Law Commons^™

"Exceedingly Unpersuasive” - Discrimination, Transgender Students, And School Bathrooms, Mark Dorosin

Journal Publications

This Article is organized chronologically, in an effort to more effectively reflect the nearly identical fact patterns, timelines, and intersecting opinions of these cases. Part I provides the factual background of both cases. Part II summarizes the substantial preliminary litigation in Grimm; Part III examines the district court ruling in Adams; Part IV analyzes the summary judgment ruling in Grimm. Part V covers Adams’ first appellate ruling; Part VI discusses the Fourth Circuit’s ruling in Grimm three weeks later, and Part VII considers the aftermath of that decision. Parts VIII and IX explore the second panel ruling in Adams and …

What, To The Marginalized Person, Is The American Dream, Deidre Keller

Journal Publications

I will organize this Note around three themes Douglass articulated in his speech. These themes, which remain timely and relevant over 170 years later, are (1) the importance of attending to those most impacted by injustices; (2) the responsibility of each of us to address the injustices we see in the world around us; and (3) the practice of remaining hopeful in the face of what, at times, may feel like daunting circumstances. I will structure this Note around these three themes as I consider what the American Dream means for marginalized persons. Throughout, I will weave in examples of …

India’S Use Of Public/Private Partnerships To Promote Rapid Expansion Of Solar Electricity Facilities, Kara Consalo

Journal Publications

This Article will explore the use of PPPs to encourage the flow of private capital and expertise toward development of low-carbon, low pollution, sustainable energy generation in India to achieve the country's ambitious goal of creating 175 gigawatts of renewably sourced electricity by 2022. The lessons in India's extensive use of PPPs to achieve such ambitious electricity goals should serve as a model for other governments to engage the private sector to successfully develop solar and other renewable energy projects with limited risk but with significant benefits for their citizens.

An Essay About Privacy, Ronald Griffin

Journal Publications

Jessye Norman was an American opera singer. She died on October 1, 2019. On October 2, 2019, my wife got a grim diagnosis that put me in a stupor and reminded me, now more than ever, that my generation (that did so much good in the world) stands in line waiting for the Grim Reaper’s call. In a seventy-years (that have gone by too fast) I have watched my peers run from the realms of privacy, spaces where people implemented life plans uninterrupted by neighbours that were discernible, palpable, and real to everybody, to a realm where there is none. …

Defying Middle Child Syndrome: A Proposal For Achieving Bar Success By Reimagining The 2l Experience, Eurilynne A. Williams

Journal Publications

Middle child syndrome is the belief that middle children are excluded, ignored, or even outright neglected because of their birth order. Traditional American law schools, just like many families, are comprised of several “children,” or more accurately stated, groupings of children consisting of 1L, 2L, and 3L students. The unspoken (or at least not very often spoken) truth about law schools is that the proverbial middle children, the 2Ls, have to a degree been excluded, ignored, or even outright neglected by the legal academy. While there is a body of research dedicated to children's personality traits based upon birth order,2 …

Vulnerable Populations: Climate Change And Extreme Weather Threats Facing Urban Communities, Kara Consalo

Journal Publications

This article explores increasing extreme weather threats facing American cities due to global climate change, including hurricanes, floods, heat waves, and wildfires. After explanation of such threats, the paper delves into case studies of the response and resiliency measures being undertaken by three preeminent coastal American cities to prepare for weather disasters: New York, Miami, and San Francisco. The paper concludes by providing guidance and recommendations for urban policymakers seeking to develop resiliency measures in the face of long-term effects and short-term emergencies created by climate and weather extremes. Such recommendations include how to initiate and fund development of climate …

The Battle Of Brandy Creek: How One Black Community Fought Annexation, Tax Revaluation, And Displacement, Mark Dorosin

Journal Publications

The Brandy Creek community is a working class, Black neighborhood located just east of I-95, south of Weldon, North Carolina.' In 2005, this rural neighborhood and its surrounding land were legislatively annexed into the city of Roanoke Rapids as part of a planned economic development project. The decision to pursue legislative annexation allowed city officials to bypass the statutory notice and municipal service requirements of a city-initiated, involuntary annexation. Residents were never informed of Roanoke Rapids' intent to annex the community and had no opportunity to voice their opinions on the issue to town officials. In fact, the community first …

Does The Doctrine Of Equitable Apportionment Apply To Conflicts Between States Over Groundwater Resources When Such Resources Are Derived From An Aquifer That Lies Beneath More Than One State?, Robert Abrams

