Columbia Law Review

Commentators posit that reducing domestic abuse requires an increase in prosecutions and a decrease in criminal reform efforts. The “abuser” is as set a role as the “sympathetic victim,” with little room to examine how both may exist simultaneously within an individual. A deeper look into what occurs for survivors reveals that legal discourse often overlooks and scrutinizes Black women’s abuse, particularly with Black women who exist[...]

Are refusals to provide services for same-sex weddings anti-gay discrimination? The answer, the Supreme Court seems to say, is “no.” Last Term in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, the Court held that the Constitution’s Free Speech Clause granted a web designer the right to refuse same-sex wedding services. In so doing, the Court also appeared to opine that the refusal involved no anti-gay discrimination.

Scholarship has yet to explore[...]

Engaging with the sociocultural dimensions of race and racism across U.S. history is essential when creating, critiquing, and reforming the law. Building on Robin West’s exploration of the law and culture movement, this Piece introduces a novel “hermeneutic” project that reads Black American culture throughout U.S. history to gain critical insights into the nature and function of law in America. Black American culture, deeply rooted in the[...]

The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the continental human rights court in Africa, is struggling. Many African states have yet to ratify the protocol that established the Court; and those that have, have begun to withdraw their declarations to allow individuals and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to bring cases against them before the Court. The Court’s expanding jurisdiction is part of the problem. Despite being an international[...]

Across the economy, monopolists of all kinds are engaged in “conditional dealing.” This is the practice of unilaterally offering benefits and penalties, or bribes and threats, to induce trading partners to refrain from competing against the monopolist or from dealing with its rivals. Pharma giants offer discounts conditioned on “loyalty,” agricultural monopolists impose “exit penalties” for switching to rivals, and social networks offer[...]