State and Local Government Law Commons^™

Recent Developments: In Re D.D., Donald Waldron

University of Baltimore Law Forum

No abstract provided.

Constitutionality Of Baltimore City's Local Hiring Ordinance, R. Stark Merrifield Iv

University of Baltimore Law Forum

No abstract provided.

Time To Define The Objectively Reasonable Officer: How Maryland's Use Of Force Statute Supplies Measureable Standards To Protect Fourth Amendment Rights, Chelsea Roberts

University of Baltimore Law Forum

No abstract provided.

Off-Reservation Treaty Hunting Rights, The Restatement, And The Stevens Treaties, Ann E. Tweedy

Washington Law Review

The underdevelopment of the law of off-reservation treaty hunting and gathering poses challenges for treatises like the groundbreaking Restatement of the Law of American Indians (“Restatement”). With particular attention to sections 83 and 6 of the Restatement, this Article explores those challenges and offers some solutions for dealing with them in subsequent editions of the Restatement. Specifically, this Article explores the potential usefulness of historical law in interpreting treaties, the need to tie treaty interpretation to the language of the treaty when an explicit right is at issue, the proper application of the reserved rights doctrine and the Indian canons, …

Tribal Sovereignty And Economic Efficiency Versus The Courts, Robert J. Miller

Washington Law Review

American Indian reservations are the poorest parts of the United States, and a higher percentage of Indian families across the country live below the poverty line than any other ethnic or racial sector. Indian nations and Indian peoples also suffer from the highest unemployment rates in the country and have the highest substandard housing rates. The vast majority of the over three hundred Indian reservations and the Alaska Native villages do not have functioning economies. This lack of economic activity starves tribal governments of the tax revenues that governments need to function. In response, Indian nations create and operate business …

Checking Out Indefinitely: Supporting Survivors Of Sex Trafficking Alongside Training And Education For Lodging Employees, Alyssa M. Grzesiak

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

There are roughly five million victims of sex trafficking in the United States. Over the course of a decade, over 3,500 instances of human trafficking involved a hotel or motel. Traffickers are relying on unaware lodging establishment employees, as well as complicit employees and managers, to successfully carry out their crimes. Despite the vital role the lodging industry plays in human trafficking, only seven states have implemented mandatory training for hotel and motel employees. This Note posits that the implementation of mandatory training and education programs for employees of lodging establishments could increase awareness and responsiveness to human trafficking, thus …

Frontiers In Regulating Building Emissions: An Agenda For Cities, Danielle Spiegel-Feld

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

Recent developments in Congress and the Supreme Court have highlighted the folly of relying solely on the federal government to contain global climate change. If the United States is to help rein in the climate crisis, state and local governments will need to accelerate their efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In many urban areas, where most Americans now live, the most important step that local governments can take to curtail these emissions is to reduce energy use in buildings. Recognizing this, a number of American cities have adopted building performance standards (“BPSs”) in recent years, which limit the annual …

Dislocating The Separation Of Powers State ‘Thumb’ On The Biden Sustainability Initiatives & Law, Steven Ferrey

Suffolk University Law School Faculty Works

President Biden enacted his unprecedented large Infrastructure law to make what President Biden calls a “once-in-a-generation investment” to modernize U.S. infrastructure by rapidly deploying sustainable renewable power generation technology. As the primary U.S. federal law to address climate change before the world exceeds a ‘tipping point’ of uncontrolled warming, this Infrastructure law must not be impaired or frustrated by any other government actions. However, inferior levels of local government now are interceding, placing their legal ‘thumbs’ on and legally blocking implementation of Biden Administration sustainable Infrastructure. This article analyzes the legal conflicts posed by hundreds of state and local governments …

Recasting The Second Fiddle: The Need For A Clear Line Of Lieutenant Gubernatorial Succession, T. Quinn Yeargain

South Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

Recent Developments: Murphy V. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., Alexandra Mitchell

University of Baltimore Law Forum

No abstract provided.

Hamptons Aesthetics Vs. Shinnecock Rights: How The Federal Government Is Failing To Protect Indigenous Sovereignty From State Judicial Infringement, Lindsay M. Brocki

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The note examines the conflict between the Shinnecock Nation's sovereignty and state interference, highlighting the federal government's failure to protect indigenous sovereignty. It uses the Shinnecock Nation's legal battle over billboards as a case study to argue for stronger federal protection against state encroachment.

