Law Commons^™

Appendix, California Task Force

San Diego Law Review

No abstract provided.

No Apology Until Abolition: Redressing The Ongoing Atrocity Of Slavery, Brandee Mcgee

San Diego Law Review

There are currently more Black adults under correctional control than there were enslaved at the height of slavery. Despite Black Americans making up only 12% of the domestic population, states imprison them at more than five times the rate of White Americans. In California, the ratio is even higher: the “Black/‌white disparity [is] larger than 9:1.” Although many White Americans are also imprisoned, Michelle Alexander in The New Jim Crow argues that these White prisoners are “collateral damage” to mask a racialized prison-industrial complex (PIC)—with mass incarceration as the main feature.

In 1865, after decades of activism by the abolitionist …

Understanding Discursive Framings Of Reparations For Slavery And Jim Crow, Carol Klier

San Diego Law Review

A meaningful reframing can be an effective tool for social change. The work of cognitive scientist and linguist, George Lakoff, explores the relationship between language use and the way we understand the world around us. Pertinent to the discussion of slave redress and reparations is the significance of discursive framing as a means of both promoting and dispelling worldviews. The manner in which we communicate particular ideas reveals much about how we conceptualize that subject. How we frame impacts the effectiveness of our messaging to others. As Lakoff indicates, “[F]acts matter enormously, but to be meaningful they must be framed …

Advocate, Fall 2023, Office Of Development And Alumni Affairs, University Of San Diego School Of Law

Advocate

No abstract provided.

Board Of Pharmacy, Shannon Dart, Angela O’Hara

California Regulatory Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Eradicating The “Fear Environment” In Education That Threatens Free Speech And Emboldens Sexual Discrimination, Stephen M. Mcloughlin

San Diego Law Review

This Article proposes a new conception of sexual harassment that melds the insight of social science with the parameters of sexual harassment established through the Dueling Title IX Conceptions of sexual harassment. This Fear Environment Conception of sexual harassment defines sexual harassing speech as:

Speech that creates an environment of fear that interferes with the educational experience of students by causing a reasonable student to believe that (1) they will face similar threats in the future that (2) they cannot avoid, based on the (3) perceived harmful intent of the speaker.

This Fear Environment Conception focuses on the education interference …

Challenges To Environmental Impact Reports Under The California Environmental Quality Act: To Partially Decertify Or Not, That Is The Question, Andrew Dallas Kent

San Diego Law Review

This Comment will provide (1) a background of CEQA and the importance of the EIR for decision-making; (2) a framework of the current split in the California Courts of Appeal as to whether an EIR can be partially decertified; (3) a breakdown on the current split; (4) an analysis of the potential impacts the split has on development projects; and (5) solutions that clarify a court’s remedies explicitly allowing partial decertification of an EIR under CEQA.

Defending Dobbs: Ending The Futile Search For A Constitutional Right To Abortion, Robert J. Pushaw, Jr.

San Diego Law Review

In short, the Court is on the right track in cases like Dobbs by retreating from eccentric, unreviewable, common law policymaking and instead focusing on the Constitution itself.

Alas, average Americans, politicians, pundits, and even lawyers rarely read Court opinions but instead care only about whether they personally agree with the outcome, as the reaction to Dobbs illustrates. One can hardly blame them, as the Court’s constitutional opinions have often featured legal window dressing for results already reached on political or ideological grounds. Therefore, the current majority of Justices must illuminate the public about the Court’s proper role in interpreting …

Mother Nature On The Run: The Sec, Climate Change Disclosure, And The Major Questions Doctrine, J. Robert Brown, Jr.

San Diego Law Review

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or Commission) has proposed a rule that addresses the disclosure needs of investors with respect to climate change. The proposal would require that public companies tell investors about the risks to their business associated with climate change and explain the system and strategy of governance for monitoring those risks. In addition, the proposal would mandate the disclosure of certain greenhouse gas emissions.

The SEC’s proposal arrived contemporaneously with the Supreme Court’s announcement of the “major questions” doctrine. A deliberate attempt to limit the authority of the executive branch, the doctrine would restrict agencies from …

V.60-2, 2023 Masthead

San Diego Law Review

No abstract provided.

Poland's Rule Of Law Snowball: The Increasing Severity Of The Rift Between Poland And The European Union, Ronan A. Nelson

San Diego International Law Journal

This Comment will analyze one of the most recent bouts between the EC and Poland in their ongoing struggle over the image of European democracy, rule of law, and national sovereignty: the European Court of Justice’s June 2021 decision in Commission v. Poland. The EU’s conceptions of western democracy and rule of law, including strict adherence to the impartiality of a judicial branch, created the EC’s legal theory for taking a stand against Poland’s autocratic government. However, Poland’s ultimate sovereignty, brought to heightened attention thanks to its far-right leadership, stands in stark opposition to the perceived overreach of the …

V. 14, 2023 Masthead

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

No abstract provided.

