Law Commons^™

Clear As Mud: The Confused State Of Mississippi's State Firearm Carry Laws, Garrett Anderson

Mississippi College Law Review

Few debates in America are more divisive than the debate over gun control. In the wake of large-scale shootings and heightened awareness of gun violence across the nation, discussions inevitably take place over viable solutions. Some propose more comprehensive, restrictive gun ownership legislation that would limit citizens' ability to carry firearms, while others believe the solution lies in relaxing existing regulations to allow armed citizens to intervene when necessary. While these two camps often find little middle ground in the gun debate, each would likely agree on one thing: a need for clarity and greater effectiveness of current laws. This …

State Criminal Laws Could Be A Light In The Dark For The Hidden Victims Of Forced Marriage, Rebekah Marcarelli

Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development

(Excerpt)

“There’s something you need to know about me . . . I am dead,” said Fraidy Reiss, a survivor of an abusive forced marriage, as she stood alone on a stage, speaking to a crowd. “I know what you’re thinking, [I don’t] look particularly dead . . . you might want to tell that to my family [because] they declared me dead almost thirteen years ago.”

Reiss, who founded the organization Unchained at Last to help forced marriage victims like herself, grew up in an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn. Right after finishing high school, Reiss was asked to …

Small Business Cybersecurity: A Loophole To Consumer Data, Matthew R. Espinosa

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Small businesses and small minority owned businesses are vital to our nation’s economy; therefore legislation, regulation, and policy has been created in order to assist them in overcoming their economic stability issues and ensure they continue to serve the communities that rely on them. However, there is not a focus on regulating nor assisting small businesses to ensure their cybersecurity standards are up to par despite them increasingly becoming a victim of cyberattacks that yield high consequences. The external oversight and assistance is necessary for small businesses due to their lack of knowledge in implementing effective cybersecurity policies, the fiscal …

Complicated Mercy: Compensating The Wrongfully Convicted In Georgia, Elizabeth O'Roark

Georgia Law Review

An exoneree’s story does not end when they walk out of prison and back into society. After spending years in prison for a crime they did not commit, the exoneree must rebuild a life with years of lost income, little credit, and no retirement. Georgia is one of the few states that does not have a statute setting out how to fairly and efficiently compensate its exonerees. Exonerees must instead ask state representatives to present a resolution to the General Assembly. If the resolution passes through both chambers of the legislature, then the exoneree can receive some compensation for the …

Let My Brewers Go! A Look At Home Brewing In The U.S., Hannah Jeppsen

Journal of Food Law & Policy

In mid-August of 2012, a group of Americans stormed the White House, demanding transparency on a subject many Americans may find surprising: beer. More specifically, Americans requested White House home brew recipes, a presidential secret until Barack Obama's administration released them on September 1, 2012. Not only does Obama enjoy a good home brew, he is also the first president to brew in the White House and even take beer on the campaign trail. However, it was the August petition that garnered home brewing national media attention.

Constitutional Law—The Powers Of State Attorneys General To Determine Public Interest, J. Dillon Pitts

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Law—Ballot Initiatives And Direct Democracy—Amendment 100 To The Arkansas Constitution: Constitutional Issues Surrounding Ballot Initiatives And Local Legislation, Michael Stiritz

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Don't Change The Subject: How State Election Laws Can Nullify Ballot Questions, Cole Gordner

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

Procedural election laws regulate the conduct of state elections and provide for greater transparency and fairness in statewide ballots. These laws ensure that the public votes separately on incongruous bills and protects the electorate from uncertainties contained in omnibus packages. As demonstrated by a slew of recent court cases, however, interest groups that are opposed to the objective of a ballot question are utilizing these election laws with greater frequency either to prevent a state electorate from voting on an initiative or to overturn a ballot question that was already decided in the initiative’s favor. This practice is subverting the …

Choice Of Law And The Preponderantly Multistate Rule: The Example Of Successor Corporation Products Liability, Diana Sclar

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

Most state rules of substantive law, whether legislative or judicial, ordinarily adjust rights and obligations among local parties with respect to local events. Conventional choice of law methodologies for adjudicating disputes with multistate connections all start from an explicit or implicit assumption of a choice between such locally oriented substantive rules. This article reveals, for the first time, that some state rules of substantive law ordinarily adjust rights and obligations with respect to parties and events connected to more than one state and only occasionally apply to wholly local matters. For these rules I use the term “nominally domestic rules …

