Current Issue

Saban, Pope, and the Benefits Theory of Taxation

By Adam Chodorow.  This Article examines Arizona’s jurisprudence interpreting the state constitution’s anti-diversion provision, which requires that revenues raised from road users be spent on the roads. It argues that the courts adopted a cramped, technical interpretation that severs the provision from its motivating purpose, the benefits theory of taxation, which requires that tax burdens […]

Standing in the Wrong Line: Navajo Nation Water Rights After Arizona v. Navajo Nation 

By Tyler Mebane.  In 2023, the Supreme Court decided Arizona v. Navajo Nation. In a 5–4 decision, the Court ruled against the Navajo Nation, holding that while their reservation does have an implied water right under U.S. v. Winters, the trust relationship between the tribe and the federal government does not obligate the government to […]

Police Minimalism in Domestic Violence

By Michal Buchhandler-Raphael.  Is police involvement always necessary in domestic incidents? Michal Buchhandler-Raphael argues for minimizing police intervention and urges jurisdictions to explore alternative responses to domestic violence. She advocates for integrating civilian responders, where safe and appropriate, either as co-responders or independent actors, based on risk assessments of each case. Full Article.

A Web of Lives: Underregulated Genetic Surveillance of Local Communities Using the DNA of Families, Witnesses, and Victims

By Clare K. Remy.  Across the United States, state and local law enforcement agencies operate independent—“rogue”—DNA databases that pose significant constitutional concerns under the Fourth Amendment. Unlike the federally regulated Combined DNA Index System, which has strict quality controls and contains only the DNA of convicted offenders and arrestees, these rogue databases retain genetic information […]

Limits on Traffic Stops: Saving Lives by Constraining Police Authority

By Jeannine Bell & Stephen Rushin.  The law gives police officers broad authority during traffic stops. Empirical evidence suggests these policies disproportionately harm communities of color. This Article considers how policymakers can more effectively constrain police authority during traffic stops to reduce racial disparities and prevent unnecessary violence. Full Article.

Strong Democracies Need Reliable Citations

By Margie Alsbrook.  The American legal system is facing a credibility crisis that threatens the stability of democracy itself. While much of the scholarly attention on this crisis has focused on political causes, this Article takes a procedural and practical approach by examining how the erosion of reliable legal citations undermines the integrity of judicial […]

Red Juries & Blue Juries

By Richard Lorren Jolly.  The United States is in a period of partisan hyperpolarization with severe and far-reaching implications for the administration of justice. Specifically, Americans are suspicious that jurors are not basing their verdicts on sound application of fact and law informed by their unique worldviews, but instead on jurors’ commitment to advancing partisan […]

Gatekeeping Drugs

By David A. Simon.  In this Article, Professor Simon proposes a thought experiment to evaluate proposals to lower drug approval standards: extend the system of off-label reimbursement across all drug regulation. Using this approach, he identifies significant costs and benefits to lowering approval standards that scholars have overlooked. Based on this analysis, Professor Simon concludes […]