Journal Publications

The Middle Claiborne Aquifer is a large sand formation that contains groundwater within its sand’s porous spaces. The Aquifer spans beneath Mississippi, Tennessee, and at least six other neighboring states. Since 1886, the City of Memphis has withdrawn water from the aquifer to supply drinking water. Memphis also has withdrawn water for irrigation and industrial purposes. Due to increased water pumping, water levels in the aquifer have dropped, lowering the piezometric head (water pressure) in different locations, including between the two states’ borders. In 2005, Mississippi filed suit against the City of Memphis and the Memphis Light, Gas and Water …

Traffickers' "F"Ing Behavior During A Pandemic: Why Pandemic Online Behavior Has Heightened The Urgency To Prevent Traffickers From Finding, Friending, And Facilitating The Exploitation Of Youth Via Social Media, Nicola A. Boothe-Perry

Journal Publications

During the trans-Atlantic slave trade, millions of native Africans were tricked into slavery. Today trans-continental deception continues, ensnaring victims from every corner of the world, many of whom are vulnerable children deceived and enslaved through violence and abuse. Ranked as the second most prevalent criminal enterprise, human trafficking is a multi-billion-dollar enterprise in the United States and across the world, with many of the victims recruited, solicited and exploited via social media. The correlation between this social media exploitation and the use of technology during the 2020 pandemic (hereinafter referred to as "Pandemic Online Behavior" or "POB") highlights the need …

, The American Constitution In The Cycle Of Kali Yuga: Eastern Philosophy Greets Western Democracy, Shiv Narayan Persaud

Journal Publications

This paper will explore the above-mentioned questions while taking into consideration the intent and overarching tenets of the Constitution in relation to the precepts of Kali Yuga. The hope is to generate discourse on some of the trappings of the Constitution and constitutional democracy in an ever changing and increasingly diverse and segmented society-a nation with a multiplicity of cultures with distinctive beliefs and moral systems. Emphatically stated, the intent is not to examine every article or amendment of the Constitution; this would be presumptuous. The intent is to foster an examination of the Constitution as the overall architectural framework …

Am I Angry? You Bet I Am! Watching The George Floyd Murder Trial, Cheryl Page

Journal Publications

We have come a mighty long way in our criminal justice system. We have gone from a period of time when people of African descent were not considered humans and were deliberately excluded from serving on jury panels to seeing Black judges, defense attorneys and prosecuting attorneys taking part in selecting more diverse juries. Progress has been made, but how far have we really journeyed, and are the vestiges of racial animus and discrimination from the Jim Crow era truly eradicated? One need not look further than the current criminal trial we are witnessing of former Minneapolis police officer Derek …

Historically Black Colleges & Universities: A Model For American Education, Jennifer M. Smith

Journal Publications

Hungry for freedom and knowledge, enslaved Blacks engaged in a massive general strike against slavery by transferring their labor from the Confederate planter to the Northern invader, and this decided the Civil War. In 1865, the North conquered the South, and slavery officially ended. Having been starved of the opportunity to learn to read or write, the recently emancipated Blacks were eager to learn. Within a year after slavery ended, however, Florida and other Southern states enacted laws to ensure the continuation of the vestiges of slavery in the United States. The legacy of slavery and racism evolved into an …

The Acf Water Wars Final Episode: Is Florida Entitled To Greater Flow In The Apalachicola River?, Robert Abrams

Journal Publications

This case marks the second trip to the Supreme Court for Florida’s equitable apportionment case seeking to obtain greater flows into Apalachicola Bay, the estuary of the ApalachicolaChattahoochee-Flint (ACF) River Basin. In a 2018 decision, the Supreme Court reviewed a report of then-Special Master Ralph Lancaster recommending that the Court deny relief to Florida because of the Court’s inability to provide relief without having the Army Corps of Engineers as a party to the litigation. At that time, a 5–4 majority ruled that the Special Master had applied too demanding a standard of proof to the issues surrounding redressability and …

Under The Pecos River Compact, Can Texas's Allocation Of Water Be Charged For Evaporation Of Floodwater Stored In An Upstream Reservoir Located In New Mexico?, Robert Abrams

Journal Publications

The 1949 Pecos River Compact allocates the river’s water between Texas and New Mexico. In an earlier phase of this original jurisdiction litigation, concluded roughly 30 years ago, the Supreme Court resolved issues regarding how the states’ obligations were to be calculated. The Compact allocation involves a highly technical formula that depends on measurements of the river’s inflow and outflow in each water year. To effectuate its decision going forward, the Court retained jurisdiction and appointed a River Master to oversee the annual quantification of New Mexico’s delivery obligation. The current dispute arose when in fall of 2014, Tropical Storm …

