New House Bill Targets Service Providers and Tech Giants, Aims to Give Consumers More Control Over Their Data

Bradley Clark*

            Representative Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee introduced a new data privacy bill to the House of Representatives on May 18, 2017.  BROWSER Act of 2017, H.R. 2520, 115th Cong. (2017).  The bill, titled “Balancing the Rights [o]f Web Surfers Equally and Responsibly Act of 2017” or simply the “BROWSER Act of 2017,” aims to give consumers more control over their personal data by allowing them to “opt-in or opt-out . . . with respect to the use of, disclosure of, and access to user information collected” by internet service providers and other tech firms.  Id.

Continue reading “New House Bill Targets Service Providers and Tech Giants, Aims to Give Consumers More Control Over Their Data”

From Marches to Motions: The Future of Protest Management After the Violent Protest in Charlottesville, Virginia

Martha Effinger*

           This year began with the Women’s March on Washington, which “was likely the largest single-day demonstration in recorded U.S. history.”  Erica Chenoweth & Jeremy Pressman, This Is What We Learned by Counting the Women’s Marches, Wash. Post (Feb. 7, 2017), https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/02/07/this-is-what-we-learned-by-counting-the-womens-marches/?utm_term=.e234124e5cfa.  Now, in the wake of what happened in Charlottesville, Virginia, where three people were killed and thirty-four injured, there are more marches, rallies and protests occurring across the United States.  Maggie Astor et al., A Guide to the Charlottesville Aftermath, N. Y. Times (Aug. 13, 2017), https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/13/us/charlottesville-virginia-overview.html; Emily Bohatch, Is There a Protest Near You Today?, USA Today (Aug. 15, 2017, 2:26 PM), https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/08/15/there-protest-near-you-today-rallies-against-hate-trump-across-usa/569275001/. Continue reading “From Marches to Motions: The Future of Protest Management After the Violent Protest in Charlottesville, Virginia”

Designer Babies, Heritable Diseases, and Patent Applications: Legal Issues Surrounding CRISPR Gene Editing Technology

Adrianne C. Blake*

            The science fiction movie GATTACA first brought the concept of eugenics and its surrounding ethical concerns to the big screen.  GATTACA (Columbia Pictures 1997).  When the movie was released in 1997, human gene editing was not yet possible.  Only twenty years later, the idea of a designer baby is no longer a matter of science fiction, but of reality.  Continue reading “Designer Babies, Heritable Diseases, and Patent Applications: Legal Issues Surrounding CRISPR Gene Editing Technology”

Open Mic Night: Does Subpoenaing a Home Voice Assistant Device Pose a Constitutional Threat?

Tiffany Meekins*

The Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution guarantees the right of citizens “to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures . . . and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause.”  U.S. Const. amend. IV.  This Amendment guarantees an individual’s fundamental right to privacy in their own home. Stanley v. Georgia, 394 U.S. 557, 565 (1969).  There is a general understanding that possessions, such as a laptop computer or a cellular phone, can be seized and their contents searched with a valid warrant.  Riley v. California, 134 S. Ct. 2473, 2485 (2014).  But what about technological devices that one decides to invest in to improve the “quality of [their] life?”?  Amy B. Wang, Can Amazon Echo Help Solve A Murder? Police Will Soon Find Out, Wash. Post (Mar. 9, 2017), https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2017/03/09/can-amazon-echo-help-solve-a-murder-police-will-soon-find-out/?utm_term=.c01a88c258a8.  For instance, devices containing voice assistants have become a staple in many Americans’ homes.  See Andrew Burger, Report: Voice Assistant Penetration Jumps to 12% of U.S. Broadband Households, telecompetitor (Mar. 21, 2017, 1:53 PM), http://www.telecompetitor.com/report-voice-assistant-penetration-jumps-to-12-of-U-S-broadband-households/.  What are the constitutional implications of subpoenaing these devices? Continue reading “Open Mic Night: Does Subpoenaing a Home Voice Assistant Device Pose a Constitutional Threat?”

Exploiting the First Amendment to Shield Deceptive Practices: Crisis Pregnancy Centers Ask the Supreme Court to Strike Down Mandatory Disclosures

Jennifer Mahan* 

            Following the Ninth Circuit’s decision and denial of rehearing in National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Harris, the Alliance Defending Freedom petitioned the Supreme Court on behalf of the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (NIFLA) for a writ of certiorari in March 2017.  Nat’l Inst. of Family & Life Advocates v. Harris, 839 F.3d 823 (9th Cir. 2016), petition for cert. filed sub nom. Nat’l Inst. of Family & Life Advocates v. Becerra, No. 16-1140 (U.S. Mar. 21, 2017).  The pending petition asks the Court to determine whether California’s law, requiring licensed pregnancy centers to provide information on how to obtain a state-funded abortion and unlicensed pregnancy centers to disclaim to clients that they do not have a medical license, violates the First Amendment.  Continue reading “Exploiting the First Amendment to Shield Deceptive Practices: Crisis Pregnancy Centers Ask the Supreme Court to Strike Down Mandatory Disclosures”