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Full-Text Articles in Law

Taking The Oceanfront Lot, Josh Eagle Dec 2015

Taking The Oceanfront Lot, Josh Eagle

Josh Eagle

Oceanfront landowners and states share a property boundary that runs between the wet and dry parts of the shore. This legal coastline is different from an ordinary land boundary. First, on sandy beaches, the line is constantly in flux, and it cannot be marked except momentarily. Without the help of a surveyor and a court, neither the landowner nor a citizen walking down the beach has the ability to know exactly where the line lies. This uncertainty means that, as a practical matter, ownership of some part of the beach is effectively shared. Second, the common law establishes that the …


The Commander In Chief's Authority To Combat Climate Change, Mark P. Nevitt Dec 2015

The Commander In Chief's Authority To Combat Climate Change, Mark P. Nevitt

Mark P Nevitt

Climate change is the world’s greatest environmental threat. And it is increasingly understood as a threat to domestic and international peace and security. In recognition of this threat, the President has taken the initiative to prepare for climate change’s impact – in some cases drawing sharp objections from Congress. While both the President and Congress have certain constitutional authorities to address the national security threat posed by climate change, the precise contours of their overlapping powers are unclear. As Commander in Chief, the President has the constitutional authority to repel sudden attacks and take care that the laws are faithfully …


Take It To The Limit: The Illegal Regulation Prohibiting The Take Of Any Threatened Species Under The Endangered Species Act, Jonathan Wood Aug 2015

Take It To The Limit: The Illegal Regulation Prohibiting The Take Of Any Threatened Species Under The Endangered Species Act, Jonathan Wood

Jonathan Wood

The Endangered Species Act forbids the “take” – any activity that adversely affects – any member of an endangered species, but only endangered species. The statute also provides for the listing of threatened species, i.e. species that may become endangered, but protects them only by requiring agencies to consider the impacts of their projects on them. Shortly after the statute was adopted, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service reversed Congress’ policy choice by adopting a regulation that forbids the take of any threatened species. The regulation is not authorized by the Endangered Species Act, but …


Environmental Federalism's Tug Of War Within, Erin Ryan Jan 2015

Environmental Federalism's Tug Of War Within, Erin Ryan

Erin Ryan

Anyone paying attention has noticed that many of the most controversial issues in American governance—health care reform, marriage rights, immigration, drug law, and others—involve questions of federalism. The intensity of these disputes reflects inexorable pressure on all levels of government to meet the increasingly complicated challenges of governance in an ever more interconnected world, where the answers to jurisdictional questions are less and less obvious. Yet even as federalism dilemmas continue to erupt all from all corners, environmental law remains at the forefront of controversy, and it is likely to do so for some time. From mining to nuclear waste …


The Export Clause And The Constitutionality Of A Cap And Trade Mitigation Policy For Carbon Dioxide, Ross Astoria Nov 2013

The Export Clause And The Constitutionality Of A Cap And Trade Mitigation Policy For Carbon Dioxide, Ross Astoria

Ross Astoria

The Export Clause of the Constitution prohibits the taxing of “Articles exported from any State.” In this paper I examine the effect that Export Clause jurisprudence might have on the choice of national carbon dioxide mitigation policies. I conclude that it is unlikely that a “downstream” price on carbon dioxide emissions could include exported hydrocarbons. One corollary is that, since cap and trade policies are “downstream” pricing mechanism, it would be difficult, perhaps impossible, to craft cap and trade so as to cover exported hydrocarbons. In contrast, an “upstream” carbon tax does not suffer from this constitutional infirmity. I therefore …


Constitutional Limitations On Land Use Controls, Environmental Regulations And Governmental Exactions, 2013 Edition, Garrett Power Mar 2013

Constitutional Limitations On Land Use Controls, Environmental Regulations And Governmental Exactions, 2013 Edition, Garrett Power

Garrett Power

This electronic book is published in a searchable PDF format as a part of the E-scholarship Repository of the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law. It is an “open content” casebook intended for classroom use in courses in Constitutional Law, Land Use Control, and Environmental Law and. It consists of 130 odd judicial opinions (most rendered by the U.S. Supreme Court) carefully selected from the two hundred years of American constitutional history which address the clash between public sovereignty and private property. The text considers both the personal right to liberty and the personal right in property. …


