Law Commons^™

"Good Reason" Laws Under The Gun: May-Issue States And The Right To Bear Arms, Jack M. Amaro

Chicago-Kent Law Review

This note proposes a framework for analyzing the point at which discretionary restrictions on the concealed carry of firearms are unconstitutional under the Second Amendment, which, at its core, guarantees the responsible, law-abiding citizen at least the right to use a firearm for self-defense. Although the Supreme Court has yet to affirmatively answer whether and to what extent this right extends beyond the home, every state allows its residents to publicly carry a firearm in some form—be it open or concealed. But states have the power to limit who may exercise this right; and some states curtail it to the …

Path To Destruction: Cook County's Property Tax System Is A Cause For Concern As It Mimics The Defunct Taxing Procedures That Led To The Detroit Foreclosure Crisis, Robert Romano

Chicago-Kent Law Review

For decades, Cook County, Illinois, has had one of the highest property tax rates in the country, and as a result the County has begun to experience unprecedented foreclosure rates which has contributed, in part, to the State’s significant population decline. Residents are forced to endure a property tax system that disproportionately burdens low-income homeowners, while providing tax breaks to higher-income individuals and commercial owners. The primary causes and characteristics of Cook County’s defunct property tax system are strikingly similar to those that sent the City of Detroit spiraling into bankruptcy in 2013.

This note provides a comparative analysis of …

When Borders Dissolve, Laura N. Coordes

Chicago-Kent Law Review

Scholars have long sought to apply principles from U.S. bankruptcy law to sovereign debt restructurings. Chapter 9 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, used to adjust the debts of municipalities, has been a particular source of inspiration, and several proposals currently exist to adapt chapter 9 to address the challenges of sovereign debt restructuring.

The difficulties of applying chapter 9 in practice, however, have demonstrated the limitations of a one-size-fits-all solution to municipal distress. Similarly, attempts to adapt chapter 9 to apply uniformly to a broad range of sovereign states may be ineffective. A recurring problem lies in the fact that …

The Question For Another Day: Hooker V. Illinois State Board Of Elections And Its Effect On The Vitality Of Citizen Ballot Initiatives And Redistricting Reform In Illinois, Thomas Q. Ford

Chicago-Kent Law Review

Like most states, Illinois is no stranger to political gerrymandering. Since 2010, redistricting reformers have made repeated efforts to change the way Illinois's political maps are drawn, essentially by minimizing or eliminating the role lawmakers play in the process. Polls show the vast majority of Illinoisans support such a change. Reformers have chosen Illinois's citizen ballot initiative as their vehicle to amend the redistricting process, but every proposed initiative has been struck down in court before reaching voters. Most recently, the Illinois Supreme Court rejected a proposed initiative in Hooker v. Illinois State Board of Elections. This Note argues …

Commitment Through Fear: Mandatory Jury Trials And Substantive Due Process Violations In The Civil Commitment Of Sex Offenders In Illinois, Michael Zolfo

Chicago-Kent Law Review

In Illinois, a person deemed a Sexually Violent Person (“SVP”) in a civil trial can be detained indefinitely in treatment facilities that functionally serve as prisons. SVPs are not afforded the right to waive a jury trial, a right that criminal defendants enjoy. This results in SVPs facing juries that treat sex offenders as monsters or sub-humans, due to often sensationalistic media coverage and the use of sex offenders as boogeymen in political campaigns. The lack of a jury trial waiver results in more individuals being deemed SVPs, depriving many of their liberty without the due process of law, a …

Cohabitation In Illinois: The Need For Legislative Intervention, Stefanie L. Ferrari

Chicago-Kent Law Review

No abstract provided.

Dignity Restoration And The Chicago Police Torture Reparations Ordinance, Andrew S. Baer

Chicago-Kent Law Review

A recent municipal ordinance giving reparations to survivors of police torture in Chicago represents an unprecedented effort by a city government to repair damage wrought by decades of police violence. Between 1972 and 1991, white detectives under Commander Jon Burge tortured confessions from over 118 black criminal suspects on the city’s South and West Sides. Responding to the needs of affected communities, a coalition of torture survivors, their families, civil rights attorneys, and community activists pushed the reparations bill through the City Council on May 6, 2015. Representing the holistic approach favored by survivors, the $5 million reparations package awarded …

Linchpin Approaches To Salvaging Neighborhoods In The Legacy Cities Of The Midwest, Shelley Cavalieri

Chicago-Kent Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Public Pension Crisis Through The Lens Of State Constitutions And Statutory Law, Kristen Barnes

Chicago-Kent Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Detroit Frontier: Urban Agriculture In A Legal Vacuum, Jacqueline Hand, Amanda Gregory

Chicago-Kent Law Review

No abstract provided.

Side By Side: Revitalizing Urban Cores And Ensuring Residential Diversity, Andrea J. Boyack

Chicago-Kent Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Natural Capital Crisis In Southern U.S. Cities, Blake Hudson

Chicago-Kent Law Review

No abstract provided.

