Digital Commons Network^™

Lawyer: Fall 2016, Seattle University School Of Law

Lawyer

•A Capital Idea: The law school launches a Semester in Olympia Program for students interested in government and public policy.
•Civil Rights on Trial: Student Katie Loberstein '16 takes a prisoner's civil rights case to the Ninth Circuit... and wins.
•From Counsel to Candidate: Elected office allows alumni to put their problem-solving skills to work for their communities.
•Homelessness Myths: Law students use research and data to fight common myths about people experiencing homelessness.

Confronting Race And Collateral Consequences In Public Housing, Ann Cammett

Seattle University Law Review

Access to affordable housing is one of the most critical issues currently facing low-income families. In many urban areas, rising costs, dwindling economic opportunity, and gentrification have foreclosed access to previously available rental stock and contributed to a crisis in housing. For African Americans lingering economic disparities arising from generations of forced racial segregation and the disproportional impact of mass incarceration have magnified these problems. In this Article I explore legal barriers to publicly subsidized housing, a “collateral consequence” of criminal convictions that increasingly serves as a powerful form of housing discrimination. Evictions, denial of admission, and permanent exclusion of …

“Please Stop Telling Her To Leave.” Where Is The Money: Reclaiming Economic Power To Address Domestic Violence, Margo Lindauer

Seattle University Law Review

In this Article, I argue that economic dependence is a critical factor in violence prevention. For many victims of domestic violence, the economic entanglement with an abusive partner is too strong to sever contact without another source of economic support. This Article is a thought experiment in economic justice; it asks the question: is there a way to provide outside economic support for a victim of violence fleeing a battering partner? In this Article, I examine existing systems such as Social Security, unemployment assistance, work-readiness programs, crowd sourcing, and others to evaluate how these sources could provide emergency economic support …

Laudato Si’ And Care For Our Common Home: What Does It Mean For The Legal Professional?, Lucia A. Silecchia

Seattle Journal of Environmental Law

No abstract provided.

Blurred Lines: Homelessness & The Increasing Privatization Of Public Space, Alex Glyman, Sara Rankin

Homeless Rights Advocacy Project

Downtown areas are a vital port for social services, human contact, the exercise of free speech, employment, food, and other necessary resources; however, visibly poor people are increasingly shut out as laws and policies increasingly restricts access to these core spaces. Business improvement districts (BIDs) have significant influence on the creation and enforcement of laws that regulate downtown public space. BIDs wield significant political and economic power; they can also effectively deputize citizens to act as a form of private security with broad authority and discretion to enforce these spatial regulations. This brief examines the increasing privatization of public space, …

A Broken Dream: Homelessness & Immigrants, Jodilyn Gilleland, Kaya Lurie, Sara Rankin

Homeless Rights Advocacy Project

The United States’ foreign-born population is estimated to be approximately 42.1 million and growing. This brief examines barriers that render this significant population particularly vulnerable to poverty and homelessness. This brief confronts a dearth of statistical and empirical data and offers the first attempt to weave a clearer picture of these barriers, both nationally and statewide. The brief also offers some recommendations to better support immigrant and refugee communities and to better insulate them from homelessness.

Keywords: immigrant, immigration, refugee, discrimination, homeless, shelter, poverty

No Rest For The Weary: Why Cities Should Embrace Homeless Encampments, Samir Junejo, Suzanne Skinner, Sara Rankin

Homeless Rights Advocacy Project

Partly due to their visible nature, homeless encampments are often at the core of the debate about how local governments should deal with homelessness. This brief describes why encampments exist and the many benefits that encampments can provide to their residents. In addition, the brief examines the disruptions of encampments by local governments, most commonly known as “sweeps.” The findings indicate that disruptions of encampments are ineffective, traumatizing to residents, and potentially unconstitutional. The brief concludes with recommendations to policymakers on how they can embrace encampments without failing to pursue more permanent solutions to homelessness.

