Digital Commons Network^™

When You’Re Arrested For A Felony In Seattle, You’Ll Meet Me., Austin Field

Seattle University Law Review

In this Essay, Austin Field, a practicing public defender, uses a first-person perspective to describe what it is like to meet a criminal defendant for the first time. He explains the process from start to finish, detailing everything from the way he introduces himself to how bail works.

"I’ll ask you for your name. Most of the time, you tell me. I check your name against my list. On any given day I’m supposed to interview between five and fifteen people. I have a lot of questions for you. We only have about ten minutes."

The Public Square In A Private-Property Obsessed Country: What New York City’S Pops Regulations Get Right And Why Other Cities Should (Mostly) Copy Them, Carson Mcgregor

Seattle University Law Review

When New York City (NYC) was first becoming the metropolitan monolith it is today, it had a problem: the city streets were chock full of skyscrapers, and sunlight, air, and usable open space were at a premium. In response, the City promulgated its first Privately Owned Public Spaces (POPS) regulations, which allowed developers to build skyward in exchange for providing public space on the street level. Unfortunately, in July of 2023, the New York Times (NYT) discovered that New Yorkers received only a fraction of what they were promised. Building owners received billions of dollars’ worth of added floor space, …

Social Media And Protection Of The Youth: Assessing Policy Safeguards And Political Implications, Genesis N. Rivera

Honors Capstones

The purpose of this paper is to explain the potential gaps in U.S. state-level policies from Illinois, Utah, and California. The scope of this paper focuses on policies that specifically address the emerging issue of child influencers. Through a comparative analysis, I found that states like Illinois, California, and Utah all lack enforcement mechanisms, which rational choice theory explains are crucial for ensuring policy effectiveness. Many states, such as California and Utah, followed Illinois’s legal framework through policy diffusion. Therefore, I propose that, in order for states to adopt stronger measures, they should implement France’s more developed legal framework. Through …

Modern Day Colonialism Through HawaiʻI’S Quiet Title And Partition Laws, Cheyann Fujii

Seattle University Law Review

This Note will attempt to highlight important aspects of Hawaiian history to provide readers with a clear picture on how Native Hawaiians are still impacted by colonialism, specifically when plaintiffs bring a quiet title or partition action against Native Hawaiian owners of kuleana lands. Before colonization, the concept of private land ownership did not exist in Hawai‘i, and Native Hawaiians adopted a feudal system by dividing land into geographical areas. Missionaries and businessmen brought Western ideas to Hawai‘i and influenced legislation such as the Great Māhele and the Kuleana Land Act of 1850, which solidified the concept of private property. …

Data Advantage And Merger Review: Can Entrenchment Theory Reform Antitrust Enforcement?, Shin-Ru Cheng

Seattle University Law Review

A merger involving giant digital companies is likely to dampen competition, as it allows those companies to combine and control data access, enabling them to entrench their dominant positions in relevant markets and extend those positions into related markets. While competition law in many jurisdictions aims to prohibit mergers that may substantially lessen competition or create a monopoly, arguably the review of digital mergers is failing because antitrust agencies lack an effective approach to identify data-generated anticompetitive harms. This Article demonstrates that entrenchment theory, recently reintroduced in the 2023 U.S. Merger Guidelines, would help reform the process of antitrust enforcement. …

Evaluating The Extent And Consequences Of Polarization In The Supreme Court, Brianna Pechman

Honors Capstones

This research joins a limited number of existing studies investigating polarization on the Supreme Court by focusing on a specific policy area, reproductive rights, through an analysis of Martin-Quinn scores, a traditional measurement of judicial ideology. Following previous studies investigating polarization in the judicial system, polarization on the Supreme Court is identified through partisan sorting, the alignment of party affiliation and issue position, and traditional polarization, increasing support for extreme positions relative to more positions. Overall, the Court shows no signs of traditional polarization as moderate justices are still present on the Supreme Court and liberal and conservative justices are …

More Easily Facilitating Involuntary Treatment: The Impacts Of Senate Bill 43 On The Intersection Of Mental Illness And Homelessness In California, Linthacum-Janker, Gracean

Santa Clara Law Review

Mental health and homelessness are two of the most prominent matters affecting California. The Legislature has attempted to combat the issues stemming from these concerns through various forms of legislation. Despite legislative efforts, the intersection between mental illness and homelessness continues to present further challenges. California Senate Bill 43 (SB-43) sets out to address the mental health crisis by modernizing California’s laws handling behavioral health, specifically for individuals living on the streets.

