Dec. 5, 2025
Addressing the Elephant in the Room: Granting Rights and Protections to Highly Cognitive Nonhuman Animals
There is not much that can beat a day spent at the zoo. Imagine this: You are seven years old. The sun is shining on a beautiful summer day in late morning, before the day has gotten too hot to be comfortable. You have cotton candy in hand, and your parent even bought some for your siblings, so you do not have to share. You are strolling up to the elephant enclosure, thinking it is the best day ever. What could possibly ruin this perfect summer day? The elephants are not in their enclosure, but instead, they are in court contesting their confinement in the zoo. Day ruined.
Aug. 23, 2025
Trump v. Wilcox and the Supreme Court’s Retreat from Administrative Independence
On May 22, 2025, the 6-3 supermajority of the Supreme Court granted an emergency application for a stay, a procedural maneuver that effectively enabled President Donald Trump to dismiss National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) Member Gwynne Wilcox despite statutory protections against removal without cause. This immediate action left the NLRB without a quorum, thereby halting crucial federal labor law proceedings. The Court’s utilization of its emergency docket suggests that it views the unitary executive theory not merely as a preferred interpretation, but as an urgent constitutional imperative, justifying the circumvention of traditional deliberative processes and established norms of judicial review.