Tag: Samuel Blackington


Fixing the Fourth Amendment: Software, Surveillance, and Satire

by Samuel Blackington If the old adage that “knowledge is power” is true, then one’s personal information is a priceless commodity in the highly-digital age we currently live in. To clarify what I mean by personal information, this includes data such as an individual’s fingerprint and even a person’s own face that can all be collected through smart devices that utilize either fingerprint or facial recognition software. Although it is an issue that seems shallow at face value, it encompasses […]

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The Peculiar Case of Lucy v. Zehmer

by Samuel Blackington There are two certainties in life which we can hardly debate: that common law is the result of an ever-growing web of statutes and precedents and that getting intoxicated with friends inevitably leads to questionable decisions. However, in the rare instance where these two facts interact, we cannot help but be extremely curious. This rare interaction is what makes the case of ​Lucy v. Zehmer​, a case before the Virginia Supreme Court, so interesting. The case itself […]

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Algeria: Abdelaziz Bouteflika, April Elections, and the Arab Spring

by Samuel Blackington In the shadow of the Notre Dame d’Afrique, flags and banners fly above protesters who have flooded the city of Algiers, the Mediterranean capital of Algeria. It has been nearly fifty-seven years since Algeria broke free from the Third French Republic, but there remains much in the way of freedom for her people. For years, the non-profit watchdog Freedom House has labelled Algeria as ‘not free.’ The current President of Algeria, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, has retained his position […]

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