Public Law and Legal Theory Commons^™

Restoring Effective Congressional Oversight: Reform Proposals For The Enforcement Of Congressional Subpoenas, Kia Rahnama

Journal of Legislation

This Article proposes possible legislative reforms to Congress’s exercise of its contempt power in combating non-compliance with subpoenas duly issued as part of congressional investigations. With the recent trends in leveraging congressional investigations as an effective tool of separation of powers, this Article seeks to explore the exact bounds of congressional power in responding to executive officers’ noncompliance with congressional subpoenas, and whether or not current practice could be expanded beyond what has historically been tried by the legislative branch. This Article provides a brief summary of the historic practice behind different options for responding to non-compliance with subpoenas (inherent …

Are Marine National Monuments "Situated On Lands Owned Or Controlled By The Government Of The United States?", Tyler C. Costello

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

The ocean offers what may seem like endless supply of natural resources, ecosystem services, or for some, simple enjoyment. Yet, in the face of climate change and overexploitation, many of these unique ecosystems and their inhabitants face an uphill battle. A president's use of the Antiquities Act establishing a national monument is an efficient and effective method of protecting these diverse ecosystems, as long as the area to be protected satisfies one of the Act's limitations that the monument be "situated on land owned or controlled by the federal government." Prior to a 2017 lawsuit concerning President Obama's use of …

Defining Fishing, The Slippery Seaweed Slope, Ross V. Acadian Seaplants Ltd., Rebecca P. Totten

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

In Maine, the intertidal zone has seen many disputes over its use, access, and property rights. Recently, in Ross v. Acadian Seaplants, Ltd., the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, sitting as the Law Court, held that rockweed seaweed in the intertidal zone is owned by the upland landowner and is not part of a public easement under the public trust doctrine. The Court held harvesting rockweed is not fishing. This case will impact private and public rights and also the balance between the State's environmental and economic interests. This Comment addresses the following points: first, the characteristics of rockweed and the …

Avoiding Maladaptations To Flooding And Erosion: A Case Study Of Alaska Native Villages, Elizaveta Barrett Ristroph

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

This article offers perspective on how Alaska Native Villages (ANVs), which are small and rural indigenous communities, are adapting to changes in flooding and erosion. It considers which adaptations might be maladaptations and what might be done to facilitate adaptation short of relocating entire communities. It outlines the United States' legal framework applicable to flooding and erosion and considers why this framework may do little to assist ANVs and similarly situated small and rural communities. Findings regarding adaptation strategies and obstacles are drawn from my Ph.D. research, which involved a review of plans for fifty nine ANVs and 153 interviews …

The Elusive Object Of Punishment, Gabriel S. Mendlow

Articles

All observers of our legal system recognize that criminal statutes can be complex and obscure. But statutory obscurity often takes a particular form that most observers have overlooked: uncertainty about the identity of the wrong a statute aims to punish. It is not uncommon for parties to disagree about the identity of the underlying wrong even as they agree on the statute’s elements. Hidden in plain sight, these unexamined disagreements underlie or exacerbate an assortment of familiar disputes—about venue, vagueness, and mens rea; about DUI and statutory rape; about hate crimes, child pornography, and counterterrorism laws; about proportionality in punishment; …

Our Administered Constitution: Administrative Constitutionalism From The Founding To The Present, Sophia Z. Lee

All Faculty Scholarship

This article argues that administrative agencies have been primary interpreters and implementers of the federal Constitution throughout the history of the United States, although the scale and scope of this "administrative constitutionalism" has changed significantly over time as the balance of opportunities and constraints has shifted. Courts have nonetheless cast an increasingly long shadow over the administered Constitution. In part, this is because of the well-known expansion of judicial review in the 20th century. But the shift has as much to do with changes in the legal profession, legal theory, and lawyers’ roles in agency administration. The result is that …

Prosecutorial Discretion And Environmental Crime Redux: Charging Trends, Aggravating Factors, And Individual Outcome Data For 2005-2014, David M. Uhlmann

Law & Economics Working Papers

In a 2014 article entitled “Prosecutorial Discretion and Environmental Crime,” I presented empirical data developed by student researchers participating in the Environmental Crimes Project at the University of Michigan Law School. My 2014 article reported that 96 percent of defendants investigated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency and charged with federal environmental crimes from 2005 through 2010 engaged in conduct that involved at least one of the aggravating factors identified in my previous scholarship, namely significant harm, deceptive or misleading conduct, operating outside the regulatory system, and repetitive violations. On that basis, I concluded that prosecutors charged violations that …

Sports Betting And Indian Gaming: Overcoming Barriers To Market Entry And Integration Of Sports Books Into Tribal Casinos, Steve Light

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

Abstract

Even before the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision In Murphy v. NCAA (2018) permitting states to legalize sports wagering, the biggest brand-names in gaming worldwide were positioning themselves to capitalize on the fan base for America’s most recognizable sports leagues.

Sports wagering already is up and running in five states; analysts predict that more than half the states will legalize it within five years. Many will be among the 29 states that currently have casinos owned and operated by American Indian tribes in this $32.4 billion market segment.

