Law Commons^™

Utilizing Credit Reports For Employment Purposes: A Legal Bait And Switch Tactic, James D. Phillips, David D. Schein

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

In our previous article, "Holding Credit Reporting Agencies Accountable: How the Financial Crisis May be Contributing to Improving Accuracy in Credit Reporting" we reviewed the legal history of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), its amendments, and the federal case law by circuit. We suggested that the ability of consumers to ensure the accuracy and security of their credit reports might lead to an expansion of the litigation surrounding accurate credit reporting. This article takes the discussion further by exploring the ever-expanding use of credit reports in the employment law arena. We review the state legislation limiting the use of …

The Common Law Right To Information, Joe Regalia

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

A once-thriving doctrine, today the common law right to information has been largely forgotten by U.S. courts at both the state and federal level. But courts have not paused to question whether the common law right still has a role to play in modern litigation. One reason may be the dearth of case law explaining the common law right's operation. Another may be that courts believe this doctrine has been eradicated by the advent of freedom of information laws. This article first brings together the disparate authority on the common law right in an attempt to pin down the precise …

Troxel Revisited: A New Approach To Third-Party Childcare, Jeffrey A. Parness

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

This article will first explore the new de facto parent state laws originating in both statutes and cases. These laws often limit current parental decisionmaking about childcare due to an earlier conscious or implicit ceding of parental authority. The article will then examine current third-party childcare laws, including those specially addressing stepparents and grandparents. The analysis will show that such laws typically do not comparably limit current parental decisionmaking due to earlier ceding of parental authority, making third-party childcare more difficult because of requirements like "harm or potential harm to the child." Finally, the article suggests a new approach to …

Forfeiting Federalism: The Faustian Pact With Big Tobacco, Ryan D. Dreveskracht

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

This article discusses the effects of the largest legal settlement in United States history: the so-called Master Settlement Agreement , or "MSA." Part I discusses the settlement generally, and its intended effect on the U.S. tobacco market. Parts II through IV discuss the unintended consequences of the settlement.' Part II considers how states got into their current disarray, and how a perceived state windfall of billions of dollars ended up putting states on what by all accounts now appears to be very real risk of insolvency. Part III examines how the major tobacco companies are using the states' dire financial …

Content-Based Confusion And Panhandling: Muddling A Weathered First Amendment Doctrine Takes Its Toll On Society's Less Fortunate, Clay Calvert

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

This article examines multiple problems now plaguing the fundamental dichotomy in First Amendment jurisprudence between content-based and content-neutral regulations of speech. The troubles were highlighted by the U.S. Supreme Court's 2014 divided decision in McCullen v. Coakley. Building from McCullen, this article uses a quartet of federal court rulings from 2014 and 2013 involving anti-begging ordinances affecting the homeless as analytical springboards for examining these issues in depth. Ultimately, the article proposes a three-step framework for mitigating the muddle and calls on the nation's high court to take action to clarify the proper test for distinguishing between content-based and content-neutral …

To End Divisions: Reflections On The Civil Rights Act Of 1964, Dr. Julian Maxwell Hayter

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

By focusing on a number of the CRA's key titles - without belittling the act's importance to Latinos, women, et al.- this commentary illustrates how the act moved beyond eliminating segregation; it addresses how the racial climate of the early 1960s shaped public policy. Broadly, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 sought to change the balance of racial (and genderbased) power in the America by using federal law to finally protect African Americans' right to live equal lives. After 1964, for the first time since Reconstruction, race was national policy agenda. This agenda and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 …

Public Hazard, Personal Peril: The Impact Of Non-Governmental Organizations In The Environmental Justice Movement, Andrea Y. Simpson

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

This article argues that the local emphasis of what I call micromovements that form the larger Environmental Justice Movement could gain more traction from relationships with Non-Governmental Organizations. Such partnerships are emerging on a national level; however, since the localized movements communicate with, but are not partners with, national organizations such as the National Black Environmental Network, it is unclear how such partnerships add value to the activities of local groups. Moreover, some partnerships are forged for the organization of a specific event such as a conference or working group study Part II of this article discusses an overview of …

Gender Equity In The 21st Century: Keynote Address, Chai Feldblum

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

You have heard a lot this morning about the need in 1964 for Congress to enact prohibitions against discrimination on the basis of race, national origin and religion. I am going to use my time, therefore, to talk about gender equity: the addition of the sex discrimination prohibition in Title VII, the advances that have occurred since passage of that law, and the miles that we still have to go to achieve full gender equity.

Protecting The Digital Afterlife: Virginia's Privacy Expectation Afterlife And Choices Act, The Honorable Mark Obesnshain, The Honorable Jay Leftwich

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

This article examines Virginia’s Privacy Expectation Afterlife and Choices Act. Part I surveys federal legislation and proposed uniform legislation that attempts to protect digital assets and records. Part II examines opposition to proposed legislation and another proposed law: the Privacy Expectation Afterlife and Choices Act. Part III details Virginia’s final version of the Privacy Expectation Afterlife and Choices Act. Part V concludes the Article.

