Law Commons^™

From Murphy To The Seminole Compact: California’S Pathways To Sports Betting Legalization Without A Constitutional Amendment, Makenalani “Roo” Cash

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

No abstract provided.

Masthead

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

No abstract provided.

Replicating Reality: Is Trademark Use In The Metaverse Commercial Or Expressive?, Vito Quaglia

UC Law SF Communications and Entertainment Journal

This Note will examine how trademark law should be applied to emerging digital spaces known as metaverses, which can function as both new-age video games and digital marketplaces. The Note will first explain the concept of the metaverse. Next, it will lay out the current landscape of trademark law as it is applied to marks in artistic works, including First Amendment protections for artistic relevance. Then, the Note will illustrate trademark infringement lawsuits dealing with fashion and digital media. Following that, this Note will detail how trademark law is applied to video games, especially in cases involving artistic expression. The …

Hate Groups And The Charitable Tax Exemption, Miriam Galston

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

No abstract provided.

Epigenetics, Preconception Tort Liability, And Public Health, Peter Sie

UC Law Journal

Epigenetics is an emerging science that studies how our behavior and environment can change the function of our genes without changing our genetic code. These changes can pass on to our children and grandchildren, for better or for worse. Epigenetic knowledge could change our understanding of human biology and individual responsibility. However, it is also ripe for misunderstanding. Commercial entities seek to capitalize on the hype to sell snake oil under the “epigenetic” label. In the popular press, reporters dramatize limited studies to create sensational headlines, often blaming parents for causing epigenetic harms to their children.

If this attitude toward …

America’S Failure To Rescue Parents: A Narrative Of Inequitable Tax “Reform”, Shannon Weeks Mccormack

UC Law Journal

Other developed nations provide a slew of direct benefits to parents, such as paid parental leave and affordable childcare. America instead takes a circuitous route, heavily relying on the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”) to provide tax breaks to certain parents. In addition to being indirect and comparatively stingy, these “parental tax benefits” are not awarded equitably. Instead, they favor nonpoor, one-breadwinner families, ignore the plight of nonpoor, working parents incurring substantial childcare and other work-related costs, exhibit an outright hostility toward poor parents, and raise a host of other distributional concerns. This preferentialism is sticky— when Congress alters parental …

Anti-Abortion Law Or Illegal Human Life Support Conscription?, Jennifer Ann Drobac

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

This Article introduces the idea that forced fetal life support in a state that bans abortion is unpaid state-conscripted human life support (“USCHLS”) by the hosts. It reviews how the Dobbs decision resulted in USCHLS, unpaid work, which violates the U.S. Constitution’s Thirteenth Amendment protection against “involuntary servitude.” Additionally, USCHLS constitutes a per se taking which violates the “Takings Clause” of the Fifth Amendment. This Article suggests sexual activity insurance might alleviate some of the problems with USCHLS, but not all of them.

To date, no U.S. federal or state government offers the G.I. bill, a state equivalent, or service …

Originalism’S Stare Decisis Problem: The Place Of Precedent In Theories Of Interpretation, Arjan S. Heir

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

Originalism is a prevalent approach to legal interpretation, and stare decisis is a prevalent legal doctrine. Yet, the two do not happily coexist. This article explores the role that stare decisis plays in originalism and living constitutionalism, with a focus on the doctrine’s impact on each theory’s integrity in both academic and lay circles.

Originalism runs into trouble on two levels. First, it is self-defeating in theoretical terms, as it treats stare decisis as a “pragmatic exception” to an interpretive theory premised on excluding policy considerations from legal analysis. Second, it undermines judicial legitimacy by failing to provide the public …

How A Central Bank Digital Currency Could Help Curb Tax Evasion And Other Financial Crimes, Morenike Saula

UC Law Business Journal

Central Bank Digital Currencies are digital currencies issued by the central bank government of a sovereign nation. It is a unique form of payment currently used by just a few countries that has the potential of transforming the US’s current financial landscape. According to the International Monetary Fund, more than 100 countries are currently developing their own central bank digital currencies. The U.S. Federal Reserve solicited comments for what a U.S. CBDC should have. The Biden Administration demonstrated executive support for creating a U.S. CBDC. Several scholars have also recommended design features of a CBDC. This article seeks to examine …

Masthead

UC Law Business Journal

No abstract provided.

Big Roadblock, Meet Big Data: Overcoming The Business Judgment Rule Using Directors’ Online Data, Cecilia Brisuda

UC Law Business Journal

No abstract provided.

