Law Commons^™

Inequitable By Design: The Strategic Distribution Of Costs And Benefits By Business Improvement Districts And Special Assessments, Molly Gillespie

Et Cetera

Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) are most commonly credited for their innovative strategies in rejuvenating the economic vitality in American cities. However, their implementation raises concerns about fairness and equity. The current practice of financing BIDs through special assessments, particularly applying the front footage method, disproportionately burdens certain property owners for the benefit of others. Consequently, property owners face a range of issues, including financial strain, involuntary annexation, and potential threats to property ownership. However, the existing framework of state constitutions lack the necessary provisions to adequately address these challenges, underscoring the need for significant reform.

This Note addresses these concerns …

Opportunity In Ohio: Rethinking Northeast Ohio's Opportunity Zones With Local Legislation, Patrick J. Lipaj

Cleveland State Law Review

Welcome to Census Tract 1186.02! Here, in a small sliver of Cleveland’s Glenville neighborhood, tucked between Superior and Hough Avenues, you will uncover a lot. You will discover a rich history of the city’s ethnic and cultural roots. You will also find gang violence, underperforming schools, a median household income of $9,526, and a poverty rate of 66.5 percent. Something you will not find in 1186.02 is investment. Private or public, money is not flowing in to 1186.02 and it has not for a long time. The substantial toll of continuous underinvestment on the residents of this neighborhood, one of …

The Visual Artists Rights Act's "Recognized Stature" Provision: A Case For Repeal, Drew Thornley

Cleveland State Law Review

Using as a case study the recent “5Pointz” litigation, a case involving visual artists’ moral-rights claims to graffiti they drew on a piece of private property in Queens, New York, this article examines the threat that Visual Artists Rights Act (VARA)’s grant to visual artists of the right “to prevent any destruction of a work of recognized stature” poses to common-law property and contract rights. This article advances the argument that the default legal rule should be that the rights of property owners (real or personal), including the right to destroy such properties, trump any moral rights that visual artists …

Legislative Reform Or Legalized Theft?: Why Civil Asset Forfeiture Must Be Outlawed In Ohio, Alex Haller

Cleveland State Law Review

Civil asset forfeiture is a legal method for law enforcement to deprive United States citizens of their personal property with little hope for its return. With varying degrees of legal protection at the state level, Ohio legislators must encourage national policy reform by outlawing civil asset forfeiture in Ohio. Ohio Revised Code Section 2981.05 should be amended to outlaw civil asset forfeiture by requiring a criminal conviction prior to allowing the seizure of an individual’s property. This Note proposes two plans of action that will restore Ohio resident’s property rights back to those originally afforded in the United States Constitution.

The Power To Exclude And The Power To Expel, Donald J. Smythe

Cleveland State Law Review

Property laws have far-reaching implications for the way people live and for the opportunities they and their children will have. They also have important consequences for property developers and businesses, both large and small. It is not surprising, therefore, that modern developments in property law have been so strongly influenced by political pressures. Unfortunately, those with the most economic resources and political power have had the most telling influences on the development of property laws in the United States during the twentieth century. This Article introduces a simple game—the "Not-In-My-Backyard Game"—to illustrate the motivations of various parties with interests in …

Treating Neighbors As Nuisances: Troubling Applications Of Criminal Activity Nuisance Ordinances, Joseph Mead, Megan E. Hatch, J. Rosie Tighe, Marissa Pappas, Kristi Andrasik, Elizabeth Bonham

Et Cetera

Thousands of cities nationwide enforce Criminal Activity Nuisance Ordinances that catalyze the eviction of tenants when there are two or more police visits to a property. We report findings of an empirical study of enforcement of nuisance ordinances, finding that cities often target survivors of domestic violence, people experiencing a mental health crisis, nonprofit organizations serving people with disabilities, people seeking life-saving medical intervention to prevent a fatal drug overdose, and non-criminal behavior such as playing basketball or being “disrespectful.” Codifying into public policy a path to homelessness in these instances is not only cruel and counterproductive, but likely violates …

How New York Investors Financed The Looting Of Syria, Ukraine, And Iraq: The Need To Increase Civil Liabilities For "Current Possessors" Of Stolen Antiquities In The 21st Century, Lukas Padegimas

Global Business Law Review

This note argues that the U.S. should pass its own self-policing legislation that will make it less enticing for thieves to try to sell stolen antiquities to the U.S. market. Our world heritage is under threat from undeterred looting, which results in antiquities vanishing from museum storerooms and archeological sites before ending up in the storerooms of investors. Currently, source nations that attempt to have stolen antiquities returned are deterred by the high legal costs involved. As the biggest market for stolen cultural property, states within the U.S. should amend current replevin laws so that the possessors of stolen cultural …

