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Full-Text Articles in Law
Reforming 501(C)(3): Putting The Charity Back In The Charitable Deduction, Jennifer Mccrabb Black
Reforming 501(C)(3): Putting The Charity Back In The Charitable Deduction, Jennifer Mccrabb Black
Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest
This paper seeks to lay out a proposal to redefine what it takes to receive tax-deductible donations. Part H of this paper will summarize the current state of the law as it applies to the charitable contribution deduction and the qualification for tax exemption under the Internal Revenue Code. Part III discusses the Charities Act 2006, a recent British act aimed at attempting to redefine charity for England and Wales by requiring organizations to prove that they provide a public benefit before receiving the benefits of being a charity. Part IV proposes additions and changes to the Internal Revenue Code …
Lyme Disease: The Surprising Debate In The 2010 Virginia House Of Delegates, Gerald C. Canaan Ii, Karah L. Gunther
Lyme Disease: The Surprising Debate In The 2010 Virginia House Of Delegates, Gerald C. Canaan Ii, Karah L. Gunther
Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest
In most every General Assembly session, there are those bills that while on the surface appear fairly innocuous-quickly take on a life of their own, generating an audible buzz in and around the General Assembly Building. The 2010 Virginia General Assembly session was no different. Amidst hallway discussions concerning the budget, gun rights, and abortion, one could also hear the distinct murmur of a completely novel topic: Lyme disease. Often associated with a small, pesky insect known as the black-legged tick, until this year, Lyme disease had not been the subject of any controversial legislation proposed in the Commonwealth of …
Not So Hip - The Expanded Burdens On And Consequences To Law Firms As Business Associates Under Hitech Modifications To Hipaa, Megan Bradshaw, Benjamin K. Hoover
Not So Hip - The Expanded Burdens On And Consequences To Law Firms As Business Associates Under Hitech Modifications To Hipaa, Megan Bradshaw, Benjamin K. Hoover
Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 ("HIPAA ") governs the management of protected health information by covered entities (e.g., health care providers) and their business associates. However, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act ("HITECH"), contained within the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 ("ARRA"), drastically alters the scope of HIPAA regulations with regard to business associates, including law firms that routinely handle the protected health information ("PHI") governed by HIPAA. Under the HITECH Act, the definition of "business associate" is expanded, and these entities are treated as "covered" for purposes of the …
Legal Preparedness For Pandemic Influenza: Is Virginia Ready, Kristen Digirolam
Legal Preparedness For Pandemic Influenza: Is Virginia Ready, Kristen Digirolam
Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest
We cannot look at the legal issues of pandemic influenza in a vacuum. This paper attempts to identify the legal issues at stake during a pandemic and how those issues need to be discussed as a whole when preparing for a pandemic. Part II of this paper will give a brief description of pandemic influenza and look at the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918. Part III will examine the origins of legal authority during a pandemic at the federal, state, and local levels of government. Part IV will look at some of the specific legal issues that may arise during …
The General Assembly's Structural Conflicts Of Interest, Waldo Jaquith
The General Assembly's Structural Conflicts Of Interest, Waldo Jaquith
Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest
Virginia is not a state saddled with a reputation of ethically challenged legislators, but our part-time citizen legislature is structurally conducive to conflicts of interest. This reality was brought to the forefront in November 2009 when Delegate Phillip Hamilton resigned from the House of Delegates following revelations that he directed state appropriations into his own pocket. There is little doubt that the majority of legislators are scrupulous in their efforts to avoid such conflicts, but they must navigate treacherous waters to do so. Significant modifications to the structure and ethical standards of the General Assembly are necessary to correct this …
What Scribner Wrought: How The Invention Of Modern Dialysis Shaped Health Law And Policy, Sallie Thieme Sanford
What Scribner Wrought: How The Invention Of Modern Dialysis Shaped Health Law And Policy, Sallie Thieme Sanford
Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest
