Skip to content Where Legends Are Made

Category: Capstone Commentary

A Slippery Slope: Redefining Cruel and Unusual Punishment in Madison v. Alabama

by Sierra Stockley Introduction Madison v. Alabama is a case pending a decision from the United States Supreme Court. The case was argued before the Court on Tuesday, October 2, 2018 with Bryan A. Stevenson, Esq., representing the petitioner, Vernon Madison, and Alabama’s Deputy Attorney General, Thomas R. Govan, Jr., acting on behalf of the respondent. Regarding the issue raised in the case, the Court must decide two crucial points: whether or not a state may execute a prisoner who […]

Read More from A Slippery Slope: Redefining Cruel and Unusual Punishment in Madison v. Alabama

Female Pioneers in the Legal Profession

by Anna Katherine Sherman The American Bar Association reports that until the late-1960s, less than 5% of students admitted into law schools were female and there was no legislation in place that required employers to hire women. In the mid-1970’s, the number of female law school students increased dramatically, but women were still not being hired after graduation. Today, the law school student body is about equal between men and women, but the gender disparity is still apparent in the […]

Read More from Female Pioneers in the Legal Profession

Towards a New Theory of International Law

by James Niiler Since the conclusion of the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, the West – and now by extension the rest of the world – have supposedly relied on the concept of national sovereignty as the guiding principle of international law. However, the true principle of international law is not actually national egalitarianism, but liberalism, the ideological backbone of Western foreign policy. Liberalism is the belief in the so-called ‘open society.’ It posits the natural state of humanity is […]

Read More from Towards a New Theory of International Law

An Inquiry into the Value of Foreign-Born Workers in the Agricultural Sector

by Tanner D’Ortenzio How much do you spend on a pound of strawberries? Or a gallon of whole milk? Most Americans spend on average $0.99 for a pound of conventional strawberries and $3.27 for a gallon of conventional whole milk. Now, imagine for a moment that our government decided to pass large scale agricultural labor reform focused solely on illegal immigration. This would cause our food prices to raise “over five years by an additional 5 percent to 6 percent […]

Read More from An Inquiry into the Value of Foreign-Born Workers in the Agricultural Sector

Another Deal to be Made: Trump’s Strategy in East Asia

by Bowen Gissendaner Inside the Art of the Deal When attempting to analyze any actions taken by President Trump, one would be remiss not to consider the field in which he has been most successful, business. Before all else, Trump is a businessman, whose shrewd tactics allowed him to become one of the richest men in New York. Thus, when looking at his political endeavors in East Asia one must do so not with the mind of a politician, but […]

Read More from Another Deal to be Made: Trump’s Strategy in East Asia

Russian Dominance and the Weakening of International Law

by Ethan Roberson On November 25, 2018 Russian ships opened fire on three Ukrainian ships (two warships and one tugboat) in a narrow, but strategic sea passage, the Kerch Strait, which separates Crimea and mainland Russia. This confrontation resulted in the injuries of at least six Ukrainian sailors, the capture of more than twenty Ukrainian sailors, and, ultimately, the blockade of the entrance to the Kerch Strait by Russia. Russia’s recent antagonism of Ukraine, blatantly and actively breaches international law […]

Read More from Russian Dominance and the Weakening of International Law

Legislative Note: Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal

by Anna Katherine Sherman Last November, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez became the youngest woman ever to be elected to Congress in the record-breaking midterm elections of 2018. She represents New York’s 14th Congressional District, which includes the Bronx, Queens, and Rikers Island. Since her election, Ocasio-Cortez’s presence in the White House has been somewhat controversial, with some news outlets even calling her “ignorant of everything”. Nevertheless, her support is substantial, as she won her election over the incumbent of 20 years, Joseph […]

Read More from Legislative Note: Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal

Walking the Line: An Inquiry into Our Current Immigration Policies

by Tanner D’Ortenzio On May 19th, 1921, Congress passed the Emergency Quota Act establishing numerical limits on the total amount of immigrants and the use of a quota system for establishing limits on said immigrants. This landmark piece of legislation was passed due to a large amount of Jewish immigrants leaving Eastern Europe. Fleeing from religious anti-semitism in the forms of violent, targeted riots called pogroms and accusatory blood libels. Based off of the 1910 U.S. Census, this act restricted […]

Read More from Walking the Line: An Inquiry into Our Current Immigration Policies

Sexual Assault Laws in Alabama

by Anna Katherine Sherman The Alabama Code Title 13A. Criminal Code § 13A-6-60 defines “forcible compulsion” with regards to rape and sexual assault cases as “physical force that overcomes earnest resistance or a threat, express or implied, that places a person in fear of immediate death or serious physical injury to himself or another person.” The problem with this definition is the phrase ‘earnest resistance’ that must be involved in order for it to be considered a sexual assault. This […]

Read More from Sexual Assault Laws in Alabama

The World Bank as an Instrument of American Foreign Policy

by Claire Faivre Established in 1944 as a pillar of the Bretton Woods system for European post-war reconstruction, the World Bank’s mission and member base has since evolved to become a fundamental player among international economic institutions. The employment of a weighted voting system that allocates voting power according to member countries’ contribution to the Bank’s capital stock, accompanied by the traditional control over the Bank’s presidency, and the physical location of the Bank itself in the US capital, are […]

Read More from The World Bank as an Instrument of American Foreign Policy