Category: Constitutional Law

In Case of Emergency, Don’t Call Texas: Breaking Down the Medical Exception to Texas’s Abortion Ban

In this article, Megan VanGilder, discusses the emergency medical exception to Texas’s abortion ban and examines two cases brought against the state in response to the ban’s effects on women facing pregnancy complications. This article argues that the Texas Supreme Court should grant plaintiffs’ claims in Zurwaski v. Texas and clarify the exception’s language to prevent future harm to women and protect physicians from liability for treating their patients.

The Criminalization of Pregnancy Outcomes: Fetal Personhood and Substance Use During Pregnancy

In this article, Anna Marchiony discusses the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health and how prosecutors use states’ fetal personhood laws to prosecute persons who use substances while pregnant. This article criticizes the use of fetal personhood laws to criminalize substance use while pregnant by pointing out that these laws negatively affect both maternal and fetal health, as well as children’s long-term wellbeing. Marchiony advocates for increased access to substance use treatment centers that are equipped to care for pregnant persons.

Trigger Tragedies: Why the Lives of Domestic Violence Victims Rest in the Hands of the Supreme Court

On November 7, the United States Supreme Court will hear oral arguments regarding United States v. Rahimi, a case previously decided by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. In this article, Madeline Brown analyzes the evolution of constitutional law as it pertains to the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms, the lower court’s flawed opinion in Rahimi, and the decision’s negative effects on domestic violence victims.

The Blurry Line Between Threat and Persuasion: Missouri v. Biden and the Significant Encouragement Test

In this article, Ben Rininger explores recent Fifth Circuit and District Court rulings that the Biden administration threatened social media companies to remove controversial pandemic-related information in contravention of the First Amendment. Rininger analyzes the definition of “threat” under the Significant Encouragement Test and discusses how state censorship recommendations come into conflict with the First Amendment.

Where is Nature in Our Constitution? Part I

Across two Parts, Liam McMillin asks how our interaction with and understanding of nature and the natural world informs our basic legal understanding of nature. Using the Constitution as our guide, McMillin examines the difference between granting “rights” to nature, and limiting our own uses, and the internal and external consequences of both.

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