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...
Challenging the Doctrine of Direct Effect: Should We Still Care About the Direct Effect?
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...
Revisiting Citizens United v. FEC: The Case that Changed American Politics
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...
Xi Jinping’s Unhappy New Year
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...
Echoes of Reconstruction’s Demise
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...
Letter from the Editor-in-Chief, Vol. 7 No. 2
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...
Candidate Catchup: Climate Policies of Presidential Hopefuls
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...
Candidate Catchup: Foreign Policy Approaches of Presidential Hopefuls
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...
Candidate Catchup: Health Care Policies of Presidential Hopefuls
By Lucie Abele PO ’22 As of December 2019, health care is among the political issues that matter most to voters and grows increasingly relevant as prescription drug costs rise and the population ages. The health care policies of each of six potential presidential candidates, selected from the frontrunners of the Republican and Democratic parties, are discussed. For the Republican party, President...
Candidate Catchup: Domestic Economic Policies of Presidential Hopefuls
By Lucie Abele PO ’22 Domestic economic policy is a topic that is significant to American voters, who want to see economic growth, higher real wages, and improved employment. The domestic economic policies of six potential Presidential candidates, selected from the frontrunners of the Republican and Democratic parties, are discussed here. For the Republican party, President Donald Trump is...