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“Seeking the Fruits of Their Labors”: The Story of Johnson v. McAdoo, the First Major Reparations Case
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You Have the Right to Remain Silent, and It Can and Will Be Used Against You: Addressing Post-Arrest Pre-Miranda Silence
Get PDFThe right to remain silent has long been recognized by the Supreme Court as requiring a high degree of protection. Since Miranda v. Arizona was decided in 1966, procedural safeguards have been put in place to inform individuals of this right upon arrest. Yet, a gray area exists when it comes to the use of an individual\u27s silence post-arrest. It may surprise some that a point in time exists when an individual has not yet been read their Miranda rights post-arrest. Several circuit courts have taken the position that any silence that follows arrest but precedes the reading of Miranda rights can be used against an individual as evidence of their guilt. The unresolved circuit split on the issue of post-arrest pre-Miranda silence continues to pose a threat to one of the most fundamental rights afforded to individuals. Resolution is not out of the Court\u27s reach. By incorporating existing precedent and establishing a bright-line rule which would require formal arrest to immediately trigger Miranda\u27s procedural safeguards, the Court can ensure that the constitutional guarantees which are so deeply rooted in our justice system may continue to prosper
Once Mentally Ill, Always a Danger? Lifetime Bans on Gun Ownership Under Fire Following Involuntary Commitment
Get PDF18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(4) imposes a lifetime ban on those who have been involuntarily committed to a mental institution from purchasing, or possessing a firearm, regardless of an extended passage of time, or a finding that the individual is unlikely to pose a danger to themselves or the public. Three circuits have created a split concerning the constitutionality of this statute. The Third Circuit held in Beers v. Attorney General United States that those involuntarily committed were outside of the scope of the Second Amendment; therefore, the § 922(g)(4)’s categorical ban is constitutional. Next, the Ninth Circuit in Mai v. United States assumed, without deciding, that these same individuals are inside of the scope of the Second Amendment but held § 922(g)(4) constitutional under intermediate scrutiny as applied to those whose commitments were long ago. Finally, the Sixth Circuit held in Tyler v. Hillsdale City Sheriff’s Department, that individuals such as Tyler, who had been involuntarily committed into a mental institution, were within the Second Amendment’s scope. The Sixth Circuit held § 922(g)(4) unconstitutional under intermediate scrutiny
There’s No “Gender” in Team: Developing State Policies for the Inclusion of the Transgender Interscholastic Athlete
Get PDFThe transgender athlete is a relatively new concept challenging the norm of gender division in sports. Multiple states across the United States have yet to update their policies to include the transgender athlete in interscholastic athletics. State policies that do include transgender student athletes are currently being challenged on the grounds that they violate Title IX of the Educational Amendments to the 1964 Civil Rights Act. This review considers the different state policies dictating the inclusion of transgender student athletes in school sports. After evaluating the impact of omitting transgender students from participating on sports teams, this review maintains that every state should implement an inclusive policy to avoid discriminating against young transgender students. While these individuals have many obstacles to face in life, high school athletics should not be one of them
An American Dream Gone Green: A Discussion of Existing Environmental Marketing Regulations and the Need for Stricter Legislation
Get PDFMany consumers seek to purchase environmentally friendly products and companies have responded with “green” marketing, which includes claims of environmental benefits and sustainability with respect to what is being sold. Unfortunately, these claims often overstate their impact on the environment or are presented in a way to mislead consumers. This practice is referred to as greenwashing. Not only does it harm consumers, but it potentially harms the reputation of truly eco-friendly companies that are viewed with skepticism or outright distrust due to the deceitfulness of companies that do engage in greenwashing.
