AMELIA DAYNES—In February of this year, Judge Moreno of the Federal District Court for the Southern District of Florida dissolved the Pottinger Agreement, a landmark consent decree that led the nation in establishing protection for people experiencing homelessness. The original Pottinger Agreement was reached in 1998, after ten years of litigation and negotiation between the […]
KEIGAN VANNOY—On Tuesday March, 12, 2019, the FBI announced that 33 individual parents from some of the wealthiest families in the United States would be indicted and criminally prosecuted for various acts of bribery and fraud. Those parents collectively paid $25 million to buy admission slots for their children at prestigious and selective universities across […]
JENNIFER HICKS SAGARDUY—Section 102(a) of the Copyright Act of 1976 provides for copyright protection “in original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression.” When one thinks of copyrightable works, software programs, sculptures, paintings, musical compositions, or one’s favorite novel may come to mind. However, due to the increasing popularity of tattooing coupled […]
BENJAMIN LONGNECKER—The recent passage of the First Step Act retroactively applies the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, addressing a politically and legally-charged topic in criminal justice reform: the disparate sentencing of nonviolent drug offenders who use powder and crack cocaine. After Congress passed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, a person had to possess 100 […]
ALLI KATZEN—Although recognized as a crisis by the American Bar Association for over 30 years, the issue of overburdened and overworked public defenders is yet to be resolved. In fact, as budget cuts deepen, pay disparities intensify, and over-criminalization continues, the problem is worsening. Last month, the New York Times highlighted the potential constitutional violation—ineffective […]
