Juvenile Law Commons^™

(De)Funding Family Separations, Joshua Gupta-Kagan

Faculty Scholarship

Federal foster care funding exists in tension with foundational family law principles. The law protects family integrity: the state may only separate parents and children in extreme cases, and, when it does, the state must work to reunify families. Yet the federal funding system directs billions of federal dollars to support CPS agencies and pay subsidies to foster parents, adoptive parents, and guardians. It does so via an open-ended entitlement, so that the more families a state separates, the more federal funds it receives. This system makes it relatively cheaper for CPS agencies to take custody of children, incentivizes states …

No Lawyer, No Jail: A Critical Case Study Of Pragmatism And The Flaws Of “Purposeful” Decision Making In Argersinger V. Hamlin, Alisa Smith, Sarah K. Stice

Seattle University Law Review

By releasing conference notes and internal communications, Supreme Court Justices provide insight into the otherwise private decisionmaking process, shedding light on how case outcomes and legal reasoning are framed and negotiated. The watershed case of Argersinger v. Hamlin (1972) extended the constitutional right to counsel to some, but not all, misdemeanor defendants. The case was argued twice, and the Court relied on empirical and authoritative sources to answer complex and practical questions about requiring counsel. This case study employs critical discourse analysis to uncover what influenced the Justices’ decisions and how they framed, shaped, and constructed social realities to foreground …

Volume 48 Masthead, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

Volume 48 Masthead

The Race To Erase: Destruction Of Government Documents Undermines Freedom-Of-Information Laws, Frank D. Lomonte

Seattle University Law Review

In August 2019, reporters with Chattanooga’s daily newspaper, the Times Free Press, filed what seemed to be a routine request for access to emails and other public records held by their local county government. The seemingly unremarkable request set the newspaper’s staff on a months-long journey of unpleasant surprises. The first was a demand to pay the county $717 in advance before being allowed to inspect the documents. The second was that—during prolonged haggling over the fee assessment— the county attorney’s office simply destroyed almost all of the disputed records. Third, and most glaringly, the journalists discovered that Tennessee law …

When You’Re Arrested For A Felony In Seattle, You’Ll Meet Me., Austin Field

Seattle University Law Review

In this Essay, Austin Field, a practicing public defender, uses a first-person perspective to describe what it is like to meet a criminal defendant for the first time. He explains the process from start to finish, detailing everything from the way he introduces himself to how bail works.

"I’ll ask you for your name. Most of the time, you tell me. I check your name against my list. On any given day I’m supposed to interview between five and fifteen people. I have a lot of questions for you. We only have about ten minutes."

The Public Square In A Private-Property Obsessed Country: What New York City’S Pops Regulations Get Right And Why Other Cities Should (Mostly) Copy Them, Carson Mcgregor

Seattle University Law Review

When New York City (NYC) was first becoming the metropolitan monolith it is today, it had a problem: the city streets were chock full of skyscrapers, and sunlight, air, and usable open space were at a premium. In response, the City promulgated its first Privately Owned Public Spaces (POPS) regulations, which allowed developers to build skyward in exchange for providing public space on the street level. Unfortunately, in July of 2023, the New York Times (NYT) discovered that New Yorkers received only a fraction of what they were promised. Building owners received billions of dollars’ worth of added floor space, …

Intellectual Property Or Modern Folklore? The Problem With Open Gaming Licenses In Tabletop Gaming, Rosie Midget

Seattle University Law Review

This Note addresses how courts and legislatures should address “Open Gaming Licenses” commonly attached to tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs), which game publishers use to promote a false image of accessibility—misleading consumers and building goodwill from the misunderstanding. Part I discusses what TTRPGs are, including the defining features of the hobby and culture surrounding it, as well as the unique interplay between publishers and players. Part II explores the question of which elements in a TTRPG system may be subject to copyright protection. Part III examines these elements in practice using Wizards of the Coast’s Dungeons and Dragons TTRPG as a …

Modern Day Colonialism Through HawaiʻI’S Quiet Title And Partition Laws, Cheyann Fujii

Seattle University Law Review

This Note will attempt to highlight important aspects of Hawaiian history to provide readers with a clear picture on how Native Hawaiians are still impacted by colonialism, specifically when plaintiffs bring a quiet title or partition action against Native Hawaiian owners of kuleana lands. Before colonization, the concept of private land ownership did not exist in Hawai‘i, and Native Hawaiians adopted a feudal system by dividing land into geographical areas. Missionaries and businessmen brought Western ideas to Hawai‘i and influenced legislation such as the Great Māhele and the Kuleana Land Act of 1850, which solidified the concept of private property. …