Giving Heroes Their Shields: Providing More Immunity To The Healthcare Industry During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Gabriella Levine

Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development

(Excerpt)

The year is 2022. We are experiencing a global pandemic and economic uncertainty. And while traffic might have improved, as many work remotely and socially distance, everything else is unknown as people are face-to-face with death. The future has never looked bleaker.

As of September 12, 2022, there were 1,044,461 Coronavirus (“COVID-19”) related deaths and 94,973,074 reported COVID-19 cases in the United States (“U.S.”). The effects of COVID-19 impacted people who contracted the disease, family members who lost someone, and people at risk who have been in isolation for over one year.

Another group that has been heavily affected …

The Deep South’S Constitutional Con, Lynn Uzzell

St. Mary's Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Hermeneutics For Legal Research And Analysis, Konstantin G. Vertsman

St. Mary's Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Inter-Circuit Judicial Splits Surrounding The Class Action Fairness Act’S “Local Single Event” Exception—A Proposal To Resolve The Confusion, Odalys Vielma

St. Mary's Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Marijuana Legalization: Child-Centered Considerations In Texas Family Law Matters, Julie Whitson

St. Mary's Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Dark Side Of Due Process: Part Ii, Why Penumbral Rights And Cost/Benefit Balancing Tests Are Bad, Joshua J. Schroeder

St. Mary's Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Can Micropolitan Areas Bridge The Urban/Rural Divide?, Sheila Foster, Clayton P. Gillette

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

There exists a well-known and significant divide between urban and rural areas in the United States. The divide has been documented along multiple dimensions – social, economic, and political – and is seen as a detrimental characteristic of our national identity and capacity for both economic development and civil political discourse. In this Article, we explore a subset of the urban/rural divide and propose a mechanism for reducing its economic and political effects within that limited realm. Specifically, we focus on the subset of rural areas that lie within what the Office of Management and Budget defines as micropolitan areas. …

Chisholm V. Georgia (1793): Laying The Foundation For Supreme Court Precedent, Abigail Stanger

The Cardinal Edge

No abstract provided.

White Picket Fences & Suburban Gatekeeping: How Long Island’S Land Use Laws Cement Its Status As One Of The Most Segregated Places In America, Jessica Mingrino

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

The average wealth of Black families is one-seventh that of white families in the United States today. Homeownership—the primary avenue through which Americans accumulate personal and generational wealth—is the leading driver of the wealth disparity between white and Black American families, known as the “racial wealth gap.” The systematic and intentional exclusion of Black people from developing communities during the twentieth century largely excluded people of color from the housing boom and denied them the opportunity afforded to white people to multiply their assets. Contrary to widespread belief, however, legislation-backed oppression of Black Americans did not end in the …

Reading The Court’S Lips: Reevaluating Nevada’S Supermajority Requirement In The Wake Of Settelmeyer, Samuel Holt

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Inconceivable Families, Malinda L. Seymore

Faculty Scholarship

Basic biology tells us that each child has no more than two biological parents, one who supplies the egg and one who supplies the sperm. Adoption law in this country has generally followed biology, insisting only two parents be legally recognized for each child. Thus, every adoption begins with loss. Before a child can be adopted, that child must first be cut off from their family of birth, rendering the equation of adoption one of subtraction, not addition. This Article examines the biological model of adoption that insists on mimicking the nuclear family—erasing one set of parents and replacing them …

Is It Time To Bury Barry? Why An Old Change At The Legislature Requires A New Look At Washington's Nondelegation Doctrine, Daniel A. Himebaugh

Washington Law Review Online

Fifty years ago, the Supreme Court of Washington adopted a relaxed version of the nondelegation doctrine in a case called Barry and Barry v. Department of Motor Vehicles. The Barry rule, which only loosely restricts the delegation of policy-making power from the Legislature to other bodies, is now widely applied in Washington State. However, the Barry Court’s reasons for adjusting the nondelegation doctrine were based on an outdated understanding of the Legislature, especially its regular session schedule. While the Legislature’s regular sessions have changed since 1972—becoming longer and more frequent due to constitutional amendment—the Court has not considered how …

