the Tab When They Raid the Wrong House?

February 27, 2025

By: Margarit Margaritov, Volume 43 Managing Editor   Should victims of erroneous Special Weapons and Tactics (“SWAT”) raids by federal law enforcement be able to obtain money damages from the federal government? Will the availability of such remedy make law enforcement more cautious about its conduct? We may soon have a chance to find out.…

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Expanding Compassionate Release Eligibility in a Post-COVID World

By: Sydney Koehler, Volume 43 Managing Editor View/Download PDF Version: Expanding Compassionate Release Eligibility in a Post-COVID World (Koehler) The elderly prison population in the United States is at an all-time high.[1] By 2030, experts estimate that nearly one-third of the national prison population will be 55 years old or older.[2] Despite this trend, both…

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Punishment or “Protection”? The Case Challenging Racialized Homelessness Nationwide

April 7, 2025

By: Noelle Sperrazza, Volume 43 Note & Comment Editor  View/Download PDF Version: Punishment or “Protection”? The Case Challenging Racialized Homelessness Nationwide (Sperrazza) Homelessness is one of the most prominent, urgent, and ever-growing crises in America today. As of 2023, roughly 653,100 people in the United States were experiencing homelessness on any given night.[1] Rising housing costs,…

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The Deportation Marketplace: The Unethical and Potentially Illegal Deal with El Salvador’s Mega-Prison

April 1, 2025

By: Jane Genske, Volume 43 Staff Member View/Download PDF Version: The Deportation Marketplace (Genske) The outsourcing of asylum responsibilities by wealthier nations through financial incentives—often termed “the commodification of refugees”—is not a new phenomenon. Countries have long paid others to accept and detain migrants, effectively shifting their obligations elsewhere. A recent agreement between the United…

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