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Full-Text Articles in Law

Indian Tribes And The Legal System, Ralph W. Johnson Oct 1997

Indian Tribes And The Legal System, Ralph W. Johnson

Washington Law Review

This article surveys the past and present role of lawyers in the field of Indian law, from the absence of attorneys in early treaty negotiations through the formative role lawyers played in developing the federal trust relationship, to their modem role as "legal warriors" for the increasingly independent, autonomous tribes of today. To understand all the changes now occurring in Indian law, a review of the background is helpful. What follows is a synopsis of the significant events in Indian history, focusing on how the U.S. government initially treated Indians and the role the legal profession played in this treatment.


The Role Of Bilateralism In Fulfilling The Federal-Tribal Relationship: The Tribal Rights-Endangered Species Secretarial Order, Charles Wilkinson Oct 1997

The Role Of Bilateralism In Fulfilling The Federal-Tribal Relationship: The Tribal Rights-Endangered Species Secretarial Order, Charles Wilkinson

Washington Law Review

On June 5, 1997, Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt and Secretary of Commerce William Daley signed a jointly-released Secretarial Order entitled "American Indian Tribal Rights, Federal-Tribal Trust Responsibilities, and the Endangered Species Act"' The Order culminated a year-and-a-half of work by tribes and federal officials to craft an administrative system for resolving difficult questions involving tribal rights and the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The Order is important for the ESA's implementation. It also carries broader significance, for it serves as one major example of how the government-to-government relationship between the United States and Indian tribes can be successfully implemented.


Taming The Bankruptcy Code's Toothless Tiger, 11 U.S.C. § 521(2), Julio M. Zapata Oct 1997

Taming The Bankruptcy Code's Toothless Tiger, 11 U.S.C. § 521(2), Julio M. Zapata

Washington Law Review

Federal appellate courts are divided on whether a debtor who files a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition and is current on the underlying contractual obligation secured by collateral is able to retain the collateral without redeeming it or reaffirming the debt under section 521(2) of the Bankruptcy Code. The Fourth and Tenth Circuits hold that the Code's options are not exclusive. Thus, the debtor may retain the collateral and continue under the terms of the contract as long as the payments are current In contrast, the Seventh and Eleventh Circuits hold that a debtor's only options are those listed in section …


When Is Enough Enough? Reduction To Practice And Summary Judgment During Patent Priority Disputes, R. Douglas Bradley Oct 1997

When Is Enough Enough? Reduction To Practice And Summary Judgment During Patent Priority Disputes, R. Douglas Bradley

Washington Law Review

This Note examines the current U.S. Patent and Trademark Office standards for determining patent priority in an interference proceeding. In particular, this Note reviews and criticizes the procedural rules governing the implementation of summary judgment in an interference. In Schendel v. Curtis, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit had the opportunity to articulate a clear analytical framework to guide Administrative Patent Judges in the determination of what experimental evidence, and how much of it, a party must present to establish a prima facie showing of reduction to practice. This Note argues that, in an interference proceeding, …


The Author Effect After The "Death Of The Author": Copyright In A Postmodern Age, Elton Fukumoto Jul 1997

The Author Effect After The "Death Of The Author": Copyright In A Postmodern Age, Elton Fukumoto

Washington Law Review

Copyright law employs terms and concepts, such as "originality" and "authorship," which the Romantic movement developed. Post-structuralism and Postmodernism, influential intellectual and artistic trends, have attacked the "author" concept by undermining its philosophical foundations. But when Postmodem artists act in accordance with their anti-author beliefs, they expose themselves to liability for copyright infringement. Recent copyright cases illustrate the courts' not entirely satisfactory response to the artistic appropriation of previous works. This Comment suggests that the courts read a pastiche exception, broader than the current exception for parody, into the fair use defense for copyright infringement.


Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due: Revisiting The Doctrine Of Reverse Passing Off In Trademark Law, John T. Cross Jul 1997

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due: Revisiting The Doctrine Of Reverse Passing Off In Trademark Law, John T. Cross

Washington Law Review

During the past twenty years, courts have increasingly come to accept a cause of action for "reverse passing off." Unlike the more typical case of passing off, reverse passing off occurs when a defendant sells a product manufactured by a plaintiff under the defendant's own mark. Despite this difference, courts regularly invoke federal and state trademark laws, including the Lanham Act, to give the plaintiff a right to recover. This Article challenges that conclusion. It argues that the Lanham Act does not actually support a cause of action against a defendant who engages in reverse passing off. In addition, most …


Disability And The Public Schools: The Case Against "Inclusion", Anne Proffitt Dupre Jul 1997

