Skip to content
Article

Rescinding Rights

By Joseph Landau | July 18, 2022

By Joseph Landau. Full text. In the wake of the Trump Administration’s three Supreme Court appointments, many commentators are bracing for a rightward shift in jurisprudence that could undermine a litany of civil rights and equality protections—including reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, race-and ethnicity-centered protections, voting rights, and more. Yet the Court’s apparent disinclination for advancing…

Read More
Article

Renewable Energy Federalism

By Danielle Stokes | July 18, 2022

By Danielle Stokes. Full text. No one seriously questions that an improved and decarbonized energy supply system is a key component of climate change mitigation, but the United States’ system of federalism complicates the siting of utility-scale renewable energy facilities. The Biden Administration presents the United States with an opportunity to reimagine how this country…

Read More
Article

The Costs of the Punishment Clause

By Cortney E. Lollar | July 18, 2022

By Cortney E. Lollar. Full Text. In recent years, scholars and advocates have drawn attention to the problematic use of fines and fees to keep those convicted of crimes enmeshed in the criminal legal system. A visible thread connects the imposition of modern criminal court debts to the costs inflicted on formerly enslaved individuals convicted…

Read More
Article

Antitrust, Attention, and the Mental Health Crisis

By Gregory Day | July 18, 2022

By Gregory Day. Full Text. Competition for attention is causing a mental health crisis. At issue is that platforms, devices, and applications (“apps”) strive to maximize attention by, as examples, presenting users with curated streams of extremist content. The purpose of doing so is economic: a platform or app’s value is typically derived from the…

Read More
Article

Inheriting Privilege

By Allison Anna Tait | July 18, 2022

By Allison Anna Tait. Full text. All families may be created equal, so to speak. But differences between families in terms of economic wealth, resource networks, and access to cultural capital are both severe and stark. A large part of what shapes this scenery of economic possibility is the legal framework of wealth transfer. Wealth…

Read More
Note

Designer Minor: Creating a Better Legal Regime for Pediatric Cosmetic Procedures

By Hannah Oliason | July 18, 2022

By Hannah Oliason. Full Text. Each year, thousands of minors in the United States undergo elective cosmetic surgeries to “enhance” their appearances. In the case of young children, these surgeries are most often arranged by parents or guardians with little to no state oversight, despite the physical and psychological risks of such procedures. This Note…

Read More
Note

Too Hot to Handle?: Native Advertising and the Firestone Dilemma

By Eliezer Joseph Silberberg | July 18, 2022

By Eliezer Joseph Silberberg. Full Text. Native advertisements are advertisements that mimic the format and content of unpaid-for content that surrounds them. Instead of interrupting the content being consumed, native advertisements become part of that content, and because of this unique format, consumers often want to engage with native advertisements. This reformulation of advertising has…

Read More
Tribute

Remembrance of and Tribute to Walter F. Mondale

By Amy Klobuchar | July 21, 2022

By Amy Klobuchar. Full Text. This volume of Minnesota Law Review is dedicated to the memory of the Honorable Walter F. Mondale, former Vice President of the United States of America. A 1956 graduate of the University of Minnesota Law School and an editor of Minnesota Law Review Volume 39, Mondale was the 42nd Vice…

Read More

Current Issue

Volume 106 - Issue 4

Articles, Essays, & Tributes

Rescinding Rights

Joseph Landau
By Joseph Landau. Full text. In the wake of the Trump Administration’s three Supreme Court appointments, many commentators are bracing for a rightward shift in jurisprudence that could undermine a litany of civil rights and equality protections—including reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, race-and ethnicity-centered protections, voting rights, and more. Yet the Court’s apparent disinclination for advancing

Renewable Energy Federalism

Danielle Stokes
By Danielle Stokes. Full text. No one seriously questions that an improved and decarbonized energy supply system is a key component of climate change mitigation, but the United States’ system of federalism complicates the siting of utility-scale renewable energy facilities. The Biden Administration presents the United States with an opportunity to reimagine how this country

