Edition 3.1
Below is the heart of the YUULR: our articles. Our team of writers have written insightful pieces on a wide range of articles. We hope that you enjoy!
A Letter from the Editors
Dear Reader,
Welcome to the second edition of Yeshiva University’s Undergraduate Law Review (YUULR), the university’s primary publication of legal thought for undergraduate students. When we launched our inaugural issue last year, our goal was to offer a space for the rigorous, thoughtful, and diverse analysis of legal thought for the students in the undergraduate population of YU. Our first edition of the Law Review models exactly our hopes. We were happy to cultivate the opportunity for those in all of the undergraduate YU schools, including Sy Syms School of Business, Stern College for Women, and Yeshiva College.
This second issue retains that goal. It features a new collection of articles written and edited with care, precision, and deep commitment from our editorial board's returning and new members. Our team has shown its commitment to this review through our year-long process of compiling this edition. The topics explored are wide-ranging and intellectually engaging, from political betting to climate refugees to the foundations of representative democracy. One piece in particular examines double jeopardy through the lens of both secular and Jewish law, reflecting one of our university’s core values, Torah U’Madda (Torah and Secular Knowledge).
We could not have completed this issue without the guidance from the Shevet Glaubach Center, especially our pre-law advisor, Illana Julius, and we appreciate all her support. We would also like to thank our university’s student governments: Yeshiva Student Union and Beren Campus Student Government. Most importantly, we thank our readers, writers, and editors for taking an interest and investing in our publication, representing our students' devotion and expression of intellectual curiosity.
It is a privilege to help foster legal scholarship among YU undergraduates, and we hope this journal continues to be a meaningful stepping stone for students as they prepare to engage with the legal world beyond these pages.
Thank you for your support and for reading the ideas of the next generation of legal thinkers.
Sam Weinberg - Editor-in-Chief
Kayla Kramer - Managing Editor
(Important note: All views expressed in the following papers are of the writer alone. They do not indicate the beliefs or thoughts of the editors, senior editors, or Yeshiva University, administratively nor institutionally.)
FLAG BURNING AND THE FIRST AMENDMENT: WHY EXECUTIVE ACTION CANNOT OVERCOME SUPREME COURT PRECEDENT
The author, Elizabeth Kohl, examines the constitutional barriers to criminalizing flag burning, arguing that Supreme Court precedent protects flag desecration as expressive conduct under the First Amendment, regardless of executive action.
THE CASE FOR A CONCRETE WMD DEFINITION: STUDYING THE LEGALITY OF BREACHING NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY
The author, Zachy Gross, examines the uncertain legal meaning of weapons of mass destruction, arguing that the absence of a concrete definition allows the term to be stretched in ways that threaten national sovereignty and lower the perceived threshold for military intervention.
BETWEEN SHAPIRO AND BERMAN: REFORMULATING PRINCIPLED POSITIVISM
The author, Liev Markovich, analyzes the debate between positivists and non-positivists, using the work of Scott Shapiro and Mitchell Berman to develop a fuller account of principled positivism and its ability to explain judicial decision-making.
GOSPELIC LEGALISM: A RE-EVALUATION OF THE PHARISEE-CHRISTIAN DEBATE IN THE CANONICAL GOSPELS
The author, Elisha Price, reevaluates the claim that early Christian critiques of the Pharisees reflected a simple debate between the letter and spirit of the law, arguing that this framework applies only to the Gospel of Mark and fails to explain the more complex approaches found in Matthew, Luke, and John.
THE RIGHT TO PRACTICE RELIGION AS THEY PLEASE
The author, Atarah Mandel, examines Friedman v. State of New York, a case involving an Orthodox Jewish girl who jumped from a ski lift to avoid violating her understanding of Jewish law, arguing that courts must respect an individual’s sincere interpretation of religious obligation.
COX COMMUNICATIONS, INC. V. SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
The author, Emmit DeHart, examines whether internet service providers can be held liable for users’ copyright infringement, analyzing Cox Communications, Inc. v. Sony Music Entertainment and its potential consequences for copyright enforcement, internet access, and First Amendment concerns.
EMERGENCY POWERS, TARIFFS, AND JUDICIAL REVIEW AFTER THE SUPREME COURT’S TARIFF DECISIONS
The author, Avi Tepler, examines the limits of presidential authority to impose tariffs under emergency powers, arguing that courts must meaningfully review emergency declarations when they are used to justify sweeping economic measures.
THE CARACAS PRECEDENT: NARCO-TERRORISM AS AN EXCEPTION TO CUSTOMARY HEAD-OF-STATE IMMUNITY
The author, Harel Megrelishvili, examines whether the U.S. indictment and capture of Nicolás Maduro creates a narco-terrorism exception to head-of-state immunity, comparing the Maduro case to United States v. Noriega and exploring its implications for sovereignty, accountability, and international law.