Disability And The Public Schools: The Case Against "Inclusion", Anne Proffitt Dupre

Washington Law Review

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires states that wish to qualify for federal assistance to demonstrate that they have a policy ensuring all children with disabilities the right to a "free appropriate public education." IDEA also requires that disabled children be educated with nondisabled children "to the maximum extent appropriate." This Article focuses on the tension between IDEA's mandates for appropriate education and integration to the maximum extent appropriate. Advocates of full inclusion claim that, under IDEA, all disabled children-regardless of characteristics-must be placed in the general education classroom for the entire day. Many courts have tacitly accepted …


Kochanksky V. Commissioner: The Assignment Of Income Doctrine, Community Property Law, And I.R.C. § 1041, Sarah Dods Jul 1997

Kochanksky V. Commissioner: The Assignment Of Income Doctrine, Community Property Law, And I.R.C. § 1041, Sarah Dods

Washington Law Review

In Kochansky v. Commissioner, the Ninth Circuit held that an attorney was fully taxable on a contingent fee he agreed to split with his spouse at divorce, reasoning that the assignment of income doctrine requires that income be taxed to the person who earns it. This Note observes that in applying the assignment doctrine, the Kochansky court erred by failing to determine the extent of the spouse's community property interest in the contingent fee; community property income must be taxed one-half to each spouse, regardless of which spouse earns it, which spouse collects it, and when it is collected. …


Consistent Inconsistency: Cercla Private Cost Recovery Actions And The Community Relations "Requirement", Shelley J. Pellegrino Jul 1997

Consistent Inconsistency: Cercla Private Cost Recovery Actions And The Community Relations "Requirement", Shelley J. Pellegrino

Washington Law Review

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) provides private parties with the right to recover their cleanup costs from third parties responsible for contaminating sites with hazardous waste. To do so, plaintiffs must show that their response costs are consistent with the National Contingency Plan (NCP), which establishes procedures and standards for hazardous waste cleanup. Courts presently diverge regarding the NCP community relations requirement. Some courts find that private parties satisfy these public participation provisions by working with a government agency. Other courts bold that private parties cannot recover their cleanup costs without providing the public with an …


Preemption Of State Product Liability Claims Involving Medical Devices: Premarket Approval As A Shield Against Liability, Robin Helmick Turner Jul 1997

Preemption Of State Product Liability Claims Involving Medical Devices: Premarket Approval As A Shield Against Liability, Robin Helmick Turner

Washington Law Review

Under the Medical Device Amendments of 1976 (MDA), Congress established a complex scheme for regulating medical devices. Congress also included an express preemption provision in the Amendments that prohibits states from imposing different or additional requirements on devices. Much controversy has focused on whether the preemption provision operates to preempt plaintiffs' state product liability claims against medical device manufacturers. Although in Medtronic, Inc. v. Lohr the U.S. Supreme Court recently attempted to resolve the controversy, its ruling left open the question of whether manufacturers of devices subject to the most rigorous form of Food and Drug Administration scrutiny, known as …


Surrogate End Of Life Decisionmaking: The Importance Of Providing Procedural Due Process, A Case Review, Kathryn L. Tucker Jul 1997

Surrogate End Of Life Decisionmaking: The Importance Of Providing Procedural Due Process, A Case Review, Kathryn L. Tucker

Washington Law Review

In a hospital in the State of Washington, at the direction of family-member surrogates, the feeding tube was withdrawn from a resident patient. The patient had no advance directive or living will, nor had he expressed the desire (previously or contemporaneously) for withdrawal of life support. He had not been diagnosed as terminally ill or permanently unconscious. In fact, there was evidence that the patient had some cognitive function, desired to continue living, and desired continued life support. This evidence was presented to his caregivers immediately after the patient was advised of the withdrawal, yet life support was not resumed …


Pavčnik's Theory Of Legal Decisionmaking: An Introduction, Louis E. Wolcher Apr 1997

Pavčnik's Theory Of Legal Decisionmaking: An Introduction, Louis E. Wolcher

Washington Law Review

Professor Pavčnik is one of the most prolific and interesting of those academics from the formerly communist states of Central and Eastern Europe who are currently writing on topics germane to legal philosophy. I had the privilege of co-teaching two classes with him at the University of Ljubljana in the fall of 1996-one on legal theory and the other on the philosophy of law-and in the course of our collaboration I acquired a great deal of respect for both the man and his work. The editors of the Washington Law Review, having had the excellent judgment to want to publish …


Cries And Whispers: Environmental Hazards, Model Rule 1.6, And The Attorney's Conflicting Duties To Clients And Others, Irma S. Russell Apr 1997

