The Undergraduate Law Review at UC San Diego

Articles

• Table of Contents

  • at UC San Diego, Undergraduate Law Review

  Volume IV of the Undergraduate Law Review at UC San Diego

• Expanding Intersectional Analysis: Protecting LGBTQ People of Color in State Employment Discrimination Law

  • Kelly, Kassidy Elisabeth

  LGBTQ people of color in the United States face disproportionately high rates of discrimination and harassment in employment as a population marginalized along the lines of race, sexual orientation, and/or gender identity. This article uses an intersectional lens to examine the use of state antidiscrimination law in protecting LGBTQ people of color. Discrimination protections across states are inconsistent and severely lacking in some jurisdictions. Several states do not prohibit sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination, and most do not recognize an adequate legal framework for analyzing discrimination on the basis of multiple traits. This article proposes statutory, administrative, and judicial solutions that states can adopt to allow LGBTQ plaintiffs of color to challenge discrimination on the basis of both race and sexual orientation/gender identity. Legislatures should amend antidiscrimination statutes to include sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes, as well as explicitly state that employees can make claims on the basis of multiple protected characteristics. Executive antidiscrimination agencies should provide guidelines to courts on how to evaluate intersectional cases brought by LGBTQ people of color. Finally, state courts should adopt judicial precedents that embrace intersectional analysis and qualify sexual orientation and gender identity as protected categories under existing antidiscrimination statutes.

• Man with Machine: The Unaddressed Copyright Issues of Mixed Musical Works

  • Daftary, Sam Nariman

  The copyrightability of mixed musical works, which contain a blend of human and generative AI elements, is an issue of increasing prevalence in copyright law. While there has been some discussion on the copyright status of fully generative AI works, this mainly resides in state law, and much of the federal policy found in Copyright Guides published by the United States Copyright Office is a non-binding opinion. Additionally, the same circuit courts contradict themselves, as seen with the differing views on the fair use of generative AI works in the Ninth Circuit Cases of Bartz v. Anthropic PBC (2024) and Kadrey v. Meta (2023). These issues combine to create a copyright “Dead Man’s Land” where the U.S. Copyright Office is forced to inspect mixed musical works on a case-by-case basis: an inefficient and ineffective mess for the modern day. This paper proposes that Congress pass legislation further itemizing the components of mixed musical works and only allowing generative AI to be used in one such component, alongside integrating state legislation. This policy would allow the U.S. Copyright Office to evaluate all mixed musical works under a unified framework. With the increase of artists creating mixed musical works, this solution only becomes more necessary as time progresses.

• Custody, Finality, and the Constitution: Re-examining Bergeron v. Bergeron Through the Lens of Parental Liberty

  • Pateno, Megan Lynn

  Family law procedures in the United States are constitutionally mandated to balance state interests with the private interests of families. The Louisiana family court system serves as an example of this balancing effort, where Bergeron v. Bergeron (1986) creates the standards controlling the state’s rules for child custody modification. Bergeron sets a high evidentiary threshold that must be met before a family court will reconsider an existing custody decree, reflecting the state’s interest in stability. Questions about the decision’s constitutionality have arisen, but the framework in Bergeron has been continually reaffirmed since its establishment by the Louisiana Supreme Court in 1986. This article analyzes the major doctrinal inconsistencies and Fourteenth Amendment due process concerns arising from the Bergeron standard, arguing that the Louisiana custody modification framework risks creating procedural due process barriers and conflicts with prior Supreme Court decisions regarding parental rights. It will also propose a recalibrated approach to custody modification proceedings that preserves state interests while upholding fundamental parental rights and liberty interests.

