Digital Commons Network^™

Navahine V. HawaiʻI Dept. Of Transportation: The Keiki Will Lead Us, Catherine Smith

Seattle University Law Review

The author analyzes the landmark case Navahine v. Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation, which culminated in the world’s first constitutional climate settlement. Catherine Smith, serving as an expert for the youth plaintiffs, situates the case within Hawaiʻi’s legal tradition of prioritizing children’s rights and intergenerational equity. She explores the evolution of children’s constitutional protections, contrasting Hawaiʻi’s progressive jurisprudence with the dominant adult-centric legal framework on the mainland. She critiques four recurring analytical missteps in U.S. courts that marginalize children’s interests and highlights Hawaiʻi’s public trust doctrine and cultural values, such as the Aloha Spirit, as models for addressing climate-related harms. …

Constitutional Futurism As Pedagogy, Jeremiah Chin

Seattle University Law Review

Constitutional Law has transformed from a course on history to a discussion of current events. Cases like Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard College, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, and Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo reveal that the study of constitutional law is not a static, or even linear, discussion of constitutional text and history. Law is a shifting, changing enterprise that reflects social constructions of power, authority, and identity. How do we teach, learn, and understand constitutional law that is so laden with history, riddled with theories of consistency and adherence to precedent, but ultimately subject …

Table Of Contents

Seattle University Law Review

Table of Contents

Volume 48 Masthead

Seattle University Law Review

Volume 48 Masthead

Keynote Address: Community Over Constitution, Riddhi Mukhopadhyay

Seattle University Law Review

In this keynote address, Riddhi Mukhopadhyay challenges the veneration of the U.S. Constitution by highlighting its origins in exclusion and its continued failure to protect marginalized communities. Drawing from her experience in civil legal aid and gender justice, she argues that the Constitution was drafted to consolidate power among white, wealthy men and continues to reflect that legacy through racial, gender, and class-based inequities. While acknowledging the significance of constitutional amendments and landmark cases, Mukhopadhyay emphasizes that meaningful change has always come from community-led action, not top-down reform. Additionally, Mukhopadhyay calls on lawyers and legal advocates to center community, practice …

The Lost Child: A Critique On Transracial Adoption Rhetoric, Hallie Conyers-Tucker

Seattle University Law Review

Transracial adoption in the United States reflects a deeply rooted history of colonialism, cultural assimilation, and racial hierarchy, masked by rhetoric focused on the “best interest of the child.” The author critiques that rhetoric and traces how adoption practices and policies, both domestic and international, have evolved to reinforce systemic inequities. Through historical analysis of the forced adoption of Native American, Black, and Asian children, it reveals how the best interest standard has been wielded not to protect children but to uphold political and racial ideologies. The author argues that the prevailing adoption framework relies on child-saving and color-blind narratives …

A Global Reconstruction: Black Internationalism And The Human Rights Regime, Britta Redwood

Seattle University Law Review

Black American advocates for civil, political, and economic rights have long taken an internationalist approach and fostered connections with international organizations and transnational movements. This engagement has also been a generative force and played role in shaping international law. Beginning in the early years of the twentieth century, Black intellectuals and leaders, spearheaded by the NAACP and the UNIA, focused on human rights as a means for addressing and repairing the harms wrought by slavery, Jim Crow, and racism. From the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 through the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Genocide Convention, and the drafting of …

The Gap: Addressing The Missing Piece In HawaiʻI’S Anti-Discrimination Laws On Credit And Lending, Wendy Mun

Seattle University Law Review

This author addresses the significant gap in Hawaiʻi’s anti-discrimination laws, specifically the lack of explicit protections for LGBTQ+ individuals against credit and lending discrimination. Although federal laws like the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) and recent interpretations by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) extend some protections, they remain vulnerable to shifting federal priorities and interpretations. The author explores how other states, particularly California and Washington, have enacted robust statutory protections that clearly prohibit credit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. They argue that Hawaiʻi, despite its large LGBTQ+ population, must amend its credit protection laws to reflect …

The U.S. Drug Policy Hamster Wheel: A Critical Discourse Analysis Of Seattle’S New Drug Ordinance, Hallie Conyers-Tucker

Seattle University Law Review

The author critically examines Seattle’s new drug ordinance using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to reveal how legislative language influences the policy's actual effect. Although the ordinance claims to prioritize diversion and community health, the use of permissive language such as “may” and “shall” grants broad discretionary power to law enforcement and undermines the stated intent. The author situates the ordinance within a broader historical context, highlighting how drug policy in the United States has consistently been shaped by racialized and stigmatizing narratives. Additionally, the author argues that meaningful reform requires reframing the discourse around substance use to support public health …

Something Concrete: How Labor Advocates Can Best Respond To The Ambiguity Of Glacier Northwest, Ateş Serifsoy

Seattle University Law Review

The Supreme Court’s much-anticipated decision in Glacier North-west, Inc. v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local No. 174 (Glacier) marked a critical moment for workers’ rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and the longstanding practice of Garmon preemption. Yet, initial fears of a significant rollback of workers’ rights, driven by sensational headlines, were met with an unexpectedly narrow Court opinion. This Comment examines Glacier’s implications for Gar-mon preemption and the right to strike. It offers the historical background of the doctrine of labor law preemption before Glacier; presents a detailed analysis of Glacier itself, including its …

Middle Schoolers Explore The Rule Of Law At Second Annual Mandell-Boisclair Justice Camp 7-17-2025, Jordan J. Phelan

School of Law Conferences, Lectures & Events

No abstract provided.

