Genre Discovery 2.0

Ten years ago, I proposed the “genre discovery approach” for teaching new legal writers how to write any legal document, even ones they had never encountered before. Using the genre discovery approach, a writer studies samples of a genre to identify the genre’s conventions so that they can write the genre. From the seed of Genre Discovery 1.0, the approach’s potential has blossomed into a robust pedagogical system: Genre Discovery 2.0. Genre Discovery 2.0 is more effective than Genre Discovery 1.0 because it more explicitly integrates metacognition into its pedagogy. Metacognition, “the concept that individuals can monitor and regulate their own cognitive processes and thereby improve the quality and effectiveness of their thinking,” is not innate—it must be taught. The legal writing professoriate has embraced metacognition to teach our students to be conscious of their learning. Some legal writing professors have contributed strategies for teaching metacognition to law students. Most current metacognitive teaching strategies include overlays atop an underlying assignment. In other words, these strategies require two steps to teach metacognition: the underlying task itself and then the separate metacognitive task that overlays the main task. This learning process is inefficient because it requires multiple steps. It is also less effective because the metacognitive activity is divorced from the underlying assignment, requiring students to make a cognitive leap from one assignment to the other. The push for metacognition in legal education has come from the upper levels of legal education reform. This article shows that metacognition is the best way to prepare our students to be practice ready. This article argues that Genre Discovery 2.0 is the ideal way to teach legal research and writing to new legal writers because it integrates metacognition into its pedagogy rather than teaching metacognition as a separate overlay. By integrating metacognition, Genre Discovery 2.0 fulfills the promise of its predecessor by giving new legal writers the skills they need to not only learn how to write in law school but to learn how they learn and how to be lifelong learners

Echoes of the Zong Confronting Legal Realism in the Arguments for Reparations from the Atlantic Slave Trade and ModernDay Human Trafficking

This Article is based on the premise that modern day human trafficking, like the transatlantic slave trade, violates jus cogens norms, and thus the practice was and still is a violation of US laws under customary international law. The analysis will examine the laws that were applied to chattel slavery in England and her colonies through the lens of some seminal slavery cases to unearth the tyranny of interpretation in human trafficking reparations and liability claims under the current Supreme Court jurisprudence and the Alien Tort Statute (“ATS”). The featured cases will reveal that the same philosophies undergirding the jurisprudence of the slave trade still informs the US Supreme Court’s application of liability for human trafficking in the global supply chain

It is Time for Family Courts to be More Aware of Parental Mental Illness and Substance Abuse

Since the COVID-19 pandemic and previous years, the mental health and substance abuse crises in Florida are growing at an unprecedented rate.1 With substantive due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment as a substantial roadblock, the Florida courts are reluctant to adequately address the mental health and substance abuse needs of individuals.2 This issue is especially difficult in cases involving the termination of parental rights, leaving children in damaging environments with unfit parents suffering from severe mental illness and substance abuse.3 To prevent children from growing up under negative conditions and developing mental health problems as well, the Florida courts ought to place heavier weight on mental illness and substance abuse factors when assessing parental capacity. The Commission on Mental Health and Substance Abuse seeks to push Florida’s mental health law reform, so individuals can have better access to mental health services.4 However, reform alone is not enough to ensure adequate mental health treatment since necessary extension of such treatment is determined by mental health courts.5 This Note advocates for a bright-line standard for Florida courts to evaluate mental illness and substance abuse factors in determining whether to terminate parental rights, while considering the severity of the mental condition. Accordingly, prioritizing a child’s best interests and relevant judicial knowledge over the subject matter become an important role in termination proceedings

Florida Gun Laws Weaken: Another Setback for the Mass Shooting Generation

While gun control has been a topic of controversy in the United States for decades, one area that has seemed undebatable is the protection of children from gun violence in our Nation’s schools. The methods of achieving this end goal vary from state to state. Some states have continued the longstanding tradition of designating schools as “gun-free zones,” while others have employed armed security guards. Florida has chosen the latter option for its public and charter schools. However, the Florida Legislature has taken a dramatic deviation from this path that will negatively affect students attending private religious schools: it passed a law that allows religious institutions that are attached to a school to decide to allow concealed carry permit holders to bring weapons on their grounds. The passage of this law sparked traditional gun debate arguments. Gun rights activists voiced their opinions by saying that although this was a small step, it was a step in the right direction. Opponents of the law, including parents, preachers, and organizations, are unsettled by the new law and fear that the safety of the children attending these schools has been compromised. This article discusses the meaning of the new law and illustrates its shortcomings. It explains the implications of this law and argues why it should be repealed

Soaps and Shampoos: Proposals to Reform Regulation in the United States Personal Care Market to Decrease Deforestation from Palm Oil Imports

Palm oil is the world\u27s most highly sought-after vegetable oil due to its multifaceted uses and cheap cost of production. However, producing this versatile oil comes at a high cost to one of the largest biodiversity on the planet. Over the last two centuries, Indonesia and Malaysia have become the main producers and exporters of palm oil but they are also home to the largest number of mammal species in the world that have seen a staggering decline in populations. Furthermore, palm oil production has caused excessive release of greenhouse gases, increased disruption of forestland, and economic poverty for smallholders in Indonesia and Malaysia. This note addresses how palm oil production specifically in the U.S. has contributed to deforestation and global environmental impact through its personal care product industry. First, a historical overview will depict how palm oil has become the most highly sought-after vegetable oil followed by a more in-depth analysis that will focus on the uses of palm oil globally and domestically. The Paris Climate Conference is discussed to explore how different nations are addressing their hand in deforestation caused in part by palm oil production. Lastly, recommendations to reform existing laws and propose new regulations in the U.S. will be discussed. This will explore the ways in which the SEC, FDA, and EPA all have a pivotal role in the personal care industry and how that role directly impacts deforestation resulting from palm oil production

Nuclear Powered International Commercial Shipping: A Note On The Greenest Solution and the Challenges of International Regulation

To meet the environmental demands imposed by the International Maritime Organization, the commercial shipping industry’s use of predominantly marine diesel fuel will need to change drastically. Current answers to these environmental concerns include the use of biofuels, battery packs, and liquified natural gas, but these are short-term solutions that will not fully meet environmental demands in the long run. Nuclear propulsion, however, is a tried-and-true resolution. The use of nuclear energy results in virtually no environmental impact and has successfully been used by the US Navy for the past 75 years. Unfortunately, the commercial use of nuclear propulsion is stalled by the public misconception that it is dangerous. A nuclear tide is turning with the UK’s adoption of new regulations that provides the first comprehensive legal foundation that will allow nuclear propulsion to be utilized in the commercial shipping industry. The US is following the wake made by the UK as the federal government recently approved a contract for the American Bureau of Shipping to conduct in-depth research into using nuclear propulsion for the private sector. To better curb the negative public perception of nuclear energy usage and to maintain a safe use of nuclear propulsion, stringent and uniform regulations that can be applied to any shipping company with standardized safety standards need to be implemented. A well-defined model exists in Japan, and it can be easily adopted and formed to meet the needs of various international ports to efficiently monitor radioactivity. Furthermore, with strong and strict tort regulations, any potential damages or injuries resulting from an accident involving a commercial ship could help further ease public tension. All these options have already been implemented within the US Navy and should provide the backbone for future legislation. For nuclear propulsion to be a smooth transition and to be successful, forward-thinking legislation needs to be implemented instead of retroactive enaction. The environmental issues and concerns created by the continued growth of the commercial shipping industry will not change. What must change is the source of energy used and that ultimate answer lies with nuclear energy