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Category: Notes

Note

A Site to Save a Life: The Case for Lobbying Congress to Restrict the Department of Justice from Targeting Supervised Drug Consumption Sites

Trevor Thompson

J.D., Cornell Law School 2022; B.A. Columbia University, 2018.

This Note will begin with an overview of fentanyl’s role in exacerbating the opioid crisis that has now claimed over a million American lives. It will then offer a partial explanation for why the crisis has gotten worse over the past few years: the Food and Drug Administration’s (“FDA”) refusal to initiate a prescription to…

Sep 2023

Note

Tripping on Patent Hurdles: Exploring the Legal and Policy Implications of Psilocybin Patents

Jennifer S. Seidman

J.D., Cornell Law School, 2023; B.S. in Public Health, B.A. in Chemistry, University at Buffalo, 2020.

Ask any hippie and they will tell you about the euphoric and therapeutic properties of psychedelic “magic” mushrooms (psilocybin). While the therapeutic effects of psilocybin have been long known among indigenous and underground practices, the medicalization of psilocybin therapy is a new phenomenon. Psilocybin poses a unique and promising solution for the growing mental illness…

Jul 2023

Note

Pharmaceutical Patent Protection Beyond the Twenty-Year Statutory Term

M. Houston Brown, Jr.

J.D., Cornell Law School, 2023; B.A. in Neuroscience and Behavior, Columbia University, 2019.

Although many life-saving pharmaceuticals on the market have already seen their patents expire, there are countless life-saving pharmaceuticals that still have patent protection, and many more are currently or will be seeking patent protection. Some of these pharmaceutical inventions still have patent protection despite the initial patents having been filed as far back as 1985….

Jul 2023

Note

Religious or Not Religious? That Is Not the Establishment Clause Question

Ashley Stamegna
J.D. Candidate, Cornell Law School, 2022.

While the Supreme Court struggles to find solid footing for its Establishment Clause jurisprudence, it is rare that attention is given to this particular inconsistency. Instead, courts in the Establishment Clause context have done exactly what they condemn in the free-exercise context: evaluate the veracity of a claimant’s sincere beliefs. This Note attempts to reconcile…

Jun 2023

Note

Political and Judicial Incorrectness: The Case for Modifying the Arlington Heights Test to Disincentivize Discriminatory Appeals

Steven D. Mirsen
J.D. Candidate, Cornell Law School, 2023.

Throughout history, discriminatory appeals to the public have been exploited by demagogues and dictators in order to concentrate power predicated on prejudice. As recent events have revealed, creating scapegoats, cultivating resentment, and capitalizing on fear and hate all remain unfortunately familiar marks on the political roadmap. Discriminatory appeals, particularly those rooted in Islamophobia, remain a…

Jun 2023

Note

Unequal Protection: Challenges to Serious Mental Illness Exemptions from the Death Penalty

Claire M. Piorkowski

J.D. Candidate, Cornell Law School, 2023; B.A. in Political Science, University of Cincinnati, 2020.

This Note explores the contention that Ohio House Bill 136 and similar proposed bills with a diagnosis-based categorical approach to death penalty exemptions violate seriously mentally ill individuals’ rights under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment by limiting the scope of eligible mental illnesses to a narrow subset of specified disorders. This Note…

Apr 2023

Note

Politicization of State Attorneys General: How Partisanship is Changing the Role for the Worse

Marissa A. Smith

J.D. Cornell Law School; B.S. University of Texas at Austin.

The position of State AG has long been said to stand for ‘Aspiring Governor’ rather than Attorney General. It is remarkable how the significance of that joke has changed as the role has become one of the most influential in the country.2 What began as insolent mockery is now a fearsome truth. State attorneys general…

Apr 2023

Note

The Borderline of Crime: The Case for Reevaluating United States v. Bowman & Vigorously Applying the Presumption Against Extraterritoriality to Federal Criminal Statutes

Danielle T. Dominguez

J.D., Cornell Law School, 2023; B.A., Claremont McKenna College, 2019

In Part I, this Note will provide background information on extraterritoriality. This Note will define extraterritoriality and expand upon the crucial role of the presumption against extraterritoriality in determining the jurisdictional reach of federal statutes. This Note will also expand on the unique history of extraterritoriality in federal statutory jurisprudence. Furthermore, this Note will identify…

Mar 2023

Note

Standing Up to TransUnion: How FDCPA Plaintiffs Can Satisfy TransUnion’s Heightened Concrete Injury Standard

Joseph P. Teknus

J.D., Cornell Law School, 2023; B.A. in Economics and History, William & Mary, 2020.

After noticing a pervasive, nationwide problem, Congress enacts legislation. The legislation creates new, individual rights and gives private citizens the ability to vindicate those rights in federal court. The idea is simple: to attack the problem, Congress empowers private citizens to hold violators accountable. But if a plaintiff sues a violator, are there any federal…

Mar 2023

Note

Websites, Wellness, and Winn-Dixie: Telehealth Accessibility During COVID-19 and Beyond

Peyton B. Brooks, J.D., Cornell Law School, 2023

During the COVID-19 pandemic, people with disabilities struggled to find proper access to health care. According to a report by the disability services organization Easterseals, approximately forty-six percent of those who had used Easterseals services lost access to health care between the beginning of the public health emergency in March 2020 and April 2021. Furthermore,…

Nov 2022