NULR of Note

By Matthew Erickson On September 17, 2017, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois granted a preliminary injunction against the imposition of conditions the Trump administration placed on receipt of federal funds under a program known as the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program (the “Byrne JAG grant”). The case, City […]

This blog post previews my Note topic, The Harsh Reality of Reality Television Contracts, which explores whether principles of contract law and labor law can provide protection to reality television participants when things go wrong. On Sunday, June 4, 2017, the fourth season of Bachelor in Paradise began taping in Mexico. However, the reality was […]

The Seventh Circuit recently addressed discrimination issues involving a transgender student in a case of first impression, Whitaker v. Kenosha (2017), holding that a transgender student was protected by Title IX’s prohibition against sex-based discrimination. The court theorized that because transgender people do not conform to traditional stereotypes associated with their birth sex, transgender discrimination […]

Since Steve Jobs unveiled the legendary iPhone in 2007, smartphones have fundamentally changed countless aspects of human interaction from how we navigate to how we communicate. Today, over three-quarters of adults in the United States own a smartphone, making it one of the fastest spreading technologies of all time. The emergence of smartphones has also […]

Unbeknownst to many students J.D. and L.L.M. students, our classroom experiences are embarking upon a long-term path toward what could be significant changes as a trio of ABA requirements for law schools nationwide begin to take effect. The requirements are Standards 302, 314, and 315 , each of which defines a new type of requirement: learning outcomes […]

On October 31, 2017, the University of Notre Dame terminated contraceptive coverage for employees and graduate students. The school’s announcement was immediately criticized, and a week later, the school reversed its decision. To understand Notre Dame’s flip-flop, it is important to interrogate the underlying rationale for the school’s decision to terminate coverage in the first […]

Gill v. Whitford (argued Oct. 3, 2017), a case concerning the constitutionality of Wisconsin’s state assembly district map, is one of the highest profile Supreme Court cases of this term. The Court’s decision may have a dramatic impact on national politics. Justice Anthony Kennedy stands at the center of the case, as he will likely be the […]

On October 30, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument about the availability of funding for capital defense investigations in Ayestas v. Davis. The specific issue before the Court was whether 18 U.S.C. § 3599(f) allows courts to order funding for federal habeas counsel to investigate and develop ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claims not raised by state habeas counsel. The […]

On July 26, 2017, President Trump announced a directive on Twitter that would ban transgender individuals from serving in the military. This decision reversed a policy approved under the Obama Administration that would allow transgender military personnel to openly serve. President Trump cited the “tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail” […]

United States District Judges Edmond E. Chang, Sara L. Ellis, and Virginia M. Kendall comprised the fourth and final panel of the Northwestern University Law Review’s October 20, 2017 symposium, “‘A Fear of Too Much Justice’?: Equal Protection and the Social Sciences 30 Years after McCleskey v. Kemp,“ engaging questions of evidence, epistemology, and expertise on […]