The Water Cycle Boogie: Clean Water Act Jurisdiction, Home Rule, And Water Law, Colin W. Maguire

Et Cetera

The EPA and US Army Corps of Engineers’ agency rule regarding the definition of “Waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act increased jurisdictional assertions by as much as 5%. What’s the big deal? This violates the Home Rule of state and local governments. This violation also creates concerns where many property owners are not sure if they need federal permits to develop land under the Clean Water Act. With issues like this new Clean Water Act rule, the drought conditions in the Western U.S., and international concerns regarding fresh water, water law is a critical area which …

Access Management: Balancing Public And Private Rights In The Modern "Commons" Of The Roadway, Michael L. Stokes

Cleveland State Law Review

This Article will begin by examining how the concept of a right of access to an abutting roadway developed and how courts treated early efforts to regulate roadway access for public welfare and safety. Next, we will see how public authorities began to comprehend the differences between mobility and land access and to perceive the conflict between traffic volume, traffic speed, and frequent driveways and intersections. This new knowledge led to the adoption of statewide permit-based programs to manage access to roadways using criteria calibrated to match each road’s function in the continuum between access and mobility. We will identify …

Overview Of International Arbitration In The Intellectual Property Context, Kenneth R. Adamo

Global Business Law Review

Resolving intellectual property rights (“IPR”) issues through alternative dispute resolution (“ADR”) proceedings was a technique long-developing in many major countries. Despite the earlier presence of the Arbitration Act in United States law, the subject of use of arbitration in IPR situations, especially regarding U.S. patents, remained an open and contested issue, until the original addition of 35 U.S.C. § 294 to the U.S. Patent Act in 1982. U.S. law is now resolved in the availability of IPR arbitration as an ADR tool, either through a “pre-problem” contract, such as a license, or as a “post-problem” mechanism elected and/or established by …

Clearing The Path For Land Rights, One Road Block At A Time: How Peru’S Indigenous Population Can Assert Their Land Rights Against Peru’S Government, Alex Meyers

Global Business Law Review

To the indigenous people of Peru, a strong relationship exists between land and livelihood. They depend on their land for the food they eat, the water they drink, and the resources they use to build their shelter. It follows that a threat to their property rights also threatens their survival; this past year, they have proven that they are prepared to defend their property rights with their lives. This Note shows that between the legal systems of Peru, the Organization of American States (OAS), and the United Nations (UN), Peru’s indigenous people should pursue their claim against Peru’s government in …

The Market Value Rule Of Damages And The Death Of Irreparable Injury, Patrick Luff

Cleveland State Law Review

A fundamental principle of remedies is that the remedy should be sufficient to place the injured party in the position he would have occupied but for the wrong suffered. But law and equity come to very different conclusions about what remedy is sufficient to restore a plaintiff to his status quo ante when real property, rare property, and property with high sentimental but low market value are involved. Equity treats the loss of these items as irreparable injury, meaning that damages are not adequate to compensate the victim for their loss. But if the real property is seized in eminent …

The Wholesale Decommissioning Of Vacant Urban Neighborhoods: Smart Decline, Public-Purpose Takings, And The Legality Of Shrinking Cities, Ben Beckman

Cleveland State Law Review

This Note is principally concerned with those takings that arise from the State's exercise of eminent domain, either directly or through the State's designee. To put a finer point on it, this Note addresses the distinction that property-rights advocates have developed to delegitimize certain types of takings. This distinction divides condemnations into disfavored-yet-legitimate takings-the direct-government-use and common-carrier takings-and ostensibly illegitimate public-purpose takings. The property-rights movement unequivocally places economic-development takings in the illegitimate category. The status of blight-remediation takings is ambiguous but tends toward legitimacy.

The Public Trust Doctrine And The Great Lakes Shores, Kenneth K. Kilbert

Cleveland State Law Review

The shores of the Great Lakes may look serene, but they are a battleground. Members of the public enjoy using the shores for fishing, boating, birding, or simply strolling along and taking in the scenic vistas. Repeatedly, however, owners of land ordering the Great Lakes (i.e., littoral owners),' armed with deeds indicating they own the shore to the water's edge or even lower, have tried to stop members of the public from using their property above the water's edge. The right to exclude others from your property, the littoral owners argue, is one of the most important sticks in the …

Redefining Stewardship Over Body Parts , Elizabeth E. Appel Blue

Journal of Law and Health

This paper proposes one possible avenue for defining a framework to address body parts. I begin with the presumption that given the increasing use of body parts outside of our bodies, either after death or during life, society requires a framework with institutions and rules to govern our body parts. Yet there is no settled framework. Much of the controversy over differing approaches stems from whether people should be able to sell body parts. Thus, each potential framework implicitly addresses the question of monetary value. While multiple possibilities exist, the predominant models are (1) property, most often meaning ownership that …

Catching The Unique Rabbit: Why Pets Should Be Reclassified As Inimitable Property Under The Law, Kelly Wilson

Cleveland State Law Review

This Note introduces a new approach for resolving the issue of inadequate compensation for pet loss by arguing for the adoption of a new classification of personal property called inimitable property. The new categorization takes into consideration the live, conscious, and unique qualities of pets that distinguish them from other sorts of inanimate property.

