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Articles 1 - 30 of 146
Full-Text Articles in Law
The Demise Of Housing First Policy: The New Missouri Policy That Criminalizes Homelessness, Kaitlyn Frerking
The Demise Of Housing First Policy: The New Missouri Policy That Criminalizes Homelessness, Kaitlyn Frerking
William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice
This Note examines the potential negative complications of Missouri H.B. 1606. The Note also explores possible avenues for relief through litigation or policy reform. H.B. 1606 is a Missouri state bill that altered the State’s policy towards decreasing the rate of homelessness in the State of Missouri. Prior to H.B. 1606, Missouri’s homelessness policy resembled a “Housing First” approach where emphasis was placed on providing affordable permanent housing to those without homes. With the passage of H.B. 1606, the policy turned towards supporting short-term housing initiatives and abandoned the “Housing First” approach. H.B. 1606 also contains a provision that makes …
The Uncertain Future Of Restorative Justice: Anti-Woke Legislation, Retrenchment And Politics Of The Right, Thalia González, Mara Schiff
The Uncertain Future Of Restorative Justice: Anti-Woke Legislation, Retrenchment And Politics Of The Right, Thalia González, Mara Schiff
William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice
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 …
First Amendment Defenses To Alien Transportation Crimes, Charquia Wright
First Amendment Defenses To Alien Transportation Crimes, Charquia Wright
William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal
Florida law now prohibits the transportation of undocumented aliens into the state. Briefings characterize these laws as unconstitutionally preempting federal immigration law and federal due process rights. Despite this emphasis on due process, field, and conflict preemption unconstitutionality, few have addressed the First Amendment implications of human smuggling prosecutions of natural and some corporate persons. The Supreme Court’s Free Exercise precedent protects the religious freedoms of natural persons and some corporations. Under state alien transportation laws, these freedoms cease to exist. Because the Supreme Court has extended these religious protections to some corporations, they too are entitled to First Amendment …
No Need To Wait: Congress Has The Power Under Section Five Of The Fourteenth Amendment To Abolish The Death Penalty In The States, Eric M. Freedman
No Need To Wait: Congress Has The Power Under Section Five Of The Fourteenth Amendment To Abolish The Death Penalty In The States, Eric M. Freedman
William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal
Reformers currently proposing the abolition of capital punishment by federal legislation have only targeted the federal death penalty. They are aiming too low. Concerns about the roughly 50 prisoners facing execution by the federal government should not cause advocates to ignore the approximately 2,400 on the combined Death Rows of the states. Congress has the authority to abolish the death penalty in the states, and good reason to exercise it.
This Article takes as a given the Supreme Court’s view that the death penalty is not itself unconstitutional.
But under existing law Congress would have no difficulty in compiling a …
Section 898: Targeting The Companies Behind Gun Violence In New York With Public Nuisance Doctrine, Mara Kravitz
Section 898: Targeting The Companies Behind Gun Violence In New York With Public Nuisance Doctrine, Mara Kravitz
William & Mary Law Review
On July 6, 2021, the New York State Legislature enacted sections 898-a to -e of the New York General Business Law (section 898), creating a clear path for public entities and private gun violence victims to sue gun industry members for their role in the gun violence public nuisance in New York. This Note explores why the legislature took a public nuisance approach to curbing gun violence, framing section 898 within public nuisance doctrine’s broader common law history and legal elements.
To unpack how and why New York took this approach, the first Part of this Note traces the history …
Adapting Seasonal Water Rights, Karrigan S. Börk, John Mensik
Adapting Seasonal Water Rights, Karrigan S. Börk, John Mensik
William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review
Climate change is shifting seasons. Spring comes earlier, fall comes later, rainy seasons are shorter and more intense, and summers are hotter and longer. In the American West, winter precipitation increasingly falls as rain, leading to a smaller snowpack and an earlier, more intense runoff followed by a longer and drier dry season. For irrigators— the highest volume water users—growing seasons are shifting earlier, weather is less predictable, and precipitation is increasingly inconsistent. The end of a relatively static climate marks the end of static water rights. The shifting seasons pose serious challenges to our ability to manage water systems. …
The Uncertain Future Of Tourism On Migrating Barrier Islands: How And Why The Outer Banks Of North Carolina Should Adjust To Growing Threats, Lillian Coward
The Uncertain Future Of Tourism On Migrating Barrier Islands: How And Why The Outer Banks Of North Carolina Should Adjust To Growing Threats, Lillian Coward
William & Mary Law Review
Erosion, storms, and the migration of the barrier islands that comprise the Outer Banks themselves are not new. The rising seas that have resulted from climate change have merely exacerbated what has always occurred. What is new, however, is the economic havoc that natural processes and disasters alike can wreak on the islands. Today, because climate change has accelerated natural island migration, individuals, local governments, and the federal government alike have a lot to lose in the fight against the tides.
