About this Journal

The Journal of Law and Policy is committed to generating a symposium-based publication that brings together communities of scholars, through a mutual and collaborative student and faculty process, emphasizing existing and emerging visions of the law in relation to interdisciplinary and multicultural perspectives, the implications of technology, and the consequences of economic globalization for the purpose of influencing law and social policy.

Mission Statement:

This publication originated in 1968 as the Urban Law Annual and focused entirely on issues surrounding land use, urban development, and other legal concerns of urban communities. The scope broadened in1983 when the Journal expanded (and became the Journal of Urban and Contemporary Law) to encompass a broad range of topics while still emphasizing urban and land-use law. In 1999, the staff and its advisors began a lengthy process of reevaluating the Journal’s role in the advancement of legal scholarship. As a result of this process, the Journal once again broadened its scope to become the Washington University Journal of Law & Policy. 

The Journal is committed to generating a symposium-based publication that brings together communities of scholars, through a mutual and collaborative student and faculty process, emphasizing existing and emerging visions of the law in relation to interdisciplinary and multicultural perspectives, the implications of technology, and the consequences of economic globalization for the purpose of influencing law and social policy.

In furtherance of this mission, the Journal, unlike most law reviews, centers each volume around a pertinent theme or issue. The articles therein are authored by professors of law, legal practitioners, judges, and distinguished scholars from a variety of academic disciplines. Each year, the Journal publishes an “Access to Justice” volume. This volume is a compilation of essays from the Washington University School of Law’s “Access to Justice” speaker series, one goal of which is to encourage and challenge audiences to use their legal education for the ultimate betterment of our society. Additionally, the Journal collaborates with faculty members to publish symposia along a broad spectrum of contemporary topics.

Current Volume:

Volume 1 • Issue 71 • 2023 • American Antiquity, Monument Protection, and the Law

Monuments and memorials speak tremendously to the importance ofplacemaking, and they allow us to chronicle and interpret the past. The waysin which we do so shed light on our contemporary social and politicalvalues. More than mere reminders of people and events from long ago, theyallow for introspection and prospection—reflecting us and serving aswindows into our inherited past and future. Embedded in these reflectionsare the convictions and attitudes of those occupying the spaces around thesemarkers, and undoubtedly, the cultural landscapes that they create evolveinto societal autobiographies. Today’s cultural dialogue surrounding monument protection presents aunique opportunity in jurisprudence, especially in regard to thereinterpretation, repurposing, and removal of Civil War-centeredmonuments and memorials erected in the postbellum United States. Neverhas there been such a unique moment in history to discuss the complexitiesof these monuments and the ways in which they have contributed to anddetracted from our collective sense of place. In 2021, seventy-threeConfederate monuments were removed or renamed, and as of 2022, morethan 2,000 monuments and memorials remained in place throughout theUnited States. Lest we forget, the shortness of our collective memory dictates that decisions on the placement and interpretation of these structures not be taken lightly.that


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