Recent Children's Policy And Legislative Developments In Virginia: A Brief History, A Bright Future, The Honorable Christopher K. Peace, Amy L. Woolard

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

In this piece, we will outline the structural and policy developments implemented in Virginia in recent years that set the stage for a sea change in children’s services in Virginia.

Rivera V. Nibco:A Tentative Limitation Of The Supreme Court's Decision Inhoffman Plastic Compounds, Inc. V. Nlrb, Rebecca L. Ennis

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

In 2002, the United States Supreme Court handed down its decision in Hoffman Plastic Compounds, Inc. v. NLRB. This landmark decision seemingly eliminated any chance illegal immigrant employees had to obtain awards of backpay after being discharged in violation of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). More importantly, however, the decision sent a message to the country that illegal entry into the United States was a violation that was to be taken more seriously by the courts than grossly unfair employment practices. The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently handed down a decision in Rivera v. NIBCO, Inc. …

A Physician's Apology: An Argument Against Statutory Protection, Nancy L. Zisk

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

After a review of a physician's ethical duty to disclose and the empirical evidence of how open and honest communication between patient and physician actually benefits both the patient and the treating physician, the paper questions whether apologies by health care providers need the protection afforded by these laws. Section II reviews the history of the medical profession's tendency toward silence and the reasons for that silence. Section III examines the state statutes passed to encourage the breaking of this silence. Section IV reviews the state rules of evidence that have traditionally been applied to determine whether or not statements …

Let's Get Ethical, A Look At The New Ethics Reform In The Commonwealth Of Virginia, Davis C. Rennolds

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

In April of 2015, the Virginia General Assembly returned to Richmond for its annual veto session, with the main focus on putting the finishing touches on ethics reform.1 After lengthy debate and a number of amendments, the omnibus ethics bill passed the House and the Senate unanimously. House and Senate Members from both political parties touted the accomplishment as a significant step forward, as did Governor McAuliffe who called the legislation a “victory for transparency and accountability.”

This Article will argue the cases of Delegate Phil Hamilton and former Governor Bob McDonnell provide a framework for analyzing whether the new …

Dna Without Warrant: Decoding Privacy, Probable Cause And Personhood, Ken Strutin

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

In Part I, this article explores the challenges to privacy, personhood and probable cause raised by DNA collection as identification sanctioned in Maryland v. King. Part II considers the presumed infallibility of DNA testing that undergirds the Supreme Court's embracement of genetic identification. Lastly, in Part III, this article will try to decipher the Court's Fourth Amendment logic in denying privacy to the information in human cells but embracing them in cell phones in Riley v. California

Testamentary Capacity Litigation In Virginia, F. Philip Manns Jr.

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

In Rust v. Reid, a 1918 case involving testamentary capacity, the Supreme Court of Virginia wrote the "cases upon this subject are almost without number, and they are not to be reconciled," but Rust referred to "all of the decisions of this court on the subject of competency of jurors," which also had been at issue in the case. However, in its decision in Rust, the Court easily could have leveled the same self-criticism about its cases deciding (1) which party bears the burden of proof in testamentary capacity litigation; (2) whether a presumption of testamentary capacity exists; and (3) …

Environmental Justice As Civil Rights, Wyatt G. Sassman

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

Environmental justice litigation using the Equal Protection Clause and civil rights statutes has largely failed. This article explains that failure as a result of a general shift by federal courts to limit the scope of civil rights law rather than an improper characterization of environmental justice as a civil rights issue. This explanation is important to both encourage and caution environmental justice advocates and scholars as they approach claims under Title VIII. I suggest that Title VIII's ability to bridge property and dignity may still present a powerful and much-needed tool for bringing equality to environmental law, but that, based …

Who Is Best Suited To Combat Sexual Violence On College Campuses?: An Analysis Of H.B. 1785, Susana Bass

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

Virginia House Bill 1785, requiring campus police to notify the Commonwealth’s Attorney of any victim-initiated sexual assault investigations, is a positive step forward in helping to combat sexual assault on Virginia college campuses. Under this legislation, victims of sexual assault are much more likely to receive the protection and justice they deserve.

Part II of this comment outlines current federal law that intends to ad- dress sexual assault on college campus and whether these laws have been effective in preventing sexual assault. Part III details Virginia House Bill 1785 introduced in the 2015 Virginia General Assembly Session to address sexual …

What Role For Civility?, Bob Gibson

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

Every year recently, Virginians bemoan a loss of civility in a political arena that seems more callous, combative and partisan, less productive and turning churlish. Many view politics in Washington as hopelessly lost into gridlock and cycles of inaction, inattention to serious issues and retribution. Virginians hope that politics at the state level has not sunk as far.

What has happened to trust, civility, and respect in politics as it relates to this past General Assembly session?