Legal Profession Commons^™

Can The Law Protect My Craft? How Gaps In Copyright Of Knitting Patterns Symbolize A Greater Struggle For Protecting Traditionally Feminine Forms Of Intellectual Property, Kysa Walzer

Seattle University Law Review

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the application of intel-lectual property rights within the context of copyright protection of knit-ting patterns. The article will discuss the underutilization of copyright pro-tection for knitters and crafters and its larger impact upon craft and indus-try traditionally comprised of women. Part I introduces knitting patterns and a short history of copyright protections. Part II discusses the specific areas within knitting patterns and the knitting community which give rise to legal grey areas for copyright protection. Part III discusses the larger implications of copyright and intellectual property in spaces where women traditionally make …

A New Exclusionary Rule To Protect Bodily Integrity And Discourage Pretext Stops, Josephine Ross

Seattle University Law Review

The author proposes a novel state-level exclusionary rule to reduce racial profiling and protect bodily autonomy during police encounters. The current Fourth Amendment jurisprudence fails to deter pretextual stops and frisks because the exclusionary rule often turns on officer fault and "good faith," allowing racially motivated practices to go unchecked. As federal rollbacks on diversity and data collection hinder efforts to track racial bias, the author argues for a statutory evidentiary rule that automatically excludes drug evidence found during (1) traffic stops, (2) pat-downs for weapons, and (3) consent searches, regardless of an officer’s intent or the legality of the …

Navahine V. HawaiʻI Dept. Of Transportation: The Keiki Will Lead Us, Catherine Smith

Seattle University Law Review

The author analyzes the landmark case Navahine v. Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation, which culminated in the world’s first constitutional climate settlement. Catherine Smith, serving as an expert for the youth plaintiffs, situates the case within Hawaiʻi’s legal tradition of prioritizing children’s rights and intergenerational equity. She explores the evolution of children’s constitutional protections, contrasting Hawaiʻi’s progressive jurisprudence with the dominant adult-centric legal framework on the mainland. She critiques four recurring analytical missteps in U.S. courts that marginalize children’s interests and highlights Hawaiʻi’s public trust doctrine and cultural values, such as the Aloha Spirit, as models for addressing climate-related harms. …

Constitutional Futurism As Pedagogy, Jeremiah Chin

Seattle University Law Review

Constitutional Law has transformed from a course on history to a discussion of current events. Cases like Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard College, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, and Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo reveal that the study of constitutional law is not a static, or even linear, discussion of constitutional text and history. Law is a shifting, changing enterprise that reflects social constructions of power, authority, and identity. How do we teach, learn, and understand constitutional law that is so laden with history, riddled with theories of consistency and adherence to precedent, but ultimately subject …

Table Of Contents

Seattle University Law Review

Table of Contents

Volume 48 Masthead

Seattle University Law Review

Volume 48 Masthead

Keynote Address: Community Over Constitution, Riddhi Mukhopadhyay

Seattle University Law Review

In this keynote address, Riddhi Mukhopadhyay challenges the veneration of the U.S. Constitution by highlighting its origins in exclusion and its continued failure to protect marginalized communities. Drawing from her experience in civil legal aid and gender justice, she argues that the Constitution was drafted to consolidate power among white, wealthy men and continues to reflect that legacy through racial, gender, and class-based inequities. While acknowledging the significance of constitutional amendments and landmark cases, Mukhopadhyay emphasizes that meaningful change has always come from community-led action, not top-down reform. Additionally, Mukhopadhyay calls on lawyers and legal advocates to center community, practice …

The Lost Child: A Critique On Transracial Adoption Rhetoric, Hallie Conyers-Tucker

Seattle University Law Review

Transracial adoption in the United States reflects a deeply rooted history of colonialism, cultural assimilation, and racial hierarchy, masked by rhetoric focused on the “best interest of the child.” The author critiques that rhetoric and traces how adoption practices and policies, both domestic and international, have evolved to reinforce systemic inequities. Through historical analysis of the forced adoption of Native American, Black, and Asian children, it reveals how the best interest standard has been wielded not to protect children but to uphold political and racial ideologies. The author argues that the prevailing adoption framework relies on child-saving and color-blind narratives …

A Global Reconstruction: Black Internationalism And The Human Rights Regime, Britta Redwood

