Litigation Commons^™

The Geography Of Climate Change Litigation: Implications For Transnational Regulatory Governance, Hari M. Osofsky

Hari Osofsky

This Article aims to forward the dialogue about transnational regulatory governance through a law and geography analysis of climate change litigation. Part II begins by considering fundamental barriers to responsible transnational energy production. Part III proposes a place-based approach to dissecting climate change litigation and a model for understanding its spatial implications. Parts IV through VI map representative examples of climate change litigation in subnational, national, and supranational fora. The Article concludes by exploring the normative implications of this descriptive geography; it engages the intersection of international law, international relations, and geography as a jumping-off point for a companion article.

A Sour Battle In Lago Agrio And Beyond: The Metamorphosis Of Transnational Litigation And The Protection Of Collective Rights In Ecuador, Manuel A. Gomez

Manuel A. Gómez

This article intends to explore the interplay between different dispute processing mechanisms and fora in the realm of transnational litigation, through the lens of the Chevron-Ecuador legal saga. My goal is to discuss the transformation of a transnational complex case and the challenges faced by the parties, their procedural strategies, and the perceived advantages of the different mechanisms. In this regard, I will also address the development of mechanisms for the protection of diffuse rights involving the environment; the role of the courts in supervising compliance with judicial remedies, their engagement in activities that go beyond their traditional role as …

The Klein Water Treatment Facility: Model For The New Superfund Management Strategy – Or- The Importance Of Being In The Wrong Place At The Right Time???, David Brown

David C. Brown

12 pages.

Deadly Waiting Game: An Environmental Justice Framework For Examining Natural And Man-Made Disasters Beyond Hurricane Katrina [Abstract], Robert D. Bullard

Robert D Bullard

Presenter: Robert D. Bullard, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology, Clark Atlanta University 1 page.

A Framework For Understanding Property Regulation And Land Use Control From A Dynamic Perspective, Donald J. Kochan

Donald J. Kochan

Punitive Injunctions, Nirej S. Sekhon

Nirej Sekhon

No abstract provided.

Liquid Assets: A Coasian Economic Analysis Of Oregon's Allocation Of Conserved Water Program, Richard A. Grisel

Richard A Grisel

Diversions for residential, agricultural, recreational, commercial, industrial, and other beneficial uses have had the effect of removing water from rivers and tributaries throughout the western U.S. Another, more recent, competing use is ecological, demonstrated by the legal recognition of instream beneficial uses in some jurisdictions. As awareness of the progressively acute need for reallocation has increased in the arid West, so has interest in water markets and other mechanisms to facilitate transfers across beneficial uses. However, governments and water users face a legacy prior appropriation system that prohibits instream beneficial uses, encourages maximal diversion, stifles water right fungibility, and generally …

The Interest Convergence Of Education Reform And Economic Development: A Response To "The State Of Our Unions", Jonathan C. Augustine

Jonathan C. Augustine

No abstract provided.

Environmental Justice In The Deep South: A Golden Anniversary Reflection On Stimulus And Change, Jonathan C. Augustine

Jonathan C. Augustine

Gaming The System: Bio-Economics, Game Theory, & Fisheries Management, Richard A. Grisel

Richard A Grisel

This paper argues that game theory provides powerful, effective new tools to analyze externalities that occur in the context of strategic, multi-party, interactive decision-making. I will attempt to treat this as a non-technical paper and avoid the complex mathematics better left to economists and mathematicians. Instead, a more achievable goal is to illustrate how high-seas open-access fishing is virtually identical to a game situation, treat the fundamentals of game theory, and demonstrate that game theoretic analyses are well-suited and fruitful for designing effective policy responses to fisheries management, particularly with respect to the straddling stocks problem. Indeed, one seminal fisheries …

The Theology Of Civil Disobedience: The First Amendment, Freedom Riders, And Passage Of The Voting Rights Act, Jonathan C. Augustine

Jonathan C. Augustine

America's New Civil Rights Movement: Education Reform, Public Charter Schools And No Child Left Behind, Jonathan C. Augustine

Jonathan C. Augustine

In Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court placed access to educational opportunities at the heart of the twentieth century Civil Rights Movement. Moreover, in Grutter v. Bollinger, a case decided almost 50-years after Brown, the Court affirmed this time-honored philosophical position. While the concept of education reform is not new, the socioeconomic realities of recent years beg the question of whether the Court’s philosophical position has been compromised by so-called failing public schools. Indeed, from an African-American perspective, education reform has become America’s new civil rights movement. As January 2012 marked the 10-year anniversary of the No Child …

The Faith That Divides Us: Lines Of (In)Division Between Religion & Politics (Reviewing Hijacked: Responding To The Partisan Church Divide By Mike Slaughter & Charles E. Gutenson, With Robert P. Jones)), Jonathan C. Augustine

Jonathan C. Augustine

No abstract provided.

A National Model For Disaster Recovery: Growing Green Jobs In The Age Of Energy Efficiency, Jonathan C. Augustine

Jonathan C. Augustine

No abstract provided.

