Law Commons^™

Rebalancing Bracker Forty Years Later, William Mcclure, Thomas E. Mcclure

American Indian Law Journal

This Article examines forty years of federal and state courts’ application of the Bracker balancing test, which considers whether a state tax is preempted when assessed against a non-Indian on tribal land. First, this Article chronicles the history and progression of the Bracker balancing test in the Supreme Court. Second, this Article cross-tabulates judicial findings of no preemption with key characteristics of all lower court state taxation decisions that cite Bracker. Third, this Article reports the results of regression analyses that reveal lower courts were less likely to find preemption of cigarette taxes, more likely to find state fuel …

In Defense Of The Indian Commerce Clause, Stephen Andrews

American Indian Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Beyond A Sliver Of A Full Moon: Acknowledging And Abolishing White Bias To Restore Safety & Sovereignty To Indian Country, Mary T. Hannon

American Indian Law Journal

Violence against indigenous women in the United States is unprecedented. This violence is aggravated by the fact that indigenous women are often unable to obtain justice for the crimes against them due to a complex jurisdictional scheme that ignores the inherent authority of the First Nations. This scheme is the product of centuries of white bias – perpetuated by contemporary legislators and the judiciary – that treats the First Nations and tribal courts as inferior. In the context of Congress’s recent attempt to expand protection for indigenous women in the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2019, this Note will …

Inuit Nunangat Regional Overlaps: Reciprocal Harvesting & Wildlife Management Agreements, Christopher M. Macneill

American Indian Law Journal

This article after a brief introduction which describes the Inuit of Canada and their administrative segmentation by the territorial and provincial boundaries of the Yukon Territory, Northwest Territory, Nunavut Territory, Province of Quebec and the Province of Labrador. While arguably the Inuit are also considered to have traditionally used the northern regions of other provinces this study will focus on the present governance organizational framework assigned via Inuit Land Claims with Canada. The formation of Canada in 1867 and the subsequent partitioning of the Yukon and Nunavut from the Northwest Territory, and the addition of the Northern Quebec (Ungava Bay …

The Blind Eye: Jus Soli, And The "Pretended" Treaty Of New Echota, Christopher Robert Rossi

American Indian Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Native Nations' Land Ownership And Our Disservice To Their People And Culture A Proposed Legislative Solution And A Lesson To Be Learned, David E. Missirian

American Indian Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Case Law On American Indians, Thomas P. Schlosser

American Indian Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Unqualified? Investing In Qualified Opportunity Zones On Reservations, Ben Gibson

American Indian Law Journal

This paper evaluates the impact of qualified opportunity zones, created by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, on Indian reservations. The former Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers hailed the qualified opportunity zone program as the part of the TCJA of which he was most proud. But the program has not benefited all intended beneficiaries equally. The author of this paper collects data about the presence of qualified opportunity zones on Indian reservations. Compared to other areas designated as qualified opportunity zones, Indian Reservations were disproportionately underinvested in. The author evaluates the comparative lack of qualified opportunity …

The Time Is Now For The Iachr To Address Climate Action As A Human Right: Indigenous Communities Can Lead (Again), Lara C. Diaconu

American Indian Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Handle With Care: Domestic Violence Safety Planning In The Age Of Data Privacy Laws, Jenny Wu

Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental & Innovation Law

The United States has been patiently waiting for a comprehensive federal data privacy law to protect consumers. However, strong data privacy laws can also protect a less thought-about group: survivors of domestic violence and intimate partner violence. As new technology proliferates into our daily lives, technology-based abuse is quickly becoming a common form of intimate partner abuse. Domestic violence survivors and advocates have to stay extra vigilant about who has access to their internet data. Needing to understand technology-specific safety measures and learn technology-literacy skills adds more work to already overwhelmed domestic violence advocates and survivors. Could the law serve …

Medical Volunteers During Pandemics, Disasters, And Other Emergencies: Management Best Practices, John I. Winn, Seth Chatfield, Kevin H. Govern

Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental & Innovation Law

How best to utilize volunteers^[1] during medical emergencies is an essential part of hospital compliance planning. Onboarding recruited and spontaneous volunteers during crisis situations require careful consideration of multiple legal issues. Volunteer planning becomes more complex if volunteers move across state lines because applicable tort immunity statutes,^[2] compensation limits,^[3]and workers compensation regimes vary significantly from one jurisdiction to another. Effective planning for volunteers requires these and other issues to be addressed well in advance of actual emergencies. Although predicting the scope or severity of any future crisis is impossible, the provided checklist of management best practices …

Free Willy: A Breach To Rejuvenate The Southern Resident Killer Whale, Luke Mcdonough

Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental & Innovation Law

State and federal government entities have made great strides in environmental protection since the inception of the Environmental Protection Agency and the enactment of major environmental regulations. However, species worldwide continue to face threats of extinction due to human activity and climate change without prompt, major intervention. In Washington state, the iconic Southern Resident Killer Whale has seen a dramatic decrease in population since the 1960s. Protections directed for their benefit have not provided the expected return as the main challenges Southern Residents face remain largely unresolved. To restore the Southern Residents’ population for future generations, their entire ecosystem must …

Lost In Space: An Exploration Of The Current Gaps In Space Law, Katherine Latimer Martinez

Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental & Innovation Law

Since the 1960’s the international community has made huge advancements in technology and space exploration. However, since that time, the legal and regulatory system governing such advances and exploration has not matched the course. The body of law governing outer space exploration and resources has failed to keep up with advances in the industry. Individual countries, originally thought to not have spacefaring capabilities, are now major contributors to the future of space exploration, each with its own regulatory system. Furthermore, over time there has been an increase in the presence and influence of private companies over the research and development …

Freedom Of Expression V. Social Responsibility On The Internet: Vivi Down Association V. Google, Raphael Cohen-Almagor, Natalina Stamile

Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental & Innovation Law

The aim of the article is to reflect on Google’s social responsibility by analyzing a milestone court decision, Vivi Down Association v. Google, that took place in Italy, involving the posting of an offensive video clip on Google Video. It was a landmark decision because it refuted the assertion that the Internet knows no boundaries, that the Internet transcends national laws due to its international nature, and that Internet intermediaries, such as Google, are above the law. This case shows that when the legal authorities of a given country decide to assert their jurisdiction, Internet companies need to abide by …

Do It Yourself Legal Services? Domestic Violence Victims May Depend On It, Sabrina Marquez

Seattle University Law Review

This Note will address how encouraging nonlawyer Internet programs to engage in limited areas frequently considered the “practice of law” will increase the ability of vulnerable groups, especially victims of domestic violence, to receive crucial—and potentially lifesaving—legal assistance.

Part I will outline the rise of Internet legal service providers (ILSPs), who have innovated software programs that help clients fill out and file a wide assortment of legal documents, as well as the negative response these services have received from state bar associations and the wider legal community. Part II will discuss why a different method of providing legal assistance is …

Bargaining Justice: Negotiating Law In An Indian Bazaar, Andy Rotman

Seattle University Law Review

This Symposium Article details the bazaars in the city of Banaras and explains why it is an especially good test case for considering the topic at hand: Corporate Capitalism and the City of God. The article explores how Banaras challenges normative views of “corporate capitalism,” both in terms of how it is practiced in the city and the rules that govern it. It further focuses on the legal system that is mobilized to guide commercial exchange and daily life in the bazaars of Banaras, this legal system’s relationship to the city’s courts and police, and the relationship between these two …

A Brief Reflection On Spirit Of The Corporation, Russell Powell

Seattle University Law Review

The author's goal in writing Spirit of the Corporation, which was initially published in 44 SEATTLE U. L. REV. 371 and is reprinted in this issue, was to reflect on the question that Adolf A. Berle, Jr. posed in his essay Corporate Capitalism and "The City of God": whether corporate managers should consider the common good while discharging their duty to act in the best interest of the corporation. The author hoped to use his interdisciplinary corporate law and religion expertise to add a theological perspective to the conversation. In this essay, the author intends to respond to those comments …

