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Resurrecting Tradition: The Challenge from and towards Kelly Brown Douglas’s Resurrecting Hope
No full textThis paper reviews Kelly Brown Douglas’s Resurrecting Hope and brings it into conversation with certain themes in Catholic theology and with the theory of the scapegoat mechanism articulated by the French intellectual, René Girard
"Diagnosed with New Health": Social Security Policy Recommendations for People with Cystic Fibrosis in Ohio Transitioning to a Longer Lifespan
No full textCystic fibrosis (CF) is a chronic, progressive, genetic, and life-limiting lung disease that impacts approximately 105,000 individuals globally, including 40,000 individuals in the United States. In 2019, a revolutionary new drug, elexacaftor/ivacaftor/tezacaftor (ETI), was approved to manage some of the major symptoms of CF and dramatically increase the lifespan of people with cystic fibrosis (pwCF). Many individuals with CF cannot work full time and require Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), and other financial assistance programs to pay for treatments and medical expenses. Yet in recent years, pwCF who are on ETI have been increasingly losing benefits. A possible explanation for this is the effectiveness of ETI in improving lung function, creating the perception that pwCF are no longer disabled by their condition. Even with this “miracle" drug, pwCF continue to experience significant complications and vulnerabilities to their physical and mental health as well as limitations on daily living and employment. The compounded vulnerabilities these individuals experience leave them without a safety net. Social Security policies for pwCF require revisions to prevent further biopsychosocial damage to this population. Two policies will be recommended: leniency in redetermination, and CF education for those who make determination decisions
Exploring Redevelopment and Police Presence in Bushwick, Brooklyn, Using Photovoice Methodology
No full textThe relationship between redevelopment and police presence is demonstrated in many neighborhoods by the influx of new residentsfrom suburban or rural areas and shifts in police response. As property values increase, police may prioritize order maintenance policing, also known as "broken windows" policing (Beck, 2020, p.247). This is disproportionately felt by Black and Brown residents who often suffer the consequences of rising costs, displacement, increased surveillance, and police presence. This paper explores the relationship between urban redevelopment and policing in one of the most popular neighborhoods in the borough of Brooklyn–Bushwick. As a socialwork researcher of color, I want to share the narratives that often go overlooked. I felt secure and empowered to conduct research and report my findings as a community member who is seeking to support and collaborate with my community. Photovoice allows me to do just this by highlighting the daily realities in my neighborhood. However, having more voices from long-term community members is imperative and will be essential in further exploration of this topic.
Keywords: gentrification, redevelopment, policing, police presence, Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York City, photovoice, etc
The Methane Majors: Climate Change and Animal Agriculture in U.S. Courts
Get PDFOver two dozen lawsuits have been filed in U.S. courts against fossil fuel companies by state and local government plaintiffs alleging cli-mate harms and deceptions. But there are other central actors beyond these “Carbon Majors” that contribute heavily to the warming climate. Prominent among them is the animal agriculture sector, a significant emitter of greenhouse gases overall and an especially important source of potent methane emissions. Animal agriculture has thus far escaped most climate litigants’ notice. In jurisdictions around the world, though, the industry has begun to face serious legal challenges premised on its role in driving climate change.
After developing a first-of-its-kind comparative survey highlighting the most consequential legal challenges to date, this Article explores the present reality and future possibilities of climate change and ani-mal agriculture litigation in the United States. With lessons and prec-edents drawn from both foreign and U.S. case law, we chart a variety of strategic courses that those who seek to hold animal agriculture ac-countable might consider. Given the United States’ outsized role in the global animal agriculture industry and inadequate regulation of its climate harms, climate change and animal agriculture litigation—whether successful in court, the court of public opinion, or both—could prove a powerful driver of climate change adaptation and mitigation in the years to come. As this Article demonstrates, a spate of “Methane Majors” cases may be on the horizon
Bystanders to a Public Health Crisis: The Failures of the U.S. Multi-Agency Regulatory Approach to Food Safety in the Face of Persistent Organic Pollutants
Get PDFPer- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are devastating our food systems and our health. Due to widespread use, these synthetic, long-lasting chemicals, are omnipresent at dangerous levels in our envi-ronment and our homes. Recent studies link even small exposure to PFAS to a host of adverse health outcomes, including cancer, autoim-mune diseases, thyroid disease, liver damage, childhood obesity, infer-tility, and birth defects.
Food consumption is a primary route of PFAS exposure. PFAS mi-grate from water, soil, fertilizers, pesticides, and compost into virtually every plant, fish, animal, and animal product, and ultimately (in the greatest concentration) into the consumer. In addition, food pro-cessing equipment, disposable dishes, and containers leach dangerous levels of these chemicals into processed food products, further infusing our every meal with PFAS. Consequently, it is no surprise everything from chocolate cake and microwave popcorn to free range eggs, wildcaught fish, organic milk, and organic kale can harbor staggering quantities of these toxic substances.
