Law Commons^™

State Session Freeze Laws—Potential Solution Or Unconstitutional Restriction?, Dru Swaim

Seattle University Law Review

Since the Citizens United decision in 2010 reduced Congress’s ability to constitutionally regulate money in elections, proponents of campaign finance reform have looked for alternative ways to achieve the goals of greater transparency and reduce the amount of money spent in federal elections. In the three years since Citizens United, the amount of money spent in federal campaigns has increased exponentially. In fact, the total amount of money spent in federal elections has nearly doubled since 2000. Citizens United represents a serious blow to the traditional methods used to restrict the amount of money in politics: limitations on the amounts …

Taxation, Craig D. Bell

University of Richmond Law Review

The overall purpose of this article is to provide Virginia tax and general practitioners with a concise overview of the recent developments in Virginia taxation that will most likely impact those practitioners. This article does not, however, discuss many of the numerous technical legislative changes to title 58.1 of the Virginia Code, which covers taxation.

Corporate And Business Law, Laurence V. Parker Jr.

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Family Law, Sharon K. Lieblich

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Addressing Climate Change: Have The Political Winds Shifted In Favor Of A Carbon Tax?, Jesse Reiblich

LSU Journal of Energy Law and Resources

Policymaking to combat climate change has been almost nonexistent despite the scientific community’s consensus that the time to act is now. Regardless, climate change remains a volatile political issue that divides our nation and its legislators. Advocates of reducing carbon emissions have traditionally endorsed several tools available to policymakers and administrative agencies in order to curb climate change: rulemaking under the Clean Air Act, capand-trade, and carbon taxes. Carbon tax legislation has gained traction after endorsements from both sides of the political aisle, and because it could be used to raise funds to reduce the United States’ deficit. Even policymakers …

Modern Reformation: An Overview Of New York’S Domestic Relations Law Overhaul, Meaghan E. Howard

Touro Law Review

With nearly half of all first time marriages ending in divorce, there is no wonder that legal reform in the area of domestic relations law has recently taken the State of New York by storm. New York held onto the relic of fault-based divorce for an unusually long period of time, in part due to notions of marital sanctity and reinforcement of the traditional nuclear family. On the other hand, the State, after succumbing to the battle over no-fault divorce, quickly adopted a progressive social and legislative policy by validating the desire of same-sex couples to marry.

The Achievement Gap And Disparate Impact Discrimination In Washington Schools, Sarah Albertson

Seattle University Law Review

In today’s public schools, students designated as “white” and “Asian” consistently outperform students from other ethnic groups in test scores and graduation rates. These disparities, commonly called “the achievement gap,” are a symptom of greater issues, or “opportunity gaps.” Washington State has recently taken a further step to address the achievement gap and racial discrimination in schools. In 2010, the Washington legislature passed the Equal Education Opportunity Law (EEOL), HB 3026, in response to the recommendations in commissioned achievement gap studies. The EEOL authorizes the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) to enforce this law through regulations. This …

The Origins Of American Design Patent Protection, Jason John Du Mont, Mark D. Janis

Indiana Law Journal

Many firms invest heavily in the way their products look, and they rely on a handful of intellectual property regimes to stop rivals from producing look-alikes. Two of these regimes—copyright and trademark—have been closely scrutinized in intellectual property scholarship. A third, the design patent, remains little understood except among specialists. In particular, there has been virtually no analysis of the design patent system’s core assumption: that the rules governing patents for inventions should be incorporated en masse for designs.

One reason why the design patent system has remained largely unexplored in the literature is that scholars have never explained how …

Same-Sex Divorce In The United States: Protecting The Interests Of The Children, Joan Catherine Bohl

University of Miami Race & Social Justice Law Review

In light of recent political, legal, and legislative developments, the status of same-sex couples across the United States has become increasingly complex. This article focuses on the issue of same-sex divorce in a mobile society. When a same-sex couple moves from a state recognizing same-sex marriage—or from Canada—to a state that does not expressly recognize same-sex marriage, dissolution of that marriage can become a byzantine problem much more complex than a state’s “official” position on same-sex marriage. Relevant factors can range from the state’s legislative and executive pronouncements affecting homosexual citizens in areas such as pension benefits and health plans …

State Legislative Update, Molly Karcher, Alexandra Klaus, Ryan J. Nichols, Stanley A. Prenger

Journal of Dispute Resolution

As the use of collaborative law increases, the need for uniform laws to help facilitate this process across state lines grew. In February 2007, the Uniform Law Commission (ULC) began drafting an act to address this need. At the July 2009 meeting, the Uniform Collaborative Law Act (UCLA) was unanimously approved by the Commission and was subsequently submitted to the American Bar Association (ABA) House of Delegates for approval. In March 2010, the house approved the amended act after the ULC made a few small changes per the house's recommendation. Since receiving ABA approval, the UCLA has been passed in …

When Congress Practices Medicine: How Congressional Legislation Of Medical Judgment May Infringe A Fundamental Right, Shannon L. Pedersen

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Government Code 800: Reimbursement Of Counsel Fees, Gayle Posner

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Juvenile Justice In Transition , Julian C. Dixon

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Employer Unfair Practices Under California's Rodda Act And The Nlra: A Comparative Survey, H. Anthony Miller

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Spelling Out Lgbt: Enumerating Sexual Orientation In Virginia's Anti-Bullying Law, Melissa Wright

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Toward A Right To Counsel In Civil Cases In New York State: A Report Of The New York State Bar Association, Laura K. Abel

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Making Impossible Tax Reform Possible, Susannah Camic Tahk

