Constitutional Rights

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Comment
What's the Harm? The Future of the First Amendment
"Segs and the City" and Cutting-Edge Aesthetic Experiences: Resolving the Circuit Split on Tour Guides' Licensing Requirements and the First Amendment
Marie J. Plecha
B.A. Dartmouth College; J.D. Candidate, The University of Chicago Law School.

Tourism represents an important contributor to state and local economies. Accordingly, some U.S. cities have sought to regulate operations of the industry, including the activities of official tour guides.

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What's the Harm? The Future of the First Amendment
When Speech Isn't Free: The Rising Costs of Hosting Controversial Speakers at Public Universities
Rebecca Roman
B.S. Florida State University; J.D. Candidate, The University of Chicago Law School, 2021.

Many thanks to Professor Baird and Professor Stone for their guidance, and to Zachary Spencer for all of his great ideas, including the topic of this Comment. I would also like to thank my dear friends on The University of Chicago Legal Forum for their contributions to this piece.

“Free” speech seems like a misnomer when looking at the price public universities have to pay to protect students’ First Amendment rights. Accommodating controversial speakers on campus requires universities to balance budget constraints with free speech.

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Article
What's the Harm? The Future of the First Amendment
Uncommon Law: The Past, Present and Future of Libel Law in a Time of "Fake News" and "Enemies of the American People"
Jane E. Kirtley
Silha Professor of Media Ethics and Law, and Director of the Silha Center for the Study of Me-dia Ethics and Law, Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication, and affiliated faculty member, Law School, University of Minnesota.

Parts of this essay were adapted from the author’s lecture, “Uncommon Law: The Past, Present and Future of Libel in America,” delivered at the 2019 Reynolds School of Journalism First Amendment Forum at the University of Nevada in Reno, on April 23, 2019, and from her article Getting to the Truth: Fake News, Libel Laws, and “Enemies of the American People” published in Vol. 43, No. 4 of Human Rights Magazine. The author would like to thank Silha Center Research Assistants Scott Memmel, Sarah Wiley, and Jonathan Anderson for their invaluable research assistance. Uncommon Law: The Past, Present and Future of Libel in America, U. of Nev., Reno, h‌tt‌p‌s‌:‌/‌/‌e‌v‌e‌n‌t‌s‌.‌u‌n‌r‌.‌e‌d‌u‌/‌e‌v‌e‌n‌t‌/‌u‌n‌c‌ommon_law_the_past_present_and_future_of_libel_in_america#.XN8jrMhKiUk [https://perma.cc/EQ6Z-SS6D].

After many years of comparative quiet, the United States is experiencing a growth in libel suits brought by both public officials and private figures.

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Comment
Law for the Next Pandemic
Protecting Mixed-Status Families: Equal Protection Analysis of the Dual Social Security Number Requirement
Nena Gallegos
B.S., American University, 2019; J.D. Candidate, The University of Chicago Law School, 2022.

Many thanks to Professor Aziz Huq for his invaluable guidance and thoughtful feedback. I would also like to thank the past and present editors of The University of Chicago Legal Forum for their insightful contributions.

This Comment analyzes the equal protection issues raised by the Dual SSN Requirement and argues that it violates the equal protection rights of citizen children and spouses.

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Comment
Law for the Next Pandemic
Comity, Coronavirus, and Interstate Travel Restrictions
Timothy Carey
B.A., American University, 2017; J.D. Candidate, The University of Chicago Law School, 2022.

Many thanks to the staff of The University of Chicago Legal Forum, and to Professor Alison LaCroix, for generous support throughout the Comment writing process.

That interstate travel within the United States is largely so uncontroversial reflects a simple fact: the right to travel “occupies a position fundamental to the concept of our Federal Union.” Yet in the aftermath of the COVID-19 outbreak, multiple states have restricted interstate travel.

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The Body
The Case Against Reason-Based Abortion Bans
Gray Sutton
B.A., The University of Chicago, 2020; J.D. Candidate, The University of Chicago Law School, 2023.

This Comment wouldn’t exist without the prodding guidance of Professor Geoffrey Stone, nor the incredible support from Kathleen Schmidt, Kimberly Johnson, and the rest of the staff of The University of Chicago Legal Forum.

Absent from the docket, and flying under the public’s radar, was another, different form of abortion restriction: the reason-based abortion ban. This Comment will focus on the possible constitutional justifications for these laws and subsequently undermine them.

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The Body
Menstrual Product Deprivation in Prison: A Sex-Neutral Litigation Strategy
Avery Broome
B.A., The University of Chicago, 2018; J.D. Candidate; M.A. SciencesPo, 2020; The University of Chicago Law School, 2023.

My sincere thanks to Professor Hubbard for his excellent guidance and help shaping this paper, along with the staff of The University of Chicago Legal Forum for their hard work and editorial support. 

Prisons at both the state and federal levels routinely deny or severely restrict access to menstrual supplies for those who need them. Detainees and prisoners alike are left to bleed onto their clothes and the floor of their cells.