• Spousal Support and Post-Divorce Household Economic Transition: A Comparative Analysis of California and the United Arab Emirates

  • Hussain, Selena

  This paper conducts a comparative analysis of California and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), focusing on the economic consequences of divorce for
  individual spouses. Both countries impose financial obligations in cases of significant financial imbalance between spouses. However, these obligations are based on different legal philosophies and beliefs surrounding marriage. California’s secular statutory law views marriage as an economic partnership, focusing on rehabilitative spousal support. The Sharia-based system governing Muslim families in the UAE prioritizes financial protection during marriage through structures such as Nafaqah and Mahr. However, the Sharia systems are not designed to address long-term post-divorce economic reintegration in contemporary labor markets, producing economic dependencies for wives specializing in unpaid domestic work. As a result, post-divorce financial assistance in the UAE terminates after a fixed period, producing a “cliff effect” as financial support ends abruptly. While California’s spousal support leads to broad judicial discretion in determining the amount and duration of maintenance under Family Code Sections 4320 and 4330, the UAE’s current system does not address long-term economic rehabilitation for women. Drawing inspiration from California’s rehabilitative model, this paper argues that the UAE should adopt a time-bound, criteria-based system of post-divorce support to address economic vulnerability.

• To Desegregate or to Integrate: Colorblind Imaginings of Education Amidst the Digital Divide

  • Choi, Elizabeth

  Education has historically served as a legal avenue for the construction of racial meaning, witnessed through the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education. Though Brown is primarily known for outlawing racial segregation, its impact in foundationalizing racial colorblindness—particularly through subsequent distinctions between desegregation and integration due to the case’s ambiguous verbiage—is often ignored. This article analyzes Brown’s racial footprint on the education system by examining the digital divide. An exploration of the case Cayla J. v. State of California, in conjunction with the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and the Digital Equity Act, illuminates the reproduction of racialization stemming from post-Brown debates between colorblind desegregation and race-conscious integration. Given the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI), preventative measures emphasizing race-conscious integration must be implemented to narrow the racialized digital divide. This article reviews prospective legislation regarding AI literacy as a case study of the modern digital divide, identifying its shortcomings and offering suggestions for future race-conscious education policy that embraces integration perspectives.

• Accountability for ICE Officials: An Analysis of Existing and Proposed Civil Causes of Action Under Federal Law

  • Metcalfe, Aidan

  As the size and scope of immigration enforcement operations grow across the country, so does the risk of official misconduct. This article examines the legal remedies an individual can pursue to obtain relief for damages caused by officials of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency. While there were once viable pathways for pursuing claims, recent Supreme Court decisions have made it considerably more difficult. This is demonstrated by the narrowing of Bivens actions, specifically regarding the conduct of immigration enforcement officers. Alternative remedies, such as the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), are similarly restrictive in their scope of coverage and the relief they can secure. The current system leaves individuals who experienced serious harm at the hands of ICE officials without recourse. Members of Congress have proposed legislative solutions creating new causes of action against federal officials by expanding Section 1983 of Title 42. However, these proposals are unlikely to succeed due to concerns over their national security implications and failure to address the deficiencies of Section 1983 itself. This article proposes a narrow and targeted solution ensuring accountability for ICE officers while protecting national security. The proposal creates a new cause of action against ICE officials for violating rights protected by the Constitution and federal law. The proposal also amends the FTCA, making it safer to sue under by reforming the “judgment as bar” provision and allowing for the award of punitive damages to plaintiffs.

• The Failure to Recognize Climate Refugees: Domestic Law vs. International Reality   

  • Lopez, Angie

  Climate change drives human displacement, yet international and domestic refugee law fail to recognize environmentally-led migration. Under the Refugee Act of 1980, United States (U.S.) law limits persecution to five statutory grounds, excluding climate-induced harm. The absence of legal eligibility under existing frameworks results in a protection gap, leaving displaced individuals without access to refugee status despite threats from environmental degradation. The United Nations has examined this disconnect between international reality and domestic action in cases such as Teitiota v. New Zealand (2020), where asylum was denied on the grounds of sea-level rise and saltwater contamination being a threat to life. This highlights the narrow interpretation of “persecution” and its failure to account for modern forms of forced migration. A recent U.S. Appellate Court decision in Cruz Galicia v. Garland (2024) reinforced the exclusion of climate-refugee claims from U.S. refugee frameworks. Evaluating the shortcomings of the Refugee Act of 1980 emphasizes how outdated U.S. refugee laws are concerning modern displacement factors. This paper proposes an amendment to the Refugee Act of 1980, expanding “persecution” to include climate change and environmental harm, and establishing a flexible annual refugee ceiling that allocates a percentage of admissions for climate refugees. By modernizing refugee law, the U.S. ensures protection for vulnerable populations and influences the evolution of global refugee norms. 

