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Rodriguez V. Hayes: Government Accountability For Immigrants In Prolonged Detention, Otis Carl Landerholm Oct 2010

Rodriguez V. Hayes: Government Accountability For Immigrants In Prolonged Detention, Otis Carl Landerholm

Golden Gate University Law Review

United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) chooses to keep many immigrants incarcerated while they await the results of their hearings before immigration judges, appeals to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), or second appeals to the federal courts of appeals. Starting with Zadvydas v. Davis in 2001, federal courts have been facing the question of whether such lengthy detentions are permissible under either the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) or the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. Supreme Court in Zadvydas held that indefinite detention “would raise serious constitutional concerns” and decided to construe the prolonged-detention statute at issue “to contain …


“When Can I Tase Him, Bro?”: Bryan V. Mcpherson And The Propriety Of Police Use Of Tasers, Sam W. Wu Oct 2010

“When Can I Tase Him, Bro?”: Bryan V. Mcpherson And The Propriety Of Police Use Of Tasers, Sam W. Wu

Golden Gate University Law Review

This Case Summary begins by detailing the factual and procedural history of Bryan. Next, it outlines the “reasonable use of force” analysis of the Ninth Circuit as applied to Tasers. Finally, it concludes by briefly discussing the broad implications of Bryan, both for law enforcement and for every individual who may someday find himself or herself facing a police officer armed with a Taser.


Limits Of The Inevitable Discovery Doctrine In United States V. Young: The Intersection Of Private Security Guards, Hotel Guests, And The Fourth Amendment, Lauren Young Epstein Oct 2010

Limits Of The Inevitable Discovery Doctrine In United States V. Young: The Intersection Of Private Security Guards, Hotel Guests, And The Fourth Amendment, Lauren Young Epstein

Golden Gate University Law Review

This Note analyzes the Young court’s opinion and the potential consequences of the majority’s cursory rejection of the government’s inevitable discovery argument. This Note also reconciles the differing applications of the inevitable discovery doctrine by the Young majority and dissent and highlights the speculative nature of employing the inevitable discovery doctrine based on the facts of Young. Part I of this Note presents the background of the case and the historical development of Fourth Amendment jurisprudence, focusing on the inevitable discovery doctrine as articulated by the Supreme Court in Nix v. Williams. Part II outlines the Young decision and analyzes …


Judges Of The Ninth Circuit Oct 2010

Judges Of The Ninth Circuit

Golden Gate University Law Review

No abstract provided.


Adjusting The Asylum Bar: Neguise V. Holder And The Need To Incorporate A Defense Of Duress Into The "Persecutor Bar", Melani Johns Oct 2010

Adjusting The Asylum Bar: Neguise V. Holder And The Need To Incorporate A Defense Of Duress Into The "Persecutor Bar", Melani Johns

Golden Gate University Law Review

This Comment explores the different interpretations of the "persecutor bar" among the circuits and proposes an exception for those who have persecuted others while under duress. Part I begins with the background and policy reasons behind the establishment of the persecutor bar, including the split in the courts as to how to interpret it and whether to allow the defense of duress. Part II focuses on Justice Scalia's concurring opinion in Negusie v. Holder, which summarizes and explains the arguments supporting an absolute persecutor bar. Justice Scalia posited that duress is not a defense against harming others, that asylum is …


Considering Affective Consideration, Hila Keren Oct 2010

Considering Affective Consideration, Hila Keren

Golden Gate University Law Review

Focusing on the interaction of law and emotions, this Article unfolds in three parts. Part I illuminates the connection between the affective background of donative promises and their modem unenforceability. It hypothesizes that rejecting promises that are not supported by consideration can be seen as an effort to distance law from any association with irrational decisionmaking and to disassociate it from "emotional" spheres. Part II seeks to correct the erroneous way affective giving has been perceived by law in the gifts context. The law must carefully analyze each relevant emotion concretely and separately, rather than treating emotion as an undifferentiated …


