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Dei Newsletter 2023 Issue 2, University Of Maine School Of Law

DEI Newsletter

• Voter Registration Day event
• Day of Service event
• Access to Justice event
• MSBA’s BIPOC Lawyers section event
• National Celebration of Pro Bono
• Bar Association opportunities
• Meet the student representatives to the DEI Committee
• Check out upcoming networking and community-building events

Dei Newsletter 2023 Issue 1, University Of Maine School Of Law

DEI Newsletter

In this Issue:

• In the Spotlight, Maine Law’s new first year course entitled Introduction to Race, Racism, & US Law and the Refugee & Human Rights Clinic’s asylum workshops.

• Learn about Maine Law affinity groups and what’s going on around town, and read about recent programming at this year’s new student orientation.

Foreword, Scott Bloomberg, Kelsey Kenny

Student Journal of Information Privacy Law

Welcome to the first paginated edition of the Student Journal of Information Privacy Law (SJIPL). A group of students at the University of Maine School of Law founded the SJIPL during the fall 2021 semester with the aim of establishing an outlet for student-authored scholarship about information privacy law. Following its formation, the Journal began publishing monthly editions comprised of shorter-form blog posts and more formal academic papers. The Maine Law faculty voted to formally recognize the SJIPL as the school’s third law journal in fall 2022, and the Journal’s editorial staff began working towards publishing its inaugural paginated edition …

Revenge Porn: The Result Of A Lack Of Privacy In An Internet-Based Society, Shelbie M. Mora

Student Journal of Information Privacy Law

Nonconsensual pornography, also referred to as revenge porn, is “the distribution of sexual or pornographic images of individuals without their consent.”1 Forty-six U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico have adopted revenge porn laws. However, there is no federal law in place that prohibits revenge porn. Several countries around the world have chosen to adopt revenge porn statutes to protect individuals’ privacy rights and prevent emotional and financial harm. Revenge porn is primarily a large issue for women given that they are overwhelmingly the target.2 Major ramifications can amount to victims who have had …

Leaning Into Chaos (Child’S Health And Online Safety Act): Revision To Ftc’S Enforcement Of Coppa & New Model Rule For Child Advertising, Gabrielle N. Schwartz

Student Journal of Information Privacy Law

A wise author once wrote, “I know, up top you are seeing great sights, but down here at the bottom we, too, should have rights.”1 Dr. Suess not only understood the importance of inspiring children, but believed it was essential to teach children valuable life lessons. As more children continue to stray away from reading as their source of entertainment, children are more likely to become fascinated by the beauty of the internet. Although the internet’s capabilities may positively impact children, there are also adverse effects through the use of the internet’s products, services, and content. Many companies, individuals (such …

Editorial Board Vol. 1 No. 1 (2023), Hannah Babinski Editor-In-Chief

Student Journal of Information Privacy Law

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The Illinois Biometric Privacy Act: History, Developments, And Adapting Protection For The Future, Margaret M. O'Neil

Student Journal of Information Privacy Law

Biometric technology, used to identify individuals based on their unique, unchangeable attributes such as fingerprints, face prints, and retinas, has grown in use over the last five to ten years as biometrics are incorporated into popular devices and different areas of our lives.1 Today, many people around the world use their face or their thumbprint as a password to unlock their smartphone or complete transactions, and many others use the technology to clock in at work, to see who rang their doorbell at home, or to access secure facilities.

Solemn Vow: Solum's Originalism, Treaties, And Tribal Sovereignty In Castro-Huerta, Liam T. Sheridan

Maine Law Review

In Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta, the Supreme Court held that states have inherent authority to prosecute crimes committed by non-Indians in “Indian country.” Only two years earlier, the Court in McGirt v. Oklahoma held that most of eastern Oklahoma was Indian country, and thus immune from any state criminal jurisdiction. Castro-Huerta limited this immunity and narrowed the Court’s view of tribal sovereignty as a whole. The majority represented the Court’s originalist faction—minus Justice Gorsuch, who had penned both the majority opinion in McGirt and the dissent in Castro-Huerta. The majority and dissent disagreed over whether federal statutes preempted Oklahoma’s criminal jurisdiction. …

The Growing List Of Reasons To Amend The Maine Indian Jurisdictional Agreement, Nicole Friederichs