Shifting Sands: A Meta-Theory For Public Access And Private Property Along The Coast, Melissa K. Scanlan Mar 2013

Shifting Sands: A Meta-Theory For Public Access And Private Property Along The Coast, Melissa K. Scanlan

Melissa K. Scanlan

Over half the United States population currently lives near a coast. As shorelines are used by more people, developed by private owners, and altered by extreme weather, competition over access to water and beaches will intensify, as will the need for a clearer legal theory capable of accommodating competing private and public interests. One such public interest is to walk along the beach, which seems simple enough. However, beach walking often occurs on this ambulatory shoreline where public rights grounded in the public trust doctrine and private rights grounded in property ownership intersect. To varying degrees, each state has a …


Escaping The Sporhase Maze: Protecting State Waters Within The Commerce Clause, Mark S. Davis, Michael Pappas Nov 2012

Escaping The Sporhase Maze: Protecting State Waters Within The Commerce Clause, Mark S. Davis, Michael Pappas

Michael Pappas

Eastern states, though they have enjoyed a history of relatively abundant water, increasingly face the need to conserve water, particularly to protect water-dependent ecosystems. At the same time, growing water demands, climate change, and an emerging water-oriented economy have intensified pressure for interstate water transfers. Thus, even traditionally wet states are seeking to protect or secure their water supplies. However, restrictions on water sales and exports risk running afoul of the Dormant Commerce Clause. This Article offers guidance for states, partciularly eastern states concerned with maintaining and improving water-dependent ecosystems, in seeking to restrict water exports while staying within the …


Police Can Stop You For Having A License Plate Bracket On Your Car, Beau James Brock, Rikki Weger Oct 2012

Police Can Stop You For Having A License Plate Bracket On Your Car, Beau James Brock, Rikki Weger

Beau James Brock

The Fourth Amendment must be protected from police excesses. Now, law enforcement is relying upon the most hyper-technical of violations to stop a vehicle. Both attorneys and judges must guard against the temptation that the ends will justify the means, only to find out later we sold out our freedom to the golden calf of drug interdiction.


Constitutional Limitations On Land Use Controls, Environmental Regulations And Governmental Exactions (2011 Edition), Garrett Power May 2011

Constitutional Limitations On Land Use Controls, Environmental Regulations And Governmental Exactions (2011 Edition), Garrett Power

Garrett Power

This electronic book is published in a searchable PDF format as a part of the E-scholarship Repository of the University of Maryland School of Law. It is an “open content” casebook intended for classroom use in courses in Land Use Control, Environmental Law and Constitutional Law. It consists of cases carefully selected from the two hundred years of American constitutional history which address the clash between public sovereignty and private property. It considers both the personal right to liberty and the personal right in property. The text consists of non-copyrighted material and readers are free to use it or re-mix …


The Moral Limits Of Jurisdiction, Beau James Brock, Harold Leggett Apr 2010

The Moral Limits Of Jurisdiction, Beau James Brock, Harold Leggett

Beau James Brock

As the states and the public face new rules on emissions under the Clean Air Act, the authors find that environmental policy devoid of economic feasibility equals ethical bankruptcy by policymakers to the detriment of all citizens and their economic liberty


Renaissance Of Environmental Criminal Investigation In Louisiana: A Model For The Nation, Beau James Brock, Michael Daniels Mar 2010

Renaissance Of Environmental Criminal Investigation In Louisiana: A Model For The Nation, Beau James Brock, Michael Daniels

Beau James Brock

In Louisiana, perpetrators of knowing criminal violations of the Louisiana Environmental Quality Act, Title 30 subject themselves to felony conduct. Now, that is not just idle words on a page. This law enforcement arm built to preserve the quality of life for every citizen of Louisiana is no longer a paper tiger, but a fightin’ tiger, capable of and willing to investigate in any situation. In the spring of 2008, sustainable programmatic changes in CID were immediately put into place. Some of these included the following: 1) comprehensive overhaul of the then current policies and procedures; 2) the replacement of …


Meade V. Dennistone: The Naacp's Test Case To "...Sue Jim Crow Out Of Maryland With The Fourteenth Amendment.", Garrett Power Sep 2009

Meade V. Dennistone: The Naacp's Test Case To "...Sue Jim Crow Out Of Maryland With The Fourteenth Amendment.", Garrett Power

Garrett Power

In 1936, Edmond D. Meade, an African-American pastor at Israel Baptist Church in Baltimore, contracted to purchase a home in an almost exclusively white block of Baltimore City. Meade’s purchase was followed by a suit by the white residents to block the use of the home by the new buyers. This work examines the legacy of Meade v. Dennistone, the effect of the decision on “free market forces” and concludes by considering the impact of the decision – and the community response – on the final judicial rejection of the “separate but equal” treatment of the races.