Hot August Nights: California’S Quest For Resource Adequacy Solutions To Promote Integration Of Renewables And Energy Storage In The Midst Of Climate Change-Related Challenges To Reliability, Noelle R. Formosa

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

This Article focuses on the CPUC RA program’s role in helping to keep the lights (and air conditioning) on while advancing California’s continued mission to decarbonize the grid, even in the face of extreme climate-change induced weather events. It explains how the existing RA program creates risks of overestimating the availability of some capacity, including solar, wind, and energy storage resources, to meet demand in the increasingly critical evening hours. These risks are attributable to the program’s original design, which assumed that all resources will be available to meet load in all hours. This Article outlines the major CPUC regulatory …

Can Local Governments Exercise Police Power To Combat Climate Change Impacts By Banning Natural Gas In New Buildings?, Yichao Gu

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

This Article analyzes whether the Berkeley Gas Ban Ordinance would survive federal or state preemption challenges and examines whether Berkeley properly exercised its police power in adopting the Gas Ban Ordinance. Section II of this article provides background on the air quality and climate change impact from natural gas combustion. Section III discusses Berkeley’s police power authority to adopt the Gas Ban Ordinance. Sections IV through VI present potential express and implied preemption challenges and analyze arguments on both sides. Section VII concludes that the Gas Ban Ordinance is likely to survive federal and state express preemption, but it may …

State Sequestration: Federal Policy Accelerates Carbon Storage, But Leaves Full Climate, Equity Protections To States, Gabriel Pacyniak

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change—the UN’s expert science panel—has found that limiting climate change to prevent catastrophic harms will require at least some use of carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) unless the world rapidly shifts away from fossil fuels and reduces energy demand. There is significant uncertainty, however, about the level of lifecycle GHG reductions achievable in practice from varying CCS applications; some applications could even lead to net increases in emissions. In addition, a number of these applications create or maintain other harms, especially those related to fossil fuel extraction and use. For these reasons, many environmental justice …

Carbon Capture And Storage: Models For Compensating Holdout Landowners, Keith B. Hall

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and numerous individual governments have concluded that largescale use of carbon capture and storage (CCS) is vital as one tool to address climate change, even as society transitions to renewable sources of energy. CCS is important because transitioning to renewable sources of energy takes time and because some industries (e.g., cement making) release carbon dioxide (CO₂) without regard to the source of energy used.

But in the United States, and perhaps in other countries, CCS raises property rights issues that—if left unresolved—could complicate a ramp-up of CCS. For …

Climate Change And Real Estate In California: Can Climate-Related Risk Be A Required Disclosure For Residential Real Estate?, Lindsey Jacques

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

This Article will examine whether liability can extend to residential real estate sellers for non-disclosure of climate change related risk. First, this Article will outline current California statutes and common law regarding disclosures of climate change risk to prospective buyers of real estate. Next, this Article will explore potential routes for expanding liability, then will follow with hypotheticals for specific types of climate-related risk. This Article concludes by considering likely outcomes and routes for sellers and their agents to evade such liability should an expansion of liability prove legitimate.

The Long And Winding Road To Carbon Neutrality: Can California’S Zero Emission Vehicle Survive The Twists And Turns Of The Legal System?, Erin Hudak

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

The effects of climate change are becoming more and more obvious every year, evidenced by extreme weather events, rising sea levels, and increased global temperature. In an effort to mitigate the damage caused by greenhouse gases, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced a goal to have all new passenger vehicles sold in California be Zero-Emission Vehicles (“ZEVs”) by 2035. This Article explores the possible legal issues that California’s ZEV mandate faces now and may face in the future. First, California will likely face a federal preemption challenge under the Clean Air Act. Second, the California Air Resources Board’s authority to mandate …

On The Hook-Can The Commercial Fishing Industry Hold Big Oil Accountable For Climate Change?, Matthew K. Bowen

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

In 2018, The Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (“the Federation”) sued several oil companies over these domoic-acid-related closures during the Dungeness crab fishing season. The Federation alleges the underlying reason for the closures is climate change, which brought warmer seas (and, in turn, algae blooms that release domoic acid) because of greenhouse gas emissions. The Federation is pursuing legal action in response to the economic harms its members have faced from the fishing season closures. In a 2018 article from NPR, Mr. Oppenheim (quoted above) stated that the 2015 to 2016 crab fishing closure caused some boats to leave …

Strengthening International Institutions By Enforcing Norms: The Way Forward For Prosecuting Aggression, Dr. Nadia Ahmad

San Diego International Law Journal

Strengthening institutions that enforce the prohibition on the use of force and prevent aggressive acts of war should be a priority in international law, as it struggles to respond collectively to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Aggression is both prohibited in the Charter of the United Nations and in the Rome Statute, and the United Nations Security Council is blocking enforcement action in both international institutions. This Article explores alternative avenues of accountability for the crime of aggression in international law, and recommends the United Nations General Assembly, with the government of Ukraine, establish a hybrid international tribunal for aggression …

The Right To Vote Of Persons With Disabilities And The Difficult Relationship Between The Crpd And The European Court Of Human Rights, Francesco Seatzu, Paolo Vargiu

