Meghan Boone & Benjamin J. McMichael

Half a century of state-level restrictions on abortion access might cause a casual observer to conclude that state governments have a long-standing commitment to protecting fetal life. And yet, over the last several decades, state governments and local law enforcement are increasingly taking steps that actively undermine fetal health. Through the passage of state fetal endangerment laws and the prosecution of pregnant women under stretched interpretations of existing criminal laws, states are actively creating conditions that result in poorer fetal health outcomes—including an increase in fetal and infant death.

Ayesha Bell Hardaway

Input from affected communities is an essential component of the reform process aimed at remedying unconstitutional police practices. Yet, no court has ever granted a community organization’s motion to intervene as a matter of right in police reform, consent decree cases initiated by the Department of Justice. Judicial opinions in those cases have truncated the Federal Civil Rule 24 analysis when evaluating the interests of impacted communities. Thus, the most success achieved by a few community organizations has been permissive intervention or amici status. The models used by the Department of Justice to elicit the community perspective have been frustrating and have failed to incorporate community voice with equal weight and authority in the process.

Daniel Maggen

The #MeToo movement is often criticized for its conflation of sexual assault, sexual harassment, and offensive but not legally actionable behavior. This objection is often accompanied by criticism of #MeToo’s failure to adhere to the legal paradigms that inform sexual assault and harassment, presumably setting back the efforts to advance them. Finally, the #MeToo movement is often faulted for its failure to accord those it accuses with the procedural safeguards of due process.

Cass R. Sunstein & Adrian Vermeule

Many presidents have been interested in asserting authority over in-dependent regulatory agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Federal Reserve Board. The underlying debates raise large constitutional questions, above all about the meaning and justification of the idea of a “unitary executive.”

Charles Thau

This Note presents an original argument regarding a significant and recurring issue within commercial contract law: efforts clauses. Many practitioners perceive efforts clauses as operating on a sliding scale, with “best efforts” imposing more burdensome obligations than “reasonable efforts,” for example. The majority of American courts, however, reject this hierarchical notion. Reasoning on both a linguistic and prudential basis, this Note argues that efforts clauses should be interpreted hierarchically.