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Volume 48 Masthead, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

Volume 48 Masthead

Measuring The Rapidly Increasing Use Of Artificial Intelligence In Legal Scholarship, Michael Conklin, Christopher Houston

St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics

The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) has had a profound impact on nearly every industry, including legal academia. As AI-driven tools like ChatGPT become more prevalent, they raise critical questions about authorship, academic integrity, and the evolving nature of legal writing. While AI offers promising benefits—such as improved efficiency in research, drafting, and analysis—it also presents ethical dilemmas related to originality, bias, and the potential homogenization of legal discourse.

One of the challenges in assessing AI’s influence on legal scholarship is the difficulty of identifying AI-generated content. Traditional plagiarism-detection methods are often inadequate, as AI does not merely copy …

Judge William E. Smith: Portrait Of A Jurist And Leader, Gregory W. Bowman

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Neves V. State Of Rhode Island, 316 A.3d 1197 (R.I. 2024), Evan Degaitas

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Tribal Recognition And Rhode Island: Towards A Recognition Process For The Ocean State, Declan Smith

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Last Resort: Advocating For Rhode Island To Adopt A More Comprehensive Homeless Bill Of Rights In The Wake Of Grants Pass V. Johnson, Casey Rivera

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Can States Force Ice To Take Off The Masks?, Noah C. Chauvin

Faculty Articles

No. But that does not mean they are entirely powerless to combat the practice.

Equitable Incorporation: How History And Tradition Can Progressively Redefine The Fourteenth Amendment, Robert D'Alessandro

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The Fourteenth Amendment, designed to ensure equality before the law, has been misinterpreted by the Supreme Court through its incorporation doctrine, leading to rulings that harm marginalized communities. The article advocates for "Equitable Incorporation," a doctrine requiring courts to consider the impact of their decisions on historically discriminated groups, ensuring the Amendment's purpose of equity and justice is upheld. This approach would necessitate the incorporation of unincorporated rights and reinterpret existing ones to reflect the Amendment's equitable intent.

Professional Liability, Shelby Taylor, R. Max Ward, Levi Klinglesmith

SMU Annual Texas Survey

No abstract provided.

Examining State Climate Superfund Legislation, Madison Calhoun, Rachel Rothschild, Jonathan Binder, Elenda Mihaly, Justin Mankin, Ben Lippard, Mary Wood

Articles

There has been an influx of “climate superfund” bills introduced and adopted in state legislatures across the country. Modeled after the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), these laws are designed to recover costs from large emitters of greenhouse gases (GHGs) to pay for climate adaptation infrastructure. Following CERCLA’s strict liability framework, major polluters in New York and Vermont would be required to pay into state-managed funds in proportion to their shares of total GHG emissions; California, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Oregon have proposed similar bills. On March 19, 2025, the Environmental Law Institute hosted a …

Special-Purpose Governments, Conor Clarke, Henry Hansmann

Scholarship@WashULaw

When one thinks of government, what comes to mind are familiar general-purpose entities like states, counties, and cities. But more than half of the 90,000 governments in the United States are strikingly different: They are “special-purpose” governments that do one thing, such as supply water, fight fire, or pick up the trash. These entities have expanded far more rapidly than any other form of government. Yet they remain understudied, and they present at least two puzzles. First, special-purpose governments are difficult to distinguish from entities that are typically regarded as business organizations—such as consumer cooperatives—and thus underscore the nebulous border …

States In The Separation Of Powers, Ernest A. Young

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

An Introduction To U.S. Groundwater Law: Domestic And Transboundary Considerations, Caleb Cook, Gabriel Eckstein

Faculty Scholarship

In light of the scientific and historical factors that have shaped the development of groundwater law and policy, this chapter seeks to provide a primarily descriptive account of its current state in the United States and to lay a foundation for future efforts to address gaps in the regime. Section 8B.02 considers the importance of groundwater in modern American society, with a particular focus on its uses and the threats these resources face. Section 8B.03 describes the U.S. framework for the domestic governance of groundwater resources. Section 8B.04 describes the mechanisms for transboundary governance of groundwater between the United States …

Is Originalism Bullshit?, Michael L. Smith

Lewis & Clark Law Review

It’s finally time to answer the big question. This Article draws on the surprisingly robust literature examining the definition, essence, and significance of bullshit and evaluates whether originalist constitutional interpretation fits the bill. I begin with Harry Frankfurt’s definition of bullshit as utterances made in pursuit of the speaker’s goals without regard for their truth value. I also rely on alternate formulations, including bullshit as unclarifiable nonsense as well as contextual and audience-centric variations of bullshit.

While not all instances of originalism are bullshit, I identify those instances which are, and go on to demonstrate that originalism is uniquely prone …