State and Local Government Law Commons^™

Rescuing Maryland Tort Law: A Tribute To Judge Sally Adkins, Donald G. Gifford

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Local Regulation Of Charitable Solicitation, Joseph Mead

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Most discussions of the policy context for nonprofits in the United States focus on federal or state restrictions. Fundraising charities, however, must comply not only with myriad state requirements but an uncertain number of local requirements as well. Based on a survey of the largest cities in the United States, I find that all of these cities have some restrictions on charitable solicitation. Several of the cities also impose extensive registration requirements and other restrictions. These findings highlight the need for nonprofits to be aware of local regulation of their activities.

The Ethical (Or Not So Ethical) Story Behind Your Bar Of Chocolate: The Untold Tale Of A Distressed Ghanaian Farmer, Nadia Ayensah

Augustana Center for the Study of Ethics Essay Contest

In a time where the ethics of business dealings have become a key factor in the likelihood of the success of that venture due to globalization, it is important to start considering those ventures that are so popular, but whose inner working are rarely heard of. This paper analyzes the history and process of cocoa production in Ghana. It looks at the status quo with regards to the social and economic standing of Ghanaian Cocoa farmers as opposed to the earnings made by cocoa processing companies. With the statistics derived, the paper then considers who is to take responsibility for …

The Effect Of State-Level Constitutional Debt Limitations On The Costs Of Capital, Micah Johnson

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Forty-five states have adopted some form of constitutional limitation on their own legislature’s ability to issue debt and raise capital. Eleven states have more than one such limitation. It seems intuitive to assume that constitutional strictures on a state’s ability to manage its fiscal policy would affect that state’s standing in the market, and it seems equally safe to assume that different combinations of the various forms of debt limitation would lead to varying effects in the market from state to state. However, the specific effects arising from the various constitutional provisions have proven to be difficult to measure. This …

The Shadows Of Life: Medicaid's Failure Of Health Care's Moral Test, Barak D. Richman, Kushal T. Kadakia, Shivani A. Shah

Faculty Scholarship

North Carolina Medicaid covers one-fifth of the state’s population and makes up approximately one-third of the budget. Yet the state has experienced increasing costs and worsening health outcomes over the past decade, while socioeconomic disparities persist among communities. In this article, the authors explore the factors that influence these trends and provide a series of policy lessons to inform the state’s current reform efforts following the recent approval of North Carolina’s Section 1115 waiver by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The authors used health, social, and financial data from the state Department of Health and Human Services, the …

Creating A Workplace Culture Of Civility And Respect: Preventing Unlawful Harassment And Discrimination, Rose Davenport

Shared Knowledge Conference

This research project identifies a plan to study best practices addressing unlawful workplace harassment and discrimination in New Mexico-based hospital healthcare systems. Initially, this project focusses on Presbyterian Healthcare Services and the University of New Mexico Hospital, with the possibility of including other local healthcare systems. In light of recent developments from “#MeToo” and “Time’s Up” movements, the issues of unlawful sexual harassment and discrimination are hot topics in today’s society and need to be more openly addressed by all levels of an organization, in order to identify these issues head-on and hopefully prevent them from continuing to occur in …

Holding Ridesharing Companies Accountable In Texas, Martha Alejandra Salas

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract forthcoming

Legislation Committee Charge, Legislation Committee Summit For Civil Rights

Minnesota Journal of Law & Inequality

No abstract provided.

Analyzing The Differentiation Among State Medical Marijuana Policies By Examining State Policies & Trends, Richard Furlong

Political Science Theses and Capstones

Support for marijuana has been growing nationwide. This increased support has gained a lot of momentum since the late 1990s when California became the first state to legalize marijuana for medical use by enacting Proposition 215, or the Compassionate Use Act. Since the enactment of Proposition 215, 28 more states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana for medicinal use. I look into why states have begun to adopt these laws, and what makes these states differ throughout the country in the timeliness of their actions. I assembled data to examine a variety of state policies to attempt to …

Beyond The Movement: State Action In Addressing Campus Sexual Violence, Amijo Wadena

Political Science Theses and Capstones

The "Me Too" movement, started by actress Alyssa Milano, has helped shine a light on the prevalence of sexual harassment and sexual violence throughout the country. While it has helped the public understand the magnitude of the issue, it has only started the conversation about sexual violence. And while the focus has mostly been on Hollywood, there has been one area that is being overlooked; sexual violence on College and University campuses. With Secretary DeVos' repeal of Obama era policies, the current administration is being a lot less transparent when it comes to sexual violence, in general. With policy-making responsibility …

Classrooms & Curriculum, Devin Walz, Anh Doan, Cathy Tran, Loraina Galarza

Collin College Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Student Research Conference

Panel Chair: Lisa Roy-Davis

Papers Presented:

"Should the State of Texas Allow Public Universities and Colleges to Permit Guns on Campuses?" By Devin Walz

