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Full-Text Articles in Law

Symposium Panel: Ensuring Access Tojustice In Maine’S Rural Communities, Kevin Stitham, Sarah Gilbert, Toby Jandreau, Adam Swanson Sep 2019

Symposium Panel: Ensuring Access Tojustice In Maine’S Rural Communities, Kevin Stitham, Sarah Gilbert, Toby Jandreau, Adam Swanson

Maine Law Review

The dichotomy between the greater Portland area and Route One corridor, and Maine’s rural inland and Down East communities, is stark in many ways—economic, cultural, political, and spatial. These differences converge when it comes to the availability and accessibility of process and justice, and find particularly vivid expression in Maine’s well documented rural lawyer shortage. How is the rural lawyer shortage affecting Maine’s rural communities, what steps are being taken to address those problems, and what more can be done? In short, what can be done to ensure Maine’s rural communities are not denied an effective justice system?


Who Takes A Dam: Regulatory Confusion And Surging Opportunities For Small Dam Removal In Rural Maine, Grady R. Burns Aug 2019

Who Takes A Dam: Regulatory Confusion And Surging Opportunities For Small Dam Removal In Rural Maine, Grady R. Burns

Maine Law Review

This Comment examines the regulatory regimes surrounding the removal of state-regulated small dams in Maine by comparing the relatively underdeveloped regime in Maine with the much more coherent and robust regime in neighboring New Hampshire. When compared to more deliberate regimes, Maine’s system lacks key features, including a streamlined permitting program and a single clearinghouse for information, resources, and regulatory enforcement. Given the significant opportunities afforded by a coherent regulatory small dam removal regime, this Comment recommends that Maine follow the example of other states by creating a river restoration and dam removal program, re-establishing its statewide dam inventory, creating …


The Short-Term Rental Economy In Rural Maine Communities: An Opportunity For Economic Growth Instead Of A Target For Regulation, Nicholas E. Anania Aug 2019

The Short-Term Rental Economy In Rural Maine Communities: An Opportunity For Economic Growth Instead Of A Target For Regulation, Nicholas E. Anania

Maine Law Review

State and local governments across the country are grappling with the rise of short-term housing rentals and how to enact effective regulation regarding their use. The increase of short-term rentals (STRs) is almost entirely the result of online platforms that make STRs easy, efficient, and accessible. While STRs undoubtedly have positive economic outcomes for both property owners and local economies, there are also many negative repercussions which must be effectively regulated. Regulation in this area reflects differing priorities and viewpoints of states and municipalities. Specifically, rural Maine municipalities, many of which are popular seasonal destinations, face not only the challenges …


Conservation, Regionality, And The Farm Bill, Jess R. Phelps Aug 2019

Conservation, Regionality, And The Farm Bill, Jess R. Phelps

Maine Law Review

Over the past several Farm Bills, there has been a somewhat subtle shift in program design to better incorporate regional perspectives/localized areas of conservation concern into national conservation program delivery. The purpose of this Article is to specifically explore the various roles that regional considerations play in existing Farm Bill conservation programs and also consider whether further developments in this direction could result in more flexible program delivery, more effective partnerships, and ultimately, better conservation outcomes. To this end, section II will provide an overview of the history of the Farm Bill, from its origins to the emergence of a …


The Past, Present, And Future Of Rural Northern New England: A Study Of The Demographics Crisis And How It Affects The Rural Lawyer Shortage, Christopher Chavis Aug 2019

The Past, Present, And Future Of Rural Northern New England: A Study Of The Demographics Crisis And How It Affects The Rural Lawyer Shortage, Christopher Chavis

Maine Law Review

Like most of rural America, Northern New England is facing a shortage of lawyers in its rural spaces. The three states are facing an aging bar and demographic trends that indicate that this will only continue. The situation is already dire. The Northern New England states currently rank among the oldest states in the country and there are counties where young lawyers are an almost extinct species. The current trends are not unprecedented. As one of the first areas to industrialize, New England saw its young people leave the countryside early and start to flock to growing cities. As the …


Gideon In The Desert: An Empirical Study Of Providing Counsel To Criminal Defendants In Rural Places, Andrew Davies, Alyssa Clark Aug 2019

Gideon In The Desert: An Empirical Study Of Providing Counsel To Criminal Defendants In Rural Places, Andrew Davies, Alyssa Clark

Maine Law Review

Access to counsel for criminal defendants is a continuing challenge in rural localities, notwithstanding the mandates of Sixth Amendment jurisprudence. In this Article, we first review the state of the law on access to counsel in criminal cases, noting the latitude allowed to state and local governments in their policy decisions. We then examine empirical approaches to measuring access to counsel and describe in detail both the law and the data on this issue from the state of Texas. We present exploratory analyses of those data comparing rural and urban places for various aspects of access to counsel, including rules …


Viewing Access To Justice For Rural Mainers Of Color Through A Prosecutorial Lens, Maybell Romero Aug 2019

Viewing Access To Justice For Rural Mainers Of Color Through A Prosecutorial Lens, Maybell Romero

Maine Law Review

Rural areas throughout the country, including those in Maine, are beginning to navigate the challenges and benefits of burgeoning communities of color. District Attorneys’ offices in the state, however, have done little to prepare for this major demographic shift. Maine district attorneys must expand their understanding of their duties to do justice and assure access to justice by better serving rural Mainers of color. While a number of scholars have focused on the legal challenges communities of color face in urban environments as well as those faced by what have been presumed to be White communities in rural areas, this …


Rural Practice As Public Interest Work, Hannah Haksgaard Aug 2019

Rural Practice As Public Interest Work, Hannah Haksgaard

Maine Law Review

As the rural lawyer shortage continues to grow, rural states and communities must find new ways of attracting law students and graduates to rural practice. This Article explores incentives based on conceptualizing rural private practice as public interest work. Rural lawyers provide public interest lawyering through pro bono cases, mixed practices, community service, and even through providing fee-paid services in rural communities. The Article asserts that law schools and rural communities can capitalize on this view to recruit new lawyers and argues that federal loan forgiveness programs should be expanded to cover rural lawyers.


