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Full-Text Articles in Law
Book Review, David R. Boyd, The Environmental Rights Revolution: A Global Study Of Constitutions, Human Rights, And The Environment, Bradford Mank, Suzanne Smith
Book Review, David R. Boyd, The Environmental Rights Revolution: A Global Study Of Constitutions, Human Rights, And The Environment, Bradford Mank, Suzanne Smith
Faculty Articles and Other Publications
David R. Boyd’s book entitled, The Environmental Rights Revolution: A Global Study of Constitutions, Human Rights, and the Environment, provides a comprehensive overview of nations that have incorporated the right to a healthy environment in their constitutions. Throughout his research, Boyd analyzes the effectiveness of environmental protection provisions in national constitutions and seeks to determine whether constitutional provisions guaranteeing the right to a healthy environment have measurable, positive effects on the environment. His wide-ranging compilation and analysis of environmental rights provisions in numerous countries is an important contribution to international human rights literature. Although Boyd explains that treating the right …
Summers V. Earth Island Institute Rejects Probabilistic Standing, But A 'Realistic Threat' Of Harm Is A Better Standing Test, Bradford Mank
Summers V. Earth Island Institute Rejects Probabilistic Standing, But A 'Realistic Threat' Of Harm Is A Better Standing Test, Bradford Mank
Faculty Articles and Other Publications
In Summers v. Earth Island Institute, the Supreme Court recently rejected Justice Breyer’s dissenting opinion’s proposed test for organizational standing based upon the statistical probability that some of an organization’s members will likely be harmed in the near future by a defendant’s allegedly illegal actions. Implicitly, however, the Court had recognized some form of probabilistic standing in Friends of the Earth v. Laidlaw, which found standing where plaintiffs avoid recreational activities because of “reasonable concerns” about future health injuries from pollution; Summers did not overrule Laidlaw. There is an inherent tension between the Summers and Laidlaw decisions. This Article applies …
Should States Have Greater Standing Rights Than Ordinary Citizens?: Massachusetts V. Epa's New Standing Test For States, Bradford Mank
Should States Have Greater Standing Rights Than Ordinary Citizens?: Massachusetts V. Epa's New Standing Test For States, Bradford Mank
Faculty Articles and Other Publications
In Massachusetts v. EPA, 127 S. Ct. 1438 (2007), the Supreme Court held that carbon dioxide (CO²) and other greenhouse gases (GHGs) are air pollutants within the meaning of the Clean Air Act (CAA). Although its decision on the merits is important, the Court's conclusion that Massachusetts had standing to file suit because states are entitled to more lenient standing criteria may have a greater impact in the long-term on legal doctrine. In Massachusetts, the Supreme Court for the first time clearly gave greater standing rights to states than ordinary citizens. The Court, however, failed to explain to what extent …
Are Public Facilities Different From Private Ones?: Adopting A New Standard Of Review For The Dormant Commerce Clause, Bradford Mank
Are Public Facilities Different From Private Ones?: Adopting A New Standard Of Review For The Dormant Commerce Clause, Bradford Mank
Faculty Articles and Other Publications
On September 26, 2006, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in United Haulers Association Inc. v. Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Management Authority to decide the important issue of whether local governments may require that all waste in their jurisdiction be sent to a publicly-owned waste facility and thereby discriminate equally against both local and out-of-state private firms. The dormant Commerce Clause doctrine (DCCD) grants federal courts authority to invalidate state/local laws that discriminate against foreign goods/firms. The Court has adopted an overly broad per se test that invalidates any local law that theoretically discriminates against foreign firms, even if there is no …
Standing And Global Warming: Is Injury To All Injury To None?, Bradford Mank
Standing And Global Warming: Is Injury To All Injury To None?, Bradford Mank
Faculty Articles and Other Publications
Since global warming potentially affects everyone in the world, does any individual have standing to sue the U.S. EPA or other federal agencies to force them to address climate change issues? Suits addressing global warming raise difficult standing questions because some Supreme Court decisions have stated or implied that courts should not allow standing for plaintiffs who file suits alleging general injuries to the public at large because the political branches of government - Congress and the executive branch - are better equipped to resolve such issues. There is a better argument, however, for courts to recognize standing for plaintiffs …
Are Anti-Retaliation Regulations In Title Vi Or Title Ix Enforceable In A Private Right Of Action: Does Sandoval Or Sullivan Control This Question?, Bradford Mank
Faculty Articles and Other Publications
Recently, the federal circuit courts of appeal have divided in addressing to what extent either Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 or Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 protects those who complain about racial or gender discrimination from retaliation by their employers or schools. Neither Title VI nor Title IX explicitly prohibits retaliation by recipients. However, various federal agencies have issued specific Title VI or IX regulations that explicitly prohibit retaliation by recipients. Title IX "was modeled after Title VI . . ., which is parallel to Title IX except that it prohibits race discrimination, …
Is A Textualist Approach To Statutory Interpretation Pro-Environmentalist?: Why Pragmatic Agency Decisionmaking Is Better Than Judicial Literalism, Bradford Mank
Faculty Articles and Other Publications
This Article provides both anecdotal evidence and a more theoretical argument for why textualist statutory interpretation is not the best approach to address environmental. issues.
Environmental Justice And Discriminatory Siting: Risk-Based Representation And Equitable Compensation, Bradford Mank
Environmental Justice And Discriminatory Siting: Risk-Based Representation And Equitable Compensation, Bradford Mank
Faculty Articles and Other Publications
This Article proposes a new risk-based approach to representing and compensating not only minorities but any person affected by a siting decision. This proposal would create a formal mechanism for achieving the desire of many environmental justice advocates to empower those local residents most affected by a siting decision. The EPA or state siting agencies, however, would provide a technocratic framework for assessing the scope of risks, despite the limitations of risk and cost-benefit analysis; would set limits on the maximum amount of risk in any community; and would specify the minimum compensation required from a developer. Immediate neighbors, political …
Out-Of-State Trash: Solid Waste And The Dormant Commerce Clause, Bradford Mank
Out-Of-State Trash: Solid Waste And The Dormant Commerce Clause, Bradford Mank
Faculty Articles and Other Publications
America faces a garbage crisis. Many cities and states are rapidly depleting their landfill capacity for ordinary municipal solid waste.The "Not In My Back Yard" (NIMBY) syndrome hinders regional and national solutions to the solid waste problem. This Article examines to what extent local communities may exclude solid waste from out-of-state sources without violating the Commerce Clause.