This Note analyzes the impact of SB-43 on California’s mental health system and individuals. SB-43 expands the legal definition of “gravely disabled” to include individuals who fit the …

Table Of Contents, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

Table of Contents

Caution: Potholes In E-Scooter Data Collection, Dakota Rakestraw

Seattle University Law Review

Lime scooters keep ending up in major waterways in Washington state metro areas, a testament to the ubiquity of e-scooters in the metropolitan landscape. How they get there is unclear. Why they get there is even murkier. Perhaps the answer lies in the implications of modern geolocation data collection through e-scooters and gaps in current data collection regulation curbing individual liberties.

Since September 2020, electric scooters have run Seattle’s streets and have dramatically overtaken ridesharing bike trips. For example, from September 2020 to September 2021, there were about 1.4 million scooter and bike trips with September 2021 seeing 300,000 scooter …

Machinists Preemption In The New Administrative Law, Andrew J. Ziaja

Seattle University Law Review

This Article assesses Machinists preemption—a labor-specific form of implied field preemption—while freshly considering implications both for and of new developments in administrative law. The radical transformation of administrative law in the Supreme Court, particularly its newfound emphasis on clear-statement rules, provides opportunities to reconsider the Machinists rationale. Aligning with scholars who have called to question the doctrine’s “ossifying” influence on labor and employment policy, it argues that the modern-day version of Machinists preemption clashes with the Supreme Court’s newly constrained view of delegated power and its differing conceptions of the major questions doctrine.

On the other hand, Machinists preemption might …

Volume 48 Masthead, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

Volume 48 Masthead

Defining Deference: Impacts Of Abandoning Chevron On Emerging Technology Governance And Administrative Law, R. Aubrey Davis Iii

Seattle University Law Review

Emerging technologies, particularly Artificial Intelligence (AI), often lead to unforeseen legal outcomes. Notable abuses in areas such as facial recognition, employment bias, and housing discrimination are well known. However, legislative responses to these issues either have been largely reactive or there has been no legislative response at all. In lieu of legislation, agencies have sought to fill the gap. For example, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently proposed a rule mandating voter notification for all AI-generated political phone calls citing the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) of 1991 as authority. However, the TCPA was originally passed to curtail telemarketing, not …

Intellectual Property Or Modern Folklore? The Problem With Open Gaming Licenses In Tabletop Gaming, Rosie Midget

Seattle University Law Review

This Note addresses how courts and legislatures should address “Open Gaming Licenses” commonly attached to tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs), which game publishers use to promote a false image of accessibility—misleading consumers and building goodwill from the misunderstanding. Part I discusses what TTRPGs are, including the defining features of the hobby and culture surrounding it, as well as the unique interplay between publishers and players. Part II explores the question of which elements in a TTRPG system may be subject to copyright protection. Part III examines these elements in practice using Wizards of the Coast’s Dungeons and Dragons TTRPG as a …

Ensuring Housing Stability And Protections For The Nation’S Renters: Avenues For Federal Action, Margaret Hagan, Peter Hepburn, Justin Steil, Brandon Weiss

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

What would it take to ensure housing stability and protections for the nation’s renters? This essay reviews the current literature on landlord–tenant laws, eviction court policies, the provision of legal aid, and the residential security of renter households. It then lays out avenues through which the federal government—particularly the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)—might work to improve renters’ stability. These include targeted efforts to improve engagement with both tenants and landlords, robust implementation of the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing provision of the federal Fair Housing Act, especially around source of income discrimination, and facilitation of reforms to state …

The Model Minority Victim, Chiu, Elaine M.

Santa Clara Law Review

The rise in xenophobia, hate and violence against AAPI Americans inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic was an opportunity to assess the effectiveness of the criminal legal system as a tool of anti-racism. This Article traces the legal aftermath when Asian New Yorkers reported 276 possible hate crimes to the police in 2021. The analysis takes an empirical approach and a narrative approach. It relies on a unique database that followed what happened to civilian complaints of anti- Asian crimes from beginning to end. Using metrics such as arrest rates and conviction rates, the Article draws initial conclusions about the systemic …

Your Data, Modern Times, And The Fourth Amendment: What Would Jefferson And Orwell Do?, Sterling, Ken

Santa Clara High Technology Law Journal

The ongoing challenge of balancing individual data privacy with the government's need for user data through national security efforts has long plagued courts and policymakers. This tension intensifies as technology advances, permeating daily life, and global uncertainty fuels government demand for additional data. This study explores this tension by examining the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches and seizures in the context of user data obtained by the government through third-party providers. I argue that the Fourth Amendment provides a sufficient framework to balance these competing interests. While acknowledging the government's responsibility for national security, we contend that this does …