Law School News: Middle Schoolers Explore The Rule Of Law At Second Annual Mandell-Boisclair Justice Camp 07-17-2025, Jordan J. Phelan

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Report Of The Special Rapporteur On The Implications For Human Rights Of The Environmentally Sound Management And Disposal Of Hazardous Substances And Wastes, Marcos Orellana - Military Activities And Toxics, Marcos Orellana

PEEL Faculty Scholarship

Implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes

Note by the Secretary-General

The Secretary-General has the honour to transmit to the General Assembly the report of the Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes, Marcos Orellana, in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 54/10.

Guidelines On Access To Justice And Effective Remedies In The Context Of Toxics, Marcos Orellana

PEEL Faculty Scholarship

Guidelines on access to justice and effective remedies in the context of toxics

Report of the Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes, Marcos Orellana.

The Green Energy Landfill: Regulatory Approaches To The Disposal Of Decommissioned Wind Turbine Blades, Samuel Taylor

Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology

No abstract provided.

Self-Determination In The Implementation Of Treaty Reserved Rights, Kekek Jason Stark

Faculty Law Review Articles

After fifty years of implementing tribal treaty reserved rights, this article will examine how tribal courts are determining cases involving treaty reserved rights and resources and to the extent tribal courts are recognizing and utilizing tribal customary law. This analysis will include a summary of tribal treaty harvest management systems and the how in the recognition of treaty reserved rights, federal courts have often limited tribes in their ability to fully implement and utilize tribal customary law. In response, I argue that as tribes enter the next fifty years of treaty rights implementation that the presumption of primary management should …

The Mysterious Power Of Land Use Law: Constructing A Framework Law For Climate Resilient Development, John R. Nolon, Maureen Hartwell

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This Article introduces and explains Climate Resilient Development (CRD), which is relied upon by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as a primary method of managing climate change. CRD "integrates adaptation measures and their enabling conditions with mitigation to advance sustainable development for all." 1 CRD illuminates the close relationship between adaptive and mitigative development and land use law, particularly the authority delegated to local governments to regulate and incentivize private land development and conservation. The Article unveils a legal structure that is followed in most states to organize local laws that affect land development; as such, it facilitates …

Varied Legal Parameters Shape Fiduciaries’ Ability To Act On Climate Risk, Cynthia Hanawalt, Andy Fitch

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Commentators who advocate either for or against corporate and asset managers addressing climate risks often refer to “fiduciary duty” as justification for their claims. Yet no field of corporate or asset management actually imposes one standalone fiduciary duty. Nor do any two business-law fields impose the same fiduciary regime. Instead, these fields adopt differing arrays of fiduciary duties to address various types of relationships, comprising a different blend of affirmative obligations and/or prohibitions, assessed with different degrees of strictness by enforcers and courts. As a result, overgeneralizations about fiduciaries’ duty in all business-law contexts tend to further obscure what a …

What Is The Distribution Of National Historical Parks?, Randall K. Johnson

Faculty Works

In an increasingly polarized nation, which no longer can reach any consensus about what is meant by the term “common good,” it might be wise to extend additional protections to national monuments from executive branch interference. But prior to doing so, the U.S. Congress may want to undertake some additional research work. Such research could build on the existing charge of the National Park Service as well as other interested parties. By doing so, Congress gains insight into whether and how this federal legislature should expand protections for national historical parks.

My article explains, at least in part, how Congress …

Sabin Center For Climate Change Law Annual Report 2024-2025, Tiffany Challe

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

This 2024-2025 annual report highlights the Sabin Center’s breadth and impact across our program areas, including climate litigation, carbon management and negative emissions technologies, US climate policy, energy transition, climate law and finance.

Heat Camps: Juvenile Curfews, Extreme Heat & The Eighth Amendment, Norrinda Brown

Washington and Lee Law Review

For decades, in the summertime, America has confined certain of its youth in what are essentially open-air heat camps. In city after city, camp-form is established through the enactment of warm-weather juvenile curfews which keep the youth at home or in state-sponsored centers during summer nights and, increasingly, during days as well. Local governments justify these curfews with general notions of “public safety,” including to protect the youth they confine. But the laws are not benevolent. Reducing youth mobility by curfew results in exclusion, oversurveillance, and potentially lethal heat punishment of the youth, possibly in violation of the Eighth Amendment. …

The Children’S Lawsuits: Building A Global Movement In Law And Society, Mary Christina Wood