The Judge As Author / The Author As Judge, Ryan B. Witte Oct 2010

The Judge As Author / The Author As Judge, Ryan B. Witte

Golden Gate University Law Review

The first section of this Article discusses the judge as an author. This section begins with an examination of the audience for judicial opinions and an outline of the different styles of judicial opinion writing. The second section of this Article examines the advantages and disadvantages of using literary tools to advance the law. The third section of this Article explores the role of the author as a judge. This section will study a small number of judges who, in addition to the law, maintain outside lives as authors or creative writers. Judges who fit into this category include authors …


Giving Employers Guidance: The Proper Response To No-Match Letters Under Aramark Facility Services V. Service Employees International Union, Local 1877, Steffanie Bevington Oct 2010

Giving Employers Guidance: The Proper Response To No-Match Letters Under Aramark Facility Services V. Service Employees International Union, Local 1877, Steffanie Bevington

Golden Gate University Law Review

In Aramark Facility Services v. Service Employees International Union, Local 1877, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit provided some guidance to employers in receipt of a no-match letter. Finding that receipt of a no-match letter does not give an employer "constructive knowledge" that an employee is unauthorized to work in the United States, the Ninth Circuit upheld an arbitration award reinstating employees who were terminated after their employer received a no-match letter. The Ninth Circuit held that termination of the employees was unwarranted under the circumstances because the company did not have sufficient information that it …


Dissent, Judge William A. Fletcher Oct 2010

Dissent, Judge William A. Fletcher

Golden Gate University Law Review

No abstract provided.


Judges Of The Ninth Circuit Oct 2010

Judges Of The Ninth Circuit

Golden Gate University Law Review

No abstract provided.


Designating Terrorist Organizations: Due Process Overdue, Micah Wyatt Oct 2010

Designating Terrorist Organizations: Due Process Overdue, Micah Wyatt

Golden Gate University Law Review

This Comment argues that §1189 is unconstitutional because it deprives accused terrorist organizations due process under the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Section I will provide an explanation of §1189 and §2339B and their effect on both an organization and its supporters. Section II will provide a brief overview of the Due Process Clause in the context of administrative proceedings. Section III will show how §1189 deprives organizations due process under the Fifth Amendment because the statute does not include the most fundamental requirements of procedural due process. Section III(A) will address the initial question of whether organizations are …


Turning Title Vii's Protection Against Retaliation Into A Never-Fulfilled Promise, Jessica L. Beeler Oct 2010

Turning Title Vii's Protection Against Retaliation Into A Never-Fulfilled Promise, Jessica L. Beeler

Golden Gate University Law Review

Part I also explains the varied standards that were previously used when deciding what constitutes an adverse employer action and how the Supreme Court's recent decision in Burlington Northern resolved a split among the circuits. In Burlington Northern, the Supreme Court adopted a deterrence test to define adverse employer actions, which means the employer action must be harmful to the point that it would deter a reasonable employee of complaining of discrimination. Part II analyzes the actual effects of this decision, focusing in particular on DeHart. It shows how DeHart misapplied the deterrence standard by focusing on whether the employer …


Corporate Cooperation In Criminal Investigations: Waiving Privileges Without Coercion, Emily S. Keller Oct 2010

Corporate Cooperation In Criminal Investigations: Waiving Privileges Without Coercion, Emily S. Keller

Golden Gate University Law Review

Part I of this comment explains the attorney-client privilege and the waiver doctrine and demonstrates the important role the privilege plays in our legal system. It shows why, according to the DOJ charging policy, waiver of the privilege is often needed during corporate investigations. It also addresses how the charging policy erodes the privilege in the corporate context, thereby creating governance problems for corporations. Part II provides legal definitions and standards for coerced waivers to show that the choice corporations must make between waiving the privilege or increasing their risk of indictment does not meet any legal test for coercion. …


Family Ties Or Criminal Contacts: A Case For The Appointment Of Counsel In Civil Gang Injunction Proceedings That Affect Family Relationships, Alexander Jones Oct 2010

Family Ties Or Criminal Contacts: A Case For The Appointment Of Counsel In Civil Gang Injunction Proceedings That Affect Family Relationships, Alexander Jones

Golden Gate University Law Review

This comment argues that when an individual is targeted by a civil gang injunction that interferes with that individual's family relationships, due process requires the appointment of counsel for that individual. This comment does not argue that civil gang injunctions should be prohibited, or even that civil gang injunctions should not be able to enjoin family members from seeing each other in public. Part I discusses the problem of gangs and how civil gang injunctions have emerged to combat them. Part II explores factors considered for the appointment of counsel in civil cases and why family relationships put a personal …