Constitutional Limitations On Land Use Controls, Environmental Regulations And Governmental Exactions, 2007, Garrett Power Sep 2009

Constitutional Limitations On Land Use Controls, Environmental Regulations And Governmental Exactions, 2007, Garrett Power

Garrett Power

Constitutional Limitations on Land Use Controls, Environmental Regulations and Governmental Exactions (2007) is electronically published in a searchable PDF format as a part of the E-scholarship Repository of the University of Maryland School of Law. It is an “open content” casebook intended for classroom use in Land Use Control and Environmental Law courses. It consists of cases carefully selected from the two hundred years of American constitutional history which address the clash between public sovereignty and private property. The text consists of non-copyrighted material and professors and students are free to use it in whole or part. The author requests …


Apartheid Baltimore Style: The Residential Segregation Ordinances Of 1910-1913, Garrett Power Sep 2009

Apartheid Baltimore Style: The Residential Segregation Ordinances Of 1910-1913, Garrett Power

Garrett Power

On May 15, 1911, Baltimore Mayor J. Barry Mahool signed into law an ordinance for “preserving the peace, preventing conflict and ill feeling between the white and colored races in Baltimore City.” This ordinance provided for the use of separate blocks by African American and whites and was the first such law in the nation directly aimed at segregating black and white homeowners. This article considers the historical significance of Baltimore’s first housing segregation law.


Constitutional Limitations On Land Use Controls, Environmental Regulations And Governmental Exactions. 2008 Edition., Garrett Power Sep 2009

Constitutional Limitations On Land Use Controls, Environmental Regulations And Governmental Exactions. 2008 Edition., Garrett Power

Garrett Power

Constitutional Limitations on Land Use Controls, Environmental Regulations and Governmental Exactions (2008) is electronically published in a searchable PDF format as a part of the E-scholarship Repository of the University of Maryland School of Law. It is an “open content” casebook intended for classroom use in Land Use Control and Environmental Law courses. It consists of cases carefully selected from the two hundred years of American constitutional history which address the clash between public sovereignty and private property. The text consists of non-copyrighted material and professors and students are free to use it in whole or part. The author requests …


Meade V. Dennistone: The Naacp's Test Case To "...Sue Jim Crow Out Of Maryland With The Fourteenth Amendment.", Garrett Power Sep 2009

Meade V. Dennistone: The Naacp's Test Case To "...Sue Jim Crow Out Of Maryland With The Fourteenth Amendment.", Garrett Power

Garrett Power

In 1936, Edmond D. Meade, an African-American pastor at Israel Baptist Church in Baltimore, contracted to purchase a home in an almost exclusively white block of Baltimore City. Meade’s purchase was followed by a suit by the white residents to block the use of the home by the new buyers. This work examines the legacy of Meade v. Dennistone, the effect of the decision on “free market forces” and concludes by considering the impact of the decision – and the community response – on the final judicial rejection of the “separate but equal” treatment of the races.


Constitutional Limitations On Land Use Controls, Environmental Regulations And Governmental Exactions. 2009 Edition., Garrett Power Sep 2009

Constitutional Limitations On Land Use Controls, Environmental Regulations And Governmental Exactions. 2009 Edition., Garrett Power

Garrett Power

Constitutional Limitations on Land Use Controls, Environmental Regulations and Governmental Exactions (2009) is electronically published in a searchable PDF format as a part of the E-scholarship Repository of the University of Maryland School of Law. It is an “open content” casebook intended for classroom use in Land Use Control and Environmental Law courses. It consists of cases carefully selected from the two hundred years of American constitutional history which address the clash between public sovereignty and private property. The text consists of non-copyrighted material and professors and students are free to use it in whole or part. The author requests …


Constitutional Limitations On Land Use Controls, Environmental Regulations And Governmental Exactions, 2007, Garrett Power Sep 2009

