Law of the Sea Commons^™

Breaking The Ice: China And Lawfare In The Arctic, Sophia Toner

Honors Theses

This thesis examines China's engagement with international legal frameworks in the Arctic through a lawfare lens, using a structured analytical framework to assess whether Chinese activities constitute lawfare. Focusing on two key cases—China's involvement in submarine cable infrastructure and its navigation of the Northern Sea Route—the research applies Andrea Beck's three-part definition of lawfare: "(1) the misuse of the law in order to, (2) achieve a military objective, and (3) undermine the legal framework." The analysis reveals that China's Arctic engagement does not fully constitute lawfare according to this definition. Rather than misusing legal frameworks, China operates within existing structures …

Maritime Personal Injury In The New England Fishery, Ralph J. Gillis

Maine Law Review

Commercial fishing, as carried on by the "down east" fisherman, is an industry fast succumbing to the economic inequities of vessel operation. Over the past two decades, the prices for fish boats have not increased as rapidly as the operating costs involved in fitting and maintaining the fishing vessel. Today, this situation has been compounded by the economic inability of the individual trawler owner to obtain protection and indemnity insurance to compensate crew members for injuries received during the course of maritime employment. The present consequence of these developments is that, although judicial and legislative regulatory guidelines have been set …

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 …

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, …

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. …

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 …

Volume 48 Masthead, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

Volume 48 Masthead

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 …

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 …

Newport Manual On The Law Of Naval Warfare, Second Edition, Newport Manual Expert Group

International Law Studies

The Newport Manual on the Law of Naval Warfare, Second Edition, is a continuing effort to restate the law of naval warfare as a purely lex lata exercise. Like the first edition of 2023, it is designed to provide a practical guide for commanders and seafarers, lawyers and officials, and educators and students. In doing so, the Manual includes developments in warfighting technologies in recent decades, which have significantly influenced the nature of war at sea. This second edition has been edited by four of the original authors following an extensive review and revision process.

Bebas-Aktif: On The Law Of Neutrality Applicable To Indonesia, Arie Afriansyah, Hitoshi Nasu

Indonesian Journal of International Law

Tensions have heightened in the Indo-Pacific, with the People’s Republic of China engaging in aggressive behaviors in the South China Sea, confronting India in border disputes, and poising itself for a forcible unification of Taiwan in the midst of a great power competition with the United States. While the situation remains precarious, it is imperative for Indonesia to consider how it might position itself if a large-scale armed conflict erupted in the region. Indonesia could plausibly maintain a neutral status without taking part in hostilities, pursuant to its long-standing “free-active” foreign policy. In such a case, the law of neutrality …

Bbnj Agreement And The Negotiation Process: An Analysis From Developing Country Perspective With Special Focus On Indonesia, Simi K K, Kavitha Chalakkal

Indonesian Journal of International Law

The governance of marine genetic resources from areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ)and regulating access to this regime in all available and existing forms is a core issue before international policymakers. The recently concluded BBNJ Agreement negotiations for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological resources from areas beyond national jurisdiction was a platform to negotiate for a new legal instrument to address the core issues related to marine diversity from ABNJ, as agreed under the UNGA Resolution 72/249 to address the problems identified in the 2011 package. Defining MGRs and developing appropriate access and benefit-sharing mechanisms for marine biological …

Changemakers: Susannah Johnson : L'25 : Charting A New Course : From Navy Officer To Legal Advocate, Jane Govednik

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Changemakers: Julia Meskis '25 : 3l : Protecting The Waters 4-10-2025, Andrew Clark

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

The Admiralty Clause And State Workmen's Compensation For Fishermen, Maine Law Review

Maine Law Review

The current methods of compensating fishermen injured or killed at sea are products of federal law. Without exception, a fisherman or his representative must turn to federal law for compensation. Unlike certain maritime workers covered by a federal workmen's compensation scheme, the fisherman's remedies are exclusively judicial, burdened by the expenses and delays inherent in litigation. Although this method of determining rights and liabilities may be a satisfactory means of obtaining compensation for other types of seamen, it has come under increasing attack within the fishing industry. This Comment evaluates both the constitutionality and the practicability of state coverage of …

Boundary Delimitation In The Economic Zone: The Gulf Of Maine Dispute, Maine Law Review

Maine Law Review

In an ideal world of abundant natural resources, homogeneously distributed among nations, the issue of marine boundary delimitation would have little significance within the international community. However, the realities of randomly concentrated and limited resources, complicated by the political geography of the oceans, have made maritime boundary delimitation a crucial international issue. In a world of more than 130 coastal nations, the determination of standards for allocation of living and non-living ocean resources within the fertile offshore areas has become an issue of widespread economic importance. Nonetheless, the international community has developed few concrete and specific rules for marine boundary …