The Costs of the Punishment Clause

Cortney E. Lollar
By Cortney E. Lollar. Full Text. In recent years, scholars and advocates have drawn attention to the problematic use of fines and fees to keep those convicted of crimes enmeshed in the criminal legal system. A visible thread connects the imposition of modern criminal court debts to the costs inflicted on formerly enslaved individuals convicted

Antitrust, Attention, and the Mental Health Crisis

Gregory Day
By Gregory Day. Full Text. Competition for attention is causing a mental health crisis. At issue is that platforms, devices, and applications (“apps”) strive to maximize attention by, as examples, presenting users with curated streams of extremist content. The purpose of doing so is economic: a platform or app’s value is typically derived from the

Inheriting Privilege

Allison Anna Tait
By Allison Anna Tait. Full text. All families may be created equal, so to speak. But differences between families in terms of economic wealth, resource networks, and access to cultural capital are both severe and stark. A large part of what shapes this scenery of economic possibility is the legal framework of wealth transfer. Wealth

Remembrance of and Tribute to Walter F. Mondale

Amy Klobuchar
By Amy Klobuchar. Full Text. This volume of Minnesota Law Review is dedicated to the memory of the Honorable Walter F. Mondale, former Vice President of the United States of America. A 1956 graduate of the University of Minnesota Law School and an editor of Minnesota Law Review Volume 39, Mondale was the 42nd Vice

Notes

Too Hot to Handle?: Native Advertising and the Firestone Dilemma

Eliezer Joseph Silberberg
By Eliezer Joseph Silberberg. Full Text. Native advertisements are advertisements that mimic the format and content of unpaid-for content that surrounds them. Instead of interrupting the content being consumed, native advertisements become part of that content, and because of this unique format, consumers often want to engage with native advertisements. This reformulation of advertising has

Designer Minor: Creating a Better Legal Regime for Pediatric Cosmetic Procedures

Hannah Oliason
By Hannah Oliason. Full Text. Each year, thousands of minors in the United States undergo elective cosmetic surgeries to “enhance” their appearances. In the case of young children, these surgeries are most often arranged by parents or guardians with little to no state oversight, despite the physical and psychological risks of such procedures. This Note

Headnotes

Volume 106: Spring Issue

Racial Bias in Algorithmic IP

Dan L. Burk
By Dan L. Burk. Full Text. Machine learning systems, a form of artificial intelligence (AI), are increasingly being deployed both for the creation of innovative works and the administration of intellectual property (IP) rights associated with those works. At the same time, evidence of racial bias in IP systems is manifest and growing. Legal scholars

Introduction to The Bremer-Kovacs Collection: Historic Documents Related to the Administrative Procedure Act of 1946 (HeinOnline 2021)

Emily S. Bremer & Kathryn E. Kovacs
By Emily S. Bremer & Kathryn E. Kovacs. Full Text. Few statutes have a legislative history as rich, varied, and sprawling as the Administrative Procedure Act of 1946 (APA). In recent years, courts and scholars have shown increased interest in understanding this history. This is no mean feat. The APA’s history spans nearly two decades,

Sprinting a Marathon: Next Steps for Gender Equity in Criminal Law Employment

Maryam Ahranjani
By Maryam Ahranjani. Full Text. In an era when women’s hard-fought and hard-earned participation in the workforce is in peril, the ABA Criminal Justice Section’s Women in Criminal Justice Task Force (TF) continues its groundbreaking work of documenting challenges in hiring, retention, and promotion of women criminal lawyers. Sprinting a Marathon follows up on the

Fighting Orthodoxy: Challenging Critical Race Theory Bans and Supporting Critical Thinking in Schools

Joshua Gutzmann
By Joshua Gutzmann. Full Text. Fox News mentioned critical race theory (CRT) more than 1,900 times from April to mid-July of 2021, marking CRT as a new focus of Republicans and conservative donors and sparking a movement to ban teaching of the theory in schools. Nine states have already passed legislation intended to ban the

