CategoryDiscourse

Discourse publishes shorter articles that are timely, interdisciplinary, and novel. Discourse strives to serve as a platform for scholars, ideas, and discussions that have often been overlooked in traditional law review settings. Because we seek to publish pieces that are accessible to legal and non-legal audiences alike, Discourse articles are generally between 3,000 and 10,000 words. Like our print journal, Discourse articles are published on Westlaw, Lexis, and in other legal databases, as well as our own website. Beginning with Volume 68, Discourse began publishing special issues of Law Meets World.

August 31, 2020

Making Unemployment Insurance Work For Working People

By Emma Janger, Nicole Rubin, and Sejal Singh
In Discourse, Special Issue: Law Meets World Vol. 68
August 31, 2020
28 Min read
31August

Abstract During just the first four months the COVID-19 pandemic, 50 million people applied for unemployment insurance. The COVID-19 economic crisis has exposed a frayed social safety net that simply does not work for working people. In this Article, we describe how the unemployment insurance system punishes working people, rather than supporting them, in times of crisis; excludes many vulnerable...

August 31, 2020

Deliberate Endangerment: Detention Of Noncitizens During The COVID-19 Pandemic

By Karlyn Kurichety
In Discourse, Special Issue: Law Meets World Vol. 68
August 31, 2020
18 Min read

Abstract In the midst of worldwide efforts to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) continues to detain noncitizens in dangerous conditions that create a high risk of infection.  This Article explores the dire situation facing detained noncitizens as a result of the government’s decision to imprison tens of thousands of people in civil confinement during an...

August 31, 2020

Mental Health And Homelessness In The Wake Of Covid-19: The Path To Supportive And Affordable Housing

By Michael Novasky and Tina Rosales
In Discourse, Special Issue: Law Meets World Vol. 68
August 31, 2020
24 Min read

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has shone a bright light on the public health crisis faced by people experiencing homelessness, and particularly those with mental illnesses.  The lack of clean, safe, and affordable housing in the  United States’s largest cities, and the limited access to supportive care for people experiencing symptoms of mental illness, is emblematic of not just this current...

August 31, 2020

Reentering During a Pandemic

By Fernando Nuñez
In Discourse, Special Issue: Law Meets World Vol. 68
August 31, 2020
18 Min read

Abstract Criminal record clearing remains an important tool to combat the overrepresentation of Black and Latinx people in unemployment and homelessness statistics that is a consequence of systemic racism.  Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated these barriers by making it harder to clear criminal records while increasing the demand for employment and housing.  Specifically, the...

August 31, 2020

Utopía Del Lekil Kushlejal (Vida Plena):

By Matías Pérez Mendoza
In Discourse, Special Issue: Law Meets World Vol. 68
August 31, 2020
38 Min read

Resumen El personaje principal del pequeño escrito es Balam, él sobre los acontecimientos que ha vivido a lo largo de su vida. Balam fue un niño con muchas restricciones debido a su cultura. Balam se separa de su madre a su corta edad y es ahí donde empezó a entender que el sufrimiento, la tristeza es parte de la vida. Balam va narrando conforme a las etapas de su crecimiento y dentro de estas...

August 31, 2020

Staying Healthy In A Pandemic: How The COVID-19 Emergency Has Strengthened Barriers To Healthcare For California’s Vulnerable Populations

By Adrian Slipski
In Discourse, Special Issue: Law Meets World Vol. 68
August 31, 2020
23 Min read

Abstract COVID-19 has completely refashioned our healthcare landscape and day-to-day lives.  During the pandemic, we have all transitioned to a new normal which includes remote work, navigating health insurance options after losing employment or becoming underemployed, and partaking in cautious outings outside of our homes equipped with face masks, gloves, and antibacterial gel or wipes.  The...

August 31, 2020

From Commodities To Communities: Reimagining Housing After The Pandemic

By Nisha N. Vyas and Matthew Warren
In Discourse, Special Issue: Law Meets World Vol. 68
August 31, 2020
21 Min read

Abstract While COVID-19 is not the root cause of housing insecurity, the pandemic has pulled hundreds of thousands of Californians to the precipice of housing loss.  This Article describes the existing eviction process that values individual property rights over the human right to housing, and describes proposed legislative solutions to prevent evictions en masse before considering urgent long...

August 31, 2020

1200 Dollars And A Mule: COVID-19, The CARES Act, And Reparations For Slavery

By Kaimipono David Wenger
In Discourse, Special Issue: Law Meets World Vol. 68
August 31, 2020
21 Min read

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic casts into sharp relief a number of questions relating to reparations.  In particular, the COVID-19 crisis highlights the medical vulnerability of the Black community, illustrating the very real physical harm caused by slavery and racism in the United States.  At the same time, government responses to the crisis demonstrate the ability to distribute money to large...

July 28, 2020

Abolishing Racist Policing With the Thirteenth Amendment

By Brandon Hasbrouck
In Discourse
July 28, 2020
52 Min read
28July

This Essay is also forthcoming in our print edition. Abstract Policing in America has always been about controlling the Black body. Indeed, modern policing was birthed and nurtured by white supremacy; its roots are found in slavery. Policing today continues to protect and serve the racial hierarchy blessed by the Constitution itself. But a string of U.S. Supreme Court rulings involving the...

July 22, 2020

Love in the Time of Cholera

By Richard Delgado & Jean Stefancic
In Discourse
July 22, 2020
42 Min read
22July

Abstract A famous novel by Gabriel García Márquez describes a love story among three actors that took place in a city in Colombia during the time of cholera.  The interpersonal dynamics that unfold in this work by a Nobel Prize-winning writer offer insight into events taking place today.  We show how the urge to romanticize emotions during a time of great social stress, as well as the desire to...

July 16, 2020

Jump v. Los Angeles: Removing Platforms Further from Democratic Control?

By Beatriz Botero Arcila
In Discourse
July 16, 2020
31 Min read
16July

Abstract In March 2020, Jump, Uber’s e-scooter subsidiary, sued the Los Angeles Department of Transportation over a rule that requires the company to share real-time location data about its e-scooters with the city government.  Jump argues that the rule operates in practice as a warrantless administrative search.  It also argues that all the data it collects from its users are part of its...

June 23, 2020

How the Law Fails Tenants (And not Just During a Pandemic)

By Sarah Schindler & Kellen Zale
In Discourse
June 23, 2020
23 Min read
23June

Abstract In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, all levels of government are considering how to protect public health by keeping people in their homes, even if they can no longer afford their monthly mortgage or rent payments. The protections that have emerged thus far have been far more protective of homeowners than renters. This essay exposes how the disparity in legal protections for these two...

June 23, 2020

The Folly of Credit as Pandemic Relief

By Pamela Foohey, Dalié Jiménez, & Christopher K. Odinet
In Discourse
June 23, 2020
37 Min read

Abstract Within weeks of the coronavirus pandemic appearing in the United States, the American economy came to a grinding halt. The unprecedented modern health crisis and the collapsing economy forced Congress to make a critical choice about how to help families survive financially. Congress had two basic options. It could enact policies that provided direct and meaningful financial support to...

May 24, 2020

The Shifting Frontiers of Standing: How Litigation over Border Wall Funding is Exposing Standing's Current Doctrinal Fault Lines

By Raymond H. Brescia
In Discourse
May 24, 2020
66 Min read
24May

Abstract When President Trump announced that he was diverting funds from other items in the federal budget to satisfy a campaign promise to build a wall on the U.S.–Mexico border, a range of litigants lined up to challenge this action in the courts, including nonprofit organizations; state governments; the border county of El Paso, Texas; and the U.S. House of Representatives.  At the heart of...