Kelo V. City Of New London: A Reduction Of Property Rights But A Tool To Combat Urban Sprawl, Gregory V. Jolivette Jr.

Cleveland State Law Review

This Note will analyze the two opposing interests of property owners and of cities in the context of the Supreme Court's Public Use Clause jurisprudence and show that while the Court's decision in Kelo may have diminished property rights, the decision could render an overriding positive impact on combating urban sprawl. Part II defines urban sprawl and identifies some of its associated costs. Part III briefly describes Public Use Clause jurisprudence prior to the Supreme Court's ruling in Kelo. Part IV discusses the Court's opinion in Kelo and Justice Kennedy's concurrence. Part V examines the substantial criticism of Kelo and …

Disclosure Protection: Franchises And Food Court Leases, James R. Cataland

Cleveland State Law Review

The shopping center industry continues to enjoy relative freedom from governmental regulation and operates within the framework of a long term, well established body of favorable commercial landlord/tenant law. Conversely, certain "'unfair and deceptive practices" in the sale of franchises have led to comprehensive consumer protection legislation at both the state and federal level. In 1978, the Federal Trade Commission promulgated a series of uniform disclosure requirements that a franchise or business opportunity seller must make when soliciting a prospective buyer. Often, the prospective buyer of a fast food franchise is an unsophisticated husband and wife, owner/operator, commonly referred to …

Ariadne's Thread: Leading Students Into And Out Of The Labyrinth Of The Rule Against Perpetuities , Maureen E. Markey

Cleveland State Law Review

This Article focuses partly on my own approach to teaching the Rule Against Perpetuities, but it addresses the approaches of others based on the survey responses. Although I have developed a method that works fairly well for my classes, I am always open to suggestions from others for modifying and improving that approach. Of course, a single method, no matter how good it appears to be, will not work for everyone. Therefore, I have incorporated a number of approaches into this Article so that those wanting to develop or improve their teaching of the Rule can pick and choose among …

How The Border Crossed Us: Filling The Gap Between Plume V. Seward And The Dispossission Of Mexican Landowners In California After 1848, Kim David Chanbonpin

Cleveland State Law Review

The goal of this paper is to show how the rule in Plume v. Seward and the actual practice of the Board of Land Commissioners in California at the time are not in synch. In Section II, I provide the historical background to the United States imperialist goal of Manifest Destiny. This section also gives a factual introduction to Plume and the procedure of the Board of Land Commissioners. Section III contrasts the result in Plume with the outcomes in the Board's decisions in factually similar land claims. Section IV analyzes the Guadalupe-Hidalgo Treaty Land Claims Act proposed to Congress …

Land, Labor And Reparations, Guadalupe T. Luna Northern Illinois University

Cleveland State Law Review

Kim David Chanbonpin and Ronald L. Mize, Jr. bring to LatCrit two legal historical essays that connect property and labor issues to the present. The first draws from the former Mexican land base presently comprising the American Southwest. The second examines a class of "agricultural underdogs" that provided their labor to the nation's food production systems during wartime. Both articles bring real life consequences impacting our communities of color generally but gente of Mexican descent specifically. The authors' treatment of difficult questions however, extends legal engagement that demands compensation for past injuries with consequences into the present. Their assertions of …

No Value For A Pound Of Flesh: Extending Marketinalienability Of The Human Body, Andrew Wancata

Journal of Law and Health

In the United States and many countries throughout the world, selling non-regenerative organs for monetary gain constitutes a serious criminal offense. Notwithstanding this strong ban on the sale of organs, United States citizens are permitted to sell other "parts" of their bodies, including blood, sperm, and eggs ("ova"), for market value because current statutes do not consider reproductive cells and other regenerative tissue "organs" or even within the ambit of "parts." Rather, in most contexts, regenerative cells and tissue are though of as "products" of the human body. In fact, the United States remains one of only a few industrialized …

