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The Exhibit, The Litigation Center Newsletter - Winter 2021, Golden Gate University School Of Law

Litigation Center at Golden Gate University School of Law

No abstract provided.

Sb320: A Call To Arms For Victims Of Domestic Violence, Golden Gate University School Of Law

GGU Law Review Blog

Under California law, a person restrained by any domestic violence protection order is prohibited from owning, possessing, purchasing, receiving, or attempting to purchase or receive a firearm while the order is in effect. According to the Armed Prohibited Persons System (APPS), over 23,000 restricted people are armed in California. This number reflects only the number of known registered firearms in the state. Of these 23,000 restricted people, special agents recovered 1,243 prohibited firearms last year — 778 of those firearms were identified in APPS; however, 465 were previously unknown.

Senate Bill 320 purports to redress the inadequacy of current practice …

Biometric Data Collection: Market Necessity Or Unconstitutional Overkill?, Thomas Langtry

GGU Law Review Blog

Congress should pass, and the President should sign into law, the National Biometric Information Privacy Act of 2020 (National BIPA). Introduced by Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT), this bill limits the ability of private entities to collect biometric data and requires them to ensure the privacy and security of data they do collect. Unlike most federal regulatory legislation, it also provides for a private right of action through which individuals can seek meaningful remedies.

Critics argue that the bill will deprive consumers of online shopping services and convenient digital security, and that employers and retailers may retaliate …

Texas Heartbeat Act Poses Threat To The Future Of Abortion Access, Kodie Mcginley

GGU Law Review Blog

As the abortion debate in the United States has grown increasingly tense over the recent years, a newly enacted Texas law could lay the groundwork for a national trend of restrictive abortion laws. SB 8, also known as the Texas Heartbeat Act, was first signed by Texas Governor Greg Abbott in May 2021, and came into effect on September 1st. The Texas Heartbeat Act is not the only recent bill that attempts to challenge Roe v. Wade. In 2018, Mississippi passed the Gestational Age Act, which bans abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The Texas Heartbeat Act is even …

Constitutional Rights In The Time Of Covid-19: Sf Public Defender Sues Sf Superior Court, Alleging Violations Of Detainees’ Sixth Amendment Rights, Golden Gate University School Of Law

GGU Law Review Blog

“One of the most oppressive things a state can do is to take away your freedom and then deny you what’s necessary to win it back,” said Manojar Raju, San Francisco Public Defender, during a rally held on the front steps of San Francisco’s Hall of Justice.

On September 14, 2021, Raju filed a lawsuit against the Superior Court of California and the city of San Francisco. The lawsuit alleges that the San Francisco Superior Court has been routinely violating citizens’ Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial.

In fact, as of August 30, 2021, there are about 429 people …

Holistic Public Safety: Prosecutor-Led Reform Through Ab 1308, Gwen West

GGU Law Review Blog

Prosecutors can promote safety in communities by approaching public safety holistically and by participating in legislative efforts to reform criminal justice. Some prosecutors in California did just that in 2021.

Fall 2021 Newsletter, Golden Gate University School Of Law

Women’s Employment Rights Clinic

No abstract provided.

The First Step In Overhauling Criminal Justice? Abolish The Death Penalty, Rachel A. Van Cleave

Publications

Since the killing of George Floyd by a police officer, many changes to criminal justice have been proposed and some have been enacted. However, none of these reforms will be meaningful unless and until we require the government to dismantle the laws and procedures that implement the death penalty, an inherently biased and horrific practice. The fact that the federal government and twenty-seven states still have the death penalty reveals an attitude that is diametrically counter to the mindset necessary to end mass incarceration.

A Seat At The Table: Why You Deserve It, But Your Brain Might Be Telling You Otherwise, Jonathan Ibarra Paz

Golden Gate University Race, Gender, Sexuality and Social Justice Law Journal

“Are you frequently worried about making mistakes and frustrated because your work is not perfect? Do you suspect you will never be smart enough or good enough no matter how successful you already are? Do you often attribute your success to luck, chance, or anything else except your own talent and hard work?” If you answered yes to any of these questions, it could indicate that you suffer from imposter syndrome.

Imposter syndrome can be described as, an internal experience of intellectual phoniness… result[ing] in people feeling like they lack the skills, knowledge, and/or competence to do their jobs despite …

Social Equity: Will The Cannabis Industry Choose To Overcome Its Lack Of Diversity?, Dana Oviedo

Golden Gate University Race, Gender, Sexuality and Social Justice Law Journal

In the world of legal cannabis, a new phrase has taken over: Social Equity. What does this really mean? Social Equity in the cannabis industry is an attempt to level the playing field for individuals who were negatively impacted by the prohibition of cannabis.

