Digital Commons Network^™

U.S. Climate Litigation During The Biden Years, Margaret Barry

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Using cases collected in the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law’s Climate Litigation Database, this report analyzes the 630 climate change lawsuits filed in United States courts while President Joseph R. Biden was in office. During the Biden administration, the federal government reversed course on the first Trump administration’s climate deregulation and embarked on a “whole-of-government approach to combatting the climate crisis.” Many states and municipalities pursued their own efforts to mitigate and prepare for climate change, while other states undertook climate deregulatory efforts. During the four years of the Biden administration, many areas of the U.S. experienced disasters linked …

Wreck Removal : Assessing Nigeria’S Compliance With The Nairobi Wreck Removal Convention 2007, Richard Oritsejomayo Iyinbo

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

An Assessment Of The Legal Framework For Prosecuting Iuu Fishing In Nigeria, Lydia Salla Kadiri

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Technology Transfer In The Implementation Of The Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Agreement, Christine Nzambi Mulatya

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

An Analysis Of The Legal And Policy Challenges For Developing Countries In Implementing The Imo’S 2023 Ghg Strategy : A Case Study Of South Africa And Indonesia, Mduduzi Godson Qwabe

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Problem Of Noise Pollution In Chinese Waters : Can The Current National Legal Framework Tackle The Problem?, Zhou Wang

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Jurisdiction Of Vessel-Source Pollution In The Eez Under Unclos : A Case Study On China, Yang Zhang

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Combating Illegal, Unreported And Unregulated (Iuu) Fishing In Argentina : Role Of Argentinian Coastguard As Maritime Authority In Charge Of Law Enforcement, Mario Damian Tiscornia

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Gap Analysis Of The Legal Framework For Oil Spills : Management In Nigeria, Yetunde Ajoke Idris

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Trump’S Multi-Pronged Attack On Renewable Energy, Michael B. Gerrard

Faculty Scholarship

Federal policy on renewable energy took a 180-degree turn on the day of Donald Trump’s second inauguration. The Biden administration had rightly seen a massive expansion of clean energy, especially wind and solar and the associated storage and transmission, as key to moving away from fossil fuels and fighting climate change. But Mr. Trump denies that climate change is a serious problem and works to increase both the supply of and the demand for fossil fuels.

This article discusses the range of actions involved in the Trump administration’s attack on renewable energy.

Environmental Regulations And The Exploitation Of Deep Seabed Minerals : A New Era For The“Mining Code” Of The International Seabed Authority (Isa)?, Mikyla D'Antoinette Frederick-Winter

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Living Property, Joseph William Singer

Seattle University Law Review

The Supreme Court has increasingly defined property rights that are per se exempt from regulation in the absence of compensation, most recently in Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid (2021) and Tyler v. Hennepin County (2023). The Court claims that it can identify property rights that are categorically protected from regulation by reference to history, tradition, and precedent. Yet this approach is oddly ahistorical; it is inconsistent with the fact that property law changed dramatically over U.S. history, as well as varying tremendously among the states. It is also inconsistent with the historical context of the Founding era. At that time, …

Redefining Section 230 Immunity, Lucas Dini

Seattle University Law Review

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act has provided broad immunity to online platforms for third-party content which was the foundation for the internet's growth. However, the rise in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to produce algorithms to curate content to users of online services has blurred the line between being a passive host of third party content and active editorial control. This Note examines the legal, policy, and constitutional implications of applying Section 230 immunity to platforms that use AI to curate and promote third-party content. This analysis argues that algorithmic promotion of third-party content constitutes a platform's …

Overcrowding The System: Rethinking Juvenile Justice In Washington State, Mckenna White

Seattle University Law Review

The recent crisis at Green Hill School highlights the detrimental consequences of severe overcrowding in Washington State’s Juvenile Rehabilitation system—a problem exacerbated by the implementation of the JR to 25 legislation. This Note argues that the juvenile rehabilitation system, which is currently struggling to manage a wide age range of offenders, necessitates a fundamental rethinking of juvenile justice practices. By examining neurological research indicating continued brain development into the mid-twenties, along with the high prevalence of trauma among justice-involved youth, this Note proposes the creation of a dedicated third system of care within the Department of Children, Youth, and Families …

Addressing The Root Of Housing Insecurity: Washington Should Divest From “Crime-Free” Housing Programs, Sarah Cerdena

