State and Local Government Law Commons^™

Fifty States, Fifty Attorneys General, And Fifty Approaches To The Duty To Defend, Neal Devins, Saikrishna B. Prakash

Faculty Publications

Whether a state attorney general has a duty to defend the validity of state law is a complicated question, one that cannot be decided by reference either to the oath state officers must take to support the federal Constitution or the supremacy of federal law. Instead, whether a state attorney general must defend state law turns on her own state’s laws. Each state has its own constitution, statutes, bar rules, and traditions, and not surprisingly, the duties of attorneys general vary across the states. To simplify somewhat, we believe that there are three types of duties. One set of attorneys …

Privacy Issues And The Paparazzi, Devan Orr

Library Staff Publications

In order to understand the current statutes and their implication for privacy issues, Part I explores the history of the paparazzi and their invasion into the lives and privacy of celebrities as a safety concern. Part II reviews the history of both California Penal Code 11414 and California Civil Code 1708.8. Part III examines the text of California Penal Code 11414 and California Civil Code 1708.7, 1708.8, and 1708.9, as amended by the three bills. Part IV analyzes how the statutes as amended interact with the common law torts of intrusion and trespass and discusses how the statutes interact with …

Mapping Coastal Risks And Social Vulnerability: Principles And Considerations, Shana Jones

Virginia Coastal Policy Center

No abstract provided.

Mapping Coastal Risks And Social Vulnerability: Current Tools And Legal Risks, Lisa Schiavinato, Heather Payne

Virginia Coastal Policy Center

No abstract provided.

State And Local Liability For Failure To Adapt To And Protect Against Recurrent Flooding: Applying Farmers Insurance's Legal Framework To Virginia Circumstances, James M. Andris Jr.

Virginia Coastal Policy Center

No abstract provided.

Go Green, Save Money: Lowering Flood Insurance Rates In Virginia With Stormwater Management And Open Space, Adele Young, Kristen Clark

Virginia Coastal Policy Center

No abstract provided.

Vertical Power, Michael S. Green

Faculty Publications

Many legal scholars and federal judges - including Justices Ginsburg and Scalia - have implicitly assumed that a state can extend its procedural law solely to federal courts within its borders. To date, however, no one has identified this assumption, much less defended it. Drawing upon an example discussed by Chief Justice Marshall in Wayman v. Southard, 23 U.S. (10 Wheat.) 1 (1825), I argue that such vertical power does not exist. Not only do states lack a legitimate interest in extending their law vertically, a state's assertion of vertical power would improperly discriminate against federal courts. If state …

Retained By The People: Federalism, The Ultimate Sovereign, And Natural Limits On Government Power, Stephanie Hall Barclay

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

Brewing tensions between state governments and the federal government have reached a boiling point unmatched since the civil rights debates of the 1960s. In light of the rapid expansion of federal power combined with colliding views on various policies, the call for states’ rights has increasingly become a rallying cry for lawmakers that has gained traction with groups on varying points along the political spectrum, as well as a frequent theory employed by the Supreme Court. While the system of federalism created by the Constitution certainly has its unique benefits, and while it is true that the federal government was …

Climate Balkanization: Dormant Commerce And The Limits Of State Energy Policy, Jonathan H. Adler

Faculty Publications

Through the imposition of mandates on what sorts of energy may be produced or sold, state regulatory efforts have imposed burdens on interstate energy markets. In some cases, these burdens are explicit, as when states have privileged in-state energy sources at the expense of out-of-state producers or sellers. In other cases, these burdens are the inevitable consequence of state efforts to reduce the environmental impacts of energy consumed within the state. Such restrictions, and their associated burdens on interstate commerce, raise serious constitutional questions. Under the so-called "Dormant Commerce Clause," state regulations that discriminate against out-of-state actors are presumptively unconstitutional, …

Transparency Trumps Technology: Reconciling Open Meeting Laws With Modern Technology, Cassandra B. Roeder

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Marriage Equality In State And Nation, Anthony Michael Kreis

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

The Dillon Rule & Norfolk Sea Level Rise: An Analysis Of The Limited Impact Of The Dillon Rule On Planning For Sea Level Rise In Norfolk, Mary-Carson B. Saunders

Virginia Coastal Policy Center

No abstract provided.

Overview Of A City’S Tort Liability Duties To Maintain And Protect Local Government Services From Sea Level Rise: Poquoson Case Study, Alex Horning

Virginia Coastal Policy Center

No abstract provided.

“Takings” Liability For Vacating Roads In Flood-Prone Areas: Poquoson Case Study, Kelci Block

Virginia Coastal Policy Center

No abstract provided.

Immigration And Civil Rights: Is The "New" Birmingham The Same As The "Old" Birmingham, Kevin R. Johnson

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Reverse-Commandeering, Margaret Hu

Faculty Publications

Although the anti-commandeering doctrine was developed by the Supreme Court to protect state sovereignty from federal overreach, nothing prohibits flipping the doctrine in the opposite direction to protect federal sovereignty from state overreach. Federalism preserves a balance of power between two sovereigns. Thus, the reversibility of the anticommandeering doctrine appears inherent in the reasoning offered by the Court for the doctrine’s creation and application. In this Article, I contend that reversing the anti-commandeering doctrine is appropriate in the context of contemporary immigration federalism laws. Specifically, I explore how an unconstitutional incursion into federal sovereignty can be seen in state immigration …

Local Promise For Climate Mitigation: An Empirical Assessment, Uma Outka, Richard Feiock

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

This interdisciplinary work contributes empirical grounding to the growing literature in law and public policy on local governments and climate mitigation. Much of the recent scholarship presents an optimistic view of the potential in local climate action. Here, we refine the optimism for local governments’ impact with new performance data that probes local progress and capacity for climate governance. Our analysis—based on a new study measuring policy choice, implementation, and influences— reevaluates a number of assumptions undergirding this scholarship and provides direction for targeted investment and research.

