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Articles 1 - 30 of 46
Full-Text Articles in Law
Amended Complaints Post-Twiqbal: Why Litigants Should Still Get A Second Bite At The Pleading Apple, Dane Westermeyer
Amended Complaints Post-Twiqbal: Why Litigants Should Still Get A Second Bite At The Pleading Apple, Dane Westermeyer
Washington Law Review
The Supreme Court’s landmark decisions in Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly and Ashcroft v. Iqbal have had a serious effect on the way that Rule 12(b)(6) Motions to Dismiss are handled in federal courts across the country. In the five years since Iqbal was handed down, scholars and practitioners alike have discussed the merits and effects of this decision at length. However, there has been very little—if any—discussion on the relationship between amended complaints and original complaints when it comes to this newly-minted plausibility standard. This Comment aims to examine and critique a post-Twiqbal practice regarding amended complaints that …
Foreword: Compensated Surrogacy In The Age Of Windsor, Kellye Y. Testy
Foreword: Compensated Surrogacy In The Age Of Windsor, Kellye Y. Testy
Washington Law Review
The authors in this timely symposium tackle the many and varied issues related to compensated surrogacy with sophisticated, diverse, and careful analysis. Moreover, they do so in the context of fast-paced legal and sociological change on issues of marriage and parenting, some of which was crystalized in the recent United States v. Windsor decision that spurred growing recognition of gay marriage and families across the nation.
Windsor, Surrogacy, And Race, Khiara M. Bridges
Windsor, Surrogacy, And Race, Khiara M. Bridges
Washington Law Review
Scholars and activists interested in racial justice have long been opposed to surrogacy arrangements, wherein a couple commissions a woman to become pregnant, give birth to a baby, and surrender the baby to the couple to raise as its own. Their fear has been that surrogacy arrangements will magnify racial inequalities inasmuch as wealthy white people will look to poor women of color to carry and give birth to the white babies that the couples covet. However, perhaps critical thinkers about race should reconsider their contempt for surrogacy following the Supreme Court’s recent decision in United States v. Windsor. …
The House Of Windsor: Accentuating The Heteronormativity In The Tax Incentives For Procreation, Anthony C. Infanti
The House Of Windsor: Accentuating The Heteronormativity In The Tax Incentives For Procreation, Anthony C. Infanti
Washington Law Review
Following the Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Windsor, many seem to believe that the fight for marriage equality at the federal level is over and that any remaining work in this area is at the state level. Belying this conventional wisdom, this Article plumbs the gap between the promise of Windsor and the reality that heteronormativity has been one of the core building blocks of the federal tax system. Eradicating embedded heteronormativity will take far more than a single court decision (or even revenue ruling); it will take years of work uncovering the subtle ways in which …
The Future Of Compensated Surrogacy In Washington State: Anytime Soon?, Terry J. Price
The Future Of Compensated Surrogacy In Washington State: Anytime Soon?, Terry J. Price
Washington Law Review
Americans in the mid-1980s were shocked by the facts of the Baby M case. That case, a compensated surrogacy arrangement that publicly went very wrong, raised complicated issues that the country had not considered: whether a woman could contract to carry a pregnancy for another person without becoming the legal mother; whether she could be separated from the child at birth, even though it was her genetic offspring; and whether the contract could take precedence over a mother’s regret over giving up the child. As a result of that case, a number of states, including Washington, prohibited compensated surrogacy arrangements. …
Straddling The Columbia: A Constitutional Law Professor's Musings On Circumventing Washington State's Criminal Prohibition On Compensated Surrogacy, Peter Nicolas
Washington Law Review
In this Article, I recount—through both the prisms of an intended parent and a constitutional law scholar—my successful efforts to become a parent via compensated surrogacy and egg donation. Part I of this Article provides a narrative of my experience in becoming a parent via compensated surrogacy, and the various state and federal legal roadblocks and deterrents that I encountered along the way, including Washington State’s criminal prohibition on compensated surrogacy as well as federal guidelines issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regarding the use of sperm by gay donors in the process of in vitro fertilization. Part …
Bearing Children, Bearing Risks: Feminist Leadership For Progressive Regulation Of Compensated Surrogacy In The United States, Sara L. Ainsworth
Bearing Children, Bearing Risks: Feminist Leadership For Progressive Regulation Of Compensated Surrogacy In The United States, Sara L. Ainsworth
Washington Law Review
