NULR of Note

The novel coronavirus COVID-19 has rapidly become one of the worst public health crises in U.S. history. Yet this is not only a critical moment for health, but also for privacy. With social isolation orders in forty-two states, as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and Guam, collaborative technological services—such as such as video conferencing, file sharing, mobile apps, […]

The current COVID-19 public health crisis has rendered the nation’s jails and prisons ticking time bombs. In the confined spaces of the carceral system the infection flourishes. At Rikers Island in New York City the rate of infection among the incarcerated population is an estimated seven times that of the free population. The Cook County Jail in Chicago boasts […]

On December 10, 2019, an Illinois Appellate Court, in a notable Chicago Police torture case, affirmed Cook County Judge William H. Hooks’s decision granting Jackie Wilson a new trial, finding that his 1982 confession was a result of torture by Lieutenant Jon Burge and his detectives. People v. Jackie Wilson, 2019 IL App (1st) 181486. Flint Taylor is Wilson’s attorney and a […]

The following pieces are a part of Northwestern University Law Review Online Volume 114’s “Bring Back The ‘90s” initiative, aimed at exploring the evolution of legal thinking over the past three decades. Authors who published with NULR in the 1990s were provided with an opportunity to revisit the ideas, issues, and questions in their writings, […]

In November, the Supreme Court will hear argument in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, in which it will decide whether states with voucher-like schemes must allow those funds to be used at religious schools. Writing for SCOTUSBlog on September 17, Jim Kelly highlighted an underappreciated aspect of this debate: that private religious schools are not the only schools with […]

The idea of diversity has influenced some of our country’s most important judicial decisions. We asked Northwestern 1Ls to write about a case they studied in their first year of law school that has affected their opinion about diversity in the legal system. Walter was one of the winners. History will not look kindly upon this Court’s […]

The idea of diversity has influenced some of our country’s most important judicial decisions. We asked Northwestern 1Ls to write about a case they studied in their first year of law school that has affected their opinion about diversity in the legal system. Meher was one of the winners. Of the cases covered in Constitutional Law tracing […]

At Northwestern University Law Review’s Symposium on Originalism 3.0, Professor Steven Calabresi presented a paper critiquing a Thayerian approach to judicial handling of unenumerated rights. The session was moderated by Professor James Pfander, with commentary by Professor Jamal Greene of Columbia University Law School. Professor Calabresi described James Thayer’s influential 1893 Article, The Origin and Scope of the American Doctrine of Constitutional Law, which […]

Is originalism correct? What might make it so? Grounding Originalism, a forthcoming Essay by Professors William Baude and Stephen E. Sachs, tackles these questions by moving from legal theory to legal empirics in an effort to provide a coherent story of our law. On Friday afternoon, November 5, 2018, Professors Baude and Sachs were joined by Professor Michael Ramsey in a […]

Georgetown Law’s Professor Lawrence B. Solum discussed his forthcoming article, Originalism versus Living Constitutionalism: The Conceptual Structure of the Great Debate,at the recent Northwestern University Law Review 2018 Symposium: Originalism 3.0. Professor William Ewald from the University of Pennsylvania provided commentary, and Northwestern Law Professor Joshua Kleinfeld moderated the panel. Professor Solum began the discussion by sharing his inspiration for the article. While this […]