Digital Commons Network^™

Foreword, Madeline Cline

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

No abstract provided.

The Constitution’S Waning Enforceability: Constitutional Torts After Egbert & Vega, Bailey D. Barnes

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

The 2021 term of the Supreme Court of the United States produced two opinions significantly dampening the future of constitutional tort actions, which are cases brought to remedy a government agent’s deprivation of an individual’s constitutional rights. First, in Egbert v. Boule, the Court refused to extend Bivens liability to an excessive force claim made against a United States Border Patrol Agent. Second, in Vega v. Tekoh, the Court contravened the traditional understanding of the Fifth Amendment’s Self-Incrimination Clause by preventing a § 1983 civil rights action against a sheriff’s deputy who procured an un-Mirandized statement from a criminal suspect. …

Denaturalization And The Negative Effects Of Widespread Insecurity In Citizenship For Naturalized Citizens, Saman Hashemi

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

No abstract provided.

Financial Data Governance, Douglas W. Arner, Giuliano G. Castellano, Eriks K. Selga

UC Law Journal

Finance is one of the most digitalized, globalized, and regulated sectors of the global economy. Traditionally technology intensive, the financial industry has been at the forefront of digital transformation, starting with the dematerialization of financial assets in the 1960s and culminating in the post–2008 global financial crisis era with the fintech movement. Now, finance is data: financial transactions are transfers of data; financial infrastructures, such as stock exchanges and payment systems, are data networks; financial institutions are data processors, gathering, analyzing, and trading the data generated by their customers. Financial regulation has adapted to this fast-paced evolution both by implementing …

Financial Inclusion Gone Wrong: Securities And Cryptoassets Trading For Children, Nizan Geslevich Packin

UC Law Journal

According to studies, money is a major source of anxiety for most Americans. In looking for ways to remedy the source of such anxiety, some believe that increasing children’s financial orientation could help lower their money-related anxiety levels as adults. Identifying this market as a business opportunity—and reassured by research that shows that by age six, children are already veteran consumers of mobile apps—financial technology (fintech), decentralized finance (DeFi), and even traditional financial entities have started offering services and products to children. These services and products include a broad array of financial-related products and services, from enabling children to earn …

Considering Vaccination Status, Govind Persad

UC Law Journal

This Article examines whether policies—sometimes termed “vaccine mandates” or “vaccine requirements”— that consider vaccination status as a condition of employment, receipt of goods and services, or educational or other activity for participation are legally permitted, and whether such policies may even sometimes be legally required. It does so with particular reference to COVID-19 vaccines.

Part I explains the legality of private actors, such as employers or private universities, considering vaccination status, and concludes that such consideration is almost always legally permissible unless foreclosed by specific state legislation. Part II examines the consideration of vaccination status by state or federal policy. …

Mistreatment And Exploitation Of Skilled Foreign Workers Through H- Visa Precarity, Isha Vazirani

UC Law Journal

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that beginning on May 26, 2015, certain H-4 dependents of H-1B nonimmigrants would be eligible to apply for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD). The H-4 EAD program was the target of several threats and changes under the Trump Administration, which made it increasingly difficult for H-4 EAD holders to maintain uninterrupted employment authorization. These difficulties prompted several lawsuits against the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), under DHS. USCIS favorably settled one such class-action lawsuit. Still, the H-4 EAD program remains only precariously in place because it was never officially codified and exists …

The Surprisingly Strong Case For Local Income Taxes In The Era Of Increased Remote Work, Erin Adele Scharff, Darien Shanske

UC Law Journal

Traditional theoretical literature on fiscal federalism urges cities to finance themselves with taxes on immobile sources. Thus, the literature sees real property taxes as the best source of local revenue; real property, after all, cannot be easily moved. This same literature eschews local income taxes because it is easy for a taxpayer to move, thus allowing exit from local income tax obligations.

Practice here seems to follow theory: cities do not tend to levy income taxes. However, this general trend has caused scholars to overlook important exceptions. In fact, many cities impose income taxes and have for a long time. …

Pole Cameras: Applying Fourth Amendment Protections To Emerging Surveillance Technology, Rahil Maharaj

UC Law Journal

Evolving surveillance technologies present unique challenges for the judiciary to maintain robust Fourth Amendment privacy protections. New surveillance tools such as pole cameras raise significant questions regarding the current scope of the Fourth Amendment and the steps the Supreme Court must take to prevent the erosion of a foundational constitutional right.

