On May 25, 2020, Minneapolis police officers detained George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black male, when he was suspected of using a counterfeit $20 bill at a neighborhood convenience store. Mr. Floyd was pinned to the ground by Derek Chauvin, a white male police officer with a known history of excessive force. Chauvin kept his knee…

The conversation around sexual health education has changed. Sexual health education in public schools was once viewed as contentious by policy makers who saw the issue as a political minefield as it implicated religion, morality, and sexuality—all deeply personal and controversial topics. However, policy makers are starting to understand the benefits of a well-structured sexual…

On April 13, 2020, Mary turned to her obstetrician (OB/GYN) questioning whether to go through with her pregnancy in the time of COVID-19. “I would do it . . . I mean, in different circumstances I might continue the pregnancy. But now?” The OB/GYN is empathetic, though its effect hidden behind a surgical mask.3 Mary…

Arthur Longworth has been in the Washington state prison system since 1986, when he received a life sentence without parole for first-degree murder. He spent his first decade of imprisonment in and out of solitary confinement and developed an extensive disciplinary record. Then he had an “epiphany” while reading Russian writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s 1973 “The…

“Who decides whether class arbitration is available?” This seemingly simple question has fueled much litigation and is hotly debated between the Federal Courts of Appeals. This question also implicates other foundational questions: “Is class arbitration a proper remedy in this case?” “Is class arbitration a good tool to resolve disputes?” “Are the class-action waivers that…

The liberty interest at issue in this case—the interest of parents in the care, custody, and control of their children—is perhaps the oldest of the fundamental liberty interests recognized by this Court. —Justice Sandra Day O’Connor In October 1989, eleven-year-old Jacob Wetterling was tragically abducted at gunpoint while biking on a rural road in St.…

Benjamin Franklin Pass was the owner of P&W Waste Oil Services in North Carolina, a company in the business of collecting and blending used oil for industrial use. The large operation included a tank farm for collecting material in amounts ranging from 20,000 gallons to 500,000 gallons. In July 2009, an employee of P&W collected…