Maine Law Review

The Passamaquoddy Tribe and the Penobscot Nation brought their lands claims against the State of Maine in an effort to reclaim taken lands, to ensure that they could self-determine their futures and to hold on to their cultures and languages. What they faced were a state and federal governments opposed to such a goal. With favorable court decisions in hand, the Tribes began the long process of negotiating for the financial restitution of those claims. They learned, however, that restitution—the recovery of a small portion of their traditional territories—would only be possible if an agreement was made with the State …

Five Times More Likely: Haaland V. Brackeen And What It Could Mean For Maine Tribes, Eloise Melcher

Maine Law Review

In the 1970s Native activists realized that states were removing Native children from their families at disproportional rates when compared to non-Native children. The activists pushed for the enactment of the Indian Child Welfare Act, which became law in 1978. The law increases the burden on states before Native children can be taken from their families. As part of a larger movement to attack the Equal Protection Clause in the courts, Haaland v. Brackeen reached the Supreme Court in 2022. The plaintiffs in Brackeen argue that the Indian Child Welfare Act is unconstitutional for a variety of reasons, including that …

The Dark Matter Of Federal Indian Law: The Duty Of Protection, Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Maine Law Review

The United States and every federally recognized tribal nation originally entered into a sovereign-to-sovereign relationship highlighted by the duty of protection, an international customary law doctrine in which a larger, stronger sovereign, America in this case, agrees to “protect” the small, weaker sovereign, in this case, tribal nations. America agreed to this in exchange for massive, occasionally unquantifiable amounts of land and resources, as well as the power to control the external sovereign relations of the protected sovereign. The smaller sovereigns received protected reservation lands, hunting and fishing rights, small cash infusions, and the vague promise of protection. What tribal …

One Nation, Under Fraud: A Remonstrance, Hon. Donna M. Loring, Hon. Eric M. Mehnert, Joseph G.E. Gousse Esq.

Maine Law Review

This Remonstrance presents a counter-cultural narrative and analysis of Maine’s legal, political, economic, and social interactions with the Wabanaki people. Although contemporary indicia of abuses by the State are glaringly obvious, a cohesive modern narrative that incorporates Maine’s history of predation upon and mistreatment of the tribes has remained poorly defined from an historico-legal perspective. Presenting its analysis through an historic, legal, political, economic, and social nexus, this Remonstrance traces the ontogeny of control exerted by the State of Maine over the Wabanaki tribes and endeavors to excavate the hidden historical narrative of the calculated politico-legal regime that has for …

Symposium Keynote: "Isolation And Restraint: Maine's Unique Status Outside Federal Indian Law", Michael-Corey Francis Hinton

Maine Law Review

No abstract provided.

What’S In A (Course) Name?, Robert M. Jarvis

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

Law professors rarely give much thought to the names of their courses. This is a big mistake, for a course’s name can greatly influence a course’s enrollment. In this brief essay, the author details how he revived his struggling Admiralty course by changing its name to “Maritime Law.”

Clinical Programs Newsletter

Clinical Program Newsletter

In this issue:

• Updates from the Rural Practice Clinic
• Youth Justice Clinic expands its reach
• Student-led workshops for asylum seekers in Maine
• Providing legal aid at the U.S.-Mexico Border
• Continuing in-person legal aid visits at Maine Correctional Center

Inadequate Documentation, Communication, And Regulation: How Noaa And Aphis Have Failed Marine Mammals, Mckenzi L. Stevens

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

Marine mammals have been used in the U.S. entertainment system for several decades. While they were first acquired through capture from the wild, the trade and birth of marine mammals in facilities of public display – zoos and aquariums – has boomed. Since the early 1940s, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has been tasked with maintaining the record of each marine mammal under U.S. ownership. However, documentation has been improperly maintained, leading to inaccurate data, and even the “misplacement” of marine mammals. This is largely due to the lack of communication of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, …

Jonesing To Repeal The Jones Act, Andrés A. Kenney

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

The Jones Act—the title for a series of laws—is the backbone of American cabotage laws, and yet, it is rarely talked about in mainstream American discourse. The original Jones Act was enacted in 1920, and since 1920, it has not changed to any measurable degree. The Jones Act requires that all domestic maritime shipping—movement of merchandise from one U.S. point to another U.S. point—be completed by ships that are owned by U.S. citizens, operated by U.S. citizen crews, built in the U.S., and flagged by the U.S. These requirements have hampered the American economy, its security, and the maintenance of …

