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Twelve cents an hour. Seems a near laughable number of cents, but twelve cents an hour is what inmates within the United States Federal Prison System are earning. Prisoners struggle not only with low wages but also affording basic necessities at the commissary where prices are marked up sometimes five times what they would be outside the prison walls. KLJ Vol. 113 Staff Editor Hannah Carroll explains how paying inmates mere cents an hour combined with exorbitant prices for basic necessities has resulted in a violation of the United States Constitution’s Eight Amendment’s Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause.

While generally car buyers who take out a loan on their vehicle leave dealership lots satisfied, many of these borrowers, upsold into a vehicle they may not be able to afford, discover “negative equity” and its implications. Borrowers rarely comprehend the gravity of possessing negative equity until faced with its debilitating consequences. KLJ Vol. 113 Staff Editor John Simms explores the current realities borrowers with negative equity face and cleverly proposes using an existing consumer protection statute to curb the massive amounts of negative equity in the automotive market.

In the year 2025, data is currency, and for the convenience of participating in the digital market, most Americans are willing to pay. Yet, with new technologies like the quantum computer on the horizon, the safety of Americans’ data is in jeopardy as the quantum computer could decrypt what would take the classical computer billions of years to work through in mere hours. KLJ Vol. 113 Staff Editor Bridget Lienau explores the future of cryptography and advocates for more comprehensive federal data privacy framework to unite American consumers, businesses, and government at all levels in minimizing the data which can be stolen and mitigating the harms of that which already has.

As Kentucky is set to become the home for advanced multibillion dollar manufacturing facilities, the need for reliable and diverse sources of electricity is more necessary than ever so that Kentucky can maintain cheap prices for consumers and become a hub for industrial growth. As the Commonwealth enters this new era, policymakers’ interest in nuclear power has grown as the General Assembly takes steps to prepare Kentucky for nuclear power. KLJ Vol. 113 Staff Editor Ben Schaeffer explores the possibility of nuclear power as the Commonwealths energy for its future. 

Since the Covid-19 Pandemic, the use of Non-Traditional Instruction (NTI) days in the Commonwealth of Kentucky has been a mainstay. While NTI days allow school districts to have flexibility in meeting their students' needs when in-person learning may not be viable, Kentucky legislators have taken issue with the program and have introduced legislation to eliminate NTI days entirely. KLJ Staff Editor Dalton Gregory explains the implications of this proposed policy and defends the efficacy of Non-Traditional Instruction while also providing areas of improvement for Kentucky schools.

The Impoundment power is the executive authority to refuse to spend sums of money appropriated by Congress. While historically presidents have exercised the power to varying degrees, its significance is more relevant than ever as efforts to reduce federal spending through the Department of Government Efficiency have engendered controversy and legal battles during President Trump’s first few weeks in office. KLJ Vol. 113 Staff Editor Eli Raymond dives into the constitutionality of the impoundment power and proposes that the authority may contradict our fundamental notions of separation of powers.

In 2023, the Commonwealth of Kentucky declined the opportunity to potentially change the lives of individuals struggling with opioid addiction by refusing to research a promising drug for opioid addiction recovery. The Commonwealth of Kentucky, being one of the states with the most overdose casualties, has suffered significantly from the opioid epidemic that has swept through the nation. KLJ Staff Editor Lucas Hall advocates for a review of the drug Ibogaine as it could be a revolutionary tool in the crisis of opioid recovery.

In the aftermath of the events of January 6, 2021, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell publicly stressed that Trump was “practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day,” yet was not convinced that the Senate could impeach a president once they had left office. McConnell was not alone as over half of the thirty-eight of the forty-three Republican senators who ultimately voted to acquit Trump believed that the Senate lacked jurisdiction to try a former president. KLJ Vol. 113 Staff Editor Will Haydon explores Senator McConnell’s assessment as to whether the constitution allows impeaching a former president after they have left office.

SNAP benefits—more commonly known as food stamps—help impoverished families afford nutritious food essential to health and well–being. Kentucky and other states, however, are interested in limiting the purchase of innutritious grocery items and have advocated for curbing the scope of permissible foods allowed under SNAP. KLJ Staff Editor Matthew Chaney describes how while it is honorable that policymakers are focused on improving the health of our citizenry, the means in which they intend to achieve their ends is flawed. Instead Channey advocates for nontraditional systems that could avoid the potential pitfalls of the reforms proposed while achieving the purported goals of achieving food security.

While homelessness in the United States continues to rise, last summer, the Court upheld the constitutionality of an ordinance that punishes people for sleeping and camping in public places. The ruling allows states and municipalities flexibility in addressing homelessness, but it also has a significant impact on the homeless population nationwide. KLJ Vol. 113 Staff Editor Casey Parker-Bell explains how now more than ever, local governments will need to consider changes to help alleviate the trends of rising homelessness across the country and provide help to those in need.

