CARDOZO JOURNAL OF
EQUAL RIGHTS AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

Elective share statutes, the modern successors to the historical doctrines of dower and curtesy, serve as a vital legal safety net designed to prevent a decedent from intentionally disinheriting a surviving spouse. [1] By forcing the decedent’s estate to distribute a specific share to a spouse who has been omitted from a will, these statutes protect against the rise of non-probate transfers and inter vivos gifts that might otherwise leave a survivor destitute. [2]   Since

On January 30, 2026, Mayor Mamdani and Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (“DCWP”) Commissioner Samuel Levine announced that food delivery app companies Uber Eats, Fantuan, and Hungry Panda owed more than $5 million in worker restitution, civil penalties, and damages to resolve violations of the Minimum Pay Rate for delivery workers. [1] Like New York City, other municipalities across the United States should enact statutory protections for delivery workers, inves

You grow up in a rural town abroad where English is barely taught. You teach yourself the language, travel hours to take standardized tests, and earn admission to a United States university. You stay for law school, believing that talent and persistence will bring stability. Near graduation, the question changes: what happens when the student visa expires, and life beyond campus begins? The United States should create a meaningful, predictable pathway from F-1 student statu

It is very unlikely you have ever consented to a police lineup.  Yet if you have a driver’s license or a social media account, you may already be in one.  A new kind of digital lineup has emerged, one that never ends and requires neither your knowledge nor consent. [1]  Facial recognition technology (“FRT”) is a biometric identification method that creates a digital template of a person’s face using measurements such as the distance between the eyes, the width of the nose, t

On his first day in office, President Trump signed an executive order seeking to drastically limit birthright citizenship—a longstanding constitutional principle under which individuals born in the United States automatically acquire citizenship, regardless of their parents’ immigration status. [1]   While many supporters of President Trump commended the order as a necessary protection against illegal immigration, constitutional law scholars on both sides of the political spe

This past week, Louisiana’s Attorney General filed a lawsuit, Markezich v. FDA, challenging the distribution of medication abortion to patients without an in-person doctor’s appointment. [1]   When the Supreme Court rejected a challenge to the Food and Drug Administration’s (“FDA’s”) approval of mifepristone in 2024, it was considered a setback for the anti-abortion movement. [2]   Markezich confronts the FDA’s approval of telehealth, and the Supreme Court could rule diffe

On August 10, 1846, President James K. Polk signed legislation establishing the Smithsonian Institution, created from the bequest of British scientist James Smithson, as “an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge.” [1] Structurally, the Smithsonian occupies a unique legal status as a trust instrumentality of the United States: it is governed by a Board of Regents and a Secretary, is separate and distinct from governmental branches of the national governm

Within the first week of his presidency, President Trump removed National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) [1] General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo and Board Member Gwynne Wilcox, leaving the NLRB without a quorum [2] and therefore unable to have any real impact on cases brought before it. [3]   This action sent unions and organizers into a panic as employers celebrated the expanded ability to get away with unfair labor practices and policies that limit strikes and work stoppage

The Department of Education (“ED”) enforces civil rights in education through Title IX. [1] Title IX prohibits sex-based discrimination in federally funded educational programs, and promotes inclusion in higher education. [2]  Significantly, Title IX enforcement depends on the executive branch controlling the ED, as this power rests with both the Department of Justice and the ED’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR). [3] Historically, judicial enforcement of statutes like Title

Some of the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Divisions are now recognizing “catalyst theory” as a part of the New York State Equal Access to Justice Act (“EAJA”). To preserve the intent of the EAJA, it is time for the Court of Appeals to decide in favor of catalyst theory for litigants. Recently, the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department ruled in favor of Peter Markey, a disabled Navy veteran who sued New York State after they denied him rental assis

Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, first implemented in 1996, authorizes local and state law enforcement agencies to...

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) is a federal agency that monitors financial markets to identify new risks to consumers,...

The earnings of public sector employees trail behind those of their private sector counterparts, and this income disparity is continually...

On January 17, 2025, the Supreme Court in TikTok Inc. v. Garland [1] upheld the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled...

Despite a rocky start, [1]  New York City’s Central Business District Tolling Program, more commonly known as the city’s congestion...

In 2014, California adopted Proposition 47, a law aimed at reducing incarceration rates and promoting rehabilitation in the community....

Non-competes are contracts that prevent an employee from working for or starting a competing business. [1]  Typically, non-competes are...

New York City’s affordable housing crisis has reached an alarming state, with nearly half of renters spending more than thirty percent of...

Recently, Robert F. Kennedy (“RFK”) Jr.’s nomination for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) was confirmed...

Women’s sports have taken off in recent years, and the thriving market for women’s sports apparel is proof. [1]   More people are...