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This thesis concerns a philosophical analysis of originalism in a context that has not yet received sufficient attention: in the context of old constitutional regimes. Through this lens, I argue that originalism becomes something lesser in that both the normative justification and legitimacy originalism once held begins to withdraw from the theory’s principled commitments. In other words, the nature of old constitutions begins to reject a normative argument for an originalist approach. The thesis bases this analysis on one originalist theory in particular for the sake of brevity: Lawrence Solum’s public meaning originalism. It proceeds through two avenues of argument: originalism as it relates to 1) historical analysis and the interpretation-construction distinction and 2) stare decisis and democratic legitimacy. Taken together, these avenues point to originalism’s fading normative justification and legitimacy in light of the challenges that old constitutions and their characteristics pose for the judicial philosophy. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

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Feminist activism in the digital age leverages technology to raise awareness of, and to mobilize support for, important issues and causes. Human trafficking is one such cause, and preventing it is included as a United Nations Sustainable Development Goal to achieve gender equality and empower women and girls. This study sought to understand the digital activism strategies of one women's civic leadership organization, the Junior League, for human trafficking awareness. In addition, this project analyzed how those digital activism strategies did or did not align with social justice approaches to human trafficking and how those digital activism strategies did or did not translate to offline action. To address these research questions, a three-pronged, feminist approach to data collection and analysis examined textual documents and included a qualitative survey and follow-up semi-structured interviews. Analysis revealed the overall disconnect between the mission of this women's civic leadership organization, its human trafficking awareness work, and its offline actions. Recommendations offered for this organization and for any nonprofit working in the anti-trafficking space include messaging and campaign goals for digital activism; connecting online efforts with offline action; developing organizational partnerships that consider multiple perspectives versus only a law-and-order angle; and including survivor voices and experiences into all anti-trafficking work.

Visualization of complex data is a challenging topic. Data are often stored in spreadsheets making it difficult to get an overview of otherwise inaccessible information. Visualization of data is necessary for getting an understanding of complex structures. Organizations, among them financial institutions, nowadays consist of large owner structures and legal structures. Visualization of these structures is a challenging task due to the many levels of complexity within these structures.This report presents a visualization prototype of the legal business structures of financial institutions. The primary function of this prototype is to facilitate the understanding of complex legal business structures that would be hard to comprehend only from spreadsheets. The development of the prototype was performed using Python and NetworkX and the visualization was constructed as a graph representation. The evaluation of the prototype was conduced with semi-structured interviews together with a demonstration. The evaluation indicated that the utility of the visualization prototype concept can be further improved. The results suggests that a prototype is vital and is of good use for facilitating understanding of data. / Visualisering av data är ett svårt problem. Diverse data lagras ofta i textform vilket bidrar till en sämre översikt av datan. Med hjälp av visualisering kan man få en bättre förståelse för komplexa strukturer i datan. Organisationer så som finansinstitut involverar ofta stora ägarstrukturer och legala strukturer. Att kunna visualisera dessa strukturer blir då ett problem på grund av deras komplexitet.I denna rapport presenteras en visualiseringsprototyp av legala affärsstrukturer hos finansinstitut. Huvudsyftet med denna prototyp är att få en bättre förståelse av strukturer som annars är svåra att analysera utifrån enbart kalkylblad. Prototypen implementerades med hjälp av Python och NetworkX och visades visuellt som en graf representation. Evalueringen utfördes med hjälp av intervjuer samt en demonstration av prototypen. Evalueringen visar på att användarna ser en nytta med prototypen vilket tyder på att det finns utrymme för att vidare utveckla konceptet. Resultatet antyder att en visualisering är väsentlig när det kommer till att underlätta analys av data.