Chazakah: Judaic Law's Non-Adverse Possession, Joshua A. Klarfeld

Cleveland State Law Review

This article questions the current doctrine of adverse possession. Rather than viewing adverse possession as a method of acquiring land, adverse possession should instead create a rebuttable presumption of ownership. Section II of this article describes adverse possession and outlines its elements. This section, in describing how the doctrine works, provides a framework for discussing how and why the law should change. Section III of this article describes chazakah. Unlike adverse possession, chazakah serves not as a tool by which a person acquires land, but instead creates a presumption of ownership. The true owner, however, may rebut that presumption. Chazakah …

Resolving Disputes Over Excess Frozen Embryos Through The Confines Of Property And Contract Law, Shelly R. Petralia

Journal of Law and Health

This Article addresses the conflicts that arise due to the increased number of cryogenically frozen embryos produced during in vitro fertilization (IVF). Part I discusses the IVF process, in general. While it recognizes the man's role in the process, it focuses primarily on the physical and emotional hardships that are placed on the woman. Part I also gives the backdrop of the case law in the area of embryo distribution. Part II introduces the idea that an embryo should be reduced to private property, through utilization of the labor and economic theories of property law. Additionally, an embryo's use, rather …

Risk Management For Land Use Regulations: A Proposed Model , Kenneth G. Silliman

Cleveland State Law Review

This Article constructs a conservative legal framework to guide planners in conventional planning activities. It further proposes that planners should apply the model to these conventional activities, but work closely with the municipal attorney before adopting more innovative and controversial planning devices.This Article proceeds in four major sections. Section I commences, with historical reviews: major changes in land use planning within the last 50 years, the land development problems associated with those changes, and judicial responses to these same problems. Comparisons are frequently made between cases from a rustbelt Midwestern state (Ohio) and cases from a faster growing sunbelt state …

Kass V. Kass, Blazing Legal Trails In The Field Of Human Reproductive Technology, Kelly Summers

Cleveland State Law Review

The decision in Kass illustrates a situation where well-founded common law contract principles were applied to a novel reproductive issue in order to respond to rapidly evolving technological progress. However, this legal dilemma presents a variable that warrants special attention. The parties involved in the case at hand struggled for control of a possible human life; Mrs. Kass hoped to preserve the pre-zygotes for future implantation attempts, and Mr. Kass sought to avoid the tribulations associated with compulsory parenthood. This Comment will evaluate the decisions rendered by both the Supreme Court of New York and the New York Court of …

A Child Conceived After His Father's Death: Posthumous Reproduction And Inheritance Rights - An Analysis Of Ohio Statutes, Cindy L. Steeb

Cleveland State Law Review

This Article will argue that the posthumous child and the rights and responsibilities relating to such a child, are directly related to the fundamental right to procreate, thus statutes must support rather than prohibit posthumous conception. It will argue that legislation must necessarily incorporate that right in determining issues and forming legislation related to the posthumous child. It will show that current legislation, both the various Uniform Codes and Ohio's Revised Code, is not sufficient to protect and provide for this new class of children. In reaching this conclusion, Part II of this Article will review the history of artificial …

Predatory Lending: Practices, Remedies And Lack Of Adequate Protection For Ohio Consumers, Anna Beth Ferguson

Cleveland State Law Review

This note focuses on remedies available to borrowers who fall prey to predatory lending practices on their home equity loans where their homes are used as collateral. Part II gives basic background information on predatory lending: what predatory lending is, examples of common predatory lending techniques, and, who benefits and who is hurt by predatory lending practices. Part III discusses and critiques current federal laws that borrowers have used to combat predatory mortgage lending practices. Part IV explains the current forms of relief available in Ohio and the limitations of these remedies. Part V discusses remedies in other states, focusing …

The Tax Status Of Ohio Property Used For Low-Income Housing, Christopher P. Conomy

Cleveland State Law Review

This Note argues that the rule denying property tax exemption to low-income housing units is improper. The rule is improper in three significant regards. First, as a matter of social and public policy, the rule is misguided, because it hinders the fulfillment of an important need in Ohio and in American society at large. Second, as a purely legal matter, the original rule denying exemption for these properties resulted as a mistaken application of the existing law regarding the definition of "charitable" use. The third, and most compelling reason, is that the legal basis underlying the original rule has undergone …

The Parma Housing Racial Discrimination Remedy Revisited, W. Dennis Keating

Cleveland State Law Review

In 1980, the city of Parma, Ohio, Cleveland's largest suburban city was found guilty of violating the Fair Housing Act. Along with the Gautreaux, Mt. Laurel, and Yonkers cases, the Parma case represents a longstanding remedy aimed at eliminating a pattern and practice of municipal discrimination in housing. It raises the issue of how far courts and the federal judiciary in particular, are willing and able to go in order to address systematic patterns of housing segregation. This article reviews the original decision and its appeal, the implementation of the original remedy, and the more recent remedy and its prospects …