Cries And Whispers: Environmental Hazards, Model Rule 1.6, And The Attorney's Conflicting Duties To Clients And Others, Irma S. Russell

Washington Law Review

This Article explores the attorney's duty of confidentiality in the context of environmental dangers, examining the history and purpose of the duty and the model ethical rule that controls issues of confidentiality, Rule 1.6 of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct ("Model Rules"). Important scholarship has criticized Model Rule 1.6, but that scholarship has not explored the effects of the Rule in the area where the stakes are highest: environmental catastrophes. The Article analyzes the Rule's text, commentary, and legislative history and discusses the two predominant views of the attorney in our society, the attorney as champion and as officer …


Double Indemnity For Operators Of Nuclear Facilities? In Re Hanford Nuclear Reservation Litigation, The Price-Anderson Act, And The Government Contractor Defense, Chris Addicott Apr 1997

Double Indemnity For Operators Of Nuclear Facilities? In Re Hanford Nuclear Reservation Litigation, The Price-Anderson Act, And The Government Contractor Defense, Chris Addicott

Washington Law Review

Thousands of people who lived downwind of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation have brought suit against the contractors who operated the facility, claiming that radiation releases caused property damage, illness, and death. For the defendants, there is little at stake. Because they fall under the Price-Anderson Act, the U.S. Government will indemnify them for their legal expenses and any judgments against them. Nevertheless, the defendants have invoked the "government contractor defense," claiming that they should be immune from suit because anything they may have done wrong was done at the direction of the government. This Comment argues that the government contractor …


Legal Decisionmaking As A Responsible Intellectual Activity: A Continental Point Of View, Marijan Pavčnik Apr 1997

Legal Decisionmaking As A Responsible Intellectual Activity: A Continental Point Of View, Marijan Pavčnik

Washington Law Review

The legal decision in a concrete case is never completely given in advance in the statute. A theory of legal decisionmaking that sees the decider as someone who merely "applies the law" is inadequate to explain what goes on in the process of legal decisionmaking. The legal decision is a value synthesis assessing the normative starting point with regard to the factual starting point, and vice versa. This means that a legal decision can only be made when the normative state of constituent facts of the case has been formed on the basis of the statute, when from the life …


Charter Schools, Common Schools, And The Washington State Constitution, L.K. Beale Apr 1997

Charter Schools, Common Schools, And The Washington State Constitution, L.K. Beale

Washington Law Review

Early American political thinkers deemed universal education essential to the proper functioning of a republican form of government. Accordingly, each state developed a public school system supported by general taxation. The Washington Constitution requires the system to be both "general" and "uniform." Common schools, for which certain school funds are constitutionally reserved, are the most important and only mandatory component of the system. Recent charter school proposals raise questions as to whether such institutions fit within a general and uniform system and whether they are "common schools" entitled to common school funds. In order to provide a framework for such …


Sheldon V. Fettig: Interpreting The Substitute Service Of Process Statute In Washington, Dana Richardson Apr 1997

Sheldon V. Fettig: Interpreting The Substitute Service Of Process Statute In Washington, Dana Richardson

Washington Law Review

In Sheldon v. Fettig, the Washington Supreme Court announced a new rule for interpreting Washington's substitute service of process statute. This new rule calls for a liberal reading of the substitute service of process statute to better effect its legislative purpose, thus overruling the line of cases calling for strict construction of the substitute service of process statute. This Note analyzes the basis of the former rule, the Sheldon rule, and the Sheldon dissent's proposed rule. It concludes that the former rule of interpretation should be retained because it preserves canons of strict construction and better protects defendants' due …


What A Long Strange Trip It's Been: Court-Created Limitations On Rights Of Action For Negligently Furnishing Alcohol, Sheldon H. Jaffe Apr 1997

What A Long Strange Trip It's Been: Court-Created Limitations On Rights Of Action For Negligently Furnishing Alcohol, Sheldon H. Jaffe

Washington Law Review

Under the traditional view of the common law, drinking alcohol rather than providing alcohol acted as the proximate cause of any resulting harm, and therefore furmishers of alcohol had no duty to the people served or those injured by the persons served. The Washington Supreme Court has held that negligently furnishing alcohol can be a proximate cause in tort but has severely limited rights of action: vendors who serve minors or obviously intoxicated adults may be sued by subsequently injured innocent third parties, and all people who serve alcohol to minors may face suit if the minor is subsequently injured …


Emergency Care And Managed Care—A Dangerous Combination, Diane E. Hoffman Apr 1997

