The Legal Eagle Lowdown

by Maria Wood The concept of contact tracing is not new, having been used for centuries to halt the spread of disease, with the first known use in the 1500s during the outbreak of the bubonic plague. The practice is now being employed to stop the spread of coronavirus...

by Michael Barbella Among the many things that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light is that staying at home all the time is no fun and everyone has a different idea of what “essential” means. For example, California’s Santa Clara County—one of the nation’s first...

by Michael Barbella In 2019, college athletics generated nearly $19 billion for colleges and universities, according to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the nonprofit organization that regulates student athletes. The NCAA maintains that more than...

by Michael Barbella Voting in the 2020 presidential election could prove challenging this year as the unrelenting coronavirus pandemic fuels fear of going to the polls in person. In order to allay those fears, as well as address the lack of poll workers who are also...

by Jodi L. Miller There are nearly 17 million students enrolled in colleges and universities across the United States. Some of these students are passionate about political causes and feel strongly about exercising their right to vote. According to Tufts University’s...

by Phyllis Raybin Emert Can you imagine voting in 2020 the way people did in some parts of 19th century America? Men (and it was only white men) swore to a judge that they had not voted before and then shouted out their choice to the waiting clerk, who recorded it in...

by Maria Wood On November 3, 2020, Americans will once again cast their ballots in a presidential election. Those ballots will be cast, not directly for a presidential candidate, but for a slate of electors who will gather as part of the Electoral College to cast...

by Jodi L. Miller In November 2018, voters exercised their right and responsibility to vote in mid-term elections—at least some of them did. Voter participation usually goes down when the election of a president is not at stake. The United States ranks at the bottom...

by Alice Popovici In the trailer for the documentary “Dark Money,” investigative reporter John Adams draws dollar signs on a diagram to show how money from large corporations is used to influence the outcome of elections. “Corporation funnels money to a dark money...

by Phyllis Raybin Emert Privacy is often defined as a person’s right to control his or her personal information. You probably voluntarily spend much of your day on your smart phone, texting, posting pictures, announcing where you are and where you’re going. You may...