Law Commons^™

Law Day Fifth District Court Of Appeal Oral Arguments At Florida A&M University College Of Law, 2012, Honorable Richard B. Orfinger, Chief Judge, Honorable William D. Palmer Chief Judge, Honorable Jay P. Cohen

Law Day Presentations

As part of Law Day activities, the Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal is holding a session in the FAMU College of Law Ceremonial Moot Courtroom. A three judge panel is hearing oral arguments from attorneys representing their clients in cases involving appellant's fraud on the trial court, public records questions, attorney's fees, and jurisdiction. A question-and-answer session follows each set of arguments during which the justices and attorneys entertain questions about the appellate process and organization of the court.

Is Color Blind Justice Also Culturally Blind? The Cultural Blindness In Justice, Shiv Narayan Persaud

Journal Publications

As diverse ethnic groups continue to experience numeric growth and societal grounding in America, their advocacies for culturally competent representation within the legal system cannot be ignored or underplayed. Undoubtedly, some professions such as mental and physical health, and their related sectors, have developed and continue to integrate cultural competencies into their respective practices. Others such as the legal profession seem to lag in their advocacies and promotion of culturally competent practices.

In the criminal justice system, where discretionary legal decision-making authority is commonplace and may grossly affect the civil liberties of the citizenry, a paucity of standards requiring cultural …

Constitutionalizing Immigration Law: The Vital Role Of Judicial Discretion In The Removal Of Lawful Permanent Residents, Maritza I. Reyes

Journal Publications

For decades, scholars and advocates criticized the harsh, mandatory nature of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. They argued that federal district court judges should have discretion to authorize a punishment that fits the facts and circumstances of the crime and the defendant. Similarly, immigration scholars and advocates criticize the harsh laws that categorically remove lawful permanent residents, even after minor crimes, from the United States. In 2005, in United States v. Booker, the Supreme Court "constitutionalized" the Sentencing Guidelines by rendering them advisory, and returning judicial discretion to federal judges. This Article argues that the similar constitutional, historical, theoretical, societal, and …

Legal Convergence Of East And West In Contemporary American Water Law, Robert Haskell Abrams

Journal Publications

Legal instrumentalism and legal convergence, two legal constructs, describe how American water law has developed over time. A study of early Eastern and Western water law shows that both systems are instrumentalist at their core and evolved to suit pressing developmental needs. Early on in the East, law was created to protect water use for millers, who used mills to generate power. In the West, riparian systems of the East were rejected in favor of a system that met the needs of settlers in more arid environments. Legal convergence is a concept suggesting that law governing various fields converges over …

Arkansas Game & Fish Commission V. U. S. A.: Brief Of Professor Robert H. Abrams And Property And Water Law Professors As Amici Curiae In Support Of Respondent, Robert H. Abrams, Noah D. Hall, Zygmunt J B Plater

Amicus Briefs

Arkansas Game & Fish Commission v. United States of America, on Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.: Brief of Professor Robert H. Abrams and Professors of law teaching in the property law and water rights fields as Amici Curiae in support of Respondent

Electronic Discovery And The Constitution: Inaccessible Justice, Jennifer M. Smith

Journal Publications

Computers are the cynosure of American society. As a result, most information is stored electronically and only a small amount of information ever becomes a paper document. This explosion of electronically stored information has affected every aspect of society, including the court system. Litigation is drastically different than a few years ago due to this onset of electronically stored information. The discovery of electronically stored information in litigation has become known as electronic discovery. For many, electronic discovery is expensive and complicated, and thus, litigants are settling frivolous cases to avoid the costs and complexities of engaging in discovery to …

Environmental Rights In International Law: Explicitly Recognized Or Creatively Interpreted, Svitlana Kravchenko

Florida A & M University Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Second Annual Distinguished Lecture Florida A&M Environmental Law And Justice Symposium, November 3-4, 2011, Albert Mumma

Florida A & M University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Environmental Justice With Chinese Characteristics: Recent Developments In Using Environmental Public Interest Litigation To Strengthen Access To Environmental Justice, Jingjing Liu

Florida A & M University Law Review

China's unprecedented economic growth and rapid urbanization in the past three decades has exerted a heavy toll on the country's environment. Set against the backdrop of China's daunting environmental challenges, this article will first discuss how the environmental justice issue manifests itself on Chinese soil and how its evolvement differs from the American experience. This discussion will be followed by an analysis on how environmental public interest litigation, inspired by citizen suits in the U.S., has been fermenting in China and advocated by environmentalists as a new approach to broaden and strengthen access to environmental justice. The article will then …

