The Twenty-Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution has received little attention from federal courts since its ratification. The Amendment’s language is broad and far-ranging, prohibiting conditioning the right to vote on payment of poll taxes or “any other” tax. Although the Amendment’s text, its legislative history, and early Supreme Court decisions strongly indicate that […]
“Title Zero”: Ending the Infinite Loop of Classifications for Broadband via a Technology-Agnostic Definition
This Note proposes the creation of “Title Zero,” a broadband-specific addition to the 1996 Telecommunications Act that provides the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) with a specific definition and clear regulatory mandate for broadband. Since the enactment of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, the FCC has classified, and reclassified, broadband as either a Title I information service […]
“Perceived to be Deviant”: Social Norms, Social Change, and New York State’s “Walking While Trans” Ban
Section 240.37 of the New York State Penal Code, colloquially known as the “Walking While Trans” Ban, is an example of our nation’s commitment to its identity—defining the boundaries between what is deviant and non-deviant, what is normative and non-normative. This Note seeks to understand the intersection between criminalization, gender identity, social norms, and the […]
He Said. She Said. The iPhone Said. The Use of Secret Recordings in Domestic Violence Litigation
This Note explores the use of secret recordings in domestic violence litigation. It is particularly concerned with how the criminalization of domestic violence influences the laws governing the creation and use of secret recordings in this context. Secret recordings can provide determinative evidence of domestic violence. However, a domestic violence survivor who makes a secret recording is criminally and civilly liable under California’s Anti-Eavesdropping Statute (CEPA). CEPA also renders secret recordings inadmissible as evidence.
A Proposed Future for the Progressive Realization of Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights in California
As the country’s most populous state and the world’s fifth largest economy, California has often been characterized as a “nation-state,” historically independent in its governing priorities. Yet even as the state’s political identity coalesces in favor of recognizing greater social welfare provisions for its inhabitants, formal enactment in policy often falls short. This hesitancy persists […]
Addressing the United States Climate Crisis and Climate Displacement: A Transition from the “Otherization” of Climate Change to a Focus on Domestic Solutions
In the United States, climate change discourse often focuses on international communities, island nations, and poor global citizens. While the focus on international communities is important, it places the impact of climate change in remote and distant locations. This Note argues that associating climate change with people outside the United States creates an “otherization” of climate change and evades the responsibility to look internally and address domestic climate impact. Addressing climate change is particularly important given that the effects of climate change in the United States often disproportionately harm poor, rural, and immigrant communities, as well as communities of color.
Virtual Reality Data and Its Privacy Regulatory Challenges: A Call to Move Beyond Text-Based Informed Consent
Oculus, a virtual reality company, recently announced that it will require all its users to have a personal Facebook account to access its full service. The announcement infuriated users around the world, who feared increased privacy risks from virtual reality, a computer-generated technology that creates a simulated world. The goal of virtual reality is to offer an immersive experience that appears as real as possible to its users. Providing such an experience necessitates collection, processing, and use of extensive user data, which begets corresponding privacy risks. But how extensive are the risks?
People over Profit: The Case for Abolishing the Prison Financial System
California Law Review · People Over Profit: The Case for Abolishing the Prison Financial System The term “mass incarceration” is used to describe a crisis that, to many, is both abstract and distant. But for Black, Latinx, Indigenous, low-income, and other communities whose lives are disproportionately affected by the criminal legal system, the reality of […]
Education Federalism in Action: English Learner Education Policy
Author’s Note: my interest in this topic is intensely personal. After college and before law school, I taught fourth grade at a public elementary school in Oakland, California. Over three-quarters of my students spoke a language other than English at home. Though the plurality spoke Spanish at home, my students collectively spoke over a dozen […]
An Environmental FOIA: Balancing Trade Secrecy with the Public’s Right to Know
This Note discusses the growing use of trade secrecy to withhold critical environmental information from the public. Over the last decade, trade secrecy has moved to the forefront of intellectual property law as an effective method for protecting valuable business information. Trade secrecy grants individuals and businesses the sole right to information they have obtained […]