Current Events
The Cost of Fairness: Why LIHTC’s Expense Can Be a Progressive Strength
January 21, 2026
By: Sumati Srivastava View/Download PDF Version: The Cost of Fairness Why LIHTC’s Expense Can Be a Progressive Strength (Srivastava) The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) is the United States’ largest federal program for incentivizing the development and preservation of affordable rental housing. LIHTC builds are often criticized for being more expensive than market-rate construction,…
Continue ReadingAdministrative Censorship: The Pentagon’s Press Rules as an Abridgment of Press Freedoms
November 7, 2025
By: Jessica Payne, Volume 44 Executive Editor View/Download PDF Version: Administrative Censorship and the Pentagon Press Policy (Payne) Media organizations with Pentagon press access have faced a significant decision over the past several weeks: sign a newly adopted Pentagon press policy or lose access to the Pentagon.[1] In an unprecedented affront to well-established press First…
Continue ReadingUnder Siege: The Legal Profession at a Crossroads
April 24, 2025
Incoming Volume 44 Editor-in-Chief Jaxon Alston and Professor June Carbone, Robina Chair for Law, Science, and Technology trace how the current attacks on lawyers, law firms, and the justice system began, examine why major law firms are capitulating to external pressures, and explore the ripple effects on pro bono representation and education. The very foundations…
Continue ReadingThe Surprising Cause of Increasingly Horrific Executions: Death Penalty Abolitionists
April 23, 2025
By: Kristin M. Boynton, Volume 43 Senior Managing Editor View/Download PDF Version: The Surprising Cause of Increasingly Horrific Executions – Death Penalty Abolitionists (Boynton) The January 2024 execution of Kenneth Smith garnered worldwide attention,[1] including an official statement by the United Nations High Commissioner that criticized the new method used by the State.[2] The UN…
Continue ReadingHow Recent Executive Actions Deliver Reproductive Healthcare Discrimination
April 7, 2025
By: Kavya Mahesh, Volume 43 Staff Member View/Download PDF Version: How Recent Executive Actions Deliver Reproductive Healthcare Discrimination (Mahesh) Systemic healthcare discrimination targeting vulnerable populations has been a persistent obstacle in ensuring quality medical services can be enjoyed equally by everyone. The impacts of the current healthcare inequities on maternal and reproductive care result in…
Continue ReadingA Healthy Start: Minnesota Is Pioneering an Alternative to Prison Nurseries, and Other States Should Follow Its Lead
March 28, 2022
by Rachel Pokrzywinski* In May 2021, Governor Tim Walz signed Minnesota’s Healthy Start Act (HSA) into law. The first of its kind in the United States, the HSA authorizes placement of pregnant and postpartum inmates into alternative housing—such as halfway houses and residential treatment facilities—with their newborns for up to one year after birth.…
Continue ReadingFifth 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…
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 ReadingThe Cost of Bad Apples: Recovery for Sexual Assault Victims Against Public Employers Post-Sterry
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 Reading2020 Summit for Civil Rights – What Is To Be Done? How Can We Help?
December 1, 2020
The 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 ReadingThe Intersection Between Antitrust Law and Labor Law – A Conversation with Professor Sanjukta Paul
January 3, 2021
Does antitrust law have a role in promoting inequality within our economic system? Check out this interview with Professor Sanjukta Paul to learn more.
Continue ReadingAn 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 Reading2020 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 ReadingWhy a Tuesday in November? An Original Intent Argument for Increased Voter Accessibility
November 25, 2020
What is so important about a singular “Election Day” and why is it some Tuesday in November? To reinforce the original intent of legislators in 1845, we should make adjustments to election day to make it more convenient for voters, just as they did for farmers in the 1800’s.
Continue Reading2020 Summit for Civil Rights – Is America Ready for a 2nd Reconstruction? A 3rd “Founding”?
November 23, 2020
Avoiding Atkins: How Tennessee is on the Verge of Unconstitutionally Executing an Individual with Intellectual Disabilities
November 18, 2020
If the state executes an intellectually disabled individual, but no one knows of the intellectual disability, has the state violated the constitution? It is our sincerest hope that Pervis Payne and others in a similar procedural labyrinth that could lead to what everyone agrees would be an unconstitutional execution are provided an opportunity to present the merits of their claims of intellectual disability. Justice, decency, and the Constitution demand it.
Continue Reading2020 Summit for Civil Rights – Who’s Profiting?
November 23, 2020
The Movement Lawyer of 2020
August 11, 2020
Want to hear how two recent University of Minnesota Law grads chose to respond to the tragic killing of George Floyd? Click the link to learn more about the inspiration behind the “Breathless” podcast, created by Ian Taylor, Jr. (’19) and Haaris Pasha (’19).
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