CategoryDiscourse

Introduction This Essay critically analyzes the wartime framing that both Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden relied upon in fighting a “War on COVID-19.” According to this militarized framing, they sought to, in Trump’s words, “fight that invisible enemy,” the coronavirus.[2] The conundrum this Essay explores is: Even as Biden has announced plans to let the coronavirus health emergency...

Abstract The United States has failed to eliminate racial discrimination in the decades since ratifying the international human rights treaty that prohibits it. To its credit, the Biden administration (Administration) has attempted to center the fight for racial equity in the work of the executive branch. But President Biden’s executive orders and agency action plans on racial justice omit any...

Introduction On October 6, 2022, President Biden issued a proclamation pardoning most federal and Washington D.C. (D.C.) offenders—including lawful permanent residents—who have committed the offense of simple marijuana possession as defined by the federal Controlled Substance Act.[1] The impact of this proclamation is likely modest in light of the relatively small number of past federal and D.C...

Introduction In 2021, it was reported that there were only eight Black students enrolled in a class of 749 ninth graders at New York City’s most selective public high school, Stuyvesant.[1] In the same year, a group of public school students brought a lawsuit challenging admissions programs at selective New York City public schools, arguing that these schools are racially segregated as a result...

Abstract Regardless of what the Supreme Court decides on the fate of affirmative action, this Essay highlights a need to address the unappreciated extent of advantage that the intercollegiate athletics system provides to affluent white students. Drawing on public data sets, we test for the presence of affluent white advantage via race-neutral preferences conferred through athletics at elite...

Introduction This Essay charts a new course for the health justice model for health law scholarship, advocacy, and reform I have developed in a series of prior publications[1] and in conversation with other health law scholars.[2] The health justice model emphasizes collective problem-solving to secure distinctively public interests in access to health care and healthy living conditions. This...

Introduction Judicial review remains more controversial in the United States than in other democracies, despite its far longer history.[1]  This is sometimes explained by the unique lack of express textual authorization for the power,[2]  even though it is not as if inclusion in the constitutional text immunizes a provision from widespread criticism and contestation.[3]  To my mind, a more...

Introduction Since 2014, an unprecedented surge of in absentia removal orders has resulted in the deportation of tens of thousands of noncitizens, often at the expense of due process.[1] The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) permits an immigration judge to order a noncitizen removed in absentia—that is, “in the absence” of the noncitizen—if the government establishes by clear, unequivocal...

Abstract As women and members of marginalized communities across the globe are increasingly the targets of online sexual violence and threats, future asylum claims are likely to involve allegations of online sexual privacy violations. This Essay proposes a framework for conceptualizing sexual privacy-threatening online acts, such as deepfake sex videos and nonconsensual pornography, as past...

Abstract
Each year, the UCLA School of Law presents the Rutter Award for Excellence in Teaching to an outstanding law professor. On April 12, 2022, this honor was given to Professor Aslı Ü. Bâli. UCLA Law Review Discourse is proud to continue its tradition of publishing a modified version of the ceremony speech delivered by the award recipient.

Abstract In 2020, India and South Africa proposed a waiver (TRIPS Waiver) to temporarily suspend the protection of COVID-19 related intellectual property rights of countries belonging to the World Trade Organization (WTO).  Disagreements between developing and developed countries over how to proceed stalled the adoption of the TRIPS Waiver until 2022.  This was not the first time such a...

Abstract Lawyers are no longer the only legal practitioners. In several states and trending toward more, lawyers now share their so-called monopoly over the practice of law with nonlawyer practitioners (NPs). These NPs may practice law without the supervision of lawyers and, like nurse practitioners who provide greater access to medicine, this newborn class of legal professionals was created to...

Abstract This Essay calls upon the civil rights and education justice communities to expand their vision of school discipline law and policy reform to include the often ignored, yet deeply impacted lives of parents, caregivers, and families.  Deploying what critical race theorists define as storytelling or counternarratives, we share Nyla’s story to bring forward an all too common deployment of...