Our Online Journal features original pieces written and edited by our Online staff at Columbia. They are not representative of any views held by the Columbia Undergraduate Law Review Editorial Board.
The U.S. Department of Justice’s failure to indict the police officer who killed Eric Garner has revived public calls to overhaul our criminal justice system. While these calls target racial profiling and brutality, the recently decided case of Flowers v. Mississippi spotlights a more obscure, but critical issue: how we define “a jury of one’s peers.”
Read MoreA crisis exists in the jurisprudence of the Establishment Clause—a key component of the First Amendment that outlines the separation of church and state. The clause states that the government cannot establish an official religion or make any laws that favor either a particular religion, religion over non-religion, or non-religion over religion. However, the religious influence in social and legal matters has been inescapable throughout American history, and this is something that the courts still must come to terms with today.
Read MoreEarlier this year in Hong Kong, a series of demonstrations against a government-proposed extradition bill has resurfaced questions of the region’s “high degree of autonomy” under the People’s Republic of China. The contested bill, the Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill, would permit the transfer of criminal suspects in Hong Kong to other areas of China, including the region controlled by the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Despite these momentous protests, Carrie Lam, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, has not formally withdrawn the bill and the threat of future protests continues to destabilize Hong Kong.
Read MoreIn the vast majority of the United States, sex work is prohibited and punishable by laws that marginalize sex workers. Decriminalization is recognized as the most effective method of protecting sex workers because it allows them to report misconduct to the police, access necessary social services, and create institutions to make their work less dangerous.
Read MoreIn March 2019, Purdue Pharma reached a $270 million settlement with the State of Oklahoma, amid claims that the pharmaceutical conglomerate knowingly exacerbated the opioid crisis by overinflating the number, magnitude, and duration of opiate prescriptions in pursuit of profit. With fifteen hundred open litigations against Purdue Pharma, including forty-five cases brought by state prosecutors, the case provided critical insight into the strategies adopted by both the state and Purdue.
Read MoreWhile most Americans would agree that one should not be blatantly discriminated against on the basis of sex, race, or religion, as an egalitarian maxim it becomes much more difficult to maintain when seemingly alterable and/or non-biological traits come under scrutiny. Defining aspects of a person such as language use, cultural practices, or body type, for example, leave open the debate over what characteristics are, in fact, given legal protection against discrimination.
Read MoreSince October 2018, the state of New York has witnessed over 700 cases of measles.[1] Although the illness is a highly contagious respiratory infection, it is entirely preventable through vaccination. While such modern-day measures are in place, the state of New York has found itself in the grips of a burgeoning social phenomenon: the anti-vaccination movement.
Read MoreAs a few of the many diagnostic companies that are pioneers of medical innovation in the modern age, these pharmaceutical businesses are rolling out new, precise drug therapies at an unprecedented rate to combat specific medical issues by introducing diagnostic methods based on new technologies. The current age of biotechnology continues to challenge lawmakers as innovation unfolds faster than the current existing protective legislature. But no legal issue is more prominent in the biotechnological industry than ownership rights to these new developments.
Read MoreAs Michael Scott once learned, screaming “I declare bankruptcy!” into the void does not resolve a solvency problem. Yet a series of recent U.S. Supreme Court cases has revealed ambiguities in bankruptcy procedure within the American legal system. The core issue lies in the organizational difference between U.S. Bankruptcy Courts and other federal courts.
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