http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/topic/33/law-and-justice Inquiries Journal provides undergraduate and graduate students around the world a platform for the wide dissemination of academic work over a range of core disciplines. en-us Thu, 21 May 2026 06:42:16 -0400 Thu, 21 May 2026 06:42:16 -0400 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1940/the-evolution-of-third-party-doctrine-analysis-how-the-supreme-courts-current-analytical-framework-limits-the-scope-of-the-third-party-doctrine By Peter Conlin - The Fourth Amendment protects the “right of people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures…” Fundamentally, the Fourth Amendment places constitutional limits on law enforcement’s power to conduct a search or a seizure. However, the Supreme Court has recognized certain exceptions to this general constitutional requirement. The most controversial and expansive exception is the Third-Party Doctrine, which states: once information is relinquished to a third party, its original owner loses any expectation of privacy... Fri, 25 Feb 2022 09:30 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1940/the-evolution-of-third-party-doctrine-analysis-how-the-supreme-courts-current-analytical-framework-limits-the-scope-of-the-third-party-doctrine http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1928/structural-violence-in-the-queer-community-a-comparative-analysis-of-international-human-rights-protections-for-lbtiq-people By Misty Farquhar - This paper discusses the structural violence experienced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex, or queer (LGBTIQ+) people and people with disabilities (PWD), and reviews the international human rights protections available to each group through United Nations (UN) processes. It begins by exploring the human rights issues faced by LGBTIQ+ people, the impacts on their health and wellbeing, and the lack of international systems in place to protect them. It then repeats the process for PWD and highlights the efficacy of the protections afforded them. A comparative analysis contextualises the... Mon, 20 Dec 2021 09:19 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1928/structural-violence-in-the-queer-community-a-comparative-analysis-of-international-human-rights-protections-for-lbtiq-people http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1892/the-eumenides-antigone-and-the-nature-of-objective-justice By Patrick F. Sheils - Justice in The Eumenides is established as an objective entity and it is in The Eumenides that it is solidified as a concept which has causal power over the material world. This metaphysical abstraction seeks to gain purchase through interpersonal relationships and inner-psychological longings. In Antigone, this meta-concept is personified in the material existence of Antigone as a solitary individual. Justice exists as an underlying substructure in both the abstract and the material and can only be instinctually known through its manifestation in human action. This concept is best displayed using... Tue, 30 Mar 2021 09:46 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1892/the-eumenides-antigone-and-the-nature-of-objective-justice http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1891/conservative-perspectives-of-political-outsiders By Audrey Cialdella - Western conservatism is often conceived as the philosophy of large landowners in the past and business executives in the present. Heightened awareness of racial and class disparities in recent years has increased the perception that conservatism is the ideology of the elite. In this paper, I will explore the conservative philosophies of three individuals who contradict this notion: Cicero, Edmund Burke, and Alexander Hamilton. I argue that conservatives consider their in-group to be those who share their values and traditions, and those traditions and values are their most salient identity. Disruption... Thu, 18 Mar 2021 04:39 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1891/conservative-perspectives-of-political-outsiders http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1835/has-the-us-constitution-reached-its-expiration-date-a-review-and-criticism-of-the-worlds-longest-lasting-constitution By Emma L. Bernstein - The United States Constitution is the longest lasting written constitution in the world, despite the fact that one of the key framers, Thomas Jefferson, believed that written constitutions ought to have a nineteen year expiration date before they are revised or rewritten. Yet, it has been nearly thirty years since the United States Constitution has even been amended, and critics believe many aspects of the Constitution are no longer suitable for the United States today. This article argues that the Constitution is long overdue to be amended or even rewritten. It will first analyze factors that... Tue, 10 Nov 2020 08:36 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1835/has-the-us-constitution-reached-its-expiration-date-a-review-and-criticism-of-the-worlds-longest-lasting-constitution http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1809/the-cycle-of-punishment-in-producing-society By Maureen A.S. Arsenal - These “at-risk populations” tend to be marginalized and/or minority groups. The implication of this “at-risk” judgement, is that the legal system marries moral panic with racialized criminality. Stereotypes and the overrepresentation of Blacks, Hispanics and Indigenous people in our correctional facilities fuel our perception of race(s) that are ‘likely’ to be criminal. The cycling of offenders in and