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Full-Text Articles in Law
Building A Recovery Ecosystem For The Catawba Region, Mary Beth Dunkenberger, David Moore, Lara Nagle, Sam Rasoul
Building A Recovery Ecosystem For The Catawba Region, Mary Beth Dunkenberger, David Moore, Lara Nagle, Sam Rasoul
Richmond Public Interest Law Review
The opioid and addiction crisis has become a defining characteristic of
21st century America, profoundly affecting the Commonwealth of Virginia in
terms of lives lost, families devastated, communities compromised, and
economic and opportunity costs at multiple levels. This scenario originated
with a rapid increase in opioid prescriptions issued to patients by health care
providers for various pain diagnoses during the 1990s and into the early
2000s. Despite early warnings that the new opioid formulations were far
more addictive than indicated by faulty research trials and marketing claims,
treating pain as the “fifth vital sign” became a widespread practice as a …
Letter From The Editor, Courtney Squires
Letter From The Editor, Courtney Squires
Richmond Public Interest Law Review
No abstract provided.
Family Time: A Selection Of Bills From The Virginia 2023 Legislative Session Relating To Family, Intimate Partner Violence, And Child Welfare, Valerie L'Herrou
Family Time: A Selection Of Bills From The Virginia 2023 Legislative Session Relating To Family, Intimate Partner Violence, And Child Welfare, Valerie L'Herrou
Richmond Public Interest Law Review
In 2023, the Commonwealth of Virginia was forced to operate without a
finalized state budget following the adjournment of the regular session of its
legislative body. The Commonwealth waited (luckily without bated breath)
for its “caboose” budget for the 2023–2024 budget cycle for nearly six
months after the General Assembly adjourned sine die, which it did on its
normal date for a “short” (odd-numbered) year on February 25, 2023.
However, most other actions taken by the Virginia General Assembly during
its 2023 session did go into effect on July 1, 2023, as usual. These include a
number of bills that …
The Success Of Establishing Legislative Commissions To Address Complex And Critical Needs: Examining The Early Recommendations And Outcomes Of The Commission On School Construction And Modernization, Matthew P. Stanley
Richmond Public Interest Law Review
The 2020 creation of the Virginia Commission on School Construction and
Modernization proved to be a pivotal moment in addressing the longstanding
issue of school construction and modernization in the state. With
$1.25 billion in new resources allocated for school divisions in 2022,
including an increased Literary Fund and a flexible formula-based grant,
legislators took decisive action to support school infrastructure. The creation
of the School Construction Fund and School Construction Assistance
Program, with ongoing funding provided through taxes on casino revenues,
marked a significant step forward in providing ongoing resources for school
projects.
Despite several successful legislative outcomes, some …
The Way Forward: A Review Of Virginia’S 2023 Regular General Assembly Session, Benjamin Raab, Mariam Rasooli
The Way Forward: A Review Of Virginia’S 2023 Regular General Assembly Session, Benjamin Raab, Mariam Rasooli
Richmond Public Interest Law Review
The 2023 General Assembly Session can best be defined by the success of
bipartisanship. In an era of heightened polarization, Virginia legislators
were able to meet across the aisle on a number of relevant issues. This article
will provide a summary of key bills that were passed during the 2023 Regular
and Special Sessions. The other articles within this issue touch upon the
following topics: the Virginia Commission on School Construction and
Modernization, family law, and the opioid and addiction crises. This article
summarizes legislation passed with bipartisan support in the areas of: drugs,
mental healthcare, labor and commerce, public …
Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda: How Virginia’S Everchanging Politics Creates (Missed) Opportunities For Major Policy Decisions, Carlos Hopkins, Abigail Thompson
Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda: How Virginia’S Everchanging Politics Creates (Missed) Opportunities For Major Policy Decisions, Carlos Hopkins, Abigail Thompson
Richmond Public Interest Law Review
Benjamin Franklin may have been discussing the new United States
Constitution when he penned this note to his friend, French scientist Jean-
Baptiste Le Roy, but he could easily have been referring to politics in
Virginia. Virginia House of Delegates members and members of the
Congressional House of Representatives serve two-year terms. Members of
the Virginia Senate serve four-year terms. United States Senators serve sixyear
terms. And the Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General
all serve four-year terms with only the Governor constitutionally limited to a
single four-year term. With all of these terms being staggered across the
various offices, …
Letter From The Editor, Carley Ruival
Letter From The Editor, Carley Ruival
Richmond Public Interest Law Review
No abstract provided.
