Inequality Inquiry
Shorter Form Content from the Minnesota Journal of Law & Inequality
Opt-out Privacy Policy Worsens Algorithmic Price Discrimination: The Case of the American Privacy Rights Act
June 1, 2024
By: Cole Edick* In a data-driven world, data governance has serious implications for social inequality—from civil rights to consumer protection.[1] But the current approach to data governance in the United States may overemphasize individual privacy choice at the cost of collective approaches to inequality that better mitigate the harms inherent in the datafication of…
Continue ReadingI Still Can’t Hear You Your Honor: Zoom Court is Here to Stay–and It’s at the Expense of Criminal Defendants
May 17, 2024
By: Sophie Herrmann* It has been over four years since the United States declared a national emergency in response to the initial outbreak of COVID-19. It is impossible to overstate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on almost all areas of American life. COVID-19 radically altered the education system, the housing market, the way…
Continue ReadingThe Tragic Fallout of Opioid Regulations on Individuals with Chronic Pain
May 6, 2024
By: Remy Bell* “Ms. Steinberg, I hate to make you get up off your cot,” Senator Johnny Isakson said sympathetically.[1] Ms. Steinberg—adding some levity to the severity of her condition, which required her to lay down until it was her turn to testify—chuckled and replied, “That’s okay: I’m used to going back and forth.”[2] During…
Continue ReadingWill Solitary Confinement’s Visibility in the Public Consciousness Lead to Real Change?
April 29, 2024
By: Zinaida Carroll* On March 15, 2024, Charles Leo Daniel was found dead by suicide in his solitary confinement cell at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington.[1] Mr. Daniel had been held in solitary confinement for almost four years according to federal data––the second-longest sentence of solitary confinement in immigration detention.[2] The public…
Continue ReadingRedefining De Facto: Cruz-Guzman and the Future of Racial Segregation in Minnesota Public Schools
April 17, 2024
By: Fariza Hassan*
As Cruz-Guzman makes its way back into the legal sphere with this new lens, it is important for Minnesota courts to take into consideration the historical trends and impacts of state-imposed desegregation. Minnesota has a powerful opportunity to rectify a long history of racial discrimination faced by young Black and brown children within the realm of public education, but the question of who will truly reap these benefits and how exactly such benefits ought to be derived is one that requires great care and diligence by the state.
Tick-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 ReadingCan Kayden’s Law Erase the Legal Fiction of Parental Alienation?
By: Sydney Koehler Debunking “parental alienation” “Parental alienation syndrome” may sound like a medical diagnosis, but it is decidedly not—at least, not according to the scientific community.[1] Dr. Richard Gardner’s theory of “parental alienation” has been discredited by medical experts and human rights advocates as an empirically unfounded “pseudo-concept” that reifies negative stereotypes about victims…
Continue ReadingThe Texas Two Step: Double Standards of Bankruptcy Code Abuse
April 12, 2024
By: Jacqueline Brant* The Texas Two Step: Double Standards of Bankruptcy Code Abuse For decades, there has been a stigma attached to individuals seeking to discharge their debt through filing bankruptcy. The purpose of bankruptcy is to “give a ‘fresh start’ to honest but unfortunate debtors by providing them with an opportunity to reorganize…
Continue ReadingAn Ongoing Struggle: Police Brutality and Native Americans
April 3, 2024
By: William Rauschenberg Per capita, Native Americans are among the most common victims of police violence of any minority group in the United States.[1] Depending on the year and statistics used, Indigenous Americans are either the most at risk or second behind Black Americans.[2] This is a striking figure that, like many Indian issues, is…
Continue ReadingConsumer Protection from Carbon Neutrality Claims Based in Carbon Offsetting
April 1, 2024
By: Lizzy Miller*
In recent years, the discourse surrounding carbon offsets has gained significant traction as companies strive to advertise their commitment to environmental sustainability. The growing popularity of carbon offset initiatives has also brought forth concerns about “greenwashing,” or misrepresentation of a company’s sustainability or environmentally friendly policies.