out of the judicial system is how the legal system controls them, for example: the use of criminal history as a tool to justify further monitoring, restrictions... Sat, 03 Oct 2020 07:52 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1809/the-cycle-of-punishment-in-producing-society http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1806/the-effectiveness-of-the-international-criminal-court-challenges-and-pathways-for-prosecuting-human-rights-violations By Sarah J. Goodman - Of the thousands of potential cases that could have been investigated by the International Criminal Court (ICC), only 44 individuals have been indicted, with 45 cases currently before the ICC. Further, only 14 out of the 45 have resulted in a complete proceeding, and only nine were convicted. Scholars in the field have not adequately addressed why cases come before the ICC and how this process may result in a full hearing and verdict. Because of these gaps, empirically-informed recommendations for areas of improvement for the ICC are also largely absent. To begin to fill these gaps, this research... Wed, 30 Sep 2020 12:04 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1806/the-effectiveness-of-the-international-criminal-court-challenges-and-pathways-for-prosecuting-human-rights-violations http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1784/totalitarian-friendship-carl-schmitt-in-contemporary-china By Jackson T. Reinhardt - For the past several years, the study of German jurist Carl Schmitt has exploded in China. Floria Sapio remarks that Schmitt has enjoyed “enormous currency among mainland Chinese scholars since the 2000s.”[1] Even though Schmitt has received a recent revitalization of interest of his thought among Western scholars,[2] he is still known primarily for his aphoristic (and largely untranslated) texts on political theory and his infamous association with the Nazi Party. Yet, the reason that this esoteric and controversial thinker has garnered any consideration within Chinese academia is... Tue, 14 Jul 2020 08:23 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1784/totalitarian-friendship-carl-schmitt-in-contemporary-china http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1783/towards-a-theory-of-leniency-for-immigrants By Keerthana Annamaneni - In his compelling account of juvenile justice, “Age of Culpability,” Gideon Yaffe provides a philosophically rigorous justification for the claim that “children should be given a break when they do wrong; they ought to be treated more leniently than adults.”[1] While his claim may be conventional, his reasoning is highly novel. Yaffe rejects the notion that children deserve “a break,” or lenient punishments, because children and adults are intrinsically different.[2] Rather, children deserve leniency because children are denied the vote and cannot author their... Wed, 15 Apr 2020 09:45 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1783/towards-a-theory-of-leniency-for-immigrants http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1778/seeking-a-better-life-asylum-law-the-migration-crisis-and-available-legal-remedies By Audrey Cialdella - Between 2012 and 2017, the number of asylum applications from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras—countries collectively known as the Northern Triangle—increased by eight hundred percent[1]. The Trump administration has responded by increasing deportations, separating families, and forcing would-be asylum seekers to wait to file their claims in Mexico, where they have limited resources and remain exposed to many of the dangers from which they fled[2]. The root of this mass exodus from three small countries reaches back to the Cold War, when the US became enmeshed in civil wars in... Thu, 27 Feb 2020 08:22 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1778/seeking-a-better-life-asylum-law-the-migration-crisis-and-available-legal-remedies http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1767/restoring-justice-an-alternative-to-the-school-to-prison-pipeline By Daisy Morales - The school-to-prison pipeline, a "partnership” between juvenile courts and the school system, "developed through a punitive and harmful framework to the detriment of many vulnerable children and adolescents,” is a phenomenon of the late twentieth century (Mallet, 15). However, juvenile courts and the school system have been historically linked through their focus on controlling young people perceived as troublesome (Mallett, 15). As early as the 1800s and as late as the 1970s, corporal punishment, such as beatings with a ruler, was used by many schools as a normalized method of dealing... Wed, 02 Oct 2019 10:10 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1767/restoring-justice-an-alternative-to-the-school-to-prison-pipeline http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1738/wind-energy-legislation-strategies-for-the-lone-star-state By Elizabeth A. Weis - Texas introduced Senate Bill 277 as its first wind energy siting law during the 2017 Legislature. The bill combats radar interference between wind and military equipment by exempting any wind farm within thirty nautical miles of a military base from tax deductions. This rule does not make sense for several reasons: it defies the economic logic grounding Texas’ decision to pursue wind energy, it addresses an issue traditionally handled by the federal government, and employs inefficient tactics the Department of Defense no longer uses. The inadequacies of this legislation point out that lawmakers... Fri, 11 May 2018 09:31 