Seattle University Law Review

Black American advocates for civil, political, and economic rights have long taken an internationalist approach and fostered connections with international organizations and transnational movements. This engagement has also been a generative force and played role in shaping international law. Beginning in the early years of the twentieth century, Black intellectuals and leaders, spearheaded by the NAACP and the UNIA, focused on human rights as a means for addressing and repairing the harms wrought by slavery, Jim Crow, and racism. From the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 through the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Genocide Convention, and the drafting of …

The Gap: Addressing The Missing Piece In HawaiʻI’S Anti-Discrimination Laws On Credit And Lending, Wendy Mun

Seattle University Law Review

This author addresses the significant gap in Hawaiʻi’s anti-discrimination laws, specifically the lack of explicit protections for LGBTQ+ individuals against credit and lending discrimination. Although federal laws like the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) and recent interpretations by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) extend some protections, they remain vulnerable to shifting federal priorities and interpretations. The author explores how other states, particularly California and Washington, have enacted robust statutory protections that clearly prohibit credit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. They argue that Hawaiʻi, despite its large LGBTQ+ population, must amend its credit protection laws to reflect …

The U.S. Drug Policy Hamster Wheel: A Critical Discourse Analysis Of Seattle’S New Drug Ordinance, Hallie Conyers-Tucker

Seattle University Law Review

The author critically examines Seattle’s new drug ordinance using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to reveal how legislative language influences the policy's actual effect. Although the ordinance claims to prioritize diversion and community health, the use of permissive language such as “may” and “shall” grants broad discretionary power to law enforcement and undermines the stated intent. The author situates the ordinance within a broader historical context, highlighting how drug policy in the United States has consistently been shaped by racialized and stigmatizing narratives. Additionally, the author argues that meaningful reform requires reframing the discourse around substance use to support public health …

Something Concrete: How Labor Advocates Can Best Respond To The Ambiguity Of Glacier Northwest, Ateş Serifsoy

Seattle University Law Review

The Supreme Court’s much-anticipated decision in Glacier North-west, Inc. v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local No. 174 (Glacier) marked a critical moment for workers’ rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and the longstanding practice of Garmon preemption. Yet, initial fears of a significant rollback of workers’ rights, driven by sensational headlines, were met with an unexpectedly narrow Court opinion. This Comment examines Glacier’s implications for Gar-mon preemption and the right to strike. It offers the historical background of the doctrine of labor law preemption before Glacier; presents a detailed analysis of Glacier itself, including its …

Urgensi Dokumen Persetujuan Pasangan Kawin Yang Dibuat Secara Bawah Tangan Sebelum Penandatanganan Akta Pendirian Commanditaire Vennootschap (Studi Kasus Di Kabupaten Bandung), Ambria Rahma Widiastuti

Indonesian Notary

This thesis analyzes the legal provisions governing the mandatory existence of a document of consent from the spouses, made underhand before the signing of the deed of establishment of Commanditaire Vennootschap (hereinafter "CV"), and the legal consequences if the deed of establishment of CV is signed without the consent of the spouses. This research method uses a doctrinal approach through a literature study and is analyzed qualitatively. Article 36 paragraph (1) stipulates that "everything related to joint property that will be carried out legal action against it requires the consent of both parties." The legal agreements undertaken by a CV …

Konsekuensi Pembatalan Akta Autentik Yang Terdapat Praktik Nominee/Pinjam Nama Bagi Beneficiary (Studi Putusan Pengadilan Tinggi Denpasar Nomor 247/Pdt/2021/Pt Dps), Talitha Mumtaz

Indonesian Notary

This research analyzes the implementation of nominees in the field of land tenure in Indonesia, as well as how an authentic deed made before a notary has a nominee element in it and also the consequences for the beneficiary of cancelling the authentic deed because the authentic deeds contained nominee practices. The research was compiled using doctrinal research methods. The implementation of nominee practices in an authentic deed is made by making a series of agreements whose contents indirectly transfer ownership from the nominee whose name is listed on the certificate of ownership, to the beneficiary, which in this case …

Analisis Pelaksanaan Redistribusi Objek Tanah Landreform Dan Keadilan Bagi Masyarakat Desa Kalasey Dua Atas Status Tanah Yang Dikuasai Negara., Ashley Juniare Maria Rengkung

Indonesian Notary

As land plays an important role in everyday life, it is necessary to pay attention to rights and protection regarding its implementation. The Basic Agrarian Law itself has derivatives, one of which discusses Land Redistribution as regulated in Presidential Regulation Number 88 of 2017 concerning Settlement of Land Tenure in Forest Areas. However, after the ratification of Presidential Regulation Number 62 of 2023 concerning the Acceleration of Implementation of Agrarian Reform, Presidential Regulation Number 88 of 2017 and Presidential Regulation Number 86 of 2018 concerning Agrarian Reform are revoked and replaced with Presidential Regulation Number 62 of 2023 concerning Accelerating …

