Month: October 2018
Immigration Struggle: Can States Resist Trump on Immigration?—Part 2
I believe that this entrenchment presents a serious challenge for those who wish to fight Trump’s immigration policies via the courts—especially after the ruling in Trump v. Hawaii. Moreover, Trump’s opponents would be naïve to discount the lethal precedential combination of plenary federal power and preemption.
Oct 2018
Immigration Struggle: Can States Resist Trump on Immigration?
This two-part blog seeks to briefly trace the origins of modern immigration law, examine the failure of state-based immigration policies during the Obama administration, and predict the likelihood of success for state resistance against Trump’s crackdown on immigration.
Oct 2018
The Alien Tort Statute and Beyond: Jurisdiction for Victims of International Human Rights Abuses in U.S. Courts
In 2002, Nigerian nationals who had been granted asylum in the U.S. sued Dutch and British oil companies in the Southern District of New York. Specifically, the plaintiffs accused the companies of aiding and abetting the Nigerian government in carrying out environmental damage and human rights abuses. During the mid-1990’s, oil accounted for 95% of…
Oct 2018
Industrial Design: Reinterpreting the Useful Article Doctrine
The separability test’s current binary approach dooms opposing parties to talk past one another, each at a different level of abstraction, with courts only clumsily able to direct the proceedings. Courts could more productively channel discourse if they considered separability across a spectrum. By applying a spectrum, courts would be able to determine the sorts of designs that are truly worthy of copyright protection with greater precision and sophistication.
Oct 2018
Arguing Over Arbitrability of an Arbitration Agreement: New Prime v. Oliveira and Its Potential Impact on the Transportation Industry
It has been reported that during the oral hearings that Justices with both conservative and liberal leanings expressed a predisposition to side with the worker. Hopefully the Court will also balance the policy implications and consider the potentially huge costs to the American consumer in arriving at its decision.
Oct 2018
The Future is Female?: The Legal Implications of California’s New Law Mandating Female Representation on Corporate Boards
Publicly traded corporations headquartered in California must have at least one female board director by the end of 2019 or will have to pay a hefty fine, according to California Senate Bill 826, signed Sunday, September 30 by Gov. Jerry Brown in response to the #MeToo movement and gender gaps that have long plagued corporate…
Oct 2018
The School-to-Prison Pipeline and How It Can Stop Once We Put an End to Zero-Tolerance Policies
The zero-tolerance policies and use of police officers on school grounds are deeply failing our students.
Oct 2018
A Case for Treating Nonviolent Drug Offenders With Rehabilitation Instead of Prison Time
In light of the opioid crisis facing the nation today, lawmakers are focusing less on harsh federal sentences, and more on research into the public health crisis. Since the government is looking at opioid drug users with more compassion and less contempt, there is a perfect opportunity for lawmakers to make offenders of all drugs an offense that calls for treatment instead of prison time.
Oct 2018
Addressing the E-pidemic: Regulating Teen and Young Adult Use of Electronic Cigarettes
If these brands fail to appropriately address the epidemic of youth e-cigarette use, they are likely to receive harsh consequences from the FDA, including complete removal of some or all of their flavored products that may be contributing to the rise in youth use from the market until they otherwise meet all of their obligations under the law.
Oct 2018