Law Commons^™

Puppy Dog Eyes: Begging For Treats And The Regulation Of Dog Breeding, Abigail Barford

Kentucky Journal of Equine, Agriculture, & Natural Resources Law

In this note, Abigail Barford explores the lack of regulation over dog breeding in Kentucky, particularly the harms caused by puppy mills and backyard breeders. Barford explains that loopholes in the Animal Welfare Act and Kentucky’s absence of state-level protections contribute to dog overpopulation, inhumane conditions, environmental damage, and financial burdens on taxpayers. Barford argues for Kentucky to adopt strong breeding regulations modeled on Pennsylvania’s laws and its own equine breeding system. She proposes statewide legislation to license breeders, enforce humane standards of care, and regulate small-scale breeding to curb overpopulation and protect animal welfare.

2025-2026 Factbook, Tennessee. General Assembly

Factbook

This Fact Book provides an overview of the state's budget for the fiscal year.

Through A Glass Darkly: How Securities Disclosures Give A Distorted View Of The Economy, Gerald F. Davis

Seattle University Law Review

Our understanding of the American economy often relies on stylized facts derived from mandatory disclosures by listed corporations. Data vendors like Standard & Poor’s vacuum up 10Ks and proxy statements into databases, and scholars distill these into tentative maps. This may have been adequate for a postwar economy centered on asset-heavy manufacturers, but it is increasingly out of step with an information-based economy. Companies listed on the stock market are fewer in number and less representative than they were, light in tangible assets and people, and heavy on IP. Basic facts such as what industry they are in are increasingly …

States In The Separation Of Powers, Ernest A. Young

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

An Introduction To U.S. Groundwater Law: Domestic And Transboundary Considerations, Caleb Cook, Gabriel Eckstein

Faculty Scholarship

In light of the scientific and historical factors that have shaped the development of groundwater law and policy, this chapter seeks to provide a primarily descriptive account of its current state in the United States and to lay a foundation for future efforts to address gaps in the regime. Section 8B.02 considers the importance of groundwater in modern American society, with a particular focus on its uses and the threats these resources face. Section 8B.03 describes the U.S. framework for the domestic governance of groundwater resources. Section 8B.04 describes the mechanisms for transboundary governance of groundwater between the United States …

On Blockchain As A Tool Against Corporate Corruption, Yannis Normand

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

Over the last decades domestic and international legal frameworks have successfully coalesced to limit corrupt behavior worldwide. However, despite their success, current regulatory tools are not sufficiently well-equipped to address corruption in modern economic settings. These mechanisms can often be too costly to implement, too cumbersome to induce compliance, politically manipulatable, and may disincentivize foreign investment and internal corporate monitoring efforts. To address such drawbacks, policymakers should consider the introduction of blockchain-based tools in developing future anti-corruption efforts.

Blockchain can serve as a foundation for structures that can make it more attractive, easier and cost-efficient to monitor economic transactions, to …

Martinique’S Octroi De Mer: Ancient Dock Dues Threaten The Integrity Of The European Union’S (Eu) Internal Market And Contribute To The Cost Of Living Crisis., Johanna Leffler

American University International Law Review

In 1670, France implemented a tax on all imports known as the octroi de mer in Martinique, a Caribbean island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies. The octroi de mer outlived France’s colonial rule over Martinique, and today, it is imposed on both imported and locally produced products. This Comment argues that the octroi de mer system undermines the integrity and coherence of the European Union’s (EU) legal order, violating Article 349 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU or Treaty) because its very nature is contrary to the fundamental principles of the EU …

Taming The Kangaroos, Matt Garcia

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Low-level state courts frequently disregard federal law. And though the judgments of these courts have profound legal consequence for millions of Americans, they receive little oversight. Rather than bastions of justice, low-level state courts are too often sites of lawlessness, earning them the shameful label “kangaroo courts.” This article proposes a path forward by which advocates can curb that lawlessness and enforce critically important federal protections.