Foreword, Mac Walton Editor-In-Chief Aug 2019

Foreword, Mac Walton Editor-In-Chief

Maine Law Review

No abstract provided.


Editorial Board Vol. 71 No. 2 (2019), Mac Walton Editor-In-Chief Aug 2019

Editorial Board Vol. 71 No. 2 (2019), Mac Walton Editor-In-Chief

Maine Law Review

No abstract provided.


Cooper V. Commissioner: Give The Inventor A (Learned) Hand, Rebecca R. Dulik Mar 2019

Cooper V. Commissioner: Give The Inventor A (Learned) Hand, Rebecca R. Dulik

Maine Law Review

Among the Internal Revenue Code’s many rules are some taxpayer-friendly provisions that grant tax benefits. Section 1235 is one such provision, providing to an inventor preferential tax treatment for income from the sale or exchange of a patent. In Cooper v. Commissioner, although the taxpayer inventor satisfied § 1235’s requirements, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the Tax Court’s decision to deny the taxpayer § 1235’s benefits. This Note compares Cooper to other § 1235 cases and argues that Cooper was decided wrongly because of the application of the substance over form doctrine. The substance over form doctrine is overapplied in general …


Bail Reform And Intimate Partner Violence In Maine, Mac Walton Mar 2019

Bail Reform And Intimate Partner Violence In Maine, Mac Walton

Maine Law Review

The bail reform movement is leading to pretrial practice changes across the country, largely aimed at reducing pretrial detention rates or uncoupling pretrial detention from money. These reforms often include expanding or formalizing the role of actuarial risk assessment tools in bail determinations. Maine has not enacted bail reforms to expressly reduce pretrial detention, but since 2015, Maine courts have been using a risk assessment tool in bail decisions in intimate partner violence cases. Analysis of risk assessment practices in Kentucky and New Jersey, in comparison with the particular considerations in IPV cases, can inform Maine’s current bail system and …


Better By Design: Implementing Meaningful Change For The Next Generation Of Law Students, Rebecca Flanagan Mar 2019

Better By Design: Implementing Meaningful Change For The Next Generation Of Law Students, Rebecca Flanagan

Maine Law Review

This article presents a fictitious, utopian law school to challenge the assumption that legal education has met adequately the challenges of preparing law students for an evolving profession. By presenting the utopian ideal, the author highlights how adoption of best practices in learning and cognitive sciences could transform legal education from a highly criticized institution to a dynamic, self-transforming academy designed to meet the changing needs of students and the practicing bar.


Felon Jurors In Vacationland, James M. Binnall Mar 2019

Felon Jurors In Vacationland, James M. Binnall

Maine Law Review

Maine is the only jurisdiction in the United States that places no limitations on a convicted felon’s juror eligibility. Instead, Maine screens prospective felon-jurors using their normal jury selection procedures. In recent years, scholars have suggested that meaningful community engagement can help facilitate former offenders’ reintegration and criminal desistance. From that theoretical posture, a number of empirical studies have explored the connection between participation in the electorate and the reentry of former offenders. Those studies suggest that voting has the potential to prompt pro-social changes among former offenders. Still, to date, no research has focused on jury service as a …


Conserving A Vision: Acadia, Katahdin, And The Pathway From Private Lands To Park Lands, Sean Flaherty, Anthony L. Moffa Mar 2019

Conserving A Vision: Acadia, Katahdin, And The Pathway From Private Lands To Park Lands, Sean Flaherty, Anthony L. Moffa

Maine Law Review

Although a century separates the official designations, the strategies required to ensure federal protection of Maine’s two National Park Service areas—Acadia National Park and Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument—closely track one another. In both cases, a handful of enterprising conservationists shared the vision for conservation. Both areas depended on the private acquisition, and donation, of title to the numerous parcels that comprised them before the land could garner federal protection. Politics in the early 20th and 21st centuries had to be overcome. This work tells the stories in parallel, highlighting and analyzing four strands of similarity to not only …


Immigration Detention: Perspectives From Maine Law Students Working On The Ground At The Laredo Detention Center In Texas, Joann Bautista, Katie J. Bressler, Nora R. Bosworth Mar 2019

Immigration Detention: Perspectives From Maine Law Students Working On The Ground At The Laredo Detention Center In Texas, Joann Bautista, Katie J. Bressler, Nora R. Bosworth

Maine Law Review

Since 2017, students enrolled in the University of Maine School of Law Refugee and Human Rights Clinic have traveled to Laredo, Texas to participate in a program, sponsored and run by the law firm Jones Day in collaboration with Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, to provide representation for women in the Laredo Detention Center. Alongside Jones Day attorneys, the students conduct client intake interviews, draft memos detailing each woman’s experiences and any potential legal claims, and assist in the representation of clients. This article will provide a glimpse into the experiences of three Maine Law student attorneys during their time in …