Continue ReadingSeneca 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…
Continue ReadingContingency Fee Bans For Divorce Proceedings: Ethical Considerations or Patriarchal Protections?
March 25, 2024
By: Rachel Emendorfer* Marriage. What starts in hopeful beginnings often ends in bitter legal battles. In the United States, over 600,000 divorces occur each year.[1] But the prevalence of divorce in this country should not be mistaken for the ease of obtaining one. Ending your marriage can not only take months to accomplish but may…
Continue ReadingEducational Integrity in Corporate Childcare: Addressing Poor Regulatory Oversight through Head Start’s Compliance Model
March 20, 2024
Educational Integrity in Corporate Childcare: Addressing Poor Regulatory Oversight through Head Start’s Compliance Model By: Anthony Alas $60.4 billion. That’s the annual revenue from childcare in the private sector.[1] Children have become piles of profit for corporations, and the American family demands its dividends. As long as childcare remains in corporate hands,[2] childcare corporations must…
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 ReadingNew Legislation Seeks to End Marriage Penalty for Supplemental Security Income
March 11, 2024
By: Skylar Mayhew* Every month, people with disabilities are eligible to receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI).[1] SSI is a disability program funded and administered through the Social Security Administration.[2] The amount that a person with a disability receives each month can be lowered depending on several factors.[3] One factor that troubles advocates is the substantial…
Continue ReadingA Civil Gideon? The Case for Universal Representation in Immigration Courts
March 5, 2024
A Civil Gideon? The Case for Universal Representation in Immigration Courts By: Meg Keiser* In 1932, the Supreme Court began considering the right to counsel as a due process concern in Powell v. Alabama, holding that in capital cases where a defendant is unable to independently secure counsel, the Court must appoint counsel.[1] From Powell…
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 ReadingThe Bystander Standard: Do Survivors of Mass Shootings Qualify for U Visas?
February 23, 2024
By: Elizabeth Mansfield The aftermath of a mass shooting is never easy. This is especially true for those survivors who have to deal with the trauma of what they’ve just experienced as well as the trauma of the American immigration system. Undocumented survivors of mass shootings may have concerns about going to the police with…
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 ReadingThe Criminalization of Pregnancy: Etowah County, Alabama Should Raise Alarms for Women
January 12, 2024
By: Diana Kawka* In Etowah County, Alabama, being pregnant places women at risk of severe punishment for what would otherwise be minor offenses, receiving wildly disparate treatment than their male counterparts.[2] Alabama leads the nation in pregnancy criminalization, with Etowah County disproportionately seeking to imprison and prosecute mothers and pregnant women.[3] Pregnancy criminalization is defined…
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 ReadingOregon’s Yamhill County v. Real Property Commonly Known as 11475 NW Pike Road and The Cracks Forming in the Legal Foundation of Civil Forfeiture Laws
December 27, 2023
By: Christian Purnell* In March of 2018, authorities in Yamhill County, Oregon arrested Cheryl Sublet, a 61-year-old grandmother and military veteran, on charges of possession and delivery of narcotics.[1] Her relapse and arrest represented a tragic turn of events for Sublet who had long battled chemical dependency and PTSD but who had had maintained…
Continue ReadingLevel Setting Web Accessibility Expectations
December 13, 2023
The question of whether a business must make its website accessible or not can be answered, like most legal questions, with “it depends.” Nonetheless, businesses who fail to make their website accessible are at risk for suit alleging an ADA Title III violation.
Continue ReadingPunished Twice: Opioid Users Increasingly Handed Harsh Sentences for Friends’ Deaths
December 1, 2023
By: Bethany Jewison* A new phase of the opioid crisis. Jarret MacCasland and his fiancé Flavia Cardenas shared heroin on her 19th birthday.[1] Flavia tragically passed away and Jarret, who was only a few years older, was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for the “murder” of Flavia.[2] Similarly, a 17-year-old…
Continue ReadingBirthright 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…
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