SLR Online

Symposium – Executive Overreach and the Rule of Law in Trump II

Trumpian Impoundments in Historical Perspective

by  Zachary S. Price  

Reviving Nixon-era arguments, the Trump Administration claims the power to unilaterally withhold congressionally appropriated funds. In this Essay, Zachary Price dismantles the constitutional and practical case for presidential impoundment, and warns that letting the executive control the purse would threaten separation of powers and undermine democratic accountability.

Volume 78 (2025-2026)

k. Meyler Newseum 1

Symposium – Executive Overreach and the Rule of Law in Trump II

Leveraging Institutions: Imposing Unconstitutional Constraints on Individual Speech through State and Private Organizations

by  Bernadette Meyler  

President Trump has leveraged federal funds to induce private entities, like universities, to suppress individuals’ free speech. Bernadette Meyler proposes extending the “independent constitutional bar” test—traditionally applied to states—to private funding recipients when individual rights are affected. Otherwise, the federal government may evade accountability when it acts through intermediaries to circumvent constitutional limits.

Volume 78 (2025-2026)

n. Zambrano 1

Symposium – Executive Overreach and the Rule of Law in Trump II

Due Process or the Rule of Law? Americans Speak a Different Legal Language

by  Diego A. Zambrano  

Drawing on global political histories, Diego Zambrano explores why many democracies abroad rally around “the rule of law,” while Americans reach instinctively for “due process.” He argues that distinction isn’t just rhetorical: it may leave Americans less equipped to recognize and resist attacks on democratic institutions.

Volume 78 (2025-2026)

Screenshot 2025-02-20 at 12.44.16 PM

Essay

The Coming Assault on Categorical Gun Prohibitions

by  Ian Ayres & Fredrick E. Vars  

  Introduction Lower courts are grappling with challenges to what were, until recently, settled Second Amendment laws—most notably, the federal laws prohibiting felons and those involuntarily committed from purchasing or possessing firearms. These categorical prohibitions are two of the most prominent so-called “federal prohibitors.” People who fall into one or more of the prohibited categories…

Volume 77 (2024-2025)

Transmission lines (cropped)

Essay

California, an Island?

by  Lincoln L. Davies, Stephanie Lenhart  

Lincoln L. Davies and Stephanie Lenhart warn that the energy future of the Western United States will be determined by the choices California makes over the next two years. Davies and Lenhart urge California to move towards a regional western electricity market to improve energy efficiency, reliability, and sustainability, and to avoid isolating California’s electricity market.

Volume 77 (2024-2025)

Lessnick Image

Essay

The Pardon Power and Federal Sentence-Reduction Motions: A Response to Yost and Flowers

by  Jaden M. Lessnick  

In his response to Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and former Ohio Solicitor General Benjamin Flowers, Jaden Lessnick argues that the federal sentence-reduction statute (18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(1)(A)) is not preempted by the presidential pardon power. Lessnick contends that the statute does not offend the traditional separation-of-powers principle, and preemption is not justified under the unitary executive theory.

Volume 77 (2024-2025)

image-from-rawpixel-id-6481829-original

Response

Alternative Action After SFFA

by  Kim Forde-Mazrui  

Prof. Kim Forde-Mazrui of the University of Virginia responds to Sonja Starr’s print Article, The Magnet School Wars and the Future of Colorblindness. Forde-Mazrui argues that even if courts adopt the “ends-colorblindness” framework described by Starr, “alternative action” policies meant to promote diversity may still be constitutionally permissible.

Volume 76 (2023-2024)

Pending-Cases-and-Decisions

Symposium - 2023 – Access to Justice

The Making of the A2J Crisis

by  Nora Freeman Engstrom & David Freeman Engstrom  

Access to justice has become a defining legal and political issue. In this Essay, Nora Freeman Engstrom and David Freeman Engstrom work to identify the cause of the Access to Justice Crisis.

Volume 75 (2022-2023)

Picture1

Essay

The Criminally Complicated Copyright Questions about Trump’s Mugshot

by  Cathay Y. N. Smith  

The mugshot taken of Donald Trump in connection with his Georgia criminal prosecution has become one of the defining political images of the time. In this Essay, Cathay Y. N. Smith discusses who owns the copyright to this iconic photo.

Volume 76 (2023-2024)

Iodine_pills

Response

Too Late: Why Most Abortion Pill Administrative Procedure Challenges Are Untimely

by  Susan C. Morse & Leah R. Butterfield  

In this response piece to the Abortion Pills piece in the Stanford Law Review, Prof. Susan Morse and Leah Butterfield of the University of Texas explain why most administrative challenges to abortion pill regulations are untimely.