In the recent Supreme Court case Ohio v. EPA, Justice Gorsuch and Justice Barrett take opposing sides to the question of what test should be used when seeking a preliminary injunction in Federal Court. The two continue to differ on how these respective tests should be applied. Yet, with Justice Gorsuch’s approach gaining the majority of the votes, his four-part test could become the new precedent for seeking an injunction in Federal Court. KLJ Vol. 113 Staff Editor Basil McCoy explains the implications this new four-part test could have on our nation.

Lawyers in criminal courts are necessities, not luxuries. Yet public defenders are largely overworked and underpaid due to a lack of funding and other resources. These issues lead to overcrowded jails, large courtroom dockets, exacerbation of existing racial disparities, and a negative perception of public defenders who are simply doing what they can with the resources they have. Vol. 113 Staff Editor Tori Harris explores how artificial intelligence is a creative solution to increase efficiency and access to justice by streamlining the process of reviewing and organizing cases for public defenders. A solution that could support both public defenders and indigent defendants and stop a constitutional crisis.

In 1989, the Supreme Court of Kentucky issued the groundbreaking decision of Rose v. Council for Better Education where they declared Kentucky’s public school system unconstitutional and set the nationwide precedent for ensuring adequate and equitable education. Now, thirty years later, a group of student activists have sued the Commonwealth of Kentucky, asking the court to decide whether the state is meeting its constitutional mandate under Rose. KLJ Vol. 113 Staff Editor Katie Nipper explains why Kentucky courts should once again intervene to fix systemic educational deficiencies and reaffirm the Commonwealth’s obligation to provide an adequate and equitable education for all students.

In 2024, following an act of Congress, TikTok’s parent company was forced to divest or face a total ban from the U.S. market in early 2025. On January 18th, many Americans were shocked to see that their access to the popular social media app TikTok had been restricted. With the apps future still uncertain, Vol. 113 Staff Editor Grace Denton discusses the impact of such a ban by showing how its consequences on various sectors including individuals’ daily lives and society are far beyond what anyone imagined.

Employers should keep a watchful eye on how the Supreme Court decides, to see how their diversity, equity, and inclusion practices could be affected. In Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services, the Sixth Circuit applied a "background circumstances" test in a reverse discrimination claim, requiring plaintiffs like Ames to demonstrate evidence of atypical discrimination. The Court’s upcoming decision could have significant implications for the application of Title VII protections, particularly relating to diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.

Imagine a drone powered by artificial intelligence that can take off, land, and fly completely on its own. Now, imagine this drone is packed with explosives and can acquire and engage targets autonomously without human input. In 2021, a United Nations report suggested that an autonomous weaponized drone in Libya attacked a human target completely on its own, without any human input. The increasing use of AWS brings to light several concerns under the Law of Armed Conflict (“LOAC”), namely concerns related to distinction, proportionality, and accountability.

In the early days of college football, Harvard University paid a non-student to play for them in hopes of beating Yale University. Around the same time, college football was becoming more dangerous, with “over eighteen deaths and one hundred major injuries” in 1905 alone. With the increase of commercialization in college sports, the two main drivers for a regulating body were to prevent non-students from competing and enhance player safety. To accomplish these goals, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) was formally established in 1906.

For many Americans owning a personal vehicle is essential to their daily lives. Whether for important necessities like work, school or medical visits or for more leisurely daily tasks, Americans rely heavily on their vehicles. Yet the process of buying a vehicle has never been more expensive for the average American.[1] Average monthly car payments have reached record highs of $741 for new cars and $533 for used.[2] Rates for auto loans are also at peak highs for this century, with the national average hovering at 7.9%.[3] Purchasing a vehicle, new or used, has become one of Americans’ largest expenses and is on par with other essential costs like housing, childcare, and food costs.[4]

In an era where global supply chains connect economies more intimately than ever before, the United States stands at a crossroads of trade policy.[1] “Promises made, promises kept,” serves as the proclaimed motto of President-elect Donald Trump’s term as the 47th President of the United States.[2] Trump has promised throughout his campaign to impose broader, more aggressive tariffs on foreign goods entering the United States.[3] An emphasis on tariffs marks a departure from decades of preference for free trade policies.[4]

A “dark kitchen” is a restaurant with no in-person ordering facilities.[1] Rather than going to the restaurant’s premises, customers of a dark kitchen must place an order online and wait for food to be delivered to them.[2] Some dark kitchens, known as virtual restaurants, operate out of the same premises as a traditional in-person restaurant but only interact with customers online.[3] Others, known as ghost kitchens, prepare food in a commercial kitchen space and lack a retail location entirely.[4] Dark kitchens often partner with third-party meal delivery platforms, such as Uber Eats, Grubhub, and DoorDash, to coordinate delivery of their food to customers.[5]