Arizona State Law Journal Blog

By Nyla Knox.Gig Economy giants Uber and Lyft have undoubtably transformed our society. The self-proclaimed tech platforms have provided a flexible work option to about two million drivers in the United States, who are afforded flexibility and discretion in creating their work schedule. However, the ridesharing companies are facing scrutiny over their stance that drivers are independent contractors rather than employees. In response to concerns that the companies have misclassified their drivers, robbing them of critical protections, a California court recently ruled that Uber and Lyft drivers are employees. However, a California ballot initiative will now allow drivers to remain independent contractors.  This ongoing nationwide debate has emphasized the important and conflicting interests that Uber, Lyft, and their drivers have in this controversial determination.  "Uber Lyft Car" by Open Grid…

By Gideon Cionelo.Blockchain is a relatively new technology that is taking the world by storm. Almost every major government and Fortune 500 company is studying this technology as its potential uses in every-day life expand. The legal profession will not be immune to the disruption and transformation caused by blockchain technology. As courts and corporations implement blockchain into their operations, law firms and lawyers must adapt by understanding this new technology and providing new forms of legal service that account for its use. "Litecoin Blockchain technology LTC" by BeatingBetting is licensed under CC BY 2.0 What Is Blockchain Technology?Blockchain is a decentralized, unhackable, and immutable ledger that consists of individual blocks of data that are chained and connected together. When a block of data is updated or added, the entire…

By Hanna Reinke. From the early months of 2020, COVID-19 has wreaked havoc all across the world. In September, the United States alone surpassed a staggering 200,000 deaths related to the virus. While public health experts continue to work feverishly to implement policies that will not only slow COVID-19’s spread but also overhaul how healthcare is addressed amid pandemics, their proposals have faced pushback. In May, the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down an emergency stay-at-home order which resulted in subsequent legal challenges to similar orders nationwide. Protests broke out in Michigan when absentee voting was expanded to avoid potential COVID-19 exposure at polling places. Litigation arose in Florida over the constitutionality of county-wide mask mandates. Thankfully, some policies have been more successful. Particularly, alterations to the Health Insurance Portability and…

By Jennifer D. Oliva & Valena E. Beety. The widespread global transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes the disease COVID-19, has altered, injured, and ended the lives of numerous individuals across various communities and nations. It has been well-documented that certain long-neglected populations are particularly susceptible to severe illness and death from COVID-19 and, as a result, have been disparately victimized by the pandemic. The Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Sections on Law and Mental Disability, Indian Nations and Indigenous Peoples, Disability Law, and Poverty Law; the Academy for Justice, a criminal justice policy center at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law; and the Arizona State Law Journal recognize that now it is more important than ever to raise awareness about the legal and policy challenges facing…

By Katie Giel. Election Day is tomorrow, November 3rd, and many Arizonans have already cast their ballots. Even so, a flurry of litigation in recent weeks that extended Arizona's voter registration deadline, moved the deadline again, and sought to alter other deadlines and requirements has left some Arizonans with questions about how to ensure their vote is counted. Voting by Mail In 2018, 79% of Arizona voters cast an early ballot, most of which were cast by mail. The many Arizonans who have already voted by mail this year can track when their ballot is received and when the signature on their envelope is verified. In the event that poll workers cannot verify the ballot signature because they determine that it does not match the other signatures on file, voters…

By Shayna Frieden.100 years ago, Congress enacted the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote. Today, voting rights are at the center of one of the most contentious elections in our nation's history. Driven by the pandemic, voting by mail has not only created a partisan divide, but threatened the results of the election. And in both the present and future arenas of voting and election rights law, Arizona is no small player.Partisanship and the Election Outcome https://search.creativecommons.org/photos/88523a57-841e-4acf-92e4-63bb9cd59d1b Prior to the outbreak of Covid-19, the rates at which Democratic and Republican voters cast their ballots in person or by mail were equivalent. Since April of 2020, stated preferences between Democrats and Republicans began to diverge. Recently, 47% of Democrats have said that they plan on voting by mail, while…

By Mitchell Antalis.In the waning months of a decade characterized by the digitalization of nearly all aspects of life, giving rise to unprecedented concerns regarding data collection, misuse, abuse, breach, weaponization, and interconnectivity, and notwithstanding the exacerbation of these issues and others by a once-in-a-century pandemic, 2020 has provided some signs of progress with respect to consumer data privacy rights. "System Lock" by Yu. Samoilov is licensed under CC BY 2.0 The CCPA & CPRA FrameworkThe California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which officially took effect on January 1, 2020, but was not subject to enforcement until July 1, established the first significant foothold within the U.S. for data privacy regulation. This November, Californians will vote on Proposition 24, the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), which expands and amends the protections…

By Brie Alford.The contentious battle over mail-in ballots continues as the United States Supreme Court recently announced its plans to review an Arizona voting law. The so-called “ballot-harvesting law” bars anyone other than a family member or caregiver from returning a voter’s absentee ballot. The law has ignited a fierce partisan debate over voting access and voter fraud. But even more importantly, it has highlighted Arizona’s continued history of suppressing minority votes. "Vote!" by kgroovy is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 A Long History of Voter DiscriminationSince its inception, Arizona has enacted discriminatory policies to discourage minority communities from voting. In the early 1900s, these policies were overt. For example, Arizona prohibited Native Americans from voting until 1948 and required individuals to pass an English literacy test to register to…

By RivaLee Ferland.COVID-19 has engulfed the globe in a seemingly endless storm—a storm that leaves trails of litigation in its wake. When the pandemic reached the point of university closures in Arizona, students were halfway through their spring semester. What started as students leaving for spring break ended in them finishing out the remainder of the semester remotely. With virtual learning in place, and university campuses shut down, students lost access to the everyday amenities they once enjoyed as a benefit of their tuition. This begs the question: should universities issue a partial refund of students’ spring tuition to account for losses sustained by the COVID-19 university closures?   Arizona University Closures and Subsequent Lawsuits "Arizona Stadium, University of Arizona" by Ken Lund is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 In March…

By Iris (Yeonjae) Lim.Parties in a dispute have several options as to how they want to resolve their issues, and arbitration is one of those options for parties to manage their disputes without going to court. According to the American Bar Association (ABA), arbitration is defined as “a private process where disputing parties agree that one or several individuals can make a decision about the dispute after receiving evidence and hearing arguments.” In other words, these individuals, or arbitrators, potentially act as judges and may provide a final decision for the parties. Usually, arbitrators handle a case from start to finish, and they sometimes have the power to make award decisions that a court would not be able to do. Therefore, arbitrators’ roles are very important and influential in an…