Fishing Against The Wind: The Federal Government’S Obligation To Consider And Mitigate Fishing Impacts From Offshore Wind Development On The Outer Continental Shelf, Benjamin B. Algeo

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

As offshore wind development activity increases along the East Coast of the United States, commercial fishing groups have raised concerns about potential impacts on their operations. This comment examines the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s legal obligation under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to consider these concerns and mitigate potential impacts during the offshore wind leasing process. The comment concludes that the Act does require the Bureau to both consider any potentially affected fishing uses and to prevent impacts to “reasonable uses,” though the Bureau has significant discretion to determine what constitutes a “reasonable use.”

Pointing Fingers At Nonpoint Source Polluters: How A Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Program Could Influence Forestry Practices In Oregon’S Coastal Zone, Brenden Kaze Catt

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

The Clean Water Act regulates the discharge of pollutants into waters of the United States. Despite nonpoint pollution accounting for most water pollution, the Clean Water Act has few mechanisms to address such pollution. For coastal communities, this is of particular concern. Indeed, this concern facilitated a regulatory regime under the Coastal Zone Management Act and, subsequently, the Coastal Zone Act Reauthorization Amendments. These acts use established coastal management programs as a regulatory vehicle to drive nonpoint pollution mitigation in the coastal zone through the implementation of a Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Program. Oregon has an established coastal management program. …

2022 Annual Report, University Of Maine School Of Law

Cumberland Legal Aid Clinic Annual Report

• PROGRAM OVERVIEW 4
• 2022 AT A GLANCE 5
• GENERAL PRACTICE CLINIC 7
• PRISONER ASSISTANCE CLINIC 8
• YOUTH JUSTICE CLINIC 10
• CENTER FOR YOUTH POLICY & LAW 11
• REFUGEE AND HUMAN RIGHTS CLINIC 12
• PROTECTION FROM ABUSE PROGRAM 14
• CLINIC STAFFING 15

Your Biometric Data Is Concrete, Your Injury Is Imminent And Particularized: Articulating A Bipa Claim To Survive Article Iii Standing After Transunion V. Ramirez, Kelsey L. Kenny

Maine Law Review

Biometric data is a digital translation of self which endures in its accuracy for one’s entire lifespan. As integral elements of modern life continue to transition their operations exclusively online, the verifiable “digital self” has become indispensable. The immutable and sensitive nature of biometric data makes it peculiarly vulnerable to misappropriation and abuse. Yet the most frightening is the unknown. For an individual who has had their digital extension-of-self covertly stolen or leaked, the dangers that lie in the technology of the future are innumerable. The Illinois legislature recognized the danger associated with the cavalier collection and handling of biometric …

What's Love Got To Do With It? Redefining Domestic Violence To Close Federal Firearm Loopholes, Cecilia Shields-Auble

Maine Law Review

Closing the “boyfriend loophole” by expanding the definition of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence to include the abuse of “dating partners” further entrenches the law into an unworkable quasi-marital framework rooted in an antiquated understanding of domestic violence. The federal firearm prohibition would more effectively target high-risk offenders if 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(33)(A) were revised to eliminate the quasi-marital framework and reflect a modern understanding of the power and control dynamics involved in intimate partner violence. This Comment begins by summarizing the emergence of federal domestic violence law and describing the limitations of the Lautenberg Amendment. It then examines …

Our Biggest Fans: Nuisance Immunity For Grid-Scale Wind Energy Projects In Maine, Andrew D. Hersom

Maine Law Review

Global climate change and its attendant impacts threaten to change life on Earth as we know it. The sea level rise that comes with rising temperatures is an issue of particular importance to coastal states like Maine. Thankfully, continued investment in renewable energy technology is beginning to make certain renewable energy sources competitive with their nonrenewable counterparts. This Comment highlights wind energy as a particularly effective option for meeting Maine’s energy needs while significantly reducing the harmful greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. Despite its many benefits, wind energy technology still has its detractors. Wind energy projects (especially …

Dabus, An Artificial Intelligence Machine, Invented Something New And Useful, But The Uspto Is Not Buying It, Trevor F. Ward

