Abstract As policy proposals for tenant protections are debated nationwide and often struck down, tenants continue to live in dangerous conditions that our legal system is ill equipped to redress. Code enforcement is ineffective, and depending on the state, the implied warranty of habitability leaves tenants without recourse to compel their landlord to make necessary repairs. In response to...
Abstract American prisons are a black box: remote, austere, and cruel. Although basic demographic data about the people confined in prisons are common—that is, data on the number of people incarcerated, their age, or their race—there is little information available to the public regarding conditions of confinement. A natural response to this data deficit is to advocate for more of it. This...
Abstract Criminal law and environmental law share a central question: How should the state respond to harm? Despite their common concern, these fields approach state power in sharply divergent ways. Criminal law scholars increasingly question the legitimacy of policing and punishment, while environmental law scholars and activists often embrace expanded enforcement and call for harsher penalties...
Abstract Federal law has long prohibited insider trading in securities such as stocks and bonds. Yet many other financial assets—particularly derivatives and commodities—have historically fallen outside those rules. This Article asks why insider trading is penalized for some assets but not others. It argues that the goals of insider trading law are often pursued through alternative mechanisms...
Abstract Criminal defendants increasingly face the risks of digital evidence. These risks include intentional manipulation, accidental alteration, and even the threat that visual displays like footage or data visualizations lure viewers into an unquestioning acceptance of events as they seem to have unfolded. Some scholars have deemed the U.S. evidence system responsive to issues like intentional...
Abstract This Article argues that today’s anti-CRT statutes, book bans, and “divisive concepts” laws are not isolated culture-war skirmishes but the latest chapter in a long campaign—dating back to the Lost Cause and the United Daughters of the Confederacy—to legislate white innocence as national identity. By sanitizing slavery, suppressing discussions of systemic racism, and threatening...
Abstract Private surveillance is rapidly reshaping public space. With inexpensive storage, widespread amplification, and integrated data sharing, modern surveillance networks operate with unprecedented scale, prevalence, and influence. Unlike the neighborhood watches of the past, these networks are always on, subjecting public movements to facial recognition from doorbell cameras, license plate...
Abstract This Comment argues that the explosive growth of Regulation D private offerings has outpaced the investor-protection foundations of federal securities laws. With minimal required disclosure and a lack of regulatory oversight, the Regulation D framework creates material information asymmetries for and collective action problems among investors. Previous reform proposals—expanding Form D...
Abstract The vast rock formations underlying the United States stand at an important Demsetzian turning point, at which the externalities of inadequately defined property rights justify the costs of solidifying formal property rights for this resource. This need arises from the growing scarcity of pore space (tiny openings) in subsurface rocks—property that is critical to address climate change...
Abstract This Article utilizes Critical Dalit Feminism to uncover the intersectional impact of gender and caste hegemonies in cases of sexual violence in India. It challenges the conventional wisdom that doctrinal approaches that rely on punitive measures can solve the pervasive and imbricated issue of sexual violence. It also examines the sociolegal barriers influenced by a legacy of caste-based...
Abstract In 303 Creative v. Elenis, the Supreme Court effectively exempted plaintiff Lorie Smith from Colorado’s LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination law, allowing her to refuse service to same-sex couples if she opens a business designing wedding websites. The Court upended substantive nondiscrimination law, but the opinion also has important implications for standing doctrine. Although standing...
Abstract What does a family look like? In recent years, societal understandings have generally grown more inclusive of different kinds of familial structures, including queer families, blended families, interracial families, working mothers, and caregiving fathers. But traditional notions of family roles and expectations still loom large in public consciousness. Critical drivers of this...
Abstract Washington courts have attempted to prevent the issues created by implicit bias in jury selection by adopting an objective Batson standard. However, since its adoption, Washington courts have failed to apply this “objective standard” in either (1) a consistent manner or (2) in a manner in line with the standard’s plain text and purpose. In fact, recent Washington appeals court decisions...
Abstract Disability, preexisting conditions, or underlying conditions might seem like uncontroversial factors to cite when determining an individual’s cause of death. However, many death investigators have also cited these conditions in deaths caused by state violence or neglect. For example, a 2021 study found that medical examiners cited sickle cell trait, a gene mutation, as a cause or...