Washington and Lee Law Review

This essay describes the Atmospheric Trust Litigation (ATL) campaign, spearheaded by Our Children’s Trust, consisting of climate cases brought by youth premised on the public trust principle and, later, on express constitutional rights. The essay characterizes the cases as (1) accomplishing a “rights turn” in environmental law by invoking constitutional claims rather than statutory claims that previously marked almost all environmental litigation; (2) establishing a unified global framework of climate responsibility by depicting the planet’s atmosphere as a global public trust asset which all governments have an obligation to protect; and (3) galvanizing a youth climate movement centered on the …

Child/Youth Climate Litigation: Tracking Children’S Rights And Children’S Impact, Aoife Daly, Liesl Muller

Washington and Lee Law Review

Children and youth have been engaging extensively in climate action around the world. They have been doing this by protesting in the streets, talking with governments, and most recently by taking climate litigation against governments and companies. In this Article, these climate cases are considered from a children’s rights perspective. Using the Youth Climate Justice database, fifty cases are analyzed to consider two aspects of climate litigation—the children’s rights involved in the case, and the significance of the outcomes of the cases. It is concluded that climate cases are a new form of child participation in society, and that child …

Foreword: Children And Constitutions In The Anthropocene Era, Catherine Smith

Washington and Lee Law Review

In Spring 2025, the Washington and Lee Law Review held its Lara D. Gass Symposium, Children and Constitutions in the Anthropocene Era. It consisted of a keynote address by Julia Olson, Co-Executive Director and Chief Legal Counsel of Our Children’s Trust, and three panels: “Children, Climate Change, and State Constitutions”; “The U.S. Constitutions and the Meaning of ‘We the [Young] People’”; and “Youth-Powered Litigation and Global Constitutionalism.” The heavily attended Symposium was a tour-de-force in the field of children’s rights.

As climate chaos mounts, young people around the world are pressing courts to reconceptualize the meaning of liberty, equality, and …

Earth Day 2025: Albuquerque, Nm, Clifford Villa

Faculty Scholarship

This Earth Day 2025, I was at home in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where I was born and raised, where we measure time in family generations. For too long, I’ve been away. But returning home, I have new perspectives—and new technology. You may laugh, but I’ve discovered Merlin.

“Small” Voices, Big Wins: Analyzing Remedies In Children’S Climate Cases, Maria Antonia Tigre

Washington and Lee Law Review

Children’s climate litigation has emerged as a powerful tool to address the climate crisis, with young plaintiffs around the world taking governments and corporations to court to demand climate action. This Article examines successful cases—those in which relief sought by the applicants was fully or partially granted—across five continents, providing an “around the world” perspective on the evolution and impact of youth-led climate litigation. Focusing on landmark cases in Australia, Colombia, South Africa, South Korea, and the United States, this analysis highlights the arguments presented by young plaintiffs and the judicial reasoning that supported the relief granted. Through a comparative …

Liquid Power: Myths, Realities, And Policy Responses To Wall Street's Takeover Of Water Markets, Vanessa Casado-Pérez

Faculty Scholarship

In Don Quixote, there is a moment when all the knightly novels are thrown into the fire for their fantastical depictions of chivalry. Yet one book is spared: Tirant lo Blanc. It is saved because, unlike the others, it portrays knights who die in their beds-offering a more realistic depiction of medieval battles. Similarly, Liquid Asset stands out as the book that should be preserved from the extensive body of scholarship on water markets. Many works in this field are influenced by ideological biases that shape their analyses. In contrast, Buzz Thompson's books provides the nuance and balance often lacking …

Improving Distributional Analysis In Regulatory Evaluation: An Assessment Of The 2023 Circular A-4, W. Kip Viscusi, A. Fraas, John D. Graham, Kerry Krutilla, Randall Lutter, Jason F. Shogren

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

The November 2023 revision to OMB Circular A-4 expands upon past guidance on distributional assessment in regulatory impact analysis and adds new options for conducting it, such as the use of distributional weights based on the marginal utility of income. This note explores the implications of key changes suggested in the 2023 guidelines and addresses modeling and data challenges that could yield recommendations for future revisions. We suggest that progress in improving distributional assessment in regulatory impact analysis is most likely if federal agencies collaborate with the National Science Foundation to produce model distributional analyses for different types of regulations.

Analysis Of Environmental Law Scholarship 2023-2024, Michael P. Vandenbergh, Chloe C. Allen, Linda K. Breggin, Sydney C. Schoonover

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

The Environmental Law and Policy Annual Review (ELPAR) is published by the Environmental Law Institute’s (ELI’s) Environmental Law Reporter in partnership with Vanderbilt University Law School. ELPAR provides a forum for the presentation and discussion of some of the most creative and feasible environmental law and policy proposals from the legal academic literature each year. The articles that are considered include all environmental law articles published in select law journals during the previous academic year. The law journal articles that are republished and discussed are selected by Vanderbilt University Law School students with input from their course instructors and an …

Editors And Staff Members

Public Land & Resources Law Review

No abstract provided.