State and Local Government Law Commons^™

Push, Pull, And Spill: A Transdisciplinary Case Study In Municipal Open Government, Jan Whittington, Ryan Calo, Mike Simon, Jesse Woo, Meg Young, Perter Schmiedeskamp

Articles

Municipal open data raises hopes and concerns. The activities of cities produce a wide array of data, data that is vastly enriched by ubiquitous computing. Municipal data is opened as it is pushed to, pulled by, and spilled to the public through online portals, requests for public records, and releases by cities and their vendors, contractors, and partners. By opening data, cities hope to raise public trust and prompt innovation. Municipal data, however, is often about the people who live, work, and travel in the city. By opening data, cities raise concern for privacy and social justice.

This article presents …

When Private Property Rights Collide With Growth Management Legislation, Steve P. Calandrillo, Chryssa V. Deliganis, Andrea Woods

Articles

Over the past century, ever-expanding urban and suburban growth in the United States has offered a clear sign of America’s economic vitality, but it has not come without unique challenges of its own. Indeed, efforts to promulgate “smart growth” legislation as an antidote to suburban “sprawl” have proliferated in the past three decades, but it is time we ask ourselves whether their benefits outweigh their unintended consequences. States and local governments that once enthusiastically touted such legislation are beginning to confront unforeseen obstacles–and litigation–that raise the need for immediate reform.

This Article explores the impact of growth management acts on …

There Oughta Be A Law—A Model Law, Mary Whisner

Librarians' Articles

Uniform and model laws are frequently proposed to standardize “what the law is or should be” for specific jurisdictions. These model acts can come from national or international drafting organizations, such as the Uniform Law Commission, or from interest groups or associations that want to promote specific policies. Ms. Whisner provides an overview of the various types of model laws that researchers should know about.

Post-Racial Proxy Battles Over Immigration, Mary D. Fan

Chapters in Books

Amid economic and political turmoil, anti-immigrant legislation has flared again among a handful of fiercely determined states. To justify the intrusion into national immigration enforcement, the dissident states invoke imagery of invading hordes of “illegals”—though the unauthorized population actually fell by nearly two-thirds, decreasing by about a million people, between 2007 and 2009 as the recession reduced the lure of jobs.

Arizona’s Senate Bill 1070—recently invalidated in part by the U.S. Supreme Court in Arizona v. United States—led the charge. By preelection-year summer 2011, several states enacted laws patterned after Arizona’s controversial Senate Bill 1070, including Alabama’s even more aggressive …

The Economics And Politics Of Washington's Taxes: From Statehood To 2013, Don Burrows

Washington State Books

The book is divided into three parts. Part I contains five chapters. Chapters 1 and 4 provide a description, comparison and evaluation of Washington’s current tax structure. Chapter 2 provides a description, history and evaluation to the state’s three most important taxes: property, sales and B&O. Chapter 3 describes the roles played by the “tax policy makers” (i.e., citizens, governors, legislators, other public officials, businesses, labor groups, and numerous other interest group) in bringing about those changes. Chapter 5 includes a discussion and an analysis of contentious tax issues of concern to citizens, public officials and interest groups alike. Most …

Fifty More Constitutions, Mary Whisner

Librarians' Articles

The U.S. Constitution may get all the attention, but as Ms. Whisner points out, state constitutional law is also important to legal researchers. Unfortunately, the sources for researching state constitutions are more limited and difficult to find. She describes a web site created by the Gallagher Law Library at the University of Washington School of Law that makes available sources of Washington State constitutional history.

Negotiating Jurisdiction: Retroceding State Authority Over Indian Country Granted By Public Law 280, Robert T. Anderson

Articles

This Article canvasses the jurisdictional rules applicable in American Indian tribal territories-"Indian country." The focus is on a federal law passed in the 1950s, which granted some states a measure of jurisdiction over Indian country without tribal consent. The law is an aberration. Since the adoption of the Constitution, federal law preempted state authority over Indians in their territory. The federal law permitting some state jurisdiction, Public Law 280, is a relic of a policy repudiated by every President and Congress since 1970. States have authority to surrender, or retrocede, the authority granted by Public Law 280, but Indian tribal …

Procedural Rules Under Washington's Public Records Act: The Case For Agency Discretion, William D. Richard

Washington Law Review

Voters adopted Washington’s Public Records Act (PRA) in 1972 as part of a broader ballot measure to enhance openness in state government. The PRA requires state government agencies, including statewide agencies and municipalities, to establish procedures so that the public can request copies of records agencies generate. The PRA exempts certain records from disclosure, and other statutes and case law supply additional exemptions. When an agency refuses to disclose records, the requester may ask a court to determine whether an exemption applies. If no exemption applies, the court may compel disclosure of the records and impose monetary penalties against the …

Procedural Rules Under Washington's Public Records Act: The Case For Agency Discretion, William D. Richard

Washington Law Review

Voters adopted Washington’s Public Records Act (PRA) in 1972 as part of a broader ballot measure to enhance openness in state government. The PRA requires state government agencies, including statewide agencies and municipalities, to establish procedures so that the public can request copies of records agencies generate. The PRA exempts certain records from disclosure, and other statutes and case law supply additional exemptions. When an agency refuses to disclose records, the requester may ask a court to determine whether an exemption applies. If no exemption applies, the court may compel disclosure of the records and impose monetary penalties against the …