Algorithmic Bias: Ai And The Challenge Of Modern Employment Practices, Jordan Dailey

UC Law Business Journal

No abstract provided.

From Peeping Toms To Pixel Tracking: Privacy In The Digital Age, Francesca Faugno

UC Law Business Journal

No abstract provided.

Masthead

UC Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Digital Dollar: Privacy And Transparency Dilemma, Jiayin Jiang

UC Law Journal

Many have voiced concerns that the digital dollar, a digital form of central bank money, will facilitate government surveillance, thus depriving users of privacy. This Article investigates critical technical designs proposed by leading think tanks, central banks, and scholars from interdisciplinary fields, reaching a surprising conclusion that contradicts popular belief: a digital dollar can offer better privacy protection than existing digital payment systems. The Article argues that those expressing concerns have made two flawed assumptions: (1) that digital dollar data is fully transparent regarding personal information and transaction details and (2) that the government or Federal Reserve has unrestricted access …

The Case Against Surge Pricing, Ramsi A. Woodcock

UC Law Journal

Surge pricing—using data and algorithms to raise prices in response to unexpected increases in demand—has spread across the economy in recent years, from Amazon and Disney World to commuter highways and, of course, Uber, which is infamous for surge pricing rides. Companies claim that surge pricing equilibrates supply and demand, but that is impossible, at least in the short run when demand unexpectedly outstrips supply. What surge pricing really does is to ration existing supply based on ability to pay. That is both distributively unjust and potentially inefficient. It should also be considered a violation of the antitrust laws because …

The Pathway To And Consequences Of Foster Parent Intervention In Dependency Cases, Gillian Katz Lamon

UC Law Journal

Over the last 50 years, federal child welfare legislation has wrestled with how to reconcile the competing goals of the child welfare system: child protection, family preservation, and permanency. The United States foster care system has evolved alongside transformations in private adoptions. As the prospects for private adoption have dwindled, the pendulum has shifted toward prioritizing child protection. Youth in foster care have suddenly become the private adoption alternative. Most recently, some state courts have granted foster parents standing to intervene in termination of parental rights proceedings. In those cases, foster parents are permitted to battle with natural parents for …

Compensated To The Moon: The Impact Of Excessive Compensation On Director Independence Post Tornetta V. Musk, Andrea Olofson Chen

UC Law Journal

Excessive director compensation erodes the independence that directors are supposed to bring to boardrooms. In theory, directors are meant to serve as objective parties, overseeing corporations using their care, skill, and loyalty to promote sound decisionmaking. However, excessive compensation can create the unintended ill-effect of rendering a director beholden to upper management and unable to make clear-eyed, impartial decisions. To mitigate this problem, this Note advocates for the implementation of tenure limits, compensation caps, and enhanced proxy disclosures to ensure that board members uphold their fiduciary duties and make decisions in the best interests of the corporations they serve rather …

Improving The Transparency Of Legal Measurement In Health Policy Evaluation—A Guide For Researchers, Reviewers, And Editors, Benjamin A. Barsky, Alina Schnake-Mahl, Cason D. Schmit, Scott Burris

Faculty Scholarship

Advances in quantitative research methods have led to acceptance that well-designed observational studies can enable causal inferences about the effects of policy interventions on health. Indeed, JAMA recently announced exploring a range of study designs for which causal interpretations may be made in JAMA Network journals. This development is welcome for research on the potential health effects of laws—including statutes, regulations, executive orders, formal agency guidance, and other documents that purport to require compliance with rules or standards—given that they are rarely amenable to evaluation using experimental methods. As researchers, reviewers, and editors refine criteria for assessing the appropriateness of …

“Hippo” Law Law And The Biodiversity Crisis Of Habitat Loss, Invasive Species, Pollution, Population, And Overharvesting, Andrew W. Torrance, Bill Tomlinson

UC Law SF International Law Review

This article explores the critical issue of biodiversity loss through the lens of the “HIPPO” acronym coined by Edward O. Wilson: Habitat loss, Invasive species, Pollution, Population, and Overharvesting. It examines the ecological and social ramifications of declining biodiversity and assesses existing legal frameworks aimed at mitigating these threats. Furthermore, the article proposes innovative legal mechanisms to address each HIPPO factor, offering a legal approach that spans many different domains. By integrating comparative legal analysis and suggesting forward-looking legal reforms, this work aims to contribute to the conservation efforts essential for sustaining biodiversity in the face of escalating environmental challenges.

