Current Events
Birthright Citizenship: An Unqualified Right?
October 31, 2023
By: Elise Skarda* The concept of birthright citizenship has been mentioned in the news frequently recently. Many conservative presidential candidates are calling for an end to birthright citizenship,[1] though it is an unqualified constitutional right. So what is birthright citizenship, where does it come from, and why is it unconstitutional to qualify it? Birthright citizenship…
Continue ReadingThe Cost of Bad Apples: Recovery for Sexual Assault Victims Against Public Employers Post-Sterry
November 25, 2024
By: Desmond Bassett, Volume 43 Staff Member View/Download PDF Version: The Cost of Bad Apples – Recovery for Sexual-Assault Victims against Public Employers Post-Sterry (Bassett) In tort law, the doctrine of vicarious liability provides that an employer can be held liable for the torts committed by their employees. This doctrine has not always extended…
Continue ReadingPlease Don’t Read: How Book Bans Suppress Voices of Color
November 14, 2024
By: Safiyyah Khan, Volume 43 Staff Member View/Download PDF Version: Please Don’t Read – How Book Bans Suppress Voices of Color (Khan) Book bans are not a novel concept—however, in recent years, calls for book bans have surged to unprecedented levels. Within the last four years, an increasing number of states have introduced and…
Continue ReadingTwo 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…
Continue ReadingDirect File Is a Step in the Right Direction that Still Leaves Out Some Taxpayers
October 11, 2024
By: Spencer Culbertson, Volume 43 Staff Member View/Download PDF Version: Direct File Is a Step in the Right Direction (Culbertson) In May 2024, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced that it would make Direct File a permanent option for taxpayers to e-file their income tax returns following the success of the 2024 Direct File…
Continue ReadingThe Suncor Sets on the Fossil Fuel Empire: Why the Fight for Climate Justice Will Take Place in State Courts
October 4, 2024
By: Elizabeth Mansfield, Volume 43 Online Editor View/Download PDF Version: The Suncor Sets on the Fossil Fuel Empire (Mansfield) Introduction In recent years, numerous states have sued big oil companies over their role in causing the climate crisis and the lies they perpetuated to hide it. One of the most notable cases came out of…
Continue ReadingSleep Tight? Not on This Bench: Grants Pass and the Criminalization of Unhoused Individuals
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 ReadingTick-Tock TikTok: Time’s Up on Online Free Speech?
April 16, 2024
By: Anonymous In this day and age where the internet is in wide proliferation, most Americans receive their news from their smartphones, with a large percentage of people receiving their news from social media.[1] The days of opening a newspaper for the daily news are gone, in favor of swipes, reposts, and shares. One of…
Continue ReadingWill 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…
Continue ReadingHow Texas’s Immigration Power-Grab Harms Migrants, Legal Immigrants, and Communities
March 14, 2024
By: Cassandra Whall* Recently, the news is dominated by discussions of a broken immigration system that has been straining the South, and the South’s belief that taking immigration into its own hands is the only appropriate and effective solution.[1] For months, Florida and Texas have been sending buses and planes filled with migrants to sanctuary…
Continue ReadingTexas Legislature doubles down on supporting oil and gas at the cost of renewable energy post-freeze
February 27, 2024
By: Wills Layton* Background In February of 2021, the state of Texas experienced a freeze that the electric system, consisting of electric sources such as wind and gas and more traditional oil and gas power plants, was not prepared to effectively combat.[1] Nearly half of all Texans faced some type of disruption to water access,…
Continue ReadingTaking Out the Trash: Is Biden’s Plan for Eliminating Junk Fees an Effective One?
January 2, 2024
From Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour tickets to ATM fees, consumers increasingly encounter junk fees. Lead Managing Editor Evelyn Doran explains and evaluates a recently proposed DOL rule requiring junk fee disclosures by financial advisors.
Continue ReadingArtificial 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…
Continue ReadingA New Future for Social Media Platforms, Courtesy of State Legislators.
May 13, 2023
By: Anitra Varhadkar
In March 2023, the Utah Governor signed into law a bill that greatly restricts social media use for minors, citing mental health. This blog post discusses whether or not mental health is the real reason for the legislation.
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…
Continue ReadingReason-Specific Abortion Bans Under Current Abortion Jurisprudence
March 13, 2023
View/Download PDF Version By Jocelyn Rimes† Introduction In 2021 alone, 108 restrictions on abortion were enacted in just nineteen states.[1] With the recent Supreme Court decision, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, that eliminated the federal constitutional right to obtain an abortion, abortion access is in a perilous position for millions of individuals.[2] Currently, ten…
Continue ReadingCrypto and the Climate Crisis
March 8, 2023
Cryptocurrency mining has done more than shake up financial industries – it has had an enormous impact on climate change as well. In this blog, JLI Note & Comment Editor Mallory Harrington breaks down how cryptocurrencies impact the environment and potential solutions to these problems.
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 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 ReadingUpdated Minnesota Child Support Guidelines Starting January 1, 2023: What’s Changing and Who Will Be Impacted?
February 10, 2023
*By Sydnie Peterson Effective January 1, 2023, the Minnesota child support guidelines will undergo various targeted changes that aim to have a large impact on child support awards. Child support awards are court ordered and intended to adequately provide for children’s “care, housing, food, clothing, transportation, and additional support for medical costs” and child care.[1]…
Continue ReadingState v. Khalil: How a Minnesota Supreme Court Ruling Led to the Amendment of a Minnesota Criminal Sexual Conduct Statute
February 6, 2023
In this blog post, staff member Remy Bell explores how the case of State v. Khalil impacted Minnesota’s criminal sexual conduct statute.
Continue ReadingExplainer: The Teamsters Local 320 Agreement
January 12, 2023
In this blog, staff member Selma El-Badawi breaks down the recent agreement between the University of Minnesota and the Teamsters Local 320.
Continue ReadingFirst Down, First Amendment: A Case Comment on Kennedy v. Bremerton School District
December 2, 2022
Note & Comment Editor Karissa Grapes analyzes a recent Supreme Court decision and discusses its impact on religious practices in schools.
Continue Reading“Defending the Homeland”: Where Does it End? History’s Demonstration of How Far ICE Can Go
February 4, 2026
By: Sophia Artley View/Download PDF Version: “Defending the Homeland” Where Does it End? History’s Demonstration of How Far ICE Can Go (Artley) In the land of the cold and snow, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has become a key point of contention. The Trump administration has ramped up ICE presence and raids on the Minnesota…
Continue ReadingLegal Accountability for Private Prison Companies Operating ICE Detention Facilities
March 31, 2026
By: Emma Walsh View/Download PDF Version: Legal Accountability for Private Prison Companies Operating ICE Detention Facilities (Walsh) Who is benefiting from the federal government’s ongoing campaign of abductions and unlawful detentions of Minnesota residents in the name of immigration enforcement? The private corporations that ICE contracts with to hold detainees certainly are. The Trump…
Continue Reading