State and Local Government Law Commons^™

Foreword, Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye

Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review

No abstract provided.

People V. Buza: A Step In The Wrong Direction, Emily R. Pincin

Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review

No abstract provided.

Enforcement Piggybacking And Multistate Actions, Elysa M. Dishman

BYU Law Review

Civil enforcement in the United States is uniquely “multienforcer.” Numerous public and private enforcers including federal agencies, state attorneys general (AGs), and private litigants have overlapping authority to enforce myriad federal and state laws. Ideally, enforcers would complement one another’s efforts and use their comparative enforcement advantages to broaden the scope of enforcement and act as a check on underenforcement. But in reality, enforcers are often attracted to the same targets—large, public, deep-pocketed corporations. This means that multiple enforcers may pursue essentially the same enforcement action, arising from the same series of events and against the same target. Redundant enforcement …

The Municipal Pardon Power, Hayato Watanabe

Michigan Law Review

At the state and federal levels, the pardon power can be used to restore the dignity and legal rights lost by a criminal conviction. Unfortunately, those facing similar consequences from municipal convictions may not have access to a pardon. Although clemency is exceedingly rare at any level of government, municipal defendants face a unique structural problem that deprives them of the possibility of a pardon. Specifically, many cities have simply failed to create a local clemency power. This Note argues that the authority to grant pardons for municipal offenses is part of the toolbox of powers provided to cities through …

Legal Issues Affecting Blue Carbon Projects On Publicly-Owned Coastal Wetlands, Read Porter, Cody Katter, Cory Lee

Sea Grant Law Fellow Publications

Coastal wetlands play an important role in sequestering atmospheric carbon, but these ecosystems are under threat from sea level rise, land use conversion, and other causes. Restoration projects in coastal wetlands can provide a range of benefits for habitat and ecosystems, including by increasing sequestration of “blue carbon.” Coastal wetland restoration projects that effectively sequester carbon and meet the requirements of the voluntary carbon market can generate tradeable carbon offsets, which have a monetary value and can be used to finance all or part of the restoration needed to generate them. Blue carbon offsets thus represent a promising tool to …

Legislators On Executive-Branch Boards Are Unconstitutional, Period, Douglas Laycock

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

Virginia statute makes legislators categorically “ineligible to serve on boards, commissions, and councils within the executive branch of state government who are responsible for administering programs established by the General Assembly.” But with increasing frequency, the General Assembly has enacted exceptions to this policy. There is a general exception for bodies “engaged solely in policy studies or commemorative activities,” and perhaps such bodies need not be in the executive branch at all. But the Assembly has also enacted exceptions for twenty-one specific boards and commissions, many of which clearly have executive authority. This list of exceptions is a miscellany with …

Time To Rethink Surrogacy: An Overhaul Of New York's Outdated Surrogacy Contract Laws Is Long Overdue, Charles Gili

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

Part I of this Note discusses the influential effect of the much publicized Baby M case as well as the societal perceptions of the time that led to the enactment of New York’s current “antisurrogacy” laws, DRL §§ 121–124. Part II explores changes in the legal, scientific, and societal atmospheres that have rendered those laws archaic and unconstitutional. Part III argues that needed change should come in the form of new legislation meant to foster, rather than burden, the formation of family.

Courts, Culture, And The Lethal Injection Stalemate, Eric Berger

Nebraska College of Law: Faculty Publications

The Supreme Court's 2019 decision in Bucklew v. Precythe reiterated the Court's great deference to states in Eighth Amendment lethal injection cases. The takeaway is that when it comes to execution protocols, states can do what they want. Events on the ground tell a very different story. Notwithstanding courts' deference, executions have ground to a halt in numerous states, often due to lethal injection problems. State officials and the Court's conservative Justices have blamed this development on "anti-death penalty activists" waging ''guerilla war" on capital punishment. In reality, though, a variety of mostly uncoordinated actors motivated by a range of …

Recent Developments: Mas Associates, Llc V. Korotki, Christopher Ruyter

University of Baltimore Law Forum

No abstract provided.