Dobbs In The Context Of Intimate Partner Violence: The Case For A Virginia Constitutional Amendment Protecting Reproductive Choice, Courtenay Schwartz, Caitlin Bradley, Jonathan Yglesias
Dobbs In The Context Of Intimate Partner Violence: The Case For A Virginia Constitutional Amendment Protecting Reproductive Choice, Courtenay Schwartz, Caitlin Bradley, Jonathan Yglesias
Richmond Public Interest Law Review
Advocates for victims of sexual and domestic violence have long
understood the critical role that reproductive freedom plays in ensuring
victim safety in the aftermath of trauma. Lawmakers, on the other hand, have
used victims of domestic and sexual violence as political footballs, oftentimes
supporting “exceptions” to abortion bans, such as for rape and incest, as a
means of distracting from the actual harms these restrictions cause. These
exceptions fail to meet the needs of victims and are inadequate protections
against the many forms of abuse, such as reproductive coercion and control,
that victims in abusive relationships face. This article …
Benefits And Drawbacks Of No-Drop Policies And Evidence-Based Prosecution, Nancy Simpson
Benefits And Drawbacks Of No-Drop Policies And Evidence-Based Prosecution, Nancy Simpson
Richmond Public Interest Law Review
In order to combat the massive threat that domestic violence poses to pub-
lic safety, prosecutors’ offices across America have enacted no-drop policies
requiring prosecutors to seek a guilty verdict on all domestic violence cases.
However, for many and varied reasons, victims of domestic violence are often
hesitant to testify against their abusers in court proceedings. Evidence-based
prosecution, sometimes called victimless prosecution, has become the goal
for many prosecutors seeking to hold abusers accountable when the victim
does not want to testify. However, there can be practical barriers to success-
ful evidence-based prosecutions, which, when combined with strict no-drop
policies, …
A Call For Change: Doing More To Protect Black And Brown Victims Of Domestic Violence, Kiana Gilcrist
A Call For Change: Doing More To Protect Black And Brown Victims Of Domestic Violence, Kiana Gilcrist
Richmond Public Interest Law Review
Domestic violence (“DV”) disproportionately affects Black and Brown
women. This article examines the tense history of law enforcement
engagement with minority groups, which has caused a strain on that
relationship, leaving minority groups more likely to choose to stay in their
DV situations than seek out law enforcement help. The divide still impacts
these groups today. Additionally, the article highlights several organizations
that have formed to address the needs of minority individuals. Other
organizations have been around, but their ties to law enforcement create an
added barrier for Black and Brown women seeking protection. The article
concludes by briefly examining …
Individual Funding: A Policy Solution To Family Abuse In Rural Areas Impacted By The Covid-19 Pandemic, Jessica King
Individual Funding: A Policy Solution To Family Abuse In Rural Areas Impacted By The Covid-19 Pandemic, Jessica King
Richmond Public Interest Law Review
Intimate partner violence is an issue in the United States experienced by
more than one in three women. This article addresses the topic of intimate
partner violence and the factors contributing to the perpetuation of abuse. It
focuses on how these factors manifest in rural areas and in the context of the
COVID-19 pandemic, which increased isolation and economic abuse. This
article explores policies currently used to combat intimate partner violence
in these contexts. The current acts, including the Victims of Crime Act
(VOCA), the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA), and the
Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), expressly …
Redefining Youth: The Case For Applying The Principles Of Miller V. Alabama To Criminal Cases Involving Adults In Late Adolescence, Salua Kamerow
Redefining Youth: The Case For Applying The Principles Of Miller V. Alabama To Criminal Cases Involving Adults In Late Adolescence, Salua Kamerow
Richmond Public Interest Law Review
In 2012, in Miller v. Alabama, the United States Supreme Court held it unconstitutional to impose a mandatory sentence of life without parole on children because such a sentence fails to adequately account for a child’s developmental stage or ability to weigh long-term consequences. Children are fundamentally different from adults, making them more susceptible to lack of self-regulation, poor decision making, and peer pressure. In Miller, the Court found that these aspects of children’s behavior made children less culpable than adults.
Psychological studies have demonstrated that adolescence is more protracted than previously recognized. Profound malleability of the brain characterizes the …
The Proper Role Of Judicial Opportunism In Constitutional Rights Scrutiny, R. George Wright
The Proper Role Of Judicial Opportunism In Constitutional Rights Scrutiny, R. George Wright
Richmond Public Interest Law Review
To one degree or another, judges in constitutional rights cases may exploit their available range of discretion in a narrowly political, ideologically rigid, or partisan way. But there are also important contexts in which a court’s ample discretion under tiered scrutiny and related tests can be turned toward some more nearly consensual or reasonably well-established basic public good. These opportunities to judicially promote the public good remain available even in our age of political polarization, hostility, fragmentation, and distrust.
