Dome:
Law, Legislation & Policy

Housed at Boston University School of Law, Dome is a valuable resource for news, analysis, and opinion on legislation and public policy. Dome is staffed by students of BU Law’s various legislation clinics. Dome features work contributed by staff members, scholars, practitioners, and law students interested in legislation and public policy.

Planes, Change, and International Deals: A Global Measure to Curb Aviation Emissions

By William Wilson
February 22nd, 2017 in Analysis.

In October 2016, the United Nations’s agency for aviation policy, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), announced an international agreement to control carbon emissions on international flights.  Considering that commercial aviation accounts for over 2% of global carbon emissions—and is growing rapidly every day—this is an issue at the forefront... More

Planned Parenthood’s Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Year

By Sonam Bhagat
September 9th, 2016 in Budget & Appropriations, Federal Legislation, Opinion.

The past 12 months was not the best of years for Planned Parenthood. In July 2015, a video surfaced of a Planned Parenthood employee discussing prices on harvested tissues from fetuses aborted by clinic patients. Planned Parenthood and other health care providers regularly act as a middleman - obtaining fetus... More

Up In Smoke (and Vapor): Hawai’i Raises Minimum Smoking Age and Regulates E-Cigarettes

By Lillian Feinberg
July 26th, 2016 in Analysis, News, State Legislation.

On January 1, 2016, Hawai’i became the first state in the nation to increase smoking age restrictions to 21 years old. Under Act 122, Hawai’i prohibits the “sale, purchase, possession or consumption of cigarettes, other tobacco products, and electronic smoking devices (or e-cigarettes) to anyone under age 21.”  Before Hawai’i, More

New York Legislature (Re)Considers “Death with Dignity”

By Rebecca Beyer
July 21st, 2016 in Analysis, News, State Legislation.

The New York legislature have become the latest lawmakers to consider whether terminally ill patients have a right to end their own lives with lethal medications prescribed by doctors. The bill, titled the New York End-of-Life Options Act, states that its goal is to make “aid in dying an open, More

Bees are Dying …. Massachusetts Should Pass Pesticide Restrictions

By Talia Quartetti
July 21st, 2016 in Analysis, Opinion, State Legislation.

We need honeybees, desperately.   Unfortunately, bees are dying at an unsustainable rate; without them, our agricultural system would collapse.  Bees pollinize about one third of the food we eat, and about 85% of the world’s crops.  Without bees, many essential crops would die out, creating a crisis. In Massachusetts, we... More