In 2024, the Columbia Journal of Law and Social Problems re-launched The Common Law (Colum. J.L. & Soc. Probs. Common L.), a general-interest online-only publication that exclusively publishes student work. The Common Law aims to amplify student voices in discussion of current legal issues beyond the law school in a way that is both timely and comprehensive.
The Common Law publishes two issues a year—one in the fall and one in the spring. We will be accepting submissions for the Spring 2025 issue until January 26, 2025 at 11:59 pm.
Aberration of Accountability: Situating the Alien Tort Statute Against Corporate Human Rights Abuses
By Sabriyya Pate The Alien Tort Statute (ATS), one of the United States’ oldest laws, provides all federal district courts with general jurisdiction to hear cases brought by non–United States citizens. As written, the ATS empowers non– United States citizens—including victims of torture, kidnapping, forced labor, and child slavery—to sue […]
High-Frequency Litigation: Framing the Narrative of ADA Actions
By Amanda McBain A sharp rise in the filing of Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title III actions between 2013 and 2021 has furthered the “for-profit” lore surrounding arguments against the standing of serial litigants. Critics have construed the mere propensity of ADA litigants to settle their lawsuits as the […]
One Size Does Not Fit All: Reforming the Federal Sentencing Guidelines’ Terrorism Enhancement
By Anaximander Mars Following the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, Congress directed the U.S. Sentencing Commission to amend its Sentencing Guidelines to prescribe a steeper penalty for acts that involve or intend to promote international terrorism. The result is the terrorism sentencing enhancement, which automatically sets a floor […]
Searching for Judges Who Hear: Analyzing the Effects of Colorado’s Abolition of Qualified Immunity on Civil Rights Litigation
By Colin Cowperthwaite “Section 1983 was born out of the failures of state courts. Over a hundred years later, [Colorado’s Enhance Law Enforcement Integrity Act (ELEIA)] was born out of the failures of federal courts to protect individuals from civil rights violations committed by local law enforcement. By removing qualified […]
State Constitutions and Systemic Gaps in Music Education Access
By Corey Whitt “The proliferation of music education in schools throughout the United States is an apparent success. However, its application is not evenly spread across the country. Students living in poverty are most often those who are left unable to enjoy its advantages. Further, the disparities increase along racial […]
Access to Justice in “Lawyerless” Housing Courts: A Discussion of Potential Systemic and Judicial Reforms
By Gabe Siegel “Housing courts—and lawyerless courts more broadly—are broken. Only one side has access to lawyers. And given the institutional expertise, strategic knowledge, and unfair use of procedure that housing court lawyers bring, only one side has genuine access to justice. By changing the ways in which judges interact […]
The International Legal ‘Regime’ Against Child Marriage: A Haphazard Patchwork
By Linny Kit Tong Ng “The existing international legal architecture designed to address child marriage is markedly deficient, representing a haphazard patchwork of provisions with varying degrees of relevance strewn throughout numerous international and regional conventions. This framework fails to articulate a cohesive strategy for the eradication of child marriage; […]