Biopiracy In The Brazilian Amazon: Learning From International And Comparative Law Successes And Shortcomings To Help Promote Biodiversity Conservation In Brazil, Vanessa Danley

Florida A & M University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Should We Adopt A Specific Regulation To Protect People That Are Displaced By Hydroelectric Projects?: Reflections Based On Brazilian Law And The "Belo Monte" Case, Bibiana Graeff

Florida A & M University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Liberty Over Death: Seeking Due Process Dimensions For Freedom Of Contract, Michael Pillow

Florida A & M University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Getting Nowhere: Florida's Failed Choice Of Law Approach To Torts And A Proposal For Change, Shirley A. Wiegand

Florida A & M University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Lmao; That Guy Is Such A &*%#!: Redefining Defamation Law's Stagnant Community Standard In A Rapidly Changing World, Daniel Lewis

Florida A & M University Law Review

Nearly forty years ago in the heat of the civil rights movement, the Supreme Court famously considered whether a Montgomery, Alabama Commissioner who supervised the Police Department was damaged by defamatory comments. In determining whether the false statements published in the New York Times article lowered the Commissioner's reputation and impeded his reelection chances, the court wrestled with defining the community in which these comments were published. Should the Supreme Court consider the allegedly defamatory comments within the scope of a national community, as the New York Times is a national publication, or was the correct community restrained to the …

I Do. Is That Okay With You?: A Look At How Most States Are Circumventing The Full Faith And Credit Clause And Equal Protection Clause To Not Recognize Legal Same-Sex Marriages From Other States And Its Effect On Society, Rebecca Hameroff

Florida A & M University Law Review

Due to statutes, bans, and the Federal Defense of Marriage Act, states do not have to recognize legal same-sex marriages from sister states that recognize same-sex marriage. This paper examines the denial of the fundamental right to marriage for same-sex couples, the violation of the Full Faith and Credit Clause of Article IV, Section 1 of the United States Constitution and Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution by not recognizing same-sex marriages legally performed in other states. It starts by looking at the impact these practices have on same-sex couples and the toll it …

Prece-Don't: Corporations And The Rise Of The Modern Judicial Dictatorship, Justin Levitt

Florida A & M University Law Review

In 2010, the Supreme Court decision, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, declared unconstitutional any law forbidding corporations and unions from using general treasury funds for "electioneering communication," or political advocacy transmitted by broadcast, cable, or satellite communication in the period leading up to a federal election.

This note will examine the implications of the Citizens United decision and will argue that the future of First Amendment protection of corporate speech does not turn on any notion of corporate personhood. It will explore exactly how the Court has applied the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to corporations. It …

The Second Annual Environmental Law And Justice Symposium Issue, Randall S. Abate

Florida A & M University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Adios To Paradise: The Yacyreta Dam And The Destruction Of Environmental And Human Rights, Itzchak E. Kornfeld

Florida A & M University Law Review

No abstract provided.

How Sweet It Isn't: Big Sugar's Power Politics And The Fate Of The Florida Everglades, Katherine Mohr

Florida A & M University Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Acf Water Crisis: A Major Challenge With A Feasible "Volunteer" Solution, Tremaine Reese

Florida A & M University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Will Free Speech Get A License To Drive In Florida?: A Proposal For Distinguishing Free Speech From Government Speech In Florida Specialty Plate Cases, Christopher Robert Dillingham Ii

Florida A & M University Law Review

Specialty license plates for automobiles, which publish individual and special interest Free Speech, present a quagmire for the courts when analyzed through the lens of the First Amendment's Free Speech Clause. While citizens and groups can obtain personalized license plates that publish both symbolic and written speech, state governments often exercise strict editorial control over their license plates. This regulatory scenario raises the dual questions of who is speaking - the government or the private party - and how much constitutional power the government has to engage in viewpoint restriction in regulating that speech in this traditional government forum. The …

History Of De Jure Segregation In Public Higher Education In America And The State Of Maryland Prior To 1954 And The Equalization Strategy, John K. Pierre

Florida A & M University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (Ms4)--Assigning Responsibility For Pollutants That Reach The Nation's Waters, Robert Abrams

