Law Commons^™

Case Law On American Indians: October 2022 - August 2023, Thomas P. Schlosser

American Indian Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Modernizing Language In The California Government Claims Act To Enable Consistent Enforcement Of Statutory Sovereign Immunity, Thomas Langtry

Golden Gate University Law Review

Ideally, sovereign immunity provisions should (1) protect public officials from undue interference with discharge of their duties and (2) hold accountable public officials who act unlawfully. Analytical frameworks and statutes at both the federal and state levels often fail to fulfill these objectives. Federal courts are guided by statutes and objectives that are indirectly relevant to state courts. As a result, states are left to address independently how to address clams of sovereign immunity when plaintiffs file suits alleging torts by public entities and employees. In California, when plaintiffs sue public employees or entities in civil court, the California Government …

Law Enforcement Measures Against Chinese Maritime Militia, Kentaro Furuya

International Law Studies

This article undertakes a comprehensive legal assessment of Chinese maritime militia vessels and their operations, employing a law enforcement perspective as the analytical lens. During peacetime, those vessels engage in fishing and low-intensity military activities but during armed conflict they transition to tasks like reconnaissance. Notably, these maritime militias are frequently deployed in what is commonly termed as "gray zone" scenarios, which lack a clearly defined designation as either peacetime or armed conflict. Their principal objective lies in asserting territorial claims without resorting to full-scale armed conflict. This article delves into an exploration of the legal status accorded to these …

Sovereign Immunity Tests Bankruptcy’S Least Contested Axioms, Deborah L. Thorne, Luke L. Sperduto

Emory Bankruptcy Developments Journal

Section 106 of the Bankruptcy Code expressly abrogates the sovereign immunity of governmental units with respect to fifty-nine other provisions of the Code. There are currently two distinct issues splitting circuit courts over the meaning of this provision. First, does section 106 waive the sovereign immunity of the Internal Revenue Service in avoidance actions brought against it by a bankruptcy trustee under section 544(b)? Second, are Native American Indian Tribes “governmental units” within the meaning of section 101(27), such that their sovereign immunity is abrogated to the extent set forth in section 106? Invoking conventional canons of statutory construction, this …

When Uncle Sam Spills: A State Regulator’S Guide To Enforcement Actions Against The Federal Government Under The Clean Water Act, Ian M. Staeheli

Washington Law Review

The U.S. government is one of the largest polluters on the planet. With over 700 domestic military bases and countless more federal facilities and vessels operating within state borders, there exists an enormous potential for spills and discharges of pollutants into state waters. The regulatory burden for enforcing environmental laws against the federal government falls on the Environmental Protection Agency and state regulators. But enforcing laws and regulations against the federal government and its progeny is a daunting regulatory task.

Other scholarship addresses some of the vexing peculiarities involved when regulating Uncle Sam. Those works discuss the “confusing mess” that …

Doing The Right Thing, The Right Way, The First Time: Decision-Making In Public And Private Arenas Regarding The Use Of Service Animals, Maureen E. Lally-Green, Annemarie Harr Eagle Esq., Bridget M. Green

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Intelligence Collection And The International Law Of The Sea, James Kraska

International Law Studies

This article explores the legal implications of intelligence collection operations at sea. It concludes that in terms of the international law of the sea, intelligence collection that occurs outside of the territorial sea is lawful. Furthermore, even intelligence collection by a foreign ship inside the territorial sea, while a violation of State sovereignty, may not violate the law of the sea, per se. Additionally, within the territorial sea, coastal States are limited in the measures they may take against foreign-flagged submarines and surface warships collecting intelligence since those activities do not constitute an armed attack or even the use of …

Still On Patrol: An Argument For Greater Protections For Sunken American State Vessels In International And Foreign Coastal Waters, Sarah Elizabeth Catterson

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

Quint, the surly captain from Steven Spielberg’s Jaws, is perhaps most famous for his soliloquy recounting the Indianapolis tragedy. The Indy, as she was called, sunk just under fifteen minutes after being hit by Japanese torpedoes in 1945 following her delivery of the components for the Hiroshima atomic bomb to the Pacific island of Tinian. It took the Navy five days to realize she was missing, by which point 600 of the 800 survivors had died from exposure or shark attacks. The Indy remained missing until she was found seventy-two years later by the Petrel, a …

“Magic Words” And Original Understanding: An Amplified Clear Statement Rule To Abrogate Tribal Sovereign Immunity, Justin W. Aimonetti

