Law Commons^™

Discerning A Dignitary Offense: The Concept Of Equal 'Public Rights' During Reconstruction, Rebecca J. Scott

Articles

The mountain of modern interpretation to which the language of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution has been subjected tends to overshadow the multiple concepts of antidiscrimination that were actually circulating at the time of its drafting. Moreover, as authors on race and law have pointed out, Congress itself lacked any African American representatives during the 1866–68 moment of transitional justice. The subsequent development of a “state action doctrine” limiting the reach of federal civil rights enforcement, in turn, eclipsed important contemporary understandings of the harms that Reconstruction-era initiatives sought to combat. In contrast to the oblique language …

Abortion Case May Not Overturn Roe, But Could Effectively Nullify It, A. Benjamin Spencer

Popular Media

No abstract provided.

The Public Pension Crisis Through The Lens Of State Constitutions And Statutory Law, Kristen Barnes

Chicago-Kent Law Review

No abstract provided.

Blue Lives Have Always Mattered: The Usurping Of Hate Crime Laws For An Unintended And Unnecessary Purpose, Lisa M. Olson

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

Abstract forthcoming.

The Post-Production Costs Issue In Texas And Louisiana: Implications For The Fate Of Implied Covenants And Pro-Lessor Clauses In The Shale Era Oil And Gas Lease., Laura H. Burney

St. Mary's Law Journal

This Article discusses the implications of Heritage Resources, Hyder, and several Louisiana cases on the “post-production costs” issue in gas royalty clauses, as well as the fate of implied covenants in the shale era. To better understand that issue, this Article first provides a background on the interaction of express lease clauses and the doctrine of implied covenants. This discussion reveals that implied covenants are relegated to a minor role in light of extensive express clauses in Shale Era leases because courts frequently view express or “plain” terms as barring implied covenants. The problem, however, as commentators have noted—particularly regarding …

Social Facts, Legal Fictions, And The Attribution Of Slave Status: The Puzzle Of Prescription, Rebecca J. Scott

Articles

In case after case, prosecutors, judges and juries therefore still struggle to come up with a definition of slavery, looking for some set of criteria or indicia that will enable them to discern whether the phenomenon they are observing constitutes enslavement. In this definitional effort, contemporary jurists may imagine that in the past, surely the question was simpler: someone either was or was not a slave. However, the existence of a set of laws declaring that persons could be owned as property did not, even in the nineteenth century, answer by itself the question of whether a given person was …

More Than A Piece Of Paper: Same-Sex Parents And Their Adopted Children Are Entitled To Equal Protection In The Realm Of Birth Certificates, Shohreh Davoodi

Chicago-Kent Law Review

In Adar v. Smith, the Fifth Circuit held that Louisiana’s policy of refusing to issue accurate birth certificates to the children of out-of-state, same-sex adoptive parents does not deny those families equal protection of the law. This comment demonstrates that Louisiana’s policy does in fact violate the Equal Protection Clause. There are two ways Louisiana’s policy infringes on the rights of these families. First, the policy burdens fundamental rights stemming from the family autonomy of both parents and children. Second, the policy discriminates against out-of-state same-sex parents, treating them like second-class citizens. These concerns are strong enough that the …

States Beginning To Recognize That Training Is Essential For Members Of Planning And Zoning Boards And Local Legislative Bodies, Patricia E. Salkin

Patricia E. Salkin

Members of planning and zoning boards and local legislative bodies constantly make decisions that may be worth millions of dollars to applicants and that may have serious impacts on public health and safety. Unlike other players in the land use decision making process members of local legislative bodies and land use boards have no specific education or training in land use matters prior to their election or appointment putting them in the position to learn solely from “on the job training”. Five (5) states currently require mandatory training and continuing education courses for members of planning boards and zoning boards …

When Administrative Law Judges Rule The World: Wooley V. State Farm - Does A Denial Of Agency-Initiated Judicial Review Of Alj Final Orders Violate The Constitutional Doctrine Of Separation Of Powers?, April Rolen-Ogden

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.

Louisiana's Division Of Administrative Law: An Independent Administrative Hearings Tribunal , Ann Wise

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

No abstract provided.

