Michael B. Kent, Jr.* Introduction The expanded use of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) has raised significant concerns about the environmental impacts of the process. Incidents of methane leaks, water contamination, and air pollution are among the most frequently-raised issues.[1] But fracking has other potential impacts, as well—specifically, impacts on the character of local […]

Tanya D. Marsh* Ebola has been raging through West Africa since March 2014,[1] but the death of Thomas Eric Duncan, the first person to be diagnosed with Ebola in the United States, has raised concerns about possibilities of an outbreak here.[2] Two nurses who treated Mr. Duncan in a Dallas hospital tested positive for Ebola, […]

The Coming Crisis in Law Enforcement and How Federal Intervention Could Promote Police Accountability in a Post-Ferguson United States[1] Kami Chavis Simmons* Introduction Officer Darren Wilson’s fatal shooting of Michael Brown has reignited a fierce debate about the issue of racial bias in law enforcement.[2] Although tensions between racial minorities and police officers have long existed […]

By Zoe Niesel Since the early spring of 2014, the world has watched Russia utilize military forces to invade and annex territory belonging to Ukraine. These actions are, unsurprisingly, raising concerns in Eastern Europe over the prospect of armed conflict in the region, the political consequences of Russian annexation of Ukrainian territory, and the effect […]

By Matthew F. Meyers For as long as there have been cars, there have been car chases.  A car chase connotes a dangerous, high-speed dash through city streets.  Fleeing from justice, the criminal finds himself weaving between cars and driving onto sidewalks to evade his pursuers.  In the popular imagination, a car chase entails the […]

By Carl Tobias Politics fuels D.C. Circuit appointments.  Barack Obama was the first President in over 50 years who approved no one for the country’s second most important court, even though three of eleven seats lacked judges. Thus, appointing fine nominees was essential for circuit functioning.  On June 4, Obama nominated three individuals: Patricia Millett, […]

By Steven I. Friedland “The world isn’t run by weapons anymore, or energy, or money.  It’s run by little ones and zeroes, little bits of data.  It’s all just electrons.”[1] We live in an era of mass surveillance. Advertisers, corporations and the government engage in widespread data collection and analysis, using such avenues as cell phone […]

By Gregory S. Parks During the week of 2 September 2013, two federal courts—the Southern District of New York and the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit—handed down striking opinions.[1]  In a nutshell, they both held that where a black employee/supervisor refers to black (or biracial) coworkers/supervisees with the use of the n-word, there […]

By Bradley Pollina Introduction The Supreme Court recently handed down its decision in Florida v. Jardines,[1] affirming by a 5-4 vote the Florida Supreme Court’s ruling[2] that the police’s use of a trained narcotics detection dog on the front porch of a home is a “search” within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment.  This case is the first time […]

By Eric J. Segall The Supreme Court recently heard arguments in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin,[1] a lawsuit challenging racial preferences used by the University of Texas to admit a diverse undergraduate class.  Although there are a number of uncertainties about the case—that is, will Justice Kennedy vote with the conservatives to end once and for […]

By Randall K. Johnson Introduction Does lawsuit data collection deter police misconduct lawsuits? One might think so, judging from recent scholarship on police accountability and deterrence.[1] The best of this work argues that police learn from lawsuit data collection, without actually proving the point.[2] While I agree with the premise that law enforcement agencies may learn from better […]

By Ryan M. Rodenberg The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (“PASPA”), a federal statute banning state-sponsored sports gambling nationwide except in Nevada, Delaware, Oregon, and Montana, celebrated its twentieth anniversary on October 28, 2012.[1]  If New Jersey voters and the state’s governor have their way, PASPA will not reach its twenty-first birthday.  On January 17, […]