State and Local Government Law Commons^™

Civil Asset Forfeitures: How Prosecutors Can Facilitate Community-Based Criminal Justice Reform, Lane Waples

Journal of Law and Policy

Criminal justice reform is elusive in the United States. Despite evidence that the system is broken, change remains ephemeral at best. This is partially attributable to the fact that most attempts to reform the criminal legal system have occurred through the political process. However, another method of criminal justice reform is to assist communities as they address the root causes of crime. Undergirding this approach is the belief that building stronger communities contributes to less crime and reduces recidivism. After seizing $250 million via prosecutions of financial crimes in 2016, the New York County District Attorney’s Office created a “first-of-its-kind” …

Socially Distant Signing: Why Georgia Should Adopt Remote Will Execution In The Post-Covid World, Jessie Daniel Rankin

Georgia Law Review

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and other state governors issued emergency executive orders authorizing the attestation and execution of wills, trusts, and other testamentary documents through the use of audio-video technology. Most states have traditionally required that such testamentary documents be signed in the physical presence of two or more witnesses to be valid. Georgia’s executive order permits these witnesses to instead observe the signing via video-conferencing software, alleviating the requirement that the witnesses be physically present with the testator. This authorization, however, only exists through this executive order and could lapse or be …

Regulating Mobility Limitations In The Franchise Relationship As Dependency In The Joint Employment Doctrine, Andrew Elmore

Faculty Scholarship

Franchisors often impose exhaustive operational standards on franchisees, and enforce those standards by restricting the mobility of their franchisees and their franchisees' employees. But courts often ignore mobility limits when applying joint employer doctrine. This Article argues that courts and agencies should be more likely to find, and presume, that franchisors and their franchisees are joint employers under federal and state employment law based on proof that a franchisor restricts the mobility of franchisees or their employees. In so doing, this Article traces how the Chicago School's efficiency arguments in favor of relaxing antitrust law enforcement of vertical restraints developed …

Boom Or Bust: Ensuring The Georgia State-Wide Business Court Fulfills Its Constitutional Promise, Roya Naghepour

Georgia Law Review

The United States judiciary includes specialized court systems within its baseline civil and criminal justice structure that provide more efficient and expert adjudication in a wide variety of areas. Since the creation of the Delaware Court of Chancery in 1792, many states have established specialized business courts with jurisdiction over commercial and corporate disputes. Today, many states have business court models, all choosing to employ some version of a specialized forum for corporate and commercial issues for the sake of judicial efficiency. The Georgia State-wide Business Court was established in 2019 with limited jurisdiction over narrow categories of commercial disputes. …

Labor's New Localism, Andrew Elmore

Faculty Scholarship

Millions of workers in the United States, disproportionately women, immigrants, and people of color, perform low-paid, precarious work. Few of these workers can improve their workplace standards because the National Labor Relations Act ("NLRA") does not sufficiently protect their right to form unions and collectively bargain. Lacking sufficient influence in federal and state government to strengthen labor and employment law, unions and worker centers have increasingly sought to build power in cities. The shift to local labor lawmaking has delivered local minimum wage, paid sick leave, and fair scheduling ordinances covering millions of low-wage workers, as well as groundbreaking unionization …

Disqualifying Qualified Immunity, Nicholas Mcgill Hudnell

Et Cetera

The relationship between municipal responsibility and municipal liability in civil suits concerning local police officer misconduct is flawed. Cities have almost unlimited control over their police departments but lack almost any control over the civil litigation of their officers, aside from city attorneys representing them. In police misconduct cases, city attorneys representing police officers are required to invoke any available affirmative defenses, either common law or statutory, regardless of the moral convictions of the city attorneys, city legislators, or local citizens. To bridge the logical gap between municipal responsibility and the lack of municipal control over police misconduct litigation, this …

Capital Punishment Of Young Adults In Light Of Evolving Standards Of Science And Decency: Why Ohio Should Raise The Minimum Age For Death Penalty Eligibility To Twenty-Five (25), Talia Stewart

Cleveland State Law Review

Up until the Supreme Court’s 2005 ruling in Roper v. Simmons, juveniles could constitutionally be executed for qualifying criminal offenses. The Roper Court raised the minimum age for execution to eighteen, citing both a national consensus against executing minors, as well as recent research (at the time) showing that juveniles are more vulnerable to negative influences and outside pressures. Since Roper, the Supreme Court has remained silent regarding the requisite minimum age for execution and has left the decision up to individual states. While a slim majority of states have now abolished the death penalty in its entirety, …

Beyond The Public Square: Imagining Digital Democracy, Mary Anne Franks

Articles

To create online spaces that do not merely replicate existing hierarchies and reinforce unequal distributions of social, economic, cultural, and political power, we must move beyond the simplistic clich6 of the unregulated public square and commit to the hard work of designing for democracy.

