CLR Forum

Introduction The Constitution protects us from criminal conviction unless the state can prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. However, after defining reasonable doubt, many trial courts will then instruct jurors “to search for the truth” of what they think really happened. Defendants have argued that such truth-related language reduces the state’s burden of proof to […]

Introduction Pressure is building again for Congress to reform patent law. Various proposals would reduce patent-litigation costs through fee shift­ing, delaying discovery, or allowing manufacturers to defend suits on behalf of their customers. Eluding consideration, however, is one simple change that might eliminate millions or even billions of dollars worth of waste across the entire […]

MARRIAGE, ABORTION, AND COMING OUT

Scott Skinner-Thompson,* Sylvia A. Law** & Hugh Baran***

Over the past two decades, legal protections for lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals have dramatically expanded. Simultaneously, meaningful access to reproductive choice for women has eroded. What accounts for the different trajectories of LGBTQ rights and reproductive rights?

This Piece argues that one explanation—or at least partial explanation—for the advance of LGBTQ rights relative to reproductive rights is the differing degree...

Islamophobia is escalating at a frightening clip in the United States. Scrutiny of this bigotry, presently understood as “fear and suspicion of Muslims,” is rising at an alarming rate. Its rapid rise is reflected in the legal literature, encompassing scholarship analyzing the emerging national security strategies of the state to the civil liberties infractions and threats they pose to Muslim subjects. In short time, Islamophobia has become...

Introduction In April 2016, a massive leak of confidential legal documents, now known as the “Panama Papers,” attracted international scrutiny and con­demnation of offshore asset protection trust arrangements. Such trusts are legal to create but notoriously susceptible to abuse by wrongdoers seeking to hide assets from the peering eyes of tax collectors and credi­tors. The […]

Introduction The rapid rise of social media companies poses important questions for society, as legislatures, regulators, and courts try to balance consumer protections with the promotion of innovation and entrepreneurship. Indeed, technology is advancing much faster than the laws and regu­lations that govern it, creating a disconnect between the expectations of social media users and […]

People often do not vote, and those who do sometimes unwittingly vote against their interests. That is because voters have little incentive to cast intelligent votes in any given election, even though they clearly have a stake in the intelligent outcome of every election. A simple solution would be to permit voters to delegate their votes—that is, let someone else vote on their behalf in some fashion. Possible delegated voting solutions range...

Response to: William Baude, Is Originalism Our Law?, 115 Colum. L. Rev. 2349 (2015).

Response to: Jessica Bulman-Pozen & David E. Pozen, Uncivil Obedience, 115 Colum. L. Rev. 809 (2015)

Response to: Jon D. Michaels, An Enduring, Evolving Separation of Powers, 115 Colum. L. Rev. 515 (2015).