Category: Constitutional Law
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The Independence of State Constitutional Interpretation and The New Jersey Courts’ Reliance on Federal Doctrines of Liberty
By David Chau — Under the American Federalism system, 51 constitutions coexist. They often overlap and come into conflict with each other over a plethora of issues from governance to individual liberties. As state constitutional law continues to rise in…
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“Best Interest” vs. Strict Scrutiny: The Battle for the Freedom of Speech in Child Custody and CPS Cases
By Kaylee Kasper — As it stands, the US legal system promotes a largely hands-off approach to regulating the internal affairs of families. Parents have the liberty to determine how they intend to raise their children, dictating their day-to-day activities…
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Abortion Exceptionalism in the Post-Dobbs Period: Violation of Equal Protection?
By Anika Sekar — Arbortion exceptionalism refers to the substantial difference in how abortion is treated compared to other medical procedures and forms of medical care. Oftentimes, abortion is subject to additional regulations that similar medicines are not; for example,…
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Should Homelessness be a Crime? A Critique of City of Grants Pass v. Johnson
By Vinayak Menon — By July 24, 2018, Debra Blake was banned from entering every park in the small city of Grants Pass, Oregon. Her offense was trying to find a place to sleep. A decade earlier, Blake had lost…
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What Constitutes a Human life?: Religious Language in Alabama’s Abortion Ruling
By Rida Mian — On February 16, 2024, the Supreme Court of Alabama released the controversial ruling that an extrauterine embryo is considered a person in the context of the law. The ruling came from an appeals case in which…
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Originalism and Jury Nullification in America: A Legal Basis for the Restoration of a Lost Right
By Lawson Wright — A peal of alarm bells shattered the brisk yet tranquil Saturday morning in Boston on February 15, 1851. A mob had stormed the local courthouse in an effort to rescue fugitive slave Shadrach Minkins from being…
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Protecting the First Amendment in Stopping Cop City: Unconstitutional Overbreadth in Georgia’s RICO Laws
By James Swinehart — In March 2021, then-Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms alongside the Atlanta Police Foundation announced plans to build the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center—a massive $90 million police training facility boasting shooting ranges, explosives testing grounds, and…