Emergency Care And Managed Care—A Dangerous Combination, Diane E. Hoffman

Washington Law Review

Managed care plan subscribers in need of emergency medical treatment often face unduly restrictive plan practices. These practices may result in life-threatening injury or significant financial obligations on the part of plan subscribers. They are the result of a managed health care system that is inadequately regulated and overly concerned with cost control. Economic incentives lead plans to deny approval for emergency medical treatment or to deny retroactively coverage for such treatment. Emergency medical providers also are harmed by these practices, often forced to treat patients under federal law but denied payment for their services. This Article describes this problem …


A Matter Of Life And Death: Revising The Harmless Error Standard For Habeas Corpus Proceedings, David M. Bowman Apr 1997

A Matter Of Life And Death: Revising The Harmless Error Standard For Habeas Corpus Proceedings, David M. Bowman

Washington Law Review

Since 1967, federal courts have conducted harmless error analysis to determine whether to uphold a prisoner's conviction notwithstanding a constitutional error committed at the prisoner's trial. A review of the development of the harmless error doctrine reveals how the U.S. Supreme Court and federal courts have solidified a rational impact test to determine harmlessness. More recently, the U.S. Supreme Court has moved away from a clearly defined test with respect to errors alleged by habeas corpus petitioners. This Comment analyzes the obstacles faced by habeas petitioners in establishing a magnitude of error sufficient for reversal under the newer doctrine. It …


Is Sky Reefer In Jeopardy? The Mla's Proposed Changes To Maritime Foreign Arbitration Clauses, Soo Sandra Jin Lee Apr 1997

Is Sky Reefer In Jeopardy? The Mla's Proposed Changes To Maritime Foreign Arbitration Clauses, Soo Sandra Jin Lee

Washington Law Review

After almost sixty years of change in the international commercial arena, the United States needs to revise its maritime law to reflect international practice. Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Vimar Seguros y Reaseguros, S.A. v. MIV Sky Reefer, held that foreign arbitration clauses in maritime bills of lading will be enforced. In an attempt to reverse this decision, the Maritime Law Association included in its proposal to revise the Carriage of the Goods by Sea Act a clause that specifically denies the enforcement of foreign arbitration clauses. This Comment argues that Congress should not adopt the proposed revision …


Judicial Deference To Administrative Construction Of Washington's Law Against Discrimination: Griffin V Eller And Marquis V. City Of Spokane, Michael Spiro Apr 1997

Judicial Deference To Administrative Construction Of Washington's Law Against Discrimination: Griffin V Eller And Marquis V. City Of Spokane, Michael Spiro

Washington Law Review

Washington's Law Against Discrimination is a broad remedial statute, granting both a general civil right to be free from discrimination and prohibiting certain specific "unfair practices." Although no person may be prevented from bringing a cause of action to enforce his or her civil rights, the remedies available for unfair practices are more limited. The Washington State Human Rights Commission ("Commission") recognized this statutory distinction, interpreting the Law Against Discrimination ("Act") to grant independent contractors the right to bring a cause of action for violations of their civil rights and to confine the statute's small employer exemption to its own …


Keeping Files On The File Keepers: When Prosecutors Are Forced To Turn Over The Personnel Files Of Federal Agents To Defense Lawyers, Lis Wiehl Jan 1997

Keeping Files On The File Keepers: When Prosecutors Are Forced To Turn Over The Personnel Files Of Federal Agents To Defense Lawyers, Lis Wiehl

Washington Law Review

The issue of whether criminal defense lawyers can compel federal prosecutors during pre-trial discovery to examine and turn over information in the personnel files of federal agents who will testify at trial has profoundly affected federal prosecutors, law enforcement agents, and defense lawyers alike. Demands for discovery of these files have risen steadily in recent years. In the hands of skilled defense counsel, information in a personnel file can be used to impeach an agent on the witness stand. For agents and prosecutors, much more is at stake than the way this information may be used at trial. Professional reputations …


Mikhail Bakhtin And Change In The Common Law, Russell West Jr. Jan 1997

Mikhail Bakhtin And Change In The Common Law, Russell West Jr.