Big Pharma, Big Problems: Covid-19 Heightens Patent-Antitrust Tension Caused By Reverse Payments, Hannah M. Lasting

Seattle University Law Review

In the wake of COVID-19, pharmaceutical companies rushed to produce vaccinations and continue to work on developing treatments, while the tension caused by reverse payments intensifies between patent and antitrust law. Lawmakers must address this tension, and the current pandemic should serve as a catalyst to prompt reform at the legislative level. By amending the Hatch-Waxman Act, lawmakers can ease the increasing strain between patent and antitrust policy concerns. In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court attempted to resolve this tension in its landmark decision, F.T.C. v. Actavis, but the tension remains as lower courts struggle to produce a uniform standard …

American Edibles: How Cannabis Regulatory Policy Rehashes Prohibitionist Fears And What To Do About It, Connor Burns, Jay Wexler

Seattle University Law Review

Why can’t we buy a cannabis muffin with our morning coffee? For much of the past century, the answer was simple: cannabis was illegal. Now, however, with more and more states legalizing cannabis for adult use, the answer is far less clear. Even in those states that have legalized cannabis, the simple action of buying and eating edibles at the same location has somehow remained a pipe dream despite consumer demand. Digging a little deeper, we can see how contemporary alarmism—by rehashing the same prohibitionist rhetoric demonizing cannabis for over eighty years—has once again arisen with a new target: cannabis-infused …

For Richer Or Poorer: Incentivizing Meaningful Investments In Qualified Opportunity Zones, Monica L. Keo

Seattle University Law Review

The wealth disparity in the United States is nothing new. Many have proposed wealth taxes and higher tax rates for large corporations to address income inequality; however, these proposals have been criticized as tax programs that are difficult to administer. Congress passed the Tax Cut and Jobs Act (TCJA) in 2017 and created a new investment vehicle known as the Qualified Opportunity Zone (QOZ). The QOZ program incentivizes private investors to invest their capital gains in exchange for a reduction in capital gains tax. The underlying idea of the QOZ program is to utilize a new tool designed to spur …

The Virginia Company To Chick-Fil-A: Christian Business In America, 1600–2000, Joseph P. Slaughter

Seattle University Law Review

This Article argues that the proprietors of what the author terms “Christian Business Enterprises” (CBEs) would strenuously disagree with Justice Ginsburg and assert that their express mission is to earn a profit while propagating their religious values. As such, they operate businesses “infused with religion,” where Christian values are interwoven into the very fabric of the company and how the firm relates to its stakeholders, employees, customers, suppliers, and communities.

This Article further demonstrates the rich heritage of religious for-profit businesses throughout American history by focusing on a series of Protestant CBEs that led to today’s CBE giants: Chick-fil-A and …

The Small-Er Screen: Youtube Vlogging And The Unequipped Child Entertainment Labor Laws, Amanda G. Riggio

Seattle University Law Review

Family vloggers are among the millions of content creators on YouTube. In general, vloggers frequently upload recorded videos of their daily lives. Family vloggers are unique because they focus their content around their familial relationships and the lives of their children. One set of family vloggers, the Ace Family, has recorded their children’s lives from the day they were born and continue to upload videos of each milestone, including “Elle Cries on Her First Rollercoaster Ride” and “Elle and Alaïa Get Caught Doing What!! **Hidden Camera**.” Another vlogging couple, Cole and Savannah LaBrant, post similar content, including videos titled “Baby …

The Participation Principle And The Dialectic Of Sovereignty-Sharing, George K. Foster

Seattle University Law Review

States around the world are ceding authority to international institutions, devolving powers to lower-level political subdivisions, and granting forms of autonomy to Indigenous peoples and other minority groups. At the same time, states are increasingly offering groups and individuals “participation rights”: opportunities to participate in sovereign prerogatives without exercising control. These opportunities range from providing input into environmental decision-making, to collaborating with law enforcement in community policing programs, to receiving a share of natural-resource revenues. This Article contends that all of these developments represent a dividing up of the collection of rights known as sovereignty, and that participation rights reflect …

Shareholder Meetings And Freedom Rides: The Story Of Peck V. Greyhound, Harwell Wells

