Law Commons^™

Prefatory Matter

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

No abstract provided.

Letter From The Editor, Maryann Grover

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

No abstract provided.

If Roe Falls: Whole Woman’S Health Act As A Necessary Stop-Gap On The Way To Full Protection Of Bodily Autonomy In Virginia, Galina Varchena

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

In 2016, the Supreme Court clarified the scenarios in which an “undue burden” is imposed on a pregnant person seeking an abortion in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt. As a result, the constitutionality of many of Virginia’s abortion regulations seems in doubt. These unconstitutional regulations include the TRAP regulation that limits the type of facilities that can provide abortions, and statutes relating to informed consent and mandatory waiting periods. Thus, the outlook following the Court’s ruling in Whole Woman’s Health looked, if not bright, then at least hopeful for reproductive rights. That changed, though, with the ...

Virginia’S 2018 General Assembly Session In Review, Mollie Laird

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

The 2018 General Assembly session came on the heels of what many deemed a shocking 2017 election cycle. Democrats gained a surprising number of seats in the General Assembly, creating the need for bipartisan compromise throughout the 2018 session. It is when compromise occurred that deals were made and laws were passed to benefit Virginians. This does not mean that tensions did not flare at times. Ideological differences were certainly on display in debates surrounding Confederate monuments and gun control. But beyond ideological differences, the General Assembly was able to raise the felony-larceny threshold and to end a rate freeze ...

Aging Out: 2018 Legislation Seeking To Address Virginia’S Permanency Problem For Children In Foster Care, Valerie L'Herrou

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

Virginia has one of the highest rates of youth who “age out” of the foster care system and one of the lowest family reunification rates in the country. This is due to several factors, including that the termination of parental rights has an accelerated timeline in Virginia compared to the federal timeline. Children who age out of the system lack a sense of permanency that is critical to healthy psychological development. As a result, many such children tend to experience lower levels of educational attainment and income, and higher levels of substance use, criminal justice system involvement, and homelessness than ...

Free To Bleed: Virginia House Bill 83 And The Dignity Of Menstruating Inmates, Holly Seibold, Gianna Fienberg

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

For many individuals, their monthly period is an embarrassing and stigmatizing event, but for those who are homeless or have a low income, are students, or are incarcerated, it is something much more dangerous. A lack of menstrual hygiene can lead to serious health risks including skin infections, urinary tract and bladder infections, and toxic shock syndrome. Because of the cost of menstrual supplies, though, many are prevented from adequately caring for their menstrual health. Students, the homeless and low-income, and the incarcerated are regularly confronted by a lack of access to menstrual supplies and are thus forced to use ...

Grassroots Organizing And Medicaid Expansion In Virginia: The Lee County Chapter Of Virginia Organizing And Medicaid Expansion, Brian Johns, Rosemary Gould, Ladelle Mcwhorter

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

The ability to participate in grassroots organizing derives implicitly from the Constitution’s declaration of “We the People” and explicitly from the First Amendment’s guarantee of the right to petition the Government for redress. At Virginia Organizing, we take this grant of power very seriously as is evident from our recent grassroots organizing for Medicaid expansion in Virginia. Our work focused predominately on more rural parts of the Commonwealth where our chapter members have experienced the consequences of a lack of access to health care. By mobilizing individuals passionate about Medicaid expansion and those who suffer from the lack ...

The Appeal Of A Repeal: Analyzing Virginia’S Self-Sabotage Of Successful Re-Entry For Drug Felons, Salaam Bhatti

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

The United States is currently engaged in a battle against poverty. There are many heads to this Hydra, but one of the most significant is the felony drug ban. The felony drug ban prohibits individuals convicted of felony drug offenses from receiving Supplement Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits. This means that, at a time when a former inmate is most vulnerable – when they struggle to find work and support themselves post-release - the government turns a blind eye to that individual’s need, often forcing a former inmate to recidivate and do anything they ...

Virginia Pioneers Mental Health Transportation Alternative For Children Under Temporary Detention Order, Snapper Tams, Victoria Zicker

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

Children in Virginia who are experiencing a mental health crisis have traditionally been shackled while they are transported to a mental health facility for treatment. Such shackling is traumatizing for children and detrimental to their cognitive and emotional development. Shackling has been required by law enforcement personnel, the default providers of mental health transportation. However, alternative transportation options to law enforcement exist and are actively being explored in Virginia in order to de-stigmatize mental health crises and minimize trauma caused by the transportation process. The Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services funded a pilot program in southwestern Virginia ...

E-Museletter: December 2018, William Taylor Muse Law Library

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24 Hour Access Begins December 3

Westlaw Edge arriving January 1

Dongle-Free Device Display! Dang! That’s Easy

Undergraduates in the Library

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E-Museletter: November 2018, William Taylor Muse Law Library

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Thanksgiving Break Hours

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E-Museletter: October 2018, William Taylor Muse Law Library

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Phone Pods!

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New Display: The Weird and Wonderful World of Law

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E-Museletter: September 2018, William Taylor Muse Law Library

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New Study Spaces

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E-Museletter: May 2018, William Taylor Muse Law Library

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Open All Night

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Letter From The Editor, Alexandra Ellmauer

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

No abstract provided.

They Say Emotional Support Dog, We Say Service Dog: Why The Americans With Disabilities Act Should Recognize Emotional Support Dogs As Service Animals, Chelsea Hernandez-Silk

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

This article explores the laws surrounding emotional support animals. Specifically, the author analyzes the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Fair Housing Act, and the Air Carrier Access Act. This article proposes that emotional support animals should be recognized under federal legislation because they perform specific tasks. Further, the author contends that greater awareness of the benefits of emotional support animals will alleviate public health and safety concerns.

