Category: Constitutional Law
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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 returned to slavery under the newly strengthened Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Intended to mend…
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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 a mock city for urban warfare training, bestowing the project with its popular nickname, “Cop…
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Sweet Home Alabama: Navigating Home Rule Status Through State Federalism
By Justin Murdock — In the intricate mosaic of Alabama’s municipal governance, the echoes of the 1901 Constitution, etched in the tumultuous Jim Crow era, still reverberate through the corridors of legal power. This article navigates the complexities of the state’s non-Home Rule status and the implications of Dillon’s Rule, unraveling the intricate dynamic between…
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The First Amendment and the Abortion Rights Debate
By Sofia Cipriano — Following Dobbs v. Jackson’s (2022) reversal of Roe v. Wade (1973) — and the subsequent revocation of federal abortion protection — activists and scholars have begun to reconsider how to best ground abortion rights in the Constitution. In the past year, numerous Jewish rights groups have attempted to overturn state abortion…
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FISA and the USA PATRIOT Act: Reforms and Legal Implications
By Lizzie Evanko — Congress passed the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) in 1978, in an effort to establish a legal framework for the physical and electronic surveillance of foreign entities. FISA allowed the federal government to collect intelligence on any foreign power (or agent of a foreign power) suspected of terrorism or espionage. The…
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Affirmative Action’s Strict Scrutiny Revisited: Creating Meaningful Compelling Interests
By David Chau — The current national fabric of the United States is a colorful one. However, to reach that level of inclusivity, it took mass grievances demanding change and slow government acquiescence, creating a more equal, equitable representation in government to “form a more perfect union.” Some of these calls for reform moved their…
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Social Media Platforms as Publishers: Evaluating the First Amendment Basis for Content Moderation
By Jimmy Fraley — In recent years, many Republican politicians have become increasingly vocal about the content censorship imposed by social media companies. These Republicans are concerned that social media companies have taken actions to censor conservative speech and have engaged in a type of viewpoint policing. This concern has turned into action, with Jim…