Faculty of Legislation College Place Scholarship in High Legislation Journals

Media, law & politics

Several top 50 professional journals reaffirmed the College of Law’s position as a leader in the latest legal research and accepted or published articles from the Syracuse Faculty of Law in the 2020-2021 period. The College of Law’s recent notable internships cover a range of topics including criminal justice reform, disability, health care, long-term care, constitutional law, climate change, and zoning.

Doron Dorfman

• “The PrEP penalty, “Boston College Law Review (forthcoming 2022) Using the example of PrEP – a highly effective, FDA-cleared HIV prevention treatment – Dorfman shows how moral judgments about sexuality that are not supported by clear data influence public health decisions at both political and patient levels.
• “Suspicious Species,” University of Illinois Law Review (2021) Dorfman takes an empirical legal and psychological approach and assesses the “moral panic” and “assistance animal disability” associated with the perceived misrepresentation of pets as support animals and how people with disabilities who use service dogs are forced to comply signal to avoid harassment. Questions or disqualification.

David Driesen

• “The Political Remedies Doctrine”, Emory Law Journal (to be published in 2021) The “Doctrine of Political Remedies” states that courts should not rule on claims to separation of powers until both branches of political government have asserted their rights. Arguing that courts should not apply this doctrine – except perhaps to avoid ruling on the bipartisan laws signed by the president – Driesen also provides new insights into the proper role of negotiations in resolving separation of powers, general theory of relationship between law and justice politics and understanding of how courts should approach justification.
• “The unified executive theory in a comparative context, “Hastings Law Journal (2020) Driesen analyzes the US debate on the unified executive theory in the light of the experiences of other countries, particularly on the basis of case studies of the recent democratic decline in Hungary, Poland and Turkey. Driesen urges the rejection of the unified executive theory, which he considers a possible route to autocracy. An understanding of the dangers that unit theory poses to democracy should reshape the debate.

Nina Kohn

• “Nursing Homes, COVID-19, and the Consequences of Regulatory Failure,” Georgetown Law Journal Online (2021) Kohn examines the COVID-19 crisis in America’s nursing homes and its lessons for the future of long-term care. Her paper discusses how regulatory approaches can be used in other parts of the U.S. healthcare system to create a more humane and resilient long-term care system.
• “Legislation Supported Decision Making, ”Harvard Journal on Legislation (forthcoming 2021) Spurred on by the promise of assisted decision making and growing concerns about guardianship, states are rapidly adopting laws purporting to facilitate and promote assisted decision making and to promote the rights of people with disabilities. Kohn notes that these statutes usually do not do both. She goes on to explain that the gap between the concept of assisted decision making and state legislation is the result of a confluence of political agendas. Kohn argues that a person-centered approach is essential to empowering people with disabilities.

Lauryn P. Gouldin

• “Prejudicial Decision-Making Reform, “Wake Forest Law Review (2020) Professor Gouldin argues that pre-trial reform efforts aimed at shrinking the country’s swollen prison population do too little to change fundamental aspects of court ruling that have been a persistent cause of pre-trial dysfunction. It analyzes the decision-making processes that have caused judges to rely too heavily on pre-trial detention and overly restrictive release in the past, and outlines the cost of those flawed decisions. Gouldin calls for greater emphasis to be placed on judges’ obligations to mitigate harm and encourage successful court release.

Mark Nevitt

• “Is climate change a national emergency?UC Davis Law Review (upcoming 2021) Nevitt asks if climate change – and its multiple impacts – is an emergency that warrants the use of additional legal authorities. If so, which federal emergency agencies are available and what are the normative aspects of democratic governance when a president declares a climate emergency?
• “The Supreme Court Redesign: Implications for Litigation and Regulations Related to Climate Change, ”Cardozo Law Review (2020) With Judiciary Amy Coney Barrett joining the Supreme Court, a conservative majority of the judiciary appears to be cemented for decades to come. Nevitt looks at how this amended Supreme Court might affect future environmental and climate change cases, what impact it will have on policy-making, and how this will affect the ability of plaintiffs to address challenges.

Danielle Stokes

• “Zoning for climate change, “Minnesota Law Review (2021) Stokes draws on extensive academic work advocating federal or regional cooperation in policy-making for renewable energies and for a more balanced and dynamic federalism in the energy sector. She argues that the current fragmented and localized system of energy management – including zoning and land-use planning – can delay and even deter the development of renewable energy projects.