The Roundtable
Welcome to the Roundtable, JLPP’s online blog featuring student commentary on current cases and legal developments!
If you are interested in becoming a Staff Writer or Contributing Writer for the Roundtable, e-mail Notes Editors Kyle Reynolds (mreynolds@jd18.law.harvard.edu) or Chadwick Harper (charper@jd19.law.harvard.edu).
Checking Out [of] Acheson Hotels – Michael E. Rosman
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Download PDF Checking Out [of] Acheson Hotels Michael E. Rosman* This brief essay explores a few of the strange features of the Supreme Court’s recent case of Acheson Hotels, LLC v. Laufer.[1] That case involved a requirement under an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regulation that hotels identify the features of their accommodations to allow individuals with disabilities to assess whether the accommodation would meet their needs. The Court dismissed the appeal of Acheson Hotels on mootness grounds.[2] I briefly explore the peculiar way...
read moreThe Next Big States’ Rights Case Might Not Be What You Think – O.H. Skinner & Beau Roysden
Download PDF The Next Big States’ Rights Case Might Not Be What You Think A Supreme Court Petition Out Of Hawaii Could Reshape The State Sovereignty Landscape O.H. Skinner & Beau Roysden* The arguments have ended for the 2023 U.S. Supreme Court term, with blockbusters soon to be decided. As some of us start to look over the horizon to the 2024 Supreme Court term, which is just starting to come into focus, there is a blockbuster state sovereignty case from the Hawaii Supreme Court that is looming as a potential addition to the argument...
read moreTextualism and the Eighth Amendment – Judge Thomas M. Hardiman
Download PDF Textualism and the Eighth Amendment Judge Thomas M. Hardiman* Thank you for the generous invitation to be part of the Laurence Silberman Distinguished Judicial Lecture Series. Judge Silberman was my administrative law professor at Georgetown over thirty years ago. Unfortunately, at that time I had neither an appreciation for the value of judicial clerkships nor an understanding of the privilege of being taught by one of the lions of the D.C. Circuit. I’m sorry that Judge Silberman isn’t with us to comment on my remarks—no doubt...
read moreBASIC RIGHTS AND INITIATIVE PETITION 23-07: ARE THE PREBORN “NATURAL PERSONS” UNDER THE FLORIDA CONSTITUTION? – David H. Thompson
Download PDF Basic Rights and Initiative Petition 23-07: Are the Preborn “Natural Persons” Under the Florida Constitution? David H. Thompson* An initiative petition entitled “Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion” has been circulating in Florida since May 2023. The proposed amendment, which would effectively ban pro-life legislation, recently garnered enough signatures to trigger review by the Florida Supreme Court. At oral argument, Florida’s Chief Justice asked whether an unborn child is covered by the basic equality...
read moreBEYOND LAW? A SOCRATIC DIALOGUE INSPIRED BY BAUDE’S “BEYOND TEXTUALISM?” – Evan D. Bernick
Download PDF Beyond Law? A Socratic Dialogue Inspired by Baude’s “Beyond Textualism?” Evan D. Bernick* On February 27, 2023, Will Baude delivered the annual Scalia Lecture at Harvard Law School.[1] “Beyond Textualism?” invites legal conservatives to supplement textualism with a theory of law that includes unwritten as well as written rules. As Will concludes: “We sometimes need to use other legal rules, unwritten law, and doing so is completely consistent with the reasons that we use legal texts.”[2] Like all of Will’s work, it is engaging,...
read moreOhio v. EPA Oral Argument and Standards of Review on the Emergency Docket – Thomas Koenig
Download PDF Ohio v. EPA Oral Argument and Standards of Review on the Emergency Docket Thomas Koenig* The Supreme Court held oral argument this morning in Ohio v. EPA. The oral argument offers some insights on the potential for the Court to clarify its standard of review for assessing attempts to temporarily halt administrative action. In the case, a number of States and private industry are asking the Court to “stay” the EPA’s implementation of its new “Good Neighbor” rule for ozone. The rule requires certain upwind states to reduce their...
read moreIdeological Leanings in Likely Pro Bono Biglaw Amicus Briefs in the United States Supreme Court – Derek T. Muller
Download PDF Ideological Leanings in Likely Pro Bono Biglaw Amicus Briefs in the United States Supreme Court Derek T. Muller* Each term, the United States Supreme Court receives hundreds of amicus briefs filed in merits docket cases. These totals have increased over the years,[1] and these briefs have found increasing influence in front of the Court.[2] Many of the largest law firms file amicus briefs before the United States Supreme Court.[3] These amicus briefs are often pro bono, which means the clients do not pay for the firm to file the...
read moreJustice Thomas Reconceptualizes Civil Rights Laws, and a Recovery of the Original Meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment is Long Overdue – Frank J. Scaturro
Download PDF Justice Thomas Reconceptualizes Civil Rights Laws, and a Recovery of the Original Meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment Is Long Overdue Frank J. Scaturro* The Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College[1] effectively ends race-based affirmative action in university admissions as violations of both Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The extensive commentary that has followed has largely overlooked how a detail...
read moreJohn Bates, Johns Manville, The Boyscouts of America, and Johnson & Johnson – Lawrence A. Friedman
Download PDF JOHN BATES, JOHNS MANVILLE, THE BOYSCOUTS OF AMERICA, AND JOHNSON & JOHNSON Lawrence A. Friedman* The convergence of two cases from half a century ago is allowing trial lawyer vultures to destroy our bankruptcy system in cases involving some of the most storied names in America. The bankruptcy system feels like it is coming apart at the seams. There have been a litany of stories in recent years demonstrating how trial lawyers have turned the bankruptcy process upside down.[1] And I have written before in these pages about...
read moreInterim Final Rules and the APA: Some Rule of Law Problems – Thomas E. Nielsen
Download PDF Interim Final Rules and the APA: Some Rule of Law Problems Thomas E. Nielsen* Introduction Almost a century ago in Crowell v. Benson,[1] Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes highlighted the benefits of delegating certain classes of issues to administrative agencies for “prompt, continuous, expert, and inexpensive” resolution,[2] but cautioned that unfettered agency discretion risked “establish[ing] a government of a bureaucratic character alien to our system.”[3] When Congress enacted the Administrative Procedure Act[4] (APA) in...
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