Roll On, Cyclist: The Idaho Rule, Traffic Law, And The Quest To Incentivize Urban Cycling, Asmara M. Tekle

Chicago-Kent Law Review

No abstract provided.

Freeing The City To Compete, James J. Kelly Jr.

Chicago-Kent Law Review

No abstract provided.

How The United States Postal Service (Usps) Could Encourage More Local Economic Development, Randall K. Johnson

Chicago-Kent Law Review

No abstract provided.

Judicial Discretion V. Predictable Outcomes: A Review Of The 2016 Amendments To The Illinois Marriage And Dissolution Of Marriage Act, David E. Braden

Chicago-Kent Law Review

In 2015, the Illinois General Assembly comprehensively amended the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (IMDMA). Illinois legislators cited a desire to increase predictable outcomes and to minimize adversarial litigation as primary goals for passing this overall to Illinois’s marriage and divorce law. This Comment evaluates how the amendments advance the stated legislative goals of increasing predictable outcomes and minimizing litigation while maintaining flexibility for fact-specific decision-making through judicial discretion. While the results are mixed, this Comment identifies changes in key provisions to which practicing attorneys should take note.

Inside Equity-Based Crowdfunding: Online Financing Alternatives For Small Businesses, Michael Vignone

Chicago-Kent Law Review

Equity-based crowdfunding is an innovative approach to promote growth in small businesses and educate the financially less sophisticated about investing. This Note discusses and analyzes the four different types of equity-based crowdfunding under the federal and state securities laws. By examining the strengths and weaknesses of current crowdfunding rules, businesses can decide which exemption is most suitable to their capital needs. This Note intends to spread awareness about equity-based crowdfunding to the general public by offering general assessments of the industry, traditional financing methods, and financing alternatives for small businesses and startups.

Second Chances For The Second City's Vacant Properties: An Analysis Of Chicago's Policy Approaches To Vacancy, Abandonment, & Blight, Elizabeth Butler

Chicago-Kent Law Review

Addressing the externalities of vacancy and blight is a major challenge for the Chicago metropolitan area. While neighborhoods on the South and West sides of Chicago struggle with blight, neglect, and abandonment, downtown Chicago and the northern neighborhoods and suburbs experience stronger market conditions. This crisis has amplified entrenched socioeconomic divisions and ultimately burdens the entire region by perpetuating a cycle of poverty, violence, and physical and social disorder that tarnish Chicago’s image.

This Note outlines Chicago’s vacant property challenge by discussing the history of urban decline in Chicago. It examines factors that led to a high level of vacant …

One Centimeter Over My Back Yard: Where Does Federal Preemption Of State Drone Regulation Start?, Henry H. Perritt Jr.

All Faculty Scholarship

The proliferation of cheap civilian drones and their obvious utility for precision agriculture, motion picture and television production, aerial surveying, newsgathering, utility infrastructure inspection, and disaster relief has accelerated the FAA’s sluggish effort to develop a proposal for generally applicable rules and caused it to grant more than 600 “section 333 exemptions” permitting commercial drone flight before its rules are finalized.

Federal preemption in the field of aviation safety regulation is generally assumed, but political pressure on states and municipalities to regulate drones and the ability of this revolutionary aviation technology to open up space close to the ground for …

Restrictive Covenants In Illinois: Adequate Consideration Problems Show That The Common Law Is An Inadequate Solution, David S. Repking

Chicago-Kent Law Review

Illinois courts have long dealt with whether restrictive covenants, specifically non-compete clauses, can and should be enforced when they involve employees of businesses. Many aspects of restrictive covenants have been litigated, but a recent Illinois Appellate Court case analyzed the issue of what is adequate consideration in order to enforce a restrictive covenant against a former employee. The First District in Fifield v. Premier Dealer Services, Inc., affirmed a bright-line, two-year rule for deciding how long an employee must work for an employer before a re-strictive covenant can be enforced.

The two-year rule protects employees because an employer cannot …

Contact That Can Kill: Orders Of Protection, Caller Id Spoofing And Domestic Violence, Gabriella Sneeringer

Chicago-Kent Law Review

The Illinois Domestic Violence Act (IDVA) was created as a means of providing protection and remedies to domestic violence victims through orders of protection. The orders of protection can insulate victims from abusers through a variety of ways such as mandating that the abuser be prohibited from contacting the victim by any means. Under the IDVA, any violation of the order is a crime. As technology advances, abusers begin using more and more technology as a means to circumscribe orders of protection. One such technology, Caller ID spoofing, is particularly problematic. This technology enables abusers to easily contact, stalk and …

More Than A Piece Of Paper: Same-Sex Parents And Their Adopted Children Are Entitled To Equal Protection In The Realm Of Birth Certificates, Shohreh Davoodi

Chicago-Kent Law Review

In Adar v. Smith, the Fifth Circuit held that Louisiana’s policy of refusing to issue accurate birth certificates to the children of out-of-state, same-sex adoptive parents does not deny those families equal protection of the law. This comment demonstrates that Louisiana’s policy does in fact violate the Equal Protection Clause. There are two ways Louisiana’s policy infringes on the rights of these families. First, the policy burdens fundamental rights stemming from the family autonomy of both parents and children. Second, the policy discriminates against out-of-state same-sex parents, treating them like second-class citizens. These concerns are strong enough that the …

