Law Commons^™

Banning Noncompetes In Virginia, Christopher J. Sullivan, Justin A. Ritter

University of Richmond Law Review

The past decade has seen a nationwide wave of reform in noncompete law, specifically the limitation of noncompete agreements. Since 2016, ten states—including Virginia in 2020— banned the use of noncompete agreements against certain “lowwage” employees. In order to stay ahead of this curve and ensure Virginia remains and grows as one of the top states to do business, this Article suggests that Virginia—like its neighbor, the District of Columbia, initially did in 2021—pass a complete ban of all noncompete agreements in the employment context. Such a ban would make Virginia a lucrative destination for entrepreneurs and startups by maximizing …

E-Museletter: October 2022, William Taylor Muse Law Library

Museletter

This Issue:

Director's Message

Library News

Featured Resources

Materials Update

Things to Consider

Student Services Corner

E-Museletter: September 2022, William Taylor Muse Law Library

Museletter

This Issue:

Director's Message

Library News

Featured Resources

Materials Update

Things to Consider

Student Services Corner

E-Museletter: August 2022, William Taylor Muse Law Library

Museletter

This Issue:

Director's Message

Library News

Student Services Guide

Library Catalog

Featured Resources

Materials Update

Things to Consider

Student Services Corner

Richmond Law Magazine: Summer 2022, University Of Richmond

Richmond Law Magazine

The Power of Second Chances

Dispatches from Afar

A New Legacy?

Armoring The Just Transition Activist, Abigail Fleming, Catherine Dremluk

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

The fossil fuel energy system, reinforced by oppressive policies and practices,

has disproportionately harmed poor people, Indigenous people, and

Brown and Black people and driven the global climate crisis. A just transition,

which displaces fossil fuels and redistributes renewable energy resources,

requires policies that are rooted in equity and shift power back to

the hands of the most vulnerable. Just Transition Activists, leaders, organizers,

and changemakers in the just transition movement, must develop transformative

skillsets necessary to radically reimagine our world and dismantle

the current unequal system of law and policy. This analysis explores the

skills, attributes, beliefs, and attitudes …

Prefatory Matter

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

No abstract provided.

Examining The Relationship Between Environmental Justice And The Lack Of Diversity In Environmental Organizations, Haley Walter

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

This article highlights the ongoing lack of diversity in each of the

three major types of environmental organizations—conservation and

preservation organizations, governmental agencies, and environmental

grantmaking foundations—and assesses how this lack of diversity

has historically marginalized people of color. Assessing the history of

how the environmental movement has marginalized people of color is

key because from this marginalization grew the rise of the environmental

justice movement and recognition from the legal system of environmental

issues that disproportionately impacted people of color. Last,

this article presents solutions on how environmental organizations can

increase and retain diversity in their staff and leadership …

Expanding American Indian Land Stewardship: An Environmental Solution For A Country In Crisis, Haley Edmonds

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

Land is the central foundation around which all life is formed. Therefore,

societies must have a stable connection with the land in order to be structurally

sound. If this connection is weak or inflexible, every building-block of

civilization laid on top of it will inevitably crumble. Some societies have established

stable relationships with the land by working around and responding

to nature’s rhythms in order to satisfy their needs. Whereas other societies

have ignored nature’s intricacies and instead have tried to strong-arm

nature into yielding to their whims. These two diametrically

opposed approaches to conceiving of humans’ relationship with the …

On The Horns Of A Dilemma: Climate Adaption And Legal Profession, Mark S. Davis

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

Few aspects of life will be spared disruptions attributed to climate change,

but those disruptions will not be evenly distributed or borne. While much

attention is being given to large-scale plans and programs aimed at effectively

and equitably coping with those disruptions, the fact is the burdens and

responsibility of planning and acting are falling mostly on individual families,

businesses, and communities. Those with access to resources and professional

assistance, specifically legal services, will stand a better chance of

adapting and prospering. Those without will likely fare worse—and already

are. In order to get better and more equitable outcomes, it …

Letter From The Editor, Elizabeth F. Richer

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

No abstract provided.

Symposium Transcript

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

No abstract provided.

Deconstructing Inequality: Cumulative Impacts, Environmental Justice, And Interstate Redevelopment, Lemir Teron

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

The siting and development of Interstate 81 in Syracuse, New York, similar

to highway projects across the nation, lead to the displacement of Black

Syracusans

and has exposed thousands of remaining residents at heightened

environmental harm. As the interstate is slated to be redeveloped due to age

and safety issues, national attention has focused on the highway as a potential

exemplar for similar projects across the United States. Federal law mandates

that environmental impact analysis be conducted, and due to the prevalence

of marginalized populations, environmental justice impacts are a

critical feature in this assessment. This article evaluates both the …

Incorporating Environmental Justice Into Benefit-Cost Analysis Of Federal Rulemakings, John D. Graham

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

President Biden proposes to revise the federal rulemaking process to advance

the values of justice and equity. This analysis offers a practical path

forward by adding an equity test to the efficiency test applied to new federal

regulations by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. This article explores

the feasibility of the proposal with applications to regulation of hazardous

air pollutants and drinking water contaminants. The proposal seeks

to advance the interests of low-income Americans in federal rulemaking, a

subgroup that has received little historical priority in the regulatory impact

analyses prepared by federal regulatory agencies.

