Law Commons^™

State Regulation Of Unsolicited Bulk Commercial E-Mail And The Dormant Commerce Clause, Jeffrey D. Zentner

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

This note will analyze the implications of the dormant Commerce Clause as applied to Virginia's stringent anti-spam law, under which two spammers have already been convicted of felony spamming. Part I will lay out the background of anti-spam legislation, case law involving other state statutes, and a brief history of United States Supreme Court dormant Commerce Clause jurisprudence. Part II will examine the validity of state spam regulation under the Federal CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 and current dormant Commerce Clause jurisprudence, using Virginia's anti-spam law as an example. Finally, Part III will examine the shortcomings of the CAN-SPAM Act and …

State User Fees And The Dormant Commerce Clause, Dan T. Coenen

Vanderbilt Law Review

The law takes shape as great principles collide in the context of concrete cases. In the field of constitutional law, the task of reconciling key precepts falls, of necessity, to the Supreme Court. Indeed, much of the Court's work involves delineating the borders of competing constitutional principles that the Court itself has created.

This Article considers the interplay of two central tenets of the Court's dormant commerce clause jurisprudence. The first of these principles exempts from the general proscription on discrimination against interstate commerce a state's actions as a "market participant," rather than as a "market regulator."' The second principle, …

"Doing Business": Defining State Control Over Foreign Corporations, William A. Holby

Vanderbilt Law Review

This Note will attempt to analyze the present status of the term "doing business" or the substitute terminology used to define that level of activity sufficient to subject a foreign corporation to state control in a particular context.' After defining the degree of activity necessary to permit the state to exercise control in each context, this Note will analyze the accuracy and utility of using terminology such as "doing business" in describing whether corporate activity within a state is sufficient to permit state exercise of legislative or judicial jurisdiction. This Note concludes by pro-posing that use of such ambiguous language …

The Negative Commerce Clause And State Environmental Legislation-Externalities Suggest Application Of The Tax Standard To Environmental Regulations, Douglas K. Stewart

Vanderbilt Law Review

This Note advocates judicial application of this tax analysis not only to tax environmental legislation, but also to regulatory environmental legislation. The theoretical justification for this thesis is provided by the economic concept of externalities. Externalities are elements used in the production of a marketed item without cost to the producer, but at a cost to others. The term "externality"stems from the fact that the use of the element of production is not included in the market price of the item. Undesirable environmental impact has been recognized as an externality -- a cost to those people adversely affected by it …

Justice Stevens: The First Three Terms, George C. Lamb, Iii, Charles L. Schlumberger, D. J. Simonetti, James D. Spratt Jr., Joel R. Tew, Douglas W. Ey, Jr. Special Projects Editor

Vanderbilt Law Review

This Special Project undertakes an examination of Justice Stevens' Supreme Court opinions in an effort to identify his philosophical orientations, to evaluate the consistency of his views, and to determine the extent to which he has developed workable analytical methods. To achieve these goals, Justice Stevens' opinions are examined in three contexts: first, the area of federal-state relations,including commerce clause and supremacy clause questions; second, the individual rights area, emphasizing criminal constitutional and first amendment issues, and problems of fifth and fourteenth amendment analysis; and third, questions concerning the proper role of the Supreme Court in the constitutional scheme. Even …

State Buy-American Laws - Is There A Judicial Solution?, George C. Lamb, Iii

Vanderbilt Law Review

State buy-American statutes are among the most peculiar of legislative responses to problems of unemployment and low levels of economic growth in the United States. Designed to decrease unemployment among American workers by promoting the development of American industry, the statutes typically require that purchasers of goods to be used in state-subsidized projects prefer products manufactured in America over those made in foreign countries, often regardless of price or quality.' State buy-American statutes are presently in effect in a number of states, despite criticism that they constitute devices of economic protectionism for domestic goods and barriers to a unified United …

State Taxation Under The Commerce Clause: An Historical Perspective, Jerome R. Hellerstein

Vanderbilt Law Review

Although Congress has plenary power under the commerce clause to regulate state taxation of interstate commerce, that power remained virtually unexercised until 1959. As a consequence of the silence of Congress, the task of reconciling the competing interests of states, multistate businesses, and local businesses, and accommodating those interests to the needs of a national economy fell by default to the Supreme Court. The instrumentality available to the Court for dealing with the complex political, fiscal, and economic controversies inherent in state taxation of multistate business was the commerce clause (augmented by due process restrictions and,to a lesser extent, the …

Legislation, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

An examination of the current status of state net income taxation on interstate business logically begins with the decision in Northwestern Portland Cement Co. v. Minnesota and its companion case Williams v. Stockham Valves & Fitting, Inc.' There the United States Supreme Court held that an apportioned, nondiscriminatory excise tax imposed by a state on the net income of a foreign corporation does not violate either the due process clause or the commerce clause of the federal constitution, even though the income is derived solely from interstate commerce. Mr. Justice Frankfurter, dissenting, warned that increased burdens of bookkeeping necessary to …