Introduction A 2004 study revealed that the stock portfolios of members of Congress were consistently outperforming those of the investing public. The financial success of federal lawmakers was statistically correlated to the use of nonpublic information obtained while performing legislative responsibilities—reasonably characterizable as insider trading. Cries of dismay over such profiteering by lawmakers have been echoing in the public domain since Samuel Chase, Maryland’s representative in the Continental Congress, directed colleagues to corner the flour market in 1778 after learning… Read More

Introduction The rapid legalization of recreational marijuana across states has created environmental and social justice issues, particularly with indoor cultivation. Despite its federal illegality, twenty-four states and various territories have legalized marijuana, igniting a surge in indoor cultivation that bears significant environmental and social consequences. Indoor cultivation facilities require massive energy inputs, resulting in grid strain, pollution, and an increase in greenhouse gas emissions. Moreover, the placement of these facilities often occurs in historically marginalized low-income communities, furthering environmental injustice… Read More

Introduction An author is privileged to have his work seriously considered and evaluated by a group of preeminent scholars from different disciplines and parts of the world. This is even much more the case with respect to my book, A Pluralist Theory of Constitutional Justice: Assessing Liberal Democracy in Times of Rising Populism and Illiberalism, which was written in times of self-isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, thus lacking the input of the customary testing of ideas in conversations with… Read More

Introduction On January 6, 2021, a mob attacked the United States Capitol to overthrow the certification of the legitimately elected president and install the election loser, Donald Trump. Before this, there was another coup attempt. Trump and his team pressured state legislators and officials not to certify legitimately elected presidential electors, and to instead certify fake electors for Trump. This was based on the theory that the Constitution grants states “plenary power” to select presidential electors, even if this means… Read More

Introduction For the last half-century, law students have been required to take a criminal law course that ostensibly trains them to think critically about the justifications for criminal punishment. The same students have then gone on to serve as central actors in a system of mass incarceration that millions of Americans today view as profoundly unjust. How did this happen? A number of legal scholars, notably including Alice Ristroph in her 2020 Article “The Curriculum of the Carceral State,” have… Read More

Introduction In a decision that surprised almost no one, the United States Supreme Court struck down the affirmative action programs at Harvard College and the University of North Carolina. The majority opinion recounted a jurisprudential history that started with the Fourteenth Amendment, jumped to Plessy v. Ferguson, and lingered on the progeny of Brown v. Board of Education. The opinion hailed Brown as the ultimate triumph, the case that spelled the beginning of the end of racism in America. It… Read More