San Diego International Law Journal

This Article addresses the question of the right to vote of persons with disabilities in light of the recent case-law of the European Court of Human Rights. The approach of the Court is critiqued from a general perspective of non-discrimination as well as tested against Article 29 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which provides for the right to vote as a foundational element of the participation in political and public life of persons with disabilities. This Article maintains that the European Court of Human Rights’ approach, instead of creating the conditions for equality …

Make White-Collar-Offenders Pay (Additional) Tax And Subject Them To Technological Incarceration Instead Of Being A Tax Burden On Society, Mirko Bagaric, Theo Alexander, Brienna Bagaric

San Diego International Law Journal

White-collar offenders do not scare people. There is no reason to be afraid of them. Yet, they are subjected to the most serious sanction in our legal system – prison. Every white-collar prisoner costs society over $30,000 annually. Rather than punishing white-collar offenders in a way that further depletes the public revenue, we should compel them to remedy the damage they have caused by paying additional tax. There are more intelligent, evidence-based approaches to dealing with white-collar offenders. The objectives for dealing with white-collar offenders should be to impose penalties that are proportionate to the seriousness of the crimes; ensure …

Star Trek, Star Wars, Or Battlestar Galactica—The Occurring Privatization Of Space Exploration, And The Need For “Global” Regulations, Marty Levers

San Diego International Law Journal

Privatized space travel is not innately bad because of its commercial nature. Commercialization leads to efficient innovation; and our scientific pursuits benefit from advancements in technology in every space-related industry. This is not to say that privatized space travel is not without disgust and dissenters. As a dissenter, Buzz Aldrin questioned Elon Musk’s Mars proposal by arguing, “Well, now, when your [rocket] lands on Mars with people, is there going to be anything down there for you to live in or do?” Buzz Aldrin is not alone in his questioning of the motives behind mega corporations’ space projects. Billionaire-funded space …

Outdated United States' Online Copyright Infringement Practices: What We Can Learn From The International Community, Ian Carstens

San Diego International Law Journal

Current United States practices and regulations regarding what is known as “the Server Test,” the DMCA, and online piracy need to be studied and brought into the realities of the modern world. With new technologies and uses being invented for the internet every day, the U.S. cannot afford to drag its heels any longer or it risks their statutory and case law becoming dangerously underequipped to deal with daily life. This paper proposes that the United States government listen to its own departments, the wishes of its citizens, and the examples being broadcasted internationally to form a new system to …

24-2, 2023 Masthead

San Diego International Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Queer Rights After Dobbs V. Jackson Women's Health Organization, Robin Maril

San Diego Law Review

Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization has ignited a firestorm of commentary warning that the end of Roe v. Wade would inevitably lead to the end of constitutionally protected queer rights. This article argues that it is far too soon to concede that Lawrence v. Texas and Obergefell v. Hodges are destined for the dustbin of history. Queer rights and abortion rights both advance equality and have significant liberatory value, but they are functionally different rights that rest on distinct legal foundations. Although both sets of rights may be essential to a progressive platform for inclusive political and social change, …

Trolley Problems, Private Necessity, And The Duty To Rescue, Laura A. Heymann

San Diego Law Review

Laidlaw v. Sage is generally, at best, an oddity in Torts casebooks today. A case that captured the imagination of New York newspaper readers at the time, Laidlaw involved an explosion that, William Laidlaw argued, the wealthy Russell Sage survived only because, at the last moment, he pulled Laidlaw in front of him to absorb the brunt of the blast. As taught in Torts classrooms, Laidlaw is either a case about the intent requirement for battery or a case about causation. But the case, assuming the plaintiff’s story was true, also provides an interesting window into what would seem to …

Russia's Roulette: Sanctions, Strange Contracts & Sovereign Default, Lev E. Breydo

San Diego Law Review

The Russian Federation stands on the edge of financial abyss—excommunicated from the world economy and facing its first foreign currency sovereign default in over a century. Just deserts.

This Article is the first comprehensive, multi-disciplinary analysis of Russia’s sovereign debt and the consequences of a default. It makes a number of critically important findings with immediate implications for policy makers and practitioners navigating these wholly unchartered waters.

Based on an in-depth analysis of a quarter-century of Russian debt contracts, this Article posits a clear, geopolitically-driven evolutive patten and corresponding taxonomy. Starting with relatively “standard” terms in late-1990s vintage bonds, as …

Consumer Welfare Of The Future: Harm To Innovation As An Antitrust Injury, Brenton Gutkowski

San Diego Law Review

This Comment will discuss pertinent background information regarding American antitrust jurisprudence. Second, this Comment will define Big Tech and discuss its rise to a dominant market position in the American economy. Third, this Comment will break down the District of Columbia District Court’s decision in United States v. Microsoft Corp. and will discuss how the courts’ reasoning can establish a new standard of harm to innovation under the consumer welfare standard. Fourth, this Comment will discuss two different situations in which the harm to innovation standard works to espouse antitrust goals. In summation, this Comment will address objections to …

V.60-1, 2023 Masthead

San Diego Law Review

No abstract provided.