The Nature Of The Judicial Process: A Complex Systems Analysis Of Checks & Balances & Separation Of Powers In The Present Political Context, Marvin L. Astrada

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

Justice Cardozo’ s prescient inquiry in The Nature of the Judicial Process nearly a century ago merits revisiting and analysis in light of the present political climate. Under the new administration, the Executive Branch has characterized a judicial opinion from the U.S. District Court of Hawaii’ s as emanating from “an island in the Pacific,” suggested the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals should be fragmented, and subjected judges who disagree with the constitutionality of the administration’ s immigration policies to ridicule, vilification, or disparagement. When contemplating the nature of the judicial process, it is time to reassess the courts ...

The Fiery Furnace, Civil Disobedience, And The Civil Rights Movement: A Biblical Exegesis On Daniel 3 And Letter From Birmingham Jail, Jonathan C. Augustine

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

This essay was written in observance of the 50th anniversary of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s untimely assassination in April 1968. It highlights some of King’ s most important work during the American Civil Rights Movement in terms of its contemporary influence. As a focal thesis, this essay argues that King’ s famed Letter From Birmingham Jail—written during his April 1963 incarceration in Birmingham, Alabama, for deliberately refusing to follow what he morally deemed to be an “unjust law”—was predicated on the biblical foundation of civil disobedience exemplified in the famed story of Shadrack, Meshack ...

Fostering Futures In Virginia: Why Is It Needed And What Does It Add To Existing Programs?, Karen E. Dottore

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

This article addresses the large population of foster children over the age of 13 who have the same need for stable outcomes as younger foster children. Older foster children face a greater challenge in achieving a stable outcome because of their age. With this challenge comes a greater likelihood of homelessness and involvement in the criminal justice system. This article examines the various programs in Virginia designed to address the challenges faced by older foster children, and particularly, a new program called Fostering Futures, which provides greater support specifically to older foster children.

Bargaining Towards Equality: The Effects Of Implicit Bias Training On Plea-Bargaining, John Dunnigan

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

This comment focuses on the racial discrimination that currently exists in the process of plea-bargaining. The author suggests an approach aimed to mend the widespread racial discrimination. Particularly, the author details why mandatory implicit bias trainings for prosecutors would benefit defendants. Implicit bias trainings would benefit the criminal justice system as a whole because they would bring awareness to the issue and give prosecutors the knowledge they need to act justly in the plea-bargaining process.

Giles, The Confrontation Clause, And Inferred Intent: Do Abusers Forfeit Their Confrontation Rights By Engaging In Domestic Violence?, Evan Stastny

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

This Prosecuting those accused of domestic violence presents an array of challenges for prosecutors. These crimes are frequently a he-said, she-said situation with minimal physical evidence. This puts a heavy weight on victim testimony in order to obtain a conviction. Unfortunately, many victims refuse to testify at the outset, agree to testify then change their minds, or do not show up for the court date. Without that testimony, prosecutors will often drop the charges against an accused, possibly putting the victim at risk of another episode of violence.

Justice Scalia opened the door to the possibility of a prosecutor being ...

E-Museletter: April 2018, William Taylor Muse Law Library

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This Issue:

Second Floor Renovation

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Study Aids

2017 Symposium Panel Discussion: The Life Of An Immigration Attorney, William Benos, Tanishka V. Cruz, Cori Alonso-Yoder, Naureen Hyder, Ashley Shapiro

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

No abstract provided.

Letter From The Editor, Brandon Bowers

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

No abstract provided.

2017 Symposium Lecture: Economic Impact Of Immigration Regulations, Lakshmi Challa

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

No abstract provided.

Five Steps To A Better U: Improving The Crime-Fighting Visa, Jason A. Cade, Meghan L. Flanagan

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

Congress created the U nonimmigrant status to assist noncitizen vic- tims of serious crime and to encourage them to assist law enforce- ment in the investigation of that crime. Despite these laudable goals, the process has been flawed since the outset. U visas were capped at 10,000 per year, eventually precipitating a multi-year backlog that diminishes the incentive to report crime for persons who fear depor- tation. Of particular importance, the willingness of law enforcement officers to provide a certification of helpfulness—a mandatory com- ponent of an application for U status—varies tremendously across agencies. Eligibility for U ...

The Criminalization Of The Immigration System: The Dehumanizing Impact Of Calling A Person "Illegal", Ashley R. Shapiro

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

In the context of immigration, words matter. The increasingly used term “criminal alien” is not only used as an adjective to define a noncitizen who has committed a crime, but it also acts as a descrip- tion of his or her personhood. The use of the term “illegals,” which is the shortened version of “illegal alien,” is pervasive in the media as well as policy debate. In Part I, this paper discusses the evolution of the immigration system in the United States from a discretionary and humanitarian system to a criminalized process. In Part II, this paper examines the convergence ...

The Unanswered Conundrum: Inconclusive Record And The Burden Of Proof For Immigration Relief, Yanie Yuan

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

In 2017, the Ninth Circuit Court of the United States decided a case of an undocumented noncitizen that went against United States Su- preme Court precedent. The appellant in Marinelarena v. Sessions was removed despite the fact that she had not been convicted of any crimes. This comment examines the arguments and strategies of the case that the judges relied upon in their opinion.