Slow But Steady Wins The Race: The Rise And Rise Of Euroscepticism., Katy Rotzin

UC Law SF International Law Review

This paper analyzes Euroscepticism in the European Union with a focus on two member-states Italy and France. This paper discusses the history of Euroscepticism in Europe, immigration law and economic policy in the European Union as it pertains to both the New Pact on Migration and Asylum and the Stability and Growth Pact, which were both negotiated or renegotiated in 2023. Euroscepticism is a wide sweeping political movement, and this paper does not analyze every aspect, but only seeks to magnify two issues that have plagued the EU since its inception. This paper argues that Euroscepticism will clearly rise with …

Masthead

UC Law SF International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Defining Pacifism: Article 9’S Role In Japan’S National Defense And Global Commitments, Dylan Kaito Fackler

UC Law SF International Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Primacy Of International Treaties In The Republic Of Kosovo: A Critical Review Of The Kosovo Constitutional Court Case No. 95/13 Through The Lenses Of The Law Of Treaties, Besfort T. Rrecaj

UC Law SF International Law Review

In 2013, the Constitutional Court of Kosovo (the Court) issued an important verdict in its constitutional review of the first agreement between Kosovo and Serbia. In its obiter dictum, the Court made conclusions regarding the relationship between international treaties and domestic law, and the hierarchy between these two norms as well as signature, ratification, and entry into force of treaties. Ten years post-judgment, this research returns to the Court’s arguments presented by the Court and argues that the Court made significant mistakes in its arguments and therefore made erroneous interpretations in its rather short arguments of the judgment. Using well …

Masthead

UC Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Breaking Up Bottlenecks In Big Tech And Everywhere Else: Two Remedies That Keep Your Packages Arriving In Two Days, Peter Carstensen, Darren Bush

UC Law Journal

This article addresses the colossal problem of remedy in antitrust and regulatory cases combatting monopoly “bottlenecks.” A bottleneck monopoly lies somewhere along the chain of production and distribution of goods or services. Often both before and after the monopoly, the markets are workably competitive. When a bottleneck owner also participates in those workably competitive markets, the bottleneck owner has the incentive and ability to self-preference, discriminating against other competing products in the markets. As a monopolist, a bottleneck owner will also seek to constrain access to the bottleneck, assuring that the use of the bottleneck is not optimized. Traditional remedies …

Defending Children’S Data Privacy: Strategies For The 21st Century, Zoë Macdonald

UC Law Journal

Children’s use of social media has been linked to an overwhelming number of adverse effects on their mental health, privacy, and well-being. There is a general consensus among parents, researchers, and lawmakers that children’s online protections must be expanded. However, recent legislative efforts to effect change have been met with consistent failure. Recently, California, Arkansas, and Texas passed new legislation intended to bolster existing protections and expand child privacy online. The Arkansas law and portions of the California and Texas laws do not pass constitutional muster under current case law, and all three federal district courts articulated their inability to …

Beyond Privity Of Blood: Intestacy And Charity, Adam J. Hirsch

UC Law Journal

When an individual dies without leaving a will, the law of intestacy functions to distribute the decedent’s estate to a surviving spouse and/or close blood relatives. Yet, this default regime fails to account for the possibility that some individuals wish to allocate part of their estates to charity. Drawing on empirical evidence, including data presented here for the first time, this Article advocates building a charitable component into intestacy in those cases where majorities of decedents prefer to establish estate plans transcending traditional heirs. Evidence suggests that this majority preference arises in four situations: (1) where the decedent was extremely …

California’S Bug Problem: The Backup Generation Information Gap And Its Impact On Vulnerable Communities, Andrew H. Jacobs

UC Law Journal

California’s electricity system has faced unprecedented challenges in recent years. Extreme heat, wildfires, and additional severe weather events stressed the system to a breaking point. The state’s electric grid operator repeatedly called for rolling blackouts on hot summer days to preserve the integrity of the electric grid. Electric utilities proactively shut off power during dry and windy conditions to prevent their equipment from sparking wildfires. Strings of powerful winter storms left hundreds of thousands across the state without power for multiple days.

In response to the poor reliability of the electrical grid, demand for backup generation has skyrocketed. Both residents …

Litigation As Accommodation, Matthew A. Shapiro

UC Law Journal

As persistent threats to the integrity of some of our most important public institutions remind us, every public institution faces the challenge of combating the abuse of its powers for ends inconsistent with the public values it aims to serve. Public law employs a distinctive set of strategies for addressing that challenge: vesting institutional powers with public officials, imposing public-regarding duties on those officials, and ensuring compliance with the duties by subjecting officials’ decisions to various forms of oversight and accountability.

This Article argues that the public institution of civil litigation pursues a very different strategy for countering abuse from …