In United States v. Edgar Ray Killen (2007), Edgar Killen, a former Ku Klux Klan leader, was charged with the murder of three civil rights workers in Mississippi in 1964. One of the witnesses in the case, Louis Allen, was brutally murdered before he could testify in trial. Killen was eventually convicted of three counts of manslaughter in 2005. In Justice Dickinson’s opinion, he wrote, “The Klan's official policy, which was openly discussed at Klan meetings, was to use whatever force necessary — including harassment, intimidation, physical abuse, and even murder — to maintain racial and social segregation in Mississippi.” This case is a tragic example of the lengths some individuals or groups are willing to go to in order to silence witnesses and maintain their power and control. Cases such as United States v. Edgar Ray Killen (2007) serve as a reminder of the challenges and risks involved in seeking justice. This case is crucial to the government because it highlighted the very serious consequences of witness intimidation. It also demonstrated the government's commitment to pursuing and prosecuting organized crime and set a precedent for the government's handling of similar cases…

One of the most popular amendments in the U.S. Constitution is the First Amendment. The high recognition of this amendment comes from the many claims of authority figures and governing bodies violating people's First Amendment rights, some more often than others. One of the provisions within the First Amendment is the Free Exercise Clause. This clause states that the practice and expression of opinion related to religion are protected under the First Amendment. It “protects citizens' right to practice their religion as they please, so long as the practice does not run afoul of "public morals" or a "compelling" governmental interest”— two vague standards. Moreover, not only does this amendment protect the freedom to practice religion and express an opinion, but it also allows the exemption from some generally applicable laws, as long as the violation is for religious reasons…

During Super Bowl 56, a commercial aired showing comedian Larry David traveling through time while criticizing inventions that would become successful—such as the wheel and the light bulb. The commercial ended in the present day with David responding, “eh, I don’t think so,” to the suggestion that one cryptocurrency exchange company, Futures Exchange (FTX), was a safe and easy way to get into cryptocurrency. Ironically, David’s prediction proved to be correct. FTX, one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges, filed for bankruptcy in November 2022, a stunning downfall of what was once a shining star in the industry. A month later, its founder and CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, was arrested under several fraud charges. Bankman-Fried is currently awaiting trial, and deliberation is underway in bankruptcy court to attempt to recover lost assets. Additionally, government agencies are debating the future of cryptocurrency regulation. The legal outcomes of FTX’s collapse may dictate the livelihood of many impacted customers, as well as the future of financial laws in the United States…

Louboutin’s red bottoms, the Coca Cola recipe, Tiffany blue – these are all examples of intellectual property. Intellectual property (IP) refers to works that are created by an individual or group’s original ideas – their intellect. Intellectual property law governs the author’s ability to exercise special rights over these works. Despite many peoples’ lack of knowledge or notice of it, intellectual property has infiltrated almost every aspect of human life. Every time one sees an advertisement, buys or consumes a product, reads a book, listens to a song, or watches a movie, they are actively interacting with a form of intellectual property. Celebrities and public figures in particular are, in many ways, dependent on the benefits that intellectual property rights can generate. Following his extremely controversial public statements, rapper-turned-businessman Kanye West admitted to losing $2 billion worth of brand deals and business relationships in one day due to public outrage. Most notably, Adidas – the manufacturer and distributor of West’s “Yeezy” products – has publicly severed ties with him and is attempting…

One of the Supreme Court’s more bizarre cases occurred in 1970, when two lawyers hiked six miles into the woods to request that Justice William O. Douglas prevent Portland, Oregon police officers from using violent tactics to stop protests. In the woods, Justice Douglas held an impromptu oral argument and then left his decision on a tree stump: application denied. This case illustrates how the Supreme Court has relied on emergency applications and summary decisions to produce rulings in time-sensitive situations. Since 2017, however, there has been a significant increase in the number of cases decided through this emergency docket – generating speculation on whether or not its implementation is appropriate. The “shadow docket” was a term coined by University of Chicago law professor William Baude, as he explained that “outside of the merits cases, the Court issued a number of noteworthy rulings which merit more scrutiny than they have gotten. In important cases, it granted stays and injunctions that were both debatable and mysterious. The Court has not explained their legal basis and it is not even clear to what extent individual Justices agree with those decisions…

In 2012, Colorado and Washington became the first two states in the nation to officially legalize the recreational use of marijuana. Following suit in 2016, Nevada passed Ballot Question #2, named the “Nevada Marijuana Legalization Initiative”, which legalized the recreational use of one ounce or less of marijuana by individuals 21 and over. Since then, Las Vegas has become a hub for recreational marijuana use, incredibly expanding access to tourists—and more importantly—to everyday Nevadans. Four years after Ballot Question #2 was passed, however, a situation arose which raised questions about marijuana’s recreational use in regards to maintaining employment. In 2020, Danny Ceballos, a table game dealer at the Palace Station Resort and Casino, slipped and fell in the employee break room. This prompted his manager to have him submit a drug test and, after Ceballos tested positive for marijuana, Palace Station terminated his employment…

The law of tort includes any wrongful act—other than a breach of contract—done intentionally or negligently, for which damages can be obtained. The jurisdiction legislated by the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) has birthed controversy concerning whether the ATS works to shadow U.S. Courts from International Law, specifically human rights issues. The ATS provides…

Climate change is intruding into every aspect of human life. As carbon continues to build in the atmosphere, climate change will cause “increasing temperatures, shifting precipitation patterns, ocean acidification, sea level rise, and increasing intensity and frequency of extreme weather events.” Given the rapidly changing environment, what has the government done in the past to preserve the environment? The Clean Air Act of 1963 (CAA) gave the federal government the authority to monitor and control air pollution through regulation. Simultaneously, the federal government passed the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), creating the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Through the CAA, the EPA–along with local, state, and tribal governments–were able to regulate hazardous pollutants, acid rain, and ozone through setting limits…

In 2021, wage theft was the most expensive crime in America, costing more than all other larcenies combined. What is wage theft? In a general sense, wage theft occurs when employers fail to pay employees the full wages that they are legally entitled to. This is primarily seen in the form of paying workers below minimum wage, failing to pay overtime premiums, denying meal breaks, or asking employees to work outside their designated hours – essentially the most common violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act passed in 1938. Between 2017 and 2020, over $3 million in stolen wages were recovered for employees who were victims of wage theft. While the amount sounds costly, it only represents a small percent of stolen wages nationwide. In the United States, billions of dollars are stolen from workers’ paychecks each year. Who does this impact most? Low-wage employees, most of whom are people of color and immigrants. And which industry employs a large amount of low-wage workers? The fast food industry…