Unlawful Status As A "Constitutional Irrelevancy"?: The Equal Protection Rights Of Illegal Immigrants, Jason H. Lee Oct 2010

Unlawful Status As A "Constitutional Irrelevancy"?: The Equal Protection Rights Of Illegal Immigrants, Jason H. Lee

Golden Gate University Law Review

This article focuses on state discrimination against illegal immigrants and the use of equal-protection doctrine to protect these immigrants' rights to enjoy the array of benefits and services offered by state governments. There are two main reasons why this article will focus on the Equal Protection Clause rather than on federal preemption doctrine, which is the other major tool that illegal immigrants can use to attack discriminatory state classifications. First, the equal-protection doctrine highlights the dignity and membership of an individual in American society in a way that the more structural preemption analysis does not. Second, preemption has become the …


Requiring Exhaustion: An International Law Perspective Of The Alien Tort Claims Act In Sarei V. Rio Tinto, Steffanie Bevington Oct 2010

Requiring Exhaustion: An International Law Perspective Of The Alien Tort Claims Act In Sarei V. Rio Tinto, Steffanie Bevington

Golden Gate University Law Review

This Note will analyze the opinion of the three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit regarding exhaustion of local remedies in Sarei. The panel majority concluded that the court could not read an exhaustion requirement into the ATCA "where Congress has declined to do so, and in an area of international law where the Supreme Court has called for the exercise of judicial caution rather than innovation." The Ninth Circuit has granted en banc rehearing in Sarei, and the matter remained pending as this Note went to press. However, regardless of whether the en banc panel can or should read an …


"On Certiorari To The Ninth Circuit Court Of Appeals": The Supreme Court's Review Of Ninth Circuit Cases During The October 2006 Term, Jessica L. Hannah, Kevan P. Mclaughlin Oct 2010

"On Certiorari To The Ninth Circuit Court Of Appeals": The Supreme Court's Review Of Ninth Circuit Cases During The October 2006 Term, Jessica L. Hannah, Kevan P. Mclaughlin

Golden Gate University Law Review

Whether reversed, affirmed, vacated, or remanded, a review of the interaction between the two courts over twenty-two cases reveals several fundamental differences between the two courts on key issues. This Comment examines these differences by exploring twenty of those decisions and how they illustrate the relationship between the Ninth Circuit and Supreme Court. Part I examines the decisions that arose from the Supreme Court's review of Ninth Circuit decisions. Part II ties these decisions and conclusions into a larger motif emerging between the Ninth Circuit and Supreme Court, and Part III ultimately concludes that the future is likely to continue …


The Marriage Myth: Why Mixed-Status Marriages Need An Immigration Remedy, Julie Mercer Oct 2010

The Marriage Myth: Why Mixed-Status Marriages Need An Immigration Remedy, Julie Mercer

Golden Gate University Law Review

Part I of this Comment reviews the history of adjustment of status, the expired 245(i) remedy, the three or ten year bar, and the extreme hardship waiver. Part II illustrates how current immigration law runs counter to United States pro-marriage policy, promotes separation of spouses in mixed-status marriages, and has a negative economic impact. Part III recommends reinstating a narrow version of the 245(i) remedy only for U.S. citizens' unauthorized spouses and creating a marriage fraud enforcement division. Finally, Part IV concludes that creating a remedy for U.S. citizens would avoid the harmful impacts of the current law while generating …


Democracy On Trial: Terrorism, Crime, And National Security Policy In A Post 9-11 World, David Schultz Oct 2010

Democracy On Trial: Terrorism, Crime, And National Security Policy In A Post 9-11 World, David Schultz

Golden Gate University Law Review

The events of 9-11 presented western democracies with a challenge and a test. The challenge: respond to terrorism either by military or diplomatic means (such as criminal apprehension and prosecution) to address national security needs and to protect civilian populations, infrastructure, and commerce. The test: meet the terrorist and national security challenges while simultaneously respecting international law, human rights, domestic constitutionalism, rule of law, and individual rights and liberties of both citizens and non-citizens. Unfortunately, the report card on both the challenge and test reveal a mixed record, especially in the United States. This Article examines regime responses to international …


The Servant Of All: Humility, Humanity, And Judicial Diversity, Michael Nava Oct 2010

The Servant Of All: Humility, Humanity, And Judicial Diversity, Michael Nava

Golden Gate University Law Review

This article discusses how judicial diversity might increase qualities of humility and humanity on the bench. I close this section with two examples, the first involving two United States Supreme Court justices and the second a judge on the San Francisco Superior Court.


