By Michael Svedman* In her recent proposal to break up Amazon, Google, and Facebook, Elizabeth Warren sounds the familiar antitrust alarm. Weak antitrust enforcement has allowed big tech companies to achieve Gilded Age levels of market dominance. They use mergers and proprietary marketplaces to acquire or exclude their competitors. The effect is to squeeze out small and medium-sized businesses, limit competition, and stifle innovation. Even if these firms provide reliable services …
Revictimized: How the Military Justice System Fails Victims of Child Pornography Offenses
By Michael Webert* Introduction In the wake of recent decisions by the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (CAAF), the military justice system’s highest appellate court, victims of child pornography offenses now receive substantially different rights and treatment in military courts than in federal civilian courts. Two key issues in child pornography cases are now handled much differently, depending on the forum: notification and participation. In the civilian system, child …
SCOTUS Gambles with Pardon Power
By Eric Allen Kauk* On November 20, 2015, around 11:00 p.m. Terance Gamble was pulled over in Mobile, Alabama by a local police officer for having a busted light on his car. As the officer walked up to the car, he smelled marijuana, so he removed Mr. Gamble from the car while he searched the vehicle. The officer found a small amount of marijuana and a firearm. Marijuana is still illegal in Alabama, but the gun was the bigger issue for Mr. Gamble. In addition to numerous other …
The Data Care Act: Viewing Businesses as Information Fiduciaries
By Siddharth Sonkar* CONTEXT Last month, in an unprecedented cyber attack on J.W Marriott Hotel’s guest database, data relating to more than five-hundred million guests spanning over four years was stolen. Not only were the hackers able to obtain the personal information of these guests but were also able to obtain sensitive personal information relating to credit cards and passports. The attack on Marriott’s database is one of the largest data security breach in the history of …
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Masterpiece Left Me Optimistic; Kavanaugh Leaves Me Unsure
By Mark Satta* Last month, Aaron and Melissa Klein, a couple who owned a bakery in Oregon, asked the Supreme Court to review a ruling from the Court of Appeals of the State of Oregon, which held that the Kleins had violated Oregon state law by discriminating based on sexual orientation when they refused to bake a custom cake for a same-sex wedding. The Kleins, like the baker in the Masterpiece Cakeshop case, argue that such a ruling violates their First Amendment rights. The Supreme …
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Justice in Higher Education: Why We Must Move Beyond Admissions Policy
By Gina Schouten* I want to argue for a shift in focus in conversations about justice in higher education. Because meritocratic admissions cannot meaningfully promote egalitarian justice, I argue that we should consider using weighted lotteries in admissions decisions, and that we should reform the culture of colleges and universities to make it likelier that students will conscientiously use their education to promote projects of social value. Before the argument, two matters of …
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