Procedural Rules Under Washington's Public Records Act: The Case For Agency Discretion, William D. Richard

Washington Law Review

Voters adopted Washington’s Public Records Act (PRA) in 1972 as part of a broader ballot measure to enhance openness in state government. The PRA requires state government agencies, including statewide agencies and municipalities, to establish procedures so that the public can request copies of records agencies generate. The PRA exempts certain records from disclosure, and other statutes and case law supply additional exemptions. When an agency refuses to disclose records, the requester may ask a court to determine whether an exemption applies. If no exemption applies, the court may compel disclosure of the records and impose monetary penalties against the …

Enact Locally, Mary Whisner

Librarians' Articles

Legal researchers often forget about municipal ordinances when looking for governing authority. Ms. Whisner discusses the wide range of topics that can be covered by local law, and encourages law librarians to think about it both when researching and when teaching the process of legal research

A Local Government By Any Other Name, In Proceedings Of The Washington State Association Of Municipal Attorneys, Hugh D. Spitzer

Articles

This paper reviews the categories that Washington legislators and the Washington State Supreme Court have used to classify and describe local government units. It then describes how the large array of classifications—and the lack of consistent interpretation and use of those labels—leads to confusion and unnecessary litigation. After presenting several case studies of the effects of confusing definitions, the paper suggests that legislation reducing the number of terms classifying local governments would benefit lawyers, judges, local government and the general public. It specifically recommends that "municipal corporation" become the standard category for almost all local governments, and that "governmental body" …

Stealing The Public Purse: Why Washington's Collective Bargaining Law For State Employees Violates The State Constitution, Christopher D. Abbott

Washington Law Review

In 2002, the Washington legislature passed the Personnel System Reform Act (PSRA), which gives state employees the right to collectively bargain over wages and other economic terms of their employment. Section 302(3) of the PSRA further provides that once the Governor and collective bargaining units reach a proposed collective bargaining agreement, the legislature may not amend the agreement. Instead, the legislature may only express disapproval with any portion of the agreement by rejecting funding of the agreement as a whole. This Comment argues that section 302(3) of the PSRA, now codified at RCW 41.80.010(3), violates the separation of powers doctrine …

Intergovernmental Cooperation, Metropolitan Equity, And The New Regionalism, Laurie Reynolds

Washington Law Review

The economic gap between affluent suburbia and the urban core has recently received widespread attention among state and local government law scholars. Although the underlying normative arguments rest on very different rationales, scholars with a wide range of doctrinal approaches appear to have formed a consensus that the current concentration of wealth and resources in metropolitan areas is unacceptable. Their common goal of reducing regional disparities has made the scholarly dialogue a dispute over how, rather than whether, to achieve a better distribution. For many of what can be described as the "New Regionalist" scholars, voluntary intergovernmental cooperative efforts may …

Local Government Law, Mary Ann Hyatt

Librarians' Chapters in Books

• Introduction and General Texts on Local Government Law
• Secondary Sources
• Public Records
• Primary Sources: Legislative
• Primary Sources: Administrative
• Washington City Codes
• Washington County Codes
• Library and Office Directory

Fundamentals Of Legal Research In Washington, Mary Whisner

Librarians' Chapters in Books

• Introduction
• Secondary Sources
• Statutes
• City and County Codes
• Administrative Regulations
• Case Law
• Case Finding Tools
• Attorney General Opinions
• Citator Services
• Citation Format
• Washington Courts Style Sheet

Historical And Archival Sources, Cheryl Rae Nyberg, Ann Hemmens

Librarians' Chapters in Books

• Introduction
• Statehood History
• Constitutions and Constitutional Conventions
• Territorial Session Laws and Codes
• Territorial Legislative Assembly
• Territorial and Early State Courts
• Territorial Governors and Gubernatorial Archives
• Agency Documents and Archives
• Other Sources on Washington Government and Legal history
• Washington State Archives
• Unique Collections
• Selected Online Resources

The Asymmetry Of State Sovereign Immunity, Richard H. Seamon

Washington Law Review

This Article discusses whether a State has sovereign immunity from claims for just compensation. The Article concludes that the States are indeed immune from just-compensation suits brought against them in federal court; States are not necessarily immune, however, from just-compensation suits brought against them in their own courts of general jurisdiction. Thus, the States' immunity in federal court is not symmetrical to the States' immunity in their own courts. This asymmetry, the Article explains, is the result of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Due Process Clause obligates a State to provide a means of paying just …

Unopened Public Street Easements In Washington: Whose Right To Use That Land Is It, Anyway?, Alfred E. Donohue

Washington Law Review

This Comment argues that landowners whose property abuts unopened public street easements have a right to reasonable, non-interfering use of such easements until the city or county opens the street for its intended purpose. Unopened public street easements are dedicated streets that a city or county has not developed or used. Often, landowners use this land to store firewood, park boats, or garden. In 1995, the City of Seattle enacted Municipal Code section 15.02.100, which prohibits all use of unopened public street easements. Several Washington court decisions purportedly support the Seattle ordinance. These decisions suggest that abutting property owners have …