Police Use Of Tasers: The Truth Is "Shocking", Elizabeth Seals Oct 2010

Police Use Of Tasers: The Truth Is "Shocking", Elizabeth Seals

Golden Gate University Law Review

This Comment proposes that California adopt legislation to regulate law-enforcement taser use. Part I introduces the history of tasers and their current use in law enforcement. Part II.A explains the need for legislation in California, supported by the documented deaths and health risks associated with taser use, and the widespread concern about police use among various private and governmental organizations. Part II.B identifies the successful taser legislation of other states, while Part II.C discusses an unsuccessful attempt at taser legislation in California. Finally, Part II.D introduces a model statute that California legislators should adopt, which should include training and reporting …


Turning Troubled Teens Into Career Criminals: Can California Reform The System To Rehabilitate Its Youth Offenders?, Anna L. Benvenue Oct 2010

Turning Troubled Teens Into Career Criminals: Can California Reform The System To Rehabilitate Its Youth Offenders?, Anna L. Benvenue

Golden Gate University Law Review

This Comment proposes a statute mandating institutional reform of California's juvenile system, a necessary legislative step toward enabling the CY A to fulfill its statutory mission and judicial mandate. Changes originally proposed in California S.B. 609 are the first steps on the way to making rehabilitation a reality in the CYA. The approaches found in that bill, along with those found in other legislation, will enable the CYA to comply with its legislative mandate and with the Farrell consent decree.


Out Of Step: When The California Street Terrorism Enforcement And Prevention Act Stumbles Into Penal Code Limits, J. Franklin Sigal Oct 2010

Out Of Step: When The California Street Terrorism Enforcement And Prevention Act Stumbles Into Penal Code Limits, J. Franklin Sigal

Golden Gate University Law Review

This Comment focuses on how the multiple-punishment prohibition of section 654 applies to the enhancements of one particular California statute: the Street Terrorism Enforcement and Prevention ("STEP") Act, a piece of anti-gang legislation passed in 1988 in the wake of rampant gang-related violence in the Los Angeles area. Specifically, this discussion centers on the imposition of multiple gang-enhancement provisions on a single defendant who engages in a single crime spree. If section 654 does apply to gang enhancements, then the prosecutorial practice of attaching them to every criminal charge in an indictment violates the intent of this Penal Code section, …


A Crime Victim's Right To Be "Reasonably Heard": Kenna V. United States District Court, Michael P. Vidmar Oct 2010

A Crime Victim's Right To Be "Reasonably Heard": Kenna V. United States District Court, Michael P. Vidmar

Golden Gate University Law Review

In Kenna v. United States District Court, the Ninth Circuit held that under the Crime Victim's Rights Act ("CYRA"), a crime victim's right to be "reasonably heard" during sentencing was not limited to written impact statements, but included the right to allocute at any public proceeding. This was an issue of first impression in the Ninth Circuit. "No court of appeals had addressed the scope of this particular CVRA right." Two district courts had considered this issue and had reached contrary decisions. The Ninth Circuit agreed with the United States District Court for the District of Utah that a plausible …


Voir Dire Racial Discrimination Under A "Comparative Juror Analysis" In Kesser V. Cambra, Andje Morovich Oct 2010

Voir Dire Racial Discrimination Under A "Comparative Juror Analysis" In Kesser V. Cambra, Andje Morovich