Keywords: homeless, poverty, encampments, shelter, …

Shut Out: How Barriers Often Prevent Meaningful Access To Emergency Shelter, Suzanne Skinner, Sara Rankin

Homeless Rights Advocacy Project

Most cities fine and even jail homeless people for living outside on the assumption that their alternative is to access homeless shelters. This brief finds that assumption deeply flawed. This first-ever study of shelters discloses that shelters have insufficient beds to meet the demand, and rules that bar entry to many homeless people. Most shelters only serve single males or females — they automatically exclude families, LGBTQ youth, and couples. For many then, shelters are not an alternative. The brief offers several recommendations to encourage cities to stop criminalizing homelessness and to instead pursue non-punitive alternatives.

Keywords: Shelter, Homeless, Constitutional …

Let’S Invest In People, Not Prisons: How Washington State Should Address Its Ex-Offender Unemployment Rate, Sara Taboada

Seattle Journal for Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Extending The Timeline: Addressing Rights Of Former Homeowners In A Post-Foreclosure Market, Diana Chen

Seattle Journal for Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Reply Brief Of Appellant, Charlotte Garden, Jessica Levin, Fred T. Korematsu Center For Law And Equality, Ronald A. Peterson Law Clinic

Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality

Merrick v. Inmate Legal Services

Brief Of Appellant, Fred T. Korematsu Center For Law And Equality, Ronald A. Peterson Law Clinic, Charlotte Garden, Jessica Levin

Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality

Merrick v. Inmate Legal Services

Lawyer: Spring 2016, Seattle University School Of Law

Lawyer

•Korematsu's Living Legacy: $1 million gift allows Korematsu Center to carry on the civil rights work of its namesake
•Advanced Law Degrees: LLM and MLS degrees starting this fall
•Bringing Law School to Alaska: Students are attending a year of law school in Alaska
•There's an App for That: Lawyers and law students teamed up with developers to solve problems of access to legal services

Brief Of Amici Curiae Fred T. Korematsu Center For Law And Equality, Et Al In Support Of Defendants-Appellees And Affirmance, Fred T. Korematsu Center For Law And Equality

Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality

No abstract provided.

One Percent Procedure, Brooke D. Coleman

Faculty Articles

Political rhetoric about the one percent is pervasive, as those with the greatest concentrated wealth prosper and the remaining population stagnates. Because of their affluence, the one percent exercise disproportionate control over political and economic systems. This Article argues that federal civil procedure is similarly a one percent regime. The creme de la creme of the bench and bar, along with equally exclusive litigants, often engage in high-stakes, complex civil litigation. It is this type of litigation that dominates both the elite experience and the public perception of what civil litigation is. This litigation is not particularly common, however; while …

Lawyer: Fall 2015, Seattle University School Of Law

Lawyer

•A new crop of lawyers (cover story)
•Life on both sides of the law
•Faculty showcase
•You can go home again
•More than a thrift shop
•Spotlight on scholarships

Brief Of Amici Curiae South Asian Bar Association Of Washington, D.C., Et Al. In Support Of Appellee And Affirmance, South Asian Bar Association Of Washington D.C., National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, Fred T. Korematsu Center For Law And Equality

Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality

Racially Disparaging Trademarks

Keynote Remarks: Re-Tooling Law And Legal Education For Food System Reform: Food Law And Policy In Practice, Emily M. Broad Leib

Seattle University Law Review

Thank you for the opportunity to be with you today and to take part in this symposium on the important role law schools and lawyers can play in changing our food system. Food preferences and food choices are incredibly personal, but the way we produce and consume food, and its impacts on our environment, public health, and the safety of ourselves and others, make it a pressing societal issue as well.

May 16, 2015, Seattle University School Of Law

Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.