Washington Law Review

Traditional legal analysis comprehends change in the common law over time as a shifting legal response to different facts and circumstances. This approach does not examine the internal mechanisms by which the meaning of a judicial opinion changes when cited in later legal writing. Mikhail Bakhtin, a literary and cultural theorist, argued that any statement can be understood only through the context in which it is uttered and that every change in context causes a shift in the statement's meaning. This Comment analyzes the internal mechanisms of judicial opinions in light of Bakhtin's theories. First, this Comment describes one example …


Desperate Times And Desperate Measures: The Troubled State Of The Ordinary Course Of Business Defense—And What To Do About It, Lawrence Ponoroff Jan 1997

Desperate Times And Desperate Measures: The Troubled State Of The Ordinary Course Of Business Defense—And What To Do About It, Lawrence Ponoroff

Washington Law Review

The ordinary course of business defense to the bankruptcy trustee's preference avoiding power has been controversial since its enactment in 1978. Burdened with a cryptic legislative history concerning its underlying goals, this preference exception has gone through multiple reinterpretations at the hands of Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court. In recent years, faced with a potentially expansive reading of the ordinary course defense that threatened to eclipse the rule, courts have used the "ordinary business terms" element of the defense to engraft an objective requirement that the party asserting the defense establish conformity of the challenged transfer with prevailing industry …


A Legal Roadmap To Privatizing Government Services In Washington State, Nancy Buonanno Grennan Jan 1997

A Legal Roadmap To Privatizing Government Services In Washington State, Nancy Buonanno Grennan

Washington Law Review

Government employers contract out and privatize some of their functions as one way of meeting the public's need for more efficient and effective services. The Washington State Supreme Court, in Washington Federation of State Employees v. Spokane Community College, interpreted the state's civil service laws as imposing a nearly complete bar on contracting out at the state level. That decision was later extended to local public sector employers, who already face complex collective bargaining rules that require them to bargain with unions about contracting out work that has been done or that could be done by their unionized employees. …


One Size Does Not Fit All: The Failure Of Washington's Licensing Standards For Alcohol And Drug Treatment Programs And Facilities To Meet The Needs Of Indians, Kelly S. Croman Jan 1997

One Size Does Not Fit All: The Failure Of Washington's Licensing Standards For Alcohol And Drug Treatment Programs And Facilities To Meet The Needs Of Indians, Kelly S. Croman

Washington Law Review

It is well recognized that culturally and spiritually relevant alcohol and chemical dependency treatment programs are most successful. Washington's licensing standards for such programs and facilities, however, fail to address the cultural and spiritual needs of Indians who they serve. The State's current one-size-fits-all approach offers no hope for improved treatment outcomes for Indians. This Comment demonstrates the inadequacy of Washington's current treatment facility and program licensing standards and examines the high costs of maintaining these standards. The Comment concludes with a proposal for specific legislation for the State of Washington.


Yamaha Motor Corp. V. Calhoun: An Examination Of Jurisidiction, Choice-Of-Laws, And Federal Interests In Maritme Law, B.J. Haeck Jan 1997

Yamaha Motor Corp. V. Calhoun: An Examination Of Jurisidiction, Choice-Of-Laws, And Federal Interests In Maritme Law, B.J. Haeck

Washington Law Review

In Yamaha Motor Corp. v. Calhoun, the U.S. Supreme Court determined that state remedies were still available for non-seamen killed inside of a state's three-mile territorial sea, despite the existence of a general maritime remedy at federal law. This Note argues that the Court failed to consider its traditional tests when confronted with this choice between state and federal maritime law. In so doing, it erred in finding that state law was applicable. The Court's decision also created a conflict between the traditional standard of significant federal interest required in order to confer federal admiralty jurisdiction to tort plaintiffs …


Lifesaving Legislation: But Will The Washington Stalking Law Survive Constitutional Scrutiny?, Jennifer A. Hueter Jan 1997

Lifesaving Legislation: But Will The Washington Stalking Law Survive Constitutional Scrutiny?, Jennifer A. Hueter

Washington Law Review

In 1992, the Washington Legislature responded to public demand for a law that would allow criminal prosecution of stalkers by enacting Washington Revised Code section 9AA6.1 10. This stalking legislation makes it a crime to harass or repeatedly follow another person. This law may infringe an individual's right to speak and move freely and, because the law may unconstitutionally limit protected conduct, a defendant may successfully challenge this statute's constitutionality in the future. This Comment examines the potential constitutional challenges to the stalking law and suggests revisions to the current language in the statute.


The Jurisidctional Shadowland Between The Nlrb And The National Mediation Board: Who's In Charge?, Shaunta M. Knibb Jan 1997

The Jurisidctional Shadowland Between The Nlrb And The National Mediation Board: Who's In Charge?, Shaunta M. Knibb

Washington Law Review

The National Labor Relations Act exempts all persons subject to the Railway Labor Act (RLA) from its jurisdiction. As a result, for over fifty years the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has referred challenges to its jurisdiction based on the RLA to the National Mediation Board, the RLA's administering agency. In 1995, however, the NLRB's decisions in Federal Express Corp. and United Parcel Service, Inc. cast doubt on this policy. Even though the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia then affirmed the NLRB's decision in United Parcel Service, the question of whether the NLRB has the authority …