Penn Undergraduate Law Journal
  • Home
  • About
    • Mission
    • Masthead
    • Faculty Advisory Board
    • Partner Journals
    • Sponsors
  • Submissions
  • Full Issues
  • The Roundtable
    • Pre-Law Corner
  • Events
  • Contact
    • Contact
    • Apply
    • FAQs
  • Home
  • About
    • Mission
    • Masthead
    • Faculty Advisory Board
    • Partner Journals
    • Sponsors
  • Submissions
  • Full Issues
  • The Roundtable
    • Pre-Law Corner
  • Events
  • Contact
    • Contact
    • Apply
    • FAQs

The Roundtable


Welcome to the Roundtable, a forum for incisive commentary and analysis
on cases and developments in law and the legal system.


INTERESTED IN wRITING FOR tHE rOUNDTABLE?

Congress’ Canadian Powers

1/11/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
By Thomas Cribbins

Thomas Cribbins is a junior at the University of Michigan studying political science.

From the very beginning, Americans have been wary of the power of the federal government. The Framers tried to hedge this concern by creating a “government of laws, not men.”. [1] The Federalist Papers echo reassurance to pre-Constitutional America by promising to protect the government from ambitious, self-interested politicians and factions. [2] In Federalist 45, Madison again addressed the fears of an almighty central government by announcing: “The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite.” [3] However, the federal government’s power has certainly expanded in the intervening centuries, particularly in the last few decades. Pushing the limits of the enumerated powers has employed many people in and outside the federal government. However, the issue stems when stretching an enumerated power cannot get the job done. What is Congress, the President or any other part of the federal government to do when the puzzle simply will not come together? This brings to the curious case of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, the Supreme Court case Missouri v. Holland (1920), and what seems to amount to the new powers the federal government assumed because they were granted by Canada.


Until 1918, states were granted almost all authority over the taking of game animals within their state.In turn, every state had radically different ideas about game management and  this dynamic generated a moral hazard with several states competing to take a larger share of game. This included inflating bag limits to prevent more southern states from being able to take a larger share of the waterfowl or other migratory birds that routinely crossed state lines. [4] Congress decided to stop the madness and protect the common-pool resource that the states all intended to desecrate. The result was the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, a treaty with Canada that granted the Secretary of the Interior the broad, redundant and superfluous powers to regulate migratory birds. The treaty was eventually signed onto by Mexico, Russia and Japan, but the point still remains: who said Congress or the federal government at large should be in charge of regulating migratory birds? [5] Who even said they should have any part at all?

Read More
0 Comments

Hong Kong: A Case Study in Democracy and the Rule of Law

1/10/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
By Justin Yang

Justin Yang is a freshman at the University of Pennsylvania studying Politics, Philosophy, and Economics.

The rule of law is absolutely fundamental in liberal democracies to enable the democratic institutions to work well. It is the rule of law that ensures that peaceful transitions of power will occur and those in power cannot prevent their political adversaries from taking offices they are rightfully elected to. But if the situation allows for it, the law can also be exploited and weaponized, twisted to make  anti-democratic or even dictatorial actions legal. These situations have popped up many times in history, and the most recent case is happening right now in Hong Kong.

In an election on September of this year, six localist candidates were elected to the city’s legislature, the Legislative Council. These candidates advocate for much greater autonomy for Hong Kong, or even independence from China. In an admittedly immature act of protest, some of these new legislators purposefully stated the oath of office that pledges allegiance to China incorrectly. Thinking of it as an internal matter, the President of the Legislative Council invalidated their oaths but allowed them to retake it at a later date and take their seats as democratically elected legislators. However, the executive branch, the head of which is chosen by a committee of Beijing loyalists, took the unprecedented and blatantly political step to sue the legislative branch. [1]

Read More
0 Comments

Interview with Professor Penny Ellison

1/5/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Anna: What course do you teach at Penn?

Penny Ellison: Animal Law and Ethics

A: What’s the class about?

PE: It’s about animals in all aspects that we use and come in contact with. So, we go through all the federal and state laws that apply to animals in different contexts, whether it be domestic animals, agricultural animals, animals that are used in labs, animals that perform in circuses, all of those things. So, we talk about what law is out there and why it protects the animals, and from an ethical perspective, we also get to philosophy and ethics as applied to animals.


Read More
0 Comments

The Constitutionality of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact

1/4/2017

7 Comments

 
Picture
By Justin Yang
​

Justin Yang is a freshman at the University of Pennsylvania studying Politics, Philosophy, and Economics.

Another presidential election has passed by. There were times during the campaign when the polls were close enough to trigger traumatic memories of the 2000 election – recounts, legal battles, uncertainty. The root of the problem, and our fears, is the Electoral College, a fundamentally flawed system that allows for undemocratic results by counting some people’s votes more than others.

​
For most people, the simple and obvious answer would be to abolish the Electoral College and institute a popular vote for president, but that would require major electoral reform through an amendment to the Constitution. This isn’t easy – two-thirds of both houses of Congress or two-thirds of the states would need to propose the amendment, and three-fourths of the states need to ratify it. However, people have offered an alternative way that wouldn’t add a single drop of ink to the Constitution: The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. [1] However, because it would enact major electoral reform and allegedly subvert the Constitution, its legality and constitutionality is under question. I believe that such a compact would pass constitutional scrutiny.

