The Roundtable
Welcome to the Roundtable, a forum for incisive commentary and analysis
on cases and developments in law and the legal system.
on cases and developments in law and the legal system.
 By Sophie Lovering
Sophie Lovering is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania majoring in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) and minoring in American Sign Language and Deaf Studies. In 2019, 567,715 Americans experienced homelessness on a single night, an increase of 14,885 people from the previous year [1]. Between the same two years, the estimated number of people experiencing chronic homelessness increased by 8.5% [1]. There are notable racial disparities in this population. African Americans make up only 12.5% of Americans, but represent over 40% of the homeless population [2]. Other populations that account for a disproportionately large amount of the homeless population include military veterans, survivors of domestic violence, and the LGBTQ community [2]. If you visit any city or urban center, it is evident that homelessness is an American crisis. To make this crisis worse, many cities within the United States have criminalized homelessness.
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 By Alya Abbassian
Alya Abbassian is a sophomore at Penn’s College of Arts and Sciences studying Philosophy, Politics, and Economics. On March 23rd, the attorney general of Texas, Ken Paxton, issued a directive banning “any type of abortion that is not medically necessary to preserve the life or health of the mother” [1]. Paxton followed the lead of the Ohio attorney general, who ordered state abortion clinics to halt surgical abortions. Ohio and Texas explained that this is a response to the COVID-19 pandemic in order to ensure that the maximum number of hospital beds and personal protective equipment are available and not being used for “elective” and “nonessential” procedures [1]. Paxton also stated that anyone in violation of this order would be met “with the full force of the law” with the possibility of potential criminal prosecution and jail time [2].  By Kaitlyn Rentala Kaitlyn Rentala is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania studying Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE). On March 24, 2020, the Supreme Court was scheduled to hear Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc., a pivotal copyright infringement case that could alter the way in which software companies intrinsically operate. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Supreme Court announced that the March argument session and its 11 cases would be postponed until an undetermined time. In Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc., the Supreme Court will finally decide if Google will have to pay Oracle billions of dollars for the copyright that runs hundreds of millions of phones around the world, and their decision will mark the end of almost eight years of numerous federal court cases and appeals launched from both sides.
Potential Universal Do-Not-Resuscitate Policy Is As Legally Unprecedented As It Is Horrifying4/7/2020  By Lyndsey Reeve Lyndsey Reeve is a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania studying International Relations. The COVID-19 pandemic is an undeniable threat to the public, especially medically vulnerable individuals including elderly patients, the immune compromised, and individuals with preexisting respiratory conditions such as asthma. This disaster has sparked a host of shadow crises, from the economic burden on local businesses and individuals unable to perform their jobs remotely due to educational closures and travel restrictions that cripple global interaction. This pandemic is more than a mere inconvenience—it is an international health emergency that will take, at a minimum, months to recover from.
 By Nicholas Williams Nicholas Williams is a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences planning on majoring in Political Science. The current federal court system was created by the Judiciary Act of 1789. The law created three levels of federal courts: district courts, circuit (or appellate) courts, and the Supreme Court [1]. Today, there are 94 district courts, 13 circuit courts, and one Supreme Court [2], all with the power to issue injunctions - an order that stops a party from continuing a certain action, or, sometimes in the case of the federal government, enforcing a certain policy.
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