• Weaponized Uncertainty: Addressing Antitrust Law’s Climate Cooperation Problem  

  • Burkholder, Harrison

  As federal and international approaches to climate change falter, private sustainability agreements have emerged as a promising alternative for large-scale environmental coordination. However, the absence of a formal legal framework governing such agreements creates a dangerous ambiguity: discouraging climate cooperation through the chilling effect of antitrust enforcement while enabling anticompetitive actors to exploit environmental rhetoric as legal cover. This article examines the tension between Environmental Sustainability Goals and American antitrust law, arguing that the current legal landscape fails both purported goals. This article demonstrates that the absence of clear statutory guidance has allowed investigatory power to function as de facto enforcement, dismantling voluntary climate coalitions without adverse merit rulings. This article recommends creating a narrowly tailored federal safe-harbor statute modeled on the National Cooperative Research and Production Act and informed by the European Union's 2023 Revised Horizontal Cooperation Guideline. Sustainability agreements would receive conditional antitrust protection in exchange for disclosure to the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission, public transparency, nondiscriminatory participation, and periodic agency review. 

• Deceptive Debt Practices Undermining Transparency in the Corporate World: The Legal Issues Behind Special Purpose Vehicles and Collateralized Debt Obligations

  • Chiu, Rylan

  An issue that continues to afflict the securities field is the existence of special purpose vehicles (SPVs), which are financial entities disclosed in companies’ off-sheet balance reports to fund business operations and collateralize debt. Since their inception in the early 20th century, SPVs have proved to be one of the most widespread financial tools in the corporate world, allowing companies to display exaggerated revenue margins on their balance sheets while supposedly adhering to a standard of public transparency. This was coupled with the rise of Collateralized Debt Obligations (CDOs) in the 21st century, another financial entity that pooled assets together to appease investors. Despite the functionality of SPVs, misusing these financial tools results in devastating costs, including company bankruptcy, mass layoffs, and deterioration of public trust. The Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 and the Dodd–Frank Act aimed to curb the power of internal corporate operations by establishing regulatory mechanisms to ensure consumer transparency and industry confidence. However, the regulations established within both acts exhibit gaps in the proper mitigation of abuse of SPVs by corporations, requiring further amendments to avoid detrimental consequences on the world economy and the general public.

• Balancing Innovation and Transparency: How Financial Institutions are Regulating AI

  • Thompson, Audrey

  Trust in financial institutions is essential to maintain because it forms the foundation of economic stability. Customers must be confident that their money and personal data are secure through transparency and disclosure of information to the customer about the system’s processes. Laws like the Securities Act impose consequences for misleading investors about a company’s inner workings or capabilities. The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) ensures financial institutions inform customers of data collection and sharing practices, along with maintaining rigorous security measures. However, with the introduction of generative artificial intelligence models (GenAI) into financial services, risks for misuse and insufficient protection have increased. GenAI models and their decision-making processes are difficult to regulate under current disclosure requirements. To combat this, states have passed laws to minimize the risk of algorithmic discrimination and promote transparency. However, these measures are inconsistent, and while a federal AI privacy law is unlikely to pass, the industry can still streamline regulatory and compliance efforts by adopting common definitions of relevant terminology and expanding existing legislation to improve digital consumer data protections.

• Examining Structural Failures in Disability Accommodations at the University of California

  • Pulla, Tanya

  Legal standards for disability law emphasize equal access to reasonable accommodations. These accommodations are expected to be provided to students in a timely manner, especially in higher education. The experience of disabled students at the University of California (UC) schools demonstrates violations of state and federal law. Systemic barriers to accommodations prevent students from receiving the equal access to education that's legally granted to them. These barriers manifest in the form of staffing shortages and resource constraints, difficult documentation requirements, delayed accommodation processing, and failures in digital accessibility compliance, all of which violate Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, Title II of the ADA, and California Government Code Section 11135. Drawing on federal case law, past federal investigations into the UC, and active litigation against UC campuses, this paper argues that the UC system must adopt a system-wide Universal Design for Learning mandate, formalize specialist-to-student ratios, standardize documentation processes, and establish accountability mechanisms to fulfill its legal obligations to disabled students.