Digital Commons Network^™

Tribal Nations As Lords Of The Fee: A Common Law Argument For Tribal Discretion In Spending Federal Forfeiture Funds, Kent A. Anderson

American Indian Law Journal

Federal criminal forfeiture is a powerful tool meeting at the nexus of criminal law and property law. Courts justify its use based on its English common law history. After seizing and selling assets, the federal government doles out payments from its Assets Forfeiture Fund to cooperating law enforcement agencies through equitable sharing agreements that bind recipients to use funds for law enforcement purposes. Tribal Nations have compelling legal and policy arguments for their entitlement to greater access to and discretion over forfeiture funds obtained through seizures in Indian country. These legal arguments are grounded in: (1) federal criminal forfeiture’s failure …

September 2024 – August 2025 Case Law On American Indians, Thomas P. Schlosser

American Indian Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Right To A Stable Climate: Common Law Remedies And Constitutional Protections In Washington State, Ella Koscher

Washington Journal of Social & Environmental Justice

The climate crisis touches every corner of the globe. Climate

change exacerbates the intensity of natural disasters, droughts, floods,

and wildfires, and accelerates sea level rise, desertification, habitat loss,

and species extinction. Billions of people, including millions of U.S. residents,

are currently highly vulnerable to these impacts. The science has

long established that greenhouse gases from fossil fuel use and production

are a main driver of climate change, and the largest source of greenhouse

gas emissions in the U.S. derives from our fossil fuel-based energy

system. Various oil and gas companies produce, advertise, and distribute

fossil fuels in the U.S., …

The Canons Fell Silent: An Analysis Of The Supreme Court's Failure To Use Statutory Interpretation Tools In Sackett V. Epa, Lauren Carlsen

Washington Law Review

In 2023, the United States Supreme Court denied decades of precedent, agency action, and the proper use of canons of interpretation in its decision in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency (Sackett). This case adopted the “continuous surface connection” test, which requires an indistinguishable surface water connection between a wetland and a navigable water to assert Clean Water Act jurisdiction over the wetland. This limitation on agency authority under the Clean Water Act was created through a statutory analysis that failed to apply the “Plain Meaning” and “Whole Act” canons of statutory interpretation. The Court narrowly applied the meaning of …

The Impact Of New York's 2026 Climate Law Retreat, Jonathan A. Binder, Vincent M. Nolette

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

On May 26, 2026, New York State enacted significant revisions to its 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA). The 2026 Amendments, which include changes to the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission accounting methodology, the statewide GHG emission limits, and the requirement to adopt implementing regulations, collectively weaken the Act's ambition. New York’s retreat from state climate action after championing it for years reflects a broader national trend of de-prioritizing mitigation efforts.

The 2026 Amendments will have vast and important consequences for the implementation of the CLCPA. Numerous actions will need to be updated through rulemaking, guidance, or other administrative …

2025, Richard Delgado

Seattle University Law Review

"In a cutting and provocative social critique in one of the more extended Rodrigo Chronicles, Richard Delgado in 2025 employs skillful narrative—one of CRT’s many contributions to legal scholarship —to tell a gripping story of just how far the nation has descended into darkness with President Trump’s re-election. In Delgado’s vision, law professors—along with other political opponents of the President: immigrants, people of color, LGBTQ+ people, women, the underserved—have targets on their backs."

-excerpt from Kevin Johnson's review of 2025

Veiled Justice: Secularism And The Hijab Across Democracies, Mohamed ‘Arafa

Seattle University Law Review

For much of 2022, Iran was gripped by widespread protests led by women who openly challenged the regime’s authority, particularly its compulsory veiling laws, following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody. Women around the globe came around and showed solidarity with the women in Iran. However, in non-Islamic countries and societies, one can still make out many prejudices and stereotyping connected to the question of whether and to what extent veiling is mandatory for women according to Shārīe’ā law. Is wearing the hijab a choice, or rather, an essential religious practice that religious Muslim women need to obey? …