When we say 'public square,' ... we need to ask- who or what is this public? Who owns this space, what makes it public? . . . This is the essence of democracy: the ability to question power, and the power to do so. - Tom Wilkinson

Article Iii And The Political Question Doctrine, Scott Dodson

Northwestern University Law Review

Courts and commentators have often sourced the political question doctrine in Article III, a repository of other separation-of-powers doctrines applicable to the federal courts. Rucho v. Common Cause, a blockbuster political question case decided in 2019, explicitly tied the doctrine to Article III. But the historical development of the doctrine undermines the depth of that connection. Further, sourcing the doctrine in Article III leads to some very odd effects, including leaving state courts free to answer federal political questions. This Article argues that the source of the political question doctrine is in substantive law, not in Article III. Such …

New Federalism And Civil Rights Enforcement, Alexander Reinert, Joanna C. Schwartz, James E. Pfander

Northwestern University Law Review

Calls for change to the infrastructure of civil rights enforcement have grown more insistent in the past several years, attracting support from a wide range of advocates, scholars, and federal, state, and local officials. Much of the attention has focused on federal-level reforms, including proposals to overrule Supreme Court doctrines that stop many civil rights lawsuits in their tracks. But state and local officials share responsibility for the enforcement of civil rights and have underappreciated powers to adopt reforms of their own. This Article evaluates a range of state and local interventions, including the adoption of state law causes of …

Municipal Optimization Of Short-Term Rental Regulations: The Reality Of Airbnb In South Texas Communities, Kenneth M. Culbreth Iii

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract forthcoming.

Testing Privilege: Coaching Bar Takers Towards “Minimum Competency” During The 2020 Pandemic, Benjamin Afton Cavanaugh

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract forthcoming.

A Guide To The 87th Texas Legislative Session, José Menéndez, Pearl D. Cruz

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Challenges and potential solutions during the 87th Texas Legislative session.

Fewer, Not Fairer, Victoria Smiegocki, Pamela R. Metzger, Andrew L.B. Davies

Deason Center Reports

In 2019, police across Dallas County asked the District Attorney to prosecute fewer marijuana cases than the year before. This report examines whether the racial disparity in those cases improved at the same time. Fewer, Not Fairer shows that while the number of referrals declined, police were still more likely to refer a Black person for marijuana prosecution than a non-Black person. However, some cities achieved more fairness when their police departments almost entirely stopped requesting marijuana prosecutions altogether.

The Idaho Human Rights Act Is Long Overdue For A Legislative Update, Susan E. Park, Doug A. Werth

Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Idaho Human Rights Act (“IHRA”) needs attention. The Idaho Legislature has not made a meaningful amendment to the Act since 2005, when it expanded protections for persons with disabilities.1 It has neglected to update the IHRA after landmark federal enactments such as the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, the Civil Rights Act of 1991, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, and the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008. The statutory disconnect created by this legislative lapse has magnified the importance of how courts apply federal case law to the IHRA, particularly in light of the …

What Deference Does It Make? Reviewing Agency Statutory Interpretation In Maryland, Carly L. Hviding

Maryland Law Review Online

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Thank You Glenice

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Civil Practice And Procedure, Christopher S. Dadak

University of Richmond Law Review

This Article analyzes the past year of Supreme Court of Virginia opinions, revisions to the Virginia Code, and Rules of the Supreme Court of Virginia impacting civil procedure here in the Commonwealth. On top of those changes, dealing with the pandemic certainly was a trying time for practitioners, the judiciary, and all those involved in the administration of justice and the law. The author appreciates the sacrifices made by all those individuals and sympathizes with all who lost a loved one in this time.

The Article first addresses opinions of the Supreme Court of Virginia, then new legislation enacted during …

Criminal Law And Procedure, Brittany A. Dunn-Pirio, Timothy J. Huffstutter, Mason D. Williams

University of Richmond Law Review

This Article surveys recent developments in criminal procedure and law in Virginia. Because of space limitations, the authors have limited their discussion to the most significant published appellate decisions and legislation.

