Faculty Commentary

In a letter written to James Madison from Paris, Thomas Jefferson opined that “no society can make a perpetual constitution, or even a perpetual law.  . . . Every constitution, then, and every law, naturally expires at the end of 19 years.”  Jefferson took this perspective because he believed that “he earth belongs to the [...]

Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, said in a statement about her latest report on the situation in Gaza: In this darkest hour, the international community cannot continue to ignore that it is Israel’s project to rid Palestine of Palestinians in defiance [...]

Recently, in Karthick v The Registrar General (‘Karthick’), the Madras High Court (‘MHC’) addressed a crucial issue concerning the need to balance the concept of open courts with the right to privacy. At the core of the issue was a plea to redact the name of an accused from a judgment after his acquittal. The [...]

President Claudia Sheinbaum’s electoral victory in Mexico serves as a beacon of hope and inspiration for women and girls in Afghanistan. Her historic win as Mexico’s first female president is all the more remarkable given that her Jewish faith; the fact that Jews comprise a tiny minority in the overwhelmingly Catholic nation was a non-issue [...]

Minutes before a New York jury convicted Donald Trump on thirty-four counts of falsifying business records, I had posted the following on social media: Many trial watchers were curious whether the law would prevail over mathematics. Here, I explain why mathematics predicted a hung jury. I also explain how legal realism theories that the Trump [...]

“That calm before the storm, when the aggressor is gathering new forces for a great blow, is most dangerous for the defender.” Carl von Clausewitz, On War A Gathering of New Forces Whether with contrived enthusiasm or calculated strategy, Iran is “gathering new forces for a great blow” against Israel. For the moment, at least, [...]

Recently, medical workers at Israeli hospitals told BBC News that Palestinian detainees from Gaza were “shackled and blindfolded” while they received treatment. Physicians owe a duty to their patients based on well-established ethical principles. In truth, the doctor-patient relationship is aspirational, and at the bedside, circumstance reveals a much more complex exchange. At the core [...]

After decades of “Shadow War” between Israel and Iran, on 13 April 2024 Iran took a revolutionary action against Israel by direct attack from its soil. According to Israel Defense Forces on X, Iran has launched 185 kamikaze drones, 36 cruise missiles, and 120 ground-to-ground ballistic missiles. Tensions between Iran and Israel have long simmered [...]

One of the major global issues facing many nations in both the developing or developed categories is forced migration and displacement during crises. No matter which region, continent, or nation is the focus, every state, in addition to several other political players, has its own role to play in addressing this complex problem. Situational analysis [...]

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results,”  so taught civil rights campaigner and feminist Rita Mae Brown. There is no more fitting maxim for the broken American system that in 2024 has allowed Donald Trump to return as a major political party’s presumptive nominee for its highest office. [...]