Digital Commons Network^™

Skinning The Cat: How Mandatory Psychiatric Evaluations For Animal Cruelty Offenders Can Prevent Future Violence, Ashley Kunz

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

In 2017, the Texas legislature amended Texas Penal Code § 42.092, which governs acts of cruelty against non-livestock animals. The statute in its current form makes torturing, killing, or seriously injuring a non-livestock animal a third degree felony, while less serious offenses carry either a state jail felony or a Class A misdemeanor charge.

While a step in the right direction, Texas law is not comprehensive in that it fails to address a significant aspect of animal cruelty offenses: mental illness. For over fifteen years, Texas Family Code § 54.0407 has required psychiatric counseling for juveniles convicted of cruelty to …

Ohio's Targeted Community Alternative To Prison Program: How A Good Idea Is Implemented Through Bad Policy, Samantha Sohl

Cleveland State Law Review

Just because a legislature can make a law doesn’t mean that they should. The Ohio General Assembly enacted the Targeted Community Alternatives to Prison (T-CAP) program to decrease the number of convicted defendants sent to state prison and to increase funding for community control efforts. While the law may be upheld under the Ohio Constitution’s Uniformity Clause, the law should still be repealed because legislative control and financial influence have no place in the judicial branch, specifically the criminal sentencing process. However, the law is rooted in good intentions, and many judges have found the additional funding useful, but the …

Air Banned And Barred: Why New York City's Affordable Housing Crisis Has No Room For Short-Term Rentals, Wilson Chow

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

In August 2018, New York City passed a law that required short-term rental websites to disclose information about their users who host in the city. Airbnb, the largest short-term rental company, filed suit with hopes of having short-term rentals legalized. The law stems from the city’s efforts to amelioerate its affordable housing crisis. With over 8.5 million residents living in a tight housing market, New York City should not allow home owners or rental tenants to commercialize their property into de facto hotels that will likely provide accommodations to tourists. This Note will examine the recent law’s impact on New …

Board Of Registered Nursing, Heather Morse, Debra Jorgensen

California Regulatory Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

California Public Utilities Commission, Charles Kreuzberger, Thomas G. Routson, Negin Taleb, R. C. Fellmeth

California Regulatory Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Bureau For Private Postsecondary Education, Junhee Park, R. C. Fellmeth

California Regulatory Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Bureau Of Cannabis Control, Nicole Cohen, Guinness Castello, R. C. Fellmeth

California Regulatory Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

A Prescription For Disaster: How Local Governments' Abuse Of Public Nuisance Claims Wrongly Elevates Courts And Litigants Into A Policy-Making Role And Subverts The Equitable Administration Of Justice, Luther J. Strange Iii

South Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

Gun Safety In The Age Of Kavanaugh, Joseph S. Hartunian

Michigan Law Review Online

This Essay takes stock of the different approaches adopted and advocated for in evaluating constitutional challenges in Second Amendment opinions throughout the country. The author’s hope is that doing so will help highlight the contours for debate when the Supreme Court does finally start to define some of the limits purported to exist by Justice Scalia. Part I analyzes the paths explicitly rejected by Heller I by reviewing the limits considered allowable by Justice Scalia. Part II considers the ongoing debate between the courts on the application of “strict” or “intermediate” scrutiny for Second Amendment challenges. Part III examines then-Judge …

The Fire Rises: Refining The Pennsylvania Fireworks Law So That Fewer People Get Burned, Sean P. Kraus

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

On October 30, 2017, the General Assembly of Pennsylvania passed an act that repealed the state’s fireworks law, which had prohibited the sale of most fireworks to Pennsylvanian consumers for nearly 80 years. The law’s replacement generally permits Pennsylvanians over 18 years old to purchase, possess, and use “Consumer Fireworks.” Bottle rockets, firecrackers, Roman candles, and aerial shells are now available to amateur celebrants for holidays like Independence Day and New Year’s Eve. The law also regulates a category of larger “Display Fireworks,” sets standards for fireworks vendors, and introduces a 12-percent excise tax on fireworks sales that serves to …

The Impact Of Prosecutorial Misconduct, Overreach, And Misuse Of Discretion On Gender Violence Victims, Leigh Goodmark

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

Prosecutors are failing victims of gender violence as witnesses and when they become defendants in cases related to their own victimization. But it is questionable whether that behavior should be labeled misconduct. The vast majority of these behaviors range from misuses of discretion to things that some might consider best practices in handling gender violence cases. Nonetheless, prosecutors not only fail to use their discretion appropriately in gender violence cases, but they take affirmative action that does tremendous harm in the name of saving victims and protecting the public. The destructive interactions prosecutors have with victims of gender violence are …

Planning For The "New Normal": Using Build One Portsmouth To Address Flood Resilience, Alison Wrynn, Sarah Simonetti

Virginia Coastal Policy Center

Sea level rise, recurrent flooding, and increasingly severe storms are ever-present threats to coastal Virginia. As climate change becomes the “new normal”, creative solutions are needed to adapt to these stark realities.