Compensated surrogacy—an arrangement in which a woman carries and gives birth to a child for someone else in exchange for money—intimately affects women. Yet, feminist law reformers have not led efforts to regulate this practice in the United States. Their absence is notable given the significant influence of feminist lawmaking in a host of other areas where women’s interests are at stake. This lack of feminist law reform leadership can be understood, however, in light of the complex issues that surrogacy raises—complexity that has long divided feminists. In response to efforts to pass surrogacy legislation in Washington State in 2010, …
Compensated Surrogacy, Martha A. Field
Compensated Surrogacy, Martha A. Field
Washington Law Review
The question that was put to us is whether the widespread legalization of gay marriage, supported by the Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Windsor, means that compensated surrogacy should be more broadly legalized. This essay takes the position that Windsor has little relevance to surrogacy, which will continue to be governed by state rather than federal law. States do, and will, follow a wide spectrum of policies on surrogacy, ranging from banning it and making it illegal to promoting it by enforcing surrogacy contracts as ordinary commercial transactions. The legalization of gay marriage need not affect states’ …
For A Feminist Considering Surrogacy, Is Compensation Really The Key Question?, Julie Shapiro
For A Feminist Considering Surrogacy, Is Compensation Really The Key Question?, Julie Shapiro
Washington Law Review
Feminists have long been engaged in the debates over surrogacy. During the past thirty years, thousands of women throughout the world have served as surrogate mothers. The experience of these women has been studied by academics in law and in the social sciences. It is apparent that if properly conducted, surrogacy can be a rewarding experience for women and hence should not be objectionable to feminists. Improperly conducted, however, surrogacy can be a form of exploitation. Compensation is not the distinguishing factor. In this essay I offer two changes to law that would improve the surrogate’s experience of surrogacy. First, …
Racial Impact Statements: Considering The Consequences Of Racial Disproportionalities In The Criminal Justice System, Jessica Erickson
Racial Impact Statements: Considering The Consequences Of Racial Disproportionalities In The Criminal Justice System, Jessica Erickson
Washington Law Review
The American criminal justice system is currently suffering from a dramatic increase in mass incarceration and staggering rates of racial disproportionalities and disparities. Many facially neutral laws, policies, and practices within the criminal justice system have disproportionate impacts on minorities. Racial impact statements provide one potential method of addressing such disproportionalities. These proactive tools measure the projected impacts that new criminal justice laws and policies may have upon minorities, and provide this information to legislators before they decide whether to enact the law. Four states currently conduct racial impact statements, and other states are considering adopting their own versions. The …
The Not So Speedy Trial Act, Shon Hopwood
The Not So Speedy Trial Act, Shon Hopwood
Washington Law Review
The Speedy Trial Act (STA) of 1974 occupies a peculiar place in the criminal justice system. Very few pieces of legislation can lay claim to protecting both the rights of criminal defendants and the public’s significant interest in timely justice, while reducing the cost of judicial administration. The STA formerly accomplished these lofty aims by reducing pretrial delays. But for the past two decades legal scholars have ignored the STA, and both prosecutors and defense attorneys have subverted the STA’s goals by routinely moving for continuances. And although the Act categorically applies in every federal criminal case, it has been …
Keeping Up With Technology: Why A Flexible Juvenile Sexting Statute Is Needed To Prevent Overly Severe Punishment In Washington State, Reid Mcellrath
Keeping Up With Technology: Why A Flexible Juvenile Sexting Statute Is Needed To Prevent Overly Severe Punishment In Washington State, Reid Mcellrath
Washington Law Review
Sexting can be a costly activity, particularly for teenagers. As more teenagers engage in sending sexually explicit images to one another, the likelihood of serious long-term consequences increases. When sexting is used as a means to bully, the potential severity of consequences also increases. In many jurisdictions, prosecutors may charge juveniles caught sexting with possession or distribution of child pornography. At the same time, some states have recognized the severity of such a charge and found other ways of addressing the teen sexting problem. This Comment addresses the current issues surrounding juvenile sexting by examining empirical data, legal responses, and …
This Is Your Sword: How Damaging Are Prior Convictions To Plaintiffs In Civil Trials?, Kathryn Stanchi, Deirdre Bowen
This Is Your Sword: How Damaging Are Prior Convictions To Plaintiffs In Civil Trials?, Kathryn Stanchi, Deirdre Bowen