Where such important opportunities exist, and where it is otherwise constitutionally permissible and generally prudent to do so, courts should feel …
Letter From The Editor, Carley Ruival
Letter From The Editor, Carley Ruival
Richmond Public Interest Law Review
No abstract provided.
State-Sanctioned Displacement: An Interstate Examination Of Felon Disenfranchisement, Claudia Leonor
State-Sanctioned Displacement: An Interstate Examination Of Felon Disenfranchisement, Claudia Leonor
Richmond Public Interest Law Review
In his dissent of New State Ice Co. v. Liebmann, Justice Louis Brandeis referred to the constituent states of the country as “laboratories for democracy.” He noted that, as sovereign entities within the United States, states are empowered to “try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country.” In postbellum American society, states have grappled with Reconstruction and the concomitant dismantlement of a caste system hinging on racism. In convening constitutional assemblies, the states experimented with racism and succeeded. In Southern jurisdictions, racial animus enabled the creation of constitutional frameworks and legislation that would have …
Eviction Crisis Not Averted: Challenging Disparate Impact In The Search For Housing Stability During The Virginia Rent Relief Program's Epilogue, Olivia Seksinsky, Madelyn Bellew
Eviction Crisis Not Averted: Challenging Disparate Impact In The Search For Housing Stability During The Virginia Rent Relief Program's Epilogue, Olivia Seksinsky, Madelyn Bellew
Richmond Public Interest Law Review
Historically, the Commonwealth of Virginia has experienced some of the highest eviction rates in the county, containing five of the top ten U.S. cities with the highest eviction rates. After experiencing scrutiny in the national news due to these rates, the Commonwealth enacted legislation which provided increased tenant protections and distributed the highest percentage of rental assistance funds in the country. It was once thought that the Virginia Rent Relief Program (“RRP”) could be the solution to the eviction crisis, but now that the Program has ended, Virginia is once again experiencing an eviction crisis. Though thousands of households received …
Python Patrol: Combatting The Problem Of Evasive Non-Native Snakes In Florida, Jessica Rooke
Python Patrol: Combatting The Problem Of Evasive Non-Native Snakes In Florida, Jessica Rooke
Richmond Public Interest Law Review
The Florida hotspot of non-native invasive species has long been recognized as a fascinating, yet perplexing environmental issue since the late 1900s. After decades of patchwork efforts by the federal and state government, it has become clear that a more holistic approach must be taken to help eradicate the Burmese Pythons that have overtaken Southern Florida. This article highlights the prior efforts taken federally and state-wide to combat this issue and assesses the current gaps in these efforts and what must be done to achieve a more holistic approach. Other states are used as points of comparison in regard to …
How California's Racial Justice Act Of 2020 Protects Criminal Defendants From Racial Discrimination And Why The Equal Protection Clause Is Not Enough, Hannah Laub
Richmond Public Interest Law Review
The Equal Protection Clause should prevent racial discrimination in the criminal legal system, yet Black people and people of color are disproportionately arrested, prosecuted, and incarcerated in the United States. This is partially due to the heavy evidentiary burden required to demonstrate an Equal Protection violation and the failure of the Supreme Court to ease that burden in McCleskey v. Kemp. With federal law largely ineffective, states such as California have passed legislation to provide more robust civil rights protections. This article explores how the Equal Protection Clause fails to provide a remedy for criminal defendants who experience racial discrimination …
Progress Interrupted: Virginia's Hesitant Movement To Landlord-Tenant Reform, Martin D. Wegbreit
Progress Interrupted: Virginia's Hesitant Movement To Landlord-Tenant Reform, Martin D. Wegbreit
Richmond Public Interest Law Review
In 2018, Virginia’s eviction crisis received national attention. Over the next three legislative sessions in 2019, 2020, and 2021, more than two dozen laws were enacted—a few on a temporary basis but most on a permanent basis—to be more fair, favorable, and friendly to tenants. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the Virginia Governor declaring a State of Emergency on March 12, 2020—the final day of the Regular Session of the Virginia General Assembly. The pandemic added urgency to an already accelerating movement toward landlord-tenant reform which had mustered bipartisan support. That progress dramatically halted in the 2022 Regular Session of …
Firearm Deaths Of American Minors: Perceptions Vs. Facts, Andrew L. Goddard
Firearm Deaths Of American Minors: Perceptions Vs. Facts, Andrew L. Goddard
Richmond Public Interest Law Review