"Pets in the Elementary Classroom" by Anh Doan

"Technology Case Study of K-12 Students" by Cathy Tran

Abstract: Technology is an exponentially revolutionizing tool that has pushed all aspects of society to adapt and grow in the time known as the “Information Age”. The way that humans process information, and the speed at which humans can process information, with technology allows humans to grow more efficiently and effectively. Technology is continually designed to become more optimal …

A Taxonomy Of Independent Electoral Reapportionment Systems, James Ruley

Indiana Journal of Constitutional Design

This paper addresses a means of checking legislative gerrymandering, which I have called the Independent Electoral Reapportionment Commission (IERC). Its purpose is to prevent self-interested politicians from drawing biased constituency lines. While scholars have researched gerrymandering, few scholars have researched commissions designed to limit such gerrymandering, and no comprehensive work details the global means of accomplishing this goal.

Thus, the purpose of this paper is not to normatively prescribe the best practices for composing and empowering an IERC, but rather to descriptively show how different countries conduct this process. While Part II makes some determinations about which commissions may conceptually …

Slides: Flpma In Its Historical Context, John D. Leshy

FLPMA Turns 40 (October 21)

Presenter: John D. Leshy, Sunderland Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus, U.C. Hastings College of the Law

36 slides

This session traces the history of FLPMA including, among other things, its legislative, administrative, and historical antecedents, including for example, the Public Land Law Review Commission’s 1970 report, One Third of Our Nation’s Lands. It then considers FLPMA’s unique public lands policies and requirements and how they are reflected in the BLM’s management of public lands today.

See: https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/blm/history/contents.htm

Agenda: A Celebration Of The Work Of Charles Wilkinson: Served With Tasty Stories And Some Slices Of Roast, University Of Colorado Boulder. Getches-Wilkinson Center For Natural Resources, Energy, And The Environment

A Celebration of the Work of Charles Wilkinson (Martz Winter Symposium, March 10-11)

Conference held at the University of Colorado, Wolf Law Building, Wittemyer Courtroom, Thursday, March 10th and Friday, March 11th, 2016.

Conference moderators, panelists and speakers included University of Colorado Law School professors Phil Weiser, Sarah Krakoff, William Boyd, Kristen Carpenter, Britt Banks, Harold Bruff, Richard Collins, Carla Fredericks, Mark Squillace, and Charles Wilkinson

"We celebrate the work of Distinguished Professor Charles Wilkinson, a prolific and passionate writer, teacher, and advocate for the people and places of the West. Charles's influence extends beyond place, yet his work has always originated in a deep love of and commitment to particular places. We …

Motorcycle Helmet Effectiveness In Reducing Head, Face And Brain Injuries By State And Helmet Law, Cody S. Olsen, Andrea M. Thomas, Michael Singleton, Anna M. Gaichas, Tracy J. Smith, Gary A. Smith, Justin Peng, Michael J. Bauer, Ming Qu, Denise Yeager, Timothy Kerns, Cynthia Burch, Lawrence J. Cook

Biostatistics Faculty Publications

Background: Despite evidence that motorcycle helmets reduce morbidity and mortality, helmet laws and rates of helmet use vary by state in the U.S.

Methods: We pooled data from eleven states: five with universal laws requiring all motorcyclists to wear a helmet, and six with partial laws requiring only a subset of motorcyclists to wear a helmet. Data were combined in the Crash Outcome Data Evaluation System's General Use Model and included motorcycle crash records probabilistically linked to emergency department and inpatient discharges for years 2005-2008. Medical outcomes were compared between partial and universal helmet law settings. We estimated adjusted relative …

Local Home Rule In The Time Of Globalization, Kenneth A. Stahl

BYU Law Review

Cities are increasingly taking the lead in tackling global issues like climate change, financial regulation, economic inequality, and others that the federal and state governments have failed to address. Recent media accounts have accordingly praised cities as the hope of our globally networked future. This optimistic appraisal of cities is, however, undermined by local governments’ cramped legal status. Under the doctrine of home rule, local governments can often only act in matters deemed “local” in nature and cannot regulate “statewide” issues that may have impacts beyond local borders. As a result, the global issues that local governments are being praised …

The Double-Edged Sword Of Health Care Integration: Consolidation And Cost Control, Erin C. Fuse Brown, Jaime S. King

Indiana Law Journal

The average family of four in the United States spends $25,826 per year on health care. American health care costs so much because we both overuse and overpay for health care goods and services. The Affordable Care Act’s cost control policies focus on curbing overutilization by encouraging health care providers to integrate to pro-mote efficiency and eliminate waste, but the cost control policies largely ignore prices. This article examines this overlooked half of health care cost control policy: rising prices and the policy levers held by the states to address them. We challenge the conventional wisdom that reducing overutilization through …

Neighborhoods By Assessment: An Analysis Of Non-Ad Valorem Financing In California, Mathew D. Mccubbins, Ellen C. Seljan