In response to these climate-related challenges, Governor Ralph Northam issued Executive Order 24, “Increasing Virginia’s Resilience to Sea Level Rise and Natural Hazards,” on November 2, 2018. The Executive Order designated the Secretary of Natural Resources as the Chief Resilience Officer of the Commonwealth, and set forth various actions intended to increase statewide resilience to natural hazards and extreme weather. Later that same month, Portsmouth released its 2018 …

The Creation Of A Virginia Coastal Resilience Development Authority: An Inventory Of State Coastal Resilience Authorities And Funding Mechanisms To Help Guide Virginia, Kristi Gennette

Virginia Coastal Policy Center

In June 2018, Governor Ralph Northam signed legislation creating a cabinet-level position, the Special Assistant to the Governor for Coastal Adaptation and Protection, to lead efforts in addressing coastal resilience and flooding mitigation in Virginia. The following November, Governor Northam signed Executive Order No. 24, which directed the state to increase statewide resilience to natural hazards and extreme weather. This Executive Order directed Virginia to develop a Coastal Resilience Master Plan (CRMP). In order to implement the projects proposed in the CRMP, the Commonwealth will need funding. This paper provides an inventory of various states’ programs for funding coastal resilience …

Municipal Options To Address Nuisance Flooding Of Coastal Highways In Rhode Island, Marine Affairs Institute, Roger Williams University School Of Law, Olivia Thompson, Read Porter

Sea Grant Law Fellow Publications

Sea level rise and more powerful storm surges and erosion have increased flooding in low-lying coastal areas of Rhode Island. These impacts affect coastal highways, requiring municipalities to make difficult choices about whether and how to maintain or abandon their infrastructure. This fact sheet helps cities and towns understand their legal duties, options, and potential liabilities when considering the future of threatened coastal infrastructure. By using the information in this fact sheet, municipalities can make informed decisions about the consequences of their infrastructure investments. After providing background on nuisance flooding associated with sea level rise, this fact sheet describes Rhode …

Racism Knocking At The Door: The Use Of Criminal Background Checks In Rental Housing, Valerie Schneider

University of Richmond Law Review

One of the harshest collateral consequences of an arrest or conviction is the impact a criminal record can have on one’s ability to secure housing. Because racial bias permeates every aspect of the criminal justice system as well as the housing market, this collateral consequence—the inability to find a place to live after an arrest or conviction—disproportionately affects minorities.

In 2016, after decades of appearing to encourage local public housing providers to adopt harsh policies barring applicants with criminal records, the Office of General Counsel for the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) issued guidance instructing public …

Fifty Years Of Fair Housing: Learning From The Past, Looking To The Future, Douglas Wilder

University of Richmond Law Review

I think sometimes you need to wonder where we were in 1968. It wasn’t just the Fair Housing Act that was passed in 1968. What happened in 1968? George Wallace was running for president. Hubert Humphrey was running for president, and Richard Nixon as well. It wasn’t just the assassination of Dr. King, we also had the assassination of Robert Kennedy. We likewise had the Vietnam War, and America was a mess. We had something else occurring in 1968. That was the Kerner Commission Report, that Dr. Crutcher mentioned had been instrumental in the fair housing bill. And they made …

Marijuana Business Attorneys And The Professional Deference Standard, Andrew Dixon

Arkansas Law Review

Imagine that you practice as an attorney in the State of Arkansas. A client solicits your advice about opening a marijuana dispensary or cultivation center. The client might want you to assist him in filing a dispensary application with the State. On the other hand, she might want you to negotiate a commercial lease or to provide services to ensure compliance with municipal zoning laws. Although Arkansas voters approved a constitutional amendment permitting medical marijuana sales, you provide a clear warning to your client: possessing, manufacturing, selling, and distributing marijuana remains a federal crime. After these precautions, however, you proceed …

The Thirteenth Amendment, Prison Labor Wages, And Interrupting The Intergenerational Cycle Of Subjugation, Josh Halladay