Environmental Justice And Eschatology In Revelation, Jonathan C. Augustine

Jonathan C. Augustine

The concept of environmental justice is not new. While some scholars and activists trace its origins as part of the ongoing American Civil Rights Movement—a movement which emerged within the interdisciplinary connection of law and religion—this Essay argues that the concept of environmental justice has deep origins in the Holy Bible. With a foundation in the Old Testament Hebrew scriptures, this Essay combines the disciplines of law and religion by arguing that the Book of Revelation should be read ecologically, as a clarion call to protect the environment in anticipation of the time the triune God will return to live …

Geothermal Resources Under The Mining Law Regime--Problems & Possibilities, Richard A. Grisel

Richard A Grisel

The development of geothermal resources has been greatly hampered by the legal and institutional framework governing geothermal energy resources. This framework has been plagued by conflicting mining and water laws, anachronistic common law systems of property rights, problematic legal classifications of geothermal resources, and jurisdictional variances from state to state and between states and the Federal government. These issues have combined to significantly hinder the development of what will be a vital resource for our nation’s future energy needs.

This thesis concerns one way to address the suboptimal development of geothermal energy resources. Using the Federal acquisition of exclusive airspace …

Legitimacy, Accountability, And Partnership: A Model For Advocacy On Third World Environmental Issues, David A. Wirth

David A. Wirth

To date, there has been little effort to define the characteristics of responsible environmental reform efforts by private citizens and organizations in the United States on foreign environmental problems, such as the quality of foreign aid. Moreover, there have been virtually no attempts to identify a principled role for American lawyers in Third World environmental issues. This Essay will respond to these lacunae by articulating a new approach to advocacy based on a partnership model. In Part I, this Essay identifies the need for American public interest advocates to establish partnerships with directly affected groups on Third World environmental issues. …

Law And The Fourth Estate: Endangered Nature, The Press, And The Dicey Game Of Democratic Governance, Zygmunt J.B. Plater

Zygmunt J.B. Plater

Building upon the story line of a current book project on the Tellico Dam case, this Essay explores a challenging reality of modern public interest lawyering – the critical role of public perceptions and of the Press’s role in shaping them. Most public interest attorneys come to realize that their lawyering must move simultaneously on two different tracks that determine outcomes – law and public opinion. This double task can be difficult and sometimes impossible. Both tracks require the organization and presentation of facts, but the two contexts can be quite different. A legal case requires proof of each technical …

The Rise Of U.S. Food Sustainability Litigation, Stephanie Tai

Stephanie Tai

This article provides one of the first critical looks at the interface between the values of the sustainable food movement and its rising use of litigation. In particular, it focuses on two growing areas of food sustainability litigation: challenges to CAFOs and challenges to the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the food system. These areas were chosen because they involve growing sectors of U.S. agriculture over which members of the sustainable food movement have raised significant concerns.

The article begins by describing the sustainable food movement, including how the movement fits in with factors that sociologists use to …

Grading The Graders And Reforming The Reform: An Analysis Of The State Of Public Education Ten Years After No Child Left Behind, Jonathan C. Augustine, Craig M. Freeman

Jonathan C. Augustine

Much Ado About Pluralities: Pride And Precedent Amidst The Cacophy Of Concurrences, And Re-Percolation After Rapanos, Donald J. Kochan, Melissa M. Berry, Matthew J. Parlow

Donald J. Kochan

Conflicts created by concurrences and pluralities in court decisions create confusion in law and lower court interpretation. Rule of law values require that individuals be able to identify controlling legal principles. That task is complicated when pluralities and concurrences contribute to the vagueness or uncertainty that leaves us wondering what the controlling rule is or attempting to predict what it will evolve to become. The rule of law is at least handicapped when continuity or confidence or confusion infuse our understanding of the applicable rules. This Article uses the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Rapanos v. United States to …

Louisiana Appellate Practice & Procedure: An Overview For Legal Practicioners, Jonathan C. Augustine

Jonathan C. Augustine

Appellate practice and procedure is a specialized field. In several ways, the written and oral advocacy skills essential for success in appellate practice are very different from those used by trial court practitioners. This Article’s was written to highlight some of those differences and to recommend strategies for success in appellate practice. This Article, written by a seasoned appellate advocate and former Louisiana Supreme Court law clerk, provides a practical perspective on keys to successful appellate advocacy, using the governing rules and procedures of Louisiana’s judicial system as case study. In addition to detailing the various standards of review under …

Other States Should "Get With The Program" And Follow Louisiana's Lead: An Examination Of Louisiana's Direct Action Statute And Its Application In The Marine Insurance Industry, Jonathan C. Augustine

Jonathan C. Augustine

Generally speaking, an insurance agreement is a contractual obligation between two parties, the insured, who pays a premium for the benefit of coverage, and its insurer, who receives the payment and issues a guarantee against loss. Accordingly, by strict definition, the contract of insurance and the insured’s consequential ability to recover for sustained damages is limited as a two party agreement. The Louisiana legislature has been forward thinking in the field of insurance. The state enacted a “direct action statute,” allowing aggrieved third parties to proceed directly against insurers in either tort or contract, for the recovery of damages, when …