Law Commons^™

Inconsistent Ethical Models: Abortion Opposition Ignores Foster Care, Michael Katz

Michael Katz

Not all pro-life movements are equivalent. Some states are pushing harder to ban abortion than others. These states are focal points for the pro-life movement, and are therefore most telling as to the ethics of the movement as a whole. To gauge the ethical basis for pro-life legislation, this paper takes a closer look at the nine states that form the locus of the country’s pro-life movement. Possible ethical models are posited as foundations for state legislation opposing abortion, and then used as the analytical basis to test the ethical consistency of the pro-life movement. Specifically, this paper considers whether …

First-To-File: Promoting The Goals Of The United States Patent System As Demonstrated Through The Biotechnology Industry, Whitney E. Fraser Tiedemann

University of San Francisco Law Review

This Comment illustrates that moving to a first-to-file system of patent priority would greatly benefit the biotechnology industry and the United States patent system. A first-to-file system would promote the innovative goals of the patent system by encouraging early public disclosure and providing greater certainty of protection.

"Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves!" Why The Parental Rights Of Registered Domestic Partners Must Trump The Parental Rights Of Their Known Sperm Donors In California, Allison J. Stone

University of San Francisco Law Review

This Comment argues that California Family Code section 297.5 dictates that parental rights in both domestic partners who conceive a child through artificial insemination trump the parental rights of the known sperm donor, because heterosexual married couples have parental rights when a child is born during their marriage, even if one parent is not biologically related to the child.

Can Blogging And Employment Co-Exist?, John S. Hong

University of San Francisco Law Review

This Comment explores the extent to which a blogger who exercises this autonomy right, by publishing thoughts or opinions online, should legitimately fear termination or other retaliatory actions by the snooping employer, and accordingly, argues that employment law must draw a line between managerial rights of the employer and the privacy rights of the employee.

Power Or Prudence: Toward A Better Standard For Evaluating Patent Litigants' Access To The Declaratory Judgment Remedy, Lisa A. Dolak

University of San Francisco Law Review

This Article discusses the Federal Circuit's treatment of the justiciability of declaratory judgment claims in patent cases, in light of the Declaratory Judgment Act and the relevant provisions of the U.S. Consitution.

Companies Caught In The Middle, Albert Gidari Jr.

University of San Francisco Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Fourth Amendment Status Of Stored E-Mail: The Law Professors' Brief In Warshak V. United States, Susan Freiwald, Patricia L. Bellia

University of San Francisco Law Review

This Article examines what procedural hurdles the government must overcome in order to compel service providers to turn over digital communications. Specifcally, Warshak v. United States raises these very questions because it asks the Sixth Circuit to determine what showing a court should require of the Government, under the Stored Communications Act. This article also examines whether those statutory requirements under the SCA satisfy the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution.

Companies Positioned In The Middle:Municipal Wireless And Its Impact On Privacy And Free Speech, Nicole Alexandra Ozer

University of San Francisco Law Review

When a city institutes a municipal wireless system, it is building a new communications infrastructure on behalf of its residents. Like our rights to privacy in our public telephone communications, individuals have the right to a municipal wireless network that respects privacy and free speech, allowing users to explore all that the Internet offers without worrying where information about their online activities will end up or how it will be used or abused. Cities have a duty to protect the privacy and free speech rights of their residents, and safeguards for these rights must be priorities, not afterthoughts.

Domain Names Triggering Internet Pop-Up Advertisements: A "Use In Commerce" Under The Lanham Act, Joan Obispo Arbolante

University of San Francisco Law Review

This Comment proposes that URLs used to trigger pop-up ads constitute a "use in commerce" under the Lanham Act because they are used more than as a "pure machine-linkingfunction" and are more than public keys to access websites. Accordingly, despite some federal cases precedent that involve narrow definitions of "use in commerce" - a requirement to bring a successful trademark infringement suit. This Comment suggests that these narrow holdings is that internet advertising developers can now design technology to avoid the narrow definition of "use in commerce" and thereby avoid liability for trademark infringement.

Reexamining The Yahoo! Litigations:Toward An Effects Test For Determining International Cyberspace Jurisdiction, Matthew Chivvis

University of San Francisco Law Review

This Comment argues the courts should employ an effects test when deciding international civil disputes involving solely cyberspace harms.