Constitutional Limitations On Land Use Controls, Environmental Regulations And Governmental Exactions, 2007, Garrett Power

Garrett Power

Constitutional Limitations on Land Use Controls, Environmental Regulations and Governmental Exactions (2007) is electronically published in a searchable PDF format as a part of the E-scholarship Repository of the University of Maryland School of Law. It is an “open content” casebook intended for classroom use in Land Use Control and Environmental Law courses. It consists of cases carefully selected from the two hundred years of American constitutional history which address the clash between public sovereignty and private property. The text consists of non-copyrighted material and professors and students are free to use it in whole or part. The author requests …


Federalism At The Cathedral: Property Rules, Liability Rules, And Inalienability Rules In Tenth Amendment Infrastructure, Erin Ryan Jan 2009

Federalism At The Cathedral: Property Rules, Liability Rules, And Inalienability Rules In Tenth Amendment Infrastructure, Erin Ryan

Erin Ryan

As climate change, war in the Middle East, and the price of oil focus American determination to move beyond fossil fuels, nuclear power has resurfaced as a possible alternative. But energy reform efforts may be stalled by an unlikely policy deadlock stemming from a structural technicality in an aging Supreme Court decision: New York v. United States, which set forth the Tenth Amendment anti-commandeering rule and ushered in the New Federalism era in 1992. This dry technicality also poses ongoing regulatory obstacles in such critical interjurisdictional contexts as stormwater management, climate regulation, and disaster response. Such is the enormous power …


Palazzolo, The Public Trust, And The Property Owner’S Reasonable Expectations: Takings And The South Carolina Marsh Island Bridge Debate, Erin Ryan Dec 2005

Palazzolo, The Public Trust, And The Property Owner’S Reasonable Expectations: Takings And The South Carolina Marsh Island Bridge Debate, Erin Ryan

Erin Ryan

South Carolina recently promulgated new guidelines regulating the State’s consideration of requests by private marsh island owners to build bridges for vehicular access through publicly owned marsh and tidelands. Many thousands of these islands hug the South Carolina coast, but they are surrounded by tidelands subject to South Carolina’s formidable public trust doctrine, which obligates the State to manage submerged lands and waterways for the benefit of the public. This piece evaluates the relationship between the public trust doctrine and the takings subtext to the debate over the new guidelines – a relationship that has become particularly interesting in the …


Juvenile Execution, Terrorist Extradition, And Supreme Court Discretion To Consider International Death Penalty Jurisprudence, Prof. Elizabeth Burleson Jan 2005

Juvenile Execution, Terrorist Extradition, And Supreme Court Discretion To Consider International Death Penalty Jurisprudence, Prof. Elizabeth Burleson

Prof. Elizabeth Burleson

European human rights law and multilateral conventions have raised United States death penalty policy to an international level. Treaties and international institutions have impacted the extradition of capital offenders and influenced the development of human rights law within the United States. Refusal to extradite without assurances that the death penalty will not be imposed has continuing ramifications for the implementation of transnational counter-terrorism measures. Determining a contemporary standard of decency regarding cruel and unusual punishment, what shocks the public conscious, or what constitutes torture depends upon what societal parameters one uses. The Supreme Court's readiness to examine international developments in …


Polluting Environment, Polluted Constitution: Is A 'Polluted' Constitution Worse Than A Polluted Environment?, Shubhankar Dam (Co-Author) Dec 2004

Polluting Environment, Polluted Constitution: Is A 'Polluted' Constitution Worse Than A Polluted Environment?, Shubhankar Dam (Co-Author)

Shubhankar Dam

The Indian Supreme Court has been praised as one of the most socially active courts in the world, especially so in the environmental field. Yet it is arguable that many of the benefits claimed for judicial involvement are far from real. Three phases of acti­vism are identified. In the 1970s, the Court developed the concept of environmental rights based on ensuring that the directive principles of state policy and the funda­mental right to life contained the Constitution worked in mutual support. This was followed by a period when the Court extended liability principles. The most recent and most controversial phase …


Green Laws For Better Health: The Past That Was And The Future That Maybe - Reflections From The Indian Experience, Shubhankar Dam Dec 2003

Green Laws For Better Health: The Past That Was And The Future That Maybe - Reflections From The Indian Experience, Shubhankar Dam

Shubhankar Dam

No abstract provided.