Kendall Henry Associate Editor Loyola University Chicago School of Law, JD 2027 Every March, Chicago’s St. Patrick’s Day celebration involves one of the most recognizable traditions in the country: dyeing the Chicago River shamrock green. To Chicago residents and tourists alike, it is a prelude to the spring season, but beyond the bright green surface …
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At the forefront of twenty-first century consumer protection issues is corporate price-gouging. Among the most notable examples is the issue of “junk fees” or “drip pricing,” fees which are not initially visible in the list price of goods and service, but are surreptitiously added to the price total by the close of the transaction. Recently, media reports have spotlighted numerous industries implicated by the “hidden pricing” phenomenon, including commercial travel, finance and banking, hospitality, entertainment, and more. Common examples include mandatory fees i.e. common addition of a 3-5 % surcharge added to your bill by a restaurant or concert venue, or an unexplained cleaning fee charged by a hotel at checkout. Perhaps now more than ever, U.S. consumers rely on state and federal government regulators to clarify, enforce, and update statutes for twenty-first century demands, ever emerging technologies, and a modern consumer economy.
The rapid development of automation, artificial intelligence (AI), and Regulatory Technology (RegTech) has officially begun transforming the regulatory compliance landscape. Financial institutions and corporations are facing an increasingly complex web of regulations, rising compliance costs, and growing expectations from regulators. In response, organizations are turning to automated systems to streamline monitoring, reporting, and risk management. These technological advancements have sparked an important question within the industry: will automation eventually replace compliance professionals? While automation is reshaping the compliance function and technology is transforming the profession by automating routine tasks, there may still be a need for human oversight, interpretation, and strategic decision-making after all.
Ultra-processed foods are causing chronic health issues in Americans. The FDA regulates 80% of food products in the United States, yet there is little regulation regarding ultra-processed foods. Cities across the U.S. are taking their own steps towards regulation in order to protect their residents. San Francisco’s recent lawsuit marks an important step forward in regulating ultra-processed foods here in the United States. This lawsuit could be a turning point in regulation for the U.S., as it highlights the dangers of ultra-processed foods, the effects lackluster regulation has on communities, and how transparency can create a healthy step forward for Americans.
In just over a year, prediction markets have taken the United States exchange by storm. From betting on who will win the 2024 presidential election, to whether certain celebrities will attend the Superbowl, on prediction markets one can wagerwhether or not just about anything will occur. However, due to growing concerns of national security, public safety, and insider trading, a new bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives. The Event Contract Enforcement Act(ECEA) would extend the power previously granted to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and require the CFTC to ban certain event contracts. If passed, the ECEA could deal a massive blow to prediction markets such as the two most popular prediction markets in the world – Kalshi and Polymarket.
Climate-related regulation remains one of the most politically and legally contested areas within the federal government, with regulatory direction often shifting alongside presidential administrations. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) protects human health and the environment by developing and enforcing regulations based on scientific evidence. The administrator of the EPA is nominated by the President of the United States and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. As a result, the EPA’s regulatory determinations often reflect the policy beliefs and priorities of the current administration. On February 12, 2026, the EPA finalized its rescission of the endangerment finding, which served as the legal basis for regulating greenhouse gases, including greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles. Through its reversal, the EPA has introduced substantial regulatory uncertainty for the automotive industry and has set the stage for consequential legal, economic, and climate policy developments in the months ahead.
Almost 10% of K-12 students – approximately 4.7 million children – were enrolled in private schools as of the fall of 2021. Families today are increasingly attracted to private schools amid rising concerns about the academic quality and safety of public schools. However, a key barrier to private schools is the cost, with 59% of parents stating they would send their children to private schools if vouchers could cover full tuition. In an effort to ease this burden, the Trump administration passed the “Educational Choice for Children Act” (the Act). This program allows parents to receive a tax credit up to $1,700 for donations made to scholarship granting organizations, increasing families’ ability to afford private schooling. However, the Act does nothing to help or subsidize families in the public school system, where a vast majority of American students still reside. Thus, with the Act, the federal government may be lessening the financial burden of private schooling, but it is doing so at the expense of public-school funding.
The explosive growth of online sports betting in the United States over the past decade has created a complex regulatory frontier for digital wagering platforms. After the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the federal ban on sports gambling in Murphy v. NCAA, states have individually determined how and whether to legalize mobile sports wagering. This state-by-state patchwork, combined with the rise of innovative betting products, has generated compliance challenges in age verification, geolocation enforcement, consumer protection, anti-money laundering obligations, and advertising—issues that extend far beyond traditional in-person gambling regulation.
The endangerment finding (EF) is the bedrock of environmental regulation within the United States. Founded on the basis of the the ruling in Massachusetts v. EPA, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued the “endangerment finding,” which declares two things. First, that greenhouse gases threaten the public health and welfare of current and future generations. Second, that the combined emissions of the greenhouse gases from motor vehicles contributes to overall greenhouse gas pollution, which in turn also threatens public health and welfare. This was the case. The EPA has repealed this finding. Now, the EPA lacks statutory authority under Section (a)(1) of the Clean Air Act (CAA), to regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards for motor vehicles and other industries. Now, the EPA is no longer legally required to regulate pollutants such as GHGs. There is no longer any federal legal foundation to regulate vehicle, industrial or power plant emissions.
With the digital age, young children are gaining access to social media accounts. Child influencers are being put into the spotlight before they can understand the impact a lack of privacy can have on their lives. Children cannot meaningfully consent to having a digital footprint, states have a compelling interest in regulating child participation online. These legal safeguards are necessary for both the financial and psychological health of children in digital spaces. Just as states have long regulated child labor in the entertainment industry, the modern regulation of social media should provide the same protection for minors on social media.