Securing Crypto: Exempting Certain Cryptoassets From The Arkansas Securities Act, Jesse Kloss

Arkansas Law Review

Out of fifty states in 2019, Arkansas was ranked forty-fourth for technology and innovation with a grade of “F,” thirty-sixth for economy with a grade of “D+,” and thirty-seventh for business friendliness with a grade of “D+.” It is time to make Arkansas an innovation and business friendly state. Exempting certain fully functional cryptoassets, those that have some purpose other than a speculative or investment purpose, from the Arkansas Securities Act is one step towards doing so.

Dirty Johns: Prosecuting Prostituted Women In Pennsylvania And The Need For Reform, Mckay Lewis

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

Prostitution is as old as human civilization itself. Throughout history, public attitudes toward prostituted women have varied greatly. But adverse consequences of the practice—usually imposed by men purchasing sexual services—have continuously been present. Prostituted women have regularly been subject to violence, discrimination, and indifference from their clients, the general public, and even law enforcement and judicial officers.

Jurisdictions can choose to adopt one of three general approaches to prostitution regulation: (1) criminalization; (2) legalization/ decriminalization; or (3) a hybrid approach known as the Nordic Model. Criminalization regimes are regularly associated with disparate treatment between prostituted women and their clients, high …

Reflections On The Effects Of Federalism On Opioid Policy, Matthew B. Lawrence

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

No abstract provided.

Home Rule In West Virginia, Robert M. Bastress Jr.

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Caveat Emptor: Real Property Law’S “Get Out Of Jail Free” Card V. The Property Condition Disclosure Act, Alessandra E. Albano

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Skinning The Cat: How Mandatory Psychiatric Evaluations For Animal Cruelty Offenders Can Prevent Future Violence, Ashley Kunz

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

In 2017, the Texas legislature amended Texas Penal Code § 42.092, which governs acts of cruelty against non-livestock animals. The statute in its current form makes torturing, killing, or seriously injuring a non-livestock animal a third degree felony, while less serious offenses carry either a state jail felony or a Class A misdemeanor charge.

While a step in the right direction, Texas law is not comprehensive in that it fails to address a significant aspect of animal cruelty offenses: mental illness. For over fifteen years, Texas Family Code § 54.0407 has required psychiatric counseling for juveniles convicted of cruelty to …

The Fire Rises: Refining The Pennsylvania Fireworks Law So That Fewer People Get Burned, Sean P. Kraus

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

On October 30, 2017, the General Assembly of Pennsylvania passed an act that repealed the state’s fireworks law, which had prohibited the sale of most fireworks to Pennsylvanian consumers for nearly 80 years. The law’s replacement generally permits Pennsylvanians over 18 years old to purchase, possess, and use “Consumer Fireworks.” Bottle rockets, firecrackers, Roman candles, and aerial shells are now available to amateur celebrants for holidays like Independence Day and New Year’s Eve. The law also regulates a category of larger “Display Fireworks,” sets standards for fireworks vendors, and introduces a 12-percent excise tax on fireworks sales that serves to …

Guilty At First Sight: Legislation To Prevent The Misidentification Of Innocent Persons In Illinois, Kaitlyn A. Murphy

Valparaiso University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Solving The Sextortion Puzzle: Piecing Together A Model State Sextortion Statute, Aaron Robbins

Valparaiso University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Tactful Inattention: Erving Goffman, Privacy In The Digital Age, And The Virtue Of Averting One's Eyes, Elizabeth De Armond

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

This Article suggests that we would benefit if we would protect privacy by sometimes requiring tactful inattention by potential users rather than total secrecy by the target. That is, some legal privacy protections should stop emphasizing secrecy and instead emphasize the appropriate uses of personally identifiable and often sensitive information by gelling tactful inattention into legal standards. Culturally, such an expansion may be difficult, as we tend to a “finders-keepers” attitude towards data. However, given technology’s ability to dissolve routine barriers, if we require others to leave some information out of some equations, we may be able to retain …

Changing Hearts, Minds, And Structures: Advancing Equity And Health Equity In State Government Policies, Operations, And Practices In Minnesota And Other States, Susan R. Weisman, Ayah Helmy, Vayong Moua, Julie Ralston Aoki

