Law & Life

The notion of an “absolute” First Amendment has been around for generations. Talk of an absolute First Amendment, however, is just that—talk.

This is not a sermon, not exactly, but we begin with a passage from the Gospel according to John

For over a hundred years, the U.S. Supreme Court—and an array of state supreme courts—consistently rejected arguments that businesses open to the public have a constitutional right to provide less than the full and equal services required by antidiscrimination laws. The Supreme Court made clear that public accommodations law “does not, on its face, target speech or discriminate on the basis of its content.”

“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.

In the spring of 2020, when the editors of The University of Chicago Legal Forum chose “Law for the Next Pandemic” as the theme for their upcoming fall symposium, the title seemed rather pessimistic. Really, we’re going to have to do all of this again?

This Article discusses how the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois has responded to the virus, with a particular emphasis on jury trials. I close by offering some reflections on how the pandemic might change the ways that courts will operate in the future.

The economic dislocation associated with the COVID-19 pandemic might have been reduced if pandemic insurance were widespread. Yet, outside of the All England Club, host of the Wimbledon Tennis Tournament, virtually no one held pandemic insurance.

In December of 2017, the first birth from a uterus transplant in America occurred in Dallas, Texas. This article's focus is to compare uterus transplants to other ways to achieve parenthood, to evaluate what kinds of rights claims those who seek to use uterus transplants are making against the state and offer some tentative thoughts on how those claims should be treated.

This Essay explores how menopausal bodies are managed and monitored in contemporary U.S. culture. The focus is on two distinct aspects of that management and monitoring: menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) and the burgeoning market for technology-driven menopause products and services.

Black male bodies have long been the subject of special attention from the state. This essay focuses on two government interventions in Black masculinity, dating from the 1960s, and their continuing consequences—including for the criminal justice system, and race and gender justice.