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1738/wind-energy-legislation-strategies-for-the-lone-star-state http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1705/theoretical-utilisation-of-biological-warfare-from-aquatic-invasive-species By Richard J. Neale - The Peruvian population became infected from eating shellfish that had ingested plankton, and from drinking or bathing in water supplies drawn directly out of the rivers which at best had only minimal processing. It worked its way inland, and was spread faster due to massive overcrowding, whilst the waters themselves spread along the coastline. The lack of water purification, chlorination protocols, insufficient infrastructure with regards to medical facilities and waste disposal, coupled with minimal international support lead to 4,000 deaths within a matter of weeks, with a further 393,000 contracting... Thu, 16 Nov 2017 11:42 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1705/theoretical-utilisation-of-biological-warfare-from-aquatic-invasive-species http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1703/eminent-domain-in-the-united-states-and-china-comparing-the-practice-across-countries By Simon K. Zhen - Regardless of which side of the Pacific individuals reside on, the idea of the government taking property and uprooting citizens tends to evoke a considerable amount of backlash. In examining the eminent domain practices of the United States and China, this paper will provide a framework for evaluating and improving the peculiar processes of each country. The first two sections will, respectively, explore the legal framework of eminent domain in the U.S. and China. The third section will analyze the implications of both systems in light of two themes: (1) balancing the interests of stakeholders... Tue, 14 Nov 2017 09:25 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1703/eminent-domain-in-the-united-states-and-china-comparing-the-practice-across-countries http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1642/libya-2011-exploring-the-implementation-of-the-responsibility-to-protect By Andrew R. Aubuchon - This article explores the role that the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) played in the 2011 intervention in Libya. It examines the R2P legal framework in coordination with events on the ground in Libya during the early part of 2011 in order to thoroughly explain that R2P was correctly invoked by the United Nations Security Council in order to uphold international law. The article argues that this mandate allowed for the lawful intervention by NATO thereafter. However, the R2P was not fully carried out. The law clearly mandates actions that must be taken upon the conclusion of fighting carried out... Thu, 11 May 2017 10:26 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1642/libya-2011-exploring-the-implementation-of-the-responsibility-to-protect http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1546/bilingual-episodic-memory-and-eye-witness-testimony By Ketaki A. Tongaonkar - The human memory system comprises multiple components. The focus of this paper is on the encoding and decoding process of episodic memories. Events that catch the attention of individuals either consciously or sub-consciously are stored in a particular sequence, which constitute episodic memories. The storage of these memories is dependent on a variety of factors such as attention paid to the event, ambient surroundings, and the significance of the event for the individual. Language plays a crucial role in the encoding/decoding process of episodic memories. Multiple research studies have... Tue, 28 Feb 2017 11:45 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1546/bilingual-episodic-memory-and-eye-witness-testimony http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1563/latin-americas-female-prisoner-problem-how-the-war-on-drugs-feminization-of-poverty-and-female-liberation-contribute-to-mass-incarceration-of-women By Gretchen Cloutier - According to the International Centre for Prison Studies, the number of women in prisons in Latin America has almost doubled since the 1990s. Most women in prison are incarcerated for drug related crimes, and although women are still a minority within the prison population, the number of women behind bars is growing disproportionately in comparison to men. Simultaneously, Latin American states are implementing harsh drug criminalization policies in accordance with the global War on Drugs. Scholars have theorized that women commit crimes due to both societal liberation and out of economic necessity... Sat, 31 Dec 2016 12:00 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1563/latin-americas-female-prisoner-problem-how-the-war-on-drugs-feminization-of-poverty-and-female-liberation-contribute-to-mass-incarceration-of-women http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1566/new-methods-of-democratic-consolidation-the-application-of-citizenship-laws-in-ethnically-fractured-states By Adam Goldstein - The consensus in scholarly circles regarding democratic consolidation stipulates the importance of a cohesive demos, or population, that is also congruent with a representative polity, or political class. One of the main inhibitors of this goal is ethnic conflict, which can easily derail democratic transitions and consolidations. I begin this article with a discussion of the flaws of the two established notions of conflict alleviation in ethnically fragmented states: consociationalism and federalism, especially in regards to how they define groups and segment political power. I then identify the... Sat, 31 Dec 2016 12:00 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1566/new-methods-of-democratic-consolidation-the-application-of-citizenship-laws-in-ethnically-fractured-states http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1464/fetal-homicide-laws-the-policing-of-womens-bodies By Chancey B. Herbolsheimer - According to English common law, the destruction of a fetus was not considered homicide. Relying on the “born alive rule,” feticide was not equated with murder unless the fetus was born alive and survived independently of the mother before dying of prenatal injuries.