Law & Public Policy Blog

Reflections on Race and School Discipline

Noelia Rivera-Calderón, Law & Public Policy Scholar, JD Anticipated May 2019 We all know we are doing school discipline wrong. We see the statistics on racial disparities in discipline: Black and Latino students are suspended and expelled at significantly higher rates than white students. When it comes to finding solutions, though, well-intentioned but misguided policies from all points in the political spectrum—from zero tolerance to suspension bans—end up leaving us little better than we started, taking one step forward and …

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Price of Innocence: Philadelphia’s 30% Bail Fee

Cameron Redfern, Law & Public Policy Scholar, JD Anticipated May 2019 There are currently 6,700 people in Philadelphia’s jails. Of those individuals, 30% are being held pre-trial – one in four are being held on a cash bail amount that they are unable to pay. 8.1% of Philadelphia’s jail population is being detained because they cannot afford to pay $5,000 or less. The cash bail system is purported to serve the purpose of ensuring the reappearance of defendants and keeping …

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Safe Injection Sites in Philadelphia: Caring About People, No Matter What

Jasper Katz, Law & Public Policy Scholar, JD Candidate May 2019 In 2016, 907 people died as a result of heroin overdoses in Philadelphia. In 2017, that number is projected to hit 1,200. As a response to these tragedies, Philadelphia recently decided to move forward in creating a safe injection site (SIF), a place where people who use drugs can do so under medical supervision in case of an overdose. Philadelphia has some of the cheapest and purest heroin available, …

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Why Philadelphia Needs Just Cause Eviction Protections

Lisa Burns, Law & Public Policy Scholar, JD Candidate May 2018 In 1893, the great American journalist Talcott Williams lauded the promise of Philadelphia, which he called “not a city of palaces for the few, but homes for the many.” Williams’s egalitarian vision of the city was based on the iconic Philadelphia row houses that allowed workers of all classes to own their own homes inside the city limits. The possibility of middle- and working-class individuals’ homeownership in one of …

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The Cruelty of Ending Temporary Protected Status

Shannon McGuire, Law & Public Policy Scholar, JD Candidate May 2019 Eight years ago last week, a 7.1 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti, killing anywhere from 220,000-300,000 people, displacing over a million from their homes, and leading to a cholera outbreak. In 2016, Hurricane Matthews devastated the country’s recovery efforts. The endless struggles Haitians have endured from these natural disasters make reports about the President’s vulgar and offensive comments about countries like Haiti even more painful. Yet many are not familiar …

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Homelessness in Philadelphia: A Few Suggestions

Lee Begelman, Law & Public Policy Scholar, JD anticipated May 2019 It’s officially 2018, and the East Coast started off the year competing for a record. Unfortunately for those of us who live on the East Coast, the record being sought after was for “Longest Streak of Days Below Freezing.” Fortunately, I guess, we ended up tying for third-longest streak. Nevertheless, it’s been mightily cold in Philadelphia so far this winter, and its only mid-January. But while most of us …

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Ajit Pai’s Defense of Net Neutrality Repeal Fails to Make Good Arguments

Devon Roberson, Law & Public Policy Scholar, JD anticipated May 2019 “The FCC just voted to restore the long-standing, bipartisan approach to protecting Internet freedom.” This was the official word from the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Twitter account, announcing the repeal of the 2015 regulation codifying “net neutrality” into law. “The internet wasn’t broken in 2015,” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said. “We weren’t living in a digital dystopia.” This is true. But what Mr. Pai seems to be forgetting is …

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Trump’s Proposal to Ban All Muslims: It’s Still Not Okay

Ashley Rotchford, Law & Public Policy Scholar, JD aniticipated May 2018  “It is only in our darkest hours that we may discover the true strength of the brilliant light within ourselves that can never, ever, be dimmed” – Doe Zantamata Before many of our ancestors ever came to America, the first Muslim arrived on this soil that we now call the United States. Muslims have been in this nation for over 400 years, and yet, to many white Americans, “they” …

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The Electoral College and the Two-Party System

Greg Mazmanian, Law & Public Policy Scholar, JD anticipated 2018 On November 9, 2016 at 2:58am EST, Hillary Clinton called Donald Trump to concede the presidential election. This event concluded one of the most unexpected electoral victories in American history. The campaign that preceded this election was characterized by harsh rhetoric that exacerbated the deep divisions within the country, as well as the division within both major parties. A Pew research study found that 53% of Trump voters and 46% …

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The Death of Republican Obstructionism?

Dean Krebs, Law & Public Policy Scholar, JD anticipated May 2018 Unified obstruction has been the sole Republican strategy since President Obama took office. According to David Frum, speech writer for former President George W. Bush, there was going to be “[n]o negotiations, no compromise, nothing” with the Democrats. All that mattered, former Ohio Senator George Voinovich stated, was that “[i]f [Obama] was for it, we had to be against it.” A couple years after Obama took office, Mike Lofgren, …

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