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The Legal Eagle Lowdown
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The Legal Eagle Lowdown is an update blog for the Foundation’s legal newspaper for kids, The Legal Eagle, published FREE three times a year. Posts for the Lowdown will update a story that was recently published in The Legal Eagle but has had some development since publication. Posts will be added periodically. Check back often to get the Lowdown!
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It’s a Warming World—What Can Be Done?
by Jodi L. Miller There is no question that the Earth is warming. According to the World Meteorological Organization, the warmest seven years on record have all occurred since 2015, with 2016 and 2020 tying for the hottest. According to the National Aeronautics and...
Climate Change Litigation Heats Up as Temperatures Rise
by Michael Barbella The mercury’s gradual climb over the last four decades has not only made the planet hotter overall, it also has triggered an increase in climate change-related lawsuits. The number of such legal actions rose steadily throughout the late 20th and...
Holding Corporations Accountable for Climate Change
by Emily Pecot Everyone can play a part in combatting climate change. Corporations, however, are uniquely positioned to play an even bigger role and are facing pressure to take meaningful and timely action. According to a 2021 report, “Taking Stock: A Global...
Garden State Leads the Way on Climate Change Education
by Suzi Morales When Egg Harbor Township High School science teacher Jim House began teaching environmental science 12 years ago, his class was one that students often took just to get another science credit. Today, teaching about environmental issues has become much...
Social Media Platforms Profit from Damage to Teens
by Emily Pecot Instagram and its parent company, Facebook Inc., rebranded as Meta, have faced increasing calls to rein in social media practices that promote hate speech and online bullying. Additionally, documents obtained and published by The Wall Street Journal...
Balancing First Amendment Religious Issues in the Courts
by Michael Barbella In freedom of religion cases, the issues usually come down to a balance between the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause and its Free Exercise Clause. The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution states: Congress shall make no law respecting an...
Adult Marijuana Use Now Legal in New Jersey
by Maria Wood In February 2021, New Jersey became the 14th state to legalize adult marijuana use when Governor Phil Murphy signed into law the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace Modernization Act. New Jersey legislators had...
Supreme Court Takes on the Case of the Cursing Cheerleader
by Suzi Morales Imagine if your high school drama became the subject of a U.S. Supreme Court decision. That’s what happened in June 2021 when the Court decided Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L., which considered how the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution...
Understanding Ranked-Choice Voting
by Robin Roenker Recently, voters in New York City used ranked-choice voting (RCV) to select the winner of the Democratic primary race for mayor. While New York may be the largest U.S. city to have adopted this form of voting, it’s not alone. According to FairVote, a...
Balancing Remote Learning and Student Privacy
by Maria Wood In 2020, when schools across the country were forced to abruptly disband in-person learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic, school districts, administrators and teachers scrambled to find technological solutions that would allow for online learning from...