In this blog, 3L staffer Lakyn LeMaster analyzes how the increasing popularity of GLP-1 medications may be reshaping consumer food habits and, in turn, impacting Kentucky’s agricultural industry. LeMaster addresses the risks that changing demands could create for Kentucky, particularly as consumers purchase less ultra-processed and fast food while showing increased interest in fresh foods. Ultimately, she argues that Kentucky’s agricultural community should proactively monitor these trends and encourage diversification to ensure producers are prepared for an evolving market.
In this blog, 2L staffer Grace Hager analyzes the escalating legal crisis facing the "Clean Beauty" industry driven by 2026 FDA findings and new state-level bans. Hager explores the debate between the industry’s current reliance on self-defined clean standards versus the growing legal demand for lab-verified transparency. Ultimately, she takes the position that retailers must assume a heightened legal risk that can no longer be hidden by vague marketing claims.
In this blog, senior staffer Amy Rice argues that the FDA should fully embrace a "method-neutral" approach by accepting New Approach Methodologies (“NAMs”) as primary evidence of drug efficacy. She contends that traditional animal testing is often an outdated and poor predictor of human outcomes, whereas modern tools like organ-on-chip models offer superior scientific precision. Ultimately, Rice asserts that regulators must move beyond historical biases to implement the FDA Modernization Acts, thereby accelerating innovation and reducing the costs of biomedical and agricultural development.
In this blog, 2L staffer Samuel Lay examines a new method to apply 5th Amendment Takings Claims in response to changing regulations regarding Solar Farms built on farmland in Lexington, Ky. Lay breaks down the changing landscape regarding the city’s solar regulations. This is followed by a proposed new method in determining what constitutes total economic deprivation for a per se takings. The proposed change would alter the current meaning of total deprivation to depriving the owner of the value they have in the land. Lay argues that this new method is fairer to those who want to build solar farms in Lexington but may be discouraged due to the ever-changing landscape of solar regulation in Lexington.
In this blog, 2L staffer Emma Johns explores the expansion of solar energy projects on reclaimed coal lands in Eastern Kentucky. She argues that although these developments offer potential economic and environmental benefits, current legal and regulatory systems fail to adequately protect landowners and local communities. She concludes that stronger regulations and greater community protections are necessary to ensure a fair and effective transition to renewable energy.
The Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO) has decided to install a 100-mile electrical transmission line starting in Reynolds, Indiana and ending in Topeka, Indiana. This $270 million dollar transmission line is supposed to help improve Indiana’s access to wind and solar renewable energy and maybe even lower the cost of energy and reduce greenhouse gases. However, this new powerline has been a matter of dispute with local Northern Indiana farmers who are complaining that the 100-mile powerline is interfering with their farms.
Since 2006, the total pari-mutuel handle within the horse industry has steadily declined. In an effort to halt this decline, some in the equine industry have attempted to invent new ways to create interest in the sport by tapping into the growing daily fantasy sports industry. In the case Derby Wars, a fantasy horseracing website, the Central District of California put a halt to one of those efforts.
On March 28th Donald Trump signed an executive order that rescinded the moratorium against mining on federally owned lands and started the process to repeal the Clean Power Plan. The signing took place with Trump surrounded by coal miners, the promise to ‘bring back coal jobs’ was a cornerstone of Trump’s campaign.
In 2016, Congress passed a law requiring labeling of bioengineered food products, more commonly known as Genetically Modified Organism or GMO food products. Many believe this mandatory labeling requirement is unconstitutional. The reason for this belief, surprisingly, derives from a 2015 Supreme Court case regarding road signage in Arizona.
Meet Sam Girod: An Amish man and father of twelve from Bath County, Kentucky. Girod produces various forms of salves (i.e., products used to heal and protect the skin) out of his home in Bath County. Girod sold his “Chickweed Salve” out of his home and in small convenience stores in Kentucky and Missouri. In 2013, Girod was reported to authorities in Missouri, leading to an injunction being ordered by a federal judge and the involvement of authorities in Kentucky. Of particular concern was Girod’s “Chickweed Salve,” containing natural ingredients such as rosemary, beeswax, and olive oil.
In June of 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published new definitions in the Federal Register, redefining the “waters of the United States.” One of the new definitions expands the traditional meaning of “navigable waters” from exclusively large bodies of water that facilitated interstate commerce to almost any body of water found in the United States, including small creeks and farm ponds. This has led to a large uproar across the country with numerous organizations challenging the new regulation, implemented with no Congressional oversight.
In sunny southern California there sits a 401 acre parcel of land that has been a subject of controversy for at least four years. This parcel of land is prime waterfront real estate near West Newport Beach that served as an active oilfield for some time. This tract of land also plays host to Native American archeological sites, and serves as a habitat for several rare and sensitive animals species, including the burrowing owl, the California Gnatcatcher, and the endangered San Diego Fairy shrimp. The parcel is now considered an ‘eye sore’ on the coastline, and recent development proposals may be slated to change this – if the plans can ever get approval.
