The Nebraska Law Review

Showcase Panel III: The States and Administrative Law

Panelists: Nestor Davidson, Christopher Green, Miriam Seifter, Jeffrey Sutton, and Michael Scudder

"Our first panel this morning is titled 'The States and Administrative Law.' And we’ve assembled for you this morning what I consider to be a truly first-class group of panelists"

More than Mere “Constitutional Window Dressing”: Why the Press Clause Should Protect a Limited Right to Gather Information

Mallory B. Rechtenbach, J.D. Candidate, 2020, Nebraska College of Law

"In order to give full effect to the First Amendment, newsgathering must be given some limited protection."

Not All Agua is Caliente: Proposing the Winters Groundwater Test

Hannes D. Zetzsche, J.D. Candidate, 2020, Nebraska College of Law

"Instead of the Agua Caliente approach, this Comment proposes a three-prong Winters Groundwater Test for analyzing claims of federal reserved groundwater." 

Bahtuoh v. Smith, 855 F.3d 868 (8th Cir. 2017): Promising a Bleak Future for Ineffective Assistance of Counsel Claims in the Eighth Circuit

Mary R. Marcum, Recent Graduate, Nebraska College of Law

"The Eighth Circuit’s decision in Bahtuoh v. Smith created a split in the federal circuits. As of now, for the Eighth Circuit it is not necessarily ineffective assistance of counsel for a defense attorney to break opening statement promises to have a defendant testify."

Sexual Predator Laws: Clarifying the Relationship between Mental Health Laws and Due Process Protections

Maureen F. Larsen, Recent Graduate, Nebraska College of Law, and Robert F. Schopp, Professor of Law, Nebraska College of Law

"Sex offenses are heinous crimes. Deservedly, these crimes inspire fear and moral outrage, and society must be protected from violent predators. Nevertheless, the boundaries between mental health laws and the criminal justice system must be preserved."

Custom-Tailored Law: When Statutory Interpretation Meets the Internal Revenue Code

Michelle M. Kwon, Associate Professor, University of Tennessee College of Law

"When it comes to statutory interpretation, the traditional approaches fail to consider how the laws being interpreted by the courts were actually made. Instead, they tend to presume a uniform lawmaking process. In reality, the lawmaking process tends to be highly variable, both among, and even within, different areas of law."

Legal Education: A New Growth Vision: Part III—The Path Forward: Being Both Human and Digital

HILARY G. ESCAJEDA, ADJUNCT PROFESSOR OF TAX LAW, UNIVERSITY OF DENVER STURM COLLEGE OF LAW

"In the decades ahead, innovative and status quo–breaking law schools will leverage and combine multidisciplinary, multigenerational human expertise with digital platform and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to create vibrant legal education ecosystems."

Legal Education: A New Growth Vision: Part II—The Groundwork: Building a Customer Satisfying Innovation Ecosystem

HILARY G. ESCAJEDA, ADJUNCT PROFESSOR OF TAX LAW, UNIVERSITY OF DENVER STURM COLLEGE OF LAW

"Financial sustainability awaits agile, future-focused legal education programs that deliver students with market-valued, cost-effective, and omnichannel knowledge and skills development solutions. Shifting from an atom-based, traditional law school mindset to a platform-based, human-artificial intelligence (AI) integrated education system requires vision, planning, and drive."

The Rule of Law: More Than Just a Law of Rules

Donald B. Verrilli Jr., Partner, Munger, Tolles & Olson

"One can view the deep divisions in our legal culture, and one can view this confirmation battle, in partisan terms: Conservatives want one set of judicial outcomes, liberals want a different set of judicial outcomes and what we are witnessing is just a struggle about who is going to be in charge. All the rest is just posturing. But I think something deeper is going on."

Readdressing Nebraska ’s Misinterpreted Conscience Clause

Brenna M. Grasz, Recent Graduate, Nebraska College of Law

"By declining to interpret the Conscience Clause according to its plain language and by assigning a federal provision’s meaning to the Conscience Clause, the Nebraska Supreme Court rendered the text, history, and purpose of the clause meaningless."

Is Warrantless Urine Testing Constitutional?—Resaonableness of Warrantless Urine Testing in Cases Involving Driving While Under the Influence of Alcohol or Drugs

Mariah Haffield, Recent Graduate, Nebraska College of Law

"First, this Comment will address the development of the law as it applies to warrantless blood and breath testing. Then, this Comment will analyze how the emergency exception applies to warrantless urine testing but ultimately decides it should not fall under this doctrine."

When Tribal Disenrollment Becomes Cruel and Unusual

Judith M. Stinson, Clinical Professor of Law, Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, Arizona State University

"Although tribes have the inherent authority to resolve disputes and address their members’ conduct with sanctions, disenrolling tribal citizens for criminal conduct constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. The core protection against such punishment is—and should be—available to all citizens within the United States, including Native American citizens."