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Full-Text Articles in Law
Nimby's Legacy: A Challenge To Local Autonomy: Regulating The Siting Of Group Homes In New York, Anna L. Georgiou
Nimby's Legacy: A Challenge To Local Autonomy: Regulating The Siting Of Group Homes In New York, Anna L. Georgiou
Fordham Urban Law Journal
Group homes represent a non-traditional alternative to single family living. The advent of the group home has taken place since the 1970s for a number of reasons, namely, due to a severe shortage in affordable housing, particularly for newly employed young adults and the elderly, due to public policy considerations calling for deinstitutionalization of the developmentally disabled and mentally ill, and finally due to a growing need for congregate type living arrangements for other special needs populations. Part I of the article explores the framework of the New York State zoning authority and the methods by which municipalities regulate the …
Federalism For The New Millennium: Accounting For The Values Of Federalism, Dennis M. Cariello
Federalism For The New Millennium: Accounting For The Values Of Federalism, Dennis M. Cariello
Fordham Urban Law Journal
This Article explores the long and intricate history of federalism, the arrangement between the federal and local governments to serve the people, in the United States. It begins with the beginnings of federalism in pre-colonial times and continues to discuss how recent Supreme Court decisions have failed to articulate a cohesive test for federalism issues. Ultimately, the Article proposes a method for resolving federalism disputes. This method focuses on the sociopolitical and economic benefits of federalism as the Framers intended. Further, it argues that courts should inquire as to the utility of either the federal or local government regulating a …
Urban Welfare Reform: A Community-Based Perspective, Margo D. Butts
Urban Welfare Reform: A Community-Based Perspective, Margo D. Butts
Fordham Urban Law Journal
This Essay advocates for community-based efforts to redeem the welfare system. It first discusses the causes of welfare dependency, and the adverse effects of current reform proposals. It then outlines goals for effective welfare reform, and describes the welfare reform program being implemented by the Bedford-Stuyvesant community. It concludes that effective welfare reform requires community initiated programs that focus on remedying factors leading to poverty, best identified and dealt with on a local level.
Municipal Home Rule And The Conditions Of Justifiable Secession, Joseph P. Viteritti
Municipal Home Rule And The Conditions Of Justifiable Secession, Joseph P. Viteritti
Fordham Urban Law Journal
This Article suggests a uniform standard by which domestic legislatures may decide current and future secession cases. Part I discusses the philosophical and legal foundations of the Home Rule principle and its relationship to secession. Part II considers secession as a political and legal concept, its underpinnings and the moral arguments on both sides of secession debates. Part III suggests a unified standard by which legislatures may consider secession attempts; and Part IV applies this standard to our prototypical Staten Island case. The article concludes that if the New York State legislature were to apply these uniform criteria to review …
State Of New York Temporary State Commission On Local Government Ethics Final Report
State Of New York Temporary State Commission On Local Government Ethics Final Report
Fordham Urban Law Journal
The New York Temporary State Commission on Local Government Ethics was constituted in 1987 in response to several ethics scandals in New York City government. The commission was tasked primarily with aiding local governments in evaluating and revising their own ethics standards, and with proposing new municipal ethics legislation for the State of New York. The commission's proposal for local ethics reform rested on the propositions that most local officials are honest and ethical; that local governments are heavily dependent on volunteers; that local government ethics must be enforced at the local level; that ethics rules must be reasonable, sensible, …
Keeping The Faith: A Model Local Ethics Law - Content And Commentary, Mark Davies
Keeping The Faith: A Model Local Ethics Law - Content And Commentary, Mark Davies
Fordham Urban Law Journal
Investigations by the New York Temporary State Commission on Local Government Ethics has revealed serious problems in local government ethics laws. While in large part local officials behave ethically, due to lack of adequate guidance provided by existing local ethics rules, these officials are often perceived as acting unethically. The commission's investigations reveals a long list of commonplace activities by local officials that, while questionable, do not technically violate existing local ethics standards. The Model Local Ethics Law proposed by the commission, which was not seriously considered by the State legislature, would do much to clarify the bounds of ethical …
It's Time To Privatize, E.S. Savas
It's Time To Privatize, E.S. Savas
Fordham Urban Law Journal
Schools are failing, crime is commonplace, streets are filthy, transportation is a test of endurance, drug addiction is a curse, and millions have fled the city seeking a higher quality of life. The problem? New York City government. This paper argues that to fix the myriad of problems facing New Yorkers, the only solution is a restructuring of government that would lead to a privatization, allowing New Yorkers to rely more heavily on private industry instead of government. This system would force public agencies and private firms to compete for the privilege of providing public services and thereby earning taxpayers' …
Local Government Action And Antitrust Policy: An Economic Analysis, Timothy J. Brennan, Timothy J. Brennan, Timothy J. Brennan, Timothy J. Brennan
Local Government Action And Antitrust Policy: An Economic Analysis, Timothy J. Brennan, Timothy J. Brennan, Timothy J. Brennan, Timothy J. Brennan
Fordham Urban Law Journal
At least partly as a result of the Supreme Court decision in Community Communications Co. v. City of Boulder, cities are facing antitrust challenges to their rights to franchise cable television systems. Other municipal activities have been similarly challenged. The prospect of costly and uncertain antitrust litigation challenging local government actions will restrict the scope and extent of local regulatory activity. Such restrictions could, in turn, preempt city residents' ability to choose, through their elected representatives, the goods and services they prefer. This Article proposes that as a mater of policy the burden of proving a municipal antitrust violation should …