As part of the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, a broad legislative effort to protect the national economy and public health infrastructure, Congress altered mandatory procedures in eviction suits. Evictions …

A City’S Day In Court: Using Class Action Principles To Protect Cities’ Due Process Rights, David Stage

Marquette Law Review

In a recent trend in public law, municipalities are increasingly bringing “affirmative litigation,” suing large corporations to protect municipal residents and increase revenue. As affirmative litigation becomes popular among municipalities, more and more municipalities have found that their respective states (e.g., the State of Illinois for the City of Chicago) have already sued the would-be defendant for the same action. Because of the state’s prior action, the defendant can raise the common law defense of res judicata against the municipality to preclude the municipality’s lawsuit. If a defendant wants to raise the defense and preclude a subsequent lawsuit, then the …

Substituting One Judge For Another: The Lax Standard Of Review In Involuntary Commitment, Caitlin Riordan

Marquette Law Review

Wisconsin involuntarily commits individuals at a rate nearly five times the national average, stripping them of core constitutional rights—including liberty, the ability to refuse treatment, and firearm possession. Yet, when these life-altering orders are appealed, they are almost always reviewed by a single appellate judge. This Comment argues that such a limited review undermines the constitutional weight of involuntary commitments, which closely mirror criminal convictions in the scope of rights deprived. Tracing the historical development of Wisconsin’s civil commitment statutes, this Comment demonstrates how commitments implicate both substantive and procedural due process concerns. It then compares Wisconsin’s one-judge review framework …

A Legal Analysis Of Wisconsin’S Disturbing History Of Unpunished Lynchings, 1848–1910, Steven M. Biskupic

Marquette Law Review

“Wisconsin is getting a reputation for lynching.” So reported the Manitowoc Pilot in 1881, after an enraged mob stormed a courtroom in Pepin County and, in the midst of legal proceedings, brutally lynched Ed Maxwell, who had been charged with killing two law enforcement officers. Between 1848 and 1910, Wisconsin had dozens of similar lynching attempts, undertaken by hundreds of otherwise law-abiding citizens and witnessed by thousands more. Nineteen resulted in violent death. Yet with only one exception, an outlier involving a battered wife, no one was ever criminally punished for engaging in lynchings in Wisconsin. This record is even …

Table Of Contents, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

Table of Contents

Corporate Scenarios: Drawing Lessons From History, Madison Condon

Seattle University Law Review

As corporations are increasingly pressed to reveal information about their exposure to climate-related risks, they are often asked to undertake and disclose the outcome of “scenario analysis.” In this exercise, corporations, including financial institutions, examine how their business would fare under different pathways the future may take. One oft-used scenario, for example, is the International Energy Agency’s “Net-Zero by 2050: A Roadmap for the Energy Sector.” This Essay presents a history of the use of scenarios as a corporate planning tool, particularly in the oil industry, arguing that it is key for understanding our present moment and the role of …

Shareholder Expression In A Time Of Heightened Political Tension, Aaron A. Dhir

Seattle University Law Review

In this article, I provide context for my forthcoming research project on shareholder proposals and racial equity audits. Since the murder of George Floyd in May of 2020, progressive shareholder actors have increasingly used the proposal mechanism to advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice-related goals. These proposals have frequently gone beyond requesting the usual corporate fare of diversity trainings, intersectionality workshops, affinity groups, etc. Instead, a more ambitious type of proposal asks corporate America to conduct racial equity audits, defined as “an independent, objective and holistic analysis of a company’s policies, practices, products, services and efforts to combat systemic racism …

Corporate Governance Speech, Sarah C. Haan

Seattle University Law Review

The State has always regulated the intra-firm communications that make corporate governance possible, most commonly by mandating disclosures of information by a corporation to its shareholders. Some such laws are labeled “securities regulation,” but securities regulation is a broad category that extends to speech by actors who are outside the corporate enterprise as well. Also, the conventional securities regulation category does not capture all such laws; other examples, including informationforcing mandates, can be found in state corporate law. This Article uses the term “corporate governance speech” to describe the communications among shareholders, directors, and officers through which corporate governance is …

Dark Accounting Matter, Colleen Honigsberg

Seattle University Law Review

Physicists calculate that approximately 85% of the matter in the universe is composed of “dark matter” that “does not absorb, reflect, or emit electromagnetic radiation and is therefore difficult to detect.” The S&P 500 currently trades at a price-to-book value of 4.2, suggesting that book value accounts for less than 20% of the S&P 500’s market value. The remaining 80% appears nowhere in these firms’ balance sheets—it is invisible to contemporary accounting techniques and constitutes “dark accounting matter.”