Family Law, Rachel A. Degraba

University of Richmond Law Review

This Article provides a practical update on recent changes in Virginia law in the family law realm, including, but not limited to, divorce, custody and visitation, adoption, child support, and equitable distribution of assets and debts. There have been significant legislative amendments regarding the divorce process with the introduction of the Uniform Collaborative Law Act as well as the removal of the corroborating witness requirement for no-fault divorce matters. This succinct synopsis outlines legislative changes as well as significant judicial decisions within the past year.

Taxation, Craig D. Bell

University of Richmond Law Review

This Article reviews significant recent developments in the laws affecting Virginia state and local taxation. Its Parts cover legislative activity, judicial decisions, and selected opinions and other pronouncements from the Virginia Department of Taxation (“Tax Department” or “Department of Taxation”) and the Attorney General of Virginia over the past year.

Part I of this Article addresses state taxes. Part II covers local taxes, including real and tangible personal property taxes, license taxes, and discrete local taxes.

The overall purpose of this Article is to provide Virginia tax and general practitioners with a concise overview of the recent developments in Virginia …

Juvenile Justice, Valerie Slater

University of Richmond Law Review

This Article serves as a review of recent juvenile justice law and legislative trends in Virginia. This Article will review both codified changes and relevant proposed legislation that did not pass the Legislature to more fully identify trends in juvenile justice. While this Article does not capture every proposed or codified change to Virginia juvenile justice law, it does identify and present the most significant changes and trends over the last two legislative sessions to the laws governing the entrance of youth into the criminal legal system, the treatment of Virginia’s youth directly involved in the criminal legal system, and …

Strictly Speaking, What Needs To Change? A Review Of How Statutory Changes Could Bring Strict Products Liability To Virginia, Ryan C. Fowle

University of Richmond Law Review

Virginia remains one of five states that refuse to adopt strict products liability. To date, the Supreme Court of Virginia has declined to follow the path Justice Traynor set out nearly a century ago, as its recent decisions confirm its resistance to strict liability. However, given the change in control of the General Assembly following the elections of 2017 and 2019, the General Assembly is in new hands and may remain that way for some time. This new legislative majority, among its plans for new policies, may soon consider establishing strict products liability by statute. In doing so, Virginia would …

Disrupting Death: How Specialized Capital Defenders Ground Virginia’S Machinery Of Death To A Halt, Corinna Barrett Lain, Douglas A. Ramseur

University of Richmond Law Review

Virginia’s repeal of capital punishment in 2021 is arguably the most momentous abolitionist event since 1972, when the United States Supreme Court invalidated capital punishment statutes nationwide. In part, Virginia’s repeal is momentous because it marks the first time a Southern state abolished the death penalty. In part, it is momentous because even among Southern states, Virginia was exceptional in its zeal for capital punishment. No state executed faster once a death sentence was handed down. And no state was more successful in defending death sentences, allowing Virginia to convert death sentences into executions at a higher rate than any …

Wills, Trusts, And Estates, Katherine E. Ramsey, Sarah J. Brownlow

University of Richmond Law Review

The 2021 Virginia General Assembly did not pass any major laws governing estates or trusts this year. However, it did pass several legislative efforts related to the field and of which practitioners should be aware. Perhaps the most relevant update given the COVID-19 pandemic was the Legislature’s effort to modernize procedures for electronic notarizations and electronic recording of documents. Another new law was designed to improve retirement savings participation rates in the Commonwealth by requiring certain employers to enroll their employees by default in a new, state-facilitated individual retirement account program. The Legislature also passed several bills designed to make …

Feasibility Of Development Of Flood Resiliency Clearinghouse Program, Commonwealth Center For Recurrent Flooding Resiliency, Mujde Erten-Unal, Carol Considine, Mark W. Luckenbach, Elizabeth Armistead Andrews

Commonwealth Center for Recurrent Flooding Resiliency (CCRFR): Reports

[Introduction]

House Bill 2187ⁱ, introduced by Delegate Keith Hodges in the 2021 session of the Virginia General Assembly, directed the Commonwealth Center for Recurrent Flooding Resiliency (CCRFR), a partnership between Old Dominion University, the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) and the William & Mary Law School’s Virginia Coastal Policy Center (VCPC) established by Virginia Chapter 440 of the 2016 Acts of Assembly (HB 903), to evaluate the development of a Flood Resiliency Clearinghouse Program (henceforth Clearinghouse). The bill stipulated that the Center should work with the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) to evaluate solutions that manage …

Foreword, Joseph Giarratano

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

In Memoriam Clint Andrew Nichols, Frank Talbott V

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Preface, Andy V. O'Connell

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.