Data Advantage And Merger Review: Can Entrenchment Theory Reform Antitrust Enforcement?, Shin-Ru Cheng

Seattle University Law Review

A merger involving giant digital companies is likely to dampen competition, as it allows those companies to combine and control data access, enabling them to entrench their dominant positions in relevant markets and extend those positions into related markets. While competition law in many jurisdictions aims to prohibit mergers that may substantially lessen competition or create a monopoly, arguably the review of digital mergers is failing because antitrust agencies lack an effective approach to identify data-generated anticompetitive harms. This Article demonstrates that entrenchment theory, recently reintroduced in the 2023 U.S. Merger Guidelines, would help reform the process of antitrust enforcement. …

Defining Deference: Impacts Of Abandoning Chevron On Emerging Technology Governance And Administrative Law, R. Aubrey Davis Iii

Seattle University Law Review

Emerging technologies, particularly Artificial Intelligence (AI), often lead to unforeseen legal outcomes. Notable abuses in areas such as facial recognition, employment bias, and housing discrimination are well known. However, legislative responses to these issues either have been largely reactive or there has been no legislative response at all. In lieu of legislation, agencies have sought to fill the gap. For example, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently proposed a rule mandating voter notification for all AI-generated political phone calls citing the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) of 1991 as authority. However, the TCPA was originally passed to curtail telemarketing, not …

Table Of Contents, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

Table of Contents

Caution: Potholes In E-Scooter Data Collection, Dakota Rakestraw

Seattle University Law Review

Lime scooters keep ending up in major waterways in Washington state metro areas, a testament to the ubiquity of e-scooters in the metropolitan landscape. How they get there is unclear. Why they get there is even murkier. Perhaps the answer lies in the implications of modern geolocation data collection through e-scooters and gaps in current data collection regulation curbing individual liberties.

Since September 2020, electric scooters have run Seattle’s streets and have dramatically overtaken ridesharing bike trips. For example, from September 2020 to September 2021, there were about 1.4 million scooter and bike trips with September 2021 seeing 300,000 scooter …

Machinists Preemption In The New Administrative Law, Andrew J. Ziaja

Seattle University Law Review

This Article assesses Machinists preemption—a labor-specific form of implied field preemption—while freshly considering implications both for and of new developments in administrative law. The radical transformation of administrative law in the Supreme Court, particularly its newfound emphasis on clear-statement rules, provides opportunities to reconsider the Machinists rationale. Aligning with scholars who have called to question the doctrine’s “ossifying” influence on labor and employment policy, it argues that the modern-day version of Machinists preemption clashes with the Supreme Court’s newly constrained view of delegated power and its differing conceptions of the major questions doctrine.

On the other hand, Machinists preemption might …

The Role Of Geographic Area On Juvenile Delinquency: Evidence From The 2023 National Survey On Drug Use And Health, Sara G. Remy

Sociology and Criminology Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study explores the relationship between geographic area and juvenile delinquency, with particular attention to how this relationship varies across the following settings: large metropolitan areas, small metropolitan areas, and rural areas. Using nationally representative data from the 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), the analysis focuses on youth under the age of 18 and incorporates additional social factors such as parental involvement, gender, grade level, and race/ethnicity. Results from my negative binomial regression models demonstrate that geographic area did not play significant role in delinquency overall. Income showed notable variation by geographic setting: in rural areas, …

Investigating Exoneration Patterns Among Juveniles, Kristin Mahan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Exoneration from crime has been studied among adults, but exoneration of juveniles (i.e., persons under age 18) has not been analyzed as a separate entity, despite distinct legal systems and developmental considerations. Wrongful conviction, while not always indicative of innocence, devastates lives of convicted individuals and their families, while increasing public mistrust and sometimes failing to convict truly guilty individuals. This devastation, as well as vulnerability to wrongful conviction, is significantly increased for youth who miss out on crucial developmental years, milestones, and opportunities.