Keeping Free Speech Free In The College Marketplace Of Ideas: California Legislation As An Imperfect Solution To Censorship By University Administrators, Jennifer Ross

University of San Francisco Law Review

This Comment highlights the difficult position that some private college or university students find themselves in, when it comes to suing to protect their free speech rights. As such, this Comment argues that in order for pending California legislation to go the full distance in fostering a "marketplace of ideas", the legislature should pass additional bills to protect private college students from Hosty-type administrative censorship.

Shaping The Energy Future In The American West: Can California Curb Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Out-Of-State, Coal-Fired Power Plants Without Violating The Dormant Commerce Clause?, Particia Weisselberg

University of San Francisco Law Review

The Comment highlights California's attempt to curb its use of conventional coal-fired power through an innovative law known as the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Performance Standard Act, which forbids California utilities from making long-term financial investments or procurement contracts with power plants whose GHG emissions exceed the performance standard. This Comments also examines how this innovative law may run afoul of the Dormant Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

Global Climate Change And The National Environmental Policy Act, Kevin Haroff, Katherine Kirwan Moore

University of San Francisco Law Review

This Article examines various attempts to address climate change through the statutory framework established by the National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA") of 1969.

Climate Change And The Clean Air Act, Lisa Heinzerling

University of San Francisco Law Review

This Article highlights the litigation before the Supreme Court in Massachusettes v. EPA, which was brought by a variety of states and other plaintiffs in order to mitigate the effects of climate change under the Clean Air Act. As such, it explores the relevant arguments before the Court, what the Court decided, and how that decision may affect the EPA's role in mitigating climate change.

The Domestic Response To Global Climate Change: What Role For Federal, State, And Litigation Initiatives?, Alice Kaswan

University of San Francisco Law Review

This Article takes as given that climate change is a serious environmental problem that requires a legal response-a response that is likely to change the way we live. This Article evaluates the most significant existing federal and state measures. This Article not only highlights the key features of federal, state, and litigation initiatives; it also addresses their respective roles.

Dismantling Roe Brick By Brick-The Unconstitutional Purpose Behind The Federal Partial-Birth Abortion Act Of 2003, Caroline Burnett

University of San Francisco Law Review

This Note focuses on the purpose prong of the undue burden test and argues that the federal ban is unconstitutional because its only purpose is to impose an undue burden on a woman's right to seek an abortion.

The Nondischargeability Of Student Loans In Bankruptcy: How The Prevailing "Undue Hardship" Test Creates Hardship Of Its Own, Feather Devi Baron

University of San Francisco Law Review

This Comment argues that to ensure that every debtor receives equitable treatment with respect to the hardship exception, and to better follow congressional intent, the prevailing undue hardship test in bankruptcy cases for dischargeable debts should be amended to include a timing standard that requires courts to uniformly apply such a standard at the time a debtor files a dischargeability action. Furthermore, courts should maintain jurisdiction over hardship determinations until discharge occurs to prevent discharge of debts payable without undue hardship.

Ending Chronic Homelessness In America's Major Cities-The Justice Systems' Duty, Robert Coates

University of San Francisco Law Review

This Article suggests that it is the duty of the nation's justice systems to take the lead in meeting this challenge, and furthermore, the justice systems have, at their disposal, mechanisms capable of diminishing, and even resolving, the scandal of chronic homelessness in the United States.

Relevance: Definition And Limitations-Conforming The California Evidence Code To The Federal Rules Of Evidence, Miguel A. Méndez

University of San Francisco Law Review

This Article examines from a comparative perspective the rules of evidence relating to relevance and its limits. The Article compares the approaches of the California Evidence Code ("Code") and the Federal Rules of Evidence ("Rules") to challenges to the introduction of evidence on the grounds of irrelevance or on the basis of limits placed on the introduction of relevant evidence.

Voices From The Workplace: Oakwood Healthcare, Inc. And The Rollback Of Labor Rights Under The Current National Labor Relations Board, Eric Wiesner

University of San Francisco Law Review

This Comment argues that in the current atmosphere in which the Board has faltered in its ability to carry out the national labor policy of encouraging unionization and collective bargaining, and the proper forum for enforcing the rights of workers is the legislative branch, and concludes by arguing for congressional action to amend the Act as the best means to bring the statutory definition of supervisor in line with modern workplace realities.