There is no firm sense and little data pointing to …

A Common Enterprise: Law And The Connection Between Civil And Heavenly Realms In The Writings Of John Calvin, Kenneth L. Townsend

Concordia Law Review

The common ends that once united spiritual and civil realms have been privatized as those ends have come to be seen as controversial and plural, rather than unifying and common. Acknowledging the diversity of ends resulted in increased attention to uniform rules. Since there was no longer agreement about what teloi mattered for society, law gradually lost its aspirational features and became simply a way to limit and punish uncivil and criminal behavior.

The formal separation, but ultimate unity, of civil and heavenly spheres, of norm with vision, articulated by Calvin, allowed him to be both idealistic and realistic about …

The President, Foreign Policy, And War Powers: A Survey On The Expansion And Setbacks Of Presidential Power, Michael W. Wilt

Channels: Where Disciplines Meet

How powerful is the President of the United States in the arena of foreign policy? This question has opened many discussions, and hotly contested debates as to the extent of the president’s actual power. To make matters more complicated, the United States’ foreign policy has developed and evolved over the course of the United States’ more than two-hundred years history. These foreign policy concerns and international conflicts have mired the presidency into debates and consistent trials over the constitutional extent of the presidency, specifically concerning presidential war powers. Moreover, the Presidents have varied in their approaches to each of these …

A Rhetorical Analysis Of Opening Statements In Trial: Reconsidering The Classical Canon Of Invention, Andrew Chandler

Undergraduate Theses

This analysis of 21 opening statements probes at current persuasive practices employed by trial attorneys through the lens of mainstream legal advice and an expanded definition of rhetorical invention – one which includes both discovery and creation. An evaluation of such practice reveals the utility, and furthermore the duty of the advocate, to draw upon an expanded realm of available arguments.

Letter From The Editor, Maryann Grover

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

No abstract provided.

Intersecting Trends In Abortion And Capital Punishment Policy, Erica Rebussini

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

A recent bill in Ohio brought to the forefront of the nation’s consciousness the intersection of abortion and capital punishment. The bill sought to redefine “person” to include “unborn humans,” therefore making the termination of a pregnancy the intentional killing of another person. Further, because one of Ohio’s aggravating circumstances for the imposition of capital punishment is child homicide, those who choose to have an abortion would be subject to the possibility of capital punishment. While the bill died in committee, it provides a unique lens through which to examine the intersection of the debate over abortion restrictions and capital …

Prefatory Matter

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

No abstract provided.

Children Are Different: The Need For Reform Of Virginia's Juvenile Transfer Laws, M. Randell Scism

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

In Virginia, there are three ways that a juvenile can be sent to the adult criminal justice system: discretionary waiver, certification (direct file), and mandatory waiver through transfer and certification, but they are no ways to be sent back to the juvenile criminal justice system if that would be more appropriate. Once a juvenile enters the adult criminal justice system, they are subject to more significant sentences and collateral consequences. This increased punishment is counterproductive because, as the Supreme Court recognized in Roper, Graham, and Miller, juveniles are less culpable for the crimes they commit and more likely to be …

Disruptive Leadership In Legal Education, Nicholas A. Mirkay, Palma Joy Strand

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

Legal education and the legal profession are ripe for disruption. The crisis in legal education reflects an increasing mismatch between the limited services that the law and lawyers provide and the vast and acute societal need for legal services. The structure of academia generally and legal academia in particular, however, serves as an obstacle to the disruptive leadership that can initiate necessary adaptation. Here, we discuss our own experience with disruptive leadership and the backlash we received, as well as the risks of failing to embrace disruptive leadership in legal education going forward. “The act of leadership is not always …

Applying The Principle Of Proportionality To The War On Terror, Waseem Ahmad Qureshi

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

This paper aims to discuss and apply the principle of proportionality (PoP) to the War on Terror (WoT). For this, vital characteristics and conditions of the PoP will be discussed in great detail. The paper argues that notions of the “just cause,” the “reasonable hope of success,” and the “requirement of the last resort” are incorporated within the PoP. This paper also defines how the harm caused by military actions is weighed against the direct military advantage to arrive at conclusions on the proportionality or disproportionality of an attack. After discussing the theoretical grounds of the PoP, this paper tries …

Nonprofit Hospitals' Community Benefits Should Actually Benefit The Community: How Irs Reforms Can Improve The Provision Of Community Benefits, Kim Simmons

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

Policymakers and health care leaders have frequently questioned and critiqued whether nonprofit hospitals’ provision of community benefits is worth their favored tax status. While legislation and regulations have recently been enacted to address such concerns, the tax exemption standards continue to fail to promote the goals articulated in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA) of reforming and improve health care delivery systems in the United States for all people. To better effectuate the purposes of the ACA, this article suggests that the Internal Revenue Service adopt minimum community benefit spending requirements that vary depending on the …

Dental Board Of California, Helene E. Mayer, Debra Jorgensen

California Regulatory Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Board Of Pharmacy, John Lacrosse, John Mysliwiec, Bridget Fogarty Gramme

California Regulatory Law Reporter

No abstract provided.