Nebraska Law Review
Recent Print Articles
Codifying Murphy’s Law: The Necessity of a Statutory Intrastate Mutual Aid Compact (IMAC) in Nebraska
Taylor Brown
For the law to be used as an effective mitigation and prevention tool in these circumstances, Nebraska needs a codified Intrastate Mutual Aid Compact (“IMAC”) to respond effectively to disasters within its borders so that the most vulnerable populations are not left unprotected when first responders are overwhelmed. Further, first responders should not be primarily concerned about what will happen to them if they are injured while responding to others in need.
Saving the Savings Clause in Federal Habeas Jurisprudence
Alex Kleinjan
The Great Writ of habeas corpus, safeguarded by our Constitution as an essential guarantor of liberty, took its current shape over the course of American history as Congress established, expanded, and eventually limited the power of federal courts to issue the writ.
Funding Futurist Ideas
David Nows
Borrowing from the templates created by the United States through its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs, as well as global programs run through organizations like the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), this article advocates for a novel international grant funding program for new entrepreneurial ventures that seek to provide solutions to significant global challenges.
Unfair Discrimination Standards, Actuarial Fairness, and Insurers’ Use of Big Data
Laura L. Arp
This Article attempts to unpack the multiple and complex facets present in the definition of unfair discrimination—and in particular proxy discrimination—as applied to insurance, even while the regulatory framework for insurers’ use of machine learning to set rates is being constructed. Several comparisons are made across U.S. and international sources to frame the issue and its concepts. There may never be agreement on the definition of rate fairness in the context of personal insurance, but rates should be grounded in the insured’s likelihood to incur losses.
Legal Issues in Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)
Christa J. Laser
When do new technologies require changes in the law? Judge Easterbrook argued in 1996 that there is no more need for a “Law of Cyberspace” than there ever was for a “Law of the Horse.” Rather, existing laws spanning multiple fields are often sufficient to cover niche factual applications and even new technological change.
Zero Progress on Zero-Days: How the Last Ten Years Created the Modern Spyware Market
Mailyn Fidler
Spyware makes surveillance simple. The last ten years have seen a global market emerge for ready-made software that lets governments surveil citizens and foreign adversaries alike and to do so more easily than when such work required tradecraft. The last ten years have also been marked by stark failures to control spyware and its precursors and components. This Article accounts for and critiques these failures, providing a socio-technical history since 2014, focusing on the conversation about trade in zero-day vulnerabilities and exploits and more recently spyware.
Enforcing the ADA: How the Eighth Circuit Has Interpreted Undue Hardship to Employers When Examining Mandatory Reassignment as a Reasonable Accommodation Under the ADA—Huber v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
Matthew Zabek
In Huber v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., the Eighth Circuit joined a circuit split regarding whether it is mandatory under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 for an employer to accommodate a disabled employee by reassigning them to a vacant position, even if they are not the most qualified individual available to fill that position. The Eighth Circuit asserts that the ADA is an anti-discrimination statute, and therefore should not impose automatic employment preferences like mandatory reassignment.
Rising Tides, Rising Premiums
Kevin Freudenberg
Insuring flood-prone properties is a complex insurance problem. Attempts by the U.S. federal government to step in and correct perceived private market failures have often exacerbated the problem by artificially subsidizing building and rebuilding activity in low-lying areas. This article describes the fundamental problems inherent in the design of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) by analyzing the program through the lens of the insurance concepts of moral hazard and adverse selection.
Shared Housing as a Missing Middle Solution for Rural Communities
Alison Lintal
This Article demonstrates that shared housing, particularly among seniors, can be a successful model for providing affordable housing in rural areas.
What Roosevelt Did to Brown v. Board of Education, or Race and Court Packing
Jill M. Fraley
In the decades when Roosevelt’s court packing attempt remained in lived memory, Brown was never going to fully succeed in the South, where it did not have the majority support of the population. The Court simply did not have the power to demand public acquiescence or sway public opinion. This understanding of the Court’s power matters today, as both court packing and court reforms are brewing in American politics.