Combining the statistical data on the rapidly shifting demography of the federal judiciary under President Trump with insights from the scholarly literature on theories of procedural justice and representative bureaucracy, which posit that the diversity of judges matters to citizens’ perceptions of justice as well as to judicial accountability to minority citizens’ interests, this paper suggests...
The School Civil Rights Vacuum
This Article argues that courts unjustifiably limit public school liability under both the Fourteenth Amendment and Title IX for student physical, verbal, and sexual harassment and abuse.
Substance, Procedure, and the Rules Enabling Act
This Article articulates an understanding of the Rules Enabling Act that will equip the Supreme Court with the ability to judge a rule’s validity—and give the rulemakers much clearer guidance regarding the outer boundaries of their remit.
Second Thoughts on “One Last Chance”?
This Article explores the implications of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Janus in light of the Court’s apparent adherence to “the doctrine of one last chance,” which requires the Court to give advance notice of its willingness to issue disruptive decisions.
Biometric Passwords and the Fifth Amendment: How Technology Has Outgrown the Right to Be Free From Self-Incrimination
An individual cannot “plead the Fifth” if asked to unlock a smartphone using a physical feature. On the other hand, an individual who possesses the same smartphone, but uses a nonbiometric password, can successfully “plead the Fifth” and refuse to disclose the password. This Comment explores this legal issue and sets forth a proposal on how courts can extend the Fifth Amendment privilege against...
No More Hieleras: Doe v. Kelly’s Fight for Constitutional Rights at the Border
U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) short-term holding cells have received mass media attention because of their inhumane and punitive conditions. CBP agents and immigration detainees alike refer to these cells as hieleras. This Comment draws attention to rights violations inside hieleras and is the first to analyze a groundbreaking class action lawsuit brought by an immigrants’ rights...
Bakke at 40: Remedying Black Health Disparities Through Affirmative Action in Medical School Admissions
In this Comment, I argue that the persistence of racial health disparities today is not only a relic of a long history of anti-Black racism in healthcare, but a consequence of the Court’s colorblind approach to affirmative action jurisprudence since U.C. Regents v. Bakke and the restrictions in access to predominantly white institutions that have resulted. In recounting the history of racism in...
Monopolizing Trade: Airline Ticket Change Policies and the Thwarted Secondary Market
Suppose you have a domestic economy-class airline ticket that you can no longer use. In the 1980s and early ’90s, there was a secondary market in domestic airline tickets, carried out openly in newspaper classifieds. Though many tickets were nominally nontransferable, back then, the airlines didn’t check every passenger’s name. Problem solved. But now, American, Delta, and United will charge you...