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De Novo Archive

De Novo is the newest addition to the Minnesota Law Review family. The blog serves as a forum through which the staff, editors, and alumni of the Minnesota Law Review can contribute to legal thought and academic debate.

NO WORKING FORUMS: HOW THE SUPREME COURT SHOULD RULE IN VIKING RIVER CRUISES, INC. v. MORIANA TO PROTECT EMPLOYEE RIGHTS

By: Ben Parker, Volume 106 Staff Member Employers and employees have had a tumultuous relationship over the course of recent American history.[1] One change was the rise in arbitration after the passage of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) in 1926. The FAA permits employees and employers to use arbitration to resolve controversies when an employee…

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IT’S THE ONES YOU LEAST EXPECT: COLORADO AND CALIFORNIA LAG BEHIND IN PROTECTING EMPLOYEES’ OFF-DUTY MEDICAL MARIJUANA USE

By: Andrew Eggers, Volume 106 Staff Member In 2021, both New York[1] and New Jersey[2] joined the growing number of states which offer employment protections for workers engaging in legal, off-duty medical marijuana consumption. Conspicuously, two pioneering states of legal marijuana use—Colorado and California—remain absent from the list of states offering employment protections to employees…

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BAD INFLUENCES: WEIGHING SEPARATION OF POWERS PRINCIPLES AGAINST CALLS FOR TRANSPARENCY FOLLOWING “LAPSES” IN JUDICIAL ETHICS

By: Bridget Hoffmann, Vol. 106 Staff Member In his 2021 Year-End Report on the Federal Judiciary, Chief Justice John Roberts emphasized the importance of maintaining judicial independence[1] in response to public criticism and calls to impose “ethics and transparency measures” on the federal courts.[2] The Chief Justice specifically addressed recent Wall Street Journal (“Journal”) reporting…

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BIDEN’S EMERGENCY RULE RAISES FUNDAMENTAL POLICY ISSUES REGARDING THE ADMINISTRATIVE STATE AND ITS EXPANSIVE POLICYMAKING ROLE

By: Mark Kaske, Volume 106 Staff Member “Stop the spread” has been the rally cry across the world since Covid-19 originated in Wuhan, China in December 2019.[1] Just how to achieve this goal, however, has been a controversial and polarizing debate. In the past two years, Covid-19 has ravaged the world, infecting over 290 million…

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MINNESOTA DNR’S SEPT. 16, 2021 LINE 3 ENFORCEMENT ACTION DEMONSTRATES HOW MUCH GROUNDWATER PERMITTING “SUCKS”

By: Sonja Smerud, Volume 106 Staff Member  Enbridge Energy’s Line 3 Pipeline, a replacement project for the delivery of crude oil from Canada to a processing facility in Superior, Wisconsin, was recently completed despite extensive opposition.[1] In September 2021 shortly before completion, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (“DNR”) issued a civil enforcement action against…

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#FREEBRITNEY: BRINGING ATTENTION TO A “TOXIC” SYSTEM OF CONSERVATORSHIP

By: Zack Hennen, Volume 106 Staff Member After months of legal deliberation, family infighting, and a full-blown pop culture movement, Britney Spears was released from her “Toxic”[1] thirteen-year conservatorship earlier this month.[2] Britney was placed under conservatorship in 2008 after a lengthy record of controversy left the 27-year-old pop star in financial debt and public…

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TAXING BILLIONAIRES AND THE CONUNDRUM OF CONSTITUTIONAL INCOME

By: Sadie Betting, Volume 106 Staff Member In March 2020, the United States had 614 billionaires.[1] By October of this year, it had 745.[2] Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ultra-wealthy have grown their fortunes by $2.1 trillion,[3] or roughly half of what the United States collected in tax revenue in 2021.[4] It…

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ROE V. A TECHNICALITY: HOW PROCEDURAL DECISIONS WILL BRING ABOUT THE END TO CONSTITUTIONALLY PROTECTED ABORTION RIGHTS

By: Leah Reiss, Volume 106 Staff Member For forty-eight years now, the Supreme Court has recognized that the Constitution protects “a woman’s[1] right to terminate her pregnancy before viability.”[2] Though subsequent decisions have narrowed that right, it still exists to this day.[3] Most Americans believe abortion should be legal in all or most pregnancies, and…

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ROE AND CASEY UNDER ATTACK: WILL THE SUPREME COURT OVERTURN LANDMARK ABORTION PRECEDENT IN DOBBS V. JACKSON WOMEN’S HEALTH ORGANIZATION?

By: Theresa Green, Volume 106 Staff Member On December 1, 2021, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments for Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the first major abortion-related case since Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett joined the Court.[1] The case involves a Mississippi law that prohibits nearly all abortions after fifteen weeks…

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