Municipal Police Power In Washington State, Hugh D. Spitzer

Washington Law Review

Local governments in Washington State have enjoyed strong regulatory powers since the state's constitution was adopted in 1889. Those "police powers" initially focused on the protection of public health and safety, but broadened in the early twentieth century to encompass the protection of consumers and employees and the promotion of the general welfare. The Supreme Court of Washington sparingly applied "substantive due process" as a brake on the police power and promptly dropped that doctrine when the U.S. Supreme Court ceased its use in the 1930s. However, the vocabulary of substantive due process lived on in state court opinions defining …

The Fox Guarding The Henhouse: Newman V. King County And Washington's Freedom Of Information Law, Julia E. Markley

Washington Law Review

In its 1997 decision Newman v. King County, the Supreme Court of Washington created a categorical exemption for open police files under the Public Disclosure Act (PDA). The court reasoned that if a police file was open, its confidentiality was necessarily "essential for effective law enforcement," and thus came within an exemption from disclosure. As a result of the court's decision, law enforcement agencies need only assert that an investigation is active in order for the public record to be exempt. This Note argues that the majority's broad and abstract opinion is contrary to the law and facts of …

The Uncertain Scope Of Sovereign Immunity In Washington After Savage V. State, Kristi Anderson Bjornerud

Washington Law Review

In a recent decision, Savage v. State, the Washington Supreme Court declined to extend a parole officer's personal qualified immunity to the State where the plaintiff alleged negligent supervision of a parolee. This Note examines the effects of the Savage decision on the scope of sovereign immunity in Washington. It argues that the court has needlessly confused the boundaries of sovereign immunity, and should act either to abolish all judicially created limits on state liability, or create a clear test to determine under what circumstances an underlying immunity will be extended to a government employer sued on a respondeat …

Appendix I: City And County Codes In Washington Libraries, Peggy Roebuck Jarrett

Librarians' Chapters in Books

Contains a list of libraries that own copies of city and/or country codes in Washington State.

Computer-Assisted Legal Research, Peggy Roebuck Jarrett, Nancy Mcmurrer, Mary Whisner

Librarians' Chapters in Books

• Introduction
• Reasons to Use CALR
• Types of CALR
• Online Services: Lexis-Nexis and Westlaw
• CD ROM Products
• Bulletin Board Systems
• Internet

Fundamentals Of Legal Research In Washington, Mary Whisner

Librarians' Chapters in Books

• Introduction and General Research Texts
• Secondary Sources
• Statutes
• City and County Codes
• Administrative Regulations
• Case Law
• Case Finding Tools
• Attorney General Opinions
• Citator Services
• Citation Format
• Appendix: Office of Reporter Style Sheet

Washington Practice Materials, Nancy Mcmurrer

Librarians' Chapters in Books

• Introduction
• Encyclopedic Sources
• Deskbooks, Manuals, Treatises, and Self-Help Sources
• Continuing Legal Education Materials and CLEDEX
• Litigation Aids
• Ethics Opinions
• Directories
• Current Awareness

Administrative Decisions And Materials, Cheryl Rae Nyberg

Librarians' Chapters in Books

• Introduction
• Administrative Agencies' Functions and Procedures
• Multi-Agency Sources of Administrative Decisions
• Agency-Specific Sources
• Agency Decisions at a Glance

Legislative History And Bill Tracking, Peggy Roebuck Jarrett

Librarians' Chapters in Books

• Researching Legislative History in Washington
• Legislative Bill Tracking

U.S. Action In Micronesia As A Norm Of Customary International Law: The Effectuation Of The Right To Self-Determination For Guam And Other Non-Self-Governing Territories, Peter Ruffatto

Washington International Law Journal

U.S. relations with the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the Marshall Islands resulted in a status of free association for these two Micronesian nations in 1986. Meanwhile, 18 trust and non-self-governing territories still lack a status of self-determination, including U.S.-administered Guam. U.S. action in Micronesia and U.N. approval of such action creates a norm of customary international law, which mandates all administering authorities of trust and non-self-governing territories to bring to fruition these territories' right to self-determination. Although non-self-governing territories are generally categorized under a separate legal regime from that which governed U.S. action in Micronesia, the …

Municipal Antitrust Immunity After City Of Columbia V. Omni Outdoor Advertising, Inc., 111 S. Ct. 1344 (1991), Brent S. Kinkade

Washington Law Review

For most of this century, states and municipalities were immune from liability for anticompetitive action. However, in City of Lafayette v. Louisiana Power & Light Co., the Supreme Court sharply limited antitrust immunity for municipalities. The Lafayette Court held that municipal immunity only applied to municipalities following a clearly articulated state policy. In City of Columbia v. Omni Outdoor Advertising, Inc, the Supreme Court has expanded the immunity available to municipalities by requiring only that a municipality's actions be a foreseeable result of a specific grant of state authority. This Note examines the history of municipal immunity and the Omni …