Volume
135
number
2
November 2025

Article


The Radical Roots of the Representative Jury

Thomas Ward Frampton

Today, most Americans accept that the jury is supposed to be a fair cross-section of the community. But where did that idea come from? This Article recovers the forgotten stories of the radical litigants, criminal defendants, and social movements whose decades-long work reshaped the jury.

30 Nov 2025

Criminal ProcedureLegal HistorySixth AmendmentCivil-Rights Law

Article


The Hand Formula’s Unequal Inputs

Christopher Brett Jaeger

Tort law’s famous Hand Formula does not align with how laypeople judge whether conduct is reasonable. Five original experiments demonstrate that the Hand Formula fails to capture the outsized, Kantian role that risks play in lay reasonableness judgments. The Article explores the implications of this misalignment for theory and practice.

30 Nov 2025

TortsExperimental Jurisprudence

Feature


Charitable Giving and Civil Rights: A Defense of Private Remedial Action

Roger Colinvaux

Critics argue that the Civil Rights Act of 1866 prevents charitable giving based on race. This Feature defends these charitable contributions as consistent with both the 1866 Act and tax-exemption law. Far from illegal, such private remedial action furthers the freedom of association and should remain protected under law today.

30 Nov 2025

Civil-Rights LawAntidiscrimination LawTax

Note


Writing a Rule for the Aegis: Subordinate Criminal Liability After Trump v. United States

Carter Squires

The President is criminally immune. But what about the rest of government? This Note demonstrates that immunities crafted for the President often creep downward to shield executive-branch officials. Mapping this drift to criminal law, it explains why Trump v. United States threatens accountability and offers judicial interventions to stop it.

30 Nov 2025

Executive PowerSeparation of PowersCriminal Law

Note


Lawful Ends to Unlawful Wars: Coercion and Voidness in Peacemaking

Krister Rasmussen

Many prominent calls for compromise between Russia and Ukraine neglect a binding rule of international law: a treaty by which an aggressor extracts concessions in exchange for peace is void. This Note unpacks the prohibition on coerced treaties and suggests how the war in Ukraine can be ended lawfully.

30 Nov 2025

International Law

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Forum


Essay

This Essay argues that the legal system has allocated power over abortion and gender-affirming care decisions for minors in ways that may jeopardize rather than protect children’s well-being. The law insufficiently accounts for children’s interest in bodily autonomy and self-determination, leaving them at the mercy of politics and ideology.
03 Dec 2025

Essay

Property insurance availability is threatened by climate change.   Deregulating insurance markets is not the solution.  Stopping insurers’  financial support for fossil fuels, subrogation suits against fossil fuel companies,  and requiring insurers to account for mitigation, can help. But the future will be uninsurable without a transition away from fossil fuels.
03 Dec 2025

Collections


Collection

This Collection analyzes legal, social, and political dimensions of drug decriminalization in the context of current debates. The Essays explore issues related to state drug-policy reform, federal cannabis rescheduling, the separation of drug scheduling powers, and family separation in cases of parental drug use.
28 Mar 2025

Collection

This Collection examines the relationship between procedure and fairness. The Essays analyze rural criminal defense challenges, administrative rulemaking responsibilities, and the role of technology in improving access to justice. Together, they illuminate how procedural reform and technological integration might enhance fairness and responsiveness across diverse legal contexts.
14 Mar 2025

Collection

This Collection features the winners of the annual Yale Law Journal Student Essay Competition. This year’s topic was “Emerging Issues in Criminal Law.” The three winning Essays explore a range of timely criminal-law matters, including honest services fraud, racial discrimination in jury selection, and habeas corpus.
27 Feb 2025

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