Practical Ethics For The Professional Prosecutor., Enrico B. Valdez

St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics

In Brady v. Maryland, the United States Supreme Court held that the prosecution's withholding of material exculpatory evidence violated the defendant's due process rights regardless of the absence of bad faith. The implications of this duty can be seen in the case of John Thompson, a man who was convicted of murder in Louisiana in 1985 after the prosecution failed to turn over exculpatory evidence. Thompson was able to get his conviction reversed and subsequently sued the district attorney's office. This Article analyzes Brady and the decisions that followed it to outline the obligations of prosecutors who are in possession …

A Shift In Power: Why Increased Urban Drilling Necessitates A Change In Regulatory Authority Comment., Riley W. Vanham

St. Mary's Law Journal

Historically, Texas has boasted a very lucrative oil and gas industry, which has been vital to the state’s successful economy. Due to increased drilling in urban areas, particularly the Barnett Shale, the number of affected surface owners multiplied overnight, attracting attention to oil and gas issues. Legislation has been purported to remedy the longtime conflict in Texas property law caused by the dominance of the mineral estate over the surface estate. But no bill has passed having major policy-change implications. Currently, local governments freely adopt and enforce oil and gas regulations. These ordinances vary from city-to-city, creating inconsistencies for operators …

State Constitutional Design And Education Reform: Process Specification In Louisiana, Scott R. Bauries

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

As to education, the Louisiana Constitution contains the familiar general mandate for the establishment of a public school system, now ubiquitous among state constitutions. But unlike the founding documents of any of the other states, Louisiana's constitution also provides for a very specific process-based allocation of the responsibilities for determining appropriations levels in education from year to year.

It is well-known that state constitutions often treat numerous—sometimes trivial—subjects, or contain provisions that seem hyper-specific and statutory, rather than foundational and constitutional, and state constitutions have been roundly criticized (and sometimes defended) for these features. In this Article, I argue that …

Pooling For Horizontal Wells: Can They Teach An Old Dog New Tricks?, Bruce M. Kramer

Shale Plays in the Intermountain West: Legal and Policy Issues (November 12)

74 pages.

This paper was originally published as:

Bruce M. Kramer, “Pooling for Horizontal Wells: Can They Teach an Old Dog New Tricks?,” 55 Rocky Mt. Min. L. Inst. 8-1, § 8.05 (2009).

Slides: Drilling Waste, Blake Scott

Opportunities and Obstacles to Reducing the Environmental Footprint of Natural Gas Development in Uintah Basin (October 14)

Presenter: Blake Scott, Scott Environmental Services, Inc.

24 slides

Returning To New Orleans: Reflections On The Post-Katrina Recovery, Disaster Relief, And The Struggle For Social Justice, Susan L. Waysdorf

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Letter From The Editor-In-Chief, John Brian White

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Public Rights, Social Equality, And The Conceptual Roots Of The Plessy Challenge, Rebecca J. Scott

Articles

This Article argues that the test case that gave rise to the 1896 decision in Plessy v. Ferguson is best understood as part of a wellestablished, cosmopolitan tradition of anticaste activism in Louisiana rather than as a quixotic effort that contradicted nineteenth-century ideas of the boundaries of citizens' rights. By drawing a dividing line between civil and political rights, on the one hand, and social rights, on the other, the Supreme Court construed challenges to segregation as claims to a "social equality" that was beyond the scope of judicially cognizable rights. The Louisiana constitutional convention of 1867-68, however, had defined …

The Future Of Mineral Development On Federal Lands In The United States, John D. Leshy

The Future of Natural Resources Law and Policy (Summer Conference, June 6-8)

11 pages.

Includes bibliographical references

"Outline of presentation of John D. Leshy, Harry D. Sunderland Distinguished Professor, U.C. Hastings College of the Law, Natural Resources Law center, June 7, 2007" (pp. 3-5)

"Leshy draft 4.27.07 For Natural Resources Law Center" (pp. 6-13)

Les Papiers De La Liberté: Une Mère Africaine Et Ses Enfants À L'Époque De La Révolution Haïtienne, Rebecca Scott, Jean M. Hebrard

Articles

During the Louisiana Constitutional Convention of 1867-1868, the young Edouard Tinchant proposed measures to protect the civil rights of women. He suggested that the State adopt legal measures to allow all women, regardless of race or color, to more easily bring complaints in the event of a breach of a marriage promise. He also proposed additional measures to prevent women from being forced into “concubinage” against their will. While that constitutional Convention was open to men of color and guaranteed a number of the rights for which Tinchant and his friends were fighting, the assembly did not adopt his propositions …

States Beginning To Recognize That Training Is Essential For Members Of Planning And Zoning Boards And Local Legislative Bodies, Patricia E. Salkin