Volume 76 (2023-2024)

Full_Faith_and_Credit_Clause

Essay

Abortion, Blocking Laws, and the Full Faith and Credit Clause

by  Haley Amster  

In recent months, California and Washington have enacted statutes forbidding private corporations in their states from cooperating with other states’ efforts to enforce abortion bans. In this Essay, Haley Amster argues that such “blocking laws” do not violate the Full Faith and Credit Clause, and are constitutionally permissible.

Volume 76 (2023-2024)

Portis Image

Essay

Interpreting Obstruction: The Capitol Riot & Donald Trump

by  Jennifer L. Portis  

The statute governing obstruction of an official proceeding—one of the charges brought against January 6 defendants and then-President Trump—faces a moment of reckoning. This Essay by Stanford J.D. candidate Jennifer L. Portis identifies a novel interpretation: § 1512(c)(2) reaches only direct obstruction, not those individuals who obstruct the official proceeding through another person's conduct.

Volume 76 (2023-2024)

Syringe_medicine

Essay

Long-Term Immunity: Protecting Drug Developers from Liability for Late–Occurring Serious Reactions to Emergency Vaccines

by  Aliya Sternstein  

In this Essay, Aliya Sternstein of Georgetown University Law Center argues that an international body must set a standard, five-year window, after an emergency vaccine is administered and when the recipient can seek compensation for an injury. Sternstein further argues that emergency vaccine developers should receive immunity against liabilities except for willful misconduct.

Volume 76 (2023-2024)

Constitution_of_the_United_States,_page_1

Essay

A Congressional Incapacity Amendment to the United States Constitution

by  John J. Martin  

In this Essay, Prof. John J. Martin of the University of Virginia School of Law argues for a Congressional Incapacity Amendment to the Constitution, modeled on the Twenty-Fifth Amendment's provisions for Presidential incapacity.

Volume 76 (2023-2024)

Old_book_bindings

Essay

On Sordid Sources in Second Amendment Litigation

by  Jacob D. Charles  

In this Essay, Prof. Jacob D. Charles of Pepperdine University Caruso School of Law considers the use of history and tradition in firearm regulation following the Supreme Court's Bruen decision. He argues that courts should use an "Abstraction Approach" in considering historical analogues to modern regulations.

Volume 76 (2023-2024)

Dyk Featured Image High Res

Essay

The Role of Non-Adjudicative Facts in Judicial Decisionmaking

by  Timothy B. Dyk  

In this Essay, Judge Timothy B. Dyk of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit considers appellate courts' use of information from outside the factual record, i.e. "non-adjudicative facts," when making decisions. Although this practice is commonplace and often harmless, the Essay notes the greater potential for incorrect conclusions when relying on facts outside the record. It urges judges to use non-adjudicative facts with caution, and carefully verify them to avoid serious error.

Volume 76 (2023-2024)

del Riego Image

Essay

The Class Action Megaphone

Empowering Class Members with an Empirical Voice
by  Alissa del Riego & Joseph Avery  

Class actions are plagued by poor communication between class counsel and the masses of unnamed class members. In this Essay, Professors Alissa del Riego and Joseph Avery propose that these barriers be overcome by using the new technical capabilities of artificial intelligence, and by adding an express duty to communicate to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

Volume 76 (2023-2024)

0 Illustrations- Square

Symposium - 2023 – Access to Justice

Lawyers Aren’t Rent

by  Juliet M. Brodie and Larisa G. Bowman  

In this Essay, part of Stanford Law Review's 2023 Access to Justice Symposium, Juliet M. Brodie and Larisa G. Bowman argue that most low-income tenants facing eviction do not need a lawyer—they need money to pay rent. They suggest investing in rental assistance programs and non-attorney advocates to save legal resources for cases with factual or legal disputes.

Volume 75 (2022-2023)

Sudeall Image

Symposium - 2023 – Access to Justice

Delegalization

by  Lauren Sudeall  

In this Essay, part of Stanford Law Review's 2023 Access to Justice Symposium, Lauren Sudeall argues that many aspects of the civil legal system systematically disfavor poor litigants. She suggests removing certain types of cases from the legal system altogether, following the logic of decriminalization in the civil sphere.

Volume 75 (2022-2023)

Green Image

Symposium - 2023 – Access to Justice

Civil Justice at the Crossroads

Should Courts Authorize Nonlawyers to Practice Law?
by  Bruce A. Green  

In this Essay, Bruce A. Green describes how a 1917 misdemeanor case charted the course of civil justice in America for over a century and urges state judiciaries to change course. Instead of impeding nonlawyers from helping unrepresented people with their legal problems, as courts have done for more than a century, he argues that courts should use their regulatory authority to let certified paralegals, social workers, and other nonlawyers train to do legal work that they can capably do.

Volume 75 (2022-2023)