Valuation Of The Family Home: Why Feminist Theory Supports The Exclusive Use Of Appraisers As Experts When The Wife Wants To Keep The Home, Marisa San Filippo

University of San Francisco Law Review

This Comment explains the importance of valuing the family home in marital dissolution, introduces the feminist legal theory lens, and provides a statutory framework regarding the current use of experts in family home valuation. This Comment also discusses why the courts should limit expert testimony on the fair market value of the family home when the wife is trying to keep it to licensed California appraisers. A comparative analysis of the competency and conflicts of appraisers and real estate salespersons will support this conclusion. Lastly, this Comment identifies how potential overvaluation of the family home can negatively impact the wife's …

Governance: The Collision Of Politics And Cooperation, Richard Callahan

Public and Nonprofit Administration

Three newly created public agencies built regional rail projects in Los Angeles County from 1978 through 2002. The Los Angeles County Transportation Commission, the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority, as newly created public agencies, were nothing less than experiments in regional governance. Conventional understanding of these agencies only partially explains their successes and failures. A path to improved understanding is to combine research on the politics of designing new public agencies with research on cooperation in dealing with collective action problems.

What emerges is an untold story of American politics: the evolution of mechanisms …

A Better Approach To Juvenile Sex Offender Registration In California, Christina Rule

University of San Francisco Law Review

This Comment argues that the legitimate goals of juvenile sex offender registration-public safety, retribution, and rehabilitation-cannot be effectively implemented or realized under California's current juvenile registration statute.

Deceptive Appearances: Judges,Cognitive Bias, And Dress Codes, Marybeth Herald

University of San Francisco Law Review

This Article argues that judges are not immune from decision-making biases that afflict humans generally, and cognitive biases may guide interpretations of the law. Moreover, because of a predisposition toward preserving the statusquo, judicial interpretations of anti-discrimination laws may keep us close to our starting positions despite legislative directives to the contrary. Accordingly, judicial alertness to cognitive biases, including judges's own and those of the participants in their courtroom, becomes even more important.

Multilateral Climate Change Mitigation, Elizabeth Burleson

University of San Francisco Law Review

This Article highlights Society's inability to reach consensus on climate change mitigation has resulted in the tragedy of the commons, examines Humanity's ability to overcome a similar crisis through an international cooperative effort to reduce the ozone hole, and accordingly, explores critical elements of a legal framework for multilateral actions on climate stabilization.

Only The Doj Knows: The Secret Law Of Electronic Surveillance, Kevin S. Bankston

University of San Francisco Law Review

This Article examines a troubling pattern in the application of federal law enforcement surveillance statutes-namely, those portions of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (the "ECPA") sometimes known as the Pen Register Statute ("PRS") and the Stored Communications Act- ("SCA")-whereby federal prosecutors secretly and routinely obtain court authorization for surveillance that Congress did not intend and which may violate the Fourth Amendment.

The Scientific And International Context For Climate Change Initiatives, Stephanie B. Oshita Phd

University of San Francisco Law Review

This Article provides context for the examination of United States climate policy and litigation initiatives, including the current scientific understanding of climate change, international efforts to combat climate change both inside and outside of the UN framework, and suggests possible solutions to the climate change problem.

The Great American Makeover: The Sexing Up And Dumbing Down Of Women's Work After Jespersen V. Harrah's Operating Company, Inc., Dianne Avery

University of San Francisco Law Review

This Article examines the Ninth Circuit's decision in Jesperson v. Harrah's, which the author argues insulates most employers from all but the most determined (and well-financed) challenges to sex-based dress, grooming, and appearance codes under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and will also likely impact both federal court and state court jurisprudence in this area of employment law.

The Bankruptcy Clause And The Eleventh Amendment: An Uncertain Boundary Between Federalism And State Sovereignty, Daniel Austin

University of San Francisco Law Review

This Article examines the conflict between the Bankruptcy Code and state sovereignty.

Local Gun Bans In California:A Futile Exercise, Don B. Kates, Carl Dawson Michel

University of San Francisco Law Review

This Article examines the authority of California local governments to "license" firearms possession-i.e., the authority to permit or deny the possession of firearms and/or ammunition within a locality's geographical limits. As such, the relevant case law makes clear that local governments may not ban handguns and other firearms that state law does not forbid the law-abiding adult citizenry from possessing.