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Cultivating Thoughtful Dialogue, Shared Humanity, and Emotional Intelligence in Client Counseling Courses
Full text linkHistorically, client counseling courses in law schools across the country omitted concepts fundamental to a successful attorney-client relationship–thoughtful dialogue, shared humanity, and emotional intelligence. Psychology and the practice of law, including the omitted concepts, are now being integrated into more courses each semester. The essay demonstrates how I integrate them into my own course and work alongside students to help them practice those concepts and the most important skill of active listening. The students’ practice requires thoughtful work around self-awareness, bias, power, and money–topics often neglected because of the discomfort involved in their contemplation and reflection. The earlier students are able to grapple with those skills, concepts, and ideas in their legal career, the more fulfilling they will find their legal career and, I believe, will decrease the likelihood of burnout
Bail-ing Out of Cash Bail: Navigating the Pretrial Fairness Act and Illinois’ Cashless Frontier
Full text linkCash bail, once a tool intended to ensure appearances in court, has evolved into a system that disproportionately incarcerates marginalized and economically disadvantaged communities. This national reckoning with the failures of the cash bail system necessiates a critical reevaluation of pretrial justice in the United States. Calls for bail reform have been ringing across the nation and Illinois has answered.
This note critically examines the Pretrial Fairness Act (PFA), a landmark reform in the Illinois SAFE-T Act which abolishes cash bail and restores the presumption of innocence to pretrial detention decisions in Illinois. In response to the systemic inequities of the American cash bail system which unfairly targets marginalized communities, the PFA seeks to rectify these disparities representing a transformative shift in pretrial practices. This note traces the historical origins of cash bail in America, highlighting the economic disparities inherent within the system. It also provides a detailed analysis of the legislative history of the PFA, its key provisions, and the Illinois Supreme Court’s affirmation of its constitutionality. This note continues to explore the PFA’s potential efficacy by comparing it with other similar reforms across the United States and analyzing data regarding the PFA’s implementation. Through this lens, this note casts its eyes to the future for potential legal challenges and assesses whether the PFA can serve as a national model for bail reform to construct a better, more equitable pretrial system
Judicial Jujitsu in the New Originalism
Full text linkThe Supreme Court’s adoption of the “history and tradition” test has prompted a substantial body of critique. Most of that critique has focused on problems connected with historical analysis, but additional aspects of the test’s application warrant scrutiny. This essay focuses on one of those: how the Supreme Court redefined what counts as evidence of a right in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The Court applied the same test in Dobbs that it had in New York State Rifle and Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen in an opposite manner to reach the opposite result. In Bruen, the Court found rights in the absence of state regulation, while in Dobbs, the Court refused to find rights without evidence of positive limitations on state regulation. This sleight-of-hand application was just one of several at the Court’s disposal. By identifying the ways the doctrine can be manipulated, this essay seeks to reveal opportunities to resist efforts to roll back additional rights
Chemerinsky’s Lament: Insurrection, Secession, and the End of American Democracy
Full text linkIn his latest book, No Democracy Lasts Forever, Erwin Chemerinsky laments the decline of democracy in America. Citing problems like the Electoral College, the Senate, and partisan gerrymandering, Chemerinsky posits that the United States Constitution itself is to blame. If we do not amend it in radical ways, he argues, then America is likely to break apart as prosperous, populous states like California no longer find it in their interest to preserve the union. Though riveting, Chemerinsky’s account fails to acknowledge that the Constitution’s undemocratic features have long served to preserve the union, and may well continue to do so in the future
WHAT’S PAST IS PROLOGUE: THE EFFECTS OF SHELBY COUNTY V. HOLDER IN GEORGIA
Full text linkThe Supreme Court’s decision in Shelby County v. Holder, which struck down Section 4 and, by extension, Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, created a clear path for discriminatory voting laws to take hold. This article explores how the Supreme Court decision paved the way for second-generation barriers to voting, which legally diminish the influence of minority voters and in some cases, effectively block their participation altogether. It also examines Georgia’s role as a key state advancing these second-generation barriers to voting, alongside proposed legislation aimed at preventing these discriminatory practices before they can impact voters.https://scholarship.law.slu.edu/lawjournalonline/1129/thumbnail.jp
ANTIQUATED PRACTICES IN MISSISSIPPI THAT ARE IMPEDING THE RIGHT TO VOTE
Full text linkMississippi is historically one of the most difficult states to cast a vote, especially for marginalized groups. Despite voting becoming more accessible throughout the United States, recently, Mississippi courts and legislature have sought to reverse years of progress by denying those convicted of felonies the right to vote upon reform and by making it a crime to assist others in casting absentee and mail-in ballots. In this paper, Amanda Noel discusses the implications of Mississippi’s attempts at disenfranchisement and proposes feasible solutions to aid those in accessing their fundamental right to vote.https://scholarship.law.slu.edu/lawjournalonline/1131/thumbnail.jp
Whose Labor Law Do We Follow? St. Louis’s Jesuits and Labor Justice
Full text linkIn this essay, Br. Ken Homan, SJ explores how Jesuits in St. Louis varyingly referred to Natural Law and statutory law when addressing questions of labor rights and justice. Homan provides three categories of engagement before turning to the present-day relationships between mission-oriented institutions, workers, and the state. Homan argues that all three parties are at their best and can avoid state-religion entanglement when they actively seek to promote worker justice
Originalism and the Chronological Separation of Powers
Full text linkInspired by the 2024 Childress Lecture, this essay considers originalism in two distinct guises: first, as a method of constitutional interpretation and then, as a politically-coded signal used to ensure predictability of judicial behavior. Regarding interpretation, the essay critiques originalism and its claim as a determinative source of constitutional understanding as a violation of the oft-overlooked chronological separation of powers embedded in the Constitution. Though originalism is often styled as a way of checking the power of judges, it threatens to impose a tyranny of the past that runs counter to a constitutional structure built upon the diffusion of power. However, in the twenty-first century, originalism has become more than an interpretive tool. With the elevated stakes of modern judicial appointments, originalism has taken on a new form, rooted in political resistance to particular cases, such as Brown and Roe, as a signal that judges will arrive at predictable constitutional conclusions. The essay argues that both originalism the interpretive method and originalism the political signaling tool distort modern constitutional interpretation
Meat, The Future: The Role Of Regulators In The Lab-Grown Revolution
Full text linkThe United States is one of the largest consumers of meat globally. The production of meat contributes substantially to climate change due to the levels of greenhouse gasses emitted and the amount of land, water, feed, and other natural resources required to raise animals used for meat. Traditional meat production is another major source for the emergence of zoonotic diseases and antimicrobial-resistant pathogens. Nevertheless, Americans consume more meat now than at any time in the nation’s history.
Advocates for policy change aimed at addressing the risks associated with meat production have typically focused on reducing meat consumption, alternatives to meat, or improving the standards of traditional meat production. These are laudable goals, but an emerging technology now promises meat production that may avoid these risks entirely. Enter “lab-grown meat”; meat cultivated in an efficient and controlled laboratory environment without the need for fields, feed, or even animals.
The technology has been in development for over 100 years but has seen exponential growth in the past 5 years. What was previously considered a science fiction fantasy became a reality in the US in 2023 when UPSIDE Foods and GOOD Meat receivedSuggeste