[...]
This Note will evaluate a variety of potential solutions to the problems that pose nearly existential threats to …
Tax-Funded Education Savings Account Payments To Religious Schools Violate State Constitution Compulsion Guarantees: The Iowa Example, Allan Walker Vestal
Tax-Funded Education Savings Account Payments To Religious Schools Violate State Constitution Compulsion Guarantees: The Iowa Example, Allan Walker Vestal
William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal
[...] This Article makes the unremarkable and conservative argument that the transfer of public funds to religious schools under Iowa’s education savings account program violates the Iowa Constitution’s compulsion guarantee.
We start by looking at the Iowa compulsion guarantee, including a review of the Iowa authorities which have construed it, the historical record and setting of its adoption, and the history of its New Jersey antecedent. We then introduce the education savings account mechanism by which Iowa’s religious schools stand to receive more than a third of a billion dollars annually by FY 2027. After that, we consider whether education …
Appendix B - Tax Funds For Religious Schools, Allan Walker Vestal
Appendix B - Tax Funds For Religious Schools, Allan Walker Vestal
William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal
No abstract provided.
Dark "Oro Y Plata" In Montana: The Green Amendment's Defense Of Campaign Finance Transparency, Lucas Della Ventura
Dark "Oro Y Plata" In Montana: The Green Amendment's Defense Of Campaign Finance Transparency, Lucas Della Ventura
William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review
In the post–Citizens United dark money age, state disclosure regulations are the last line of defense for citizens to learn who is behind unlimited independent expenditures and electioneering communications flooding their states. Underpinning the ability of state governments to promulgate such transparency measures are the informational benefits provided to the public. However, the Supreme Court’s decision in Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta to invalidate a California disclosure regulation on dark money groups, marks disclosure regulations—the Court’s repeated fallback when striking down more robust campaign finance regulations—with a bull’s-eye. In the face of repeated legal challenges to disclosure regulations, …
Assessing State Invasive Species Schemes Through The Lens Of The Spotted Lanternfly, Susanna Clark
Assessing State Invasive Species Schemes Through The Lens Of The Spotted Lanternfly, Susanna Clark
William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review
Invasive species have long presented an issue across the United States, and continue to do so. They have become more prevalent as the world has become more interconnected. Nonnative species are not always invasive, but many of them are. A somewhat recently introduced invasive species, the spotted lanternfly, has proven to be especially destructive and will put current invasive species laws to the test. The federal government does have some laws on the books regarding invasive species, but much of the legislation and subsequent regulations can be found at the state level. No two states have the same legal and …
Preparing For The Flood: Virginia Local Governments' Stormwater Management Liability, James E. Davidson
Preparing For The Flood: Virginia Local Governments' Stormwater Management Liability, James E. Davidson
William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review
This Note explains that modern interpretations of Virginia Code § 15.2-970 have made Virginia municipalities immune to tort suits arising from the negligent maintenance of stormwater systems. Due to the Virginia Supreme Court’s holdings in Livingston v. Virginia Department of Transportation and other inverse condemnation suits, localities may be found liable when their stormwater management decisions cause property damage. However, following the Court’s holding in AGCS Marine Insurance Co. v. Arlington County, which prevented inverse condemnation claims arising from municipal negligence, residents are still unlikely to find legal redress for negligent stormwater management that results in property damage. Therefore, this …
