Forum Collection
Yale Law Journal Public-Interest Fellowship Essays
In this Collection, the 2021-22 Yale Law Journal Public-Interest Fellows draw on their fellowship experiences. The first Essay examines how state-level procedural protections fail to prevent excessive criminal sentences. The second argues the Supreme Court’s failure to clarify Fourth Amendment doctrine in light of mass digital surveillance threatens civil liberties.
Forum
Excessive Sentencing Reviews: Eighth Amendment Substance and Procedure
Using Louisiana law as a case study, this Essay describes the consequences of the lack of substantive limits on noncapital sentences. It then critiques the focus on procedural rights that results from this vacuum of substantive rights, and discusses how to harness procedural changes to address exces…
Forum
Unmanned Stakeouts: Pole-Camera Surveillance and Privacy After the Tuggle Cert Denial
The Supreme Court recently declined to review Tuggle, a Seventh Circuit opinion upholding warrantless, prolonged pole-camera surveillance of a home. This Essay argues that the Court missed an opportunity to update its Fourth Amendment search doctrine. This Essay also explores alternative opportuniti…