•  
•  

Chapman Law Review

Introduction

It is our honor to introduce Chapman Law Review’s second Issue of Volume Twenty-Four. This Issue is the second of two general topic Issues in this year’s Volume, and publishes scholarship with a wide array of topics that span many legal areas.

This Editor’s Note is co-authored by the women who served on the 2020–2021 Executive Board of the Chapman Law Review, three of whom are being published in this Issue. Following last year’s Chapman Law Review Symposium which celebrated the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage, we want to reflect on women’s crucial scholarly and leadership contributions to the legal profession. We recognize that inequalities and discrimination in representation persist, but we also want to acknowledge and celebrate the growing trend of women in law review memberships, specifically in leadership roles.

Women bring thoughtful and decisive perspectives to any positions they hold. They are intuitive and responsive when working with others and leading groups—which is why their adequate representation is so crucial. This year, as women on the Executive Board, we recognized the gravity of our current social and political climate and allowed it to influence our decisions and actions related to the publication. We prioritized compassion, empathy, and kindness as we implemented diversity initiatives within our publication, created Chapman Law Review’s first-ever Executive Diversity Editor position, hosted our first virtual symposium, revamped our journal’s structure, and published three Issues in this year’s Volume.

The first Article in this Issue is by Professor Daniel Harris. Professor Harris’ Article closely examines recent Supreme Court decisions paying particular attention to the Supreme Court’s newest members’ clash over Federal regulation and criminal justice. Professor Harris’ Article is based on his thesis that there is a pattern to the disagreements between Supreme Court Justices Kavanaugh and Gorsuch that can be discerned from their opinions and is consistent with their differing personal backgrounds.

Professor Hannibal Travis’ Article is the second Article published in this Issue. In his Article, Professor Travis argues that the freedom of expression protects crypto coin software and related economic and technical speech from being treated like a simple offering of stock in a bank or an oil company. The Article lays out how crypto coin white papers are not strictly commercial speech, and blockchain networks are not traditional corporations or limited partnerships, but rather that crypto coins and their white papers promote information sharing, open-source software, insights in computer science and peer-to-peer networking technologies, and new socio-economic and political models of decentralized collaboration.

Next in this Issue is a Comment by Ms. Emily C. Hoskins. Ms. Hoskins graduated from Chapman University Dale E. Fowler School of Law in 2021 and was a Chapman Law Review member. As a law review member, Ms. Hoskins served as a dedicated Staff Editor, Executive Board member, and Senior Articles Editor of the law review. Without Ms. Hoskins’ countless hours of work, adaptability, and perseverance, the publication of this Volume would not have been possible. Ms. Hoskins’ Comment focuses on the legal duty of institutions as it pertains to the sexual molestation and assault of children involved in youth programs by third parties working for the institution. Her Comment analyzes the law of negligence, specifically the duty arising from a special relationship and other policy considerations, and uses it to simplify and enunciate a test which should be used to determine when a duty exists.

Ms. Ariel J. Romero wrote the following Comment in this Issue. Ms. Romero graduated from Chapman University Dale E. Fowler School of Law in 2021 and was a Chapman Law Review member. As a law review member, she served as a dedicated Staff Editor, and Executive Board member. In her last year of law school, Ms. Romero held the critical position of Managing Editor and, in that capacity, was instrumental in the editing and production of this Volume. Ms. Romero’s Comment proposes amending United States laws dealing with victim rights and remedies specifically for victims who survive public mass shootings. Her Comment provides a short history of mass shootings and the relevant law pertaining to victims’ remedies in a civil and criminal law context, discusses the deficiencies in these remedies, and proposes a stronger interdisciplinary approach to victims’ rights to more effectively address these deficiencies.

Ms. Yara Medhat Wahba is the author of the last Comment of this second Issue. Ms. Wahba graduated from Chapman University Dale E. Fowler School of Law in 2021 and was a Chapman Law Review member. As a law review member, she served as a dedicated Staff Editor, Executive Board member, and Senior Notes and Comments Editor. Her work and contribution to the Chapman Law Review were invaluable in the publication of this Volume. Ms. Wahba’s Comment takes a closer look at the very timely debate revolving around the cash bail system. Her Comment surveys the history of bail, addresses the problems caused by cash bail, evaluates the two main schools of thought on bail reform, and proposes a comprehensive solution to the identified problems.

The Chapman Law Review recognizes the continued support of the members of the administration and faculty that made the publication of this Issue possible, including: Dean of Chapman University Dale E. Fowler School of Law, Matthew Parlow; our faculty advisor, Professor Celestine Richards McConville; and our faculty advisory committee members, Professor Deepa Badrinarayana, Professor Ernesto Hernandez, Professor Kenneth Stahl, Professor Richard Redding, and Professor Lan Cao. A special thank you to the Research Librarians of the Hugh & Hazel Darling Law Library for their tireless work for the Chapman Law Review.

Last but certainly not least, we thank the staff of the 2020–2021 Chapman Law Review. Your remarkable, committed, and tireless work was paramount to the publication of this Volume. We feel truly honored and privileged to have been part of this journal and for being allowed to serve and lead the Chapman Law Review this past year.

Finally, remembering Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s wise words, “Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time,” we thank the women that came before us and look forward to the success of the women that come after us on the Executive Board of the Chapman Law Review.

The women of the 2020–2021 Executive Board of the Chapman Law Review: Sirine Maria Yared, Ariel J. Romero, Yara Medhat Wahba, Brie E. Barry, Emily C. Hoskins, Melody Morales, Darlene M. Morris, and Maha Ghazvini