Operation Lone Star: The Spectacle Of Immigration Federalism, Danielle Puretz

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Texas Governor Greg Abbott launched Operation Lone Star in March 2021 to respond to the “crisis” at the United States/Mexico border. While in the US immigration is usually thought of as a federal responsibility, different states have worked to expand their capacity to welcome or exclude immigrants. Operation Lone Star is an example of how one state is working to restrict immigration to the US and build notoriety for its republican governor. Drawing on press releases, executive orders, news articles, opinion pieces, and other sources I highlight the performative politics within this initiative. Operation Lone Star is an example of …

Flint's Fight For Environmental Rights, Noah D. Hall

Northwestern University Law Review

This Essay reviews the recent development of environmental rights within U.S. constitutional law, advanced through a series of federal court decisions in the wake of the Flint water crisis. The residents of Flint were poisoned and lied to by their government for nearly two years. They experienced how American environmental governance has failed at the state and federal levels and how our environmental laws leave individuals and communities unprotected. And then Flint fought back, in the courts, for five years. Flint residents have been overwhelmingly successful, achieving some justice for themselves and advancing substantive rights and remedies within our constitutional …

Streaming Property, Lee Anne Fennell

Northwestern University Law Review

People acquire property rights in objects and real estate in order to capture the stream of services that these assets can provide over time. The thing or parcel itself is merely a delivery mechanism, a way of packaging and protecting rights to that value stream. And, significantly, these assets cannot stream services to anyone without a set of facilitating conditions and complementary goods, such as public infrastructure, that do not lie within the asset owner’s individual control. This Essay argues that we can gain fresh traction on inequality by recasting property as service streams rather than as owned things. Doing …

The Wills Of Covid-19: The Technological Push For Change In New York Trusts And Estates Law, Olivia Visconti

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

Sirens filled the crisp, cool air of early March 2020 as COVID- 19 overtook the United States. New York City, once a metropolis of busy human interaction, became an epicenter of isolation, anxiety, and fear as the pandemic swept across the city and state of New York. While quarantining at home, New Yorkers addressed their to-do lists: they cleaned out cluttered rooms and finally fixed leaky sinks and drafty windows. Many New Yorkers also worried about the ever-present threat of falling ill; so they decided to execute their wills. Should something happen to them, they wanted to ensure their …

U.S. Immigration Policies Affecting Mexican And Central American Youth And Their Access To Higher Education, Margaret Elizabeth Tejada

Capstone Collection

Undocumented Mexican and Central American youth, many of whom hold approved or pending Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS), Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), and Central American Minor Refugee and Parole Program (CAM) applications, are a growing population in the United States who are eager to pursue higher education like their U.S. Citizen and U.S. Lawful Permanent Resident peers. Yet, they are significantly limited by federal, state, and institutional policies that are geared towards the success of students with legal status. Through relevant literature and interviews with policy experts and educators who work directly with these youth and/or the regulations …

"Serving Time And It's No Longer A Crime: An Analysis Of The Proposed Cannabis Administration And Opportunity Act, Its Potential Effects At The Federal And State Level, And A Guide For Practical Application By Local Government", R. Allyce Bailey

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

There has been much recent discussion surrounding cannabis use with some researchers supporting the use of medical marijuana, some investors relishing in the recently booming cannabis and CBD industry, and some states decriminalizing marijuana and even harsh controlled substances. As it appears, at least some public opinion is changing regarding marijuana, but the law has not effectively caught up to that change. Bias in the criminal justice system has led to the over-policing of, higher conviction rates, and harsher sentences for minorities. Thus, the decriminalization of marijuana alone does not remedy the grave disproportionate negative effects on populations of color …

A More Grown-Up Response To Ordinary Adolescent Behaviors: Repealing Pins Laws To Protect And Empower D.C. Youth, Mae C. Quinn, Tierra Copeland, Tatyana Hopkins, Mary Brody

University of the District of Columbia Law Review

In February 2020, the District of Columbia (“District” or “D.C.”) Juvenile Justice Advisory Group (“JJAG”), issued an important report calling for decriminalization of “status offenses.” Status offenses are alleged youthful wrongdoings that are prosecuted in the District as “Persons in Need of Supervision” cases.1 This Position Paper provides additional support for JJAG’s recommendations. It offers guidance and suggestions to help the District successfully transition away from PINS prosecutions—while also ensuring community youth feel safe, supported, and empowered in their own lives as they transition to adulthood. The D.C. Metropolitan Police Department has historically been the enforcement arm to address youth …