CategoryLaw Meets World

Blockchain-based Digital Assets and the Case for Revisiting Copyright’s First Sale Doctrine

Various concerns about the reproducibility of intangible items have kept digital files from receiving the protections provided by the first sale doctrine of the Copyright Act of 1976. This piece breaks down blockchain technology and discusses how the new technology may alleviate some of lawmakers' concerns in extending the first sale doctrine.

Injustice Ex Machina: Predictive Algorithms in Criminal Sentencing

This piece argues that the use of predictive algorithms in criminal sentencing poses a threat to due process and equal treatment under the law. By exploring studies regarding algorithmic bias, as well as flaws in human decisionmaking, the Article examines how judicial reliance on predictive algorithms may serve to exacerbate societal discrimination and erode constitutional rights.

Emerging Digital Technology and the "Law of the Horse"

Professor Solow-Niederman identifies the themes that run through the series, explores the challenges that disruptive technologies pose to current law and policy, and points to the human values at stake with each development and intervention.

Blockchain Technology and the Government: Dealing With the Threat of Data Manipulation and Increasing Records Longevity

Issues with record-keeping and management of records has long been a barrier to efficient administration within the government. This piece provides an overview of the technology behind blockchain and explores how it can be used to facilitate record keeping that may provide greater security and accuracy of records.

Destination Unknown: The Perilous Future of Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence Technologies Under the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018

This piece elucidates how the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 may serve to stifle widespread commercial applications of technologies utilizing Blockchain and artificial intelligence. Though the requirements under the Act are designed to protect consumer privacy, they threaten the ability of companies using these technologies to innovate—or even operate—if they have any contact with...

A Critical Race and Disability Legal Studies Approach to Immigration Law and Policy

This piece argues that the progressive immigration reform must take into account the ways in which racism and ableism permeate the immigration system, and calls for a more intersectional approach to immigration law and policy scholarship and practice. It highlights one organization’s recent efforts to put this intersectional approach into research and practice.

Mental Disability, Exceptional Abortion, and the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act

This piece argues that the underlying logics of the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which recently gained traction in Congress but failed to be passed, raise serious concerns that have been largely overlooked, and calls for a more thoughtful consideration of mental health and disability in contemporary gender and reproductive discourse and politics.

Sexual Violence, Disability, and Empowerment: The Attorney’s Role

This piece highlights the issues at the intersection of disability and sexual violence. It provides a case study of a woman with a disability who interacts with the criminal justice system after reporting a sexual assault and explains the associated legal issues. The piece then concludes with a call to action for the legal profession to empower survivors with disabilities.