The Fishery Conservation And Management Act Of 1976: State Regulation Of Fishing Beyond The Territorial Sea, Maine Law Review

Maine Law Review

Historically, international law has recognized the sovereignty of coastal nations within the three-mile contiguous territorial sea. Although modem international practice has expanded the breadth of the territorial sea to twelve miles or more, the traditional three-mile zone retains a special significance within the scheme of domestic United States marine law. Under the federal scheme of marine resource jurisdiction, authority within the three-mile zone has been allocated to the coastal states while the federal government has exercised near-exclusive jurisdiction over marine zones seaward of the territorial sea boundary. However, this bifurcated jurisdiction scheme has failed to provide effective conservation and management …

Burying The Icepick: Why And How The United States Should End Its Dispute With Canada Over The Legal Status Of The Northwest Passage, Ryan Weber

William & Mary Law Review Online

This Note argues that the United States should work with Canada to pass an amendment to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) that allows Canada to legally claim the Northwest Passage as internal waters. While the United States has long championed freedom of navigation, important U.S. security, environmental, and diplomatic interests weigh in favor of a legal regime that allows Canada to exercise complete control over the Northwest Passage. However, UNCLOS does not currently support Canada’s claim. Thus, the best means of accomplishing this objective is for the United States to work with Canada to …

The International Law Of Maritime Boundary Delimitation, Edward Collins Jr., Martin A. Rogoff

Maine Law Review

The law of the sea, in its essence, divides the seas into zones and specifies the rights and duties of states and ships flying their flags in those zones. Now that states are claiming extensive seaward jurisdiction both on the continental shelf and in the water column, attention has begun to shift from delimiting continental shelf boundaries or economic zone boundaries to the delimitation of a single maritime boundary which would serve both purposes. There are significant legal differences between the delimitation of a single maritime boundary and the delimitation of either a continental shelf boundary or an exclusive economic …

Sabotage Of Submarine Cables And Pipelines As A Use Of Force And Armed Attack, Christian Schaller

International Law Studies

Combating sabotage of submarine cables and pipelines is a matter of law enforcement, subject to the international law of the sea. However, such acts may also constitute the use of force and an armed attack under Articles 2(4) and 51 of the UN Charter. The application of these concepts requires clarification of the “international relations” in which the use of force takes place and identification of the State against which the armed attack occurs. This article argues that, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, the sabotage may be presumed to be directed against the States connected to the …

Table Of Contents, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

Table of Contents

Re-Imagining Tomorrow: A Technology, Innovation Law, And Ethics Symposium On Addictive Technology And Children, Margaret Chon

Seattle University Law Review

In this Foreword, Professor Margaret Chon introduces Seattle University's Technology, Innovation Law, and Ethics (TILE) program, the 2024 TILE Symposium, and Dr. Gaia Bernstein’s Unwired: Gaining Control Over Addictive Technologies.

Keynote Address: The Movement To Protect Kids From Addictive Technologies, Gaia Bernstein

Seattle University Law Review

In this keynote address, I describe my personal journey starting with a school outreach program I created in 2017 to address technology overuse among kids. While I initially advocated for self-help methods, I grew to recognize that the tech industry bore responsibility. This realization led me to write Unwired: Gaining Control over Addictive Technologies, which focused on collective action to pressure the tech industry to redesign its addictive products.

I then describe the movement to control addictive technologies and protect kids, which has gained momentum since the end of the pandemic. This movement combines grassroots parent activism with legal-political action. …

Moral Panic Or Public Health Crisis? Lessons From Drugs And Gambling For “Addictive” Design, Matthew B. Lawrence, Haomin (Kevin) Yan

Seattle University Law Review

Alcohol, automobiles, guns, lottery, loot boxes, meat, music, opioid painkillers, processed foods, prop bets, slot machines, television, tobacco, violent video games. Over the last century each of these has been subject to concerns—some might even say “moral panics”—from parents and policymakers about avoidable harms to kids and adults. In some cases we look back with the benefit of hindsight and dismiss those concerns as naïve or moralistic. In others we look back at them as justified or as having come too late to check an expanding industry before it did unfathomable harm while growing so powerful that it became all …

Responding To Digital Addiction, Ned Snow

Seattle University Law Review

In Unwired: Gaining Control over Addictive Technologies, Professor Gaia Bernstein calls our attention to the growing problem of digital addiction. Digital addiction may sound like something out of a science-fiction novel or something that does not raise the same sort of real-life practical concerns as are present in a physical health crisis or an economic decline. But as Bernstein presents the evidence, we learn that the consequences of digital addiction can be just as harmful as a serious disease or a financial depression. Cognitive development disorders, anxiety, emotional depression, social isolation, and other mental health ills can be debilitating—as much …