Law Commons^™

Reimagining Criminal Justice: Open Source Data Key To Addressing Mental Health Crises, Brennan Gamwell

Reimagining Criminal Justice

A transparent, cross-functional approach to data sharing and analysis focused on reliability and completeness can help to improve San Francisco's response to the mental health crisis, says Brennan Gamwell, a 2022 JD candidate at the Golden Gate University School of Law.

Law Deans Joint Statement On The 2020 Election And Events At The Capitol, Golden Gate University School Of Law

Press Releases

No abstract provided.

Access To Justice For Collective And Diffuse Rights: Theoretical Challenges And Opportunities For Social Contract Theory, Colin Crawford

Publications

This analysis consists of three principal parts. First, it briefly reviews the classical contract account that explains how and why individuals enter civil society, found in the writings of both Hobbes and Locke. The analysis then examines the limited extent to which classical contract theory treats questions of rights vindication or, in more modern terms, with questions of access to justice. Second, the analysis examines the nature of collective and diffuse rights claims and will make a case for their importance in the modern world. Third, the analysis seeks to identify arguments from the classical account that might be useful …

Access To Justice: Theory And Practice From A Comparative Perspective, Colin Crawford, Daniel Bonilla Maldonado

Publications

The papers gathered in this volume analyze access to justice in Latin America, Europe, and North America from a philosophical, legal, and sociological perspective. In these three regions of the world, as in the rest of the globe, liberal democracies face a troubling gap between the normative and the descriptive: the access to justice promises made by the legal and political system are not fully realized in practice. The studies collected here, therefore, share two baseline assumptions. First, the right of access to justice is fundamental in a liberal state. Access to justice ensures that citizens are able to defend …

Assessment Of The Role Of The Nigerian Police Force In The Promotion And Protection Of Human Rights In Nigeria, Dr. Ndubuisi J. Madubuike-Ekwe, Dr. Olumide K. Obayemi

Annual Survey of International & Comparative Law

This article examines the role of the Nigerian Police Force in the promotion and protection of human rights in Nigeria. It discusses the concept of human rights under international and domestic law. It highlights the powers of the Nigerian Police Force under the Police Act and the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 and observes that although the police use discretion to support human rights, it is the abuse of the discretion and power that results in violation of human rights of citizens. This article identifies the rights most subjected to abuse by the police as the right to life, …

Gagged By Big Ag: Whistleblower Silencing Bill Threatens The Employee’S Right To Uncover Workplace Wrongdoing, Tara Cooley

Golden Gate University Law Review

This Comment analyzes the court’s application of the standing doctrine in PETA v. Stein to demonstrate that the dismissal of a challenge to a whistleblower silencing statute because the plaintiff lacked standing is detrimental to First Amendment rights. This Comment argues that a relaxed standing requirement must be applied to future pre-enforcement challenges of legislation that aims to silence whistleblowers, and therefore chills First Amendment rights.

Part I examines the court’s relaxed application of the standing requirement to criminal statutes that chill First Amendment rights. Part II argues for a relaxed application of the standing requirement to whistleblower silencing statutes, …

Cassirer V. Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection Foundation: The Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery Act Was Unveiled But Congress Still Has Work To Do, Nicholas Joy

Golden Gate University Law Review

Section I of this Note discusses the case’s procedural history. Section II discusses the Cassirer family story and looks at the history of America’s legislative efforts aimed at impacting Holocaust-era art restitution litigation since the end of WWII. Section III discusses the Ninth Circuit’s application of HEAR and compares it to subsequent interpretations of the Act. Lastly, section IV discusses changes that Congress could make to HEAR that would help ensure that the Act has the impact that the legislature intended.

International Mother Of Mystery: Protecting Surrogate Mothers’ Participation In International Commercial Surrogacy Contracts, Jamie Cooperman

Golden Gate University Law Review

The lack of uniform international laws regarding surrogacy exposes all parties involved in surrogacy arrangements to a variety of problems. Challenges include determining the status of children, the rights of intended parents, and the protection of surrogates. Issues regarding the citizenship of babies born to surrogacy agreements tend arise when the child leaves the birth country and enters the intended country of citizenship.

Overall, international surrogacy arrangements present three central problems: (1) the citizenship of children, (2) the rights of intended parents, and (3) the rights and protection of women who serve as surrogates. This Comment focuses on the third …

Access To Justice For Four Billion: Urban And Environmental Options And Challenges, Colin Crawford

Publications

This Article proceeds in five parts. Part I considers four prominent theories on the meaning of "access to justice." To be sure, the lines and divisions between these positions are in practice less rigid than this text will at times suggest. Nonetheless, the four approaches are sufficiently different from one another to justify a critical evaluation. Part I therefore undertakes to provide such an evaluation of these different proposals. In this, Part I seeks to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the different proposals with respect to the search for answers to some of the questions related to what "access …

Economics And The Evolution Of Non-Party Litigation Funding In America: How Court Decisions, The Civil Justice Process, And Law Firm Structures Drive The Increasing Need And Demand For Capital, Fiona Mckenna, Alan L. Zimmerman, Daniel J. Bush, Cheryl Kaufman

Publications

This paper views civil litigation initiated by a party seeking money damages through the lens of the underlying economics that impact the civil justice system's ability to achieve fair outcomes. It examines how access to capital has impacted the functioning of civil justice in the United States.