Washington Law Review
The conventional wisdom in law is that a prior conviction is one of the most powerful and damaging pieces of evidence that can be offered against a witness or party. In legal lore, prior convictions seriously undercut the credibility of the witness and can derail the outcome of a trial. This Article suggests that may not always be true. This Article details the results of an empirical study of juror decision-making that challenges the conventional wisdom about prior convictions. In our study, the prior conviction evidence did not have a direct impact on the outcome of the civil trial or …
Solving Jurisdiction's Social Cost, Dustin E. Buehler
Solving Jurisdiction's Social Cost, Dustin E. Buehler
Washington Law Review
Federal court subject-matter jurisdiction rules incur a significant social cost—when jurisdiction is found lacking, courts must dismiss, no matter how many years and resources the parties have spent on the case. Indeed, hundreds of belated jurisdictional dismissals occur each year after parties have already engaged in discovery, dispositive motions, or even trial. Federal judges tolerate this waste largely because they view nonwaivable jurisdictional rules as a function of structural values rooted in the Constitution, rather than efficiency concerns. In contrast, scholars tend to focus primarily on efficiency arguments while discussing jurisdictional nonwaivability, de-emphasizing important structural interests. Both theories are overly …
Outsourcing Corporate Accountability, Kishanthi Parella
Outsourcing Corporate Accountability, Kishanthi Parella
Washington Law Review
This Article addresses the problem of preventing human rights violations abroad that result from the globalization of business. It specifically explores the challenge of improving labor standards in global value chains. The modern business has changed dramatically and has “gone global” in order to court foreign markets and secure resources, including labor. Familiar household names, such as Nike and Apple, have “outsourced” many of their functions to suppliers overseas. As multinational buyers, they dominate one end of the global value chain. At the opposite end of the value chain are the local managers and owners of the factories and workhouses …
The Legal Ethics Of Real Evidence: Of Child Porn On The Choirmaster's Computer And Bloody Knives Under The Stairs, Gregory C. Sisk
The Legal Ethics Of Real Evidence: Of Child Porn On The Choirmaster's Computer And Bloody Knives Under The Stairs, Gregory C. Sisk
Washington Law Review
With little guidance from the Model Rules of Professional Conduct and continuing confusion on professional obligations, questions about engagement with real evidence continue to bedevil criminal defense lawyers, incite prosecutors, generate disputes, and attract judicial attention. Where should we draw that line between what is demanded by the professional duties of zealous advocacy and client confidentiality and what constitutes obstruction of justice? When may a document or object that could conceivably be relevant in some future investigation or proceeding be destroyed, altered, or removed? May a criminal defense lawyer take possession of evidence of a crime for purposes of analysis, …
Miller'S Promise: Re-Evaluating Extreme Criminal Sentences For Children, Nick Straley
Miller'S Promise: Re-Evaluating Extreme Criminal Sentences For Children, Nick Straley
Washington Law Review
Scientific, legal, and societal notions about youth have come together to reaffirm an age-old concept—children are different and they change as they grow older. In recent decisions, the United States Supreme Court has required courts and legislatures to take a new look at extreme criminal sentences imposed upon children. Life without parole sentences and decades-long, determinate sentences are constitutionally suspect when applied to children because they fail to adequately account for the dynamism of youth. Miller v. Alabama and Graham v. Florida announced two important principles: (1) that an extreme sentence can only be imposed upon a child following an …
Drafting Agreements As An Attorney-Mediator: Revisiting Washington State Bar Association Advisory Opinion 2223, Caitlin Park Shin
Drafting Agreements As An Attorney-Mediator: Revisiting Washington State Bar Association Advisory Opinion 2223, Caitlin Park Shin
Washington Law Review
This Comment argues that Washington State Bar Association Advisory Opinion 2223 (WSBA Advisory Opinion 2223) should be revisited. WSBA Advisory Opinion 2223 reaches the unqualified conclusion that an attorney-mediator violates the Washington Rules of Professional Conduct (RPC) when drafting legal documents such as Property Settlement Agreements, Orders of Child Support, or Parenting Plans for unrepresented parties. WSBA Advisory Opinion 2223 creates confusion because it contains two significant flaws: (1) an omission of relevant comments to the RPC, and (2) an inconsistent reliance on extra-jurisdictional authority. Given WSBA Advisory Opinion 2223’s practical ramifications, the opinion should be reconsidered. Reexamining this opinion …