This Note discusses the lack of legislation that currently exists to properly punish and deter greenwashing through an examination of the Lanham Act, the Better Business Bureau’s National Advertising Division, and the Federal Trade Commission’s Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims. Furthermore, it argues that the Federal Trade Commission’s Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims—while nonbinding—are actually written like legislative rules, and thus should be promulgated as such to make a difference in the fight against greenwashing in the United States
End of Life, Elder Abuse, and Guardianship: An Exploration of New York’s Surrogate Decision-Making Framework
Get PDFThe best end of life care is always that which aligns with the wishes and values of the incapacitated person. For individuals with the capacity to execute advance directives, these documents and conversations with appointed surrogates are the clearest way to make care values known. However, the time, access, and ability to engage in advance planning is not an opportunity equally afforded.For those without advance directives and now involved in a guardianship proceeding, the party petitioning or otherwise involved in the case should consider addressing end of life decision-making directly in the guardianship hearing when major medical decision-making power may be granted. Although this is not necessary in all guardianship proceedings, older adults with progressive diagnoses that are found to lack capacity are likely to have a guardian at the end of life. The hearing may present a unique opportunity to explore end of life wishes before capacity is further impacted or diminished over time. Clarity about who the surrogate decision-maker is and any indication of the AIP’s wishes’ and values can be invaluable. When available, testimony about conversations addressing end of life care values and wishes from family members, friends, or professionals should be elicited during the guardianship proceeding.
To ensure the guardian’s powers are clear, involved parties can advocate to specifically include “end of life care” in the petition and request the same language in the final guardianship order. This provides an opportunity to address this power before the court while clarifying the role and responsibilities of the parties involved. Once appointed, guardians with major medical powers must directly discuss end of life care questions with the IP. If the IP’s answer is unclear, the guardian must work diligently to discern their ward’s value system and beliefs by reaching out to family, friends, or professionals that may be able to attest to that value system. Particularly when the IP has progressive disease that impacts cognition, the earlier the guardian can have these conversations, the better. By the time these decisions must be made, the IP may no longer be able to indicate their wishes. Even in states that do not allow a guardian to make end of life decisions without a court order, genuine attempts to have these conversations must be made. Although the guardian will have to go back to court before making any decisions, these conversations and indications of wishes and values will be key information for any hearing or request to the court. Unique tools have been developed to facilitate these difficult conversations. For example, tools like Five Wishes, Prepare for Your Care, and The Conversation Project all offer clear questions and topics to address some of the complicated scenarios and care choices at end of life. These complex conversations and decisions are a vital—and often overlooked or ignored—part of the guardian’s role. Some guardians try to avoid the topic all together in an attempt to avoid this responsibility or feared liability, but this attempt to avoid making the decision is a decision in itself
Crisis as a Catalyst for Rebirth: Disrupting Entrenched Educational Inequality in the COVID Era
Get PDFThe public health and socio-economic crisis that has resulted from the pandemic has amplified existing social inequalities. The disparate racial impact of COVID-19 is a consequence of enduring social, economic, and political injustices that manifest in the form of health status and access, wealth, employment, and housing, all of which have contributed to a greater susceptibility to the virus by racially minoritized communities. racial inequities, educational inequities,
The compounding of racial inequities in all aspects of American life has logically extended to the educational sphere, where pre-pandemic educational inequities have been greatly exacerbated. In marking the passage of the 65th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, we must take stock of the current civil rights challenges of our time. This paper will examine the state of educational inequality from a racial lens both prior to and during the COVID crisis. As this paper will explain, the pandemic has further revealed the American public education system to be as inherently as unequal as it was during Jim Crow segregation. Race-neutral educational policies and funding has been exposed as little more than a thin veneer for reconceptualized, contemporary iterations of a pre-Brown system that has failed children of color and continues to do us under the modern regime.
America has a long overdue and unsettled educational and moral debt to pay to its Black and Brown children. In examining the historical conditions that have allowed for advances in racial justice, this paper will argue in favor of the possibility of ideological and systemic change amidst crisis. A structural rebirth that abandons white hegemony cannot, however, be achieved through legal reform alone. The patently unequal education afforded to non-white children, even after more than half a century of civil rights litigation, demands a renewed focus on educational equality that is centered on the needs of Black and Brown children. It necessitates the creation of a robust educational reparation programs and the desegregation of school funding that ensures that children of color are able to access a high quality public education premised on fair funding and that abandons artificial notions of colorblindness and a far-from-achieved post-racial reality