Courts Commons^™

Request For An Advisory Opinion On Climate Emergency And Human Rights By The Republic Of Colombia And The Republic Of Chile, Diane A. Desierto, Francisco Urbina, Aníbal Pérez-Liñán, Nicolas Buitrago Rey, Faisal Yamil Meneses, Garrett Pacholl

Court Briefs

The Notre Dame Law School Human Rights Clinic (NDLS GHRC) in collaboration with the Notre Dame Reparations Design and Compliance Lab (ND Reparations Lab)

From the Introduction

Noting the request of the Republic of Colombia and the Republic of Chile for this Honorable Court to "provide guidance towards human rights-based solutions with an intersectional perspective," this Expert Opinion deliberately draws on interdisciplinary methods that weave international law, international human rights law, jurisprudence, quantitative tools of political science, and qualitative tools of social science research to assist this Honorable Court in its task of addressing the manifold questions brought by the …

Defendant St. Isidore Of Seville Catholic Virtual School's Reply Brief In Support Of Motion To Dismiss, Michael H. Mcginley, Steven A. Engel, M. Scott Proctor, John A. Meiser, Michael R. Perri, Socorro Adams Dooley

Court Briefs

No. CV-2023-1857
OKPLAC, Inc. v. Statewide Virtual Charter School Board

From the Introduction

Plaintiffs' opposition to the motions to dismiss distills their challenge to the State's approval of St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School ("St. Isidore") to its essence: Plaintiffs believe that the State of Oklahoma may never allow a religious organization to operate a charter school because (they contend) any faith-based school would violate the Charter Schools Act and the Oklahoma Constitution. They purport to raise other, purely technical errors in the Board's decision to partner with St. Isidore; they baselessly speculate about ways in which they predict …

Order Of Protection Or Deportation? How Civil Orders Of Protection Entangle Noncitizens And Their Families In The Immigration And Criminal Legal Systems, Creating The Harm That They Were Intended To Prevent., Sarah E. Corsico

Brooklyn Law Review

A civil protection order can act as an important form of relief for an individual experiencing violence; however, it can also bring extreme complications and consequences for noncitizens. Unlike its intended purpose as a remedy separate from punitive state systems, civil protection orders can replicate the harm of the criminal legal system for noncitizens—barring someone from gaining immigration status, delaying applications, impacting international travel, and at its worst, resulting in deportation. Despite the high stakes nature of these proceeding, for the most part, there is no right to assigned counsel in civil protection order cases. As a result, many individuals …

Dobbs And The Future Of Liberty And Equality, Kim Forde-Mazrui

Cleveland State Law Review

This lecture critiques Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization and assesses its implications for liberty and equality. Dobbs’ immediate effect was major disruption to abortion rights. In the longer term, by discarding fifty years of precedent and by basing constitutional rights exclusively on long-standing history and tradition, Dobbs jeopardizes liberty and equality rights that the Court has recognized in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Such modern liberty rights include contraception, interracial marriage, adult sexual intimacy and same-sex marriage. Modern equality rights include strong bars on discrimination based on race and sex, and moderate protections for LGBTQ+ status. …

Economic Extraterritorial Regulation Amongst The American States, Michael Mischley

School of Professional Studies

By analyzing historical and contemporary examples, this study demonstrates the reality of extraterritorial regulation and how concepts of federalism and political representation shape legal precedents that allow this practice to occur. Second, using a case study focused on the State of California, the State of Texas, and the State of New York, this study looked for pending or promulgated legislation with extraterritorial effect outside of environmental regulation and where the Congress preempts state law.

Conclusively, the practice of economically-powerful American states regulating extraterritorially exists in other policy areas and occurs as a means of national influence outside of federal channels. …

The Conferred Jurisdiction Of The International Criminal Court, Leila Nadya Sadat

Notre Dame Law Review

After twenty years of operation, we know that the International Criminal Court (ICC) works in practice. But does it work in theory? A debate rages regarding the proper conceptualization of the Court’s jurisdiction. Some have argued that the ICC’s jurisdiction is little more than a delegation by states of a subset of their own criminal jurisdiction. They contend that when states ratify the Rome Statute, they transfer some of their own prescriptive or adjudicative criminal jurisdiction to the Court, meaning that the Court cannot do more than the state itself could have done. Moreover, they argue that these constraints are …