Plaintiff's Problem: Constitutional Concerns With Service Of Process Under Alaska Rule Of Civil Procedure 4(D)(7)-(8), Casey Sawyer
Plaintiff's Problem: Constitutional Concerns With Service Of Process Under Alaska Rule Of Civil Procedure 4(D)(7)-(8), Casey Sawyer
William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal
Rule 4 of Alaska’s Rules of Civil Procedure prescribes how service of process must be completed for a civil lawsuit, much like Rule 4 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. When filing suit against the State of Alaska or one of its agencies or officers, Alaska Civil Rule 4(d)(7)–(8) require that service of process be delivered to multiple locations. The plaintiff will usually have to serve the Attorney General’s office in the district of filing (either Anchorage or Fairbanks) and also must deliver service of process to the Attorney General’s office in Alaska’s capital city of Juneau. If they …
Death After Dobbs: Addressing The Viability Of Capital Punishment For Abortion, Melanie Kalmanson
Death After Dobbs: Addressing The Viability Of Capital Punishment For Abortion, Melanie Kalmanson
William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice
Pre-Dobbs legislative efforts and states’ reactions in the immediate aftermath of Dobbs indicate the post-Dobbs reality that deeply conservative states will seek to criminalize abortion and impose extremely harsh sentences for such crimes, up to and including death. This Article addresses that reality. Initially, this Article illustrates that abortion and capital punishment are like opposite sides of the same coin, and it is a handful of states leading the counter majoritarian efforts on both topics. After outlining the position of each state in the nation that retains capital punishment on capital sentencing and abortion, the Article identifies the …
Friends With Benefits: Expanding Virginia's Domestic Violence And Mutual Protection Order Statutes To Include Reciprocal Beneficiaries, Faith A. Parker
Friends With Benefits: Expanding Virginia's Domestic Violence And Mutual Protection Order Statutes To Include Reciprocal Beneficiaries, Faith A. Parker
William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice
On June 26, 2015, the Obergefell decision recognized same-sex marriage. While same-sex couples celebrated their new rights to marriage equality, they still face legal battles in the realm of domestic violence. Both married and unmarried same-sex couples face discrimination when reporting incidents of domestic violence. While most domestic violence statutes are gender-neutral on their face, their implementations disparately impact same-sex couples. Furthermore, domestic violence statutes that include same-sex couples punish same-sex couples more harshly than opposite-sex couples. This Note will examine the domestic violence law in Virginia, arguing that the laws are too vague to properly protect same-sex couples and …
Mitigating Trail Troubles: An Analysis Of The Virginia Recreational Land Use Statute, Rachel Rogers, Cooper Vorel
Mitigating Trail Troubles: An Analysis Of The Virginia Recreational Land Use Statute, Rachel Rogers, Cooper Vorel
Virginia Coastal Policy Center
While the overall focus of this discussion is on the law of Virginia, it is often useful to look elsewhere for comparative purposes. This is especially important when it involves considering the future of Virginia’s recreational land use statute. The overall objective of this discussion is to supplement Virginia’s existing recreational land use legal regime by exploring specific issues related to Virginia’s statutory scheme and identifying areas where further research may be needed.
