Ohio State Law Journal

Article

How Much Is Too Much? A Test to Protect Against Excessive Fines

by Daniel S. Harawa

Fines are the most common form of punishment in the United States and are disparately imposed against poor people of color. The stories of fines ruining lives abound. Yet until last year, in most state courts, it was not clear whether a person could challenge financial punishment imposed against them as unconstitutional. That changed when the Supreme Court held in Timbs v. Indiana that the Eighth Amendment’s Excessive Fines Clause applies to the states...

Article

Judicial Ideology as a Check on Executive Power

by David E. Adelman & Robert L. Glicksman

The ideological outlook of federal judges has long been a focal point for criticism of the judiciary, but it has taken on new urgency with the escalating political rhetoric and polarization in Washington. President Trump’s recent reference to a district court judge as an “Obama Judge,” after the judge ruled against the Administration in an immigration case, exemplifies the increasingly partisan view of federal judges. In an unusually high-profile response...

Article

First Amendment (Un)Exceptionalism: A Comparative Taxonomy of Campaign Finance Reform Proposals in the United States and United Kingdom

by Lori A. Ringhand

There is an urgent conversation happening among the world’s democracies about how to respond to the combined threat of online electioneering and foreign interference in domestic elections. Despite the shadow such activities cast over the 2016 presidential election in the United States, the United States has been largely absent from comparative discussions about how to tackle the problem. This is not just because of a recalcitrant president. The assumption that...

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Recognizing a Due Process Right to Be Made Aware of Discretionary Relief from Removal for Lawful Permanent Residents

by Julia C. Lauritzen

Noncitizens who enter the United States without authorization after a prior deportation order are subject to federal prosecution. Already at an all-time high, these prosecutions dramatically increased after former Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a memorandum in April 2017 instructing federal prosecutors to make entry-related prosecutions a higher priority nationwide. Together, unlawful entry and re-entry prosecutions continue to make up more than half of all...

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Building Legal Walls: Limiting Attorney General Referral Authority Over Immigration Cases

by Brittany Stevenson

President Trump has yet to make good on his campaign promise to build a border wall along the United States-Mexico border. In the meantime, though, his administration has been building legal walls. Stalled negotiations over the fate of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), the lift of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for natives of certain countries, Attorney General case certification in twelve cases, and the now-rescinded “child separation policy” have all...

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Would You Like to Save Your Game?: Establishing a Legal Framework for Long-Term Digital Game Preservation

by Will White

Since their invention in the 1960s, digital games—also known as video games, computer games, or electronic games—have grown from a quirky digital novelty into a diverse artistic medium, an economic juggernaut, and a mainstream cultural touchstone. As of 2018, around 60% of Americans play some form of digital games daily. Despite the persistent boy’s club nature of the industry and culture around digital games, actual consumption of digital games has gradually become...