Seattle University Law Review

In 1947, civil rights pioneers James Peck and Bayard Rustin, members of the radical religious group, the Fellowship of Reconciliation, and its offshoot, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), prepared to embark on the Journey of Reconciliation, an interracial protest against segregated busing in the American South. But first, they did something else radical: they bought shares in a corporation. A year later, after their travels in the South had led to terror, death threats, beatings, and in Rustin’s case, a term on a chain gang, they brought their civil rights activism to a new site of protest—the shareholder meeting …

Religious Roots Of Corporate Organization, Amanda Porterfield

Seattle University Law Review

Religion and corporate organization have developed side-by-side in Western culture, from antiquity to the present day. This Essay begins with the realignment of religion and secularity in seventeenth-century America, then looks to the religious antecedents of corporate organization in ancient Rome and medieval Europe, and then looks forward to the modern history of corporate organization. This Essay describes the long history behind the entanglement of business and religion in the United States today. It also shows how an understanding of both religion and business can be expanded by looking at the economic aspects of religion and the religious aspects of …

School “Safety” Measures Jump Constitutional Guardrails, Maryam Ahranjani

Seattle University Law Review

In the wake of George Floyd’s murder and efforts to achieve racial justice through systemic reform, this Article argues that widespread “security” measures in public schools, including embedded law enforcement officers, jump constitutional guardrails. These measures must be rethought in light of their negative impact on all children and in favor of more effective—and constitutionally compliant—alternatives to promote school safety. The Black Lives Matter, #DefundthePolice, #abolishthepolice, and #DefundSchoolPolice movements shine a timely and bright spotlight on how the prisonization of public schools leads to the mistreatment of children, particularly children with disabilities, boys, Black and brown children, and low-income children. …

The Confusion Of Mcdonnell Douglas: A Path Forward For Reverse Discrimination Claims, Christian Joshua Myers

Seattle University Law Review

It is no secret that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is one of the most significant pieces of legislation ever passed by the United States Congress. Fiercely debated and enacted during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, Title VII prohibits employers from engaging in various forms of discrimination within the workplace. For instance, employers may not unlawfully consider race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in employment decisions. Given Bostock v. Clayton County’s recent extension of Title VII’s protections to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer workers, this Article posits that evaluating Caucasian workers’ “reverse …

Religious Roots Of Corporate Organization, Amanda Porterfield

Seattle University Law Review

Religion and corporate organization have developed side-by-side in Western culture, from antiquity to the present day. This Essay begins with the realignment of religion and secularity in seventeenth-century America, then looks to the religious antecedents of corporate organization in ancient Rome and medieval Europe, and then looks forward to the modern history of corporate organization. This Essay describes the long history behind the entanglement of business and religion in the United States today. It also shows how an understanding of both religion and business can be expanded by looking at the economic aspects of religion and the religious aspects of …

The Future Of The Agricultural Industry – Is Blockchain A New Beginning?, Ryan Bisel

Seattle University Law Review

As we advance into a digital era, we begin to depend on technological innovations to rapidly help develop and update processes and methods within different industries. Blockchain technology—popularized by cryptocurrency—is slowly making its debut in the agricultural supply chain. Implementing a blockchain requirement for suppliers would be beneficial because it would allow agricultural suppliers and distributors to track their products in a more efficient manner. However, there are four potential legal issues that are foreseeable: (1) preemption, (2) overlapping regulatory authority, (3) applying current legal rules to new technology, and (4) contracting. This Note will specifically focus on issues of …

Duress In Immigration Law, Elizabeth A. Keyes

Seattle University Law Review

The doctrine of duress is common to other bodies of law, but the application of the duress doctrine is both unclear and highly unstable in immigration law. Outside of immigration law, a person who commits a criminal act out of well-placed fear of terrible consequences is different than a person who willingly commits a crime, but American immigration law does not recognize this difference. The lack of clarity leads to certain absurd results and demands reimagining, redefinition, and an unequivocal statement of the significance of duress in ascertaining culpability. While there are inevitably some difficult lines to be drawn in …