Me, Myself, and My Digital Double: Extending Sara Greene’s Stealing (Identity) From the Poor to the Challenges of Identity Verification

Michele Estrin Gilman
By Michele Estrin Gilman. Full Text. Identity is an essential part of the human condition. When one's identity is stolen or when a state rejects a citizen's identity, the consequences can be devastating to one's notion of selfhood as well as undermine their economic security. In Stealing (Identity) from the Poor, Sara Greene explores the

K Is for Contract―Why Is It, Though? A K’s Study on the Origins, Persistence and Propagation of Legal Konventions

Hanjo Hamann
By Hanjo Hamann. Full Text. Just like Supreme Court Justices, law school students in the United States almost universally abbreviate the word “contract” using the capital letter “K.” Despite this consensus, no one ever sought to explain why a word that starts with “C” should get shortened to “K” instead. This Essay investigates this question.

Chilling Effects and Unequal Subjects: A Response to Jonathon Penney’s Understanding Chilling Effects

Karen Levy
By Karen Levy. Full Text. The mark of a strong theoretical argument is that it opens our minds to new empirical questions. In his generative article Understanding Chilling Effects, Jonathon Penney provides a persuasive and nuanced argument for interpreting chilling effects through the lens of social conformity, rather than self-censorship of lawful conduct. Penney’s own

De Novo Blog

CARPENTER V. MURPHY: A REEXAMINATION OF THE CREEK NATION IN OKLAHOMA

December 4, 2019

By: Aron Mozes, Volume 104 Staff Member The pending Supreme Court case Carpenter v. Murphy[i] presents an intersection of the history, laws, and legislative actions surrounding the Creek Nation in Oklahoma, as well as a broader re-examination of the relationship between Native American tribes and the federal government. The case considers whether the 1866 territorial…

NO LEG TO STAND ON: HOW THE FEDERAL CIRCUIT IMPROPERLY RESTRICTED THE APPLICATION OF THE COMPETITOR STANDING DOCTRINE TO PATENT CHALLENGERS WHEN ESTABLISHING ARTICLE III STANDING UPON APPEALING AN INTER PARTES REVIEW

November 25, 2019

By: Ryan Fitzgerald, Volume 104 Staff Member The Federal Circuit’s recent holding in General Electric Co. v United Technologies Corp.[i] increases the difficulty for competitors to challenge the validity of a patent in court after an adverse inter partes review (IPR) decision.[ii]  An IPR allows any person or institution to challenge the validity of a…

A REGULATORY FUMBLE: THE CHANGING REGULATORY SCHEME SURROUNDING GAMBLING AND DAILY FANTASY SPORTS

November 12, 2019

By: Paul Strey, Volume 104 Staff Member INTRODUCTION On September 26, 2019, the National Football League formally announced that DraftKings would be the official daily fantasy provider for professional football.[1] The partnership allows DraftKings to use the official NFL logo, special highlight reels, and the NFL’s NextGen statistics program.[2] This endorsement represents the first time…

SEVENTH CIRCUIT’S LEGAL PRUDISHNESS: INCORRECT DECISION IN TRAN CREATES A SPLIT

November 12, 2019

By: Zach Wright, Volume 104 Staff Member The Seventh Circuit decided Tran v. Minnesota Life Ins. Co. (“Tran”) in April of 2019.[I] Tran stemmed from a beneficiary’s claim for benefits under an ERISA-governed life insurance policy after their spouse died engaging in autoerotic asphyxiation.[ii] The court held that a reasonable person would conclude death by autoerotic asphyxiation…

CITIES ARE TURNING ON CONVERSION THERAPY BANS

November 12, 2019

By: Melanie Griffith, Volume 104 Staff Member INTRODUCTION The tides are turning on the trend of conversion therapy bans. Conversion therapy is a controversial practice that purports to “cure” homosexual or transgender individuals by attempting to change their sexual orientation or gender identity.[1] Therapists use methods ranging from aversion therapy and shock therapy to seemingly-benign…