Substantive Equality And Sexual Orientation: Twenty Years Of Gay And Lesbian Rights Adjudication Under The South African Constitution, Eric C. Christiansen

Publications

Examining the historical achievements and failures of the South African Constitution’s sexual orientation protections highlights larger lessons from the last twenty years of constitutionalism in South Africa. In this Article, I use the drafting history, Constitutional Court adjudication, and the practical insufficiencies of the Constitution’s inclusion of sexual orientation-based protections to highlight three categories of insights. These lessons include an encouraging insight regarding the inclusion of novel and progressive elements when drafting modern constitutions; some modest claims about the capacity of courts to combat inequality based on sexual orientation despite the limitations of purely legal victories; and a hopeful affirmation …

Wemyss V. Superior Court Of County Of Alameda, Jesse W. Carter

Jesse Carter Opinions

A motion to quash a subpoena should have been granted where the underlying action was not pending in the county where the application for the subpoena was made and the clerk of that court had no authority to issue it.

Jessica’S Law Residency Restrictions In California: The Current State Of The Law, Bruce Zucker

Golden Gate University Law Review

Sex offender residency restrictions in the United States became ubiquitous throughout state and county jurisdictions in 2006 following the passage of the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act (“SORA”). Following passage of SORA, over 30 states and hundreds of local counties and municipalities adopted some form of restriction on where registered sex offenders could live. Although California had already placed some such limits, California voters passed Proposition 83 in November 2006, known as the Sexual Predator Punishment and Control Act: Jessica’s Law (SPPCA). Among other provisions, Jessica’s Law for the first time prohibited certain registered …

Native Village Of Eyak V. Blank: Fish Is Best Rare; Justice, Not So Much, William H. Howery Iii

Golden Gate University Law Review

For the purposes of the litigation discussed in this Note, the Chugach peoples comprise five native villages in the State of Alaska: Eyak, Tatitlek, Chenega, Nanwalek, and Port Graham ("the Villages"). The Villages must fight for a right to the natural resource they depend upon most for survival, fish. At the end of the twentieth century, the Villages sued the federal government to assert claims of aboriginal title, and along with it, exclusive rights to the resources of their ancestral fishing grounds on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). A panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth …

It’S Still Perilous To Catch A Lyft In San Francisco, Mark Wilson

GGU Law Review Blog

No abstract provided.

The Sky Is The Limit: Regulating The Next Generation Of Privacy Invasion, Laura Patty

GGU Law Review Blog

No abstract provided.

If You Give A Mouse A Cookie: California's Section 11135 Fails To Provide Plaintiffs Relief In Darensburg V. Metropolitan Transportation Commission, Kate Baldridge

Golden Gate University Law Review

This Note examines Darensburg and the evidentiary problems faced by plaintiffs entangled in the bus-versus-rail controversy that are inherent to disparate-impact litigation. Part I discusses the factual background of Darensburg and relevant federal and state law concerning claims of both intentional and disparate-impact discrimination. Part II examines disparate-impact jurisprudence in the context of the unequal distribution of municipal services as background to the complexity of the issues presented in Darensburg. Part III analyzes the Darensburg opinion in light of that background and shows that the burden-of-proof issues faced by plaintiffs are illustrative of the lack of effective guidance to …

(Do) We Need A European Civil Code (?), David Schmid

Annual Survey of International & Comparative Law

The paper will first explain the historical developments that may one day support a European Civil Code. Next, it will examine other options available to reach the goal of unification and will then give an overview of the problems concerning the competence of the European Union for a European Civil Code. Arguments for both the critics and the supporters of the implementation of such a Code will be examined. Finally, this paper will try to develop options for further proceedings and will end with a conclusion of the findings.

Cite as: 18 Annl. Survey Int'l. Comp. L. 263 (2012).

Torts, Frederick J. Moreau

Cal Law Trends and Developments

No abstract provided.

Torts, Frederick J. Moreau

Cal Law Trends and Developments

No abstract provided.

Torts, John A. Gorfinkel

Cal Law Trends and Developments

"Torts" has become a convenient label for a wide variety of wrongs redressed through civil litigation. During the year being reviewed, the California courts touched on almost every conceivable phase of this subject. However, the space allotted does not permit even a cursory treatment of all the decisions that might be regarded as pertinent or significant. The discussion which follows is therefore limited and, in so limiting it, we have tried to emphasize those areas where the decisions indicate either that change may be taking place, or is needed.