Rewriting The Playbook: The X’S And O’S Of The House Settlement And The Future Of Student-Athletes’ Voice In Their Compensation, Matthew K.V. Glazer

Seattle University Law Review

Since the formation of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the 1900s, collegiate athletes (student-athletes) have been prohibited from using their own name, image and likeness (NIL) for profit. But on July 1, 2021, the NCAA changed course and began allowing student-athletes to profit from their own NIL. In the past few years, U.S. college athletics have undergone significant changes, most notably introducing monetary compensation for student-athletes’ NIL. While these changes were long overdue and ultimately beneficial, they have significantly disrupted the landscape of college sports, giving rise to numerous challenges that some experts have compared to the “Wild …

Mr. Trump Goes To Washington Part Ii: A Review Of Richard Delgado's 2025, Kevin Johnson

Seattle University Law Review

Richard Delgado’s The Rodrigo Chronicles have captivated a generation of law students and legal scholars.  Mapping the terrain of race, racism, and Critical Race Theory (CRT), the skillful, and long-running narrative series stands as a testament to Delgado’s dedication to justice for all.

The Rodrigo Chronicles are simply one of Delgado’s many intellectual contributions and part of an unparalleled scholarly legacy.  As one of the founders of CRT, he produced a landmark body of scholarship –authoring the field's primary text,  making the argument for the regulation of hate speech,  forcefully challenging the Black/white binary of civil rights that long dominated …

Stafford Act's Requirement To Consider Climate Change In State Hazard Mitigation Plans, Olivia N. Guarna

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Climate change is fueling an unprecedented number of extreme weather and climate disasters with dire costs on human life and property. States and local governments now face a responsibility to adapt to these increasing disaster risks to improve community resilience and avoid an ever-growing magnitude of loss. Congress passed the Stafford Act in 1988 to provide a means for sustained and coordinated federal aid in response to disasters. The Stafford Act includes a comprehensive non-emergency hazard mitigation program. Hazard mitigation assistance empowers states, tribes, and local governments to engage in planning and mitigation activities that improve disaster outcomes and minimize …

Owning Geothermal Energy, Gabriel Eckstein

Faculty Scholarship

Geothermal energy holds vast potential for decarbonizing the U.S. energy system, yet the sector remains significantly underdeveloped, supplying only 0.4% of the nation's electricity. A principal barrier to growth is the fragmented and ambiguous legal landscape currently governing ownership of geothermal resources: thirty-three states lack any clear statutory or common-law framework identifying who owns subsurface thermal energy. This Article examines the physical characteristics of geothermal energy, recent developments in the U.S. geothermal sector, and the principal doctrinal approaches that might govern ownership of subsurface heat, including the ad coelum doctrine, common-pool and open-access frameworks, the rule of capture, and public …

Science-Related Rhetoric And Action By United States Presidents From 1977-2017, Amanda E. Shea

Interdisciplinary Studies

Presidential rhetoric and executive action have played an important role in shaping how scientific issues are presented to the American public. This project examined how United States presidents from Jimmy Carter through Barack Obama (1977–2017) employed science-related rhetoric and policy regarding climate science and reproductive health. Findings suggest that reproductive health remained a partisan issue throughout the study period, while climate science shifted from a largely bipartisan concern to a more partisan one over time. The results also indicate that presidential rhetoric and executive action were not always aligned, with several administrations using science-related rhetoric more extensively than corresponding policy.

The Martha Wright-Reed Act: How The Fcc Took One Step Forward For Communication Equality For Deaf Individuals In Correctional Facilities And How It Could Be Expanded, Ashley Seebold

Seattle University Law Review

For decades, phone companies preyed on incarcerated individuals and their loved ones due to the lack of regulation of jail phone calls.2 In 2021, the average cost of a fifteen-minute jail phone call was about $3.3 In 2022, the average cost rose to $5.74, while some individuals faced an extreme charge of $24.82 for the same amount of time.4 In the early 2000s, consumer advocate and concerned grandmother Martha Wright-Reed called upon the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to fix the imbalance so she could speak to her incarcerated grandson.5 Eventually, in 2023, the FCC answered her call to action and …