In the current study, I examined differing and intersecting contributors (i.e., individual characteristics, crime characteristics, legal …

Constraining The Family Regulation System: The Contribution Of The Restatement Of The Law, Children And The Law, Clare Huntington

Faculty Scholarship

Advocates, policymakers, and scholars have argued for years that the family regulation system (also known as the child welfare system) fails families. Critics rightly note that the system does far too little to support families proactively and does not address the poverty and structural racism underlying many allegations of child abuse and neglect. The overrepresentation of Black, Native American, and Native Alaskan children in foster care is a stark and disturbing manifestation of these failings.

In response to these concerns, there is an active debate about abolishing or radically reforming the family regulation system to direct government funding to proactive …

Restating The Law Of Children And Youth: The Evolution Of Reform, Elizabeth S. Scott

Faculty Scholarship

A brief roadmap of this article may be helpful. Part I describes the emergence of the Child Wellbeing framework and its powerful role in shaping twenty-first-century youth justice reforms captured by the Restatement. Part II shows how this framework has begun to have a far broader influence on the law affecting children and how the framework and the developmental approach embodied in the Restatement can guide courts and shape the trajectory of the law in the future. Part III explores potential challenges to the Restatement’s effectiveness in attaining a fully integrated system based on the Child Wellbeing framework.

Breaking The Pipeline: Exploring Exclusionary Discipline, Restorative Justice, And The Attitudes And Beliefs Of Educators, Ericka J. Varnedoe

Honors College Theses

This study explores the connection between exclusionary disciplinary practices and the school-to-prison pipeline. It highlights how exclusionary discipline, including suspensions and expulsions, disproportionately affects marginalized groups such as students of color, students with disabilities, and LGBTQ youth, further contributing to the school-to-prison pipeline. In contrast, restorative justice, a non-punitive approach, offers a promising alternative. Initially adopted from the criminal justice system, restorative justice has been integrated into school environments to foster positive school climates, improve experiences, and mitigate challenging behaviors. This research examines educators' attitudes toward both exclusionary and restorative practices, as well as their awareness and implementation of restorative …

It’S Not So Simple: An Examination Of How The Internal Revenue Code Fails To Contemplate The Economic Realities Of Individuals With Disabilities And Their Families, Garret Hoff

Duke Law & Technology Review

Families with disabled students face extra costs associated with providing their child with the same education that other students get for free. Even though these costs are spent with the explicit purpose of supporting their child’s disability-informed care and are not incurred but for their disability (“but-for costs”), some of these costs are not deductible and others are subject to unnecessary ambiguity when it comes to their deductibility. Families with disabled students are forced to reckon with arbitrary distinctions if they want to receive any favorable tax treatment on but-for costs. This is because the relevant provision in the Internal …

Brief Of Amici Curiae Scholars For The Advancement Of Children's Constitutional Rights And Students Engaged In Advancing Texas In Support Of Respondents, Mahmoud V. Taylor, U.S. Supreme Court (No. 24-297), Tanya Washington, Jeremiah Chin, Sarah Medina Camiscoli, Travis F. Chance, Amalia Y. Sax-Bolder, Catherine E. Smith

Court Briefs

Amici are members of Students Engaged in Advancing Texas and United States legal scholars of children and the law, education law, family law, and anti-discrimination law.

Students Engaged in Advancing Texas is a nonprofit organization founded by young people to develop civic leadership and belonging and represents students of various faiths and identities who have an interest in the outcome of this case.

Amici draw this Court’s attention to the constitutional harms that public school students and LGBTQ+ students and students with LGBTQ+ parents would bear should the Court grant Petitioners’ injunctive relief.

Brief Of Amici Curiae Scholars For The Advancement Of Children’S Constitutional Rights And Students Engaged In Advancing Texas In Support Of Respondents: Mahmoud V. Taylor, Catherine E. Smith, Tanya Washington, Jeremiah Chin, Sarah Medina Camiscoli, Travis F. Chance

Scholarly Articles

Amici are members of Students Engaged in Advancing Texas and United States legal scholars of children and the law, education law, family law, and anti-discrimination law.

Students Engaged in Advancing Texas is a nonprofit organization founded by young people to develop civic leadership and belonging and represents students of various faiths and identities who have an interest in the outcome of this case.

Amici draw this Court’s attention to the constitutional harms that public school students and LGBTQ+ students and students with LGBTQ+ parents would bear should the Court grant Petitioners’ injunctive relief.

Roger Williams University Law Review Symposium: Trauma-Informed Lawyering: Approaches To Advocating For Diverse Populations 11-15-2024, Roger Williams University School Of Law

School of Law Conferences, Lectures & Events

No abstract provided.