Long before the re-legalization of cannabis began to spread across the United States, Black and Brown folks were and continue to be disproportionately arrested and locked up for cannabis related offenses. Those most impacted by the War on Drugs have historically been Black and Brown individuals from low-income communities. Militarized policing targeted to these low-income communities …

A Safer And More Liberating World For Sex Workers, Nicholas Kimura

GGU Law Review Blog

In recent years, violence against trans women of color has come to the forefront of public discourse. In 2020, there was a record number of fatal attacks against transgender and gender non-conforming people. This year the numbers are more devastating. Even with increased visibility of trans people, the death toll is rising, and we are set to surpass levels of violence from previous years. Trans women of color are particularly affected by the violence, facing a greater chance of being killed than the rest of the trans or cis population. Police are also responsible for disproportionate levels of violence against …

Biden’S Vaccination Mandate Plan: A Scatter-Shot Of Legal Solutions, Spencer Sellers

GGU Law Review Blog

The current COVID-19 pandemic is dominated by one trait. Data shows that nearly all COVID-19 related deaths in the United States are suffered by people who are not vaccinated. Hospitalizations are similarly unbalanced, with unvaccinated patients making up between 95% to 99.9% of the population of COVID-19 patients in hospitals.

In response, on September 9, 2021, President Joe Biden announced an action plan addressing the COVID-19 pandemic. The first part of the plan focused on increasing the population of domestically-vaccinated individuals. This first part of the plan can be divided into five policy goals. Four of those plan’s policy goals …

Constitution-Free Zones: How The Fourth Amendment Rights Of Americans Are Violated At And Near The Border, Camila Valdivieso

Golden Gate University Race, Gender, Sexuality and Social Justice Law Journal

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. U.S. Const. amend. XIV. Border Patrol continues to abuse their authority to this day.

Climate Change And Social Vulnerability In The United States A Focus On Six Impacts, Us Environmental Protection Agency

Federal Documents

Climate change affects all Americans—regardless of socioeconomic status—and many impacts are projected to worsen as temperatures and sea levels continue to rise, snow and rainfall patterns shift, and some extreme weather events become more common. A growing body of literature focuses on the disproportionate and unequal risks that climate change is projected to have on communities that are least able to anticipate, cope with, and recover from adverse impacts. Many studies have discussed climate change impacts on socially vulnerable populations, but few have quantified disproportionate risks to socially vulnerable groups across multiple impacts and levels of global warming.

This report …

Pray The Gay Away: Conversion Therapy, Suicide, Religion, And The First Amendment, Eric Cody Bass

Golden Gate University Race, Gender, Sexuality and Social Justice Law Journal

In the United States, gay conversion therapy (GCT) has not been banned nationally, although twenty states have issued laws banning therapists from practicing it. While the Supreme Court has refused to hear several cases involving challenges to laws banning GCT, recently the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals found a local law banning the practice as an unconstitutional regulation on the First Amendment right of speech. This ruling disappointingly confuses ideas of First Amendment protections with what amounts to psychological torture of our youth. It must be noted that while bans on GCT have been successfully upheld as constitutional in other …

The Time Is Overdue To Fix The Judicial Confirmation Process, Rachel A. Van Cleave, Sonia Bakshi

Publications

Politics must not drive the decisions by those who serve as gatekeepers to justice for survivors of sexual violence. The #MeToo Movement has thoroughly exposed the many myths surrounding sexual violence, but as Professor Hill pointed out, many gatekeepers have yet to “get it.”

The Exhibit, The Litigation Center Newsletter - Summer 2021, Golden Gate University School Of Law

Litigation Center at Golden Gate University School of Law

No abstract provided.

Book Review Of: Blackett, A. (2019). Everyday Transgressions: Domestic Workers’ Transnational Challenge To International Labor Law, Hina B. Shah

Publications

Everyday Transgressions: Domestic Workers’ Transnational Challenge to International Labor Law. A. Blackett (2019). Everyday Transgressions: Domestic Workers’ Transnational Challenge to International Labor Law. Ithaca, NY: ILR Press, an Imprint of Cornell University Press. 287 pp. $23.95 (paper).

Reviewed by: Hina B. Shah, Women’s Employment Rights Clinic, Golden Gate University, San Francisco, CA, USA

One in every twenty-five women workers worldwide is a domestic worker. They are largely invisible, undervalued, and lack the most basic labor protections. Professor Blackett’s book, Everyday Transgressions, tackles this invisibility head on and provides a much-needed conceptual framing that lays bare the inequities faced by domestic …

The Unfair Treatment Of Cryptocurrencies By The U.S. Internal Revenue Service, Antonio Alverez Lorenzo

Blockchain Law

This paper explores the challenges the cryptocurrency industry has been confronting in the United States due to the unfairness of the tax policies issued by the United States Internal Revenue Service. Cryptocurrency service providers, miners, investors and general consumers are being prevented from taking advantages of special tax treatments as compared to other similar properties, commodities and securities. Tax legislation has not kept pace with the development of emerging cryptocurrency technologies that enable otherwise traditional types of revenue to be generated.