In March 1960, Clyde Shields, a machinist dying from incurable kidney disease, was connected to an "artificial kidney" by means of a Ushaped Teflon tube that came to be known as the Scribner shunt. By facilitating long-term dialysis, Dr. Belding Scriber's invention changed chronic kidney failure from a fatal illness to a treatable condition. A half-century after this milestone, there are now more than 1.6 million people throughout the world on maintenance dialysis. This medical advancement has, in turn, had a profound impact on key areas of health law and policy. This paper focuses on the historical roots and current …
Jamming The Revolving Door: Legislative Setbacks For Mental Health Court Systems In Virginia, Sheila Moheb
Jamming The Revolving Door: Legislative Setbacks For Mental Health Court Systems In Virginia, Sheila Moheb
Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest
Proponents of MHCs assert that alternative court systems will provide efficient jail diversion programs and reduce the number of individuals with mental illness in the criminal justice system by directing them to appropriate community treatment facilities. At the same time, MHCs must serve as only one branch of a larger, cohesive community effort to deter individuals with mental illness from incarceration, if not from conviction. Both advocates and adversaries of MHCs remain wary of the potential misuse of mental health courts, which may subject people with mental illness to greater criminalization or lead to greater fragmentation of the mental health …
Ethics In Virginia: Reforming Ethics And Conflict Of Interest Laws In The 2010 Virginia General Assembly, Christopher E. Piper
Ethics In Virginia: Reforming Ethics And Conflict Of Interest Laws In The 2010 Virginia General Assembly, Christopher E. Piper
Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest
This article will review the process by which an ethics complaint was handled in 2009 as well as the laws that passed the 2010 General Assembly. It will also examine criticisms of ethics laws in Virginia and throughout the country. Finally, this article concludes with a discussion of the current criticisms of ethics laws in Virginia and across the country.
Sexual Healing: Solving The Teen To Teen Sexting Problem In Virginia, Samuel T. Bernie
Sexual Healing: Solving The Teen To Teen Sexting Problem In Virginia, Samuel T. Bernie
Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest
This comment analyzes how teen-to-teen sexting is presently addressed under the Code of Virginia. It also addresses the statutes under which Janie and her friends may be convicted for their various indiscretions as well as some of the long term consequences of those convictions. Additionally, it addresses the recent Virginia State Crime Commissions report on teen-toteen sexting. The General Assembly may soon seek to adjust the Code of Virginia to better address teen-on-teen sexting. The second part of this comment will consider the options put forth by the Virginia State Crime Commission report and at different legislative "fixes" that have …
Plausible Screening: A Defense Of Twombly And Iqbal's Plausibility Pleading, Michelle Kallen
Plausible Screening: A Defense Of Twombly And Iqbal's Plausibility Pleading, Michelle Kallen
Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest
Part I of the article describes the vision of the 1938 reformers and the changes to the litigation landscape since. Part II describes the Twombly and Iqbal cases in relation to prior pleading standards. Part III builds on Twombly and Iqbal's language to set forth an account of plausibility pleadings that addresses the problems with today's system of litigation. Part IV describes some of the major critiques to plausibility pleading and explains why these critiques do not pose a threat to the account of plausibility pleading set forth in Part III.
Towards A New Lens Of Analysis: The History And Future Of Religious Exemptions To Child Neglect Statutes, Gregory Engle
Towards A New Lens Of Analysis: The History And Future Of Religious Exemptions To Child Neglect Statutes, Gregory Engle
Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest
In order to analyze the religious exemptions, this paper will begin with their history. Part II looks at the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act of 1974 (CAPTA) the statute that precipitated their spread, as well as the justifications that it was bolstered upon: Free Exercise of religion and parental rights. The Equal Protection critique follows as Part III, followed by Part IV that discusses the traditional critique, grounded in the Establishment Clause. In Part V, the article will finish with an explanation of why the Equal Protection critique is a much stronger criticism.
