Congress will not enact meaningful campaign finance reform. Under the nation’s current legislative, regulatory, and judicial regimes, remedies to the problem of money in politics appear unattainable. This Comment provides an entirely novel approach toward reducing the corrosive influence of outside money on the U.S political system. Aided by the power of the profit motive, this Comment proposes...
Episode 1.0: Intro to Dialectic
In this episode, we introduce ourselves and explain what we hope to accomplish through Dialectic.
Applying Originalism
An essay reviewing the inaugural Justice Antonin Scalia Lecture, titled “Interpreting the Unwritten Constitution,” presented at Harvard Law School by Judge Frank H. Easterbrook on November 14, 2014.
Amending the Ancient Documents Hearsay Exception
This Essay critically assesses a pending, proposed amendment to the Federal Rules of Evidence—slated to take effect in December 2017—that would abrogate Federal Rule of Evidence 803(16), the hearsay exception for ancient documents. The proposed amendment was motivated largely by a fear that large quantities of potentially unreliable, stockpiled, electronically stored information (ESI) are ap...
Attack of the Shorting Bass: Does the Inter Partes Review Process Enable Petitioners to Earn Abnormal Returns?
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board recently instituted a review process called inter partes review that provides a faster review of patent validity than previous methods. The inter partes review has less restrictive rules about which entities can file a petition challenging a patent. Investment firms have taken advantage of these changes. We test whether the patent challenges made by one...
Vaccines, School Mandates, and California’s Right to Education
California recently enacted Senate Bill 277, which abolishes the personal beliefs exemption to school immunization requirements. One possible challenge to the law’s constitutionality is that it impermissibly limits the right to education. This Essay rebuts such a position. California’s jurisprudence regarding access to education applies to protected categories; it does not limit the ability of...
Colonial Exploitation: The Canadian State and the Trafficking of Indigenous Women and Girls in Canada
This Article argues that because of its historical and ongoing investments in settler colonialism, the Canadian state has long been complicit and continues to be complicit in the human trafficking of indigenous women and girls in Canada. In addition to providing indigenous bodies for labour and sexual exploitation, Canada’s trafficking of indigenous people has been essential not only to securing...
The Racial Roots of Human Trafficking
This Article explores the role of race in the prostitution and sex trafficking of people of color, particularly minority youth, and the evolving legal and social responses in the United States. Child sex trafficking has become a vital topic of discussion among scholars and advocates, and public outcry has led to safe harbor legislation aimed at shifting the legal paradigm away punishing...