Four issues involving recreational land use statutes are explored herein. First, the scope of recreational use statutes, namely in Virginia, is examined. This issue addresses the substance …
State Separation Of Powers And The Federal Courts, Ann Woolhandler
State Separation Of Powers And The Federal Courts, Ann Woolhandler
William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal
The cases discussed herein mostly surfaced in the regulatory era of the latter half of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century. This Article first discusses arguments as to state delegations of legislative power, and the Court’s rejection of legislative-style deference that state agencies often argued for. This Article next discusses the Court’s decisions as to state adjudicative bodies, and its refusal to treat state agency adjudicators as full-fledged courts. This Article then addresses the Court’s response to arguments for unreviewable executive discretion and to laws allowing delegations to private parties. It then addresses whether the discussion sheds light …
Race, Space, And Place: Interrogating Whiteness Through A Critical Approach To Place, Keith H. Hirokawa
Race, Space, And Place: Interrogating Whiteness Through A Critical Approach To Place, Keith H. Hirokawa
William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice
Drawing from George Lipsitz’s notion that whiteness is “not so much a color as a condition,” this Article embarks on the project of framing the manner and methods through which whiteness continues to dominate space and place. Wherever whiteness dominates space, space carries rules and expectations about the identity and characteristics of people who are present—visitors and jaunters, owners and occupiers—and the types of activities and cultural practices that might occur there. Occasionally, spaces are racialized because of intentional practices of discrimination and segregation. In others, less intentional methods produce racialized space. In both, American spaces tell their own histories …
Interpreting State Statutes In Federal Court, Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl
Interpreting State Statutes In Federal Court, Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl
Faculty Publications
This Article addresses a problem that potentially arises whenever a federal court encounters a state statute. When interpreting the state statute, should the federal court use the state’s methods of statutory interpretation—the state’s canons of construction, its rules about the use of legislative history, and the like—or should the court instead use federal methods of statutory interpretation? The question is interesting as a matter of theory, and it is practically significant because different jurisdictions have somewhat different interpretive approaches. In addressing itself to this problem, the Article makes two contributions. First, it shows, as a normative matter, that federal courts …
Improving (And Avoiding) Interstate Interpretive Encounters, Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl
Improving (And Avoiding) Interstate Interpretive Encounters, Aaron-Andrew P. Bruhl
Faculty Publications
State courts often encounter the statutes of other states. Any encounter with another state’s statutes raises an interesting but inconspicuous question about choice of law. In particular, the interstate encounter presents a choice of interpretive law. Despite some universal practices in statutory interpretation, there are methodological differences across jurisdictions—both at the level of overall approach and in the details of particular interpretive canons. When a state court encounters the statute of a sister state, may the forum state use its own interpretive methods or must it instead use the methods of the enacting state?
The existing doctrine on this choice-of-law …
Checking Out Indefinitely: Supporting Survivors Of Sex Trafficking Alongside Training And Education For Lodging Employees, Alyssa M. Grzesiak
Checking Out Indefinitely: Supporting Survivors Of Sex Trafficking Alongside Training And Education For Lodging Employees, Alyssa M. Grzesiak
William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice
There are roughly five million victims of sex trafficking in the United States. Over the course of a decade, over 3,500 instances of human trafficking involved a hotel or motel. Traffickers are relying on unaware lodging establishment employees, as well as complicit employees and managers, to successfully carry out their crimes. Despite the vital role the lodging industry plays in human trafficking, only seven states have implemented mandatory training for hotel and motel employees. This Note posits that the implementation of mandatory training and education programs for employees of lodging establishments could increase awareness and responsiveness to human trafficking, thus …
Frontiers In Regulating Building Emissions: An Agenda For Cities, Danielle Spiegel-Feld
Frontiers In Regulating Building Emissions: An Agenda For Cities, Danielle Spiegel-Feld
William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review
Recent developments in Congress and the Supreme Court have highlighted the folly of relying solely on the federal government to contain global climate change. If the United States is to help rein in the climate crisis, state and local governments will need to accelerate their efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In many urban areas, where most Americans now live, the most important step that local governments can take to curtail these emissions is to reduce energy use in buildings. Recognizing this, a number of American cities have adopted building performance standards (“BPSs”) in recent years, which limit the annual …
Think State Supreme Courts Will Save Abortion Rights? Think Again., Neal Devins
Think State Supreme Courts Will Save Abortion Rights? Think Again., Neal Devins
Popular Media
No abstract provided.