The Administrative State's Jury Problem, Richard Lorren Jolly

Washington Law Review

This Article argues that the administrative state’s most acute constitutional fault is its routine failure to comply with the Seventh Amendment. Properly understood, that Amendment establishes an independent limitation on congressional authority to designate jurisdiction to juryless tribunals, and its dictate as to “Suits at common law” refers to all federal legal rights regardless of forum. Agencies’ use of binding, juryless adjudication fails these requirements and must be reformed. But this does not mean dismantling the administrative state; it is possible (indeed, necessary) to solve the jury problem while maintaining modern government. To that end, this Article advances a structural …

Surprises In The Skies: Resolving The Circuit Split On How Courts Should Determine Whether An "Accident" Is "Unexpected Or Unusual" Under The Montreal Convention, Ashley Tang

Washington Law Review

Article 17 of both the Montreal Convention and its predecessor, the Warsaw Convention, imposes liability onto air carriers for certain injuries and damages from “accidents” incurred by passengers during international air carriage. However, neither Convention defines the term “accident.” While the United States Supreme Court opined that, for the purposes of Article 17, an air carrier’s liability “arises only if a passenger’s injury is caused by an unexpected or unusual event or happening that is external to the passenger,” it did not explain what standards lower courts should employ to discern whether an event is “unexpected or unusual.” In 2004, …

Wills, Trusts, And Estates, Allison A. Tait, Hunter M. Glenn

University of Richmond Law Review

This year’s legislative and judicial activity surrounding wills, trusts, and estates did not bring any radical shifts in the law, but rather expansions and clarifications. In the legislative realm, the bulk of the activity centered on expanding protections for parties under guardianship, with a sensitivity to safeguarding vulnerable parties from neglect or even predation. The new rules aim to increase transparency in process, preserve confidential financial information, and ensure minimums of care and contact. The rules affect these goals by providing for more transparency through notice requirements as well as required written filings. Moreover, they protect parties under guardianship by …

Legal Representation Of Parents In Child Dependency Cases In Virginia, Eric J. Reynolds

University of Richmond Law Review

Virginia’s current system of providing court-appointed legal counsel for parents involved in child dependency cases is unsustainable and inadequate, requiring swift and dramatic action from the state government. Inadequate legal representation for parents often leads to poor outcomes for children and a lack of protections for the parents’ due process rights. While attempts to improve the system have been made in recent years, they are often quickly dismissed. The largest hindrances in the current system, this Article suggests, is that court-appointed attorneys for parents are typically underpaid, undertrained, and consequently unable to meaningfully advocate for their client. Due to the …

Wrong Or (Fundamental) Right?: Substantive Due Process And The Right To Exclude, Jack May

Washington Law Review

Substantive due process provides heightened protection from government interference with enumerated constitutional rights and unenumerated—but nevertheless “fundamental”—rights. To date, the United States Supreme Court has never recognized any property right as a fundamental right for substantive due process purposes. But in Yim v. City of Seattle, a case recently decided by the Ninth Circuit, landlords and tenant screening companies argued that the right to exclude from one’s property should be a fundamental right. Yim involved a challenge to Seattle’s Fair Chance Housing Ordinance, which, among other things, prohibits landlords and tenant screening companies from inquiring about or considering a …

Preface, Alexandra M. Voehringer

University of Richmond Law Review

The University of Richmond Law Review proudly presents the thirty-eighth issue of the Annual Survey of Virginia Law. Since 1985, the Annual Survey has served as a guiding tool for practitioners and students to stay abreast of recent legislative, judicial, and administrative developments in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Today, the Annual Survey is the most widely read publication of the Law Review, reaching lawyers, judges, legislators, and students in every corner of the Commonwealth.

Table Of Contents

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Taxation, Craig D. Bell

University of Richmond Law Review

This Article reviews significant recent developments in the laws affecting Virginia state and local taxation. Its Parts cover legislative activity, judicial decisions, and selected opinions from the past year. Part I of this Article addresses taxes administered by the Virginia Department of Taxation (the “Tax Department” or “Department”). Part II covers local taxes, including real and tangible personal property machinery and tools, license taxes, and other discrete local taxes.