The Future Of International Ecosystem-Based Conservation, Gwyneth Zinan Chen

Cardozo International & Comparative Law Review (CICLR) Blog

One does not have to search on the internet to conclude that our home, Earth, had greatly changed since its birth approximately 4.6 billion years ago. Perhaps, what is the most obvious is how our Earth went from being blue, green, and brown landscapes to a world of concrete jungles. Inevitably, there will be biodiversity and habitat loss. Biodiversity loss, as defined by United Nations office for Disaster Risk Reduction “refers to the reduction of any aspect of biological diversity (i.e.., diversity at the genetic, species and ecosystem levels) in a particular area through death (including extinction), destruction or manual …

Transforming Criminal Justice Leadership With A Servant-Oriented Trauma-Informed Approach, Janina Cich

Forensic Scholars Today

This paper explores the transformative potential of a criminal justice leadership model by integrating principles of servant leadership, emotional intelligence, and trauma-informed care, focusing on rebuilding community trust, improving officer well-being, and fostering equitable, empathetic public service. This transformative module emphasizes humility, accountability, and emotional awareness to address the deep-rooted effects of trauma on both criminal justice personnel and the communities they serve. Through proactive strategies, such as open communication, cultural competence training, and mental health support, future leaders can cultivate resilient, community-focused agencies prioritizing healing, justice, and human dignity.

A (Loper) Bright Future?: How The Supreme Court Opened A Path For Drug Reform, Malich, Jack

Santa Clara Law Review

We are witnessing a sweeping transformation of administrative law. The Supreme Court has taken aim at what it believes is a constitutional error: the power of the administrative state. All parts of the so-called “fourth branch of government” are undergoing shifts in the legal doctrines governing their structure. For those in favor of a strong administrative state, most of the Court’s new approach to agency action may represent a sinister effort to prevent the making of disfavored policy by the Executive. However, advocates of agency power would do well to remember that the administrative state can be oppressive. No agency …

Impact Of Remote Work On Wages In Nevada’S Labor Force, Lauren Tomlinson, Sean Atias, Renato Salazar, Ezrah Tayag

Undergraduate Research Symposium Podium Presentations

Remote Work Evolution and COVID-19

• In 2019, 7% of full paid workdays were done remotely. During the pandemic, that number substantially grew to 60%, and by 2023 it shrunk down to 28%. Elements of remote work have even spread to multiple industries such as healthcare, finance, and education (Barrero et al., 2023).
• Direct relationship between self-perceived job performance and remote work productivity. However, living with children under 18 negatively impacts remote work engagement and productivity (Toscano & Zappalá, 2021).
• Remote work can be associated with increases in Total Factor Productivity (TFP). Between 2019 and 2021, a 1% increase in the …

The Legal Vacuum In Cognitive Privacy And Brain Data, Kayla Flanders

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal (AELJ) Blog

There is an entire world emerging—technology capable of interpreting our brainwaves to predict which ads we’ll respond to, lift our moods, or queue the perfect playlist. U.S. patent filings in neurotechnology are soaring, mirroring the surge seen in gene-editing innovations.

Yet while gene-editing tools have sparked fierce public and ethical debate, neurotechnology companies are quietly amassing vast troves of brainwave data with far less scrutiny. What legal or ethical constraints are in place to govern the collection, use, or commercialization of this deeply personal data? Positioned at the intersection of data privacy, intellectual property, and scientific innovation, these questions demand …

Inovasi Kolaboratif Dalam Pembentukan Peraturan Perundang-Undangan: Optimalisasi Teknologi Untuk Meningkatkan Partisipasi Publik Dalam Legislasi, Hermawan Prasojo

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

Meaningful public participation in the legislative process in Indonesia is a fundamental element in fostering an inclusive and transparent democracy. Despite the legal mandate for public involvement, as outlined in Law No. 13 of 2022 and Constitutional Court Decision No. 82/PUU-XXI/2023, such participation often remains formalistic and limited in practice. This article highlights the potential of digital technology, particularly the concept of CrowdLaw, as an alternative approach to enhancing public engagement. Case studies from Estonia, Iceland, and Brazil demonstrate that digital participation can effectively increase public involvement and improve the quality of legislative outcomes. With sufficient infrastructure and improved …

Partisan Politics And The Supreme Court: A Crisis Of Judicial Independence, Katie M. Cassady

