
Kentucky Law Journal
Founded in 1913, the Kentucky Law Journal is the national’s tenth-oldest continually published law review. We publish four print issues each year, plus timely scholarship online.
Edited by students with guidance from a faculty advisor, KLJ features work from leading scholars and original student work on a wide range of legal topics. Our mission is to advance legal thought, train the next generation of attorneys, and spark meaningful debate.
Online Originals
Student Blogs
After a nearly two-year investigation following the death of Breonna Taylor, the U.S. Department of Justice published its finding that the Louisville Metro Police Department engaged in a pattern or practice of violating constitutional and federal law. Though most officers were committed public servants, misconduct took a toll on the department and the community—Louisville needed change. KLJ Vol. 114 Staff Editor Caroline Shackleton advocates for meaningful, sustainable, and effective change in the Commonwealth’s largest city. Read Caroline’s blog on The Kentucky Law Journal Online today.
2025 has been a complicated year for American voting rights as red and blue states have been engaged in a high-profile arms race to see who can gerrymander congressional districts on political party lines the most dramatically. This trend of using demographic data to facilitate a particular election outcome undermines public faith in elections. KLJ Vol. 114 Staff Editor Garrett Sams explores old ideas that could help create a new system of district drawing that brings more democratic and egalitarian elections.
Casey’s Law allows family members or friends to petition the court for treatment on behalf of a person who has a substance use disorder and is unable to recognize their own need for the treatment. Yet the law raises a unique constitutional issue in Kentucky where many court-ordered treatment centers are faith-based organizations. KLJ Vol. 114 Staff Editor Allie Viney proposes a change to the Kentucky law that would provide strong First Amendment protection to patients without interfering with the court’s interest in discouraging the violation of drug laws.
In 1988, Congress enacted the Video Privacy Protection Act, after a reporter obtained a copy of a Judge’s videotape rental history and published the information during the Judge’s Supreme Court nomination hearings. While the Act is no longer applicable to consumers of now-defunct video tape rental stores, the question is whether the Act protects consumers of digital audiovisual content from sites like Facebook, online newspaper publishers, or apps that offer videos. KLJ Staff Editor Azia Meeks describes the circuit split and gives her own opinion on the best interpretation of the statute to ensure consumers remain protected in a world where digital privacy rights are more important than ever.
Every year, nearly two million students take the important step of enrolling in college, driven by the hope that earning a degree will open doors to future success. Unfortunately, more than forty percent of these students will have their college experience marred by sexual harassment. KLJ Volume 114 Staff Editor Austin Phillips dives into the issue of sexual harassment on campuses and elaborates on the burden universities face in preventing sexual harassment.