Seattle University Law Review

Crime-Free Rental Housing Properties (CFRHPs) have proven to be an ineffective and inequitable approach to public safety. Often, tenants in these properties are evicted—at times, extrajudicially—as a result of conduct that does not rise to violations of their lease provisions, much less criminal behavior. By placing extraordinary power in the hands of local law enforcement to carry out these ordinances, CFRHPs predictably pose significant harm to Black and Latinx communities, survivors of domestic violence, disabled tenants, and low-income tenants generally. Recently, the Washington State Supreme Court grappled with the tensions arising between CFRHPs and the enforcement of Washington landlord-tenant law. …

Volume 49 Masthead

Seattle University Law Review

Volume 49 Masthead

Esg Investing Breaches Erisa Fiduciary Duties? A Closer Look At Spence V. American Airlines, Inc., Eric Chin-Ru Chang

Seattle University Law Review

In Spence v. American Airlines, Inc., the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas found that American Airlines breached its fiduciary duties due to BlackRock’s ESG investing practices. Contrary to some reports suggesting that the ruling prohibits ESG investing under ERISA, a closer look at the ruling shows that the court only targeted American Airlines’ failure to manage conflicts of interest appropriately, rather than the legality of ESG investing itself. In light of the intensifying ESG backlash in the United States, this Article cautions against further restrictive measures on ESG investing. Such measures would exacerbate the widening …

Table Of Contents

Seattle University Law Review

Table of Contents

The Roots Of Credit Inequality, Andrea Freeman

Seattle University Law Review

Debt oppression began before the United States became a country. Settlers enslaved Africans and Indigenous people, treating them as property that they could buy and sell for their economic and personal benefit. When enslavement became illegal, new economic systems and laws that included sharecropping, Black Codes, and Jim Crow kept Black people in servitude. Laws that prohibited enslaved people from owning property or selling goods to white people evolved into restrictions on Black people’s occupations and market participation, both formal and informal. When Black entrepreneurs overcame these obstacles and built wealth within Black business enclaves, white people enforced their racist …

“A Plain Denial”: Reclaiming Equal Protection In American Juvenile Law, Addie C. Rolnick, David S. Tanenhaus, Justin Iverson, Danielle L. Silvestri

Seattle University Law Review

Juvenile courts are based on the premise that children are different from adults and should therefore be treated differently. Children may be treated more informally by courts, punished for different purposes, and brought before the court for different behaviors. Since In re Gault, the Supreme Court has been clear that there are limits to how different juvenile courts can be. Juveniles are entitled to many of the same procedural protections as adult criminal defendants, although the Court has preserved some procedural differences where it has determined that their benefit is outweighed by the need to preserve the informality, flexibility, …

Mandating Fluoride: A Constitutional Exercise Of Police Power, Anita Jahangiri

Seattle University Law Review

This Note addresses the ongoing debate over fluoridation: the regulation of fluoride levels in public water systems. Extensive research indicates fluoridation, when regulated at the recommended concentration, is both safe and highly effective in preventing dental caries. Better known as cavities, dental caries is a preventable yet widespread health issue that disproportionately affects low-income populations. Reducing dental health disparities among economic classes is a pressing public health issue. Fluoridation is not merely a policy option, but a critical, proven tool to address such disparities and uphold the collective welfare of Washingtonians. This Note focuses on fluoridation as a public health …

Neurodiversity In The Courtroom: Expanding Jury Service Accessibility Beyond Physical Disability, Samantha L. Mabe

Seattle University Law Review

The Americans with Disabilities Act has required equal access to jury service for decades; however, efforts to accommodate jurors with disabilities have been slow to develop beyond some minor accommodations for physical disabilities. While neurodivergent people frequently struggle to navigate a world catered toward neurotypical people, jury service remains inaccessible for many neurodivergent people who need accommodations to attend trial and engage in jury deliberations. If courts and advocates do not consider how to develop accommodations to secure the service of neurodivergent jurors, they will miss out on the unique skillsets that neurodivergent people can bring to resolving disputes.