Fordham Law Review

The United States has long struggled to reform its federal income tax code. Despite enthusiastic and widespread bipartisan support for tax reform laws that would eliminate special–interest loopholes, the legislative process has been paralyzed when it comes to passing these laws. This Article proposes a solution to this seemingly intractable federal tax lawmaking paralysis. This paralysis arises because tax reform spreads its benefits among broad groups while concentrating its costs on narrow ones. Political science theory accurately predicts that laws with this cost–benefit allocation will fail. However, federal lawmakers can overcome tax lawmaking paralysis by distributing tax reform’s costs and …

"The Harshness And Injustice Of The Common Law Rule... Has Frequenly Been Commented Upon": Debating Contributory Negligence In Canada, 1914-1949, R Blake Brown, Noelle Yhard

Dalhousie Law Journal

In the early twentieth century many legal professionals damned the law of contributory negligence as complicated and unfair to plaintiffs barred from recovery, while businesspeople often complained thatjudges and juries refused to find sympathetic plaintiffs contributorily negligent. Elite Canadian lawyers, through their work in the Canadian Bar Association and the Commission on Uniformity of Legislation in Canada, proposed model contributory negligence legislation that a number of provinces subsequently adopted. Reviews of these statutes were mixed however The large body of existing case law, despite its complications, encouraged some lawyers and judges to fall back on older jurisprudence in interpreting the …

Corporate Homicide: The Stark Realities Of Artificial Beings And Legal Fictions , Douglas S. Anderson

Pepperdine Law Review

In the aftermath of one of the most highly publicized trials in product liability annals-the celebrated Pinto case-the legal question raised by that litigation remains unresolved. Controversy continues as to whether a corporation should be convicted of homicide when it knowingly markets an unsafe product that results in death. Today the answer is a resounding "no", in light of state statutes defining homicide as the killing of one human being by another, difficulties in finding the requisite criminal intent; and the practical problems of placing a legal fiction behind bars. However, there are recent indications that these present obstacles to …

Legislative Update: Revisions In The California Drunk Driving Law, A. Randall Farnsworth

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

State Preemption Of Cable Television Regulation — Whatever Happened To The Sanctity Of Contract?, William M. Marticorena, Lynda E. Marticorena

Pepperdine Law Review

California Government Code section 53066.1 as recently amended gives cable television operators the right to obtain rate increases even in the face of the city or county franchisor opposition. Since most cable franchise agreements allow the franchisor to control rates for the cable service, there is a conflict between the statute and the franchise contracts. This article examines the issue of whether the statute violates the constitutional provisions against the impairment of contracts and whether the franchisor or a subscriber of the service has the necessary standing to assert the constitutional argument.

The Constitutional Issues Surrounding The Science-Religion Conflict In Public Schools: The Anti-Evolution Controversy, Michael M. Greenburg

Pepperdine Law Review

Since the infamous Scopes trial the matter of the constitutional validity of the "anti-evolution" laws has plagued both legal scholars and school administrators. The courts have generally invalidated legislation which bans outright the teaching of evolution in public schools, but with the advent of the "balanced treatment" acts, a revival of this litigation has begun. The author examines the constitutional analysis utilized by the courts in dealing with the "anti-evolution" and "balanced treatment" acts and provides an historical perspective of the first amendment to question the Court's response to the issue.

Under The Influence Of California's New Drunk Driving Law: Is The Drunk Driver's Presumption Of Innocence On The Rocks? , Douglas Caiafa, A. Randall Farnsworth

Pepperdine Law Review

On January 1, 1982, the new California drunk driving law went into effect. This law makes it a crime to drive a motor vehicle where one's blood alcohol level is .10 or more. The law also marks a legislative attempt to curtail the practice of plea bargaining in drunk driving cases and significantly increases the penalties imposed upon those convicted of drunk driving. This Comment will discuss the provisions of the new drunk driving law and examine its constitutionality.

Should Pets Inherit?, Frances H. Foster

Florida Law Review

On August 20, 2007, billionaire hotelier Leona Helmsley died, survived by her brother, four grandchildren, twelve great-grandchildren, and her beloved companion of eight years, a white Maltese dog named Trouble. One week later came news that shocked the world. Helmsley left $12 million to Trouble. Across the globe, reporters, readers, lawyers, and law professors alike greeted the news with outrage and derision. Critics called the legacy “obscene,” “ridiculous,” and, as lawyer Mickey Sherman put it, “an amazing waste of money.” In a letter to the editor of her local newspaper, a Rochester woman expressed her disgust at Helmsley’s decision, noting …

The Expansion Of Criminal Registries And The Illusion Of Control, Molly J. Walker Wilson

Louisiana Law Review

The American public consistently ranks crime prevention as the single most important objective for the criminal justice system, putting this goal ahead of punishment, enforcement, and rehabilitation. One popular but controversial method recently employed to prevent recidivism is the use of offender registries. The most common type of registry currently in use is the sex-offender registry. Responding to the public's perception that sex offenders pose a particular risk to society, federal legislators--as well as legislators in all 50 states and the District of Columbia-- have enacted legislation creating mandatory sex-offender registries. The primary rationale for tracking and notification requirements was …

Condominium Associations: Living Under The Due Process Shadow, Brian L. Weakland

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Reasonable Expectations: Seeking A Principled Application, William A. Mayhew

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Institutionalization Of Alternative Dispute Resolution By The State Of California , Bruce Monroe

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Recent Developments In Alternative Dispute Resolution , Lee R. Petillon

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

California Liquor Liability: A Decade After Coulter V. Superior Court , Darla R. Desteiguer

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.