This Note lays out the current debate among scholars and courts regarding the impact of the Supreme Court’s decision in Carpenter v. United States. It demonstrates the challenge that new technology presents by providing an overview of the split between state and federal circuit courts in applying Carpenter to …

Foreign Investment And National Security Challenges In The Data Age: An Assessment Of The Current Regime And Recommendations, Irene Yu

UC Law Journal

This Note contributes to the growing literature that attempts to grasp the current landscape of international trade and investment norms and policies in the data age. Focusing on the disputes between the United States and China surrounding Chinese investment in American businesses that gather private user data, this Note adds to the argument that new challenges posed by the internet age and the use of private data have transformed current international trade policy and the national security exception regime. The U.S. government in the recent years has demonstrated little self-restraint in employing national security grounds to justify its interference with …

Will The Real Eco-Terrorists Please Stand Up?, Zoe Gallagher

UC Law Environmental Journal

Although definitions of “terrorism” vary around the world, one visceral feeling is constant: terrorists are morally corrupt individuals who commit heinous acts of violence, and they deserve to be punished accordingly. However, the reality is far more nuanced. Currently, United States law defines a terrorist as any person who commits an act of violence to advance a political or social agenda. Under this law, some radical environmental activists have been unfairly designated as eco-terrorists, even though their actions have not caused widespread destruction or death. In contrast, oil and gas company executives have largely escaped any criminal or civil liability, …

Formula Unjust: What Formula One Can Learn From The American Justice System To Improve Stewarding, Apratim Vidyarthi

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

Formula One (F1), the highest form of motorsport, is one of the fastest-growing sports in the United States, attracting millions of viewers and billions of dollars in investment and prize money. But recent events in F1 have raised questions about the fairness of the sport. This Article contends that the current system of officiating creates unfair outcomes, because officials have overwhelming discretion to make pivotal decisions that significantly impact the outcome of races, and because penalties are applied inconsistently and cannot be appealed. Given the increased professionalization of F1 and the high financial stakes involved, these problems need to be …

Redirecting The Herd: Informing Cryptocurrency Regulations Through The Lens Of Behavioral Science, Jonathan Su

UC Law Science and Technology Journal

Conversations on cryptocurrencies have become a mainstay in society today, whether that be on social media or in individual conversations. The cultural and social impact of cryptocurrency is undeniable and, as conversations with cryptocurrency supporters would suggest, lead to a positive impact in the lives of those that invest in the currency. However, cracks are showing in the patchwork of cryptocurrency regulations throughout the United States as cryptocurrency scams run amok, resulting in losses for innocent investors. Although attention is placed upon the decisions of individual companies or executives in explaining cryptocurrency scams, little discussion is present regarding investor behaviors …

From The Editor-In-Chief, Monica Ratajczak

UC Law SF International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Ea Sports: It’S In The Federal Legislation, Gia Silahian

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

No abstract provided.

Regulating The Digital Resonance, Hassan Salman

UC Law Science and Technology Journal

The proliferation of automated content moderation in social media has negatively impacted users’ (individuals, businesses, and governments) selfexpressions. Major social media platforms like Facebook act as public forums for billions of users whose content may vary in terms of acceptability and legality. User content is colored by social as well as personal norms, values and experiences. For example, though blasphemy may be objectionable in Poland, it may not be so in France. However, despite facing some mistrust over how Facebook and other platforms handle user data and moderate content, users rely on the entities like Facebook to correctly filter this …

One Map To Rule Them All: Google Maps And Quasi-Sovereign Power In International Legal Disputes, Catherine Grace Katz

UC Law Science and Technology Journal

With 80% market share, Google Maps has become the most powerful digital mapping platform in the world to such an extent that users often believe Google Maps represents an objectively accurate and universally truthful depiction of the world. The desire to create a single, objective map for the whole world dates to the turn of the 20th Century, even though objectivity and cartography are inherently at odds—a notion that has long complicated the status of maps as evidence in domestic and international law. However, growing acceptance of GIS maps as evidence in both domestic and international courts highlights the importance …

Reversing The Irreversible: Mitigating Legal Risks Of Blockchain-Based Data Breach Through Corporate Governance, Katayoon Beshkardana

UC Law Science and Technology Journal

The European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) embodies a set of enforceable data subject rights, data controller and processor obligations, and compliance requirements. The GDPR outreach is extraterritorial and impacts US blockchain-based businesses that collect and process personal data of individuals from the EU. Given the ambiguities of the law itself surrounding what is considered as personal data on blockchain, and who data controllers and processors are, this research examines the corporate governance response to the GDPR as a bottom-up solution for compliance. To secure the sustainability of the business models based on blockchain solutions there is an immediate need …

Court Polarization: A Comparative Perspective, Iddo Porat

UC Law SF International Law Review

Polarization is on the rise around the globe. Political views are driven to the poles, and moderate views are weakened. Many studies have been carried out on the increase in social and political polarization, but far fewer on the effects of polarization on constitutional and supreme courts, and none on a comparative or global scale. This Article attempts to fill this gap. It aims, for the first time, to describe and typologize the effects of political polarization on constitutional and supreme courts in different parts of the world.

