During the coronavirus pandemic, an economic downturn and lockdown drastically affected American universities. Many colleges struggling to defray their expenses chose to demote sports teams from their varsity status, consequently cutting them off from their college’s funding. These spending cuts impacted many women’s athletic programs, some of which hired lawyers to defend their interests under Title IX law. In this article, I examine the role of Title IX in defending women’s sports in light of the coronavirus pandemic, and how Title IX has been used historically to expand and defend the opportunities for female athletes in the United States.

In this article, I use legal proceedings leading up to the 2020 Wisconsin General Election to discuss the merits of ballot access laws in the US. Citing failures such as discrepancies in home address listings and turning in a petition 14 seconds late, presidential candidates were denied access to the ballot in Wisconsin. I argue that the leveraging of ballot access laws as a political weapon runs counter to democracy, and should hold no place in fair, free elections. Today, ballot access laws across the US limit options available to voters and ensure a duopoly for the two major parties. Third parties must be prepared to defend their position on the ballot against litigation from major parties looking to eliminate competition.