Implikasi Hukum Pembatalan Akta Jual Beli Saham Akibat Pembeli Cidera Janji (Analisis Kasus Pada Putusan No. 105/Pdt.G/2021/Pn Jkt.Sel), Riva Mahfuzhah Saphira

Indonesian Notary

Unfulfilled payment of shares are on of the problems that might arise when a limited company’s shares are transferred through a transaction that are not carried according to the shares transfer procedure in UUPT. The issues raised in this thesis pertain to the legal construction contained in the act of sale of shares that can protect the seller's interests in the event that the buyer fails to make payment and the notary's liability in the event that the buyer fails to make payment in the sale of shares, through the discussion of the case in Decision Number 105/PDT.G/2021/PN JKT.SEL. This …

Pemberian Tantiem Kepada Direksi Yang Telah Diberhentikan (Studi Kasus Putusan Mahkamah Agung 2530k/Pdt/2022), A Aru Ogika

Indonesian Notary

This research aims to analyze the legal construction of giving bonuses to a Limited Liability Company, especially giving them to bank directors who have been dismissed by the Company and its correlation with the legal consequences of not giving bonuses. This research was prepared using doctrinal research methods. The research results show that the legal construction in granting bonuses must refer to the principles of benefit and justice. The conditions for granting bonuses as stipulated in several statutory regulations, namely performance, risk and profit generation, are in accordance with the principles of benefit and justice, while the inclusion of conditions …

Problematika Hukum Pengadaan Tanah Ibu Kota Nusantara Di Wilayah Transmigrasi Desa Bumi Harapan Kecamatan Sepaku Kabupaten Penajam Paser Utara (Studi Putusan Pengadilan Tinggi Samarinda Nomor 222/Pdt/2023/Pt Smr), Merry Christiangie

Indonesian Notary

The development of the Capital City of the Archipelago raises several legal problems, one of which is land disputes between transmigrants and local communities. In the process of preparing transmigration settlements, there are six processes, one of which is land provision. This paper is prepared using doctrinal research method. In this research, the issues raised are related to land disputes between local communities and landowners of transmigration areas in the process of land acquisition at the location of the Nusantara Capital City in Bumi Harapan Village and the juridical basis of the judge's thinking which later won the transmigrants in …

Kedudukan Akta Jual Beli Atas Tanah Yang Diperjualbelikan Sepihak Tanpa Melibatkan Ahli Waris Lainnya (Studi Putusan Nomor 359/Pk/Pdt/2020, Oktaviani Nurul Suci

Indonesian Notary

This research is motivated by the existence of a legal act of buying and selling rights to inherited land which should be carried out involving other heirs who have the rights to the inherited land. Heirs have legal rights to certain inheritances and the transfer of these rights must be carried out in accordance with applicable law. The problem in this research is the strength of the sale and purchase deed for the act of sale carried out by one of the heirs which does not involve other heirs and the correlation of Article 32 paragraph (2) PP Number 24 …

The Form Doesn’T Know Anything: A Response To Chowdhury, Chudkowski & Gulati, Glenn D. West

University of Miami Law Review

Merger and acquisition agreements differ significantly from sovereign bonds. While I have criticized the stubborn persistence of harmful or ineffective boilerplate in the M&A deal world, this persistence does not stem from a desire for uniformity or blind adherence to a sacred form. The dynamics involved in negotiating merger and acquisition agreements often dictate that comments on a form agreement be kept to a minimum, making the improvement of the form a secondary goal. Moreover, what one party considers bad boilerplate may be seen as beneficial by another. Many of the myths supposedly debunked by Chowdhury, Chudkowski & Gulati may, …

The Form Knows Best, Tara Chowdhury, Faith Chudkowski, Mitu Gulati

University of Miami Law Review

Law students learn that contracts are carefully negotiated, precisely drafted, and shaped by doctrine. But lawyers tell a different story. This article compares six pillars of contract law with what we heard in over 170 interviews with senior transactional lawyers across M&A, sovereign bonds, and leveraged loans. The result is a gap between the Official Story taught in classrooms and the Unofficial Story told by practitioners—where boilerplate dominates, case law is rarely consulted, and market custom often prevails over efficient design. We suggest that many contract provisions are better understood as historical artifacts: products of inherited forms and production pressure. …

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 …

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 …

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 …