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.
As American social norms progress and popular society becomes more tolerant of nontraditional gender identities and sexualities, our nation stands on the brink of a powerful legal turning point for LGBTQ+ rights. R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes, Inc. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission offers a critical opportunity to affirm transgender individuals’ inherent right to be free from maltreatment based solely on who they are as human beings.
Read MoreRacial integration is crucial to promoting cross-racial understanding, reducing prejudice, and improving academic performance for students of all races. The United States’ failure to racially integrate its public schools is destructive to the fabric of an equitable American society and undermines the American belief that all children deserve an equal educational opportunity. The increasing segregation of schooling institutions in 21st century America calls for placing public school districts under strict scrutiny and pursuing litigation against districts which contribute to such perpetuation.
Read MorePennsylvania v. Knox (2018) is situated in a larger debate concerning the extent to which rap music constitutes protected free speech. More specifically, this case tested the limits of rap as a form of free speech and the extent to which the First Amendment tolerates violence expressed in rap lyrics. However, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s limited understanding of the nuances of rap, and their judicial narrowing of this art form as monolithic, has set precedent that inserts legal and textual ambiguity into the nexus between between free speech and rap.
Read MoreWhat role do graduate students have at universities? Although these students attend universities to learn, their learning experience requires that many of them also work. As in all workplaces, unions are vital for the protection of workers’ rights, distribution of fair pay, and the providing of safe working conditions. Without collective bargaining rights, it becomes significantly more difficult for graduate students to have a voice.
Read MoreHow can survivors of harassment, assault, and/or discrimination realistically pursue justice? While the United States Federal Court System answers this question through mandatory arbitration, survivors and advocates—referring to the concept as forced arbitration—argue that it systematically allows the cycle of harassment and discriminatory behavior to continue.
Read MoreDespite the fact that in the last twenty nine years, the Supreme Court has ruled against tribal interests in 72% of the fifty-five cases it heard that dealt with this matter, the current Court is beginning to come back to the ideology of Marshall in Worcester, ruling in favor of tribal interests. Through recent rulings in cases involving treaties where land disputes arose between tribes and the United States government, there is growing precedent being established for a renewed increase in tribal authority over nonmember disputes in civil courts.
Read MoreThe PPACA established and mandated a standard minimum for care, regulated health coverage practices and entities, and expanded public Medicare and Medicaid programs. The statute further established a legislative precedent that has been resoundingly evoked by the healthcare policy platforms of candidates such as Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden over a decade later. At the same time, the PPACA has proven remarkably controversial, drawing criticism for its emphatic incentivization of public healthcare at the state level and mandation of coverage at the individual level. As evidenced by the dozens of consequential lawsuits brought before the Roberts Court as a result of the PPACA, the future of universal healthcare remains legally contentious.
Read MoreGig economy worker classification has become a major political issue, and the California Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. The Superior Court of Los Angeles County in favor of a delivery driver appeared to have generated a key turning point in the controversy. While the ruling created a more favorable threshold for independent contractors seeking to be reclassified as employees, this article will argue that the Dynamex decision was largely made possible by idiosyncrasies of the California legal system and that labor advocates’ hopes of similar changes at the federal level will likely require Congressional action.
Read MoreAs Skidmore v. Led Zeppelin weaves a circuitous path through the courts, its final ruling will carry significant implications for both copyright law and the music industry. Nevertheless, the confusion and disagreement among courts in previous decisions on the Led Zeppelin case exemplify recurring problems in music copyright law that should be resolved: namely, jurors are often given imprecise instructions on interpreting music and it is unclear what constitutes as an infringement of a song.
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