Pepperdine Law Review

The Indian plenary power doctrine—an invention of the late nineteenth-century Supreme Court—grants Congress exclusive authority to legislate with respect to Indian tribes, including the ability to abrogate tribal sovereign immunity. Under current doctrine, Congress must “unequivocally express” its intent to abrogate the sovereign immunity of Indian tribes with “explicit legislation.” Circuit courts tasked with applying this standard have split on the level of textual specificity required to strip tribes of their immunity. Employing the tools of statutory construction, courts are divided over whether the term ‘domestic government,’ as found in Section 106 of the Bankruptcy Code, unequivocally covers Indian tribes. …

Secrets, Sovereigns, And States: Analyzing State Government's Liability For Trade Secret Misappropriation, Grant Cole

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

Trade secrets are many business's most valuable assets. From Google’s algorithm to Coca-Cola’s secret recipe, trade secrets are becoming increasingly important to businesses and our economy. What if state governments could simply misappropriate these trade secrets without liability? Sadly, this situation is not uncommon. Many state governments have misappropriated trade secrets with virtual impunity. This is because the doctrine of sovereign immunity protects state governments from liability. This leaves businesses that deal with the government without a way to recover for the misappropriation of their trade secrets. This result is especially damaging because once a trade secret is no longer …

Food Allergy Bullying As Disability Harassment: Holding Schools Accountable, D'Andra Millsap Shu

University of Colorado Law Review

Millions of American schoolchildren of all ages suffer from food allergies, and increasingly, bullies target these children because of their allergies. If a bully exposes a victim to an allergen, food allergy bullying can sicken or kill within minutes. Food allergy bullying is already responsible for many hospitalizations and at least one death. Most food allergy bullying happens at school, and schools play a crucial part in addressing and preventing bullying. All too often, though, schools fail to take appropriate action. Sovereign immunity and other obstacles insulate public schools from liability in many instances, but federal disability law may provide …

Sovereign Immunity Issues For Tech Transfer Programs At State Universities, Agnes Gambill

Journal of the Patent and Trademark Resource Center Association

Technology transfer is the process of transforming research and ideas into viable commercial opportunities. Notable examples of tech transfer include Google, artificial intelligence, life-saving vaccines, and renewable energy technology. Universities and colleges play an important role in the technology transfer process, ranging from brokering commercial partnerships, negotiating license agreements, and protecting intellectual property. Valuable patents are often at stake, and as a result, universities should anticipate litigation risks. State universities, in particular, face new and unusual challenges as a result of their status as state entities. Under the 11th Amendment, state universities, as an arm of the state, can claim …

Waiving Federal Sovereign Immunity In Original Actions Between States, Sandra B. Zellmer

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

There are tremendous disparities between high stakes original actions between states before the U.S. Supreme Court, where there is no waiver of federal sovereign immunity, and other types of cases in the lower courts, where a plethora of immunity waivers allow states and other parties to seek relief from the federal government for Fifth Amendment takings, unlawful agency action, and tort claims. Federal actions or omissions are often at the heart of the dispute, and federal involvement may be crucial for purposes of providing an equitable remedy to the state parties, but there is no reliable mechanism for bringing the …

Sovereign Immunity, The Au, And The Icc: Legitimacy Undermined, Christa-Gaye Kerr

Michigan Journal of International Law

This note examines how the International Criminal Court’s indictment of African leaders has led to a breakdown in the relationship between the Court and the African Union and offers solutions to repair this relationship. In particular, the ICC’s blanket rejection of sovereign immunity and its close relationship with the UNSC delegitimize the Court. As an organization that relies on the cooperation of states across the world, this is something the Court cannot afford. The ICC’s decade-long fight with the African Union over the disproportionate number of charges leveled against African nationals has weakened its stature with African states. This has …

Patently Inconsistent: State And Tribal Sovereign Immunity In Inter Partes Review, John Mixon

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

This Note is composed of four parts. Part I reviews the origins, development, and purpose of both tribal and state sovereign immunity, compares the two doctrines, and concludes that the two are functionally the same despite deriving from different historical roots. Part II provides an overview of the history and purpose behind the patent system, the America Invents Act, and IPRs. Part II also analyzes the constitutionality of IPRs, as decided by the Supreme Court in Oil States Energy Services, LLC v. Greene’s Energy Group, LLC. Part III introduces and addresses the five IPR decisions on state sovereign …

