CARDOZO JOURNAL OF
EQUAL RIGHTS AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

Shirley Chung was a year old when she was adopted from South Korea by a Black-American family and brought to Texas in 1966.[1] Phillip Clay, also from South Korea, was eight when he was adopted in 1983 by a family in Philadelphia.[2] Like many intercountry adoptees raised in the United States, they grew up in “all-American families,” learned English, attended American schools, and identified as American citizens.[3] What they also had in common was the realization—much late

On December 29, 2022, President Biden signed the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (“PWFA”), the first federal law to provide meaningful protections for pregnant and postpartum employees. The PWFA requires employers to engage in a good-faith interactive process to negotiate reasonable accommodations once they have notice of an employee’s need for accommodations.[1] On the same day, he also signed the PUMP Act, an amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) that expanded

In New York City, cooperative housing, commonly known as co-ops, accounts for a substantial portion of the housing market.[1] The application process, however, has long been criticized for its lack of transparency and potential for discrimination.[2] In response to these concerns, New York City enacted Introduction No. 1120-B on January 29, 2026, which introduces strict timelines, standardized procedures, and enforcement mechanisms for how co-op boards review applications.[

At what point do we admit that a one-size-fits-all punishment is not fairness, but abdication? Flat-dollar fines impose identical penalties on people with radically different capacities to pay. [1] For the wealthy, a ticket is a mild annoyance. For others, it is the difference between groceries and arrears. [2] Court debt is the hinge. It is how small tickets become life-altering penalties through late fees, collections, and collateral consequences. [3] Because fines