[1] Although misdemeanor liability could be imposed in circumstances in which a defendant’s actions caused the death of the fetus, jurists refused to impose murder charges unless the fetus survived long enough for the cause of death to be clear.[2] Prior to 20th century legislation, U.S. law mirrored this common law... Fri, 21 Oct 2016 09:33 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1464/fetal-homicide-laws-the-policing-of-womens-bodies http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1450/the-right-to-privacy-in-a-digital-age-reinterpreting-the-concept-of-personal-privacy By Alyssa M. Brumis - The right to privacy dates back farther than 1890, when Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis penned The Right to Privacy: “In the very early times, the law gave remedy only for physical interference with life and property, for trespasses vi et armis” [by force and arms] (Brandeis, 1890). However, in today’s society, privacy has become more complex than simply “physical interference.” The birth of the World Wide Web has created a new landscape for which current legal standards are inadequate. “The law’s struggle to conceptualize privacy has often stunted... Fri, 16 Sep 2016 08:53 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1450/the-right-to-privacy-in-a-digital-age-reinterpreting-the-concept-of-personal-privacy http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1436/depoliticizing-and-deconstructing-human-rights-changing-the-lens-through-which-we-view-universal-human-rights By Uday V. Garg - This paper is an attempt to navigate through existing theories of universalisation of human rights and existing justifications thereof. It is premised on several cultural and political notions that it takes as starting points, not as truisms, but through ideological deconstruction, which enable positively directing the aforementioned navigation, with the object of illustrating fundamental flaws in the current regimes, both political and discursive, of the human rights movement. The paper derives this idea from Mutua’s (2001) article, and takes it forward to proposing an alternative regime... Thu, 01 Sep 2016 09:20 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1436/depoliticizing-and-deconstructing-human-rights-changing-the-lens-through-which-we-view-universal-human-rights http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1324/addressing-the-gender-wage-gap-in-the-united-states-shortcomings-of-federal-legislation By Nikita Mehandru - The most commonly cited statistic for the gender wage gap in the United States is that women earn seventy-eight cents to every dollar men earn. A great deal of contention however, surrounds the interpretation of this measure as well as others seeking to quantify the gender wage gap. While the number solely represents full-time men and women not necessarily performing the same work, it still captures an economic reality: gender discrimination in wages persists. Further, there are gender differences specific to occupation, number of hours worked, educational attainment, and work experience. Politicians... Tue, 05 Jan 2016 05:06 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1324/addressing-the-gender-wage-gap-in-the-united-states-shortcomings-of-federal-legislation http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1385/virtue-ethics-and-its-potential-as-the-leading-moral-theory By Alexandra M. Sakellariouv - There has been a modern revival of interest in virtue ethics as a plausible moral theory. There has been dissatisfaction with the way many modern moral theories emphasize moral obligation and law at the expense, some argue, of the individual (Slote, 1997, p. 175). Hence, virtue ethics now stands as one of the leading moral theories in ethics. This paper will explore the potential of virtue ethics as a plausible moral theory. It will begin by explaining the main arguments of a virtue ethical approach and the advantages it has over other moral theories. It will then go on to discuss three of the... Thu, 03 Dec 2015 12:00 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1385/virtue-ethics-and-its-potential-as-the-leading-moral-theory http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1312/what-was-the-influence-of-cosmopolitan-law-on-the-permanent-court-of-international-justice By Melissa S. McHugh - At the heart of many contemporary international organizations, such as the United Nations, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Court (ICC), the theory underpinning cosmopolitan law represents the ideal they strive to achieve in a world plagued with war, conflict, and genocide. Before the UN, the ICJ and the ICC, the League of Nations established the Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ)—not as a utopian realization of Immanuel Kant’s perpetual peace, but as a tool for European nations to seek rational resolutions to disputes arising from... Fri, 20 Nov 2015 10:43 EST http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1312/what-was-the-influence-of-cosmopolitan-law-on-the-permanent-court-of-international-justice