Comments Re: Concrete Production, Materials Handling, And Concrete Crushing Operations At Piers 92 And 94, San Francisco, Golden Gate University School Of Law

Environmental Law and Justice Clinic

The Environmental Law and Justice Clinic at Golden Gate University School of Law (the “Clinic”) submits these comments on behalf of the African American Community Health Equity Council, All Positives Possible, Bayview Hill Neighborhood Association, Bayview Hunters Point Mothers and Fathers Committee, Communities for a Better Environment, First Generation Environmental Health & Economic Developments, Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice, the National Lawyers Guild - SF Bay Area Chapter Environmental Justice Committee, and the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project.

Comments On South Fresno Road Widening Project, Golden Gate University School Of Law

Environmental Law and Justice Clinic

We are writing this letter on behalf of South Fresno Community Alliance, Katy Taylor, Rosa DePew, and Panfilo Cerrillo to urge you to deny approval of the actions before you today for the Central Avenue Improvements Project (Bid File 3796) (“Project”), including the finding of Categorical Exemptions pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act Guidelines, the Inter-fund Loan Agreement for $1,880,097, and the award of a construction contract.

San Francisco Bay Restoration Act, United States. Congress. House. Committee On Transportation And Infrastructure

Federal Documents

The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, to whom was referred the bill (H.R. 610) to amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to establish a grant program to support the restoration of San Francisco Bay, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon with an amendment and recommends that the bill as amended do pass.

Comments Re: Baaqmd Permitting Rules, Golden Gate University School Of Law

Environmental Law and Justice Clinic

Comments regarding the Bay Area Air Quality Management District permitting rules. The comments are submitted by the Environmental Law and Justice Clinic at Golden Gate University School of Law on behalf of the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project and Communities for a Better Environment.

Reimagining Criminal Justice: Open Source Data Key To Addressing Mental Health Crises, Brennan Gamwell

Reimagining Criminal Justice

A transparent, cross-functional approach to data sharing and analysis focused on reliability and completeness can help to improve San Francisco's response to the mental health crisis, says Brennan Gamwell, a 2022 JD candidate at the Golden Gate University School of Law.

Reimagining Criminal Justice: How We Traded Out Asylums For Prisons, Zaynah Zaman

Reimagining Criminal Justice

The criminal justice system fails to adopt alternative mental health reforms better equipped to handle mental health crises rather than placing the mentally ill in institutions that have proven to worsen their illness. The criminalization of mental illness must end, says Zaynah Zaman, a student at Golden Gate University School of Law.

2021 Commencement Ceremony, Golden Gate University School Of Law

Commencement

The 2021 Commencement Program is attached.

Democracy Is Fragile: Extreme Partisan Polarization Has Become Rampant In The World, Suzin Win

GGU Law Review Blog

The status of democracy once seemed irrelevant in discussions of government in the United States and other long-established democracies. However, with the rise of extreme partisan polarization and the contempt that each party shows for the other, maintaining constitutional democracy is now a major concern for people in America. There is no longer any ideological overlap between the most conservative Democrats and the most liberal Republicans. In the words of Professor Daryl J. Levinson and Professor Richard H. Pildes of NYU School of Law, the “separation of powers” has been replaced by a “separation of parties.” The actions of the …

Ruesch V. Comm’R, Alexis Pickins

GGU Tax & Estate Planning Review

Nature of Case: Whether the U.S. Tax Court has jurisdiction to decide Ms. Ruesch’s underlying liability for penalties assessed by the Internal Revenue Services (IRS); and whether Ms. Ruesch’s claim against the IRS is moot due to the IRS’s reversal of their classification of her as seriously delinquent?

The two important issues at dispute are: (1) whether the U.S. Tax Court has jurisdiction to decide Ms. Ruesch’s underlying liability for penalties assessed by the Internal Revenue Services (IRS); and (2) whether Ms. Ruesch’s claim against the IRS is moot due to the IRS’s reversal of their classification of her as …

Chadwick V. Comm’R, Jerica Barber

GGU Tax & Estate Planning Review

Nature of Case: Whether written supervisor approval is required for trust fund recovery penalties to be collected against a responsible person required to submit employment taxes when penalties assessment recommendation forms were submitted by IRS revenue officers?

Geofence Warrants: An Attack On The Fourth Amendment, Golden Gate University School Of Law

GGU Law Review Blog

Imagine a world where a king could compel the search of anybody, anywhere, and for anything. This world inspired James Madison to draft the Fourth Amendment, and is also a world we are returning to. The Fourth Amendment was created to protect against indiscriminate general warrants used in Georgian England, which subjected colonists to unrestricted invasions of privacy. Today, these general warrants come with a new name and in a new form: geofence warrants. Geofence warrants permit law enforcement to obtain the location data of every person that was in a specific geographic area where a crime occurred, in an …