Author: Andrew Jacobsohn

By Nicholas Traver. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is once again demanding stronger safety regulations and increased funding for its regulation of the dietary supplement industry. This month, the FDA released its budget request for fiscal year 2023 totaling $8.3 billion. The budget proposal exceeds FY2022’s request by almost $2 billion and includes specific funding requests and amendments that would permit the FDA to increase regulations of dietary supplements by requiring supplement manufacturers to register their products with the FDA. This registration requirement would help the FDA. Consumer Harms from Dietary Supplements The FDA’s cause for concern over dietary supplements is noteworthy. For years, the FDA has seen questionable manufacturers bypass legal requirements and introduce deleterious products into the market. Recently in California, a man named Nam Hyun…

By Joanna Jandali. In 2013, two Arizona parents’ lives were shattered when they learned that ISIS had taken their daughter hostage in Syria. Kayla Mueller grew up in Prescott, Arizona, attending Northern Arizona University where she received a bachelor’s degree in political science. From a young age, Kayla dedicated herself to helping others. In high school, she won awards for her volunteer efforts; in adulthood, she worked around the world, advocating for human rights issues and providing humanitarian assistance. Kayla’s selflessness is what ultimately brought her to Syria in 2013. On August 3, 2013, Kayla and a friend traveled to Aleppo to help fix the internet at a Doctors Without Borders compound. ISIS fighters abducted her one day later. In 2015, after two horrifying years trying to secure Kayla’s release,…

By Sydney Plaskett. On March 30, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey enacted a wave of controversial bills, one of which mandates documentary proof of US citizenship (DPOC) to vote in elections. While the law will likely be shut down in the courts, it could potentially cut off voting for at least 31,500 Arizona voters in the interim. Even more concerning is the risk that the facially unconstitutional bill will survive the impending legal challenges, given the conservative makeup of the Supreme Court. If the law remains, its impact on Arizona voters could be disastrous. A Closer Look at the Law House Bill 2492 requires all Arizona voters to provide documentary proof of US citizenship. It also requires voters to provide a home address on their registration forms. Arizona is the only…

By Sarah Doberneck. On March 1, 2022, the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case Kahn v. United States, which involves an Arizona doctor convicted of unlawfully prescribing controlled substances. Specifically, the doctor was convicted for an opioid pill peddling scheme. The case highlights the conflict between the government’s need to control the opioid epidemic and a doctor’s responsibility to treat patients for their pain. Overprescribing of Opioids and the Resulting Epidemic In the 1990s, health care providers began prescribing opioid pain relievers at higher rates than ever before. This was largely due to pharmaceutical companies’ assurances that opioids were not addictive and thus could safely treat patients’ pain. The increase in opioid prescriptions led to widespread misuse of both prescribed and non-prescribed opioids before it became…

By Noah Goldenberg. Reauthorization of VAWA On March 15, 2022, President Joe Biden reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act (“VAWA”). VAWA’s reauthorization clarifies the limits of a debilitatingly narrow view of tribal criminal jurisdiction. Passed with bipartisan support in both chambers of Congress, VAWA recognizes Special Tribal Criminal Jurisdiction (“STCJ”) over non-Indians who commit “covered crimes” against Indian women and children within Indian country, including child violence, domestic violence, stalking, dating violence, and violations of protective orders. Like the U.S. and  its states, tribal nations are recognized sovereigns, so it may come as a surprise to many that, until VAWA’s 2013 reauthorization, federal Indian law limited tribal criminal authority over non-Indians. Before 2013, federal courts limited tribal criminal jurisdiction over non-Indians because of a particularly unfortunate Supreme Court holding in…

By Natalie Packard. Gas prices across the nation have been at a record high for the past several weeks. Inflation has been sharply rising for months, spiking as the U.S. cut off Russian oil imports after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In response to taxpayers’ frustration about the $4.33 gas price average, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly introduced the Gas Prices Relief Act of 2022 on February 9th to temporarily suspend the federal gas tax until January 1, 2023. Arizona Representative Tom O’Halleran introduced companion legislation to the House of Representatives. Gas Prices Relief Act The federal gas tax is currently 18.4 cents per gallon. The revenue goes to the Highway Trust Fund and pays for much of the federal transportation spending. Senator Kelly’s bill would require the cuts to go directly…

By Emily Tegley. When does a single criminal offense end and another begin? The Supreme Court addressed this issue in the recent opinion Wooden v. United States. THE ARMED CAREER CRIMINAL ACT In 1984, Congress passed the Armed Career Criminal Act (“ACCA”) to address repeat offenders. The ACCA applies to individuals who have three or more prior convictions for: (1) a violent felony; and/or (2) a serious drug offense. To be sentenced under the ACCA, the offenses must have been “committed on occasions different from one another.” If the ACCA applies, then the individual faces a minimum of fifteen years in prison. WOODEN AND THE ARMED CAREER CRIMINAL ACT In 1997, William Dale Wooden and three other individuals entered a storage facility in Dalton, Georgia. The individuals gained access to…

By Kristin Leaptrott. On March 3, 2022, President Biden signed the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act of 2021 (“EFASA”). This law represents a significant “win” for the MeToo movement as it prohibits employers from enforcing mandatory arbitration agreements against employees bringing claims against their employers for sexual harassment or sexual assault in the workplace. Me Too is a social movement that supports sexual assault survivors and sheds light on the prevalence of sexual harassment and sexual assault. Activist Tarana Burke started the Me Too movement in 2006, but Me Too reached a global audience in 2017 when celebrities like Alyssa Milano started using the hashtag #MeToo on social media to talk about their experiences with sexual assault in the entertainment industry. The Me Too movement…

By Nicholas Hodder. The San Pedro River flows northward from the mountains in Sonora, Mexico, crosses the border into Arizona, and continues 140 miles to its confluence with the Gila River in Winkelman, Arizona. It is the last major, undammed desert river in the American Southwest. It hosts over 300 species of migratory birds, including over 100 species that breed along the river. That accounts for two-thirds of the avian diversity in the entire United States. Tragically, this ecologically significant river is in danger of drying up. The Drying River and the Depleted Aquifer The San Pedro River, in a sense, is already dry. For many stretches of the river, no water flows on the surface except in direct response to rain, often during the monsoon season. But this does…