Seattle University Law Review

This Comment argues that meager or no compensation for prisoners, who are disproportionately black and other persons of color, entraps them and their children in a cycle of subjugation that dates back to the days of slavery, and this Comment proposes to interrupt this cycle by setting a minimum wage for prisoners and creating college savings accounts for their children. As part of the cycle, when people enter prisons and the doors behind them close, so do their families’ bank accounts and the doors to their children’s schools. At the same time, the cells next to them open, ready to …

Regulating Short-Term Rentals In California's Costal Cities: Harmonizing Local Ordinances With The California Costal Act, Lucy Humphreys

Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review

In the past several years, local governments throughout California have debated and implemented new ordinances in order to regulate short-term rentals, such as those listed on peer-to-peer vacation rental platforms like Airbnb.California’s coastal cities face distinct challenges whentrying to regulate short-term rentals due to the popularity of short-term rentals in their jurisdictions, rising housing prices along the coast, and California Coastal Act requirements. One of the primary goals of the California Coastal Act is to maximize public access to the coast. This Article explores the interplay between state policy embodied by the Coastal Act and the ordinances passed by local …

Law School News: Boston's New Da Will Deliver Mlk Address 01-10-2019, Michael M. Bowden

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Rescuing Maryland Tort Law: A Tribute To Judge Sally Adkins, Donald G. Gifford

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Senate Bill 4: Police Officer's Opinions On Texas's Ban Of Sanctuary Cities, Megan E. Reed

Student Scholarship

For this Article, the Author interviewed six local law enforcement agencies in Texas regarding SB4. Based on those interviews and other research, this Article concludes that SB4 likely does not uproot and change Texas policing practices and asserts that SB4 may in fact be highly ineffective at improving resident safety, which was Texas lawmakers’ stated purpose for SB4. SB4 continues to have far reaching impacts, including concerns of racial profiling, victims and witnesses refusing to come forward due to fears of deportation, and damage to police officers’ reputations. Further, while some local law enforcement agencies claim they will not have …

Bureau For Private Postsecondary Education, Mikaila Hernandez, R. C. Fellmeth

California Regulatory Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Key

California Regulatory Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Public Utilities Commission, Michael J. Melton, Marcus Friedman, Strider Kachelein, R C. Fellmeth

California Regulatory Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Florida's Direct File Statute: A Prosecutor's Playground, Kristen Chirino

St. Thomas Law Review

This Comment will examine the advantages and disadvantages of direct file statutes, focusing primarily on Florida. Part II of this Comment analyzes the three different types of waiver-judicial, legislative, and prosecutorial-and discusses Florida's juvenile transfer laws, specifically Florida's direct file statute. Part III discusses the issues stemming from Florida's direct file statute, particularly that the statute is arbitrary, does not deter crime, increases recidivism, and goes against the Supreme Court finding that juveniles are different from adults. Lastly, Part IV proposes to eliminate discretionary prosecutorial direct file, and how the Florida Legislature can limit prosecutors' discretionary power in the meantime.

Are Carve-Outs Killing The Spirit Of Sanctuary Cities? A Comparative Analysis Of Chicago And Oak Park’S Sanctuary Policies, 52 Uic J. Marshall L. Rev. 395 (2019), Ana Torres

UIC Law Review

In the United States, undocumented immigrants often shy away from accessing public services due to fear of deportation. Chicago and Oak Park have passed ordinances commonly known as “sanctuary policies,” which seek to promote trust between immigrant communities and local law enforcement in order to lower crime rates and increase public safety. The rationale is that undocumented immigrants will feel more confident to report crimes and utilize public and social services without fear of repercussions. Sanctuary policies strive to create basic protections for undocumented immigrants at a local level by limiting cooperation with the federal government. However, many sanctuary policies …

Recent Developments: Washington Gas Light Company V. Maryland Public Service Commission, Nicholas A. Tomso

University of Baltimore Law Forum

No abstract provided.

Board Of Pharmacy, Stephanie Mendivil, Bridget Fogarty Gramme

California Regulatory Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Is State Preemption Weakening The Authoritarian Resilience Of Local Government In The United States?, Julian C. Juergensmeyer, Andrew F. Prater

Faculty Publications By Year

In many countries in the world today democratic institutions and ideals seem threatened. Due process, equal protection, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the right to vote, and other democratic ideals are deeply ingrained in US culture and government. Traditionally, the federal government is thought to be the guardian of these rights, ensuring that state governments adhere to the rule of law established by our written constitution. Similarly, state governments are thought to uphold these democratic ideals vis a vis local governments. The American system of checks and balances and separation of powers and the resulting interplay between the …