http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1268/using-anti-money-laundering-measures-in-the-financial-world-to-combat-organized-crime By Natalia Stankiewicz - This research paper thoroughly explains the concept of money laundering and examines the costs that are endured by the governments, financial institutions, but most importantly individuals who are most vulnerable to the influence of organized criminal groups engaging in money laundering. It also provides an analysis of the measures undertaken to prevent and detect money-laundering that are a highly effective means of identifying criminals and terrorists and the underlying activity from which money is derived. It discusses the application of intelligence and investigative techniques that constitute... Wed, 28 Oct 2015 09:00 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1268/using-anti-money-laundering-measures-in-the-financial-world-to-combat-organized-crime http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1061/the-shah-bano-controversy-a-case-study-of-individual-rights-religious-tolerance-and-the-role-of-the-secular-state By Jill M. Oglesbee - Since Independence, the Indian government has struggled to achieve political modernity within acceptable religious boundaries. Religious diversity in India necessitates governmental sensitivity toward sometimes opposing principles, and yet, when religious practices threaten an individual’s access to the rights of citizenship, a secular government has to intervene. The Indian Supreme Court case of Mohammad Ahmed Khan v. Shah Bano Begum and others brought to the forefront issues of citizenship, minority identity, and national sovereignty amidst an environment of fear and tension during the... Sat, 29 Aug 2015 07:57 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1061/the-shah-bano-controversy-a-case-study-of-individual-rights-religious-tolerance-and-the-role-of-the-secular-state http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1055/from-retribution-to-restoration-in-sierra-leone-fambul-toks-drive-to-heal-post-civil-communities By Pratik Raghu - Between 1991 and 2002, the small West African coastal state of Sierra Leone was rocked by a brutal civil war, which killed, injured, displaced, and traumatized millions of men, women, and children. In the aftermath of the conflict, local political elites combined with intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations to establish the international-domestic Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC); they hoped that these hybrid bodies would respectively bring the war’s chief perpetrators to justice and address victims’ needs while creating... Tue, 14 Jul 2015 04:28 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1055/from-retribution-to-restoration-in-sierra-leone-fambul-toks-drive-to-heal-post-civil-communities http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1587/a-statistical-analysis-of-privacy-norms-and-state-compliance-with-anti-money-laundering-regulations By Allison Blauvelt - Organized crime and terrorist organizations cannot be battled by force alone; anti-money laundering (AML) techniques have become key tools to trace these individuals through their finances. Every country has an interest in implementing internationally-standardized AML and counter the finance of terrorist (AML/CFT) regulations, yet there are still widely ranging levels of compliance between states. Previously, scholars have tried to explain this variability through political, managerial, bottom-up, and top-down approaches. However, they have all failed to fully recognize the importance of culture... Sun, 31 May 2015 12:00 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1587/a-statistical-analysis-of-privacy-norms-and-state-compliance-with-anti-money-laundering-regulations http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1180/colombias-opportunity-for-transitional-justice By Ana Luquerna - This paper will focus on the extreme tension between the Colombian government, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the Patriotic Union (UP) political party. Even though Colombia has been labeled a democratic country since the 1970s, its failure to successfully participate in transitional justice has inhibited the growth of a full democracy. In addition to explaining the tensions between the FARC, UP, and the Colombian government, this paper will explain how elements of transitional justice, such as the integration/demobilization of armed groups back into society and... Wed, 15 Apr 2015 12:00 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1180/colombias-opportunity-for-transitional-justice http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1016/mob-violence-against-women-in-algeria-a-historical-case-analysis By Renee S. Grozelle - Violence against women has recently become well recognized as a violation of human rights that holds worldwide significance. Unfortunately, violence against women outside of North America has gone largely unnoticed among the academic community and the media. Algerian citizens have seen this failure to acknowledge violent incidents targeting women as a simplistic representation of underlying problems facing Algerian women in local communities. This paper applies Marshall and Stockes’ (1981) Schematic Presentation of Political Contingencies in an effort to identify historical and cultural... Fri, 20 Mar 2015 03:36 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1016/mob-violence-against-women-in-algeria-a-historical-case-analysis