Judicial Clerkship Opinion Writing Conference

The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law (Catholic Law) hosted its fourth annual Judicial Clerkship Opinion Writing Conference from Thursday, February 22 through Saturday, February 24. This year’s conference brought to campus thirty-six rising law clerks who in the upcoming year will serve in the chambers of either the Federal Circuit Courts, the Federal District Courts, or the State Appellate Courts. It provided these clerks opportunities for learning the particulars of judicial opinion writing and allowed them to experience the supportive and connected community at Catholic Law. This unique undertaking by the Law School serves both the bench and bar by training law students in an important skill

Administrative law : cases and materials

Administrative Law: Cases and Materials is the product of a longstanding collaboration by a distinguished group of authors, each with extensive experience in the teaching, scholarship, and practice of administrative law. The Ninth Edition preserves the book’s distinctive features of functional organization and extensive use of case studies, with no sacrifice in doctrinal comprehensiveness or currency. By organizing over half of the book under the generic administrative functions of policymaking, adjudication, enforcement, and licensing, the book illuminates the common features of diverse administrative practices and the interconnection of otherwise disparate doctrines. Scattered throughout the book, case studies present leading judicial decisions in their political, legal, institutional, and technical context, thereby providing the reader with a much fuller sense of the reality of administrative practice and the important policy implications of seemingly technical legal doctrines. At the same time, the Ninth Edition fully captures the headline-grabbing nature of federal administrative practice in today’s politically divided world.https://scholarship.law.edu/fac_books/1149/thumbnail.jp

A Novel Means to Increase Access to Local News: Analyzing the Benefits and Costs of Zero-Rating

The dismal and declining state of local news has motivated bipartisan efforts to “save” this important aspect of a strong civic sphere. A full review of these efforts is beyond the scope of this paper, but an initial review suggests that recent legislative proposals will fall short of reviving local news, if enacted. It follows that other means of assisting the generation and distribution of local news must be considered. One such means is mandating that Internet Service Providers zero-rate content provided by local news outlets. In short, zero-rating results in certain data not counting toward a user’s data cap or from generating any charges for excess consumption of particular data. Zero-rating local news content can assist the industry in two ways: first, it increases the market for local news by increasing adoption of broadband, and second, it increases the consumption of local news by incentivizing consumers to prioritize local news over other sources of news. The Federal Communications Commission can and should lead this policy intervention. The agency has the authority to mandate that ISPs zero-rate local news content. Furthermore, such a mandate would align with the FCC’s decades-long efforts to bolster the consumption and quality of local news

Veterans Treatment Courts: Broadening Eligibility for Veterans Convicted of Violent Offenses

Veterans treatment courts (VTCs) have been gaining widespread popularity as a tool to divert justice-involved veterans from the criminal justice system. While a step in the right direction, most of these courts categorically exclude violent offenders for eligibility. Many jurisdictions conflate violent offenses with serious offenses, even when many violent offenses lack any physical harm. Additionally, prosecutors wield almost unbridled discretion in determining whether or not someone is charged with an offense considered to be violent, determining VTC eligibility even before a case reaches a sentencing hearing. This comment argues for admitting veterans convicted of violent offenses into VTCs. This comment compares VTCs that exclude violent offenses with those that include them, and argues that a standard-based approach serves public safety and the needs of a justice-involved veteran better than a rule-based approach that categorically excludes violent offenses. While the criminal justice system as a whole would benefit from diverting violent offenders, the veteran community has a particular need for such broadened eligibility. Most veterans incarcerated in state systems have been convicted of violent offenses, yet only a modest amount of VTC admissions represent veterans convicted of violent offenses. Additionally, even though the largest ground combat operations of the Global War on Terror have come to an end, there will continue to be justice-involved veterans who will benefit from broader eligibility for VTCs

Censorship and the Law after 2020

This panel focused on the renewed conflict between First Amendment advocates and public officials in light on the COVID-19 pandemic and the battles over free speech and misinformation that came in its wake. Moderated by Law Review staff editor Gerald Sharpe (2L), it featured Marc DeGirolami, St. John Henry Newman Professor of Law and codirector of the Center for Law and the Human Person at Catholic Law; attorney Christopher Keleher, Esq., of the Kelleher Appellate Law Group, LLC; and General Counsel Kim Mack Rosenberg, Esq., of Children’s Health Defense