About the Journal

Established in 1969 and originally published under the title Law and the Social Order, the Arizona State Law Journal is a nationally recognized legal periodical that serves as the primary scholarly publication of the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University.

Current Print Issue

Published in Volume 55, Issue 4, Winter 2023

Nonhuman Personhood: Recognizing Liberty Interests for Highly Sentient Animals

By Mackenzie Holden.  In 2003, relatives of a deceased elephant were seen pushing and pulling her body for nearly a week following her death. In 2016, footage captured a group of elephants standing over the dead body of an elephant they knew, seemingly mourning her. In fact, elephants, known for their complex social bonds and […]

Unifying Outer Space: Creating a Cohesive Structure Surrounding Mining on the Moon

By Alex S. Li.  In light of the renewed global interest in Earth’s sole natural satellite, this Article ventures into the intricate legal dynamics shaping the development of a lunar mining industry. It starts by illuminating how various models of Outer Space governance can influence three critical aspects of lunar mining: (i) resource ownership rights, […]

What Gets Measured Gets Managed: The Case for Bypassing Notice-and-Comment Rulemaking for Measure Maintenance

By Ashley Liu.  Suppose that Aaron is an ophthalmologist who lives and works in the San Francisco Bay Area. In his flourishing private practice, Aaron mostly performs routine cataract surgeries. This is perhaps unsurprising, as cataract extractions are some of the most commonly performed surgical procedures. For every cataract surgery, Aaron always follows a detailed […]

Chapter 11’s Inclusivity Problem

By Sarah Paterson & Adrian Walters.  This Article rests on four premises: (i) that modern market participant frequently seek legal tools to compromise selected liabilities and not all the liabilities of the firm; (ii) that it is difficult to achieve a selective corporate restructuring in Chapter 11 given its inclusivity; (iii) that selective corporate restructuring […]

Subordination Through Schedules

By Nicole Buonocore Porter.  Our jobs are not only about the work we do—they are also about when and where we do that work. For a variety of reasons, employees with disabilities often seek modifications of their employers’ policies regarding when and where work is performed. These accommodations are often necessary for the employee to […]

Outlawing Corporate Prosecution Deals When People Have Died

By Peter R. Reilly.  Two Boeing 737 MAX aircraft crashes, occurring less than five months apart in 2018 and 2019, resulted in 346 deaths—possibly the deadliest corporate crime in U.S. history. The United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) used an alternative dispute resolution tool called a deferred prosecution agreement (“DPA”) to resolve criminal charges against […]

People and Penguins: The Case for an Environmentally Conscious Property Law

By Shai Stern.  The development of environmental law starting in the mid-20th century involved constant tension with private property. Attempts to protect the dwindling natural resources, extinct species of animals, and ecosystems at risk have often encountered obstacles when they demanded interference with private property. Although the theoretical roots of private property do not justify […]

Panoramic IDEA: Cabining the Snapshot Rule in Special Education Disputes

By Jennifer N. Rosen Valverde.  In special education disputes, post-hoc evidence—i.e., evidence that was not available to a school district at the time it acted, failed to act, or made the decision at issue—matters. For many families of children with disabilities, post-hoc evidence is the primary and, in some cases, only proof that a school […]

The Experience of Structure

By Justin Weinstein-Tull.  How do we experience constitutional structure? We understand structure—federalism and the separation of powers—as the ordering of governmental bodies. Rarely, however, do we ask how those structures affect our daily lives. Courts treat this question abstractly, if they address it at all. They assert that federalism and separation of powers create “liberty” […]

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