Maine Law Review

U.S. patent laws are designed to promote science and the useful arts. They grant temporary monopoly rights to inventors in order to incentivize inventive activity. In the United States, patent rights revolve around the inventor. However, what happens when an Artificial Intelligence (AI) machine invents? Who deserves monopoly rights to the invention? Who will be incentivized by such monopolies? Do U.S. laws protect companies’ investments in AI? In 2019, for the first time in history, an AI machine called DABUS was listed as an inventor on two U.S. patent applications. The United States Patent and Trademark Office denied the applications, …

Contracts For Cohabitating Romantic Partners, Bailey D. Barnes

Maine Law Review

Marriage rates in the United States are at record lows; meanwhile, more couples are choosing to live together outside of marriage. Despite the changing landscape of romantic relationships, the law of nonmarriage has not kept pace. Rather than having a coherent, majority rule approach, the individual states have employed differing methods of providing for property distribution at the end of a long-term unmarried cohabitation. Unfortunately, absent the formal protections offered by marriage for both parties following a divorce, many cohabitants are at risk of suffering inequitable property distribution following the termination of a cohabitation. This Article proposes that states uniformly …

Governance Of Ocean-Based Carbon Dioxide Removal Research Under The United Nations Conventions On The Law Of The Sea, Wil Burns

Maine Law Review

There has been a spate of research in recent years indicating that achievement of the temperature objectives of the Paris Agreement can only be effectuated through both aggressive decarbonization of the global economy and large-scale deployment of so-called carbon dioxide removal (CDR) approaches. While much of the early focus of CDR research was on terrestrial options, such as afforestation, direct air capture, and bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, more recently, many in the scientific and policy community have increasingly focused on potential ocean-based approaches, including ocean fertilization, ocean alkalinity enhancement, macroalgae harvesting, and ocean upwelling and downwelling. However, while …

Primacy In Theory And Application: Lessons From A Half-Century Of New Judicial Federalism, Catherine R. Connors, Connor Finch

Maine Law Review

In his 1977 article, State Constitutions and the Protection of Individual Rights, Justice Brennan famously reminded jurists that our governmental system includes two constitutions applicable to each state, and New Judicial Federalism was born. Since then, state courts have applied their own Bills of Rights using different approaches with varying degrees of enthusiasm. The primacy approach, requiring state courts to consider the state constitution first, and turning to the federal constitution only if needed to resolve the case, is theoretically optimal but inconsistently followed, even in the few jurisdictions professing to adopt that approach. This Article posits that the reason …

What's Your Damage?! The Supreme Court Has Wrecked Temporary Takings Jurisprudence, Timothy M. Harris

Faculty Publications

In Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid, the U.S. Supreme Court unnecessarily expanded the Fifth Amendment’s Takings Clause. In doing so, the Court veered away from established precedent and overturned prior case law—without expressly admitting to doing so. In 2021, the Court held that a California law allowing access by union organizers to enter private property under certain conditions took away a landowner’s right to exclude others and was (apparently) immediately compensable under the Fifth Amendment’s Takings Clause. Prior law had subjected temporary takings to an uncertain, unpopular, and ambiguous balancing test—but the Cedar Point holding turned temporary takings jurisprudence on …

Price Gouging, The Pandemic, And What Comes Next, Kaitlin A. Caruso

Faculty Publications

Whenever there is a disaster, there are complaints of price gouging — that is, of people selling critical goods at grossly inflated prices. Over the last half-century, states and territories have increasingly responded by adopting anti-gouging laws that limit how much sellers can increase prices on at least some goods and services during an emergency. An overwhelming majority of jurisdictions now have such laws, and all share a few common characteristics. The laws vary considerably between jurisdictions, however, including on what products, services, and sellers they cover, how long they last, and how strictly they limit price increases. This Article …

Abortion Localism And Preemption In A Post-Roe Era, Kaitlin A. Caruso

Faculty Publications

In Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Supreme Court eliminated federal constitutional protections for abortion in the United States, overruling Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey. That ruling returned much regulation of abortion to state control. But it will also accelerate a longstanding trend: municipal abortion regulation. And in the current world of local government law, increased local activity brings with it the question of state preemption. This article is the first to bring together the history and trends in local abortion policy with intrastate preemption doctrine to fully canvass the post-Roe local abortion …