Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Law Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 7 of 7

Full-Text Articles in Law

Climate Change Litigation In The Wake Of Aep V. Connecticut And Aes V. Steadfast: Out To Pasture, But Not Out Of Steam, Cecilia O'Connell Miller May 2012

Climate Change Litigation In The Wake Of Aep V. Connecticut And Aes V. Steadfast: Out To Pasture, But Not Out Of Steam, Cecilia O'Connell Miller

Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal

On April 19, 2011, two courts heard oral arguments in cases that will define the future of climate change litigation for decades to come. In American Electric Power Co. v. Connecticut (hereinafter AEP), the United States Supreme Court considered whether environmental advocates can use a federal common-law nuisance claim as a vehicle for seeking redress for climate change accruing from greenhouse gas (hereinafter GHG) emissions. Just a hundred miles south that same day, the Virginia Supreme Court heard oral arguments in AES Corporation v. Steadfast (hereinafter Steadfast), in which Virginia’s highest court considered whether a commercial general liability …


Overcoming Jurisdictional Obstacles To Feed-In Tariffs In The United States, John Perkins Oct 2010

Overcoming Jurisdictional Obstacles To Feed-In Tariffs In The United States, John Perkins

Golden Gate University Law Review

This Comment provides a brief survey of the current rules that delineate federal and state jurisdiction over electrical energy in the United States. Part II also discusses three important exceptions to these jurisdictional rules. This Comment then examines the FIT in the scheme of federal versus state jurisdiction. Part III discusses the value of the FIT and then analyzes the development of current jurisdictional rules that make state-law FITs untenable in the current legal landscape. Finally, Part IV proposes a solution in the form of a jurisdictional carve-out modeled on the Rural Electrification Act, an initiative that the federal government …


Boggs V. Boggs: State Community Property And Succession Rights Wallow In Erisa's Mire, Tony Vecino Sep 2010

Boggs V. Boggs: State Community Property And Succession Rights Wallow In Erisa's Mire, Tony Vecino

Golden Gate University Law Review

This Note will summarize the history of Boggs and discuss the issues that led to a circuit split between the Fifth and Ninth Circuits regarding community property rights and ERISA protected pension plan benefits in the testamentary context. It will also track ERISA's legislative history to determine Congressional intent. In particular, this Note will examine inconsistencies among past judicial constructions based on the application of ERISA's preemption and spendthrift provisions to regulate private pension plans. Further, this Note will scrutinize the Court's holding in Boggs giving deference to the facts in the record to clarify the problems inherent in the …


Constitutional Law - Board Of Natural Resources V. Brown: New York Grows Roots In Washington, Robert E. Arnold Iii Sep 2010

Constitutional Law - Board Of Natural Resources V. Brown: New York Grows Roots In Washington, Robert E. Arnold Iii

Golden Gate University Law Review

In Board of Natural Resources v. Brown, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that provisions in the Forest Resources Conservation and Shortage Relief Act violated the Tenth Amendment by compelling western states to issue regulations according to Congress' instructions. In so doing, the court recognized the ongoing vitality of the Tenth Amendment as a limitation on the power of Congress to use states as instruments of federal regulation.


Fisher V. City Of Berkeley: Applying Due Process And Preemption To Rent Control Ordinances, Scott T. Dunning Sep 2010

Fisher V. City Of Berkeley: Applying Due Process And Preemption To Rent Control Ordinances, Scott T. Dunning

Golden Gate University Law Review

In Fisher v. City of Berkeley, the California Supreme Court addressed the validity of Berkeley's latest rent control ordinance. With the exception of a retaliatory eviction provision, the court upheld the ordinance against all challenges. These challenges included alleged due process violations, and claims that certain provisions in the ordinance were preempted by state law. The Fisher court discussed five relevant issues: 1) the facial validity of the ordinance's rate of return standard; 2) the facial validity of the ordinance's rate adjustment procedures; 3) whether the ordinance constitutes an unreasonable restraint on the alienation of property; 4) the validity of …


Nuclear Plant Construction After Pacific Gas: A Pyrric Victory For The States?, Derek G. Howard Sep 2010

Nuclear Plant Construction After Pacific Gas: A Pyrric Victory For The States?, Derek G. Howard

Golden Gate University Law Review

This Note will analyze the Pacific Gas decision and then consider the option left to a state once the state has concluded that it is not satisfied with the federal resolution of the waste crisis facing the country in the 1990's.


Environmental Law, Linda Ackley Sep 2010

Environmental Law, Linda Ackley

Golden Gate University Law Review

No abstract provided.