Inequality Inquiry
Shorter Form Content from the Minnesota Journal of Law & Inequality
Supporting Criminalized Survivors: The Ongoing Need for Minnesota to Pass the Survivor’s Justice Act
November 18, 2024
By: Lucy Moran View/Download PDF Version: Supporting Criminalized Survivors – The Ongoing Need for Minnesota to Pass the Survivor’s Justice Act (Moran) On December 13, 2021, Samantha Heiges was released from one of Minnesota’s prisons after serving 12 years for causing the death of her baby. In front of Minnesota’s Board of Pardons—composed of…
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 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 ReadingFrom DEI to DIY: Anti-DEI Laws Driving Student and Faculty-Led Inclusion Efforts
By: Nas Lawal, Volume 43 Lead Articles Editor View/Download PDF Version: From DEI to DIY – Anti-DEI Laws Driving Student and Faculty-Led Inclusion Efforts (Lawal) In a time when diversity is more important than ever, universities are stepping away from the very programs meant to promote it. In the aftermath of the Students for…
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 Case for a “Good Faith Bargaining” Requirement in Minnesota’s New Tenant Association Law
October 18, 2024
By: Wyatt Lutenbacher, Volume 43 Lead Symposium Editor View/Download PDF Version: The Case for a _Good Faith Bargaining_ Requirement in MN’s New Tenant Association Law (Lutenbacher) “It’s not ‘When we fight, we win,’ but ‘If we don’t fight, we lose.’”[1] Introduction In August 2020, a group of tenants gathered outside the office of Havenbrook…
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 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 ReadingInnocence in Missouri: Searching for a New Avenue Forward
View/Download PDF Version Innocence in Missouri (Hubbard) By: Britane Hubbard
Continue ReadingOpt-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…
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