Journal Publications

The United States Supreme Court will review a ruling of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that found the Los Angeles County Flood Control District in violation of its permit under the Clean Water Act for its Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4) discharges into the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers. Segments of those rivers that constitute a part of the MS4 have been paved to improve flood control, and the pollution levels measured as the water moves through those segments and other monitoring locations exceed the amounts allowed by the District’s permit. The District claims that pollution is …

The Strong Arm Of The Law Is Weak: How The Tvpa Fails To Effectively Assist Victims Of The Sex Trade, Cheryl Page

Journal Publications

Acts that occur in the underbelly of our global community can be shocking to many, but they occur every night and day right in our own neighborhoods. Sex trafficking, a derivative of human trafficking, is occurring in epidemic proportions on a global scale while the victims are suffering in silence. Sexual exploitation has taken the media forefront in recent years.' Much legislation has been passed to try to curb this illegal marketing of innocent women and children. Laws in various countries have been evaluated, studied, and researched and lead to the sad conclusion that these laws alone are insufficient in …

Jailing The Johns: The Issue Of Demand In Sex Trafficking, Cheryl Page

Journal Publications

Slavery is an institution that many people believe no longer exists. Slavery has not ended and there are millions of innocent victims caught in this system. This is not the slavery that was fought over in the U.S. Civil War. This form of slavery is not very different from colonial slavery-innocent people caught and trapped in this web of sex for service. Today, this form of slavery is better known as human trafficking. This is a brutal, heinous, and damaging situation that many women and children find themselves in as unwilling participants.' Most victims have little to no hope of …

How The Internet Is Used To Facilitate The Trafficking Of Humans As Sex Slaves, Cheryl Page

Journal Publications

Human trafficking is, sadly, a part of the fabric of the 21st century global community, but it has different goals than those of sex trafficking. One expert defines human trafficking as “‘an opportunistic response’ to the tension between the economic necessity to migrate . . . and the politically motivated restrictions on migration”. To give an idea of how widespread sex trafficking is, understand that it is now more profitable for criminals to sell women for sex than it is to sell drugs. Drugs are disposable and finite. Women can be resold over and over and over again. These “commodities” …

Cybercrime, Ronald C. Griffin

Journal Publications

This essay recounts campaigns against privacy; the fortifications erected against them; and hi-jinx attributable to hackers, crackers, and miscreants under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

No Laughing Matter: The Intersection Of Legal Malpractice And Professionalism, Nicola A. Boothe-Perry

Journal Publications

In an effort to increase professionalism among lawyers, an analysis of the relationship between lawyers' professional behavior and legal malpractice claims is warranted. This Article will explore that relationship, and address the need to fuse the two components in an effort to enhance professionalism. The Article will specifically seek to address the questions: (1) Should professionalism be admissible, or even conclusive, evidence of the standard of care of the "reasonable attorney" in legal malpractice cases? and (2) Will a proper definition of the "reasonable attorney" in the context of legal malpractice cases encourage and ultimately enhance professionalism in legal society?

Standard Lawyer Behavior? Professionalism As An Essential Standard For Aba Accreditation, Nicola A. Boothe-Perry

Journal Publications

This article addresses the ABA as a source of pressure to encourage and foster professionalism education in law schools. The ABA holds a uniquely powerful position in the American legal community, and with it the ABA enjoys the attendant ability to influence professionalism training and awareness. The principal tool at the ABA's disposal considered in this article is the ABA's ability to promulgate standards for professionalism as a requirement for law school accreditation. This article argues that this is the proper time for the ABA to institute a specific standard in an effort to increase professionalism in the legal profession.

Following A Sigmoid Progression: Some Jurisprudential And Pragmatic Considerations Regarding Territorial Acquisition Among Nation-States, John C. Duncan, Jr.

Journal Publications

This article analyzes methods and doctrines used by States to acquire territories. The role of the United Nations in resolving disputes between nations and the inhabitants directly affected by the disputes is also addressed, including the jurisdictional, jurisprudential, and practical considerations of territorial acquisition. Finally, traditional territorial acquisition doctrines are applied to extraterrestrial and outer space acquisition. As Western civilization etched out territories and borders across its known world, international norms of diplomatic behavior appeared in the form of customs. These customs eventually grew into codifications, which in turn grew into the elaborate international system enjoyed and protested today. Laws …