Law Commons^™

Acting Cabinet Secretaries And The Twenty-Fifth Amendment, James A. Heilpern

University of Richmond Law Review

The Twenty-Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution contains a mechanism that enables the Vice President, with the support of a majority of the Cabinet, to temporarily relieve the President of the powers and duties of the Presidency. The provision has never been invoked, but was actively discussed by multiple Cabinet Secretaries in response to President Trump’s actions on January 6, 2021. News reports indicate that at least two Cabinet Secretaries—Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin—tabled these discussions in part due to uncertainties about how to operationalize the Amendment. Specifically, the Secretaries were concerned that the …

Unservice: Reconceptualizing The Utility Duty To Serve In Light Of Climate Change, Heather Payne

University of Richmond Law Review

Many facets of utility monopoly regulation are approaching a minimum of eight decades as part of our legal landscape. A bedrock principle of state utility regulation is the duty to serve, which demands that utilities provide nondiscriminatory service to all those within their geographic territory for the specific service for which they have been granted a monopoly. Within its exclusive territory, a utility is required “to serve all present and reasonably to be anticipated future users.” Each state has adopted some form of this for its regulated monopolies, although formulations differ. This Article argues that in light of climate change …

Unfoxing Judicial Review Of Agency Policy Reversals Or “We Were Told To Like The New Policy Better” Is Not A Good Reason To Change, Richard W. Murphy

University of Richmond Law Review

Part I of this Article provides context for the debate over the Fox power by tracing the evolution of leading efforts over the last century to legitimize agency policymaking and close the “democracy deficit” that it purportedly creates. Part I focuses in particular on the courts’ development of arbitrariness review as a means of controlling agency policymaking, and it also pays particular attention to the “presidentialist” model that White House control of agency policymaking democratizes and legitimizes it. Part II takes a close look at the Fox litigation itself. This discussion reveals that Justice Scalia’s Fox power, like presidentialism, presupposes …

Partnership Lost, Christine Hurt

University of Richmond Law Review

A century ago, two distinct business entities existed that could best be defined by describing either one of them as simply not the other. The corporation and the general partnership were mirror images of one another and opposites on a spectrum of corporate governance, limited liability, and taxation. Partnerships, seen as small, livelihood enterprises between active-owner partners, had personal liability but pass-through taxation. Corporations, seen as larger, capital-intensive enterprises with passive-owner shareholders, had limited liability but double taxation. The tax distinctions survive today, but the stereotypical partnership does not; in fact, the modern partnership is more corporation-like than partnership-like.

Today, …

Security Clearance Conundrum: The Need For Reform And Judicial Review, Heidi Gilchrist

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Involuntarily Committed Patients As Prisoners, Matt Lamkin, Carl Elliott

University of Richmond Law Review

Part I relates several stories of involuntarily committed patients who were recruited into studies posing serious risks. Part II draws on these cases to argue that the involuntary commitment of these patients leaves them vulnerable to unethical treatment by researchers. Their inherently coercive circumstances present an overwhelming obstacle to voluntary consent, and their captive status makes them attractive targets for research that could be performed using less vulnerable subjects.

Part III argues that most research on this patient population is improper under generally applicable principles of informed consent and fair subject selection. However, existing protections have proved insufficient to prevent …

Next Generation Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Law: Renewing 702, William C. Banks

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Indecency Four Years After Fox Television Stations: From Big Papi To A Porn Star, An Egregious Mess At The Fcc Continues, Clay Calvert, Minch Minchin, Keran Billaud, Kevin Bruckenstein, Tershone Phillips

University of Richmond Law Review

Using the WDBJ case as an analytical springboard, this article examines the tumultuous state of the FCC's indecency enforcement regime more than three years after the Supreme Court's June 2012 opinion in Fox Television Stations. Part I of this article briefly explores the missed First Amendment opportunities in Fox Television Stations, as well as some possible reasons why the Supreme Court chose to avoid the free-speech questions in that case." Part II addresses the FCC's decision in September 2012 to target only egregious instances of broadcast indecency and, in the process, to jettison hundreds of thousands of complaints that had …

Causation In Whistleblowing Claims, Nancy M. Modesitt

University of Richmond Law Review

his article attempts to bring coherence to the confusion of state whistleblower causation standards by: (1) explaining the causation standards presently used in federal whistleblower protection statutes; (2) identifying the proliferating causation standards used in whistleblower claims brought under state law; (3) assessing the most commonly used causation standards, including exploring the tort causation doctrine and theory that underlie some of these standards; and (4) proposing a uniform standard for causation in state whistle- blower litigation.

Osha Enforcement Of The "As Effective As" Standard For State Plans: Serving Process Or People?, Courtney M. Malveaux

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Virginia Uniform Power Of Attorney Act, Andrew H. Hook, Lisa V. Johnson

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

To Boldly Go Where Only A Select Few Have Gone Before: Exploring The Commercial Space Launch Act And The Legal Risks Associated With Reaching For The Stars, Brent M. Timberlake

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Safe Harbor Of 35 U.S.C. § 271(E)(1): The End Of Enforceable Biotechnology Patents In Drug Discovery?, Paul T. Nyffeler

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Crisis In The Commonwealth: Resolving The Conflict Between Governors And Attorneys General, Michael Signer

University of Richmond Law Review

In this article, I argue the solution to agency conflict and the broader problem of establishing the proper scope of executive authority lies in establishing that Virginia has a "statutory" rather than a "common-law" model of the Attorney General's powers, and that the Office of the Attorney General is therefore circumscribed by statute. Contrary to popular understanding, I will argue that Wilder v. Attorney General of Virginia effectively establishes Virginia as a statutory state and resolves the conflict in favor of the Governor. Because the Supreme Court of Virginia is unlikely to act more strongly in favor of the statutory …

Why Does The Chesapeake Bay Need Litigators?, Jon A. Mueller, Joseph Tannery

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Labor And Employment Law, Thomas M. Winn Iii

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Stream Flow Maintenance In Virginia, Timothy Hayes, Jeter M. Watson

University of Richmond Law Review

Increasing and conflicting uses of water have been widely heralded as one of the major environmental crises facing society. Below average rainfall in recent years has caused municipal water shortages in Virginia, particularly in the rapidly growing areas of the southeastern part of the state, evidence that water quantity problems are no longer a phenomenon peculiar to the western states. Generally, those in Virginia who advocate reallocation of water to areas of the state experiencing such shortages feel that the state has enough water, just not all in the correct places.