Helms School of Government Undergraduate Law Review

Every nominee to the Supreme Court of the United States must undergo an extensive confirmation process to evaluate his or her qualifications to serve as a Justice. While the Founders designed the federal judiciary to be an independent institution, changes in the confirmation process and American political climate have resulted in increasingly polarized nomination and confirmation proceedings. This Comment will discuss the history of this process, focusing on the slim margins by which recently confirmed Justices have secured their seats on the federal bench. These contentious proceedings are exacerbated by outside influences such as the media and interest groups that …

Tax Incentives, The Tcja, And The Rise Of The Philanthropist Class, University Of Washington School Of Law

Rule of Law Initiative

Executive Summary:

The first Trump Administration’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) fundamentally altered America's charitable giving landscape through a two-step approach: first by reducing tax incentives for middle-class donors, then by empowering ultra-wealthy philanthropists. These changes have shifted control of charitable giving from everyday Americans to a small “Philanthropist Class,” referring to ultra-high-net-worth individuals who contribute vast sums, often through foundations or donor-advised funds (DAFs). This shift in charitable power holds profound implications for democracy, equality, and nonprofit sustainability.

The TCJA nearly doubled the standard deduction while limiting itemized deductions, causing the percentage of middle-class households claiming charitable …

The Tax Exempt Innovation Cycle, University Of Washington School Of Law

Rule of Law Initiative

Executive Summary:

The U.S. innovation ecosystem thrives on a complex interrelationship between tax policy, philanthropic foundations, and entrepreneurial ventures. The tax code, particularly provisions related to private foundations and Program-Related Investments (PRIs), play a critical role in funding high-risk, high-impact innovations that address societal challenges. Wealth funds the foundation, the foundation funds innovation, and innovation enhances the founder’s lasting impact on society.

Key Findings:

1. Tax-Exempt Foundation Structure: Private foundations, established by wealthy individuals and corporations, serve as powerful vehicles for channeling substantial capital into innovation while providing tax benefits to donors.
2. The Innovation Funding Cycle: Private foundations and …

Reaganomics: History Repeats Itself, But Louder, University Of Washington School Of Law

Rule of Law Initiative

Executive Summary

Ronald Reagan’s presidency (1981–1989) dramatically reshaped the American economic and institutional landscape. He championed “supply-side” economics, dubbed “Reaganomics.” Through sweeping tax cuts, deregulation, and a reallocation of federal funding priorities, Reagan shifted the burden of public services, especially in education and research, from government to individuals and private markets. Public universities saw deep cuts in federal support and increasingly turned to industry partnerships and commercialization to survive. Simultaneously, Reagan expanded defense research funding, fostering a close relationship between the government and elite research institutions. Innovation policy was formalized through the Bayh-Dole Act and the creation of …

Tax Exempt Research Guide, University Of Washington School Of Law

Rule of Law Initiative

For over a hundred years, organizations have harnessed and relied on tax exempt status to serve the public. Tax exemption is a powerful tool for social, environmental, and community well-being. This Legal Research Guide on Tax Exemption serves as a navigational compass for the public seeking to learn about tax exemption.

A Brief History Of Tax Exemption, University Of Washington School Of Law

Rule of Law Initiative

Below is a condensed history of tax exemption. It contains an analysis of tax exemption before statutory codification in 1894. It explains how the law evolved to provide predictability and fairness in the application of an organization’s tax-exempt status.

Exploring Contributions Of Partnerships Between Employers And Disability Organizations On Recruitment, Hiring, Training, Retention, And Accommodation Of Individuals With Disabilities In Mississippi, Peter Oluwadare Kalejaiye

Dissertations

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 provides equal employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities (IWDs) by prohibiting discrimination in employment. However, one out of four IWDs face discrimination in employment in the United States (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2023). Additionally, despite establishing the Office of Disability Employment Policy and enacting the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act to help integrate IWDs into the workforce, IWDs face barriers to equal and equitable employment (NASEM, 2017). Previous studies recommend partnerships between employers and disability organizations (DOs) to provide employment opportunities and benefits for IWDs through recruitment, hiring, training, retention, and …

Backlash And The Ada: Conflicting Constructions Of Disability In U.S. Policy, Bess Connolly

Political Science Honors Projects

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has faced significant judicial and regulatory backlash, even after the passage of the ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA). Examining the legislative histories and trends in ADA litigation, I argue that this backlash arises from conflicts between the medical and social models of disability embedded in both laws. Compromises made during both legislative processes resulted in a law that accommodates multiple conceptions of disability, allowing courts to reshape the law according to their own views. Ultimately, the ADA remains a site of contestation as its internal contradictions have gone unresolved.