Malice, Actually: Dershowitz v. CNN and the Future of the Actual Malice Standard
The actual malice standard has been a distinctive feature of First Amendment jurisprudence since its introduction in New York Times v. Sullivan, but it has recently come under attack. Volume 116 Staff Editor, Ethan J. Huffaker, explains that ensuring a proper balance between the harms wrought on private plaintiffs and the values underlying the First Amendment, the court should consider what a more objective standard could do to further the standard’s goal of encouraging productive speech.
Defendant vs. Victim: The Victims’ Rights Movement and its Potential Impact on the Right to a Fair Trial
Many of the victims’ rights frameworks—whether through state constitutional amendments or statutes—include the right for the victim to be present throughout the trial, which has potential implications on witness sequestration rules should a victim be called as a witness. As the victims’ rights movement continues to achieve success through state advocacy, the tension between the rights of defendants versus the rights of victims will continue to be hotly contested. One of the most interesting tensions in these debates—a defendant’s right to a fair trial versus a victim’s right to attend a trial despite serving as a witness—requires thoughtful analysis as to its potential implications in the criminal justice system, for both defendants and victims alike.
Jailers Without Jails: Why is Kentucky the Only State That Still Elects Jailers as Constitutional Officers?
Every four years in Kentucky each county elects their own jailer. As time has passed, and budgets have tightened, jails all over Kentucky have closed their doors. Now, Kentucky has forty-three counties without jails, but with elected jailers. KLJ Volume 114, Staff Editor, Mallie Cornett explains the significance and effects of “no-jail” jailers on Kentucky’s taxpayers.
An Invisible Killer: Radon Exposure and Kentucky’s Lack of Regulation
Kentucky has the highest rate of new lung cancer rates in the nation. While smoking is often cited as the primary explanation for the Commonwealth’s high lung cancer rates, it is not the whole story. An invisible killer, radon, is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States and the leading cause among nonsmokers. Kentucky naturally has one of the highest average radon levels in the country due to the state’s geological makeup, and given this enhanced rate of radon, Kentucky has strong reason to adopt preventative measures in construction techniques to help defeat this invisible killer.
Towing the Line: Navigating the Jurisdictional Divide over the Duration of Fourth Amendment Seizures
Vehicle towing often leaves the public exposed to predatory practices. Given the towing industry’s rapid expansion, its role in the seizure of personal property, and an increase in predatory towing claims, U.S. citizens are placed in an increasingly vulnerable position. While state-level towing protections vary significantly across the country, citizens can capitalize on the Fourth Amendment's protections to combat predatory towing practices. The problem, however, is that the scope of this constitutional protection is indeterminate in the face of a growing circuit split.
Legal Labels and Digital Reels: The Rise of Historical Horse Racing in Kentucky
The average patron who walks into a Kentucky racetrack might expect extravagant outfits, mint juleps, and rows of live thoroughbreds charging down the track. That traditional image still exists. Yet, it is no longer the only defining feature of Kentucky’s racing landscape. Walk into the Red Mile in Lexington on a typical day, and the most prominent form of wagering is not on live racing, but on a large gaming floor filled with electronic terminals. The rise of Historical Horse Racing machines illustrates a broader feature of modern gambling regulation: Whether a new wagering technology is permissible often turns less on how it functions and more on how the law chooses to define it.
The Effective but Underutilized Way to Discharge Student Loan Debt in Bankruptcy
An effective process to discharge federal student loan debt in bankruptcy was created in guidance published by the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) to its attorneys in 2022. Yet, despite a growing number of student loan borrowers falling irretrievably into arrears, many continue to view student loans as practically non-dischargeable. Kentucky practitioners who represent consumers in bankruptcy should familiarize themselves with the DOJ’s process for discharging student loan debt. KLJ Volume 114, Staff Editor, Jon E.B. McGee argues Kentucky practitioners should consider all alternatives for their clients burdened by student debt.
Slow Strides in the Bluegrass: Kentucky’s Recent Animal Protection Legislation and the Long Road to Reform
Kentucky has a regrettable history of providing inadequate protection to the animals that call the Bluegrass home. While the Commonwealth has made considerable improvements to its animal protection laws in recent years, it is essential the legislature continues to close the large gaps that exist, because Kentucky’s animals deserve more than the bare minimum. KLJ Volume 114, Staff Editor, Julia Wattenbarger advocates for increasing animal protection legislation in the Commonwealth.
Aging Peacefully: Kentucky’s Bourbon Barrel Tax Phaseout
Nearly all of the world’s bourbon is produced in the Commonwealth, with the aging barrels outnumbering the local residents. Until recently, Kentucky was the only state to place a tax on those aging barrels, turning the state’s signature industry into a significant tax revenue source that funded state and local governments. Yet, in 2023, the Kentucky General Assembly voted to phase out the tax on aging barrels. KLJ Vol. 114 Staff Editor Ashley Peal adds insight as to how this phase out will impact key stakeholders in the Commonwealth.
Kentuckians, Put Down Your Vapes: An Analysis of Kentucky Vaping Regulations
In the United States, electronic cigarette usage is rising and represents “the most commonly used tobacco product” plaguing the youth population. In the Commonwealth, this problem is of particular concern as Kentucky has the second highest rate of e-cigarette use in the nation. KLJ Vol. 114 Staff Editor Lilly Stephens proposes a solution to the crisis by calling on the Commonwealth’s legislature to continue increasing the state tax on all sales of vapor products.
