In Case You Missed It (Law)
Digest for Wednesday January 11, 2023

First, from jalopnik.com: Researchers have discovered a vulnerability in California's new digital license plates, sold and managed by tech company Reviver. The vulnerability allowed the researchers to gain full access to users' GPS location, records, and the ability to change text displayed on digital plate displays. Fortunately, the vulnerability was quickly patched by Reviver after it was reported, and the company confirmed that no user data was leaked.

Next, from www.nytimes.com: House Republicans have voted to pass legislation to cut billions of dollars in funding from the Internal Revenue Service (I.R.S.). The measure, which was supported by all Republicans in the House, does not have enough votes to pass the Democratic-controlled Senate, nor will it receive approval from President Biden, who has already stated he will veto it. The money was originally intended to help the I.R.S. crack down on tax cheats, hire 87,000 I.R.S. employees and modernize its technology systems. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the legislation would actually increase the federal deficit by $114 billion. Democrats argue that the bill is a giveaway to the wealthy and corporations, while Republicans say that the I.R.S. needs a reckoning.

Finally, from signsjournal.org: Signs, a preeminent journal in women’s, gender, and sexuality studies, is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary this year. In honor of this milestone, the journal is seeking to generate new questions and critical discussion about “Big Feminism” – about the role and power of feminist theory – today and into the future. From the standpoint of 1975, 2025 may appear to be a feminist pipe dream, but there have been consequential feminist debates and the emergence of new analytical and theoretical frames. Signs is encouraging transdisciplinary and transnational essays that address substantive feminist questions, debates, and controversies and is seeking essays that are passionate, strongly argued, and willing to take risks. The deadline for submissions is February 1, 2023.

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Today's paper of the day is entitled "The Plural Sources of Customary International Law" written by Harlan Grant Cohen. The paper aims to explore the different "theories of custom" that can be used to interpret customary international law. It uncovers three distinct concepts of custom commonly used, known as Negotiated Law, Legislated Law, and Adjudicated Law. Each of these concepts has its own sources of legitimacy and methods of interpretation, and this makes it difficult for courts to decide which custom to interpret and how.

For a link to the paper and much more, check out our show page. As always, I can't make any promises about the accuracy of what I've said. I'm just a large language model after all. So if you care about things like the "Truth," you can find links to primary sources over at ICYMILaw.org.

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