Forty Years Of Environmental Justice: Where Is The Justice?, Jon A. Mueller, Taylor Lilley

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

Environmental Justice (or“EJ”) has been recognized as a concept since

at least 1982. After decades of incremental and ineffective efforts by the federal

government, it has become clear that EJ must evolve beyond the concept

stage if it is to be an effective vehicle for social and legal change. At its heart,

EJ is a function of social inequities and environmental harms, and the disproportionate

correlation between those components can no longer be ignored

by state and federal actors. The way forward must be paved with practical

legal solutions and affirmative application of regulatory authority. This

article examines the history …

Table Of Contents

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Replacing Tinker, Noah C. Chauvin

University of Richmond Law Review

In this Article, I wish to question whether reaffirming the animating spirit of Tinker is the best way to protect student speech rights. In allowing schools to punish student speech that school officials reasonably believe could be substantially disruptive, Tinker founds students’ free expression rights on unstable ground. This is true for two reasons. First, the Tinker standard allows school officials to regulate student speech based on their own perceptions of what its impacts will be. While these perceptions must be reasonable, courts have shown extraordinary deference to educators’ claims that student speech could be substantially disruptive. Second, the substantial …

Movement Lawyers: Henry L. Marsh's Long Struggle For Educational Justice, Danielle Wingfield-Smith

University of Richmond Law Review

Born in 1933 in Richmond, Virginia, Henry Marsh was a protégé of legendary Virginia civil rights attorney Oliver Hill, who was a member of a civil rights legal team with Spotswood Robinson and commissioned by Charles Hamilton Houston to investigate school inequalities and prepare a legal strategy for dismantling segregationist laws. Growing up in Virginia during the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, Marsh was reared in the apartheid culture of Jim Crow society. Later, under Oliver Hill and Samuel W. Tucker’s mentorship, Marsh studied Virginia’s legal and educational systems and learned how to navigate Virginia’s seemingly tranquil Jim Crow politics called …

Pretextual Stops: The Rest Of The Story, J.E.B. Stuart Vi

University of Richmond Law Review

Pretextual stops made by law enforcement officers—stops aimed at serving some purpose other than the official reason for the stop—have received renewed attention in the public discourse following several high-profile law enforcement confrontations with people of color. Naturally, the conversations about pretextual stops have centered around their most horrid iteration: discriminatory stops made by bad cops. These stops are damaging to both motorists and officers, and conversations about them are undeniably important. But there is more to pretextual stops than the nefarious purposes attributed to them.

As a former police officer who regularly made pretextual stops for reasons entirely unrelated …

Completing Expungement, Brian M. Murray

University of Richmond Law Review

The limits of expungement are where the hope for real reentry meet the desire for criminal justice transparency. That a criminal record, ordered expunged by a judge after a long and arduous process, continues to exist in the world of private actors is a cold, harsh reality for those attempting to reenter civil society. It is also reassurance for parents hiring a babysitter, school districts seeking new employees, and employers concerned about workplace liability. Not to mention, the thought that all records of criminal justice adjudication could be purged forever intuitively sounds Orwellian, even in an age where surveillance, whether …

Utilizing Tax Incentives To Increase Gender Parity On Corporate Boards, Mary E. Tursi

University of Richmond Law Review

Women are drastically underrepresented in positions of power and prominence in the United States. As of 2021, women hold only thirty percent of board seats on the S&P 500. The number is much smaller for private corporations. One study found that in 2020, women occupied only eleven percent of board seats for private corporations. Given these statistics, it is unsurprising that a 2021
study predicts that corporate boards will not reach gender parity until 2032.