Damn It! A Conversation On Being Black, Female, And Marginalized During The Covid-19 Pandemic: Is The World Listening? A Conversation Between Black Female Law Professors, Patricia A. Broussard

Journal Publications

We are African American women with a combined forty-four years in academia. We are professors of law and have seen firsthand how COVID-19 has ravaged African Americans across this country. As we conversed with one another in the Spring of 2020 about what we were witnessing, we began to look through the spectrum of the law and discrimination, and how this novel Coronavirus is laying bare the inequities and inequalities that have been evident for hundreds of years in the Black community. We felt compelled to put pen to paper and document our conversations in an attempt to give a …

Does The National Forest Service Have Authority To Grant Rights-Of-Way Under The Mineral Leasing Act Through National Forest Lands Traversed By The Appalachian Trails, Robert Abrams

Journal Publications

Atlantic Coast Pipeline, LLC, proposed construction of a natural gas pipeline stretching from West Virginia to North Carolina. The route approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission included a section running across National Forest System land, including the point at which the pipeline would cross the Appalachian National Scenic Trail (ANST). After initial objections, the U.S. Forest Service reversed course and issued the needed right-of-way across National Forest System lands. Environmental groups objected and a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit unanimously held that the Forest Service had acted arbitrarily and capriciously thereby violating …

Professional Women Subjugated By Name-Calling And Character Attacks, Maritza I. Reyes

Journal Publications

The #MeToo Movement reminds us that women can begin movements through individual action. The #MeToo Movement also confirms that we are still dealing with the same old strategies that keep women in subjugated spaces, including in our workplaces. This Article analyzes how name-calling and character attacks continue to be used to put professional women in a gendered place. These strategies were used to defeat Hillary Clinton in her efforts to become the first female president of the United States. If we do not challenge their destructive effect, professional women will continue to be expected to put up with conduct that …

North Carolina's H.B.2: A Case Study In Lgbtq Rights, Preemption, And The (Un)Democratic Process, Mark Dorosin

Journal Publications

In 2014, community advocates in Charlotte, North Carolina, began organizing to press the city to amend its antidiscrimination ordinance to add several new protected classes, including sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. After a contentious hearing where opponents argued that the change-which would allow transgender people to use public restrooms according to their gender identity-would subject women and children to "sexual predators," the city council voted down the amendment. Undaunted, advocates worked over the next several months to elect new council members and a mayor who supported LGBTQ rights. The amendments to the civil rights ordinance were then brought …

Fighting Back From The Brink: International Efforts To Prevent Illegal Trafficking In Endangered Species, Kara Consalo

Journal Publications

This article advances the argument for sustainable harvesting as a broad supplement, even replacement, to the prevailing no-trade policies currently used in many countries and international organizations. It is the author’s premise that the no-trade conservation paradigm is failing to adequately prevent illegal trafficking and endangered wildlife populations are suffering catastrophic losses as a result. This article will explain the current state of prevailing no-trade regulations and efforts to stem the onslaught of illegal wildlife trafficking. The article will then explore two examples of successful sustainable farming and harvesting programs, the American alligator and the Peruvian vicuñas. After a comparison …

“Dreamers” Versus The Labels Used In Government Documents And Judicial Opinions In Department Of Homeland Security V. Regents Of The University Of California, Maritza I. Reyes

Journal Publications

Regretfully, the debate over immigration reform has been fueled and railroaded by rhetoric that is counter-productive, divisive, and dangerous . It is one thingfor people who are not knowledgeable of the law and its history to use the pejorative terms “illegal alien” and “illegal immigrant;” however, it should become unacceptable for government officials and judges to use labels like “illegal alien” and “illegal immigrant.” When placed in the historical and current context of the United States, these terms carry racial animus. They have developed to attach an identity as inferior human beings to a group of people who are not …

Enforcing The Right To Public Education, Areto A. Imoukuede

Journal Publications

This paper suggests that although each state within the United States currently recognizes a right to public education, the states do not provide meaningful and consistent judicial enforcement of the right. Recognizing a federal fundamental right to public education would be a step towards ensuring meaningful and consistent judicial enforcement of the right.

Grant Of Clemency To Cyntoia Brown Highlights Deep Rooted Social Issues, Cheryl Page

Journal Publications

Society and our criminal justice system place a value on victims and defendants. We manifest this valuation in how we mete out punishment, how we choose who will be stopped, frisked, searched, arrested, charged, given probation, have charges dismissed and even expunged. We show the worth we place in people by the fact that 95% of elected prosecutors are white males and they have control and say over a jail and prison population that is increasingly People of Color.

