Jack Frischen examines how climate change escalation could strain existing U.S. environmental law and emergency powers, raising the risk of expanded federal control if meaningful reform is delayed. He argues that strengthening environmental regulation is essential to safeguard democratic governance and prevent crisis-driven overreach.
Katie Bunch examines the legal regulation of short-term rental platforms under municipal zoning law, analyzing how traditional land use classifications, varying ordinance language, and differing judicial interpretations influence the treatment of Airbnb and Vrbo properties. She evaluates how clearer statutory definitions and balancing approaches could reduce ambiguity and improve consistency in zoning enforcement.
Stella Brocker analyzes a recent class-action lawsuit against Elon Musk, where a jury found that he committed securities fraud during his 2022 Twitter acquisition. She analyzes whether Musk’s actions legally constituted securities fraud and the broader policy implications of this verdict. Ultimately, she argues that the current securities fraud regulations should be modified to allow for actions brought under a lower standard of culpability to hold rich and powerful actors accountable for negligent behavior on social media.
Josh Smith explores a recent trademark infringement lawsuit filed by the well-known gas station brand, Buc ee’s, against Mickey’s, a regional gas station in northeast Ohio. This article examines the application of the Lanham Act to the facts of the case while also considering whether Buc ee’s is asserting a trademark overreach rather than protecting a legally distinctive and enforceable mark.
Maggie Traubert explores how San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez reshaped the constitutional landscape of public education by declining to recognize education as a fundamental right and permitting funding disparities based on local property wealth. The article traces the historical commitment to educational equality from early American ideals through Brown v. Board of Education, and argues that Rodriguez marked a retreat from those principles. The result is a system in which educational opportunity remains closely tied to wealth, with enduring consequences for equity and access.
Joanna Swaiss discusses how Ohio’s biological evidence retention statute lacks a remedy for criminal defendants when governmental entities violate it. She argues that this lack of remedy severely disadvantages wrongfully convicted individuals who stand to benefit from evidence preservation, and she proposes an avenue for post-conviction relief in cases of intentional evidence destruction.
Brookelynn Stone examines the recently filed case Estée Lauder Inc. et al. v. Walmart Inc. et al., which accuses Walmart of trademark infringement and seeks to hold Walmart accountable for non-genuine products sold by third party sellers on its online marketplace. She explores the key issues likely to shape the outcome of the case and what a ruling in favor of the plaintiffs could signal to large e-commerce platforms and its potential impact on the future of third-party sales.
Nathan Steineker analyzes a public pension fund policy permitting the revocation of a retiree’s benefits based on conduct that may raise concerns under the First and Fourteenth Amendments.
Kennedy Aikey examines the growing wave of litigation against major social media companies, specifically the recent case holding Meta and YouTube liable, and asks whether social media could become the next Big Tobacco. She explores how plaintiffs use nuisance theories to argue that platforms such as Meta, YouTube, TikTok, and Snap Inc. intentionally designed addictive platforms that harm youth mental health. She also analyzes whether claims that focus on the design of social media platforms, rather than on user-generated content, could allow plaintiffs to bypass the liability shield created by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
Andrew Pyles discusses the Northern Illinois Transit Authority Act, which forbids local governments from requiring parking around transit stations, focusing on whether states should preempt local land-use laws through sweeping legislation.