Scholarly Works

Members of planning and zoning boards and local legislative bodies constantly make decisions that may be worth millions of dollars to applicants and that may have serious impacts on public health and safety. Unlike other players in the land use decision making process members of local legislative bodies and land use boards have no specific education or training in land use matters prior to their election or appointment putting them in the position to learn solely from “on the job training”. Five (5) states currently require mandatory training and continuing education courses for members of planning boards and zoning boards …

Covenant Marriage Turns Five Years Old, Steven L. Nock, Laura Sanchez, Julia C. Wilson, James D. Wright

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

Part I of this article discusses public policy rationales behind covenant marriage legislation, describes relevant aspects of Louisiana's legislation, and summarizes the efforts of other states to enact covenant marriage legislation. Part II discusses methods of data collection and analysis and identifies the demographic characteristics of covenant married couples as opposed to standard married couples in Louisiana. Part III addresses the dynamics behind couples' choice to have a covenant versus standard marriage. Part IV is an analysis of couples' satisfaction with their marriage option and the gendered dynamics of different levels of satisfaction with the marital choice.

Se Battre Our Ses Droits Écritures, Litiges Et Discrimination Raciale En Louisiane (1888-1899), Rebecca J. Scott

Articles

Title in English: Fighting for public rights: writing, lawsuits and racial segregation in Louisiana (1888-1889).

This article explores the links between the fight against compulsory racial segregation and the day–to–day operation of the law in nineteenth century Louisiana. Using the figure of Louis A. Martinet, one of the organizers of the test case that yielded the U.S. Supreme Court decision Plessy v. Ferguson, the essay argues that Martinet’s role as notary reflects the central importance to the community of color of questions of public standing and written records. The article also identifies the concepts of "public rights" and "public liberties" …

Promulgating The Marriage Contract, Lynn A. Baker

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

I begin Part I of this Article by positing several logically necessary, but insufficient, conditions that precede a state's decision to promulgate a law more aggressively than usual. I then show that each of these conditions was met with regard to the economic terms of the marriage contract in virtually all states by 1975. In Part II, I explore what Louisiana's unusually aggressive promulgation of certain terms of the marriage contract reveals about the legal system's conception of the marital relationship as of 1975. In Part III, I discuss what is added to that conception of the modern marital relationship …

Pure Water, Pure Law, And Pure Nonsense: Outline, Charles E. Corker

Water Resources Allocation: Laws and Emerging Issues: A Short Course (Summer Conference, June 8-11)

24 pages.

Toward A Right Of Privacy As A Matter Of State Constitutional Law, Gerald B. Cope, Jr.

Florida State University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Developments In Evidence Of Other Crimes, Nickolas J. Kyser

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

If the defendant in a criminal trial has a record of other offenses or is suspected of a number of crimes although charged with only one, the admissibility of evidence of these other offenses can be crucial. Admissibility depends in part on the purpose for which the evidence is offered. For instance, the prosecution is severely limited in its use of evidence of character. Until the defendant submits evidence of his good character, the subject cannot be raised and even after character is put in issue particular acts are not allowed to show character. The defendant's prior convictions may be …

Insurance-Conditions-Effect Of Non-Compliance With Notice Clause On Insurer's Liability, John W. Hupp S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Automobile liability insurance policies invariably contain a provision requiring immediate notice of accident and suit. The purpose of such a provision is to allow the insurer to make an investigation of the accident in order to prepare a defense and to prevent fraudulent and invalid claims. Although compliance with the provision may be of the utmost importance to the insurer, it frequently is a matter of little or no concern to the insured, and so upon the happening of an accident the insured frequently fails to give due notice to the insurer. The succeeding action by the injured party against …

Constitutional Law-Relation Of Federal And State Governments- Title Of United States To Tidelands, John K. Delay, Jr.

Michigan Law Review

For the past decade and a half, one of the most harrassing problems in the realm of federal-state relationships has been that concerned with the ownership of the so-called "tidelands." This struggle of interests, which involves 23,000 square miles of offshore lands within the boundaries of the littoral states, has developed since 1937; for prior to that time, the Federal Government recognized the states' claims, making no assertion of federal ownership. The development of the conflict appears to be coextensive with the discovery and development of valuable mineral deposits found under these submerged lands, which have been leased to private …

Municipal Corporations-Zoning-Abrogation Of Private Restrictive Covenants By Zoning Regulations, Robert Dilts

Michigan Law Review

A recent New Jersey decision raises a question of current importance in view of the acute housing shortages in many metropolitan areas. Can a municipality, acting under its power to establish zoning regulations, authorize the construction of multiple-family dwellings in a particular area and simultaneously abrogate private covenants which restrict the area to single-family dwellings?