Five Urban Futures For A Hot Planet: U.S. Legal Scenarios, Michael B. Gerrard

Faculty Scholarship

If current climate change trends continue, flooding, extreme heat, wildfires, and water scarcity will make the homes of millions of people in the United States increasingly uninhabitable. This change could happen by the end of the century, perhaps sooner. Most people will want to stay in their current homes, but there is no coherent policy to fortify the most vulnerable places. Nor is the current legal system equipped to handle what may become one of the largest migrations in U.S. history, as people flee intolerable climate conditions. This Article envisions five scenarios for cities in the future: sprout, grow, stay, …

Table Of Contents

Seattle University Law Review

Table of Contents

Volume 49 Masthead

Seattle University Law Review

Volume 49 Masthead

Reimagining Legal Education: The Transformative Power Of Small-Group Instruction, Michael I. Meyerson

Seattle University Law Review

Legal education is failing its students. Those entering their first year of law school have greater anxiety and less developed reading and writing skills than ever before. The traditional large Socratic class, which was never the most effective teaching method, has become increasingly counterproductive.

This Article contends that small-group instruction provides the opportunity for superior teaching, especially for first-year law students. Recent scholarship in active learning, educational psychology, and students’ mental health demonstrates the limitations of the traditional large Socratic class experience. Building on that theoretical foundation and informed by sustained classroom experience, this Article argues that small-group pedagogy more …

The Preventative Care Gap: Completing The Aca’S Vision For Health, Abby Nagaich

Seattle University Law Review

This Note examines the preventive care mandate under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the legal, political, and practical challenges that threaten its effectiveness. While the ACA significantly expanded access to no-cost preventive services, gaps remain—particularly in behavioral health, obesity management, and equitable service delivery. Ongoing litigation, potential administrative rollbacks, and shifting political leadership further destabilize this critical component of public health policy.

This Note argues that for the ACA to fulfill its original promise—and for any health framework to succeed—preventive care must be redefined as a comprehensive, early intervention approach grounded in both systemic access and patient education. It …

Land Without Legacy: The Case For Market-Based Appraisals On Hawaiian Home Lands, Alexis C. Owens

Seattle University Law Review

The Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920 (HHCA) was enacted to restore Native Hawaiians to ancestral lands and promote long term economic self-sufficiency. More than a century later, that promise remains unfulfilled. This Note argues that a central but overlooked barrier lies in the HHCA’s mandated use of the replacement cost appraisal method, which systematically undervalues homestead properties by excluding market forces. In one of the most expensive housing markets in the United States, this approach suppresses home equity, the primary means of intergenerational wealth building, and restricts beneficiaries’ access to credit and financial stability. By severing the connection between …

International Law’S Forgotten Refugees—Palestinian Refugees In Egypt

Seattle University Law Review

This Article examines the legal and humanitarian crisis facing Palestinian refugees who have fled to Egypt amidst the ongoing violence in Gaza. While escaping active conflict, these refugees face systemic barriers to employment and education, rendering their living conditions precarious and unsustainable. The unique legal status of Palestinian refugees stems from the fact that they have been excluded from the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, leaving them without any meaningful international protection. This exclusion is rooted in the political complexities of the Palestinian struggle for self-determination and reflects a fragmented legal framework that prioritizes limited humanitarian aid over …

How The Dod Discourages Military Families From Seeking Mental Health Counseling, Christina Welch

Seattle University Law Review

The Department of Defense’s (DoD) administration of the Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP) presents significant barriers to mental health care access for military spouses and children. This paper explores how the EFMP, though designed to support military families with special needs, inadvertently creates barriers to mental health treatment. Military family members often do not seek mental health treatment to avoid the program's mandatory enrollment requirements. Military family members often view enrollment in the program undesirable because enrollment can restrict the pool of potential future duty assignment locations that are available to service members.