Golden Gate University Law Review

In Kesser v. Cambra, the en banc Ninth Circuit panel held that a California State Prosecutor's justifications for peremptory challenges during jury voir dire were pretexts for purposeful discrimination. The Ninth Circuit concluded that the California Court of Appeal failed to apply the proper Supreme Court test under Batson v. Kentucky to determine whether the prosecutor's nonracial motives were pretextual. Applying a "comparative juror analysis" (comparing the characteristics of a stricken juror with an impaneled juror), the Ninth Circuit majority held that the California Court of Appeal improperly relied solely on the prosecutor's own self-serving testimony as to his race-neutral …


Defining "Ordinary Prudential Doctrines" After Booker: Why The Limited Remand Is The Least Of Many Evils, Michael Guasco Oct 2010

Defining "Ordinary Prudential Doctrines" After Booker: Why The Limited Remand Is The Least Of Many Evils, Michael Guasco

Golden Gate University Law Review

This Note examines the limited-remand approach in comparison with the approaches taken by the different circuits. Part I discusses the history of the Sentencing Guidelines and the cases, up to and including Booker, that completely changed the way the Sentencing Guidelines were used. Part II sets forth the history of the traditional plain error standard of review and the contemporary "Plain Error Problem." Part III examines the limited-remand approach and compares it with the approach taken in other circuits. Part IV argues that the limited-remand approach is the best of a list of bad possible choices but that the Ninth …


United States V. Thomas: Ninth Circuit Misunder-"Standing": Why Permission To Drive Should Not Be Necessary To Create An Expectation Of Privacy In A Rental Car, Matthew M. Shafae Oct 2010

United States V. Thomas: Ninth Circuit Misunder-"Standing": Why Permission To Drive Should Not Be Necessary To Create An Expectation Of Privacy In A Rental Car, Matthew M. Shafae

Golden Gate University Law Review

This Note argues that the proper inquiry for determining whether a defendant has a legitimate expectation of privacy in a rental vehicle when that defendant is the unauthorized driver of a rental car is the totality-of-the-circumstances test, not the permission test adopted by the Ninth Circuit. A test requiring permission is unsupported by Supreme Court precedent and will yield inconsistent results when applied. Part I provides a brief historical background for challenges to Fourth Amendment searches. Part II sets forth the background and analysis of the opinion in focus, United States v. Thomas. Part III evaluates the court's analysis in …


Violence In The Courts: The Ninth Circuit's Attempt To Grapple With And Pin Down What Is A "Crime Of Violence" In United States V. Serna, Daniel S. Cho Oct 2010

Violence In The Courts: The Ninth Circuit's Attempt To Grapple With And Pin Down What Is A "Crime Of Violence" In United States V. Serna, Daniel S. Cho

Golden Gate University Law Review

This Note examines the limitations of the strict categorical approach; the method by which sentencing courts and courts of review determine whether an offense is a crime of violence for sentence enhancement purposes. Part I of this Note examines the "crime of violence" sentence enhancement under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines ("Guidelines"). Part II examines the Ninth Circuit's analysis of what constitutes a crime of violence in United States v. Serna. Part III proposes that the types of sources available to sentencing courts when analyzing whether an offense is a violent crime should be expanded based on Justice O'Connor's dissenting opinion …


United States V. Howard: Refocusing Probable Cause For Probationers And Parolees, Sean A. Kersten Oct 2010

United States V. Howard: Refocusing Probable Cause For Probationers And Parolees, Sean A. Kersten

Golden Gate University Law Review

This Note argues that the Ninth Circuit rigidly followed circuit precedent to create and apply an incorrect standard to determine whether probable cause existed to believe that Howard resided at an unreported address. The court should have determined the reasonableness of the search by balancing Howard's reduced expectation of privacy as a probationer with legitimate governmental interests. Furthermore, the court's analysis served to protect the property at the unreported address rather than Howard's Fourth Amendment privacy rights. This decision is contrary to the principle articulated in Katz v. United States, which states the Fourth Amendment is intended to protect people, …


Judicial Independence: A Cornerstone Of Liberty: Golden Gate University School Of Law Jesse Carter Distinguished Speaker Series, Michael Traynor Oct 2010

Judicial Independence: A Cornerstone Of Liberty: Golden Gate University School Of Law Jesse Carter Distinguished Speaker Series, Michael Traynor

Golden Gate University Law Review

Constitution Day Lecture, September 18, 2006