Monetizing Tribal And State Sovereign Immunity In Patent Law: An Attempt To Neutralize The Patent Death Squad, Sean P. Belding

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

On September 8, 2017, Allergan announced the assignment of six of its patents to the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe. These six patents protected Allergan 's exclusivity over the blockbuster drug RESTASIS and were at risk of invalidity due to an inter partes review proceeding. In return for substantial monetary consideration, the Mohawk Tribe granted Allergan an exclusive license back and agreed to invoke its tribal sovereign immunity in an attempt to obtain a dismissal of the inter partes review proceedings against the RESTASIS patents. Allergan's strategy is an attempt to monetize sovereign immunity that raises significant concerns in patent law …

In Search Of A Unified Theory Of The Duties Flowing From Property Ownership In Virginia: A Response To Mcelhaney’S If A Tree Falls, E. Kyle Mcnew

Washington and Lee Law Review

In his Note, Ian McElhaney concludes that the Court got it right in Cline v. Dunlora South, LLC—that the landowner owes no duty to protect travelers on adjoining roadways from natural conditions on the landowner’s property—because the Court also got it right in Cline v. Commonwealth when it held that the Commonwealth of Virginia may have that duty instead. In the narrowest view, that is certainly a defensible position. If the case is just about natural conditions and roads, then there is intuitive appeal in saying that they are the Commonwealth’s roads; so, it is the Commonwealth’s job to make …

If A Tree Falls In A Roadway, Is Anyone Liable?: Proposing The Duty Of Reasonable Care For Virginia’S Road-Maintaining Entities, Ian J. Mcelhaney

Washington and Lee Law Review

This Note considers whether a duty for road-maintaining entities is tenable under Virginia law. It also explores the rationale for imposing differing liabilities between landowners and road-maintaining entities. Part III reviews the various duties other states use with respect to dangerous roadside trees and concludes that the duty of reasonable care is most appropriate for Virginia. Sovereign immunity is a companion issue and is addressed in Part IV. The Part provides a brief overview of the policy arguments for sovereign immunity, before reviewing immunity’s impact at the state, county, and municipal levels. The Part also addresses a government employee’s entitlement …

A Few Thoughts On “If A Tree Falls In A Roadway . . . .”, David Eggert

Washington and Lee Law Review

This Response to Ian McElhaney’s note examines (1) the background legal context that got us to where we are on falling-tree liability; (2) how this peculiar issue fits into Virginia’s general approach to the law; and (3) presents some thoughts on Mr. McElhaney’s reasoning and ultimate conclusions in urging liability for road maintainers.

Venezuela Undermines Gold Miner Crystallex's Attempts To Recover On Its Icsid Award, Sam Wesson

Loyola of Los Angeles International and Comparative Law Review

No abstract provided.

Sovereign Immunity For Rent: How The Commodification Of Tribal Sovereign Immunity Reflects The Failures Of The U.S. Patent System, Katrina G. Geddes

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

Last year, a Fortune 500 pharmaceutical company attempted to rent the sovereign immunity of an American Indian tribe in order to shield its patents on a dry-eye drug from invalidation by generic competitors in inter partes review. Pharmaceutical firms are notorious for pursuing unconventional methods to extend the duration of their patents and, in this sense, the maneuver is unsurprising. The exploitation, however, of an historically disenfranchised community with limited economic opportunities is particularly unsettling. This Article will provide, firstly, a factual summary of the legal background of this case; secondly, a review of the February 2018 decision of the …

Ericsson, Inc. V. Regents Of The University Of Minnesota And A New Frontier For The Waiver By Litigation Conduct Doctrine, Jason Kornmehl

Pepperdine Law Review

Eleventh Amendment sovereign immunity is one of the most confusing areas of constitutional law. The waiver by litigation conduct doctrine represents a particularly complex aspect of Eleventh Amendment immunity. Courts, for example, have not precisely defined the extent to which waiver in a prior proceeding might extend to a future one. The Patent Trial and Appeals Board recently considered this issue in a novel context. In Ericsson, Inc. v. Regents of the University of Minnesota, the Patent Trial and Appeals Board applied the waiver by litigation conduct doctrine in an inter partes review proceeding. Combining the Eleventh Amendment, non-Article III …

Belligerent Obligations Under Article 18(1) Of The Second Geneva Convention: The Impact Of Sovereign Immunity, Booty Of War, And The Obligation To Respect And Protect War Graves, Wolff Heintschel Von Heinegg

