The Yale Law Journal's submissions portal for Articles & Essays will close at 5 PM ET on Thursday, March 5. We look forward to reviewing your submissions for publication in Volume 136!
In her Note, Sharon Nunn argues Nevada v. Hicks wrongly held tribal courts lack general subject-matter jurisdiction. As the primary courts of nonfederal sovereigns, tribal courts are general-jurisdiction courts capable of hearing federal claims, and should be considered as such.
In his Note, Sahil Agrawal proposes reframing patents for essential medicines as a government-granted franchise right, in line with their historical status. Reviving this common-law duty would require pharma to serve the public indiscriminately and at reasonable prices.
In their Feature, David Engstrom, David Marcus & @elliotsetzer.bsky.social explore the shift from case-by-case adjudication to digitized, centralized “managerial” court systems. They trace the roots, forms, and implications of this quiet but far-reaching revolution in courts’ function and role.
In his Article, Shyam Balganesh deploys Lon Fuller’s largely forgotten method of “eunomics” to develop a typology of intellectual-property forms that illuminates questions of institutional design and the unique structures embodied in each intellectual-property regime.
In their Article, Lee Fennell & Tim Mulvaney analyze Sheetz, the Court’s recent 9-0 decision extending a searching takings test created for parcel-specific development conditions to land-use legislation. They reveal the decision’s illusory basis and potential consequences.
Vol. 135, Issue 4 is live! With pieces by Lee Fennell (@uchicagolaw.bsky.social) & Tim Mulvaney (TAMU Law); Shyam Balganesh (Columbia Law); David Engstrom (@law.stanford.edu), David Marcus (@law.ucla.edu) & @elliotsetzer.bsky.social; Sahil Agrawal (YLS ’25); and Sharon Nunn (YLS ’25)!
In her Note, Trudel Pare looks to the Indian Health Service for ways to buoy Medicaid. She compares Medicaid state plans with tribal compacting documents, revealing how IHS administrators overcame distrust to create a robust tribal healthcare network, with lessons for Medicaid.
In his Note, Anthony Potts argues that adversarial legalism and cost-based notions of efficiency undermine government capacity. He contends that restoring the historical, broad conception of administrative discretion in public procurement is necessary to counteract these forces.
In his Feature, Alex Zhang excavates forgotten litigation materials to uncover the federal income-attribution power, which grants Congress broad discretion to tax A on income realized by B. His analysis paves the constitutional path for structural tax reform.
@jessicashoemaker.bsky.social & @jamesftierney.bsky.social's Article reveals how property, corporate, and securities law are fueling a new rural land grab, turning farmland into a financialized asset. They advance democratic alternatives to protect rural communities and sustainable food systems.
In his Article, Ben Johnson traces vacatur from English and early American practice to the Supreme Court’s modern uses. He argues modern vacatur (including GVRs, Munsingwear, and vacatur without judgment) expands the Court’s policymaking powers and tests Article III’s limits.
Vol. 135, Issue 3 is live! With Articles by Ben Johnson (UF Law) and @jessicashoemaker.bsky.social (UNL Law) & @jamesftierney.bsky.social (Chicago Kent Law); a Feature by Alex Zhang (@emorylaw.bsky.social); and Notes by Anthony Potts (YLS ’26) and Trudel Pare (YLS ’25)!
The Yale Law Journal's submissions portal for Volume 136 Articles & Essays, Book Reviews, and Forum pieces will open on January 28th, 2026. You may find the portal through our website. We look forward to reviewing your submissions!
In his Note, Krister Rasmussen argues that many prominent calls for compromise between Russia and Ukraine neglect a binding rule of international law: the prohibition on coerced treaties. He unpacks this prohibition and suggests how the war in Ukraine can be ended lawfully.
In his Note, Carter Squires shows that immunities crafted for the President often creep downward to shield executive-branch officials. Mapping this drift to criminal law, he explains why Trump v. United States threatens accountability and offers judicial interventions to stop it.
In his Feature, Roger Colinvaux defends charitable giving based on race as consistent with both the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and tax-exemption law. Far from illegal, such private remedial action furthers the freedom of association and should remain protected under law today.
In his Article, Christopher Jaeger argues that tort law’s Hand Formula does not align with how laypeople judge whether conduct is reasonable. Five original experiments show that the Hand Formula fails to capture the outsized, Kantian role of risk in lay reasonableness judgments.
In his Article, @tframpton.bsky.social explores the history of advocacy for juries that represent a fair cross-section of the community. He recovers the forgotten stories of the radical litigants, criminal defendants, and social movements whose decades-long work reshaped the jury.
Vol. 135, Issue 2 is live! With Articles by @tframpton.bsky.social (UVA Law) & Christopher Brett Jaeger (Baylor Law); a Feature by Roger Colinvaux (Catholic Law); and Notes by Carter Squires (YLS ’26) and Krister Rasmussen (YLS ’25)!
In his Comment, Kevin Yang explains why Witherspoon v. Illinois’s bar on disqualifying jurors solely for opposing the death penalty is now a mirage in capital cases. He traces Witherspoon’s demise to the “spillover” of a deferential habeas standard of review into direct appeals.
In his Note, Griffin Black explores the oft-overlooked history of state constitutional conventions of the Reconstruction South, where biracial coalitions constitutionalized universal public-school systems and kept their constitutions free from mandatory segregated schooling.
In his Feature, Daniel Francis questions the antitrust assumption that firms seek to maximize profits. He offers an antitrust framework for analyzing non-profit-maximizing conduct—like values-driven boycotts or faith-based mergers.
In his Article, @dtraficonte.bsky.social offers the first comprehensive analysis of government research, examining its institutional design, comparative advantages, and normative justifications, and situating it as an indispensable paradigm within the national innovation system.
In their Article, Fred O. Smith, Jr. & Peter O’Neill reconstruct the story of Younger v. Harris. Relying on diverse sources, their Article democratizes our constitutional memory and recovers the erased history of Black political resistance and state oppression underlying Younger.
In their Tributes to Justice Souter, Judge Furman, @heathergerken.bsky.social & Jeannie Suk Gersen reflect upon and honor their former boss's humility, wit, and legacy.
Vol. 135, Issue 1 is live! With Tributes to Justice Souter by Judge Furman, @heathergerken.bsky.social & Jeannie Suk Gersen; an Article by Fred O. Smith, Jr. & Peter O'Neill; an Article by @dtraficonte.bsky.social; a Feature by Daniel Francis; a Note by Griffin Black; and a Comment by Kevin Yang!
With the release of Volume 135, Issue 1 around the corner, subscribe to our newsletter here (eepurl.com/gfUcHT) to stay updated on YLJ's newest content!
Final call for Articles & Essays submissions before we close our portal tomorrow, August 11, at 5 p.m. ET!
Our submissions portal for Articles & Essays will close at 5 p.m. ET on Monday, August 11. We look forward to reviewing your manuscripts for publication in Volume 135!
