ASULJADMIN

By Chandler Smith.The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) requires companies to provide shareholders with proxy statements containing information they can use to make informed decisions at annual meetings. Institutional Shareholder Services, Inc. (“ISS”) is a proxy advisory firm that shareholders and investors use to inform their votes in addition to proxy statements. Glass, Lewis & Co. (“GL”) is a similarly situated proxy advisory firm. ISS and GL are the two most prominent and trusted advisory bodies that provide industry-leading viewpoints and proxy vote management solutions to boards across the world. Some say that ISS and GL have “taken the fun out of being a director” and replaced it with rigidity and compliance. Regardless, for most institutional investors, when ISS and GL speak—they listen. Accordingly, lawyers and firms must be kept…

IntroductionWith the pandemic wreaking havoc across the country and social justice rightfully occupying the spotlight of the last months, the 2020 Presidential Election focused primarily on the issues of COVID-19 response, economic recovery, and criminal justice reform. However, the often-discussed issue of immigration has also experienced notable turmoil, and there is certainly more to come. For decades, policy debaters have disagreed on the correct approach to immigration — should the United States open its borders and welcome high-skilled foreign labor, or should the country favor its own workers at the possible expense of innovation and the risk that companies may offshore their high-skilled activities? Although the debate has been long-running, the country’s lawmakers still vehemently disagree about the right course of action today.During his time in office, President Trump sought…

By Molly Walker. The beginning of 2021 was met with a continual rise in cases of COVID-19 across the United States, and Arizona was no exception. According to the Arizona Department of Health Services, there were 758,404 active COVID-19 cases as of January 31, 2021—a 14.3% positivity rate. Among the positive cases, 52,764 were hospitalized cases. In the latter half of January, cases began to decline, but the virus remains prevalent. Despite the persistence of COVID-19 in the new year, some government measures surrounding the virus ended in 2020. One such measure is the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) which put in place Emergency Paid Sick Leave (EPSL) and Expanded Family Medical Leave (EFML) for some workers. The FFCRA expired on December 31, 2020. Current State of COVID-19 Related…

By Aurora Walker.Inauguration Day is a long-standing tradition in the United States, marking the transition of presidential power from one individual to another. It is typically surrounded by many officialinaugural events, culminating in the inauguration ceremony. On Wednesday, January20, 2021, Joseph Biden was sworn in as the United States’ 46thPresident, with Kamala Harris as Vice President. The historic inauguration ceremony came exactly two weeks after Trump supporters laid siege to theCapitol building. This led to more than 20,000 National Guard troops being called in to the Capitol leading up to and during the inauguration.What happened during the inauguration ceremony?Of course, the highlight was the swearing in of our new federal executive leadership. Kamala Harris was sworn in by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, making history as the first woman and person of…

By Renee Guerin.The Constitutional Challenges:Since the COVID-19 virus arrived in the United States in early 2020, federal and state authorities have implemented a variety of regulations aimed at slowing its spread. A number of the most successful regulations—like stay-at-home orders, travel restrictions, and limits on small gatherings—significantly curtail individual liberty. Now, both the federal and state courts are considering the merits of numerous lawsuits challenging public health regulations which implicate the individual liberties outlined in the Bill of Rights. Although these rights loom large in the American imagination, as Harvard Law Professor Charles Fried explained, “these liberties [are not] absolute; they can be abrogated for compelling grounds. And in this case the compelling ground is the public health emergency.” "Oberwesel church interior" by barnyz is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0…

Introduction As of January 29, 2021, over 500,000 Arizonans have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. However, the state is still reporting over 4,000 new cases of COVID-19 per day and has remained number one in the U.S. for new cases per week. During the COVID-19 pandemic, workplaces have been a source of particularly high risk, especially settings such as factories, schools, and correctional facilities. On December 16, 2020, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued a set of questions and answers providing guidance to employers about legal issues relating to COVID-19. The commission advised that employers can mandate employees to receive the vaccine; however, there are detailed, specific guidelines that the employer must follow in order to remain in compliance with federal law. Americans with Disabilities…

By Taylor Hamel.Though the sun was not blazing over Arizona’s desert landscape on the chilly afternoon of January 22, 2021, the state’s residents were. That is because January 22 was the first day of the legal sale of recreational marijuana by licensed dispensaries in Arizona.Arizona voters approved the Smart and Safe Arizona Act (Proposition 207) in the November 2020 election which legalized recreational marijuana in the state. Although it was impossible to legally purchase recreational marijuana until dispensaries were licensed to sell it, the Arizona Department of Health Services (“AZDHS”) approved licenses far earlier than the projected March 2021 date. After AZDHS approved licenses for 86 dispensaries on January 22, long lines began to form, requiring some customers to wait for multiple hours before making their long-awaited purchases. Some dispensaries…

By Sean Krieg.Businesses’ liability protection from corona virus related claims has been a major point of contention in federal stimulus package debates. Firms point out—rightly so—that many small- and mid-sized businesses cannot afford to weather a large influx of claims during a pandemic-battered economy. Spurred to action by federal gridlock, at least sixteen states have enacted some form of COVID liability shield. House Bill 2912 sought to do the same for Arizona. Approved in the House of Representatives, the bill died in the Senate during the 2020 legislative session. Even so, with the pandemic still raging and Governor Ducey supporting the issue in his recent State of the State Address, the bill may well be revived. However, despite the superficial appeal, Arizonans have little to gain from limiting the right to…

Nathaniel Rubin, 1L It’s time for an overhaul of qualified immunity in America. Police misconduct, particularly relating to their use of force with communities of color, has been at the forefront of the national conversation for almost a decade. Society has been outraged by police officers avoiding the consequences for their actions, leading to a widespread societal perception that police the police are above the law. "Prison cells" by miss_millions is licensed under CC BY 2.0 So, are police officers above the law? In American civil law, they might as well be, thanks to qualified immunity—the doctrine of qualified immunity grants broad immunity against suit to government officials acting in a discretionary capacity. The United States Supreme Court in Harlow v. Fitzgerald held that the defendant officials’ offending conduct must violate clearly…

By Joanna Jandali. Suffice to say, 2020 was a year of reckoning. From a global pandemic to a severe economic downturn to record-breaking natural disasters, this past year was defined by one destabilizing shock after another. Yet, what has remained consistent throughout this turbulent time has been the disproportionate impact felt by Black, Latinx, and Indigenous communities, from COVID-19 infection and mortality rates to unemployment rates. The events of 2020 underscored and compounded our system’s long-marked racial disparities. However, with the accentuation of systemic inequities also came a chance for change. The 2020 election was an opportunity for voters to react in real time to the events of this past year. Arizona’s reaction included passing Proposition 207, which legalizes the use of recreational marijuana. Though at first blush Proposition 207…