This underrepresentation matters for several reasons. First, the lack of gender equity on corporate boards is blatantly sexist. This disparity should matter for anyone who …

Swimming Up The Stream Of Commerce: How Plaintiffs In Products Liability Litigation Are Disadvantaged By Current Personal Jurisdiction Doctrine, Lily S. Smith

University of Richmond Law Review

The growth of e-commerce has facilitated an increasing number of products’ travel, frequently across state and international lines. This development has subsequently increased litigation between parties who are of diverse residencies. These disputes have challenged the fundamental territorial principles that established early personal jurisdiction doctrine. Moreover, unprecedented corporate expansion—both geographically and economically—has created an environment that has outgrown a doctrine focused on protecting defendants’ rights. As courts are beginning to reform their analysis in products liability litigation towards finding Amazon and others like it strictly liable for injuries caused by products sold on their sites, Amazon will have to find …

Acknowledgments, Christopher J. Sullivan

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Overhauling Rules Of Evidence In Pro Se Courts, Andrew C. Budzinski

University of Richmond Law Review

State civil courtrooms are packed to the brim with litigants, but not with lawyers. Since the early 1990s, more and more litigants in state courts have appeared without legal counsel. Pro se litigation has grown consistently and enormously over the past few decades. State court dockets are dominated by cases brought by unrepresented litigants, most often in domestic violence, family law, landlord-tenant, and small claims courts.

Yet, the American courtroom is not designed for use by those unrepresented litigants—it is designed for use by attorneys. The American civil court is built upon a foundation of dense procedural rules, thick tomes …

Rethinking Retroactive Rulemaking: Solving The Problem Of Adjudicative Deference, Gwendolyn Savitz

University of Richmond Law Review

The Chevron doctrine enables courts to defer to authoritative, legally binding agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes. Though more frequently applied when reviewing rulemaking, the doctrine is actually more powerful when applied to an adjudication. In an adjudication, the agency can attach consequences to past actions made before the interpretation announced in the adjudication itself. Since such a determination will receive deference on review, this declaration effectively becomes a new rule, having gone through neither public notice or public comment. Not only does it become a new rule, it becomes a new rule that is effective retroactively. It is illogical to …

Redefining The Badges Of Slavery, Nicholas Serafin

University of Richmond Law Review

Section 2 of the Thirteenth Amendment grants Congress the authority to eliminate the “badges and incidents” of slavery. What constitutes an incident of slavery is clear: the incidents of slavery are the legal restrictions, such as submission to a master and a ban on the ownership of productive property, that were inherent in the institution of slavery itself. What constitutes a badge of slavery is far less certain, and relatively few legal scholars have examined the historical meaning of the metaphor. Nevertheless, there has emerged a renewed interest in Section 2, such that the literature now abounds with proposals for …

Humanize, Don't Paternalize: Victim-Offender Mediation After Intimate Partner Violence, Ren Warden

University of Richmond Law Review

Retributive legal systems fail survivors of intimate partner violence. In criminal cases, when the government and the offender are the parties to the matter, the legal status of a survivor is reduced to that of a mere witness. Survivors then must surrender their agency in the fight against their own trauma. Survivors of intimate partner violence (“IPV”) who turn to civil litigation to recover after their experiences may experience further trauma as a result of time-consuming, extensive, and often invasive contact with the legal system. Even restitution, a largely restorative remedy, lacks the agency, finality, and emotive opportunities that IPV …

A Music Industry Circuit Split: The De Minimis Exception In Digital Sampling, Michaela S. Morrissey

University of Richmond Law Review

When hip-hop icon Biz Markie released his album “All Samples Cleared!” he joked of the end of what was known as the “Golden Age” of digital sampling in the hip-hop and rap music industry. The Golden Age began in the late 1980s, and because there was no regulation of the practice, it was a period of musical enlightenment in which musicians could freely utilize digital sampling without legal repercussion. However, in 2005, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit handed down an opinion that sent shock waves across the music industry. In Bridgeport Music Inc. v. Dimension …

Make Some Sense Of Scent Trademarks: The United States Needs A Graphical Representation Requirement, Gabrielle E. Brill

University of Richmond Law Review

When it comes to consumer loyalty, some businesses have decided to go beyond attracting the eyes. Why not keep customers via their nostrils? Accordingly, the scent marketing industry is booming. Jennifer Dublino, Vice President of Development at ScentWorld Events, remarks that “smell is one of the most unique of human senses. Scent enters the limbic system [of the brain] and bypasses all of the cognitive and logical thought processes and goes directly to the emotional and memory areas of the brain.” Companies like ScentAir have been created specifically to help stores design fragrances that best fit their image and objectives …

Appoint Candace Jackson-Akiwumi To The Seventh Circuit, Carl Tobias

University of Richmond Law Review

On November 30, Seventh Circuit Judge Joel Flaum assumed senior status when he completed over four decades of rigorous public service as a prominent jurist. On that day, the Senate resumed the prolonged lame duck session, which the GOP upper chamber majority began after voters had elected Joe Biden to replace former President Donald Trump. Trump correctly refrained from nominating Flaum’s successor. Four months later, President Biden dutifully announced that he would name Candace Jackson-Akiwumi to replace Flaum. Jackson-Akiwumi is a particularly qualified, mainstream nominee. Because she comprehensively answered senators’ complex, probing questions, and the Seventh Circuit lacks any people …