Law & Politics
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Trump and COVID-19: 5 Election Scenarios
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President Trump shocked the nation last week when he announced that he tested positive for COVID-19. Reports of the president’s medical treatment suggest that he is suffering from serious symptoms, throwing an already chaotic election season into further disarray. Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s move to create a Commission on…
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The Rushed Confirmation of Amy Barrett
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Today, President Trump nominated 7th Circuit Judge Amy Coney Barrett to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court. As previously reported, any of the potential replacements would move the ideological center of the Supreme Court to the right. Importantly, while the rightward shift of the center of the…
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Replacing Ginsburg Will Pull Court Right
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The passing of renowned liberal Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Friday Sept. 18 immediately sparked a heated conflict over her potential successor. The current Supreme Court is ideologically split, and Supreme Court justices receive lifetime appointments, so Justice Ginsburg’s successor will likely decide our generation’s most defining issues.…
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Data Breach Notifications Are Too Complex
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The meteoric rise of electronic transactions has resulted in Americans becoming increasingly vulnerable to data breaches. Data breaches can cause grave harm to the consumer, potentially resulting in identity theft and causing significant monetary loss. In 2017 alone, over 2 billion records were breached, costing impacted consumers $1,000 on average.…
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The Link Between Income and Xenophobia
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According to the World Bank (2019), close to half the world’s population lives in countries where development goals are hindered by conflict and violence. The UNHCR (2019) claims that by the end of 2018, 70.8 million people had been forcibly displaced from their homes, of whom at least 25.9 million…
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Should a Computer Decide Your Sentence?
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Amid the election of progressive district attorneys and passage of historic sentencing reforms, many U.S. cities are making strides toward decarceration. In an effort to reduce their prison populations while addressing sentencing bias, at least 20 states employ predictive risk assessment technology during judicial decision making. Through a tailored, statistics-based…
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What Does Brexit Mean for Africa?
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On June 23, 2016, the British people voted in a referendum to withdraw from the European Union — a historic move that is still being processed today. “Brexit” not only impacts the United Kingdom’s relationship with the European Union, but also the rest of the world’s trade agreements with Britain.…
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Purple State Extremism? How Two-Party States Polarize
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Many Americans believe national politics are more polarized than ever. The common narrative is that Americans increasingly self-segregate their neighborhoods, media consumption, and even dating lives along partisan lines. This self-sorting creates enclaves of like-minded Americans — “red” and “blue” neighborhoods, counties, and states. As a result, voters elect politically…
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A Call to Simplify and Broaden Expungement Laws
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Formerly incarcerated individuals are often released only to find social and economic barriers harsher than the penalty itself. The internet age makes this problem even worse given the ease of accessing criminal records. Recognizing these barriers, most jurisdictions have enacted laws that permit individuals who show good behavior to obtain…
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Does Internet Censorship Stifle or Spark Protest?
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The invention and expansion of the internet has revolutionized how citizens engage in political expression and protest. Citizens subject to authoritarian regimes have taken advantage of the instantaneous nature of internet communication to mobilize political demonstrations, as seen in the Arab Spring, the Taiwan Sunflower Movement, and the ongoing Hong…
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Comparing Chilean and US Copyright Law: A Conversation With Claus Krebs
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In March 2018, David Raban traveled to Santiago, Chile, where he conducted research on Chilean copyright law. As part of his trip, he spoke with Claus Krebs, a Chilean copyright attorney with Clara & Cia. You can find the whole interview in podcast form here. To start, would you mind…