Digital Commons Network^™

Tragedies Of The Cultural Commons, Etienne C. Toussaint

Faculty Publications

In the United States, Black cultural expressions of democratic life that operate within specific historical-local contexts, yet reflect a shared set of sociocultural mores, have been historically crowded out of the law and policymaking process. Instead of democratic cultural discourse occurring within an open and neutral marketplace of ideas, the discursive production and consumption of democratic culture in American politics has been rivalrous. Such rivalry too often enables dominant White supremacist cultural beliefs, values, and practices to exercise their hegemony upon law’s production and meaning. The result has been tragedy for politically disempowered and socioeconomically excluded communities.

This Article uses …

Black Urban Ecologies And Structural Extermination, Etienne C. Toussaint

Faculty Publications

Residents of low-income, metropolitan communities across the United States frequently live in “food apartheid” neighborhoods—areas with limited access to nutrient-rich and fresh food. Local government law scholars, poverty law scholars, and political theorists have long argued that structural racism embedded in America’s political economy influences the uneven development of such Black urban ecologies. Accordingly, food justice scholars have called for local governments to develop urban agricultural markets that combat racism in global corporatized food systems by localizing food development. These demands have only amplified during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has ravaged Black communities where residents suffer from preexisting health conditions …

Internet Of Things For Sustainability: Perspectives In Privacy, Cybersecurity, And Future Trends, Abdul Salam

Faculty Publications

In the sustainability IoT, the cybersecurity risks to things, sensors, and monitoring systems are distinct from the conventional networking systems in many aspects. The interaction of sustainability IoT with the physical world phenomena (e.g., weather, climate, water, and oceans) is mostly not found in the modern information technology systems. Accordingly, actuation, the ability of these devices to make changes in real world based on sensing and monitoring, requires special consideration in terms of privacy and security. Moreover, the energy efficiency, safety, power, performance requirements of these device distinguish them from conventional computers systems. In this chapter, the cybersecurity approaches towards …

Sustainable Affordable Housing, Andrea Boyack

Faculty Publications

Sustainable real estate development is an essential component of intergenerational justice, in part because the real estate sector creates more than 20% of the world’s carbon emissions. Governments, recognizing that environmentally sustainable real estate development involves higher upfront costs, have encouraged green building by offering publicly funded incentives such as tax credits, grants, reduced approval fees, and streamlined permitting. Using market measurement innovations such as the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, investors can promote environmentally sustainable development by prioritizing real estate developers that embrace environmentally conscious practices. Even though real estate in general still underperforms in many other sectors in terms …

Prison Health Care After The Affordable Care Act: Envisioning An End To The Policy Of Neglect, Evelyn Malave

Faculty Publications

Inadequate prison health care has created a health crisis for reentering prisoners and their communities—a crisis that is exacerbated by barriers to employment and other collateral consequences of release. This Note will first examine how current Eighth Amendment doctrine has failed to sufficiently regulate prison health care so as to have any significant effect on the crisis. Next, it will argue that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) alters the Eighth Amendment analysis by triggering a change in the “evolving standards of decency” that guide the doctrine. Specifically, this Note will argue that, after the passage of the ACA, releasing sick, …

An Introduction To California's Greenhouse Gas Emission Trading Program, Tseming Yang

Faculty Publications

Even though climate change will require a global solution, the efforts of individual nations and sub-national governmental units have become increasingly important for demonstrating leadership in creating effective regulatory programs and possible solutions. California’s Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, also referred to as A.B. 32, and the associated greenhouse gas emission trading program are one set of such efforts. With A.B. 32, the state of California has created one of the most comprehensive and complex climate change programs in the world – a legally binding set of mandates for the state government to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to …

Stakeholder Participation In The Selection And Recruitment Of Police: Democracy In Action, Kami Chavis Simmons

Faculty Publications

Modem police culture tolerates or cultivates police misconduct and corruption in many ways. Failures to identify, monitor, and discipline "problem" officers; a belief that violence is a necessary part of law enforcement; and the code of silence; are organizational characteristics that need to be addressed in order to remedy organizational failures to hold law enforcement officers accountable. In order to address these cultural characteristics, police departments should carefully select police officers less likely to engage in these behaviors and adhere to these beliefs. Viewed through the lens of stakeholder participation, however, a fundamental shift should occur regarding how these new …

Revisiting The Work We Know So Little About: Race, Wealth, Privilege, And Social Justice, Stephanie M. Wildman, Beverly Moran, Margalynne J. Armstrong

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Encouraging Private Investment In Energy Efficiency, Sarah B. Schindler

Faculty Publications

Combating the negative effects of climate change requires finding ways to increase energy production while reducing energy demand. Every New England state has programs in place to encourage home and business owners to improve the energy efficiency of their buildings. Despite the clear fmancial benefits and environmental benefits that result from energy efficiency upgrades, most New Englanders have not taken advantage ofthe programs being offered by their states.

Renewable Energy And The Neighbors, Troy A. Rule

Faculty Publications

Small wind turbines and rooftop solar panels are a highly attractive energy option, capable of generating clean, renewable power without the need for transmission lines across vast stretches of rural land. State and federal incentive programs have made these devices increasingly affordable for landowners in recent years, generating an unprecedented level of interest in “distributed” renewable energy.Unfortunately, small wind turbines and solar panels are often far less attractive in the eyes of neighbors, who fear that the systems will erode neighborhood aesthetics and property values. Despite aggressive state and federal programs aimed at promoting renewable energy systems, land use controls …

The Moral Politics Of Social Control: Political Culture And Ordinary Crime In Cuba, Deborah M. Weissman, Marsha Weissman

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Sepas, Climate Change, And Corporate Responsibility: The Contribution Of Local Government, Catherine J. Lacroix

Faculty Publications

Municipalities in the United States are increasingly active in the effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Data suggest that the physical layout of communities and the buildings they contain make significant contributions to greenhouse gas emissions and thus to climate change. One useful tool for municipalities could be the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), pioneered in the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) at the federal level and subsequently adopted as a policymaking guide in the State Environmental Policy Acts (SEPAs) of many states. A SEPA requires state governments - and, in six states, local governments as well - to consider the …

Panel: Water Ethics And Commodification Of Freshwater Resources, Stephen F. Diamond

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Genetics, Iq, Determinism, And Torts: The Example Of Discovery In Lead Exposure Litigation, Jennifer Wriggins

Faculty Publications

This article discusses a disturbing development in tort litigation in which defendants use deterministic, genetics-based ideas about individuals and their families to undercut and deflect attention from personal injury claims. Lead exposure litigation involving cognitive injuries claimed on behalf of children who have ingested lead paint is the context of this development. The most extreme manifestation to date has been the efforts in several states to compel relatives of lead-exposed children (usually mothers) to have IQ and psychological testing, even though they are not parties to the litigation. Rule 35 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and its state …