Some “dark accounting matter” is composed of factors commonly described as components of “ESG.” Human capital, for example, is an intangible asset …

The Employees’ Dilemma: Balancing Internal Reporting, Whistleblowing, And Insider Trading Risks, Geeyoung Min

Seattle University Law Review

The Essay examines how recent developments in insider trading regulations and whistleblower reward programs can lead to unintended and counterproductive results of discouraging employees from using internal reporting channels within corporate compliance programs. While the presence of a robust and well-functioning corporate compliance program is a critical factor both in mitigating the level of public enforcement actions against companies and in protecting corporate managers from liability in private litigation, these programs often provide little incentive for employees to report potential misconduct internally.

Corporate compliance programs are designed to promote the upward information flow within the company, which is essential for …

How The Antidiscrimination Law Of Commercial Transactions Really Works, Helen Norton

Seattle University Law Review

A variety of businesses now cite 303 Creative when seeking First Amendment protection for their refusal to serve certain customers based on those customers’ protected class status. How this litigation will play out remains to be seen. But future courts need not, and should not, repeat the 303 Creative Court’s misunderstanding of how the antidiscrimination law of commercial transactions actually works.

Part I of this Essay explains the Court’s longstanding understanding of the antidiscrimination law of commercial transactions, and then describes the Court’s failure to engage with this precedent in 303 Creative. Part II then identifies the 303 Creative decision’s …

Advanced Magic In Illinois: Amendments To The Illinois Rules Of Professional Conduct And The Confusion Over How To Handle Flat Fees Paid In Advance, Alberto Bernabe

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

Attorneys face ongoing challenges in structuring legal fees, particularly when deciding between hourly rates, contingency arrangements, and flat fees. This Article examines recent amendments to the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct regarding flat fees and explores the persistent confusion over how attorneys should handle fees paid in advance. The debate centers on whether advance payments should be deposited in client trust accounts. The Article analyzes alternative regulatory approaches to address this issue, including proposals to eliminate or modify Rule 1.15(c), which currently governs the handling of advance fees. It evaluates the merits of different fee structures and examines whether there …

Racing To The Top Instead Of The Bottom In Illinois Estate Law, Sarah E. Waldeck

Loyola University Chicago Law Journal

In the last two decades, competition for trust business has led states to abolish the Rule Against Perpetuities, authorize trust decanting, and permit self-settled asset protection trusts all in the hope that settlors will bring their trusts (and the fees they generate) within a state's jurisdiction. But this legislation is profoundly inequitable because it primarily benefits wealthy settlors and those lucky enough to be their beneficiaries, while shifting cost and risk to everyone else.

In the face of such competition, Illinois has fought to retain its trust business by passing legislation that allows settlors to opt out of the perpetuity …

Reclaiming The Genius Of A Free State, Tennessee's Forgotten Anti-Monopolies Clause, Braden H. Boucek

Belmont Law Review

This article argues that Tennessee’s Anti-Monopolies Clause—enshrined in Article I, Section 22 of the Tennessee Constitution since 1796—has been systematically underenforced and misconstrued by Tennessee courts. Although the constitutional text unequivocally provides that “monopolies are contrary to the genius of a free State and shall not be allowed,” judicial interpretation has diluted this categorical prohibition by importing deferential federal rational basis review and engaging in “lockstepping” with federal substantive due process doctrine. The author contends that this approach is doctrinally unsound because the U.S. Constitution contains no analogous anti-monopoly provision, rendering federal precedent inapposite. Through historical analysis grounded in originalist …

Navigating Wastewater: Minnesota Mining Wastewater Permit Challenges And Evolving Compliance Standards, Madelaine Adamich

Journal of Earth and Life Science

February of 2021 marked the beginning of Minnesota clearly establishing that groundwater qualifies as a Class 1 water in a legal battle involving United States Steel, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, WaterLegacy, Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, the Minnesota Court of Appeals, and eventually the Minnesota Supreme Court (MNSC). Minnesota has a water classification system, as required by the federal Clean Water Act, with 7 classes of use. Class 1 waters are waters used for domestic consumption (MPCA 4, n.d.). According to Minnesota Statute § 7050.0220, the acceptable level for sulfate is 250 mg/L in Class 1 …

Channel The Panel To Improve State Supreme Court Independence, Aditya Medicherla

Mitchell Hamline Law Journal of Public Policy and Practice

No abstract provided.