Arriving At Clearly Established: The Taser Problem And Reforming Qualified Immunity Analysis In The Ninth Circuit, Kate Seabright
Arriving At Clearly Established: The Taser Problem And Reforming Qualified Immunity Analysis In The Ninth Circuit, Kate Seabright
Washington Law Review
Federal law allows private citizens to bring civil suits against government officials who violate their constitutional rights while acting under the color of state law. The doctrine of qualified immunity shields officials from liability when their conduct does not violate clearly established constitutional rights. When determining whether a right was clearly established at the time of a particular injury, the Ninth Circuit purportedly looks to whatever decisional law is available to inform its analysis. This Comment examines recent Taser-related cases to show that, in practice, courts in the Ninth Circuit actually take two divergent approaches. Some look only to binding, …
Much Ado About Something: The First Amendment And Mandatory Labeling Of Genetically Engineered Foods, Stephen Tan, Brian Epley
Much Ado About Something: The First Amendment And Mandatory Labeling Of Genetically Engineered Foods, Stephen Tan, Brian Epley
Washington Law Review
This Article evaluates the free speech implications of laws requiring that GE foods be labeled and concludes that such regulations would meet all First Amendment requirements for compelled commercial speech. Part I traces the history of food labeling in the United States, the advent of genetic engineering, and the application of that technology in agriculture and the food industry. Part II evaluates the scope of commercial free speech and the appropriate test to be applied in determining whether a GE food labeling law would violate the First Amendment. Part III examines the impacts of an agricultural and food system increasingly …
The Claim-Centered Approach To Arising-Under Jurisdiction: A Brief Rejoinder To Professor Mulligan, Simona Grossi
The Claim-Centered Approach To Arising-Under Jurisdiction: A Brief Rejoinder To Professor Mulligan, Simona Grossi
Washington Law Review
My claim-centered approach to arising-under jurisdiction fully embraces the three subcategories of jurisdiction that Professor Mulligan identifies. My essential point is that the bifurcation (or trifurcation as Professor Mulligan suggests) into separate doctrines has led to a mechanical jurisprudence that is sometimes inconsistent with the fundamental principles that ought to animate § 1331 jurisdictional analysis. In my view, Gully v. First National Bank illuminates those fundamental principles by focusing on the role of the federal issue in the case before the court. That does not mean that Gully provides an easy answer for all applications of arising-under jurisdiction; it does …
Enlightened Regulatory Capture, David Thaw
Enlightened Regulatory Capture, David Thaw
Washington Law Review
Regulatory capture generally evokes negative images of private interests exerting excessive influence on government action to advance their own agendas at the expense of the public interest. There are some cases, however, where this conventional wisdom is exactly backwards. This Article explores the first verifiable case, taken from healthcare cybersecurity, where regulatory capture enabled regulators to harness private expertise to advance exclusively public goals. Comparing this example to other attempts at harnessing industry expertise reveals a set of characteristics under which regulatory capture can be used in the public interest: (1) legislatively mandated adoption of recommendations by an advisory committee …
Much Ado About Something: The First Amendment And Mandatory Labeling Of Genetically Engineered Foods, Stephen Tan, Brian Epley
Much Ado About Something: The First Amendment And Mandatory Labeling Of Genetically Engineered Foods, Stephen Tan, Brian Epley
Washington Law Review
This Article evaluates the free speech implications of laws requiring that GE foods be labeled and concludes that such regulations would meet all First Amendment requirements for compelled commercial speech. Part I traces the history of food labeling in the United States, the advent of genetic engineering, and the application of that technology in agriculture and the food industry. Part II evaluates the scope of commercial free speech and the appropriate test to be applied in determining whether a GE food labeling law would violate the First Amendment. Part III examines the impacts of an agricultural and food system increasingly …
Enlightened Regulatory Capture, David Thaw
Enlightened Regulatory Capture, David Thaw
Washington Law Review
Regulatory capture generally evokes negative images of private interests exerting excessive influence on government action to advance their own agendas at the expense of the public interest. There are some cases, however, where this conventional wisdom is exactly backwards. This Article explores the first verifiable case, taken from healthcare cybersecurity, where regulatory capture enabled regulators to harness private expertise to advance exclusively public goals. Comparing this example to other attempts at harnessing industry expertise reveals a set of characteristics under which regulatory capture can be used in the public interest: (1) legislatively mandated adoption of recommendations by an advisory committee …
