Abstract Elections are the linchpin of a representative democracy’s legitimacy and power. In the absence ofelectoral participation by a critical mass of the population, a society cannot meaningfully claim to be democratically governed. Persistently low voter turnout decreases the quality and equality of political representation in the United States and jeopardizes the integrity of our system of...
The Shifting Frontiers of Standing: How Litigation over Border Wall Funding is Exposing Standing's Current Doctrinal Fault Lines
Abstract When President Trump announced that he was diverting funds from other items in the federal budget to satisfy a campaign promise to build a wall on the U.S.–Mexico border, a range of litigants lined up to challenge this action in the courts, including nonprofit organizations; state governments; the border county of El Paso, Texas; and the U.S. House of Representatives. At the heart of...
Jail Suicide by Design
Abstract Jeffrey Epstein’s death in the federal jail in downtown Manhattan was the result of a conspiracy. But the conspirators were not the Clintons, President Trump, or Prince Andrew. Instead, his death, like too many others, was the result of a longtime conspiracy of lawmakers and actors within the criminal legal system itself. Several features of our legal system seem almost designed to...
Misgendering as Misconduct
Abstract As litigation regarding the civil rights of transgender persons blossoms, a curious trend has emerged: In briefs, pleadings, and motions advocating anti-trans positions, attorneys have addressed trans parties with language at odds with their gender. Through a close review of the language in briefs for three recent Supreme Court cases, this Article exposes the extent to which intentional...
What About the Rule of Law? Deviation From the Principles of Stare Decisis in Abortion Jurisprudence, and an Analysis of June Medical Services L.L.C. v. Russo Oral Arguments
Abstract The right to abortion was established in Roe v. Wade in 1973. Abortions have nevertheless been systemically inaccessible to vulnerable individuals and communities for generations, and anti-abortion state legislatures and the United States federal judiciary have continued to further obstruct abortion access. This effort to undercut reproductive rights has taken on a new sense of...
Reversal Rates in Capital Cases in Texas, 2000–2020
A death row inmate who challenges either his conviction or sentence in postconviction proceedings can be said to succeed if he obtains either a new guilt-phase trial, a new sentencing-phase trial, or a commutation of his death sentence. This Article reports on the success rates of death row inmates in Texas for those who arrived on death row on or after January 1, 2000, up until December 31, 2019...
Season 5, Episode 4: The Information Imbalance: How privacy laws are tipping the scales of justice against defendants.
March 10, 2020 In this episode, we sit down with Professor Rebecca Wexler to discuss the intersection of privacy laws and the criminal justice system. States around the country are adopting new, stricter privacy laws, in response to a growing awareness of just how much personal and important data companies are keeping about consumers, and how vulnerable that data is. But those privacy laws have...
Introduction: Indigenous Peoples, Sustainability and Climate Change
Regents Professor of Law, University of Arizona; Visiting Professor of Law and American Indian