Soksamnang Lim (PO’23) The recent Iowa Caucus marks a significant milestone in America’s transition into a digital democracy, defined as the use of information and communication technology in political and electoral processes. However, the Caucus’ delayed results from the poorly tested polling app demonstrate the growing role of technology within America’s election process...
Kelsey Braford (PO ‘22) The Founding Fathers wrote into the fifth amendment protections against double jeopardy — i.e. being tried for the same crime twice. However, the infamous case of Tim Hennis, who faced three trials for one crime, is an interesting example of how dual sovereignty offers a loophole to this provision. While some might say the use of this loophole violates the spirit of...
By Rafael Santa Maria (PO ’20) A pending Supreme Court case, County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund, could determine the future of the Clean Water Act of 1972 (CWA), a federal law that regulates pollution and quality standards for surface waters in the US. In particular, a potential loophole in the CWA’s guidelines could allow public and private sector organizations to evade regulation and...
Arletta Gorecka (PhD Candidate, University of Strathclyde) Van Gend en Loos (1963), in its famous passage, claimed that EU constitutional law “constitutes a new legal order of international law for the benefit of which the states have limited their sovereign rights, albeit within limited fields, and the subjects of which comprise not only EU member states but also their nationals.” [1] The...
Christopher Tan PZ (’21) On a frosty day on January 21, 2010, the Supreme Court made a landmark decision in Citizens United v. FEC that went onto radically reshape the business of American politics. In a 5-4 decision authored by Justice Anthony Kennedy, the case ruled that the 1st Amendment protected the rights of corporate and labor groups to spend money on political candidates. 10 years later...
By Christopher Tan (PZ ’21) Xi Jinping could have not have imagined a worse start to the Lunar New Year. A sudden outbreak of viral pneumonia from Wuhan has sent the country into lockdown and has left world healthcare services scrambling to stem its spread. This latest crisis is a cruel ending to a year that has seen Xi struggle in a trade war with the US, respond to unrest in Hong Kong...
Rowan McGarry-Williams (PO ’21) It is comforting to think of progress as linear and inevitable, with the present a constant process of improvement over the past. However, the truth of history is that it is full of contingencies and reversals, fits and starts. In the United States, the clearest example of history’s impartiality towards progress is that of Reconstruction’s demise in the late 1800s...
Dear Reader, Welcome to Volume 7, Number 2 of the Claremont Journal of Law and Public Policy! We received a record number of submissions for this edition, which includes analyses of campaign finance reform, pre-natal healthcare in prisons, insulin pricing, and much more. We also have a wide-ranging interview with Professor Ken Kersch of Boston College; Staff Writer Sarah Wilson talked with...
By Lucie Abele PO ’22 With increasingly unpredictable weather patterns across the globe, from raging wildfires in California and Australia to droughts and tropical storms, climate is among the political issues that matter most to voters as of December 2019. The climate policies of each of six potential presidential candidates, selected from the frontrunners of the Republican and Democratic...
By Lucie Abele PO ’22 As of December 2019, foreign policy was among the political issues that matter most to voters. In the face global issues such as the trade war with China and rising tensions with Iran, candidates’ foreign policies are extremely relevant. The foreign policies of each of six potential presidential candidates, selected from the frontrunners of the Republican and Democratic...
