By Musa Kamara (PO’22) The Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution conveys three major provisions, one of which is perhaps one of the most recognizable constitutional tenets in popular culture. The Amendment guarantees protection from excessive bail, protection from fines, and – most notably– protection from cruel and unusual punishment. The idea of cruel and unusual punishment...
By Alex Simard (PO’22) On March 31, Québec’s ruling Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) introduced Bill 21, a law that would ban public employees from wearing religious symbols. Under Bill 21, a public school teacher, government lawyer, or law enforcement officer would have to remove their hijab, niqab, yarmulke, or cross during work hours. The law also requires that individuals remove religious...
By Katya Pollock (PO ’21) On March 8th, Finland’s center-right coalition government, led by Prime Minister Juha Sipilä, resigned after failing to pass a promised reform of healthcare programs. A dramatic rise in the population’s old-age dependency ratio and recession-level labor force participation rates have tightened financial pressure on the country’s healthcare, pension, child-care, and...
By Savannah Green (CMC ’20) In June of 2018, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the defendant in Wayfair v. South Dakota regarding online sales tax. Prior to this case, the law did not allow states to collect sales tax from online stores unless said stores owned a physical property in the state. The precedent came from a 1992 case, Quill Corporation v. North Dakota, that had long given...
By Kimberly Tuttle (CMC’19) On November 4, 2014, California voters passed Proposition 47, “The Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act.” The initiative reduces certain drug possession felonies to misdemeanors. It also requires misdemeanor sentencing for petty theft, receiving stolen property and forging bad checks when the amount involved is $950 or less. It was intended to “ensure that prison...
By Musa Kamara (PO’22) 2019 has thus far seen the emergence of an ever-growing field of candidates hoping to challenge President Donald Trump. Among the field are individuals with a variety of personalities, ideologies, and levels of visibility; senators, representatives, governors, and mayors all run alongside one another. One of the more well-known figures in the Democratic camp is Kamala...
By Kimberly Tuttle (CMC’19) Birth tourism, or birth immigration, is a phenomenon that occurs all over the world; it is the practice of traveling to another country for the purpose of giving birth in that place. The main motivation behind this practice is for the parents and children involved to obtain citizen status in a country with birthright citizenship. Canada, Hong Kong, and the U.S...
By Rafael Santa Maria (PO ’20) The Philippines officially left the International Criminal Court (ICC) two weeks ago, on March 17, thus ending the country’s participation in the Netherlands-based international tribunal. This comes a year after the Philippine government filed a notice of withdrawal to the UN, and it makes the island nation only the second country to leave, following Burundi’s exit...
By Savannah Green (CMC ’20) Over the past few weeks, several countries have come to the support of human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, who was arrested in Iran in June of 2018 for representing women accused of removing their hijabs in public. When Sotoudeh was arrested by Iranian authorities, she was given no explanation and was detained for eight months while awaiting her sentencing. On...
By Musa Kamara (PO’22) Before, during, and most likely after his tenure as President of the United States, Donald Trump has not hesitated and will not hesitate to make his opinions known, via his personal Twitter account @realDonaldTrump. Trump’s usage of Twitter as a president is not unusual: President Barack Obama notably utilized Twitter as a key component of his campaign strategy and as...