The Power of Print: The Relevance of Paper Bills of Lading in Modern International Trade
While policymakers and industry actors have sought to replicate the functions of paper bills of lading through the electronic bill of lading, widespread institutional adoption of the modern development has been hindered by legal uncertainty and distrust. KLJ Volume 114 Staff Editor Zachary Lee explores the drawbacks of the electronic bill of lading and explains why paper versions are still the dominant instrument in modern international trade.
No Rent, No Exit: The Sixth Circuit’s Defense of Kentucky Property Rights Against “Indefinite Leases”
Every first-year property student is introduced to the familiar “bundle of sticks” metaphor, including the right to exclude others from your private property. Yet state and federal actors are trying to “snap” this bundle by forbidding landowners from lease termination and non-renewal. As the constitutionality of these moratoria is called into question, property owners across the country remain in a state of limbo. KLJ Volume 114 Staff Editor Logan Hopson dives into the split between circuits and advocates for clarity from the Supreme Court.
All the King’s Horses and All the King’s Men, Couldn’t Put Hump[hrey’s] Together Again: Exploring Potential Issues of a Post-Humphrey’s Executor World
In 1935, the Supreme Cort in Humphrey’s Executor v. United States issued one of the most significant presidential removal decisions of the modern era. The Court highlighted the importance of keeping independent agencies separate from executive control as they restricted the president’s removal power. Flash-forward to 2025, and many are suspicious that Humphrey’s 90-year precedent is on its way to joining the growing list of overturned cases on the Roberts Court. KLJ Vol. 114 Staff Editor Ellie Driver explores this development and notes the broad implications our administrative state would face if such a decision were to be made.
Adopting Dead Children: An Overview of Kentucky’s New Posthumous Adoption Law
What happens when a child dies before their adoption is finalized? KLJ Volume 114 Staff Editor Hadley Christensen analyzes the Commonwealth’s introduction of Braylon’s Law, creating a permanent statutory path permitting the adoption of a child after their death.
Unraveling Tax Reform: The Big Beautiful Bill’s Predictable Departure from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
Shortly after midnight on May 7, 1986, the Senate Finance Committee adopted the most comprehensive tax reform legislation in American history. Yet, only four years later, the goals of the 1986 Tax Reform Act were undermined as subsequent legislation continued to muddy the tax waters. Is the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act destined for the same unraveling as the 1986 Act? KLJ Volume 114 Staff Editor Jarrett Napier compares the two acts and reinforces that “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.”
All Quiet on the Eastern Front: Legal Malpractice, Tolling, and the Systemic Barriers Facing Eastern Kentuckians
Across the Commonwealth, and particularly in Eastern Kentucky, clients are losing access to justice because their lawyers fail to keep their clients informed about their case. In an area where many residents depend entirely on their lawyers to navigate the legal system, negligence perpetuates a cycle of disenfranchisement: those least able to protect their rights are most likely to lose them through silence. KLJ Volume 114 Staff Editor Jason Marcus explains the doctrine of tolling and advocates for reform to reassert the Commonwealth’s commitment to fairness, accountability, and access to justice.
Completing the Interstate Journey in Cyberspace: Dark Kitchens, Meal Delivery Drivers, and the Federal Arbitration Act
A “dark kitchen” is a restaurant with no in-person ordering facilities.[1] Rather than going to the restaurant’s premises, customers of a dark kitchen must place an order online and wait for food to be delivered to them.[2] Some dark kitchens, known as virtual restaurants, operate out of the same premises as a traditional in-person restaurant but only interact with customers online.[3] Others, known as ghost kitchens, prepare food in a commercial kitchen space and lack a retail location entirely.[4] Dark kitchens often partner with third-party meal delivery platforms, such as Uber Eats, Grubhub, and DoorDash, to coordinate delivery of their food to customers.[5]
When Tragedy Strikes: Should Parents Be Held Criminally Responsible for Their Child's School Shooting?
No amount of restorative justice will ever be able to compensate for the loss and grief caused by school shootings. However, the continuous growth of school shooting across the nation has pushed lawmakers, public officials, and prosecutors to look for new ways to put an end to the horror being sown in our schools.[1] One such novel way is to prosecute the parents for their child’s crime.[2] Until April, when prosecutor Karen McDonald convicted Jennifer and James Crumbley of involuntary manslaughter in Michigan, this was unheard of.[3] Now, Colin Gray, the father of a school shooter in Georgia, has been convicted of murder for his son’s actions.[4]
The Tenth Amendment’s Check on Proposed Immigration Policy
Immigration has been one of the most controversial topics in the 2024 election season across party lines.[1] Both presidential candidates discussed plans to prevent the number of 11 million unauthorized noncitizens from growing,[2] but President-elect Donald Trump’s goal is to launch the largest deportation plan in United States history.[3] The magnitude of his program will require a massive increase in funding for federal agencies.[4] Additionally, Trump will have to build state relationships and look to local law enforcement if he hopes to have the numbers required to be successful.[5]
Administration At Odds: Why OSHA Standards May Be Impractical for Construction Workers Compensated on a Piece Rate Basis
Piece rate compensation is a common pay system in the manufacturing, agriculture, home services, and construction industries.[1] In the construction context it means that workers are paid by units handled rather than hours worked. For example, a drywall hanger would be paid for every board of drywall they hang, or a roofer for every roll of tar paper they put down.[2] While piece rate compensation is widely held to increase efficiency,[3] it prompts construction workers to disregard Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards in order to be more productive and achieve their desired income.