Family Ties Or Criminal Contacts: A Case For The Appointment Of Counsel In Civil Gang Injunction Proceedings That Affect Family Relationships, Alexander Jones

Golden Gate University Law Review

This comment argues that when an individual is targeted by a civil gang injunction that interferes with that individual's family relationships, due process requires the appointment of counsel for that individual. This comment does not argue that civil gang injunctions should be prohibited, or even that civil gang injunctions should not be able to enjoin family members from seeing each other in public. Part I discusses the problem of gangs and how civil gang injunctions have emerged to combat them. Part II explores factors considered for the appointment of counsel in civil cases and why family relationships put a personal …

Keeping Bad Science Out Of The Courtroom: Why Post-Daubert Courts Are Correct In Excluding Opinions Based On Animal Studies From Birth-Defects Cases, Dije Ndreu

Golden Gate University Law Review

This Comment argues that courts should keep animal studies out of the courtroom in birth-defects toxic-torts cases. This will not only result in proper exclusion of unreliable evidence, but will also lead to valuable resources being directed to more worthy alternative tests, ultimately reducing human and animal suffering as birth defects are eradicated. Part I sets forth the evidentiary standards used to determine the admissibility of evidence and then presents background information on birth defects and how they are studied. It also discusses the problems inherent with animal tests and the contrasting value of human data. Part II explores the …

Property, War Objectives, And Slave Labor Claims: The Ninth Circuit's Political Question Analysis In Alperin V. Vatican Bank, Reuben Hart

Golden Gate University Law Review

This Note will analyze the Ninth Circuit's decision in Alperin v. Vatican Bank, and propose that while the court's demarcation between property claims and war objectives claims may be a sound analytical method for addressing political question doctrine issues, the slave labor claims should not have been excluded from the scope of the property claims.

Sticks And Stones May Break Your Bones ... But Words May Break The Bank: Monetary Damages For 'True Threats' And The Future Of Free Speech After Planned Parenthood Of The Columbia/Willamette V. American Coalition Of Life Activists, Randall D. Nicholson

Golden Gate University Law Review

This Note is divided into five parts. Part I introduces the plaintiffs and defendants in Planned Parenthood and provides a detailed description of the content of the posters as well as the other evidence used to find the defendants liable for threatening speech. Part II presents a brief description of the details of, and impetus for, the enactment of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act ("FACE"), as the act provides the basis for liability. To highlight that the majority's position in Planned Parenthood did not comport with current First Amendment jurisprudence, Part III analyzes the major decisions handed …

Internet Publications And Defamation: Why The Single Publication Rule Should Not Apply, Odelia Braun

Golden Gate University Law Review

This vast use of the Internet changes the scope of harm associated with defamation. Communications on the Internet are more pervasive than print. For this reason, they have tremendous power to damage a person's reputation. Once a message enters cyberspace, millions of people worldwide can gain access to it. Any posted message or report can be republished by printing, or more commonly, by forwarding it instantly to a different location, leading to potentially endless replication. The power to defame others over the Internet is extraordinary.

Opening The Door To The Past: Recognizing The Privacy Rights Of Adult Adoptees And Birthparents In California's Sealed Adoption Records While Facilitating The Quest For Personal Origin And Belonging, Kathleen Caswell

Golden Gate University Law Review

This Comment urges that under California law, both adoptees and birthparents should have recognized constitutional rights to privacy in the information contained in court adoption files and original birth certificates. Part I examines the history of sealed adoption records in the United States and in California and how the social forces of the time contributed to the sealing of previously open records. Part II discusses the need for legislative reform by examining policy arguments supporting open records. Part III examines constitutional rights of privacy under the United States and California Constitutions respecting both birthparents and adoptees. Part IV argues that …

The Silent Minority Within A Minority: Focusing On The Needs Of Gay Youth In Our Public Schools, Kelli K. Armstrong

Golden Gate University Law Review

This article will consider the failure of our education system to truly deal with issues concerning sexuality and sexual orientation, the problems gay and lesbian teens face because of the system's silence, and the response of organizations and politicians to teen homosexuality. Part three will address some of the more successful programs which have been developed to meet the needs of teens dealing with homosexuality. Finally, part four will conclude by arguing for the implementation of comprehensive sexuality education and the enactment of legislation to deal with the needs and problems facing gay and lesbian teens in our public schools.

Contracting For Cohabitation: Adapting The California Statutory Marital Contract To Life Partnership Agreements Between Lesbian, Gay Or Unmarried Heterosexual Couples, Brooke Oliver

Golden Gate University Law Review

Nearly 450 California statutes deal with rights, duties and privileges associated with heterosexual marriage, either in the statute itself or in its interpretation as reflected by annotations" These rights, duties and privileges comprise the California civil marital contract. The primary focus of this article is to distill, from all the rights, duties and privileges of that civil marital contract, most of those which may be incorporated into contracts between cohabiting adults. Statutes which do not lend themselves to inclusion in a contract between private parties have been excluded. This checklist will help legal practitioners provide accurate and comprehensive advice to …

Torts - Waits V. Frito-Lay, Inc.: Ninth Circuit Reaffirms Viability Of Voice Misappropriation As A California Tort, Cynthia M. Judy

Golden Gate University Law Review

In Waits v. Frito-Lay, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a celebrity's right to protect a distinctive voice from commercial misappropriation and upheld the viability of voice misappropriation as a tort in California. The court upheld awards of compensatory and punitive damages, and also affirmed that Waits had standing to sue the defendants for false endorsement.