International Law Studies

Article 18(1) of the Second Geneva Convention requires parties to an international armed conflict, “after each engagement” and “without delay,” to “take all possible measures to search for and collect the wounded and sick, to protect them against pillage and ill-treatment, to ensure their adequate care, and to search for the dead and prevent their being despoiled.” This article focuses on the latter obligation: the duty to search for and collect the dead. It assesses this obligation in light of the International Committee of the Red Cross 2017 Commentary on the Second Geneva Convention, the first such commentary completed by …

Eight Justices Are Enough: A Proposal To Improve The United States Supreme Court, Eric J. Segall

Pepperdine Law Review

Over the last twenty-five years, some of the most significant Supreme Court decisions involving issues of national significance like abortion, affirmative action, and voting rights were five-to-four decisions. In February 2016, the death of Justice Antonin Scalia turned the nine-Justice court into an eight-Justice court, comprised of four liberal and four conservative Justices, for the first time in our nation’s history. This article proposes that an evenly divided court consisting of eight Justices is the ideal Supreme Court composition. Although the other two branches of government have evolved over the years, the Supreme Court has undergone virtually no significant changes. …

Navajo Nation V. Department Of The Interior, Jaclyn R. Van Natta

Public Land & Resources Law Review

In Navajo Nation v. Department of the Interior, the Navajo Nation challenged the Department of the Interior’s 2001 and 2008 water allocation guidelines and asserted that under NEPA and the APA the guidelines violated the Navajo Nation’s water rights. The Navajo Nation also asserted a breach of trust claim against the United States. After nearly a decade of attempted settlement negotiations, the Navajo Nation reasserted its complaints. The District Court for the District of Arizona denied the Navajo Nation’s motions, and the Navajo Nation appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which determined the Navajo Nation lacked standing, …

Sovereign Immunity And The Crisis Of Constitutional Absolutism: Interpreting The Eleventh Amendment After Alden V. Maine, Matthew Mustokoff

Maine Law Review

Toward the end of her article, The History of Mainstream Legal Thought, Elizabeth Mensch identifies federalism as a dominant theme in recent Supreme Court decisions. The Court's focus on questions of federalism, however, cannot be directly attributed to the emergence of any specific social or political issues dividing champions of strong central government from defenders of state sovereignty. Instead, the Court's scrutiny seems to have arisen from a perplexing, frustrating, and self-contradictory body of Eleventh Amendment jurisprudence and the perpetual call for judicial clarification it has produced. While the text of the Eleventh Amendment is unambiguous—its language specifically bestows immunity …

Not Fully Discretionary: Incorporating A Factor-Based Standard Into The Ftca's Discretionary Function Exception, Daniel Cohen

Northwestern University Law Review

The Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) pulls back the curtain of sovereign immunity and allows private citizens to directly sue the federal government for damages resulting from negligence. Passed in 1946 and never amended, the statute carries no limit on potential damages, only prohibiting punitive damages and jury trials. Other than those procedural limitations, the potential liability of the government is unlimited—except for one single exception: the discretionary function exception. The discretionary function exception shields the government from liability for “the failure to exercise or perform a discretionary function or duty.” Congress failed to elaborate on the definition and scope …

Arbitration And Protection Under The Un Convention Against Torture And Other Cruel, Inhuman, Degrading Treatment, Or Punishment, Nicole M. Hogan

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

This article will discuss the UN Convention Against Torture, and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (“Convention”), and how arbitration can be used to best serve victims who were subjected to treatment that is prohibited under the Convention. Part II will give a background on the Convention. Part III will introduce the arbitration provision that is included in Article 30 of the Convention, which is important to the foundation of this article. Additionally, this section will discuss how arbitration works as an Alternative Dispute Resolution procedure, and will highlight some of the benefits of arbitration over litigation. Part …

Justice Against Sponsors Of Terrorism: Why Suing Terrorists May Not Be The Most Effective Way To Advance United States Foreign Policy Objectives, Drew Watkins

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Reverse Political Process Theory, Aaron Tang

Vanderbilt Law Review

Despite occasional suggestions to the contrary, the Supreme Court has long since stopped interpreting the Constitution to afford special protection to certain groups on the ground that they are powerless to defend their own interests in the political process. From a series of decisions reviewing laws that burden whites under the same strict scrutiny as laws that burden racial minorities, to the more recent same-sex marriage decision based principally on the fundamental nature of marriage (rather than the political status of gays and lesbians), it is now an uncontroversial observation that when it comes to applying the open-textured provisions of …