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 are most likely to impact …

The Current State Of Abortion Law In Virginia Leaves Victims Of Domestic And Sexual Violence Vulnerable To Abuse: Why Virginia Should Codify The Right To Abortion In The State Constitution†, Courtenay Schwartz

University of Richmond Law Review

All people must have access to safe and legal reproductive health care—especially victims of sexual and domestic violence who can and do become pregnant because of the violence they experience. This year, the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. In doing so, the Supreme Court held that the Constitution does not protect the right to an abortion. Though abortion access is currently protected in Virginia, this could change with each new General Assembly session. To guard against the danger that this poses to …

Taxing The New With The Old: Capturing The Value Of Data With The Corporate Income Tax In Virginia, Coleman H. Cheeley

University of Richmond Law Review

The Commonwealth of Virginia markets itself as “The Largest Data Center Market in the World.”In 2019, the Northern Virginia market alone was the largest in the United States by inventory, with room to grow. In 2021, data centers in Northern Virginia required an estimated 1,686 megawatts of power; that number is expected to increase by 200 megawatts in the near future, reflecting data centers currently under development. For reference, in 2022, it was estimated that more than 100 homes could be powered by one megawatt of solar power in Virginia. Historically, data centers have been located in the Commonwealth due …

Climate Change In The Courts: A 2023 Retrospective, Maria Antonia Tigre, Margaret Barry

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Drawing from the jurisdictions covered in the Sabin Center's United States (U.S.) and Global Climate Litigation databases, this report offers insights into key developments, emerging themes, evolving legal strategies, and the pulse of climate litigation in 2023.

The New Comity Abstention, John Harland Giammatteo

Journal Articles

In the past ten years, lower federal courts have quietly but regularly abstained from hearing federal claims challenging state court procedures, citing concerns of comity and federalism. Federal courts have dismissed a broad range of substantive challenges tasked to them by Congress, including under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Indian Child Welfare Act, and various constitutional provisions, involving state court eviction proceedings, foster care determinations, bail and criminal justice policies, COVID-era safety practices, and other instances where state courts determine state policy.

This paper is the first to argue that these decisions constitute a new abstention doctrine, unmoored from …

Foreword, The Honorable L. A. Harris Jr.

University of Richmond Law Review

“Your writing is so bad you will not be considered for Law Review and there is some question about your admittance to Law School.”

Life is strange and ironic. In 1974 as a second year law student at the T. C. Williams School of Law at the University of Richmond, I was invited to submit an article to determine if I would be permitted to serve on the Law Review. A member of the Law Review evaluated my article and met with me. In summation he said my writing was so bad that I would not be considered for Law …

Civil Practice And Procedure, Christopher S. Dadak

University of Richmond Law Review

This Article discusses Supreme Court of Virginia and, for the first time, Court of Appeals of Virginia analysis of procedural issues. The Article further discusses revisions to civil procedure provisions of the Code of Virginia and Rules of the Supreme Court of Virginia in the last year.

The Article first addresses opinions of the supreme court and court of appeals, then new legislation enacted during the 2023 General Assembly Session, and finally revisions to the Rules of the Supreme Court of Virginia.

The Gptjudge: Justice In A Generative Ai World, Maura R. Grossman, Paul W. Grimm, Daniel G. Brown, Molly (Yiming) Xu

Duke Law & Technology Review

Generative AI (“GenAI”) systems such as ChatGPT recently have developed to the point where they can produce computer-generated text and images that are difficult to differentiate from human-generated text and images. Similarly, evidentiary materials such as documents, videos, and audio recordings that are AI-generated are becoming increasingly difficult to differentiate from those that are not AI-generated. These technological advancements present significant challenges to parties, their counsel, and the courts in determining whether evidence is authentic or fake. Moreover, the explosive proliferation and use of GenAI applications raises concerns about whether litigation costs will dramatically increase as parties are forced to …

Brief Of Amici Curiae Privacy And First Amendment Law Professors In Support Of Defendant-Appellant And Reversal, G. S. Hans, Hannah Bloch-Wehba, Danielle K. Citron, Julie E. Cohen, Mary Anne Franks, Woodrow Hartzog, Margot E. Kaminski, Gregory P. Magarian, Frank Pasquale, Neil Richards, Daniel J. Solove

Faculty Scholarship

STATEMENT OF INTEREST: Amici curiae are law professors and scholars of data privacy, constitutional law, and the First Amendment. Amici write to provide the court with scholarly expertise on the complexities of data privacy law and its intersection with the First Amendment. Amici have collectively written scores of academic articles and multiple books on data privacy, technology, the First Amendment, and constitutional challenges to state and federal privacy regulation.

Amici submit this brief pursuant to Fed. Rule App. P. 29(a) and do not repeat arguments made by the parties. No party’s counsel authored this brief, or any part of …

Brief Amicus Curiae Of The Notre Dame Law School Religious Liberty Clinic Supporting Plaintiff-Appellant, Francesca Matozzo, John Meiser

Court Briefs

Nos. 23-35560, 23-35585
Cedar Park Assembly of God of Kirkland, Washington v. Myron "Mike" Kreidler

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, Civil Case No. 3:19-cv-05181-BHL (Hon. Benjamin H. Settle)

From the Argument

Cedar Park’s free-exercise claim is fundamentally distinct from—and demands closer scrutiny than—its equal-protection claim.

