Obergefell’s national mandate for marriage equality became possible because marriage equality advocates set out to change social and constitutional meanings by winning over moveable middle voters in ballot question elections. Thus, a new variation on popular constitutionalism was born. The article argues that the same-sex marriage campaign is likely to foreshadow sophisticated social change...
Community in Conflict: Same-Sex Marriage and Backlash
Did backlash to judicial decisions play a destructive role in debates over same-sex marriage, as was so often claimed? The article argues that the Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell was possible not simply because public opinion changed, but also because struggle over the courts helped change public opinion and forge new constitutional understandings. The debate over same-sex marriage...
Rebellious Social Movement Lawyering Against Traffic Court Debt
How should lawyers connect their preexisting advocacy with a broader social movement? Must lawyers be relegated to the background, or might they assume an active role that enhances the leadership of grassroots community members within the movement? What are concrete tools lawyers might deploy in advancing the struggle? Through a case study of challenging traffic court debt in South Los Angeles...
Obscuring Asian Penalty with Illusions of Black Bonus
Abstract Do white students enjoy an unfair advantage as compared to Asian Americans in admissions to certain universities? This Article explains the proper legal comparison under settled civil rights law for making this determination based on the number of white and Asian American applicants and admits for a given admissions cycle. This Article also raises questions regarding the accuracy of...
Food Law at the Outset of the Trump Administration
Food policy remains one of the main levers by which we can work to address some of the most intractable problems of our time because of food’s effect on health, the environment, and the economy. The article considers the implications of the Trump administration’s policies in this arena.
Congratulations to the New UCLA Law Review Staff Members for Volume 65!
The Volume 65 Board of UCLA Law Review would like to extend a hearty congratulations to the new Staff Members! We are excited to have you join the team.
The updated masthead is available here.
License to Uber: Using Administrative Law to Fix Occupational Licensing
This Article explores courts’ ability to restrict occupational licensing regulations at the state and local level. In recent years, governments have extended licensing requirements well beyond their traditional boundaries. The literature criticizes these requirements as protectionist measures that stifle new entry, entrench inequality, and threaten the emerging sharing economy. The harder...
Taking Back Juvenile Confessions
The limited capacity of juveniles to make good decisions on their own—based on centuries of common sense and empirically supported in recent decades by abundant scientific research—informs almost every field of legal doctrine. Recent criminal justice reforms have grounded enhanced protections for youth at punishment and as criminal suspects on their limited cognitive abilities and heightened...