Oppress Me No More: Amending The Illinois Llc Act To Provide Additional Remedies For Oppressed Minority Members, Paul T. Geske

Chicago-Kent Law Review

The limited liability company (LLC) has become the preeminent choice of entity for small and midsize businesses, but it suffers from some of the same problems as its older cousins, the close corporation and the partnership. One such problem is oppressive conduct directed at the minority in interest. This article examines claims of oppression brought by members of limited liability companies, with a special focus on the Illinois Limited Liability Company Act (ILLCA). The ILLCA only provides one remedy for oppression—dissolution and wind-up of the LLC. This sole remedy may be inadequate, given that courts have historically been reluctant to …

Semi-Wonderful Town, Semi-Wonderful State: Bill Nelson's New York, Edward A. Purcell Jr.

Chicago-Kent Law Review

This article examines Bill Nelson’s two major books on the history of New York law and politics, The Legalist Reformation (2001) and Fighting for the City (2008). The former deals with developments in New York State from the late nineteenth to the late twentieth century; the latter with New York City starting somewhat earlier but concentrating on the same later period. The Legalist Reformation argues that the election of Alfred E. Smith as Governor of New York in 1922 began a transformation of the state’s legal and political culture that brought new and more egalitarian social policies to the state …

Sharing Public Safety Helicopters, Henry H. Perritt Jr.

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Participatory Democracy And The Entrepreneurial Government: Addressing Process Efficiencies In The Creation Of Land Use Development Agreements, Ramsin G. Canon

Chicago-Kent Law Review

Can the development agreement become a tool for community-based planning? Development agreements and related land use planning instruments have steadily increased in popularity over the last few decades. Standard zoning regimes have proven to be too rigid and inflexible to accommodate the evolving nature of large-scale, and particularly mixed-use, developments. The bilateral nature of development agreements also allows cities and counties to effectively compete for development dollars by crafting incentives. However, this type of ad-hoc planning can run afoul of the reserved powers doctrine and its progeny, and can face vehement political and social opposition. This type of opposition results …

Rethinking Traditional Conceptions Of Child Pornography: An Analysis Of How The U.S. Supreme Court Decision In Stevens Impacts The Illinois Supreme Court's Decision In People V. Hollins, James D. Konstantopoulos

Chicago-Kent Law Review

In 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court, in deciding United States v. Stevens, held that rational basis review was no longer sufficient to criminalize depictions of acts if the acts depicted are themselves legal. In 2009, Marshall Hollins entered into a consensual sexual relationship with his seventeen-year old girlfriend. As is becoming common in our technological era, where every phone can record video and photographs and send those files to other devices, Mr. Hollins and his girlfriend used the technology available to them to document one of their excursions. Following his conviction for child pornography, Mr. Hollins challenged the Constitutionality of …

Legal Uncertainty And Aberrant Contracts: The Choice Of Law Clause, William J. Woodward Jr.

Chicago-Kent Law Review

Legal uncertainty about the applicability of local consumer protection can destroy a consumer’s claim or defense within the consumer arbitration environment. What is worse, because the consumer arbitration system cannot accommodate either legal complexity or legal uncertainty, the tendency will be to resolve cases in the way the consumer’s form contract dictates, that is, in favor of the drafter. To demonstrate this effect and advocate statutory change, this article focuses on fee-shifting statutes in California and several other states. These statutes convert very common one-way fee-shifting terms (consumer pays business’s attorneys fees if business wins but not the other way …

Tax Ferrets, Tax Consultants, Bounty Hunters, And Hired Guns: The Property Tax Netherworld Fueled By Contingency Fees And Champertous Agreements, J. Lyn Entrikin

Chicago-Kent Law Review

Contingency fee agreements between local tax assessors and contract auditors on the one hand, and property owners and private tax consultants on the other, create perverse financial incentives that undermine the integrity of state and local property tax administration. When local governments engage outside auditors to identify undervalued or escaped taxable property, the practice raises serious due process and ethical concerns. As a matter of policy, diverting a share of property tax revenue to private third parties in consideration for outsourced tax assessment services undermines public accountability and reduces net property tax revenue for local government services. And when states …

Discrimination In The Marcellus Shale: The Dormant Commerce Clause And Hydraulic Fracturing Waste Disposal, Eric Michel

Chicago-Kent Law Review

The environmentally controversial process of hydraulic fracturing (commonly referred to as "fracking") has led to a recent explosion in the supply and sale of natural gas in the United States. However, every fracking operation creates a sizable amount of toxic wastewater that requires disposal, and drillers in Pennsylvania have increasingly been shipping their waste across the border to Ohio because of Pennsylvania's inadequate internal disposal options. In response, Ohio has passed legislation that taxes out-of-state fracking waste at a greater rate than waste derived from natural gas drilling within its borders. This Note examines whether Ohio's taxing scheme violates the …