Public Interest Commons^™

Rising Temperatures, The Prison Litigation Reform Act, And The Heat Death Of Human Dignity In Texas Prisons, Brianne Wylie

Northwestern University Law Review

This Note seeks to shed light on the life-threatening danger of extreme heat in un-air-conditioned Texas prisons. The Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) starkly limits the relief available to those suffering and dying in these prisons. This Note proposes an amendment to the legislation that could create a path toward lasting relief for incarcerated people. After analyzing the effects of increasing heat on the particularly vulnerable prison population, this Note analyzes how the Supreme Court and the Fifth Circuit have handled claims alleging constitutionally violative prison conditions under the Eighth Amendment—in short, ineffectively, if at all. This Note then details …

Want To Solve Labor Shortages? Relaxing The Child Labor Law Is Not The Answer, Yi Wu

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

Recently, the United States has been engaged in a nationwide debate over loosening regulations regarding children’s employment. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) sets restrictions on the working hours of children under 16 and prohibits their employment in certain hazardous positions. However, some states, such as Iowa, Ohio, Arkansas, and Wisconsin, have either passed or are considering legislation allowing children to work longer hours or in potentially dangerous conditions in response to labor shortages. These new state laws conflict with existing federal regulations. This Comment discusses why states should refrain from relaxing their child labor laws to permit children to …

Robbing Peter To Pay Paul: In The Absence Of School Finance Equity, Texas School Districts Forced To Choose Between Funding Academics Or Safety Reform, Emily Mann

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

This comment addresses the intersection between two discussions frequenting the Texas legislative floor – school safety and school finance. Following the deadliest school shooting in Texas history, Texas public schools are under political pressure to “harden” campuses rapidly and at great expense. Unsurprising, however, the high costs accompanying safety investment, coupled with the lack of financial backing from the state, puts districts in a challenging position. Any discussion of investment in Texas public schools also triggers questions of equity.

Debate over lack of equity across Texas public schools is no stranger to the Texas Supreme Court. Nonetheless, inequity persists in …

University Of The District Of Columbia Law Review, University Of The District Of Columbia Law Review

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Law School News: If There's Life, There's Hope (August 2024), Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Rwu School Of Law Social Justice Camp, Roger Williams University School Of Law

School of Law Conferences, Lectures & Events

No abstract provided.

Boiling Behind Bars: Exploring The Hidden Toll Of Extreme Heat On Mental Health In Texas Prisons, Sandra K. Miller

Social Work Theses - Archive

The State of Texas supports the largest prison system in the US and held 132,859 people in 100 units scattered across the state as of December 2023. Approximately 70% of Texas prison beds are not air conditioned, despite the state’s reputation for dangerously hot, humid summers. The State has officially recorded temperatures inside Texas prison facilities as high as 120 degrees with heat index values of over 150. Although there is a growing body of research on the negative physiological and psychological consequences of extreme heat among the general public, little is known about the physical and emotional toll of …

Establishing A Conditional Driver's Permit In Texas, Texas A&M University School Of Law Community Development Clinic, Madeline Marguerite Byers, Olivia Countryman, Taylor Garner, Crystal Hernandez, Luz E. Herrera, Lisa Mares

Legal Clinics

This report recommends expanding access to state-issued driver permits for Texans who are unable to obtain a driver license due to state requirements imposed pursuant to federal law. Many Texans, especially some of our most vulnerable residents, have difficulty meeting heightened identification requirements under federal law, and consequently drive without state authorization and auto insurance. This report also highlights the benefits of establishing a new driver’s permit and why it should be accessible by Texans who are natural disaster victims, experiencing homelessness, family violence survivors, and immigrants with no lawful status, a complicated immigration status, or in the process of …

A Guide To Understanding And Addressing Vacant Property In The City Of St. Louis, Dana M. Malkus

Faculty White Papers

The City of St. Louis has a serious vacant property challenge. Since the population peak in 1950, the City has experienced a 63% decline in population and now has one of the highest rates of vacancy in the nation. The City has approximately 25,000 vacant properties. Approximately 12,000 of these are owned by the Land Reutilization Authority (LRA) or other public agencies, which means that approximately 13,000 are privately owned. Most of those vacant properties are concentrated in the north and southeast portions of the City. For a city of its size, the City has "an extremely large" number of …

Chicken Little Revisited: Nafta Regulatory Expropriations After Methanex, Jessica C. Lawrence

Georgia Law Review

In August, 2005, a NAFTA dispute-resolution panel handed down its decision in Methanex Corp. v. United States, holding that, inter alia, California's regulatory ban on the gasoline additive MTBE was not a regulatory expropriation under NAFTA's Article 1110. Many of NAFTA's supporters reacted jubilantly to the decision, claiming that it proved--contrary to the "doomsday predictions" of anti-NAFTA "Chicken Littles"--that the agreement's investment chapter does not interfere with states' ability to enact regulations designed to protect the public interest. Such elation, however, is premature. This Note explains how, far from having "consigned to the garbage heap" the idea that the regulatory …