Volume 49, Issue 1

Public school libraries are facing an unprecedented number of attempts to ban books from their shelves. The mounting pressure levied by parents, community members, and political groups against school administrators threatens to overwhelm attempts to enhance students’ access to information—particularly information that does not fit within the framework of assumed “community values.” The majority of…

New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen, marks the next evolution in U.S. gun laws as the judiciary continues to define the limits state actors can place on law-abiding citizens. Underlying the case’s merits is the revival of a lingering struggle among Originalists. Namely, the level of generality Justices and judges should…

The United States Constitution’s Eighth Amendment states: “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” The word “excessive” is ambiguous for several reasons, which causes controversy about defendants’ rights in criminal proceedings. The Minnesota Constitution better protects the accused by requiring that every defendant have a right…

Human impacts have contributed to the loss of eighty-three percent of wild mammal biomass, and as many as one million plant and animal species face potential extinction. Additionally, climate change is altering the patterns of water availability such that over half of the world’s population will live in water-stressed areas by 2025. The western United…

The protection of Minnesota’s environment is both a core value of many Minnesotans and a heavily debated topic within the state. Minnesota was among the first states to pass its own Environmental Policy Act and is currently one of only sixteen states to have such a law in place. The attention paid to these issues,…

Abortion access is, once again, at the center of national debate after the recent Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health. The Court’s decision in Dobbs overturned constitutional abortion protections that were defined by Roe v. Wade and its predecessors going back nearly fifty years. This Article provides an alternative route and framework…

In Madison v. Alabama, the United States Supreme Court held that the Eighth Amendment does not prohibit the execution of individuals who have no recollection of the crimes that they committed. In reaching their conclusion, the Court set forth that the determinant of whether the execution may proceed is whether the death-row-inmate is competent—being able…

The Islamic Republic of Iran provides a contemporary example of a theocratic government whose constitutional duty is to ensure, at all costs, that the people act in accordance with the Shia version of the Sharia: “Today, however, the success and failure of the country is in our hands, the authorities: and it is we who…

In December 2020, the State of Texas, supported by seventeen other states, asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene in the presidential election and direct the question of whose electors should be appointed to state legislatures. Their claim was grounded primarily on a legal theory derived from McPherson v. Blacker (which had nothing to do…