Faculty Scholarship

Non-ad valorem assessments on property are a fiscal innovation born from financial stress. Unable to raise property taxes due to limitations, many localities have turned to these charges as an alternative method to fund local services. In this paper, we seek to explain differential levels of non-ad valorem assessment financing through the analysis of property tax records of a large and diverse set of single family homes in California. We theorize that assessments, as opposed to other forms of taxation, will be used when residents hold anti-redistributive preferences. We show that assessment financing is most common in cities with high …

Marriage On The Ballot: An Analysis Of Same-Sex Marriage Referendums In North Carolina, Minnesota, And Washington During The 2012 Elections, Craig M. Burnett, Mathew D. Mccubbins

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

From Bail Bondsmen To Risk Assessments: Assessing Kentucky's Pretrial Release Approaches, Ismaila Ceesay

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

As one of only four states that ban bail bond companies, Kentucky is an experiment in the “laboratory of democracy,” which is made even more interesting because the state has tried three different approaches to pretrial release—the Pre-1976 approach, the 1976 to 2011 approach, and the 2011 to present approach. An assessment of these approaches show s how state actions and inaction can affect the right to pretrial release and underscores the importance of adopting appropriate state pretrial release policies.

A Review Of University Responses To Informal Queries And Open Records Requests For Aggregate Hiring-Related Data, Sheila Brothers

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Open records (OR) laws ensure that members of the public, including public managers, directors of nonprofit organizations, and individual citizens, have access to the records created by public agencies. Local government and state government agencies are generally recognized to be subject to OR laws, but so are Kentucky’s public universities. The author created a survey to review the responses to both an informal query and a formal open records request made of Kentucky’s eight public, four-year universities (Eastern Kentucky University; Kentucky State University; Morehead State University; Murray State University; Northern Kentucky University; University of Kentucky; University of Louisville; and Western …

Rating The Cities: Constructing A City Resilience Index For Assessing The Effect Of State And Local Laws On Long-Term Recovery From Crisis And Disaster, John Travis Marshall

Faculty Publications By Year

Superstorm Sandy, the 2008 Iowa floods, and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita all supply recent reminders that U.S. cities can no longer adopt an ad hoc approach to threats presented by climate change and natural hazards. The stories detailing long-term recovery from these disasters underscore that federal, state, and local governments are struggling to appreciate the legal tools and institutions necessary to implement the large-scale infrastructure, housing, and community development programs that climate change and more frequent natural disasters demand. This Article calls for development of a tool allowing succinct evaluation of the range of community capacities that will figure critically …

Comments On Public Lands: Title Transfer Proposals, Chuck Howe

Challenging Federal Ownership and Management: Public Lands and Public Benefits (October 11-13)

3 pages.

Slides: The Colorado River: Innovation In The Face Of Scarcity, Anne J. Castle

Innovations in Managing Western Water: New Approaches for Balancing Environmental, Social and Economic Outcomes (Martz Summer Conference, June 11-12)

Presenter: Anne J. Castle, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment

40 slides

Slides: Klamath Basin Agreements: Largest River Restoration Project In American History, Amy Cordalis

Innovations in Managing Western Water: New Approaches for Balancing Environmental, Social and Economic Outcomes (Martz Summer Conference, June 11-12)

Presenter: Amy Cordalis, Staff Attorney, Yurok Tribe

34 slides

Slides: The Blm And Colorado Dnr Mou: A Water-Based Partnership, Roy Smith

Innovations in Managing Western Water: New Approaches for Balancing Environmental, Social and Economic Outcomes (Martz Summer Conference, June 11-12)

Presenter: Roy Smith, Bureau of Land Management

19 slides

Slides: Never Let A Crisis Go To Waste, Lester Snow

Innovations in Managing Western Water: New Approaches for Balancing Environmental, Social and Economic Outcomes (Martz Summer Conference, June 11-12)

Presenter: Lester Snow, Executive Director, California Water Foundation

39 slides

Slides: Restoring The Acequias: Fixing What Wasn't Broken, Will Davidson

Innovations in Managing Western Water: New Approaches for Balancing Environmental, Social and Economic Outcomes (Martz Summer Conference, June 11-12)

Presenter: Will Davidson, Acequia Assistance Project

26 slides

Slides: Wrapping Up The Big Horn Adjudication: Lessons After 38 Years And 20,000 Claims, Ramsey L. Kropf

Innovations in Managing Western Water: New Approaches for Balancing Environmental, Social and Economic Outcomes (Martz Summer Conference, June 11-12)

Presenter: Ramsey L. Kropf, Deputy Solicitor for Water Resources, Office of the Solicitor, U.S. Department of the Interior

34 slides

Slides: The Columbia River Treaty, Barbara Cosens

Innovations in Managing Western Water: New Approaches for Balancing Environmental, Social and Economic Outcomes (Martz Summer Conference, June 11-12)

Presenter: Barbara Cosens, Professor, University of Idaho College of Law and Waters of the West Graduate Program

22 slides