Articles
Reclaiming the Genius of a Free State, Tennessee’s Forgotten Anti-Monopoly Clause
In Part I, the article contrasts originalism with living constitutionalism and demonstrates originalism’s prominent role in Tennessee jurisprudence. Part II details the importance of Anti-Monopolies Clauses in early American constitutions, and in Tennessee. Next, in Part III, the article considers the flawed approach taken by Tennessee courts before identifying key trends. Part IV argues that the current state of the law is untenable because it is atextual, doctrinally inconsistent with how courts treat other enumerated rights, and not what the Tennessee Supreme Court has ever required. Also, the rational basis test makes no sense. Finally, Part V outlines an originalist framework for courts and members of the bar to consider as an alternative framework.
Braden H. Boucek
Regulating Artificial Elections
This Article examines how artificial intelligence is reshaping election discourse and testing First Amendment doctrines rooted in the “marketplace of ideas.” It traces the emergence of generative tools, deepfakes, and chatbots in political communication and evaluates whether disclosure based campaign-finance laws adequately address AI-driven distortions. Surveying the Federal Election Commission’s 2024 interpretive rule on fraudulent misrepresentation, new state laws mandating disclaimers or prohibiting synthetic media, and pending federal proposals, the Article highlights the constitutional and practical shortcomings of current frameworks. It argues that narrowly drawn legal rules must be complemented by self-regulation and technological transparency measures. Drawing from the AdChoices model in data privacy, it proposes a hybrid approach that combines enforceable AI-content labeling with platform-level interventions to inform voters in real time that messages were created or edited with AI supported tools. The goal is to restore electoral transparency and public trust without undermining robust political speech.
Courtney A. Barclay
Pure Imagination: A World of Agentive AI and Anti-Adhesion Contracting
This Article examines the use of large language model (LLM) output in contract law, presenting a model of legal risk across a spectrum of contractual behavior, based on the legal nature of LLM use and its agentive aspects. It then examines the potential for mass-bespoke “anti-adhesive” contracts negotiated by generative AI and contrasts their potential benefits with the flaws inherent in current LLM technology. It offers a framework of contractual “distance” (the level of rational actual agreement between parties) and contractual “entropy” (the level of factual and legal uncertainty involved in the agreement) to examine LLM use in contractual settings, arguing that tort law may be better suited to resolve disputes in LLM-based agreements that involve both high contractual distance and high entropy. It concludes by discussing the role LLM-based contracting may play in the human conviviality at the heart of traditional contractual exchanges.
Jeff Lingwall and Steven J. Hyde
For over thirty years, the United States government has investigated, protested, and condemned the harvesting of humans by the People’s Republic of China. This Article first describes the history of human organ harvesting by the government of China. Next, this Article explains the federal crimes of conspiracy to kill, kidnap, maim, or injure persons or to damage property in a foreign country. Finally, this Article details which individuals should be immediately investigated under federal law.
Joanmarie Ilaria Davoli
Notes
But-for or Not But-for, The Question is Answered
Samuel Rawlings Barnett Jr.
Coerced into Confession: Prosecutorial Pressure and the Misuse of Plea Bargaining