E D I T O R S ’ I N T R O D U C T I O N

The Publication of Issue 1 of Volume 13 of the Northeastern University Law Review (NULR) comes at one of the most challenging times for our country and for the globe. Before we can share the success and growth of the NULR, we would be remiss not to recognize first the many hardships posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, especially on those with marginalized identities who have been disproportionately affected. It would also be wrong not to acknowledge that, coupled with the challenges of the pandemic, Black people continue to face significant racial discrimination and racial terror, including the recent murders of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, and so many others.

Given that the print publication timeline for Issue 1 of Volume 13 began prior to the pandemic and the reignition and large-scale growth of the Black Lives Matter movement, this issue does not include articles concerning the many legal implications of these events. However, the NULR believes that legal scholarship can and should promote social justice and is intentionally seeking articles for Issue 2 that focus on these issues. Issue 1 does, however, maintain NULR’s historic trend of publishing articles related to the public interest and social justice.

This issue includes articles that highlight weaknesses in the law revealed by the Mueller Report and the impeachment of President Trump; challenge the effectiveness of federal and state statutes regarding sex trafficking; propose alternatives to dual class share structures; explore Oliver Wendell Holmes’s theory of contract law; recommend additional measures beyond transparency and accountability to build into intelligent platforms; and analyze the myriad ways litigation can promote—or impede—public health. This issue includes four articles presented as part of the Northeastern Center for Health Policy and Law Symposium, Public Health Litigation: Possibilities and Pitfalls, held in April 2020. The publication of these particular articles is in great part due to our ongoing and successful collaboration with the Northeastern Center for Health Policy and Law. We are also proud that three of Issue 1’s articles were written by Northeastern University School of Law affiliates: Professor Deborah Ramirez and law students Greer Clem, Emma Coreno, and Daniel Wells.

Meanwhile, the NULR’s online branches, Extra Legal and the Forum, have been producing timely scholarship on a broad range of current issues and have placed particular focus on publishing pieces related to racial justice. Though Extra Legal and the Forum are still in their early years, we are excited to share that there has been an increase in articles published through these two platforms and that these articles are authored by a range of individuals such as legal scholars, practitioners, law students, and graduate students.

During this publication cycle, Extra Legal published two articles. The first, titled Challenging the Narrative: Challenges to ICWA and the Implications for Tribal Sovereignty, was authored by NULR’s Editor-in- Chief, Hannah Taylor. Hannah’s article explores the ways the courts have analyzed recent challenges to the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), arguing, first, that they have shown a disdain for tribal sovereignty unwarranted by the law and, second, that upholding ICWA is a legal and moral imperative and a necessary step in upholding tribal sovereignty.

The second, A Call for Reform: What Amy Cooper’s 911 Call Reveals About the “Excited Utterance” Exception, authored by New Jersey public defender Jessica Frisina, examines how the excited utterance exception to the hearsay rule could have been used in the Amy Cooper incident to lead to a false conviction of the true victim, Christian Cooper. Given the inherent vulnerabilities, and potential abuses, of the excited utterance exception, Frisina calls for reform and provides the legal community with a compelling recommendation of what that reform should look like.

NULR’s other online platform, the Forum, has been extremely busy since the start of this publication cycle and has already published more than a dozen articles. These articles span a range of topics from the impact of COVID-19 on sexual and reproductive health to the erasure of Black women’s experiences with state violence to the ability to change law through changing the idea of what is reasonable. The NULR is particularly proud to have published a piece authored by an individual currently incarcerated in the Massachusetts Department of Corrections (DOC), in which he challenges DOC administrators to act with the understanding that Black lives matter.

We also would like to celebrate the fact that this year is the first time in the NULR’s history that the publication elected two persons of color, Andrew Farrington and Hannah Taylor, to serve as the Editors- in-Chief of the NULR. Both Andrew and Hannah are committed to creating a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive NULR and, with the support of the entire Editorial Board, are happy to announce the creation of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. This committee, consisting of more than thirty NULR Editors, has been leading the charge in planning and executing initiatives to increase NULR membership of individuals who hold historically marginalized identities, ensure a welcoming, safe, and equitable environment for those members, increase the publication of diverse authors, and increase the publication of articles that focus on issues related to racial justice. With the understanding that this work will need to continue long into the future, the Committee has been made a permanent feature of the NULR. We are delighted that Professors Victoria McCoy Dunkley and Hemanth C. Gundavaram, for whose wisdom and experience we are extremely grateful, serve as the Committee’s Faculty Advisors.

We want to end by extending our greatest appreciation to the various groups and individuals who have helped make Issue 1 possible. First, we would like to thank the NULR’s Associate and Senior Editors for their tremendous efforts and excellent work product. To our 2L Editors, we would like to express that, through our conversations with you and your participation in various NULR initiatives so far, we are confident that the NULR will be in excellent hands for Volume 14. Second, we would like to thank our two Faculty Advisors, Professor Kara Swanson and Director Sharon Persons, whose guidance and support has been invaluable. Lastly, we would like to thank Dean James Hackney and the entire faculty and staff of Northeastern University School of Law for their continued support of the NULR and our mission.

Editorial Board
Northeastern University Law Review