The Legal Eagle Lowdown is a companion blog for the Foundation’s legal newspaper for kids, The Legal Eagle. All articles published in The Legal Eagle, (complete with discussion questions) are also posted to the blog so they may be used as individual handouts.
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The Legal Eagle Lowdown
For the First Time 17-Year-Olds Are Able to Vote in New Jersey Primaries
by Maria Wood Voter participation in primary elections is typically low. The Garden State is looking to reverse that trend by attracting a new voter demographic—17-year-olds. The objective of a new...
Can Public Officials Block Critics Online? U.S. Supreme Court Says, “It Depends”
by Michael Barbella From its earliest days, social media has created significant legal challenges for America’s judicial system. Numerous cases involving digital networks have been brought before...
Understanding The Judiciary and Judicial Independence
by Robin Roenker Inscribed over the entrance to the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, DC are the words “Equal Justice Under Law.” According to the webpage of the U.S. Supreme Court, those...
Understanding Freedom of the Press
by Robin Roenker In the United States the press is often referred to as the Fourth Estate, the other estates being the three branches of government—legislative (Congress), executive (the President)...
U.S. Supreme Court Issues Ruling on E-Cigarettes
by Michael Barbella Despite concerns about potential health risks, e-cigarettes, first introduced in the U.S. in 2007, have become popular over the nearly two decades they have been on the market,...
Behind the Screen: Legal Gaps Leave Kidfluencers Unprotected
by Emily Pecot Goldman Sachs, an investment bank firm, estimates the value of the social media influencer economy at around $250 billion and projects that it will reach $480 billion by 2027....
Becoming a Lifelong Voter in New Jersey Could Start at Age 16
by Maria Wood Thomas Jefferson once said, "We do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate." For the most part, those who can participate in government...
Grappling with Ghost Guns
by Emily Pecot The legal landscape of gun safety faces a new frontier centering around the "ghost gun." While the term ghost gun may be catchy, the official name is "privately made firearms" (PMFs),...
New Law Regarding Deepfakes Says, “Take It Down”
by Robin Roenker In October 2023, male students at Westfield High School in New Jersey were caught distributing nude images of several female classmates in group text chats. The images in question...
Blurring the Line Between Church and State
by Michael Barbella Legal conflicts are developing across the nation over the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause, as some states push for expanding the role of religion in public schools by...
U.S. Supreme Court and the Second Amendment
by Robin Roenker In the U.S. Supreme Court’s more than 230 years of existence it has issued approximately 10 rulings on Second Amendment cases—the first in 1876. In 2024, the Court ruled in two...
Predatory Teen Marketing—Not Kid’s Stuff
by Sylvia Mendoza The National Financial Educators Council (NFEC), a social impact company focused on financial wellness, estimates that U.S. advertisers spend approximately $2.9 billion a year for...