Discrimination At The Margins: The Intersectionality Of Homelessness & Other Marginalized Groups, Kaya Lurie, Breanne Schuster, Sara Rankin

Homeless Rights Advocacy Project

This brief addresses the intersectionality of homelessness and other marginalized groups. It examines six marginalized groups: racial minorities, women, individuals who identify as lesbian, gay, transgender, queer, or questioning (LGBTQ), individuals with a mental disability, incarcerated individuals, and veterans. The brief presents national and Washington State statistics to show how these six marginalized groups are represented in the homeless population compared to the general population. Moreover, it presents some of the causes of homelessness for these marginalized groups.

This policy brief is particularly important to homeless rights advocacy because it humanizes the homeless population by outlining who is homeless and …

At What Cost: The Minimum Cost Of Criminalizing Homelessness In Seattle And Spokane, Joshua Howard, David Tran, Sara Rankin

Homeless Rights Advocacy Project

Many studies around the country have demonstrated significant savings on incarceration, adjudication, and medical costs when funds are directed toward the creation of affordable housing. However, with the increasing prevalence of criminalization ordinances — ordinances that disparately impact the homeless — funds that could be used for affordable housing are being diverted toward their enforcement. Although existing studies address general costs and savings associated with housing homeless people, they do not address the costs directly attributable to criminalization ordinances. In an effort to shed light on these direct costs, the Seattle University Homeless Rights Advocacy Project has traced the following …

Justice Shortchanged--Assigned Counsel Compensation In Wisconsin, Sixth Amendment Center, The Defender Initiative, Robert C. Boruchowitz, Fred T. Korematsu Center For Law And Equality

Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality

Justice Shortchanged--Assigned Counsel Compensation in Wisconsin

Lawyer: Spring 2015, Seattle University School Of Law

Lawyer

•Retiring professors Paula Lustbader ’88, Hank McGee, and John Mitchell
•John McKay reflects on his time in Palestine
•Environmental Law seminar sees Elwha River restoration work up close

Brief Of Amici Curiae In Support Of Appellant, Fred T. Korematsu Center For Law And Equality

Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality

State v. O'Dell

Toward A Clinical Pedagogy Of Externship, Elizabeth Ford

Faculty Articles

Externships offer a tantalizing experiential option for law schools. Students are hungry for the real-world experience, the networking potential, and the chance to take the skills they have learned in the classroom to the next level. Administrators love externships because of their high enrollment, low cost nature: externships leverage small amounts of resources from hundreds of outside organizations. Faculty appreciate these programs because they provide students with context and skills, inspire them in the doctrinal classroom, and require little diversion of resources from the more traditional faculty ranks. However, the danger of grasping too tightly to externships as the experiential …

Sovereignty, Economic Development, And Human Security In Native American Nations, W. Gregory Guedel

American Indian Law Journal

No abstract provided.

No Tribal Court Is An Island? Citation Practices Of The Tribal Judiciary, Rose Carmen Goldberg

American Indian Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Memorandum Of Amici Curiae Fred T. Korematsu Center For Law And Equality And Columbia Legal Services In Support Of Petition For Review, Fred T. Korematsu Center For Law And Equality, Lisa Brodoff

Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality

Semenenko v. Dep't of Social and Health Services

Closing The Doors To Justice: A Critique Of Pimentel V. Dreyfus And The Application Of Legal Formalism To The Elimination Of Food Assistance Benefits For Legal Immigrants, Hannah Zommick

Seattle University Law Review

This Comment contends that the Ninth Circuit’s opinion in Pimentel v. Dreyfus employed a legal formalist approach and that by applying this framework, the court prevented legal immigrants, who were caught between the strict eligibility restrictions of welfare reform, from asserting their rights through the justice system. The legal formalist approach “treats the law as a set of scientific formulae or principles that are derived from the study of case law. These principles create an internal analytical framework which, when applied to a set of facts, leads the decision maker, through logical deduction, to the correct outcome in a case.” …

Lawyer: Fall 2014, Seattle University School Of Law

Lawyer

•Thinking it Through: Cliff Villa writes about trip to Philippines
•A Heart for Mentoring: Catherine Romero ’96 nurtures Latina/o students
•Making an Impact: Brian Howe ’09 inspires social entrepreneurs