Law Commons^™

25th Annual Open Government Summit: Your Guide To The Access To Public Records Act & Open Meetings Act, Peter F. Neronha, Roger Williams University School Of Law

School of Law Conferences, Lectures & Events

No abstract provided.

Property And Sovereignty In America: A History Of Title Registries & Jurisdictional Power, K-Sue Park

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This Article tells an untold history of the American title registry—a colonial bureaucratic innovation that, though overlooked and understudied, constitutes one of the most fundamental elements of the U.S. property system today. Prior scholars have focused exclusively on its role in catalyzing property markets, while mostly ignoring their main sources in the colonies -- expropriated lands and enslaved people. This analysis centers the institution’s work of organizing and “proving” claims that were not only individual but collective, to affirm encroachments on tribal nations’ lands and scaffold colonies’ tenuous but growing political, jurisdictional power. In other words, American property and property …

Changemakers: Elevating Conversations Around Indigenous Peoples' Rights, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Reclaiming The Streets, Vanessa Casado-Pérez

Faculty Scholarship

Pedestrians have been getting the short end of the stick in street policies and regulations. Drivers and cars dominate our streets even though automobiles’ externalities kill thousands of people every year. Given the environmental, health, safety, and community effects of cars, municipalities should embrace a policy that puts pedestrians at the center and produces more miles of wider, well-maintained sidewalks. Sidewalks make communities greener, healthier, safer, more socially connected, and even, wealthier. COVID-19 lockdowns have shown both the relevance of sidewalks, as well as the possibility of pedestrians regaining space currently allocated to cars by widening sidewalks.

This Essay identifies, …

Takings Localism, Nestor M. Davisdson, Timothy M. Mulvaney

Faculty Scholarship

Conflicts over “sanctuary” cities, minimum wage laws, and gender-neutral bathrooms have brought the problematic landscape of contemporary state preemption of local governance to national attention. This Article contends that more covert, although equally robust, state interference can be found in property, with significant consequences for our understanding of takings law.

Takings jurisprudence looks to the states to mediate most tensions between individual property rights and community needs, as the takings federalism literature recognizes. Takings challenges, however, often involve local governments. If the doctrine privileges the democratic process to resolve most takings claims, then, that critical process is a largely local …

Changemakers: Coming Full Circle, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

22nd Annual Open Government Summit: Office Of The Attorney General: Access To Public Records Act & Open Meetings Act, Attorney General State Of Rhode Island

School of Law Conferences, Lectures & Events

No abstract provided.

21st Annual Open Government Summit: Office Of The Attorney General, Access To Public Records Act & Open Meetings Act, Attorney General State Of Rhode Island

School of Law Conferences, Lectures & Events

No abstract provided.

Land Use Federalism's False Choice, Michael C. Pollack

Articles

Debates about land use federalism — like those about federalism more broadly — often focus on whether policies and priorities ought to be set at the national or local level. But such categorical judgments about national intervention are inadequate because they obscure the diversity of mechanisms by which nationalization can and does occur. This Article draws attention to the importance of this underappreciated legislative design choice and develops a framework within which to evaluate it. This Article observes that nationalization can take the form of rules that either displace local decisionmaking or channel it, and that those rules can be …

Property In Law: Government Rights In Legal Innovations, Stephen Clowney

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

One of the most enduring themes in American political thought is that competition between states encourages legal innovation. Despite the prominence of this story in the national ideology, there is growing anxiety that state and local governments innovate at a socially suboptimal rate. Academics have recently expressed alarm that the pace of legal experimentation has become "extraordinarily slow," "inefficient," and "less than ideal." Ordinary citizens, too, seem concerned that government has been leeched of imagination and the dynamic spirit of experimentation; both talk radio programs and newspapers remain jammed with complaints about legislative gridlock and do-nothing politicians who cannot, or …

Historical Evolution And Future Of Natural Resources Law And Policy: The Beginning Of An Argument And Some Modest Predictions, Sally K. Fairfax, Helen Ingram, Leigh Raymond

The Future of Natural Resources Law and Policy (Summer Conference, June 6-8)

8 pages.