Gully And The Failure To Stake A 28 U.S.C. § 1331 "Claim", Lumen N. Mulligan
Gully And The Failure To Stake A 28 U.S.C. § 1331 "Claim", Lumen N. Mulligan
Washington Law Review
In this piece, I argue that a return to Gully v. First National Bank in Meridian as an approach to 28 U.S.C. § 1331 jurisdiction is ill-conceived. In a recent thoughtful article, Professor Simona Grossi draws heavily upon the traditions of the legal process school’s approach to federal courts jurisprudence to support just such a resurrection of Gully as the lodestar for § 1331 doctrine. While embracing a return to the legal process school, I argue first that the Gully view—read as a call for judges simply to select sufficiently important matters, in relation to plaintiff’s case in chief, for …
Loss-Of-Chance Doctrine In Washington: From Herskovits To Mohr And The Need For Clarification, Matthew Wurdeman
Loss-Of-Chance Doctrine In Washington: From Herskovits To Mohr And The Need For Clarification, Matthew Wurdeman
Washington Law Review
Loss of chance is a well-established tort doctrine that seeks to balance traditional tort causation principles with the need to provide a remedy to patients whose injuries or illnesses are seriously exacerbated by physician negligence. In Washington, the doctrine continues to create significant difficulties for judges, juries, and practitioners. Wherever it has been applied, it has often created difficulties. The loss-of-chance doctrine needs clarification—definitive, sensible, and workable guidelines to ensure that loss of chance is consistently and fairly applied. Part of the problem lies in the fact that courts and litigants use the term “loss of chance” as if it …
"All His Sexless Patients": Persons With Mental Disabilities And The Competence To Have Sex, Michael L. Perlin, Alison J. Lynch
"All His Sexless Patients": Persons With Mental Disabilities And The Competence To Have Sex, Michael L. Perlin, Alison J. Lynch
Washington Law Review
In this Article, we consider these attitudes while seeking to answer the following questions: • In this area of law and policy, is there any unitary definition of competence? • Are there certain factors that must be considered in determining “sexual competence”? • How does domestic law and policy relate to issues of sexual competence, and does it impact how we should approach these issues? • What are the international human rights law and therapeutic jurisprudence implications of the answers to these questions? In Part I, we will discuss competence to engage in sexual activity in matters involving persons with …
The Constitutional Structure Of Voting Rights Enforcement, Franita Tolson
The Constitutional Structure Of Voting Rights Enforcement, Franita Tolson
Washington Law Review
Scholars and courts have hotly debated whether the preclearance regime of the Voting Rights Act is constitutional under the Reconstruction Amendments. In answering this question, this Article is the first to consider the effect of section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment on the scope of Congress’s enforcement authority. Section 2 allows Congress to reduce the size of a state’s delegation in the House of Representatives if the state abridges the right to vote in state and federal elections for any reason, “except for participation in rebellion, or other crime.” This Article contends that section 2 influences the scope of congressional …
Gully And The Failure To Stake A 28 U.S.C. § 1331 "Claim", Lumen N. Mulligan
Gully And The Failure To Stake A 28 U.S.C. § 1331 "Claim", Lumen N. Mulligan
Washington Law Review
In this piece, I argue that a return to Gully v. First National Bank in Meridian as an approach to 28 U.S.C. § 1331 jurisdiction is ill-conceived. In a recent thoughtful article, Professor Simona Grossi draws heavily upon the traditions of the legal process school’s approach to federal courts jurisprudence to support just such a resurrection of Gully as the lodestar for § 1331 doctrine. While embracing a return to the legal process school, I argue first that the Gully view—read as a call for judges simply to select sufficiently important matters, in relation to plaintiff’s case in chief, for …
Not-So-Harmless Error: A Higher Standard For Mitigation Errors On Capital Habeas Review, Ryan C. Thomas
Not-So-Harmless Error: A Higher Standard For Mitigation Errors On Capital Habeas Review, Ryan C. Thomas
Washington Law Review
This Comment looks at how federal courts handle mitigation errors during the penalty phase of capital punishment cases on habeas corpus review; it argues that the United States Supreme Court should expressly adopt the Chapman “harmless beyond a reasonable doubt” standard rather than the Brecht “substantial and injurious effect” standard. The heightened stakes of capital sentencing dictate that a higher standard of review should apply. The Court has yet to rule on this matter, and the United States Courts of Appeals cannot agree upon which standard to apply. Currently, a lopsided circuit split exists regarding whether harmless error review applies …