Recent Developments: Credible Behavioral Health, Inc. V. Johnson, Hannah Williams

University of Baltimore Law Forum

No abstract provided.

Justice Hasted Is Justice Wasted: League Of Women Voters V. Commonwealth, Carrie R. Garrison

Duquesne Law Review

No abstract provided.

Relative Preference, Emotional Attachments, And The Best Interest Of The Child In Need Of Assistance, Richard A. Perry Esq.

University of Baltimore Law Forum

No abstract provided.

Recent Developments: D.L. V. Sheppard Pratt Health System, Inc., Cooper Gerus

University of Baltimore Law Forum

No abstract provided.

Recent Developments: Howell V. State, Justin Ellis

University of Baltimore Law Forum

No abstract provided.

Recent Developments: Trotman V. State, Michael Hart

University of Baltimore Law Forum

No abstract provided.

Local Government Law, Russell A. Britt, Michael C. Pruett, Jennifer D. Herzog, Brittanie Browning, Jacob Stalvey O'Neal, Pearson Cunningham

Mercer Law Review

Another banner year for local governments. A gubernatorial veto preserves, for now, the Georgia Supreme Court’s decision in Lathrop v. Deal that held sovereign immunity bars declaratory and injunctive relief claims against the state, including challenges to constitutionality under the state constitution. In the world of tax, some clarification on appraisal methodologies feature alongside cases notable for their unique procedural postures. A Georgia Supreme Court decision fleshes out what is required for a “meaningful” hearing to be afforded under zoning procedures law. Last year’s developments in the Open Meetings and Open Records Acts continue to bear fruit, and statutory construction …

Endrew F. V. Douglas County School District: How The Groundbreaking Supreme Court Case Has Impacted Maryland Special Education Law, Payton Aldridge

University of Baltimore Law Forum

No abstract provided.

The Disclosing Sexual Harassment In The Workplace Act, Maryland’S New Workplace Harassment Law: Is This Crab Cake All Filler?, Sean Keene

University of Baltimore Law Forum

No abstract provided.

Recalibrating Suspicion In An Era Of Hazy Legality, Deborah Ahrens

Seattle University Law Review

After a century of employing varying levels of prohibition enforced by criminal law, the United States has entered an era where individual states are rethinking marijuana policy, and the majority of states have in some way decided to make cannabis legally available. This symposium Article will offer a description of what has happened in the past few years, as well as ideas for how jurisdictions can use the changing legal status of cannabis to reshape criminal procedure more broadly. This Article will recommend that law enforcement no longer be permitted use the smell of marijuana as a reason to search …

Cve And Constitutionality In The Twin Cities: How Countering Violent Extremism Threatens The Equal Protection Rights Of American Muslims In Minneapolis-St. Paul, Sarah Chaney Reichenbach

American University Law Review

In 2011, President Barack Obama announced a national strategy for countering violent extremism (CVE) to attempt to prevent the “radicalization” of potential violent extremists. The Obama Administration intended the strategy to employ a community-based approach, bringing together the government, law enforcement, and local communities for CVE efforts. Despite claiming to target extremism in all forms, government-funded CVE programs in the United States have almost exclusively focused on Islamic extremism. One pilot program focused on the Twin Cities in Minnesota—Minneapolis and St. Paul—home to the largest Somali community in the United States, most of whom are Muslim. The Trump Administration has …

University Of Baltimore Law Forum, Volume 50, Number 2 (Spring 2020)

University of Baltimore Law Forum

No abstract provided.

Recent Developments: Pacheco V. State, Luke Griffin

University of Baltimore Law Forum

No abstract provided.

Nonexcludable Surgical Method Patents, Jonas Anderson

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

A patent consists of only one right: the right to exclude others from practicing the patented invention. However, one class of patents statutorily lacks the right to exclude direct infringers: surgical method patents are not enforceable against medical practitioners or health care facilities, which are the only realistic potential direct infringers of such patents. Despite this, inventors regularly file for (and receive) surgical method patents. Why would anyone incur the expense (more than $20,000 on average) of acquiring a patent on a surgical method if that patent cannot be used to keep people from using the patent?