Includes bibliographical references

"Sally Fairfax, UC-Berkeley, Helen Ingram, UC-Irvine, and Leigh Raymond, Purdue University" -- Agenda

Use Of Motive Evidence In Judicial Review Of Rezonings, Michael Allen Dymersky, Jesse Richardson

Law Faculty Scholarship

In this Article, Michael Allen Dymersky and Jesse J Richardson Jr examine the widespread rule of judicial review that a court should not consider evidence of motive in reviewing legislative actions by local government. They evaluate the rule in the context of a rezoning case in Highland County, Virginia, in which a group of plaintiffs conclusively established that improper motive prompted one supervisor to vote in favor of rezoning the subject property. The Highland County Circuit Court invoked the rule against judicial review of motive evidence to foreclose any consideration of the admitted improper personal motives that had inspired that …

Rethinking Theft Crimes In Virginia, John G. Douglass

Law Faculty Publications

In sum, despite the efforts of the General Assembly, Virginia law remains stuck between the "rock" of antiquated theft crimes and the "hard place" of due process. Tinkering with procedural rules merely masks the real problem. My aim in this article is to suggest a different approach. It is time to address the substantive definition of theft crimes in Virginia: to consolidate the crimes of larceny, embezzlement, and false pretenses-as most other American jurisdictions have done into a single offense. By dealing with substance rather than procedure, we can eliminate historical distinctions which serve only to confound prosecutors and complicate …

The Rise Of The Perpetual Trust, Jesse Dukeminier, James E. Krier

Articles

For more than two centuries, the Rule against Perpetuities has served as the chief means of limiting a transferor's power to tie up property by way of successive contingent interests. But recently, at least seventeen jurisdictions in the United States have enacted statutes abolishing the Rule in the case of perpetual (or near-perpetual) trusts. The prime mover behind this important development has been the federal Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax. This Article traces the gradual decline of the common law Rule against Perpetuities, considers the dynamics behind the recent wave of state legislation, examines the problems that might result from the rise …

Ownership Of Water Rights In Irrigation Water Delivery Organizations: An Outline Of The Major Issues, Jeffrey C. Fereday

Water Organizations in a Changing West (Summer Conference, June 14-16)

33 pages.

Contains footnotes.

The Uniform Statutory Rule Against Perpetuities: Oregon Joins Up, Lawrence W. Waggoner

Articles

Uniform perpetuity reform is on the march, and Oregon has joined the parade. On January 1, 1990, the Uniform Statutory Rule Against Perpetuities (Uniform Act) became effective in Oregon. Although promulgated only three years ago, the Uniform Act has been enacted in over twenty percent of the states and appears to be on its way toward enactment in several others. Prior to the adoption of the Uniform Act, Oregon followed the common-law Rule Against Perpetuities (common-law Rule). Noted for its unjust consequences, the common-law Rule disregards actual events and invalidates a contingent (nonvested) future interest merely on the grounds of …

Liberty And Property In The Supreme Court: A Defense Of Roth And Perry, Peter N. Simon

Publications

No abstract provided.

Real Property (1969 Annual Survey Of Michigan Law), John E. Mogk, Brian M. Barkey

Law Faculty Research Publications

Over 65 cases were decided by Michigan courts during the Survey period dealing with some aspect of property law. Most of these cases raise property questions which are only incidental to nonproperty issues and, as a result, will not be discussed in this article. Similarly, those cases which have no precedential value, restate old law, or confirm an established trend are not considered worthy of discussion. Accordingly, in our judgment, only 16 property cases decided during the Survey period merit protracted attention.

The New Arkansas Inheritance Laws: A Step Into The Present With An Eye To The Future, Robert R. Wright

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Joint Tenancies And Tenancies By The Entirety In Michigan—Federal Gift Tax Considerations, Douglas A. Kahn

Articles

The establishment of joint tenancy' ownership of property, or the termination of such a tenancy, may have federal gift tax consequences to the co-owners of the property. Consequently, the gift tax is a factor to be weighed before embarking on either of these ventures. The gift tax consequences are determined by the nature of the property rights enjoyed by the joint tenants under the controlling state property law, and accordingly it is desirable, where Michigan property law is applicable, to consider the Michigan law and the significance of that law to the operation of the gift tax. However, before discussing …

Evolving Judicial Attitudes Toward Local Government Land Use Control, Terrance Sandalow

Articles

The year 1967 begins the second half-century of zoning in the United States. The first comprehensive zoning ordinance was adopted by New York City in 1916. In the fifty years that have elapsed, zoning has become, notwithstanding a growing disenchantment with it on the part of planners, the most widely employed technique of land use control in the United States. At the present time only Houston, of all the major cities in the United States, lacks a zoning ordinance. And, though I have not obtained precise figures, we are all familiar with the increasingly large per centage of small municipalities, …