A Warrant Requirement Resurgence: The Fourth Amendment In The Roberts Court, Benjamin Priester

Journal Publications

Over many years, the United States Supreme Court has developed an extensive body of precedent interpreting and enforcing the provisions of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures by law enforcement agents conducting criminal investigations. Commonly called the "warrant requirement," one key component of this case law operates to deem some police investigatory techniques to be unconstitutional unless they are conducted pursuant to a search warrant issued in advance by a judge. The terms of the doctrine and its exceptions also authorize other investigatory actions as constitutionally permissible without a search warrant. The …

Unbowed, Unbroken, And Unsung: The Unrecognized Contributions Of African American Women In Social Movement, Politics, And The Maintenance Of Democracy, Patricia A. Broussard

Journal Publications

Black women have made huge contributions to American society in movements, politics, and maintenance of the democracy. Black women have been relegated to footnotes, turned in memes, and largely ignored in politics and other areas of power. Notwithstanding the disrespect, disregard, and failures of the larger society to acknowledge that black own have made significant contributions, not only in the in entertainment industry, but in numerous other ways that have shaped out cultural and political landscape, black women's contributions to the larger society have been huge and impactful; yet there are so many blank spaces where their stories should reside. …

The Pink Ghetto Pipeline: Challenges & Opportunities For Women In Legal Education, Renee N. Allen, Alicia Jackson

Journal Publications

The demographics of law schools are changing and women make up the majority of law students. Yet, the demographics of many law faculties do not reflect these changing demographics with more men occupying faculty seats. In legal education, women predominately occupy skills positions, including legal writing, clinic, academic success, bar preparation, or library. According to a 2010 Association of American Law Schools survey, the percentage of female lecturers and instructors is so high that those positions are stereotypically female.

The term coined for positions typically held by women is "pink ghetto." According to the Department of Labor, pink-collar-worker describes jobs …

The Female Body In The Workplace: Judges And The Common Law, Maritza I. Reyes

Journal Publications

If the common law serves to liberate women, everybody, including judges, should understand the role they do play and should play in the development of the common law. As a career law clerk in the federal courts, I witnessed the decision-making process inside the chambers of federal judges and in the courtrooms. I came to the conclusion that judges, more than statutory law, influence what happens to female bodies in the workplace. Litigants initially drive the common law by filing complaints. However, judicial decisions affect not only the litigants in their individual cases, they also serve as precedent for future …

Limiting Lessons From Property: Re-Imagining The Public Domain In The Image Of The Public Trust Doctrine, Deidre Keller

Journal Publications

No abstract provided.

The Double Whammy Of Being Female And African-American: How Black Women Are More Vulneralbe To Trafficking And Other Forms Of Discrimination, Cheryl Page

Journal Publications

Commercial sexual exploitation discriminates even among those that fall prey to this heinous criminal enterprise. It is impossible to comprehensively discuss this topic without addressing the fact that the majority of victims are female, females of color, traditionally are from a lower economic status, tend to not have as many educational opportunities, have experienced some form of abuse and trauma, have been a part of the foster care system, and have other vulnerabilities that make them even more susceptible to being trafficked. This discussion would be incomplete without also addressing how trafficking is connected to race and racial discrimination, poverty, …

The Truth Of The Matter: Why The Social Contract Dictates Legal Scholar's Sincerity, Candor, & Thoroughness, Nicola A. Boothe-Perry

Journal Publications

Legal scholars have filled books, treatises, magazines, journals and law reviews with various writings ranging from highly intricate and complex theses to oversimplified and homogenous explanations. In all its forms, legal scholarship has been both touted and taunted by external and internal critics throughout the years. Some suggest that legal scholarship should holistically "frame recommendations to responsible decision makers," and more specifically "help the reader understand law." Others suggest that it should be used to bring "restraint, proportion, perspective and atmosphere" into the legal landscape and society at large. Whatever its stated purpose and whether it be doctrinal, descriptive or …

Racial Justice And Federal Habeas Corpus As Postconviction Relief From State Convictions, Leroy Pernell

Journal Publications

It is the purpose of this Article not to simply document the influence of race on our criminal system and its role in the current racial crisis of overrepresentation of minorities in our prisons, but rather to focus on the future and importance of a key tool in the struggle for racial equity – federal habeas corpus as a postconviction remedy. By looking first at the racial context of several “landmark” criminal justice reform decisions, this Article considers how race serves as the root of the procedural due process reform that began in earnest during the Warren Court. This Article …