On October 22, 1983, a pair of inmates killed two prison guards at Illinois’ Marion State Penitentiary. In response to these murders, prison officials put the penitentiary in a “permanent lockdown.”[1] As a result, the Marion State Penitentiary, already known to be one of the most secure facilities in the country, became the first prison in the United States to adopt universal solitary confinement. Solitary confinement is a form of imprisonment in which inmates are isolated f

While outing people against their will is morally wrong, it is not seen as defamation in the eyes of the law. In fact, the morality and legality of the issue had not crossed paths until 2016. Last November, Gawker media settled a lawsuit from Terry G. Bollea (Hulk Hogan) for $31 million, effectively bankrupting the media company[1]. The case included a sex tape leak, a debate over the privacy of public figures, and a secret benefactor covering Hogan’s legal fees. The outing—a

In August and September of 2017, both Florida and Texas were devastated by two catastrophic hurricanes – Irma and Harvey. Over the course of several days, numerous families were suddenly burdened with floods, decimated infrastructure, and loss in power. In the days leading up to the disasters, frenzy surrounded the purchasing of water, nonperishable food, and gasoline. Naturally, with such a high demand in supply, prices of various necessities rose. In some instances the val

A bipartisan amendment to § 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA 230) was introduced to Congress this summer that, if passed, would effectively debilitate websites like Facebook and Twitter. The Communications Decency Act is a highly controversial piece of internet legislation that, as of late, has been the subject of debate in court. It was first established following the ruling of Stratton Oakmont v. Prodigy (1995)[i], a case settled in the Nassau County New York Stat

In the wake of the GDPR (the EU General Data Protection Regulation), which comes into force in May of 2018, the French government passed a bill, the Digital Republic Act (Loi n°2016-1321 pour une République numérique), which aimed to enhance and elevate the power of regulatory bodies on both the French and EU level to prosecute businesses who do not comply with existing and upcoming data regulations (1). Both of these regulations, the French Loi pour une République numérique

In June of 2015, 22-year old Kalief Browder tied a cord to his neck, and pushed himself out of a hole in his wall to his death. When he was 16, Kalief had been sentenced to prison in Rikers Island for stealing a backpack–a crime he did not commit–and was charged with a “violent felony” [i]. Despite a lack of evidence, Kalief was shipped to Rikers on a bus and endured torture, starvation, and abuse at the hands of guards and inmates. He did not receive trial until three years

In many developing countries, money remittances make up a significant portion of the nation’s economy. The majority of money transfers originate in the United States and are executed not through legal means such as Western Union but rather through underground channels known as hawalas. Hawalas are cheap, ethnic-based underground financial systems that are heavily utilized by migrant workers sending money home. A conservative estimate from the 1990s suggests that as many as 24

Prescription drug spending is the third most expensive cost in the American healthcare system, making up about 10% of the total and projected to amount to $610 billion by 2021.1, 2 Though some of this spending can be attributed to the large number of drugs on the market, there is a hidden reason here as well: the rise of direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising (DTCPA). Defined as efforts made by companies to promote prescription drugs directly to consumers through popul