Recent Developments In Eminent Domain In Arkansas, Robert R. Wright

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Landowner's Duty To Strangers On His Premises - As Developed In The Iowa Decisions, Herbert F. Goodrich

Articles

It is one thing to know a general rule of common law. It is another to know the application of the general rule, its variations and-exceptions, in a particular state. Both are important. Without the first, the lawyer becomes the mere tradesman. Worse than that for him, he is often helpless, for with all the gray mule and spotted cow cases to which a benevolent digester directs him he does not sense the legally significant facts so that he can recognize an authority when he sees it. Without the second, even the lawyer with a grasp of fundamentals is at …

Operation And Effect Of Recording, Ralph W. Aigler

Articles

While the operation of the recording acts is not uncommonly said to result in a preference of the earlier recorded instrument on the ground that under the circumstances the later grantee takes "with notice," the true view in the normal case would seem to be that the earlier grantee is preferred because priority in time gives priority in right-and by recording, he has done all that is required to preserve that favored position. Recording does not ordinarily give preference, it merely safeguards priority. Reference is here made to the normal case because it is, of course, true that there are …

Joint Tenancy In Personal Property In Michigan, Ralph W. Aigler

Articles

In Lober v. Dorgan, 215 Mich. 62, decided July 19, 1921, the court again wrestled with the problem which has troubled the Michigan courts for many years, as to whether the law of the state recognizes any such thing as joint ownership in personal property with the common law incident of survivorship. The facts presented a controversy between the estates of husband and wife, the latter having survived the former. A real estate mortgage had been given to "George W. Bush and Sarah Bush, his wife, of Gobleville, Michigan, as joint tenants, with sole right to the survivor." After the …

Alienation Of Contingent Remainders, Ralph W. Aigler

Articles

The recent case of Bisby v. Walker, 169 N. W. 467, decided by the Supreme Court of Iowa November 23, 1918, is an interesting instance of an all too common lack of appreciation and understanding of the very fundamentals of property law. Under the will of her grandfather B became entitled to a contingent remainder (at least the court treated it as such) in certain lands; the contingency upon which her taking depended was her being one of the surviving children of her mother at the time of the death of the life tenant, the testator's widow. During the continuance …

Is A Contract Necessary To Create An Effective Escrow?, Ralph W. Aigler

Articles

WHERE land has been sold and both parties are desirous of protecting themselves pending full payment of the purchase price, there are two common ways of accomplishing their purpose without any change in legal ownership. There may be (1) a contract of sale properly evidenced so as to be enforceable, and (2) a deed executed by the vendor and placed "in escrow." Sometimes one method is preferred, sometimes the other. If the former is adopted, it is, of course, vitally important that the contract comply with the formal requirements of the law; in the latter there has been some difference …

Effect Of Change Of Law Upon Obligation To Pay Rent, Ralph W. Aigler

Articles

In McCullough Realty Co. v. Laemmle Film Service, (Nov. 16, 1917), 165 N. W. 33, the supreme court of Iowa had occasion to pass upon a question which has become increasingly frequent with the spread of prohibition laws, namely, the effect upon the obligation of a tenant to pay rent, of a subsequent law that makes it unlawful for him to use the premises for the purpose for which he leased them. The case before the Iowa court was not one arising out of a lease of premises for saloon purposes, but the question involved was precisely the same, and …

Joy Riding, Simple And Compound, Edgar N. Durfee

Articles

The wrongful use of another's automobile, even though accompanied by a trespassory taking, cannot, if followed by a return to the owner or an abandonment, be easily brought within the definition of larceny at common law or under the ordinary larceny statutes, because of the requirement of intent to deprive the owner permanently of his property. Smith v. State, 146 S. W. 547; State v. Boggs (Iowa, 1917), 164 N. W. 759; McClain, Criminal Law, § 566. Of course, such intent, at the time of taking, might be found in spite of return or abandonment, though it is doubtful whether …

The Disposition To Be Made Of Property The Subject Of A Power If The Power Is Not Exercised, John R. Rood

Articles

The object sought in this article is to collect and classify the cases in which the courts have passed on the question as to what shall be done with property over which a power of appointment has been given; when it finally turns out for some reason that the power has not been exercised. It is not the object to establish any particular thesis, but rather to ascertain how the adjudicated cases stand.