The 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
University of Kentucky J. David Rosenberg College of Law Student, Matthew W. Givens, details the inadequacies of the current MLB salary arbitration system and pitches alternative approaches, such as utilizing advanced statistics or independent baseball writers, to accurately determine player compensation.
University of Kentucky J. David Rosenberg College of Law Student, Casey Parker-Bell, proposes a three-tier election contest system that incorporates the State Board of Elections and the Kentucky Supreme Court to mitigate partisan influence by the General Assembly.
University of Kentucky J. David Rosenberg College of Law Student, Ben Whatley, argues that Alford pleas frustrate the administration of justice and erode public confidence, advocating for Kentucky prosecutors to actively limit their use.
Authors Tobias Huber and Steven G. Dabney, Jr., highlight the distinct differences in judicial tenure, court calendars, and dissenting opinions between two of the world's highest courts, ultimately arguing that the Austrian model's simple constitutional framework makes it far more adaptable for modern emerging democracies than the U.S. system.
University of Kentucky J. David Rosenberg College of Law Student, Emma P. Collins, argues for a return to the Sherbert balancing test for free exercise claims in response to the burden Indigenous religions face in trying to protect their constitutional right to freely exercise their religion.
Student Blogs
Medicaid cuts threaten more than just healthcare in Kentucky. As rural communities already face significant healthcare shortages and limited medical resources, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) introduces substantial Medicaid cuts that could further strain rural hospitals and limit access to essential healthcare services. KLJ Vol. 115 Staff Editor Brianna Blake examines the ripple effects and broader implications of federal Medicaid cuts for rural healthcare access, particularly the challenges they create for patients managing chronic conditions.
Each state is allowed to choose how its vacant U.S. Senate seats are filled. Kentucky is one of only five states that fill these vacancies solely through special election. KLJ Vol. 115 Staff Editor Caitlyn E. Bell explains that this newest method greater aligns with the Seventeenth Amendment’s directive to let “the people fill the vacancies by election.”
Many of the victims’ rights frameworks—whether through state constitutional amendments or statutes—include the right for the victim to be present throughout the trial, which has potential implications on witness sequestration rules should a victim be called as a witness. As the victims’ rights movement continues to achieve success through state advocacy, the tension between the rights of defendants versus the rights of victims will continue to be hotly contested. One of the most interesting tensions in these debates—a defendant’s right to a fair trial versus a victim’s right to attend a trial despite serving as a witness—requires thoughtful analysis as to its potential implications in the criminal justice system, for both defendants and victims alike.
Every four years in Kentucky each county elects their own jailer. As time has passed, and budgets have tightened, jails all over Kentucky have closed their doors. Now, Kentucky has forty-three counties without jails, but with elected jailers. KLJ Volume 114, Staff Editor, Mallie Cornett explains the significance and effects of “no-jail” jailers on Kentucky’s taxpayers.
Kentucky has the highest rate of new lung cancer rates in the nation. While smoking is often cited as the primary explanation for the Commonwealth’s high lung cancer rates, it is not the whole story. An invisible killer, radon, is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States and the leading cause among nonsmokers. Kentucky naturally has one of the highest average radon levels in the country due to the state’s geological makeup, and given this enhanced rate of radon, Kentucky has strong reason to adopt preventative measures in construction techniques to help defeat this invisible killer.