Written by Paige Hathaway, L’26 On September 17, 2024, Robert Robertson petitioned the Texas Governor and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles for commutation of his death sentence.[1] While the basis for the petition was grounded in the growing discreditation of Shaken Baby Syndrome, the originally-diagnosed cause of his daughter’s death, Robertson’s lawyers assert that his conviction was wrongful for an additional reason: Robert … Continue reading Stimming Isn’t Suspicious: How the Criminal Justice System Endangers and Prejudices Autistic Individuals, Defendants, and Lawyers and Why We Have to Talk About It

Written by Claire Pitzer, L’26 This year marks the sixtieth anniversary of the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a landmark law which many scholars consider to be the conclusion of the classic American Civil Rights Movement.[1] 2024 is also the thirtieth anniversary of the formation of a democratic government in South Africa and the end of the Apartheid regime.[2] The convergence of … Continue reading Laws, Leadership, Liberty, and Legacy: A Comparative Analysis of the Role of Law in the American Civil Rights Movement and the South African Struggle to End Apartheid

Written by H. “Nate” Jarvis, L’26 Take a moment and think of what images spring to your mind when you hear the words “gang,” “gang member,” and “gang activity.” You may have specific markers that you use to identify individuals you come across in your daily life as potentially involved with a gang, like certain styles of clothing, tattoo content and placement, a person’s choice … Continue reading Nobody Told Me: The Consequences of Unregulated Gang Databases

Written by Sara Arora, L’26                The first Amendment is a cornerstone of the functioning of the American system of democracy. During the development and ratification of the Constitution, Anti-Federalists had concerns that without a bill of rights, the federal government would wrest liberty from the people. [1] After much debate, twelve amendments to the constitution were proposed and … Continue reading Speech and Protest Rights: Vietnam and Palestine

Written by Sarah Harker, L’26 The Supreme Court broke ground four years ago when Bostock fundamentally changed the jurisprudence regarding LGBTQ+ discrimination.[1]  . Justice Neil Gorsuch’s opinion broke down Title VII’s anti-sex discrimination mandate to its most rudimentary level and concluded that discrimination on the basis of LGBTQ+ status inherently requires an employer to treat that employee differently because of their sex.[2] The court explained … Continue reading An Overview of Recent Circuit Court Cases Analyzing Bostock in the Title IX Context

Written by Sarah Stuart, L’26 Few subjects haunt the American consciousness like crime. From Richard Nixon’s “Law and Order” campaign in 1968, to the 1994 Crime Bill and the uprisings of 2020, the national spotlight has remained on criminal justice for decades.[1] In the midst of this polarizing conversation sits probation:  rarely discussed when compared with pressing injustices such as police brutality and mass incarceration  … Continue reading Invisible Prisons: The Promise and Failure of Probation

Written by Aislin Murphy, L’26 The 2024 SCOTUS term, with all its precedent setting and overturning, will no doubt go down as one of the more controversial, politically-charged Supreme Court terms in modern memory. The mid-summer decisions of Loper Bright v. Raimondo and Trump v. US particularly exemplify this controversy, the former granting the Judiciary far more power in agency rulemaking than it has had … Continue reading Presidential Immunity and Chevron Deference