The lack of comprehensive data collection by …

Shrinking Sovereignty: By Land, Sea, And…Air?, Cynthia R. Harris

Pace Environmental Law Review

Atlantis was a mythical State destroyed by the gods as an object lesson to humanity. The complete destruction of a State, as a political entity, does have precedent in historical reality. The complete and permanent loss of a State’s physical territory, however, is a problem humanity has never faced—until now. Today, climate change-driven sea level rise is bringing the future sovereign status of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in question. A growing body of legal scholarship argues for maintaining these States’ maritime jurisdictions but has not yet extended the question skyward to SIDS’ jurisdiction over airspace.

This Article addresses that …

Municipality Of Bayamón V. Exxon Mobil Corp. (2025): Bringing Racketeering Charges For Climate Justice, Ilinca C. Johnson

Pace Environmental Law Review

Environmental justice communities should have their climate change damages heard in the courtroom. One means to increase environmental justice claims is through claims under the federal Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. Using Municipality of Bayamón v. Exxon Mobil Corp. (2025) as a model, this Article suggests a novel RICO case strategy to pursue climate damages for marginalized communities. Fundamentally, environmental justice RICO claims involve careful case design based on the climate-related damages a marginalized community has faced because of the long-term deception by fossil fuel actors upon those communities. Pursuing such claims forwards the intersectional issues faced by …

Non-Reformist Reforms In Environmentalism: Legal Theory And Praxis, Nicholas F. Stump

Pace Environmental Law Review

This Article explores how non-reformist reforms—as opposed to traditional environmental law—are required for ecologically transformative futures. Traditional environmental law is a critically flawed regime due to its embeddedness in our current ecological political economy, which functionally requires perpetual accumulation and growth. However, this accumulation- and growth-based paradigm is incompatible with the material realities of our planetary boundaries. This paradigm has thus engendered our current era of profound ecological crisis (i.e., as associated with notions of the Anthropocene).

Non-reformist reforms are an alternative framework that can help drive transformations of our ecological political economy vis-à-vis building and operationalizing people power from …

Editors And Staff Members

Public Land & Resources Law Review

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Public Land & Resources Law Review

No abstract provided.

Letter From The Editors

Public Land & Resources Law Review

No abstract provided.

Using Data To Discern Whether Nepa Causes Delay, And What Can Be Done About It, John C. Ruple, David E. Adelman, Jamie Pleune

Public Land & Resources Law Review

This article proceeds in three principal parts. Part I provides an overview of NEPA that is focused on the requirements contained in the Act itself, the Supreme Court’s recent opinion in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Colorado, and developments involving agency NEPA regulations. Part II summarizes what we know about factors causing or contributing to delays in permitting in general and NEPA compliance in particular. The central question examined in Part II is the extent to which changes to NEPA respond to barriers to development and are therefore likely to be effective. Part III offers recommendations and is …

Testing Prior Appropriation As Drought And Climate Change Push States Toward Water Code Reform: Lessons From And For Oregon, Adell L. Amos

Public Land & Resources Law Review

Part I outlines approaches to addressing the challenges that have arisen in water management under state water codes that have been considered—some adopted, and some still under consideration—in Oregon. This section examines some historical material on Oregon water law and describes the current moment as a way for setting the stage for the work that is currently underway. The dynamics described for Oregon are replicated in many western states. So, while the details are Oregon-related, the storyline is a familiar one in the West.2 Part II describes the efforts of a working group of water law attorneys that the Oregon …

Salt In The Public Wound: The Public Trust Doctrine And The Great Salt Lake, Shoshana Grossman

Public Land & Resources Law Review

This paper analyzes how the Utah PTD applies to the non- navigable tributaries that affect the GSL, and whether Utah must consider the PTD in water rights management. Section I explains the GSL case, outlining the issues, the Physicians’ claims, and Judge Scott’s order. Section II outlines the PTD in Utah. Section III first compares the GSL to other decisions applying the PTD to non-navigable water resources and water rights. Section III then assesses whether Utah’s PTD applies to non-navigable tributaries that affect navigable resources like the GSL, and what that may mean for water allocation in Utah. The paper …