Firearm violence is now the leading cause of death for Americans under the age of eighteen. This article demonstrates that widely held misconceptions about the true nature and extent of this violence have led to legislative proposals narrowly tailored toward firearm violence in schools, despite facts and data showing school firearm violence to be a small fraction of the problem. These misconceptions are caused by both the narrow focus of national media attention and the deceptive propaganda of the gun industry. The article concludes by examining several bills proposed during the Virginia General Assembly session of 2022 to show how …
Ending Race-Based Pretextual Stops: Strategies For Eliminating America's Most Egregious Police Practice, Bradley R. Haywood
Ending Race-Based Pretextual Stops: Strategies For Eliminating America's Most Egregious Police Practice, Bradley R. Haywood
Richmond Public Interest Law Review
Pretextual policing is the practice of stopping motorists or pedestrians for minor offenses like traffic infractions in hopes of learning that the person stopped has committed a more serious crime. Pretextual policing is also the main reason Black Americans are so much more likely than white Americans to be subjected to encounters with law enforcement. Shockingly, even in its most explicitly racist form, pretextual policing does not violate the Fourth Amendment’s proscription against unreasonable searches and seizures. In fact, police can pull a driver over merely because he is Black without violating the Fourth Amendment, so long as the officer …
2021 Redistricting In Virginia: Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Reforms, Alex Keena
2021 Redistricting In Virginia: Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Reforms, Alex Keena
Richmond Public Interest Law Review
The redistricting cycle that followed the 2020 census provided the first test of Virginia’s redistricting reforms that were enacted when voters approved the constitutional amendment in the 2020 General Election. The centerpiece of these reforms is the bipartisan Virginia Redistricting Commission, comprised of eight citizen and eight legislator members. This article details how the 2021 redistricting occurred under the new reforms, and it evaluates the maps that were ultimately approved.
While the selection of the commissioners unfolded successfully and in accordance with the law, the work of the commission was mired by partisan fighting and dysfunction. Nevertheless, a statistical analysis …
The Voting Rights Act Of Virginia: Overcoming A History Of Voter Discrimination, Senator Jennifer L. Mcclellan
The Voting Rights Act Of Virginia: Overcoming A History Of Voter Discrimination, Senator Jennifer L. Mcclellan
Richmond Public Interest Law Review
While Virginia is the birthplace of American democracy, it has struggled with ensuring the voting rights of all of its citizens for over 400 years. For most of that history, voting rights only expanded in Virginia in response to federal action in the wake of the Civil War, and contracted in response to federal inaction. This article chronicles the history of voting rights in Virginia, from the birthplace of American democracy in Jamestown and its influence on the United States Constitution, its efforts to expand and restrict voting rights, to becoming a leader in the South with the Voting Rights …
From Ban To Approval: What Virginia's Facial Recognition Technology Law Gets Wrong, Alison Powers, Korica Simon, Jameson Spivack
From Ban To Approval: What Virginia's Facial Recognition Technology Law Gets Wrong, Alison Powers, Korica Simon, Jameson Spivack
Richmond Public Interest Law Review
Face recognition technology (FRT), in the context of law enforcement, is a complex investigative technique that includes a delicate interplay between machine and human. Compared to other biometric and investigative tools, it poses unique risks to privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties. At the same time, its use is generally unregulated and opaque. Recently, state lawmakers have introduced legislation to regulate face recognition technology, but this legislation often fails to account for the complexities of the technology, or to address the unique risks it poses. Using Virginia’s recently passed face recognition law and the legislative history behind it as an …
Virginia Tax Re-Structuring: 100 Years Ago, 50 Years Ago, And Now, Vivian E. Watts
Virginia Tax Re-Structuring: 100 Years Ago, 50 Years Ago, And Now, Vivian E. Watts
Richmond Public Interest Law Review
Virginia’s state and local financing structure is under pressure. Aged schools have fallen into disrepair in localities without a tax base to back capital improvement bonds. Virginia’s commitment in the wake of Brown v. Board of Education to fund equal public education opportunity for all has eroded. As the dominate source of local government funding, the real estate tax adds to housing costs, consuming the largest share of household budgets. This article discusses current and historic Virginia debates on tax equity, economic sustainability, program ramifications, and non-resident cost-sharing. It raises questions about the widening income gap and changes in business …