Read More
7 Comments

Hernandez v. Mesa: Who Will Watch The Watchers?

1/3/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
By Clarissa Alvarez

Clarissa Alvarez is a sophomore at The George Washington University studying political science and economics.

As a native of bordertown Laredo, Texas, I am often surprised by how little others know about the borderlands, and those who do mention it often bring up common misconceptions. For example, there’s the popular misconception that bloodshed and violence is commonplace along the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. While that may be true for Mexican border towns, the opposite is most accurate for U.S. towns along the U.S.-Mexico border. In fact, U.S. border cities tend to be some of the safest regions in the U.S. Law enforcement ranging from the local police department and Border Patrol to the FBI, DEA, Texas National Guard, and ICE tend to be overly present. Though, that may well be because U.S. border cities sit across what have been labeled as some of the most murderous cities in the world.


Geography and landscape differ from border state to border state. Some sister cities are separated by a wall, while others are separated by natural barriers like the Rio Grande River that runs along the Southern Texan border. To alleviate border security issues, a large influx of law enforcement is present along the edge of the U.S. border checkpoint, acting as a militarized-like zone. On the Mexican side of the border, people have get-togethers and parents throw their children small birthday parties along the narrow area of land beside the Rio Grande. Children jump into the Rio Grande and playfully splash water at each other, their parent’s watchful of their children, constantly reminding them to not go as far as to accidentally cross into the U.S. and attract Border Patrol attention. People on the U.S. side of the border generally do not want to know what happens, and they shut their eyes to the mishaps that occur on the Mexican side of the border. As famously said by a previous Mexican President Porfirio Diaz, “Poor Mexico, so far from God and so close to the United States.” For U.S.-Mexico border cities that share a culture, there are evident political parallels and intersections between both countries.

Read More
0 Comments

    Categories

    All
    Akshita Tiwary
    Alana Bess
    Alana Mattei
    Albert Manfredi
    Alexander Saeedy
    Alexandra Aaron
    Alexandra Kanan
    Alice Giannini
    Alicia Augustin
    Alicia Kysar
    Ally Kalishman
    Ally Margolis
    Alya Abbassian
    Anika Prakash
    Anna Schwartz
    Ashley Kim
    Astha Pandey
    Audrey Pan
    Benjamin Ng'aru
    Brónach Rafferty
    Bryce Klehm
    Cary Holley
    Christina Gunzenhauser
    Christine Mitchell
    Christopher Brown
    Clarissa Alvarez
    Cole Borlee
    Connor Gallagher
    Dan Spinelli
    Dan Zhang
    David Katz
    Davis Berlind
    Derek Willie
    Dhilan Lavu
    Edgar Palomino
    Edna Simbi
    Emma Davies
    Esther Lee
    Evelyn Bond
    Filzah Belal
    Frank Geng
    Gabriel Maliha
    Georgia Ray
    Graham Reynolds
    Habib Olapade
    Hailie Goldsmith
    Haley Son
    Harshit Rai
    Henry Lininger
    Hetal Doshi
    Iris Zhang
    Irtaza Ali
    Isabela Baghdady
    Ishita Chakrabarty
    Jack Burgess
    Jessica "Lulu" Lipman
    Joe Anderson
    Jonathan Lahdo
    Jonathan Stahl
    Joseph Squillaro
    Justin Yang
    Kaitlyn Rentala
    Kanishka Bhukya
    Katie Kaufman
    Kelly Liang
    Keshav Sharma
    Ketaki Gujar
    Lauren Pak
    Lavi Ben Dor
    Libby Rozbruch
    Lindsey Li
    Luis Bravo
    Lyndsey Reeve
    Madeline Decker
    Maja Cvjetanovic
    Maliha Farrooz
    Marco DiLeonardo
    Margaret Lu
    Matthew Caulfield
    Michael Keshmiri
    Mina Nur Basmaci
    Muskan Mumtaz
    Natalie Peelish
    Natasha Darlington
    Natasha Kang
    Nayeon Kim
    Nicholas Parsons
    Nicholas Williams
    Nicole Greenstein
    Nihal Sahu
    Omar Khoury
    Owen Voutsinas Klose
    Owen Voutsinas-Klose
    Pheby Liu
    Rachel Bina
    Rachel Gu
    Rachel Pomerantz
    Rebecca Heilweil
    Regina Salmons
    Sajan Srivastava
    Sandeep Suresh
    Sanjay Dureseti
    Sarah Simon
    Saranya Das Sharma
    Saranya Sharma
    Sasha Bryski
    Saxon Bryant
    Sean Foley
    Sebastian Bates
    Serena Camici
    Shahana Banerjee
    Shannon Alvino
    Shiven Sharma
    Siddarth Sethi
    Sneha Parthasarathy
    Sneha Sharma
    Sophie Lovering
    Steven Jacobson
    Suaida Firoze
    Suprateek Neogi
    Takane Shoji
    Tanner Bowen
    Taryn MacKinney
    Thomas Cribbins
    Todd Costa
    Tyler Larkworthy
    Vatsal Patel
    Vikram Balasubramanian
    Vishwajeet Deshmukh
    Wajeeha Ahmad
    Yeonhwa Lee

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    September 2022
    June 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013

Picture
Picture
​