Disabled …

As Above So Below: Vesting Pore Space Ownership With The Rights Of The Surface Estate, Shane D. Puente

Arkansas Law Notes

In 2023, the United States emitted an estimated total of 4,807 million metric tons (“MMTs”) of Carbon dioxide, with only a 0.2% decrease in 2024. These figures are simply not up for debate. What is often debated, however, is how (and if) the U.S. should be tackling these carbon emissions. Many would argue that the U.S. must increase its reliance on renewable energy and decrease its consumption of fossil fuels, which are major contributors of Carbon Dioxide and other Green House Gas (“GHG”) emissions. Others would argue that the best way to limit carbon emissions is to implement some form …

Why Aviation Fuel Remains Untaxed: Legal Barriers To Aviation Fuel Taxation, Giedre Lideikyte Huber

Pace Environmental Law Review

Aviation fuel remains largely untaxed worldwide, despite the sector’s growing contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions. This article examines the legal foundations of this exemption and argues that it results less from fiscal necessity than from historical international law and institutional inertia. The Chicago Convention (1944), subsequent ICAO policy instruments, and a dense network of air service agreements have collectively constrained states’ ability to tax aviation fuel, a stance reinforced by the delegation of aviation emissions to ICAO under the Kyoto Protocol. A comparative analysis of the European Union, Switzerland, and the United States shows that domestic frameworks replicate these …

Enumerating Environmental Exemptions In Section 501(C)(3), Samuel D. Brunson

Pace Environmental Law Review

Tens of thousands environmental charities operate with the United States. These charities operate to “preserve, protect, and improve the environment.” Roughly half of the revenue of environmental charities is sourced directly from the public. These public donations depend, at least in part, on the organizations’ tax-exempt status, which allows donors to deduct their donations for tax purposes. Because donors take into account the after-tax cost of their donations, an environmental charity’s tax exemption encourages donors to donate more than they would if the charity lacked a tax exemption. However, an environmental organization’s tax-exempt status is tenuous and contingent on agency …

Environmental Tax Incentives: Lessons From The U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (So Far), Genevieve A. Tokić

Pace Environmental Law Review

In 2022, the United States enacted the Inflation Reduction Act (“IRA”), which President Biden touted as the most significant action the U.S. Congress has ever taken on clean energy and climate change. It is the primary governmental effort taken to date in furtherance of the United States’s commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (“GHGs”) under the Paris Climate Agreement. The primary tools used by the IRA are tax incentives, implemented through changes to the Tax Code that expand existing tax credits and, in some cases, create new ones. An additional important feature of the IRA is the introduction of a …

Understanding Output-Based Pricing Systems, Wei Cui

Pace Environmental Law Review

In recent years, Canada has implemented a distinctive carbon pricing regime, known as “output-based pricing systems” (OBPS), to incentivize emission reductions for large industrial facilities. This regime has come under heightened scrutiny as a more general carbon tax, the federal fuel charge, was cancelled in 2025 due to political controversy. However, OBPS regimes have received no prior economic analysis; commentators have mostly criticized the weakness of the emission trading markets within them. This article argues that OBPS should be viewed as primarily implementing a carbon tax with an intensity-based exemption. OBPS further introduces emissions trading into this carbon tax regime, …

Seven Ways Of Looking At The Climate Crisis, Bridget J. Crawford

Pace Environmental Law Review

This essay introduces the symposium issue of the Pace Environmental Law Review featuring seven works written in connection with the March 2025 conference on “Taxation, the Environment, and Climate Change.” This essay identifies and explores three common themes in the articles: (1) the role of taxation in environmental protection, (2) the tax law’s impact on human behavior, and (3) the optimal design for tax laws to mitigate climate change. This essay also sketches a few possible directions for future scholarship at the intersection of taxation and environmental law. It concludes by emphasizing the need for lawyers, lawmakers, policymakers, and advocates …

Peeking Around The Corner (Post): An Analysis Of The Impacts Of Corner Post V. Federal Reserve On Environmental Regulations, Olivia Montgomery

University of Cincinnati Law Review

No abstract provided.

More Than Words: Using Land Use Rules To Fight Climate Destruction, Edward Sullivan

Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy

It is now unlikely that meaningful federal legislation on climate destruction will be advanced in a second Trump administration. If “no action” is the alternative for the federal government, it will be up to the states to develop measures to counteract this challenge. These measures — in response to a trend in Supreme Court rulings that restrict or deny federal environmental action without explicit congressional approval – could include, among other things, new air and water quality standards, fishing restrictions, and changes to water allocations in our rivers. Yet these potential changes may be themselves limited by federal actions that …