The Road Not Taken: Why Courts Should Recognize Uber Drivers as Employees and Not Independent Contractors
By Kate Ross It’s hard to imagine how an Uber ride could ever lead to a roadblock. Prompted by the tap of a few buttons, the Uber app connects users with nearby drivers to send them on their way to virtually any destination within minutes. It’s no accident that the word “uber” itself suggests a road to endless […]
A Brief Overview of the National, State, and Local Responses to the Imminent Water Crisis
By Carlos F. Ugalde While most Americans continue to believe that dwindling oil reserves and growing energy prices are the nation’s main concerns, there is a far more palpable and imminent crisis at arm’s length. Global warming—the observed ongoing rise in global average temperatures near the Earth’s surface caused by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases […]
Law Enforcement’s Growing Use of Social Media to Target Gang Activity
By Vinh Hua Social interaction among teens and youths increasingly occurs in the digital world via the use of social media. Social media has become a central facet of the lives of many youth. As the internet becomes more ubiquitous, more Americans have web access. More young men and women in the inner city and […]
New Consent Decree Seeks to Curtail Violence in NYC Jails. Will It Work?
By Claire Glass On October 21, 2015 Judge Laura Taylor Swain of the Southern District of New York signed into law the consent decree sought in Mark Nunez v. City of New York, a 2011 class action brought on behalf of a class of incarcerated individuals who were victims of unnecessary use of force by […]
New York’s Push to Raise the Minimum Wage to $15
By Herbie Rosen New York Governor Andrew Cuomo recently came out in support of raising the New York state minimum wage to $15 per hour. The Governor’s initiative, the Mario Cuomo Campaign for Economic Justice (named after the late Governor’s father, and former New York Governor), pivots away from his original position of raising the minimum wage to […]
2015 Cooper-Walsh Colloquium: Flourishing Families in Context
Flourishing Families in Context: A New Lens for Urban Law Date: Friday, October 23, 2015 Location: Fordham Law School, 150 West 62nd Street, Room 7-119 The Cooper-Walsh Colloquium is a forum for legal scholars to discuss ideas and share informed critiques on legal, economic, and social issues affecting urban areas. The Colloquium is organized in […]
American Policing in the 21st Century: Legitimacy as a Key Concern
Tom R. Tyler* & Jeffrey A. Fagan**Φ This is a moment for the reconsideration of policing in America. In that effort we should examine the successes and failures of policing over the last several decades. We should also ask what works and what does not work in policing today. And, perhaps most importantly we need […]
Are States Rethinking How They Charge Juvenile Defendants?
The following post is a winning submission for the 2015 Jason Libou Online Writing Competition. Competitors were prompted to write a blog post on a topic of their choice relating to urban law and policy. By Claire Glass Florida has been deemed the most ferocious state when it comes to charging juveniles as adults, but […]
Teacher Evaluations: Governor Puts Faith in Test Scores
The following post is a winning submission for the 2015 Jason Libou Online Writing Competition. Competitors were prompted to write a blog post on a topic of their choice relating to urban law and policy. By Herbie Rosen On Saturday, March 28, hundreds of teachers, students, and parents braved the cold to protest New York […]
Reforming California’s Water System: A Model for the Future?
By Carlos F. Ugalde Four months ago, I wrote an article regarding the imminent water crisis in the United States, as well as the current national and local governmental policies addressing the issue. While the national response has been strong and uniform as evidenced by President Obama’s recent agreement with China to considerably reduce the […]