The Case For Local Data Sharing Ordinances, Beatriz Botero Arcila
The Case For Local Data Sharing Ordinances, Beatriz Botero Arcila
William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal
Cities in the United States have started to enact data sharing rules and programs to access some of the data that technology companies operating under their jurisdiction— like short-term rental or ride hailing companies—collect. This information allows cities to adapt to the challenges and benefits of the digital information economy. It allows them to understand what the impact of these technology companies is on congestion, the housing market, the local job market, and even the use of public spaces. It also empowers cities to act accordingly by, for example, setting vehicle caps or mandating a tailored minimum pay for gig …
Abandoned And Derelict Vessels In The Commonwealth: How To Improve Virginia's Adv Program, Anthony Cusato
Abandoned And Derelict Vessels In The Commonwealth: How To Improve Virginia's Adv Program, Anthony Cusato
Virginia Coastal Policy Center
Vessels abandoned or lost by their owners can get stuck on a shoreline or in a marsh, aimlessly float adrift, or sink in a waterway. As the number of ADVs [abandoned and derelict vessels] increases, efforts to address them similarly intensify. Typically, state government agencies handle most ADVs, and their approaches to ADV control and removal vary widely across jurisdictions. Virginia faces an increasing number of ADVs and can learn from other states to improve its approach. This paper examines the current Virginia ADV program and considers how it can be amended to make it more effective. It then identifies …
A Study Of Tribal Communication Frameworks: Some Approaches To Building Partnerships Between Tribal, State, And Local Governments In Virginia, Karly Newcomb, Abigail Sisti
A Study Of Tribal Communication Frameworks: Some Approaches To Building Partnerships Between Tribal, State, And Local Governments In Virginia, Karly Newcomb, Abigail Sisti
Virginia Coastal Policy Center
This paper discusses options the Commonwealth could consider when evaluating decision-making processes that affect tribes in Virginia, with the goal of improving communication and collaboration between tribal, state, and local governments; and will highlight key case studies from other states and localities that provide precedents. The following options are based on a framework of free, prior, and informed consent, which emphasizes self-determination and an individual right to pursue economic, social, and cultural development. This framework can be applied to decision making and projects for any topic. Moving forward, government-to-government communication will be key to developing solutions to pressing issues such …
Tribal Resilience And Community Plans: A Primer For Tribal Communities Looking To Create Their Own, Karly Newcomb
Tribal Resilience And Community Plans: A Primer For Tribal Communities Looking To Create Their Own, Karly Newcomb
Virginia Coastal Policy Center
This paper serves as an overview of various Tribal resilience plans across the nation and community planning efforts in Virginia. Although each plan is particularly detailed to address one locality’s specified areas of concern, the plans are fully adaptable to meet any community’s particular needs. Additionally, the paper includes a synthesis of commonalities that these plans share with the goal of providing an overview of resilience plan options and strategies that can be used as a framework for Tribal communities looking to create their own plans.
This abstract has been taken from the author's introduction.
Substituted Service And The Hague Service Convention, William S. Dodge
Substituted Service And The Hague Service Convention, William S. Dodge
William & Mary Law Review
State law plays a surprisingly large role in transnational litigation, and how it defines the applicability of the Hague Service Convention is an important example. In Volkswagenwerk Aktiengesellschaft v. Schlunk, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Convention does not apply when, under state law, service of process is made within the United States. In Schlunk, Illinois law permitted substituted service on the U.S. subsidiary of a foreign parent company, so the Convention did not apply. This Article looks at substituted service under state law today and when it permits avoidance of the Hague Convention. The Article focuses …
Tribal Communities And State And Local Governments: Existing Relationships, Mikayla Mangle
Tribal Communities And State And Local Governments: Existing Relationships, Mikayla Mangle
Virginia Coastal Policy Center
Tribal and state/local governments have maintained a unique and crucial relationship throughout the United States’ history. Today, state and federally recognized Tribes sometimes face obstacles when attempting to implement projects due to state or local government opposition and vice versa. Federally recognized Tribes are sovereign, self-governing entities on equal footing with state governments. State recognized tribes, on the other hand, may not be equal to state governments, depending on the state laws regarding tribal state recognition. State recognized tribes do not have the same benefits as federally recognized tribes in that the tribe’s status is recognized by the state but …
When Legal Incapacity Becomes A Lack Of Personhood: Why A Ward's Ability To Sue In Their Own Name Should Be A Fundamental Aspect Of Virginia Guardianship, Rachel Davis
William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice
It is a fundamental failing of any legal system when it is unable to protect the most vulnerable within its population. Whether we are comfortable admitting it or not, guardian abuse of incapacitated wards has been well-documented across all fifty states. Virginia is no exception, and this lack of oversight leaves one of our most vulnerable populations without recourse. This Note argues that by simply granting a ward the ability to bring suit in their own name, Virginia may strike a significant blow to the dysfunction that systematically infects the guardianship process. This Note highlights Virginia statute and case law …