Commentaries

F.B.I. v. Fazaga: The Secret of the State-Secrets Privilege

Posted on March 10th, 2022

Rebecca Reeves When the government successfully invokes the state-secrets privilege, it allows for evidence to be excluded from trial if making that evidence public would threaten national security. It is unclear, however, under what circumstances this privilege can be invoked, what happens when it is successfully invoked, and what occurs after the evidence is excluded. Continue Reading »

Proper Cause for Concern: New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen

Posted on February 24th, 2022

Ali Rosenblatt Gun rights and gun control advocates alike are watching the Supreme Court, to see what happens in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen. In this pivotal Second Amendment case, the Court finds its first opportunity to substantially extend its 2008 decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, and to Continue Reading »

Addressing Interstate Groundwater Ownership: Mississippi v. Tennessee

Posted on February 18th, 2022

Alec Sweet Contemporaneous with significant climate change and heightened environmental concerns, the Supreme Court has seen an increasing number of water-related lawsuits between states. These lawsuits include disputes over water storage and water compacts as well as disputes over water usage affecting aquaculture. Scientists predict that in the future, the United States could face rising Continue Reading »

Privilege in Peril: U.S. v. Zubaydah and the State Secrets Privilege

Posted on February 2nd, 2022

Alana Mattei U.S. v. Zubaydah presents an opportunity for the Court to settle the scope of the state secrets privilege and the role of the judiciary when the government invokes a claim of privilege. The state secrets privilege, invoked by the executive, gives courts the power to prevent the disclosure of information that could pose a Continue Reading »

Protecting Procedural Safeguards in Federal Capital Trials: United States v. Tsarnaev

Posted on February 1st, 2022

Ashley DaBiere The Commentary considers the constitutionality of (1) the trial court’s exclusion of relevant mitigating evidence during the trial’s penalty phase and (2) the imposition of a death sentence by the Supreme Court during a moratorium on federal executions. In the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, the jury ultimately convicted Continue Reading »

Fourth Amendment Limits on Extensive Quarantine Surveillance

Posted on December 29th, 2021

Benjamin Wolters The devastation wreaked by the COVID-19 pandemic spurred innovations in technology and public policy. Many countries rushed to implement extensive quarantines, and some introduced disease surveillance, including location tracking to enforce quarantines. Though the United States has never implemented high-tech quarantine surveillance, such technology will certainly be available for the next disease outbreak. Continue Reading »

Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee: Examining Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act

Posted on May 3rd, 2021

Arturo Nava In Brnovich, the Court will determine whether Arizona’s out-of-precinct (OOP) policy and its ballot-collection law violate Section 2 of the VRA. The Ninth Circuit held that both voting provisions violate Section 2. The Supreme Court should affirm the Ninth Circuit’s decision, invoking the Section 2 Results Test adopted by multiple circuits, and find that Continue Reading »

United States v. Arthrex Inc.: Clarifying Appointments Clause Requirements for Administrative Judges

Posted on April 30th, 2021

Albert Barkan Article II of the United States Constitution details the methods by which presidential subordinate officers must be appointed. Despite its presence in the Constitution’s original text, the Appointments Clause remains ambiguous. The Clause provides different appointment processes for principal and “inferior officers,” but does not distinguish between these officers’ functions. In United States v. Continue Reading »

California v. Texas: The Denouement of the Affordable Care Act’s Legal Challenges?

Posted on January 28th, 2021

Rachel Sereix In February of 2018, Texas and nineteen other states filed suit against the federal government seeking to have the entire ACA struck down. In the consolidated case California v. Texas, the Court is considering four questions: First, whether Texas and the individual plaintiffs have standing to challenge the individual mandate; Second, whether the Continue Reading »

Ford Motor Company V. Montana Eighth Judicial District Court: Redefining the Nexus Requirement for Specific Jurisdiction

Posted on January 25th, 2021

Brittany Day In Ford Motor Co. v. Montana Eighth Judicial District Court, the Supreme Court will have the opportunity to redefine the nexus requirement for exercising personal jurisdiction over non-resident defendants. The Court will decide whether a national company with an extensive in-state market for a product is amenable to suit in a forum state Continue Reading »