Mitchell Hamline Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Italian Agreement Between The Government And The Regional Authorities: National Guidelines For Aai And Institutional Context, Martina Simonato, Marta De Santis, Laura Contalbrigo, Daniele Benedetti, Elisabetta Finocchi Mahne, Vincenzo Ugo Santucci, Silvio Borrello, Luca Farina

People and Animals: The International Journal of Research and Practice

Animal-assisted interventions (AAI) have developed considerably in the last half century, prompting various private and public realities dealing with AAI worldwide to work on and establish standards and best practice. However, AAI are still far from being regulated harmoniously. In this context, Italy offers a unique example at world level: here the spread of AAI has set in motion an ethical and legal reflection that led to the creation of the Italian National Reference Centre for AAI (NRC AAI) by ministerial decree in 2009 and the approval of National Guidelines for AAI in 2015. The Italian legislation on AAI is …

Family Law, Allison Anna Tait

University of Richmond Law Review

Another year of family law activity in Virginia brought both new

legislation, which will likely have long-term impacts, as well as a

new set of judicial opinions that will bring changes to the Virginia

rules. The terrain covered in the legislation and opinions varies,

but it includes certain fixtures such as marriage and divorce requirements,

equitable distribution, spousal and child support, and

child custody. This brief overview addresses all these areas, beginning

with the legislative changes and then moving to the courts.

Wills, Trusts, And Estates, J. William Gray Jr., Katherine E. Ramsey

University of Richmond Law Review

The Supreme Court of Virginia has handed down seven recent

decisions addressing the authority of an agent to change the principal's

estate plan, legal malpractice claims in estate planning,

rights of incapacitated adults, limits of the constructive trust doctrine,

effects of a reversionary clause in a deed, ownership of an

engagement ring, and proof of undue influence. The 2017 Virginia

General Assembly clarified rules on legal malpractice and tenancies

by the entireties, adopted the Uniform Trust Decanting Act

and the Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, and expanded

provisions governing estate administration, life insurance,

and advance medical directives. Other …

Family Law, Allison Anna Tait

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Wills, Trusts, And Estates, J. William Gray Jr., Katherine E. Ramsey

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Criminal Prosecution And Section 1983, Barry C. Scheck

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Florida's Stand Your Ground Regime: Legislative Direction, Prosecutorial Discretion, Public Pressures, And The Legitimization Of The Criminal Justice System, Mary Elizabeth Castillo

Journal of Legislation

This note seeks to examine the tripartite relationship between legislative delegation, prosecutorial discretion, and public pressures in the context of Florida's "Stand Your Ground" regime. In the context of high profile criminal cases, a prosecutor faces significant public and political pressures that may influence her exercise of discretion in that case. Ultimately, Castillo argues that when a prosecutor succumbs to these pressures, it undermines her expertise, experience and exercise of discretion, and undercuts the legitimacy of the criminal justice system as a whole.

The Court Of Appeals Of Virginia Celebrates Thirty Years Of Service To The Commonwealth, Hon. Stephen R. Mccullough, Hon. Marla Graff Decker

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

I Did My Time: The Transformation Of Indiana’S Expungement Law, Joseph C. Dugan

Indiana Law Journal

This Note evaluates the transformation of Indiana’s expungement law. Part I addresses the socioeconomic impacts of a criminal record. Part II presents normative arguments both for and against expungement, concluding that the balance tips in favor of forgiveness. Parts III–IV discuss Indiana’s original expungement provisions, the 2013 statute, and the 2014 amendments. Part V explores the reaction to the new law. Finally, Part VI offers recommendations to improve the statute so that its second-chance promise is equitable, accessible, and robust.

Developments In Family Law In The District Of Columbia: Three Significant Legislative Changes For Child Support, Meridel Bulle-Vu, Tianna Gibbs, Ashley Mcdowell

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

Over the last decade, the District's child support law has changed in three significant ways: (1) by the enactment of a statute that requires sentencing judges to notify obligors of their right to modify or suspend their child support order during incarceration; (2) by the passage of a law that requires the District of Columbia government to distribute up to the first $150 of child support collected each month to custodial parents who receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families(TANF); and (3) by substantial revisions to how child support orders are calculated under the District's Child Support Guideline (the Guideline).1 These …