Online Journal — Columbia Undergraduate Law Review

Itsy, Bitsy, and Vulnerable? The Need for Greater Jurisprudence in the World of Fashion

In June 2013, Ipek Irgit debuted her bikini line Kiini. Fun and flirty, the crocheted, triangle bikini soon became all the rage among Instagram models and stylists. By 2014, the swimsuit was featured in Vogue.com, Women’s Health Magazine, and even named “the hottest bikini this summer” by People magazine. [1] While the designer’s business was booming, she was also facing significant obstacles. Irgit’s biggest hurdle? The hundreds of counterfeit Kiinis that swarmed the Internet and were creating profit for others off of her work.

Legal Framework of Offshore Wind Energy

As the push from both the public and private sectors to invest in renewable energy has intensified in recent years, new methods of energy production continue to emerge in the market. In the United States, a combination of hydropower, biofuels, and wind power produce most of the country’s clean energy. [1] Since renewable energy has only recently become a priority in the energy market, new and innovative technologies continue to be implemented, transforming the legal landscape along with them.

Forced Off His Land by a Frog

Edward Poitevent, a long-time Louisiana resident and proud business-owner, could not believe his ears when he was ordered to give up some of his land so that an endangered frog might breed there. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (the Service) believes that Poitevent and his neighbors’ total of 1,600 acres of land (Unit 1) is a critical habitat of the endangered dusky gopher frog, and therefore must be designated as such. However, the frog has not been seen in Louisiana for decades, so it is probable that the evacuation of Unit 1 would have no effect on the dusky gopher frog population.

Locked Away for Life: Juvenile Life Without Parole in the American Criminal Justice System

While the Miller and Montgomery rulings have put the state of juvenile life without parole sentences under heavy scrutiny, their effects have not been uniform across the country. Although states such as Iowa and Kansas have deemed life without parole sentences as unconstitutional and have even limited mandatory minimum sentences for juveniles, twenty-nine states have maintained their rights to these inhumane sentences. I

Tanya ReynaJanuary 9, 2019criminal justice, supreme court, eighth amendment, juvenile, criminalComment

The Role of the Judiciary in American Elections

Although the 2018 Midterm Elections were held on November 6, not every race was called by the end of the night. Some elections had results that were too close to call, mechanical and technological issues with voting machines, or provisional ballots left uncounted. In the gubernatorial race in Georgia, the certification of election results was delayed by a federal judge after concerns about the state’s voter registration system and the counting of provisional ballots was brought to the court’s attention.

Jodi LessnerJanuary 7, 2019elections, first amendment, supreme court, voting rightsComment

Keystone XL in Court: The Tumultuous Journey of Changing Environmental Law

The Keystone Pipeline has been a politicized issue since the beginning of the Obama presidency and the many lawsuits that have come out of its controversy have begun to change the landscape of environmental law. Courts have been pushed to define and solidify the legal mechanisms to approve large, environmentally-consequential projects and multiple legal battles are being fought over presidential authority regarding the environment.

Implications of Lochner v. New York

The Lochner Era, spanning almost three decades from 1905 to 1937, was one of the most distinctive periods of Supreme Court history. An analysis of the Court’s decision inLochner v. New York (1905), the three decades emerging after the Lochner decision, and the events surrounding the Court’s eventual reversal of the decision in 1937 can reveal important implications for workers’ rights in our modern era.

Discrimination Against Ideas and Discrimination Against Individuals in Lee v. Ashers

On October 10th, the United Kingdom Supreme Court released a decision that allowed a baker in Northern Ireland to refuse to make a cake with pro-LGBT+ messages on it. [1] This case is significant because it is set against a background of diminished LGBT+ rights in Northern Ireland. [2] The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) rates Northern Ireland as the worst place in the United Kingdom for LGBT+ individuals. [3] This is because LGBT+ rights in Northern Ireland are limited and slowly gained compared to those in the rest of the United Kingdom.

Jake DunnJanuary 6, 2019LGBTQ, anti-discrimination, Lee v. Ashers, Bull v. Hall, Supreme Court, Northern Ireland, UK lawComment

Prison Labor: Modern-Day Slavery under the Thirteenth Amendment

As numerous wildfires tore across California, approximately 1,500 inmates worked alongside professional firefighting crews to quell the flames. Typically, professional firefighters earn around $74,000 a year, excluding benefits. Prisoners working as firefighters earn about $1.45 a day for their work, roughly thirteen percent of the hourly minimum wage in California. [1] The discrepancy between the pay of salaried and incarcerated firefighters reduces firefighting costs by $100 million dollars a year for the state, and incarcerated firefighters, who must volunteer to participate, are compensated with a two-day reduction of their sentence for every day of good behavior. [2]

Jake GrayJanuary 6, 2019Thirteenth Amendment, Constitutional law, prison, ACLU, firefighting, minimum wageComment