Commentaries

F.B.I. v. Fazaga: The Secret of the State-Secrets Privilege

Posted on March 10th, 2022

Rebecca Reeves When the government successfully invokes the state-secrets privilege, it allows for evidence to be excluded from trial if making that evidence public would threaten national security. It is unclear, however, under what circumstances this privilege can be invoked, what happens when it is successfully invoked, and what occurs after the evidence is excluded. Continue Reading »

Proper Cause for Concern: New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen

Posted on February 24th, 2022

Ali Rosenblatt Gun rights and gun control advocates alike are watching the Supreme Court, to see what happens in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen. In this pivotal Second Amendment case, the Court finds its first opportunity to substantially extend its 2008 decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, and to Continue Reading »

Addressing Interstate Groundwater Ownership: Mississippi v. Tennessee

Posted on February 18th, 2022

Alec Sweet Contemporaneous with significant climate change and heightened environmental concerns, the Supreme Court has seen an increasing number of water-related lawsuits between states. These lawsuits include disputes over water storage and water compacts as well as disputes over water usage affecting aquaculture. Scientists predict that in the future, the United States could face rising Continue Reading »

Privilege in Peril: U.S. v. Zubaydah and the State Secrets Privilege

Posted on February 2nd, 2022

Alana Mattei U.S. v. Zubaydah presents an opportunity for the Court to settle the scope of the state secrets privilege and the role of the judiciary when the government invokes a claim of privilege. The state secrets privilege, invoked by the executive, gives courts the power to prevent the disclosure of information that could pose a Continue Reading »

Protecting Procedural Safeguards in Federal Capital Trials: United States v. Tsarnaev

Posted on February 1st, 2022

Ashley DaBiere The Commentary considers the constitutionality of (1) the trial court’s exclusion of relevant mitigating evidence during the trial’s penalty phase and (2) the imposition of a death sentence by the Supreme Court during a moratorium on federal executions. In the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, the jury ultimately convicted Continue Reading »

Fourth Amendment Limits on Extensive Quarantine Surveillance

Posted on December 29th, 2021

Benjamin Wolters The devastation wreaked by the COVID-19 pandemic spurred innovations in technology and public policy. Many countries rushed to implement extensive quarantines, and some introduced disease surveillance, including location tracking to enforce quarantines. Though the United States has never implemented high-tech quarantine surveillance, such technology will certainly be available for the next disease outbreak. Continue Reading »

Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee: Examining Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act

Posted on May 3rd, 2021

Arturo Nava In Brnovich, the Court will determine whether Arizona’s out-of-precinct (OOP) policy and its ballot-collection law violate Section 2 of the VRA. The Ninth Circuit held that both voting provisions violate Section 2. The Supreme Court should affirm the Ninth Circuit’s decision, invoking the Section 2 Results Test adopted by multiple circuits, and find that Continue Reading »

United States v. Arthrex Inc.: Clarifying Appointments Clause Requirements for Administrative Judges

Posted on April 30th, 2021

Albert Barkan Article II of the United States Constitution details the methods by which presidential subordinate officers must be appointed. Despite its presence in the Constitution’s original text, the Appointments Clause remains ambiguous. The Clause provides different appointment processes for principal and “inferior officers,” but does not distinguish between these officers’ functions. In United States v. Continue Reading »

California v. Texas: The Denouement of the Affordable Care Act’s Legal Challenges?

Posted on January 28th, 2021

Rachel Sereix In February of 2018, Texas and nineteen other states filed suit against the federal government seeking to have the entire ACA struck down. In the consolidated case California v. Texas, the Court is considering four questions: First, whether Texas and the individual plaintiffs have standing to challenge the individual mandate; Second, whether the Continue Reading »

Ford Motor Company V. Montana Eighth Judicial District Court: Redefining the Nexus Requirement for Specific Jurisdiction

Posted on January 25th, 2021

Brittany Day In Ford Motor Co. v. Montana Eighth Judicial District Court, the Supreme Court will have the opportunity to redefine the nexus requirement for exercising personal jurisdiction over non-resident defendants. The Court will decide whether a national company with an extensive in-state market for a product is amenable to suit in a forum state Continue Reading »