Articles by jlppadmin

December 22, 2018 0

Federalizing Privacy Rights: How Tech Giants Went From Protesting Privacy Laws to Supporting Them

In an impassioned speech in Brussels this October, Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, threw his weight behind a federal privacy law, denouncing the data collection practices engaged in by his fellow technological giants such as Google and Facebook. While it is not new for tech companies to push for stronger privacy laws, the renewed impetus for the movement comes from the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which went into effect on May 25, 2018, and California’s Consumer Privacy Act, which will go into effect on January 1, 2020. On the heels of California’s legislation, other states such as Georgia have also introduced similar bills. This patchwork of legislations across states with different levels of obligations has pushed the tech industries to petition Congress to enact a federal legislation. Earlier in November, Senator Ron Wyden (D–OR) introduced a federal privacy bill, but many news outlets report it as unlikely to be passed into law. While the tech companies’ interest may stem more from the desire to avoid compliance with 50 different laws on privacy, this post analyzes the public policy implications of a federal legislation on privacy for the complicated digital economy. Present federal protections for privacy rights: The current approach at the federal level in regulating [read more]
November 17, 2018 0

On the Basis of Personality: How Harvard’s Admissions Policy Hurts Asian Americans and the Future of Affirmative Action

If being surrounded by diverse peers allows students to learn early on to purge themselves of implicit biases and avoid stereotyping their peers based on race or ethnicity, then the need for such race-based policies in college admissions is clear. Affirmative action’s goal of ensuring the advancement of minorities inherently includes the goal of removing biases against them in the professional world. This goal is especially relevant to Asian Americans, who are less likely than both African Americans and Hispanics to be promoted into management roles in the workforce. The value of a “diverse” education is diminished if affirmative action policies fail to reduce the false notion of Asian Americans inherently lacking leadership skills. More pressingly, affirmative action policies will fail Asian American graduates if they are not allowed in the classroom in the first place. [read more]
November 16, 2018 0

New Technology and Evidence: Issues with Admitting Social Media Evidence In Court

The skepticism as to the reliability of information acquired from social media as evidence in a motion for summary judgment or at trial appears to be often misplaced. Although social media evidence does pose problems related to identifying the true author of a post, the accessibility to direct information regarding an individual’s personal thoughts and ideas that social media provides is extremely valuable. [read more]
November 9, 2018 0

Is Regulation Cryptocurrencies’ Kryptonite?

Cryptocurrencies undoubtedly hold a lot of speculation in terms of value and regulation alike. Not only does the new form of currency give promise of expanding growth but the high volatility and criminal concerns lead politicians to seek possible legislative matters to combat these ills and fully effectuate the benefits that digital currency provides. Therefore, regulation may demonstrate to be a complement to the propagation of the technology rather than its kryptonite. [read more]
November 2, 2018 0

Plowing Past Preponderance

Clearly, a sexual assault allegation demands more sensitivity than normal considerations about a candidate’s qualifications. Accordingly, the decision makers (i.e. the Senate and the President) should publicly state that a decision to not appoint the candidate is only based on the uncertainty of the situation; it is not a guilty verdict. But being sensitive to the candidate surely does not require making him a Supreme Court justice. [read more]
October 26, 2018 0

The Alien Tort Statute and Beyond: Jurisdiction for Victims of International Human Rights Abuses in U.S. Courts

In 2002, Nigerian nationals who had been granted asylum in the U.S. sued Dutch and British oil companies in the Southern District of New York. Specifically, the plaintiffs accused the companies of aiding and abetting the Nigerian government in carrying out environmental damage and human rights abuses. During the mid-1990’s, oil accounted for 95% of the Nigeria’s export earnings. The plaintiffs’ homeland, Ogoniland, had been ravaged by oil production. Pipelines were constructed through farmers’ fields, polluting the soil and destroying crops. Water in local wells had become contaminated. Fish and trees had begun to die. The plaintiffs’ role in peacefully protesting oil extraction activities had made them a target of the reigning Nigerian military dictatorship. The lead plaintiff’s husband had been extrajudicially hanged. The plaintiffs stood no chance at a fair suit in Nigeria, but they deserved a chance at relief. The Nigerian plaintiffs sued under a statute enacted over two hundred years earlier. That statute was 28 U.S.C. §1350, better known as the Alien Tort Statute (“ATS”). It reads: “[t]he district courts shall have original jurisdiction of any civil action by an alien for a tort only, committed in violation of the law of nations or a treaty of the United States.” Id. The statute deals [read more]

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