Senate Bill 1070

As the main proponent of the bill, Senator Russell Pearce aimed to bring into question the issue of illegal immigration in Arizona by introducing SB 1070 in January 2010. Consequently, Senate Bill 1070 would then later be signed into law by Governor Jan Brewer in April 2010.  Also known as the “Support Our Law Enforcement …

Tragedies of War, Fear and Racism: Executive Order #9102

In the months following the attacks on Pearl Harbor and the United States declaration of war on Imperial Japan, there was a growing fear of the “enemy inside.” President Franklin Delano Roosevelt responded to that fear on 19 February 1942, with his enactment of Executive Order 9066. The order authorized the Secretary of War, Henry …

Electronic Communications Privacy Act-1986

Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 The United States Congress enacted the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) in 1986. The reason Congress passed this law was to update the Federal Wiretap Act (FWA) of 1968. This update was needed due to massive technological advances in communication and storage through electronics. This man made advancement created …

Plyler v. Doe (1982): Education Without Borders

In May 1975,  a revision in Texas Education Code included § 21.031, stipulated to withhold any state funds from local school districts for the education of undocumented children. In response to these revisions emerged a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of school children of Mexican origin who could not establish their legal status in …

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 played a major role in US legal history by outlawing discrimination based on one’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in public settings as well as the workplace. Title VII of the act specifically outlawed employment discrimination stating that an employer cannot discriminate against his/her employees based upon …

The 2016 UK Investigatory Powers Act and the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001

People’s forms of communication are constantly evolving; this means that the methods available to gangs, terrorists and other criminals to co-ordinate and execute their schemes are evolving as well. The Investigatory Powers (IP) Act, also called the Snooper’s Charter, was proposed in November 2015 in hopes of reinforcing national security by granting increased powers of …

The Innocence Protection Act of 2004: A Last Hope for the Innocent?

According to Michael E. Kleinert, author of the award-winning article, “Improving the Quality of Justice: The Innocence Protection Act of 2004”, there are a multitude of evidentiary mistakes that could lead to the wrongful imprisonment or execution of an individual. Mistaken identification, inadequate defense counsel, misconduct by the prosecution, defective science, false witness testimony, and …

Restoring Victims’ Rights: California Proposition 115 (1990): Article I, § 30(b)

In 1990, voters in California passed Proposition 115, known as the Crime Victims Reform Act. Proposition 115 was set out to restore victims’ rights in the criminal process by adding new statutory and constitutional provisions.[i] Some of the specific provisions included expanding the definition of first-degree murder, establishing and defining the crime of torture, and …

What It Means to End the ‘Tampon Tax’

  I. New York Ends the 'Tampon Tax' 2016 New York state law, AO7555, determined that feminine hygiene products were legally medical products, and therefore tax exempt. In analyzing a law from a social scientific perspective, there are two possible approaches: the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. Looking at AO7555 …

The 15th Amendment and its Historical Complexities- From Grandfather Clauses to Felon Disenfranchisement

In a country tainted with a history of discrimination and bias most Americans would like to believe that we are in a post-racial era. Although we have made tremendous steps towards equality, it’s not accurate to say that we have reached it. The triumph of the North in the American Civil War paved the way …