How The United States Fails Immigrant Youth, Abigail "Abby" Reinhard Greene

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

Immigrants are some of the most marginalized members of society. Immigrant youth, in particular, endure additional stresses due to their dual status as children and immigrants. Many fled their home country from persecution or entered the U.S. without a parent or legal guardian.

By May 2024, over 120 million individuals were “forcibly displaced worldwide as a result of persecution, conflict, violence or human rights violations.” In 2022, over 152,000 unaccompanied immigrant youths crossed the U.S.-Mexico border. The United States faces several challenges in supporting these immigrant youths, and it currently fails to meet those challenges. ...

This note details how …

Standard Of Proof In Child Welfare Cases, Guillermo Cintron

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

The lack of federal standards at the most crucial decision points of child welfare cases allows agencies across the country charged with ensuring the safety of children to abuse their authority by overregulating and policing Black and Brown families while interfering with their constitutional right to family integrity. Throughout this paper, I will share my experiences working in child welfare. Since 2001, I have worked with children and families in various roles involving the child welfare system. Over the course of my career, I have worked with children in foster care, providing therapeutic services as a case manager working with …

Beyond Politics: Rethinking The Conversation On Gender-Affirming Care For Youth, Olivia Sanders

Mercer Law Review

According to a study conducted in June of 2022 by the Williams Institute School of Law, nearly 300,000 youth members in the United States identify as transgender. According to these calculations, this statistic indicates that “[t]he number of young people who identify as transgender has nearly doubled in recent years.” Gender‑affirming healthcare is usually administered to treat gender dysphoria, which is defined as “a state of distress or discomfort that may be experienced because a person’s gender identity differs from that which is physically and/or socially attributed to their sex assigned at birth.” A 2021 study conducted by Reuters exposed …

Familial Fairness: Guaranteeing The Right To Counsel For Indigent Parents In Juvenile Dependency Proceedings, Jake Toth

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

Fairness principles enumerated in the seminal case Gideon v. Wainwright stand for the proposition that fundamental fairness and due process require appointment of counsel for indigent litigants. However, this principle has been constrained to criminal contexts. Many other types of litigation are just as impactful as a criminal proceeding, including juvenile dependency proceedings. Nevertheless, indigent parents do not enjoy an unqualified representation right.

This Comment traces the history of the representation right and how it has been treated in a juvenile dependency context, beginning with Gideon itself and examining other cases such as Eldridge and Lassiter. It then examines …

Considering The Child’S Wishes—But How? Allowing Children To Speak In Their Custody Matters, Joshua Hanson

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

In the United States, states universally may consider the child’s wishes when determining their custody placement. While their decision or preference is not binding for the judge, it allows the child meaningful participation in decisions that directly affect them. There are many ways courts can ensure a child’s voice is heard: through an interview with the judge, professional evaluations, child advocates, and even child-inclusive mediation. Yet state laws give judges broad discretion when determining how to weigh the child’s wishes.

This discretion will inevitably leave some children behind without having their voices heard. Allowing children meaningful participation in their custody …

The Misfortune Of Attending School While Black In A Fifth Circuit State, Shelley Ward Bennett

Washington and Lee Law Review

Tens of thousands of children, including disproportionate numbers of Black children, are hit in school every year. More than 50 percent of these students live in the Fifth Circuit states of Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. Decades of government data, including the Department of Education’s most recent reports, reveal that Black students receive alarmingly inequitable rates of corporal punishment, demonstrating this education practice to be a legal form of institutionalized racism.

This Article uniquely focuses on the archaic discipline practice’s effects on Black students in Fifth Circuit states. Fifth Circuit law addressing students’ rights in corporal punishment cases has developed into …

Digital Child Labor Exploitation In Sharenting: Proposing Legislative Solutions For Enhanced Child Protection, Joana Guzman Gonzalez

University Honors Theses

This thesis explores the implications of sharenting -- the practice of sharing children's information on mass media--raises urgent concerns about child safety and potential human rights violations -- and the exploitation of children in digital spaces, focusing on the risks of privacy, safety and mental health pose by the rise of kidfluencers – children influencers under the age of 18 – and family vlog channels. Through a comprehensive literature review, the research examines children's online presence's emotional, legal, and societal impacts, drawing from case studies such as Sheri Franke, Wren Eleanor, Ryan Kaji, and JoJo Siwa. The analysis reveals a …

Table Of Contents, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

Table of Contents