There has been controversy surrounding high-profile Canadian court cases due to stakeholders asserting that justice was not delivered in the offenders’ sentencing. Cases such as R v. Bernardo (including R. v. Homolka), R v. Pickton and R v. Li have drawn criticism from stakeholders, such as the victims’ families and the public, for perceived lax and disproportionate sentencing. I aim to make sense of and determine why this is their perception of these cases and offer a way to understand these cases’ judicial decisions. Reading these cases through the lens of philosophical punishment theories will (1) determine the underlying compatible legal theory guiding these sentences that are perceived as lax and disproportionate, (2) explain the reasoning behind these sentences, and (3) help us understand why the public and the victims’ families perceive these sentences as lax and disproportionate. In this thesis, I will argue that Canada’s criminal justice system could be understood as incorporating various punishment theories for criminal offender sentencing, such as strict retribution, utilitarianism, and paternalism as a form of rehabilitation. I will focus my research on three punishment theories that I believe have been significant in guiding the law’s application in the Canadian legal system and the modern history of Western law: Immanuel Kant’s strict retributive punishment theory, Jeremy Bentham’s utilitarian punishment theory, and Herbert Morris’ paternalistic punishment theory. I will argue that by identifying the underlying punishment theories, we can identify where the judicial decision is perceived as flawed by the public and the victims’ families and how to understand the effect of these theories in future judicial decisions. Based on my findings, I will sketch an alternative Kantian punishment theory that can be a theoretical lens through which we can evaluate proportionality in sentencing by providing a victim-centred approach to punishment. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA) / There has been controversy surrounding high-profile Canadian court cases due to the victims’ families and the public perceiving the offenders’ sentencing as lax and disproportionate to their crimes’ severity. I aim to make sense of and determine why this is their perception of these cases and offer a way to understand these cases’ judicial decisions. Reading these cases through the lens of philosophical punishment theories will (1) determine the underlying compatible legal theory guiding these sentences that are perceived as lax and disproportionate, (2) explain the reasoning behind these sentences, and (3) help us understand why the public and the victims’ families perceive these sentences as lax and disproportionate. Based on my findings, I will sketch an alternative Kantian punishment theory that can be a theoretical lens through which we can evaluate proportionality in sentencing by providing a victim-centred approach to punishment.

Currently, mediation in Florida is a pre-suit requirement only for condo associations, homeowner disputes, and medical malpractice suits, as discussed in Florida Statute Chapter 720.311, 718.1255, 766.108, as well as those ordered by a judge. The American Bar Association (ABA) also reported that only 23 of the 204 law schools (11%) approved by the ABA require some form of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) coursework to graduate. Changes need to be made for the ADR program to thrive and reach its full potential within our judicial system. This thesis will highlight that by calling for the government to make mediation a pre-suit requirement for other suitable areas in the civil court system. This thesis will also address the need for more law schools to require ADR training within their curriculum to create a new generation who understands and has the skills to implement ADR into their future law practices. By examining successful trends in ADR, statutes, and programs that have encouraged or forced the use of ADR, this thesis will provide ways ADR can reach its full potential within our court system. This thesis will contribute to the field of law, specifically in terms of contributing to the lack of data on ADR programs that reflect their positive impacts and where they might be most beneficial.

Currently the Caspian is simple described as the world's biggest enclosed body of salt water. The five littoral states of Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Russia, Turkmenistan and Iran, have not come to an agreement in regards to the legal status of the Caspian, which means it is not considered to be a lake or a sea. This incident can be explained by the legal consequences of claiming the Caspian as an International Lake or Sea. As one could assume, this two statuses greatly differ in regards to their legal structures. It is of the utmost importance to not that the various national interests of the littoral states prevent them from reaching a concrete compromise on this issue. Yet a third legal definition with the potential of ending the dispute over the Caspian has for many years overlooked. The name of this official status if called the Condominium and it supports the common usage of the Caspian Sea by all littoral states. Unfortunately no littoral state has shown any sympathy for this proposal. Perhaps then it is clear that none of these legal regimes are capable of producing an adequate solution to this conflict unless the problem is observed from unconventional means.

The intent of this thesis is to explore the history of classification of Arab-Americans within the United States, showcase how Arab-Americans have encountered systematic racism, and give reasons why Arab-Americans should be able to self-identify. Currently, according to the Census definition, Middle Easterners fall under the "White" category. This is a misrepresentation of Middle Easterners as they should be considered a minority in light of societal treatment and policies set forth by policy makers. Even though much research has been conducted by the Census, they have elected to withhold the Middle Eastern or North African (MENA) category from the 2020 Census. Solutions for this issue are: Gaining universities' involvement in the movement for a MENA category, encouraging legislation to place MENA as a minority within affirmative action, and the MENA category being placed on the 2030 census.