Law Commons^™

Protection Of Biodiversity Under The Public Trust Doctrine, Ralph W. Johnson, William C. Galloway

Articles

The public trust doctrine is an ancient Roman legal doctrine that has been applied in both England and the Umted States. The doctrine traditionally addressed questions of public access to and use of commercially navigable waters for navigation, fisheries and various other uses of the underlying seabeds, lake bottoms, and riverbeds. In recent years, the public trust doctrine has been invoked to protect birds and other wildlife, water quality, ecological and environmental values, and different types of recreation. Although no public trust case has applied the doctrine to protect biodiversity per se, it seems clear by analogy to existing case …

Pollution Control By Effluent Charges: It Works In The Federal Republic Of Germany, Why Not In The U.S., Gardner M. Brown Jr., Ralph W. Johnson

Articles

This article describes the recent Federal Republic of Germany effluent charge law and the political and legal background that permitted this law to be enacted. The impact of that law is assessed, although the assessment is necessarily tentative in view of the short experience with the law to date. The economic and legal implications of enacting an effluent charge law in the United States also are analyzed. Included in this discussion are the advantages and disadvantages of state vs. federal enactment, the constitutional objections that might be raised to such a law, and how it might be coordinated with existing …

Soverign Immunity In Indian Tribal Law, Ralph W. Johnson, James M. Madden

Articles

An examination of the tribal courts' civil jurisdiction and sovereign immunity decisions, and a review of the doctrine's origins and purposes in federal and state law reveal the increasing importance of the sovereign immunity doctrine and suggest several options to tribal councils and courts in deciding which aspects of the doctrine to retain. The article concludes that:

(1) The doctrine of sovereign immunity is not part of the controlling federal law applicable to Indian tribal courts, except where trust property is involved.

(2) Each Indian tribe has inherent sovereign power to adopt, reject, or waive the doctrine of sovereign immunity …

Sovereign Immunity In Indian Tribal Law, Ralph W. Johnson, James M. Madden

Articles

An examination of the tribal courts' civil jurisdiction and sovereign immunity decisions, and a review of the doctrine's origins and purposes in federal and state law reveal the increasing importance of the sovereign immunity doctrine and suggest several options to tribal councils and courts in deciding which aspects of the doctrine to retain. The article concludes that:

(1) The doctrine of sovereign immunity is not part of the con-. trolling federal law applicable to Indian tribal courts, except where trust property is involved.

(2) Each Indian tribe has inherent sovereign power to adopt, reject, or waive the doctrine of sovereign …

The Washington Environmental Policy Act, William H. Rodgers, Jr.

Articles

As the Washington State Environmental Policy Act of 1971 (SEPA)'approaches its fourteenth birthday, the time is ripe for an assessment of its recent history and foreseeable future. Several SEPA milestones have come and gone in the last several months, and a period of stability is in order. Reported Washington decisions citing SEPA now number close to one hundred; more than fifty of these are decisions of the Washington Supreme Court.

The books are closed on the two-year efforts of the Washington Commission on Environmental Policy (the SEPA Commission), whose work culminated in a report to the 1983 Legislature. There was …

Taking Witherspoon Seriously: The Search For Death-Qualified Jurors, Eric Schnapper

Articles

This Article assesses, in light of fifteen years of judicial experience under Witherspoon v. Illinois, 391 U.S. 510 (1968), the meaning and impact of that decision and the practical and legal problems that arise in its application. The analysis draws heavily on actual voir dires reported in published opinions and considers the problems that judges and attorneys face when attempting to distinguish jurors who cannot be excluded under Witherspoon(commonly referred to as "death-qualified" jurors) from jurors who may be excluded for cause. Part II discusses the ways in which Witherspoon altered the law regarding jury selection in capital …