Wyeth V. Levine: What Does It Mean And Where Do Pharmaceutical Companies Go From Here, Clay Landa
Wyeth V. Levine: What Does It Mean And Where Do Pharmaceutical Companies Go From Here, Clay Landa
Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest
Therefore, one approach for a drug maker, knowing of a potential hazard, would be to unilaterally strengthen their warning without prior FDA approval under current regulations to head off any state tort claims for failure to warn. If the FDA ultimately determines not to approve the strengthened label, under explicit authority granted by Congress in the FDCA, drug makers have a strong argument that implicit conflict preemption now applies. As another avenue, drug makers may include a potential warning amounting to a prohibition of the drug's use or method of delivery when seeking initial approval of the warning label. Again, …
Access Denied: Sexual Victimization Of Juveniles In Correctional Facilities - How Senate Bill 585 Could Have Helped, Jillian Malizio
Access Denied: Sexual Victimization Of Juveniles In Correctional Facilities - How Senate Bill 585 Could Have Helped, Jillian Malizio
Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest
The right to counsel is a fundamental right, one the framers of our Constitution intended to apply to all American citizens. Virginia statutes and case law have protected the rights of incarcerated adults and it is now time to grant those same protections to the juveniles in their custody. Part II of this comment will review the requirement of a prisoner's right to "meaningful access" to the courts from both an adult and juvenile's perspective. An examination of jurisprudence from the Supreme Court of the United States, and Circuit Courts, reveals the history and importance of "meaningful access" and shows …
The Business Of Punishing: Impediments To Accountability In The Private Corrections Industry, Stephen Raher
The Business Of Punishing: Impediments To Accountability In The Private Corrections Industry, Stephen Raher
Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest
To understand the contemporary use of contractor-operated prisons, one must appreciate the political and economic developments which allowed privatization to enter the corrections industry. Accordingly, this article starts with a brief history of privatized corrections in the United States. The following section explores how the modem marketplace for private prisons has been shaped by two prominent dynamics-the emergence of a national market for prison beds and the massive expansion of the nation's immigrant detention system. The paper then considers the general implications of non-governmental prison operation, with a focus on how contractors have exploited their private status to the detriment …
Compelling The Courts To Question Gonzalez V. O Centro: A Public Harms Approach To Free Exercise Analysis, Ari B. Fontecchio
Compelling The Courts To Question Gonzalez V. O Centro: A Public Harms Approach To Free Exercise Analysis, Ari B. Fontecchio
Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest
Part I will set forth the analytical framework established by the Supreme Court in the RFRA and RLUIPA contexts before 0 Centro." This Part will provide a brief background to RFRA and RLUIPA and set forth the definition of "compelling interest" before 0 Centro. Part II will focus on the decision in 0 Centro; specifically, how the Supreme Court's redefinition of "compelling interest" significantly elevates the government's burden. Part III will compare the government's chance of winning on a "compelling interest" argument before 0 Centro" with the chance of winning in its wake. This Part will discuss the merits, flaws, …
There Is Always A Better Way: Proposed Legislative Improvements For The Federal Procurement System, Jim Moye
There Is Always A Better Way: Proposed Legislative Improvements For The Federal Procurement System, Jim Moye
Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest
This Article examines whether legislative and policy changes in the federal procurement system will result in major financial and integrity changes. Note that while government procurement activities undertaken by individual states are a substantive part of the Nation's economy, this Article is restricted to federal procurement law and policy. Part I discusses Title 41 of the United States Code, which provides the statutory authority for all federal procurement activities. Part I also briefly covers the supporting regulations known as the Federal Acquisition Rules ("FAR"). Part II examines the roles, membership and obligations of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, the …
Medical Rights For Same-Sex Couples And Rainbow Families, Anisa Mohanty
Medical Rights For Same-Sex Couples And Rainbow Families, Anisa Mohanty
Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest
The present state of the law regarding medical rights for same-sex couples and their families is highly inconsistent. A handful of states permit same-sex marriage. Another handful of states recognize samesex marriages from other states, allow civil unions with state-level spousal rights for same-sex couples, or extend some or nearly all statelevel spousal rights to unmarried couples in domestic partnerships. With these widely disparate levels of recognition, it becomes difficult for same-sex couples to navigate their options and rights when a loved one-a partner or child-has a medical emergency or is in the hospital. In Part II, this Comment will …
Title Vii Antiretaliation: The United States Supreme Court's Decision In Crawford V. Metropolitan Government Of Nashville &(And) Davidson County, Tennessee On The Scope Of The Opposition Clause, Ryan Nevin
Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest
This Note discusses the interpretation of the opposition clause within Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in the context of Crawford v. Metropolitan Government of Nashville & Davidson County, Tennessee. In general, the opposition clause protects an employee from retaliation by his employer if he opposes his employer's illegal conduct. Part II summarizes the facts and the holding of Crawford. Part III describes Title VII discrimination in general and antiretaliation in particular. Part IV discusses the United States Supreme Court's rationale in Crawford, and Part V questions the interpretation of the opposition clause. Finally, Part VI agrees …