Despite the widespread presence of these substances and strong sci-entific evidence of their harmful impact on humans, federal regulation of PFAS in food is currently nonexistent. At least fifteen agencies have a mandate to ensure the safety of our food. More is not always better. In the case of regulatory agencies, it can lead to fragmented demand for attention, diffusion of responsibilities, and bureaucratic bystander apathy. This story has played out time and again with other toxic con-taminants like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and pesticides and is playing out yet again with PFAS. Despite our country’s devastating experience with past contaminants and the unprecedented scientific progress of our time, the federal response to new food safety threats has only become more sluggish and inadequate.
This article lays a pathway for change, taking the issue of PFAS food contamination as a case study for the broader dysfunction in the food safety regulatory system. Part II reviews the history of federal food regulation and explores the role that each federal actor in the field plays in ensuring the safety of the food supply. Part III provides back-ground on the chemical and toxicological profile of PFAS and their widespread presence in the environment in general and the food sup-ply in particular. Part IV examines possible approaches to more effec-tive regulation of environmental contaminants in food and proposes a readily available but currently overlooked mechanism for combatting the current public health crisis of PFAS in food. Lastly, Part V cata-logues the expected benefits of the solution and addresses anticipated skepticism. It concludes that the proposed approach can effectively protect consumers from PFAS in food today, while simultaneously gar-nering much needed data to usher in a more permanent solution in the future
Keep Charitable Oversight in the IRS
Get PDF Critics are increasingly calling for Congress to remove charity regulation from the IRS. The critics are wrong. Congress should maintain charity regulation in the IRS. What is at stake is balancing power between the state, charity as civil society, and the economic order. In a well-balanced democracy, civil society maintains its independence from the state and the economic order. Removing charitable jurisdiction from the IRS would blind the IRS to dollars placed in the charitable sector increasing tax and political shelters and wealthy dominance of charities as civil society. A new agency without understanding of, or jurisdiction over, tax cannot act as the bulwark as can the IRS. The critics are right that both the states and the IRS are failing at charitable regulation. Ideally, Congress would allocate sufficient resources to the IRS. However, the long history of charity regulation shows that they are unwilling to allocate the resources to this endeavor. This, in fact, is a flaw of the proposals for a quasi-federal charitable regulatory agency. These proposals will not generate new funds but will instead spread scarce resources even thinner. Instead, Congress should acknowledge its unwillingness to adequately fund charity regulation and shrink the tax-exempt sector by removing the parts that have limited justification for charitable benefits, such as hospitals and private foundations
Interdisciplinary Sources & Methods for the Study of Pre-Archival Societies: The Case of Baghdad
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My Unfair Lady: An Analysis of the CFPB's Authority to Prosecute Discriminatory Conduct under Dodd-Frank’s UDAAP Standard in the Age of the Major Questions Doctrine
Get PDFAccording to President Lyndon B. Johnson, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 “affirmed that men equal under God are also equal when they seek a job, when they go to get a meal in a restaurant, or when they seek lodging for the night in any State in the Union.” Neither Congress nor President Johnson, however, mentioned bank accounts, overdraft fees, or access to bank branches. On March 16, 2022—nearly six decades later—the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau attempted to fill this gap. It revised its examination manual to identify discrimination in consumer financial products as an “unfair, deceptive, or abusive act or practice.” When Congress established the CFPB in 2010, it expressly empowered it to eliminate such practices, adopting a standard which it has featured in federal law since 1938. Various agencies have previously considered using the standard to address discrimination, but until March 2022 none ever had.
So why now? The CFPB’s newly appointed director, Rohit Chopra, announced the change to the examination manual and said, “When a person is denied access to a bank account because of their religion or race, this is unambiguously unfair.”
Less than five months after the announcement, however, the Supreme Court threw the agency’s decision into doubt by offering a new framework for evaluating agency statutory interpretation in West Virginia v. EPA. The West Virginia case announces a new “major questions doctrine” in which agency action requires clear congressional authorization depending on the “history and breadth of the authority that [the agency] has asserted” and its “economic and political significance.” On September 28, 2022, industry groups led by the Chamber of Commerce filed suit against the CFPB, citing West Virginia v. EPA in claiming the CFPB overstepped its statutory authority. On September 8, 2023, a federal judge sitting in the Eastern District of Texas decided against the CFPB, enjoining the agency from implementing its anti-discrimination policy. The judge cited the major questions doctrine and West Virginia v. EPA in striking down the agency’s revision as beyond its statutory authority.
This Note considers the effects of West Virginia v. EPA and the ‘major questions doctrine’ on anti-discrimination efforts by the CFPB and other federal agencies, specifically analyzing discrimination as a “major question,” and determining the lengths to which the UDAAP standard “clearly authorizes” anti-discrimination action. Given the political significance of anti-discrimination laws, the potential ramifications of allowing the CFPB freedom to interpret the UDAAP standard, and the long history of a narrower interpretation of the law, this Note argues that whether the CFPB can prohibit banks from denying access to accounts on the basis of religion or race could be a major question. However, the UDAAP standard, which is an express delegation by Congress to the CFPB to liquidate the content and nature of fair practices over time, is best read as a clear statement authorizing the CPFB to eliminate discrimination in consumer financial products