When Breathing Becomes Wheezing: Why Kentucky Should Require Schools To Conduct Radon Testing, Abbey Norvell

Kentucky Journal of Equine, Agriculture, & Natural Resources Law

In this note, Abbey Norvell analyzes the dangers of radon exposure in Kentucky schools, highlighting the state’s nation-leading lung cancer rates and the heightened risks for children. She explains that Kentucky has no law requiring schools to test for or mitigate radon levels, leaving students vulnerable. Norvell argues for mandatory radon testing and remediation in Kentucky schools. She proposes legislation modeled on other states requiring testing in both public and private schools within five years, and remediation within two years if levels exceed EPA standards.

Annual Statistical Report Of The Tennessee Judiciary 2024-2025, Tennessee. Administrative Office Of The Courts.

Annual Statistical Reports

No abstract provided.

Green Dividends: A Case Study In Green Dividends And The Conditions For Private Ordering Solutions, Anne M. Tucker

Seattle University Law Review

This Essay introduces a novel private ordering solution to facilitate corporate investments in pro-social and environmental initiatives: Green dividends. Green dividends are an optional increase in shareholder dividends that are returned to the company to be reinvested in environmental initiatives or kept by a shareholder.

Green dividends pose an alternative to the current gridlocked debate that corporations can’t, won’t, shouldn’t, and shouldn’t even try to act in pro-social or environmental ways. Turning the common refrains on their head converts each narrative into an element for a successful private ordering solution: authority, accountability, shareholder buy-in, and government- backed enforcement. With Green …

Does Climate Disclosure Work To Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions? Emerging Evidence Suggests Cautious Optimism, Cynthia A. Williams

Seattle University Law Review

Significant regulatory resources have been spent developing global, voluntary climate and sustainability disclosure standards, such as the TCFD, TNRD, and ISSB’s Sustainability and Climate Disclosure standards, or domestically required disclosures, such as in the EU and in the U.S. Thus, it is important to evaluate whether this disclosure, particularly voluntary, qualitative disclosure, will have the power to shift the allocation of capital, will have a significant effect on the management of climate risk within firms, and ultimately will reduce climate change risk and biodiversity loss.

In this Article, several interrelated questions will be discussed. First, what does the empirical evidence …

Sunshine Laws Cast A Dark Shadow On Democracy, Elizabeth Stephani

Wyoming Law Review

A group of people keenly aware of government corruption and the consequences of concentrated power created the United States Constitution. Flowing from the Founders’ fear of another King, the U.S. Constitution designed public institutions to be accountable to the people through the separation of powers. While the separation of powers remains the bedrock of American democracy, laws like the Wyoming Public Records Act (Wyoming Sunshine Law) allow for harmful overlaps in government powers. This Article begins by assessing federal legal frameworks for open records requests incorporated in the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Next, the Article compares and contrasts Wyoming’s …

The Uptake Puzzle In Expungement Of Criminal Records, Jessica Steinberg, Elenore Wade

Indiana Law Journal

Expungement has an uptake problem. A recent explosion of state-level rights allows people with felony convictions to expunge their criminal record, but only one to six percent of eligible people avail themselves of the remedy. Expungement is a powerful policy tool that promotes social and economic reintegration. It also serves a dignitary purpose, allowing people with criminal records to unshackle themselves from past mistakes. One might assume people would rush to court to clear their records. That the opposite is occurring—and new laws are idling on the books—suggests that rights-creation in this space has not been efficacious. This demands a …

Safer Futures: Strategies For Enhancing Collaboration Between Law Enforcement And Child Welfare Agencies In Preventing Fatal Child Abuse, Kayla M. Brown

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.