The traditional answer …

Judicial Elections, Public Opinion, And Their Impact On State Criminal Justice Policy, Travis N. Taylor

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

This dissertation explores whether and how the re-election prospects faced by trial court judges in many American states influence criminal justice policy, specifically, state levels of incarceration, as well as the disparity in rates of incarceration for Whites and Blacks. Do states where trial court judges must worry about facing reelection tend to encourage judicial behavior that results in higher incarceration rates? And are levels of incarceration and racial disparities in the states influenced by the proportion of the state publics who want more punitive policies? These are clearly important questions because they speak directly to several normative and empirical …

Balancing Sorna And The Sixth Amendment: The Case For A "Restricted Circumstance-Specific Approach", John F. Howard

Marquette Law Review

The Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) is in place to protect the public, children especially, from sex offenders. Under SORNA, anyone and everyone convicted of what the law defines as a “sex offense” is required to register as a “sex offender,” providing accurate and up-to-date information on where they live, work, and go to school. Failure to do so constitutes a federal crime punishable by up to ten years imprisonment. But how do federal courts determine whether a particular state-level criminal offense constitutes a “sex offense” under SORNA? Oftentimes when doing comparisons between state and federal law for …

Marijuana Law Reform In 2020 And Beyond: Where We Are And Where We’Re Going, Sam Kamin

Seattle University Law Review

With another presidential election now looming on the horizon, both political parties and both sides of the marijuana law reform debate are once again preparing for the possibility of a seismic change in how marijuana is regulated in the United States. In this Article, I lay out the state of marijuana law and policy in the United States today with an eye toward that uncertain future. I describe the differential treatment of marijuana under state and federal law and the tensions this causes for those seeking to take advantage of marijuana law reform in the states. I analyze recent changes …

Unfair-But-Not-Deceptive: Confronting The Ambiguity In Washington State’S Consumer Protection Act, Emily Beale

Seattle University Law Review

This Comment will argue that Washington state courts must promulgate a new, workable definition of “unfair-but-not-deceptive” under Washington’s Consumer Protection Act. Washington courts have acknowledged that a business act or practice can be unfair but not deceptive, but a simple recognition does not fulfill the liberal intentions of the Consumer Protection Act. By continuously declining to define unfair- but-not-deceptive, Washington courts have left consumers vulnerable and without recourse. This Comment will highlight the approaches developed by the federal government and other state governments on how to confront the ambiguity of unfair-but-not-deceptive and will propose a concrete definition for the term.

In Memory Of Professor James E. Bond, Janet Ainsworth

Seattle University Law Review

Janet Ainsworth, Professor of Law at Seattle University School of Law: In Memory of Professor James E. Bond.

"Inciting A Riot": Silent Sentinels, Group Protests, And Prisoners' Petition And Associational Rights, Nicole B. Godfrey

Seattle University Law Review

This Article argues for increased legal protections for prisoners who choose to engage in group protest to shed light on the conditions of their incarceration. A companion piece to a similar article that focused on prisoner free speech rights, this Article uses the acts of protest utilized by the Silent Sentinels to examine why prisoners’ rights to petition and association should be strengthened. By strengthening these rights, the Article argues that we will advance the values enshrined by the First Amendment’s Petition Clause while simultaneously advancing the rights of the incarcerated millions with little to no political power.

The Article …

Black Women And Girls And The Twenty-Sixth Amendment: Constitutional Connections, Activist Intersections, And The First Wave Youth Suffrage Movement, Mae C. Quinn

Seattle University Law Review

On this 100th anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment—and on the cusp of the fiftieth anniversary of the Twenty-sixth Amendment—this article seeks to expand the voting rights canon. It complicates our understanding of voting rights history in the United States, adding layers to the history of federal constitutional enfranchisement and encouraging a more intersectional telling of our suffrage story in the days ahead.

Thus, this work not only seeks to acknowledge the Twenty-sixth Amendment as important constitutional content, as was the goal of the article I wrote with my law student colleagues for a conference held at the University of Akron …