We Didn't Start The Fire...And We Won't Pay To Stop It: Financing Wildfire Management In America's Wildland-Urban Interface, Garrett D. Trego

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

The Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend And Membership In The State's Political Community, Christopher L. Griffin Jr.

Faculty Publications

Despite decades of unmitigated administrative success, the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) is not immune from political and legal controversy. The symbolic and financial importance that Alaskans ascribe to their annual dividend checks has generated disputes between ordinary residents and executive agencies over eligibility. Litigation concerning three dominant status requirements - minimum residency, U.S. citizenship, and felony incarceration - reveal not only the extent to which Alaskans will pursue what they believe to be valid claims on their share of natural resource wealth, but also the limits of full political membership in the state. This Comment frames a sample of …

Interstate Competition And The Race To The Top, Jonathan H. Adler

Faculty Publications

Federalism is an essential part of the Constitution’s design. The division of sovereign power between the States and the federal government helps foster interjurisdictional competition, which, in turn, checks government power. Provided a right of exit is maintained, the excessive imposition of economic burdens in one jurisdiction will cause taxpayers and businesses to flee to other jurisdictions. For this reason, federalism often is seen as a friend of the free market.

Provided states cannot externalize the costs of their own policy choices, robust interjurisdictional competition facilitates the enactment of better public policy at the state level. Rather than inducing a …

Cooperation, Commandeering, Or Crowding Out?: Federal Intervention And State Choices In Health Care Policy, Jonathan H. Adler

Faculty Publications

This Article's analysis proceeds in three parts. Part II of this article outlines the policy considerations in determining the proper federal and state balance in health care policy. There are strong arguments for state primacy in health care policy, but also substantial justifications for federal intervention. Part III discusses the concept of "cooperative federalism," under which the federal government encourages state governments to implement policies in accord with federal priorities, and identifies constitutional limitations on the federal government's ability to direct or even influence state policy choices. Even if the constitutional challenges to the individual mandate fails, federalism-based challenges to …

Same-Sex Marriage And The New Judicial Federalism: Why State Courts Should Not Consider Out-Of-State Backlash, Neal Devins

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Horizontal Erie And The Presumption Of Forum Law, Michael S. Green

Faculty Publications

According to Erie Railroad v. Tompkins and its progeny, a federal
court interpreting state law must decide as the state’s supreme
court would. In this Article, I argue that a state court interpreting
the law of a sister state is subject to the same obligation. It must
decide as the sister state’s supreme court would.

Horizontal Erie is such a plausible idea that one might think it is
already established law. But the Supreme Court has in fact given
state courts significant freedom to misinterpret sister-state law. And
state courts have taken advantage of this freedom, by routinely presuming
that …

Local Rules And The Limits Of Trans-Territorial Procedure, Samuel P. Jordan

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Land Use Stabilization Wedge Strategy: Shifting Ground To Mitigate Climate Change, John R. Nolon

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

This article describes how local governments, through the clever application of existing land use techniques, can mitigate climate change. This strategic path follows one developed by Princeton professor Robert Socolow, who identified and described fifteen categories for organizing society's climate change mitigation efforts.1 Five of Socolow's strategic categories fall within the reach of local land use authority: reduced use of vehicles, energy efficient buildings, vegetative carbon sequestration, wind power, and solar power.2 Through the aggregation of these local land use techniques, significant energy savings and carbon dioxide ("C02") reduction can be achieved. After making some background points, this article describes …

Increasing The Role Of Local Governments In Infrastructure Projects In Russia And Bulgaria As A Tool For Environmental Protection, Stanimir N. Kostov

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Developing Wind Power In The Commonwealth: No Longer A Quixotic Quest To Build Wind Farms In Virginia, Brian E. Maxted

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Hothouse Flowers: The Vices And Virtues Of Climate Federalism, Jonathan H. Adler

Faculty Publications

Although economic theory would predict that states would lag behind federal efforts to control environmentally harmful emissions, there has been far more action on climate change in state capitols than in Washington, D.C. Without federal action, states have stepped in to fill the policy void on climate change. State-level action on climate change is unlikely, in itself, to have much impact on atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases or projected rates of future warming. Nonetheless, the level of state activity is significant.

The aggressiveness of state climate policy initiatives, and potential conflict between federal and state regulatory measures, provides an opportunity …

Reforming Our Wasteful Hazardous Waste Policy, Jonathan H. Adler

Faculty Publications

Federal hazardous waste regulation and cleanup programs suffer from poor prioritization, insufficient flexibility, high costs, and questionable benefits. Many of these problems are a result of excessive regulatory centralization. The federal government has assumed primary responsibility for hazardous waste policy, placing states in a secondary role, even though the environmental threats posed by hazardous waste are generally quite localized. Hazardous waste itself is not a form of pollution, but rather a “precursor to pollution.” It only becomes an environmental problem when mismanaged, and allowed to contaminate land or water. Properly managed, however, hazardous waste is not a particularly pressing environmental …

When Is Two A Crowd? The Impact Of Federal Action On State Environmental Regulation, Jonathan H. Adler

Faculty Publications

Despite the extensive scholarly literature assessing the proper role of federalism in environmental law, there has been relatively little analysis of why states adopt given environmental policies. There is even less consideration of how federal regulatory choices influence state environmental policy, and how a change in federal policy could influence states' willingness to adopt more environmental protections of their own. This Article seeks to address this gap by describing some of the factors that are likely to influence state environmental policy decisions and delineating how federal environmental policies can affect state policy choices. Specifically, this Article seeks to further the …