In his article, Prosecuting and Punishing Our Presidents, Saikrishna Prakash argues that sitting presidents have no constitutional protection from being arrested, prosecuted, and incarcerated while in office. He depicts the constitutional case for immunity—which he concedes is “orthodoxy” and “[t]he received wisdom”—as an empty vessel, conjured by…[Read more]

After decades of calls for comprehensive consumer privacy laws in the United States, they are nearly here. The debates surrounding these laws, however, have paid scant attention to the inevitable First Amendment challenges. These challenges will occur in the context of the “deregulatory First Amendment,” the Supreme Court’s decadeslong expan…[Read more]

This is a publication of the Michigan State Law Review.

SOONER OR LATER, EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN**

Prior to enactment of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection
Act of 2005, one of the most vexing and controversial questions in the consumer
bankruptcy arena was whether a debtor who was current on her payments
to a secured lender could retain the collateral both during and…[Read more]

Fast-fashion companies often produce stylish garments at low
costs by copying designs others invested time and money into and by contracting with manufacturers overseas who use unfair labor
practices. The United States’ intellectual property framework does not protect clothing designs, so fast-fashion designers can easily take others’ des…[Read more]

Employment discrimination statutes prohibit employers from
discriminating against individuals on the basis of certain
protected characteristics, such as race or sex. For intentional
discrimination claims, plaintiffs often attempt to prove an
employer’s discriminatory intent with comparator evidence
demonstrating that the plaintiff was t…[Read more]

At present, there is no generally accepted theory of why contracts are binding. We will propose one based on an idea that goes back to Aristotle: contract as voluntary commutative justice. In principle, a contract of exchange should be enforced when it is both voluntary and economically fair. It is voluntary so long as a party puts a higher value…[Read more]

The systems approach applies the methods of systems analysis
to law. The principal method is to describe the system, situate a
problem within the system, and take system mechanics into account in solving it.

The system might be the “legal system”—essentially litigation.
But more often, it is a “law-related system”—one not composed of…[Read more]

Materiality is a pervasive concept in contract law, and it plays a central role in many contract doctrines. The question of whether a term or matter is material is a crucial factor in the determination of rights, obligations, or remedies in many contract disputes.1 Courts and commentators agree on the broad, nonspecific meaning of materiality in…[Read more]

On December 10, 2019, the World Trade Organization (WTO)
lurched into a crisis when its Appellate Body became paralyzed due to actions of the Trump Administration. Obligations under the WTO agreements are now effectively unenforceable, threatening the collapse of the WTO itself. There is no viable path forward for the WTO to restore the Appellate…[Read more]