Category: Archives
The Chase for 75%: The History of Steroids and Stigma in Baseball
From the seven-year old player on a Little League team to the Major Baseball League’s most decorated hitter, all baseball players have the same dream: to make it to Cooperstown, the illustrious Baseball Hall of Fame. Each year, the Baseball Writers’ Association of America votes on a list of eligible players for induction into the…
Mar 2017
A Slap on the Wrist for Domestic Abuse in Russia
There is a Russian proverb that reads: “If he beats you it means he loves you.” On January 27, 2017, Russia’s Parliament voted 380-3 to decriminalize domestic violence. This would remove criminal liability in cases where the violence does not cause “substantial bodily harm” and does not occur more than once a year. The rationale…
Feb 2017
Are the FTC’s Regulations of Social Media Influencers Sufficient?
Using celebrities to sell products is hardly a new or innovative practice. Throughout time, celebrities have endorsed almost every product imaginable, from clothing and makeup to cars, credit cards, food, and even milk. This practice has been so consistent over time because, put simply, it is effective: brands are willing to spend whatever it takes…
Feb 2017
Trump’s Muslim Immigration Ban – Concerning but Likely Constitutional
President Trump has recently signed an executive order, titled “Protecting the Nation from Terrorist Attacks by Foreign Nationals,” that restricts visits and immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries: Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Yemen, and Iran. Trump’s executive order has sparked widespread protest and backlash from Muslim support groups, and has routinely been characterized as “racist.”…
Feb 2017
Animal Advocacy During The Trump Administration
Many animal advocates opposed the election of Donald Trump. The Humane Society called a Trump presidency “a threat to animals everywhere.” Kathleen Parker, a columnist for the Washington Post, warned of Trump’s “anti-animal animus.” The reality is more nuanced. While Trump seems likely to roll back some legal protections for animals, the change in administration…
Feb 2017
New York’s Home-Sharing Law: An Obstacle To Combatting The Consequences Of Gentrification
Gentrification, the process of renewal and rebuilding which accompanies the migration of middle-class or affluent people into historically poor urban areas, may on its face seem beneficial for all members of a community. After all, gentrification provides numerous benefits to blighted neighborhoods – it can help stimulate economic growth, garner greater resources for public education,…
Feb 2017
Protecting Patents from the Looming 3D Printing Storm
The current state of U.S. patent infringement law does not meet the challenges of 3D printing technology. 3D printing is a process in which a printer produces a physical three-dimensional object from a “CAD” file, which is an image file formatted for computers. Owners of the printer merely have to upload the CAD file onto…
Feb 2017
Sidelining Locker Room Talk
By Christina M. Kim In 2012, Harvard University discovered an online “scouting report” in which male soccer players ranked female players by attractiveness and suspected sexual preferences. Freshmen women players, some as young as 17, were evaluated based on their looks and sex appeal with numerical scores and offensive descriptions. The report assigned each woman…
Dec 2016
The Erosion of Free Will and Its Legal Implications
By Noah Danielson The state of our knowledge about “free will” is still very unsettled. Much of the research in this field is the subject of hotly contested debate and answers to many important questions remain up in the air. However, a number of studies have corroded the edges of a previously widely accepted principal:…
Nov 2016
Autonomous Cars: Who’s to Blame?
By Danny Ho The world may soon enter into a new era of transportation – autonomous cars. What was once a futuristic concept that people only toyed with in their imaginations is increasingly becoming a reality. These are cars that drive themselves through the use of sensory technologies such as radar, global positioning systems (GPS)…
Nov 2016