The Article identifies three models of such effects: mirror polarization (the U.S.) …

Racialization Of Street Vendors: The Criminalization Of Ethnic Minority Workers In California, Khushpreet Choumwer

UC Law SF Journal on Gender and Justice

No abstract provided.

A Letter From An Editor, Alysyn Martinez

UC Law SF Journal on Gender and Justice

No abstract provided.

Bridging The Gap In Lgbtq+ Rights Litigation: A Community Discussion On Bisexual Visibility In The Law, Nancy Marcus, Bendita Cynthia Malakia, Ann E. Tweedy, Mya Reid

UC Law SF Journal on Gender and Justice

No abstract provided.

Rule 4 And Personal Jurisdiction, Scott Dodson

Faculty Scholarship

State-court personal jurisdiction is regulated intensely by the Fourteenth Amend- ment’s Due Process Clause, which the Court has famously used to tie state-court personal jurisdiction to state borders. Although the Fourteenth Amendment doesn’t apply to federal courts, the prevailing wisdom is that federal courts nevertheless are largely confined to the same personal-jurisdiction limits as state courts because of Rule 4(k), which provides that service “establishes personal jurisdiction” in federal court only upon specified conditions, including when the state courts would have personal jurisdiction. Some commentators have further argued that Rule 4(k) sets a limit on federal-court personal jurisdiction independent of …

Vaccination Mandates—An Old Public Health Tool Faces New Challenges, Dorit Rubenstein Reiss, Lawrence O. Gostin, Michelle M. Mello

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Administrative Constitutionalism And The History Of The Administrative State, Reuel E. Schiller

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

You’Ve Got To Speak Out Against The Madness: The Myth Of Tax Neutrality, Leo P. Martinez

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Uncertain Future Of Restorative Justice: Anti-Woke Legislation, Retrenchment And Politics Of The Right, Thalia Gonzalez, Mara Schiff

Faculty Scholarship

As diverse forms of anti-democratic and anti-inclusionary politics escalate in the United States, public education is increasingly a site for retrenchment and contestation with targeted efforts to silence and erase civil rights victories for equity and access. Addressing a critical, yet unattended issue at the intersection of education law and policy and civil rights, this Article joins with the growing discourse interrogating the “parental rights” movement and racially regressive legislation. Employing a case study analysis of social movement activism and education policy legislation from 2018–2023 in Florida, it aims to provoke critical praxis emanating from essential inquiry— what is the …

Rights Violations As Punishment, Kate Weisburd

Faculty Scholarship

Is punishment generally exempt from the Constitution? That is, can the deprivation of basic constitutional rights—such as the rights to marry, bear children, worship, consult a lawyer, and protest—be imposed as direct punishment for a crime and in lieu of prison, so long as such intrusions are not “cruel and unusual” under the Eighth Amendment? On one hand, such state intrusion on fundamental rights would seem unconstitutional. On the other hand, such intrusions are often less harsh than the restriction of rights inherent in prison. If a judge can sentence someone to life in prison, how can a judge not …

Investment Treaty Arbitration And The Trips Patent Waiver: Indirect Expropriation Analysis Of Covid-19 Vaccine Patents, Jean Paul Roekaert

UC Law SF International Law Review

Intending to promote greater access to Covid-19 vaccines, a group of developing countries submitted a proposal to the World Trade Organization (WTO) recommending a waiver that would temporarily exempt all WTO members from the obligation to comply with Section 5 (Patents) of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement). If approved, states would be permitted to adopt domestic measures suspending the minimum protections afforded to Covid-19 vaccine patents under the TRIPS Agreement. In this article, I consider whether the owners of Covid-19 vaccine patents may have a compensable indirect expropriation claim under investment treaty arbitration against …

Interstate Dispute Resolution At A Crossroads: Reconsidering The I’M Alone Arbitration, David M. Bigge

UC Law SF International Law Review

No abstract provided.