Perlindungan Hukum Bagi Pembeli Terhadap Gugatan Pembatalan Jual Beli Tanah Oleh Para Ahli Waris Penjual, M Waldi Ali Soraya, Lauditta Humaira ,S.H.,M.Kn.

Lex Patrimonium

In the implementation of the Sale and Purchase Binding Agreement Deed, a dispute may occur. For example, if the land being sold is an inheritance. For example, one of the sellers does not approve of the sale and purchase, or the land is sold by someone who is not an heir. Of course the buyer will be disadvantaged. The aim of the research is to find out the legal provisions governing the unilateral cancellation of the PPJB, to explain the determination of unlawful acts and to analyze the legal protection for buyers in land sale and purchase agreements which are …

Intervenor St. Isidore Of Seville Catholic Virtual School's Brief In Response To Petitioner's Application And Petition, Michael H. Mcginley, Steven A. Engel, M. Scott Proctor, John A. Meiser, Michael R. Perri, Socorro Adams Dooley

Court Briefs

No. MA-121694
Gentner Drummond v. Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board

From the Arguments and Authorities

The Petition fails on the merits. Nothing in the Oklahoma Constitution prohibits the State from contracting with a religious school to provide new educational opportunities. And any state law purporting to do so would violate ORFA and the First Amendment.

Historical Kinship And Categorical Mischief: The Use And Misuse Of Doctrinal Borrowing In Intellectual Property Law, Mark Bartholomew, John Tehranian

Journal Articles

Analogies are ubiquitous in legal reasoning, and, in copyright jurisprudence, courts frequently turn to patent law for guidance. From introducing doctrines meant to regulate online intermediaries to evaluating the constitutionality of resurrecting copyrights to works from the public domain, judges turn to patent law analogies to lend ballast to their decisions. At other times, however, patent analogies with copyright law are quickly discarded and differences between the two regimes highlighted. Why? In examining the transplantation of doctrinal frameworks from one intellectual property field to another, this Article assesses the circumstances in which courts engage in doctrinal borrowing, discerns their rationale …

Amicus Curiae Brief Of The International Council Of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers And Carol Logan In Support Of Appellants, Stephanie Hall Barclay, John A. Meiser

Court Briefs

No. 23-50746
Perez v. City of San Antonio

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas Honorable Fred Biery (5:23-cv-00977-FB)

From the Summary of the Argument

For centuries, generations of the Lipan-Apache people have gathered for prayer, mediation, and worship along a bend in the Yanaguana—known as the San Antonio River in English—which mirrors the constellation Eridanus in the skies above. It is a place where the lower, middle, and upper worlds come together; a place that reflects the Yanaguana creation story, which teaches that life began in the area when droplets of water fell …

Unopposed Motion Of The International Council Of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers And Carol Logan To File Amicus Curiae Brief In Support Of Appellants, Stephanie Hall Barclay, John A. Meiser

Court Briefs

No. 23-50746
Perez v. City of San Antonio

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas Honorable Fred Biery (5:23-cv-00977-FB)

From the Unopposed Motion for Leave to File Amicus Curiae Brief

Pursuant to Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 29(a)(3) and Fifth Circuit Rule 27.4, the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers and Carol Logan respectfully move for leave to file a brief as amici curiae in support of Plaintiffs-Appellants Gary Perez and Matilde Torres. A copy of the proposed brief is attached to this motion.¹

Climate Change, Corruption, And Colonialism: Solving The Conundrum With Regional Courts, Taylor Nchako

Northwestern University Law Review

It is no secret that climate change is the most pressing issue of our times. Global South countries, especially those in Africa, face challenges mitigating the worst impacts of climate change, adapting technological solutions, and continuing to develop their nation’s infrastructure and industry. Cameroon provides an archetypal example of the challenges many African countries face. Plagued by an economy that both exacerbates climate change and stands to collapse from it, Cameroon struggles with corruption that has roots in colonialism and neocolonialism. This corruption taints not only the forestry service and the executive branch, but the judiciary as well, leaving Cameroon’s …

Advocate Training Session 1 Of 2, Cardozo Courtroom Advocates Project (Cap)

2023–2024 Flyers

No abstract provided.