NULR Of Note

In the last months of his presidency, former President Barack Obama focused on pushing forward criminal justice reform. Throughout his eight years in the Oval Office, he also prioritized  “banning the box” on federal job applications and reforming conditions in federal prisons. Given his dedication to criminal justice reform, some have been perplexed by his signing of International Megan’s Law, which may violate sex offenders’ constitutional rights. President Obama signed the bill into law in February 2016 and it went…

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Gerrymandering, the practice of drawing electoral districts to advantage a particular political party, is under attack in courts across the country. The Supreme Court recently heard arguments in one case challenging the constitutionality of partisan gerrymandering and is scheduled to hear a second this Spring. Former Attorney General Eric Holder, with support from President Barack Obama, has embarked on a campaign to eliminate the practice. Last Monday, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania declared the state’s electoral maps to be in violation…

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Earlier this month, the Supreme Court agreed to hear South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. (S.D. 2017), a case that has the possibility to fundamentally change the circumstances in which online sales taxes must be collected, not only in South Dakota but nationwide. In Wayfair, South Dakota seeks to overturn Quill v. North Dakota, a 1992 Supreme Court ruling that South Dakota calls outdated. Quill involved an out-of-state office supply retailer that sold floppy disks without charging sales tax. The Quill Court held that a state…

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This blog post previews my Note topic, The Harsh Reality of Reality Television Contracts, which explores whether principles of contract law and labor law can provide protection to reality television participants when things go wrong. On Sunday, June 4, 2017, the fourth season of Bachelor in Paradise began taping in Mexico. However, the reality was no paradise. News sources reported that a sexual encounter between a male and female contestant occurred while the cameras were rolling in which the female…

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The Seventh Circuit recently addressed discrimination issues involving a transgender student in a case of first impression, Whitaker v. Kenosha (2017), holding that a transgender student was protected by Title IX’s prohibition against sex-based discrimination. The court theorized that because transgender people do not conform to traditional stereotypes associated with their birth sex, transgender discrimination is nothing more than sex stereotyping, long prohibited by protections against sex discrimination. In essence, the court held that prohibiting a trans boy from using…

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Since Steve Jobs unveiled the legendary iPhone in 2007, smartphones have fundamentally changed countless aspects of human interaction from how we navigate to how we communicate. Today, over three-quarters of adults in the United States own a smartphone, making it one of the fastest spreading technologies of all time. The emergence of smartphones has also changed the way federal and local law enforcement agencies conduct investigations using data-collecting techniques that some argue infringe on our right to privacy. On November 29th,…

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Unbeknownst to many students J.D. and L.L.M. students, our classroom experiences are embarking upon a long-term path toward what could be significant changes as a trio of ABA requirements for law schools nationwide begin to take effect. The requirements are Standards 302, 314, and 315 , each of which defines a new type of requirement: learning outcomes (302), assessments (314), and global evaluations of these (315). According to Christopher M. Martin, Assistant Dean and Clinical Assistant Professor at Northwestern Pritzker School of…

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On October 31, 2017, the University of Notre Dame terminated contraceptive coverage for employees and graduate students. The school’s announcement was immediately criticized, and a week later, the school reversed its decision. To understand Notre Dame’s flip-flop, it is important to interrogate the underlying rationale for the school’s decision to terminate coverage in the first place: the Trump Administration’s recent rollback of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) mandate that employers provide contraceptive coverage as part of its health insurance policy….

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Gill v. Whitford (argued Oct. 3, 2017), a case concerning the constitutionality of Wisconsin’s state assembly district map, is one of the highest profile Supreme Court cases of this term. The Court’s decision may have a dramatic impact on national politics. Justice Anthony Kennedy stands at the center of the case, as he will likely be the swing vote on a Court otherwise split along partisan lines. Gill will require the Court to revisit its decision in Vieth v. Jubelirer (2004). In Vieth,…

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