Social media has revolutionized the way that we interact. In a Pew Research Center study, sixty-nine percent of respondents indicated that they use social media. This number stands in contrast to usage ten years ago, when only twenty-one percent of U.S. adults used social media. “Over a mere few years, what started as a means…

In his dissent in Glossip v. Gross, Justice Breyer declared that “[t]he arbitrary imposition of punishment is the antithesis of the rule of law.” He went on to assert that, for a defendant, to be sentenced to death was akin to being struck by lightning. Such randomness and arbitrariness in capital sentencing results from the…

When you think of impersonation, the first thing to come to mind might be a mime mirroring a passerby’s inattentive, hurried walk, or an actress in Disneyland dressed as Elsa from Frozen, twirling around with a child. As benign and jovial as this type of impersonation may be, the law correctly recognizes that impersonation has…

The relationship between man and animal has gone through several evolutions throughout history. This relationship has evolved from primarily hunting animals for food and raw materials in prehistoric ages, to using animals as methods of transportation, to training animals to detect medical conditions and explosive devices. In addition to the practical evolutions, this relationship has…

John Stuart Mill offers arguably the most insightful and important defense of free speech. He contends that freedom of speech will contribute to “the permanent interest of man as a progressive being.” Freedom of speech is often justified based on the idea that an undisturbed marketplace of ideas is an essential ingredient to a healthy…

John Stuart Mill wrote, “the only purpose for which power can rightfully be exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others.” This principle is most commonly regarded in relation to the criminal law, where Justice Anthony Kennedy acknowledged that “incarceration . . . is the most…

Washington is one of the nation’s six fastest-growing states, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In the first two months of 2018, the Economic and Revenue Forecast Council reported 24,800 construction permits were issued for single-family housing. Through April 2018, growth in the prices of single-family homes in the Seattle metropolitan area had led the…

In their popular book, Nudge, Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein argue that automatic enrollment in retirement plans is the “obvious answer” to the question of how to get more workers to save more for retirement. Improving retirement savings is increasingly important as today’s workers are not adequately saving for retirement. The average household in America…

The PolyMet Mine proposal is a microcosm of an even larger and timeless debate on how public lands should be used and valued. This issue is particularly salient with land exchanges – transactions between private companies and government entities that seek to utilize the land for natural resources. The discussion becomes increasingly convoluted when the…

Tucked away and hidden from the outside world in a remote valley surrounded by red sandstone resides a small, K-12 school district located on the Navajo Reservation. It is a place that time appears to have forgotten. Large, institutional buildings painted in bland, government-issued paint juxtapose the haunting beauty and intense colors of the Southwest.…

Employment discrimination is notoriously hard to prove. From the scarcity of evidence to the skepticism of jurors, plaintiffs in employment discrimination or employment retaliation cases face an uphill battle to prove that a discharge or demotion was caused by unlawful animus. Fortunately for Minnesota plaintiffs, however, Minnesota courts have long employed a causation test that…