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 Hailie Goldsmith
Hailie is a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences; majoring in Philosophy, Politics and Economics and minoring in Hispanic Studies Each year, the omnipresence of the effects of climate change become harder and harder to ignore. For instance, rising temperatures worsen the day-to-day living experiences of urban residents located in urban spaces subjected to the Urban Heat Island effect—extreme heat conditions that can be attributed to an extensive amount of heat-retaining surfaces, such as roofs and streets, as well as limited green spaces [1]. Other types of extreme weather conditions leave communities devastated and looking for ways to protect their homes and health from disasters wrought by climate change. Besides the toll on human lives, extreme weather events burden U.S. taxpayers with approximately $99 billion due to damage annually [2]. In 2020 alone, 22 separate billion-dollar weather and climate-related disasters struck the United States, ranging from severe storms to wildfires [3]. On November 15th, Biden’s administration signed a $1 trillion infrastructure law, H.R. 3684, which was first introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives on November 5th [2].
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 By Hailie Goldsmith
Hailie is a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania majoring in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics with a minor in Hispanic Studies More than 400. In the last five years, more than 400 unarmed motorists have been killed by police officers after being pulled over for a traffic violation [1]. The types of traffic violations range from broken taillights to the illegal installation of tinted windows [2]. In these 400 instances, how many of the officers were convicted? Five. Just five officers have been convicted in the aftermath of these killings. The imbalance in justice can be attributed to the more than $125 million paid by local governments to close and excuse 40 wrongful-death lawsuits [1]. All 400 people lost their lives as a result of a traffic stop gone horribly wrong. Police body cam footage and headlines announcing fatalities resulting from traffic stops dominate the news and media. Traffic stops that begin with a seemingly mundane purpose and spiral into a violent and deadly clash between civilian and police officer incite a strong reaction among viewers, consuming the media. These sickening incidents have fueled nationwide outrage in response to the overextended power of policing and its dangerous, deeply intertwined relationship with racism in the United States [2]. In Newburgh Heights, Ohio Black residents comprise just 22% of the town’s population, yet 76% of traffic citations and 63% of speeding cases belong to Black motorists [2]. While deeply embedded racism explains why traffic stops have the potential to become dangerous and life-threatening for many BIPOC individuals, the reason for so many ticketed traffic violations in the first place can be attributed to financial and legal systems that award authoritative traffic enforcement powers to police officers and spur a high volume of traffic stops.  Source: Unsplash By Hailie Goldsmith Hailie Goldsmith is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, majoring in Philosophy, Politics and Economics and minoring in Hispanic Studies. In the age of omnipresent social media platforms, a majority of speech and dialogue now takes place online. For this reason, conflicts discerning which speech falls outside the protection of the First Amendment now frequently occur on an online stage rather than in-person. These conflicts are amplified by the wide-reaching arena compared to the minimal reaches of interpersonal interactions. Because social media can expose millions of people to information in a short period of time, speech can result in real actions and potentially violent consequences.
By: Hailie Goldsmith Sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences; majoring in Philosophy, Politics and Economics and minoring in Hispanic Studies. As citizens nationwide continue to cast their votes early in anticipation of Election Day on November 3rd, the novel coronavirus presents a unique and pressing challenge for all registered voters. While some will choose to vote in-person on Election Day, many voters applied for mail-in-ballots to reduce the risk of exposing themselves to the coronavirus. While COVID-19 hinders ease and accessibility with regards to voting, the pandemic especially affects older individuals, particularly residents of convalescent care centers with cognitive impairments. In fact, more than 23 million adults in the United States experience some variation of a limiting mental disorder, ranging from dementia to a learning disability [1].
 By Hailie Goldsmith
Hailie Goldsmith is a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. As the novel coronavirus sweeps across the world, essential medical resources like N95 respirators, surgical masks, and ventilators are in incredibly high demand—and in dwindling supply—in the United States. With the federal government and state governments scrambling to determine ways to mass-produce the necessary materials to manage the pandemic, some public health and policy experts have pointed to the Defense Production Act (DPA) as a solution to spur the production of masks and ventilators and address the urgent needs of the U.S. population.  By Hailie Goldsmith Hailie Goldsmith is a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. With a presidential election on the horizon in November, each state’s current voting laws and what those laws mean for who can vote become increasingly important.
As of 2016, 6.1 million people could not vote due to a felony conviction and accompanying voting restrictions on released felons; however advocacy groups such as the Sentencing Project hope to reduce this number. Voting restrictions on released felons disproportionately impact black voters, since systemic injustices within the prison system contribute to a higher likelihood of black Americans facing incarceration and felony convictions [1].  By Hailie Goldsmith
Hailie Goldsmith is a student in the College of Arts & Sciences, University of Pennsylvania. Substantial research has already been conducted on climate change, showing that the impending consequences span from rising sea levels to high-intensity storms. These effects, already devastating for environmental and ecological reasons, will also create a heavy financial burden for many regions of the world, especially for cities located on coasts. At this point in time, the prices of climate-change-causing-pollutants like carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide currently do not match the financial costs of the damage they cause [1]. This is because large fossil-fuel-burning-corporations do not factor in the impacts of carbon emissions, which are more technically called “external costs” [2]. A carbon tax would collect revenue to pay for these “external costs.”  By Hailie Goldsmith
Hailie Goldsmith is a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania With an estimated count of 130,000 homeless individuals, the extent of the homeless population is severe and ever-growing in California [1]. After a September visit to San Francisco and Los Angeles, the major sites of California’s homeless population, President Trump solely focused on the potential environmental implications of the homelessness crisis. He criticized the used syringes entering the Pacific Ocean as well as open defecation and its potential to violate federal water-quality standards by spreading dangerous pathogens and contaminants [1]. |
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