Agriculture Law Commons^™

Corporate Governance And Gender Equality: A Study Of Comply-Or-Explain Disclosure Regulation, Aaron A. Dhir, Sarah Kaplan, Maria Arabella Robles

Seattle University Law Review

In 2020, the Nasdaq Stock Market filed a proposal with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission seeking permission to adopt a board diversity-related disclosure requirement for its listed companies. In 2021, the SEC approved the proposal, thus entrenching Nasdaq’s position as the most significant stock exchange to date to mandate listing rules that reflect the intention of diversifying corporate boardrooms. Nasdaq’s movement into the diversity space is not the first attempt to address homogeneous boards in the U.S. In 2009, the SEC adopted a rule requiring publicly traded firms to report on whether they consider diversity in identifying director nominees. …

Judicial Ethics And The Eradication Of Racism, Dontay Proctor-Mills

Seattle University Law Review

In 2020, the Washington Supreme Court entrusted the legal community with working to eradicate racism from its legal system. Soon after, Washington’s Commission on Judicial Conduct (hereinafter the Commission) received a complaint about a bus ad for North Seattle College featuring King County Superior Court Judge David Keenan. Along with a photo of Judge Keenan’s face, the ad included the following language: “A Superior Court Judge, David Keenan got into law in part to advocate for marginalized communities. David’s changing the world. He started at North.” The Commission admonished Judge Keenan for violating the Code of Judicial Conduct, in part …

Table Of Contents, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

Table of Contents

Why Corporate Boards Should Include Lgbtq+ People, Jeremy Mcclane, Darren Rosenblum

Seattle University Law Review

Corporate boardrooms sit at the heart of most of society’s most consequential decisions but fall far short of the diversity of our society. The current movement toward board diversification aims to remedy the underrepresentation of marginalized groups on corporate boards. More recently, some efforts have included LGBTQ+ people, even though the basis for their inclusion on corporate boards remains largely unstated. This Article examines both the normative and instrumental bases for LGBTQ+ inclusion in board diversity initiatives, articulating unspoken assumptions and linking LGBTQ+ people to the broader inclusion effort. In so doing, it begins to surface the unique issues LGBTQ+ …

Forests Up In Smoke: An Analysis Of The Washington State Legislatures 2016-2021 Actions To Combat And Reduce Wildfires, Mckaylin Hughes

Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental, & Innovation Law

“Forests Up in Smoke: An Analysis of the Washington State Legislatures 2016-2021 Actions to Combat and Reduce Wildfires” examines and scrutinizes recent legislation passed by the Washington State Legislature that is specifically focused on preventing and combatting wildfires across the State of Washington. Over the last decade, Washington State has experienced several of the worst wildfire seasons in the state’s history, and with this increase in wildfires, Washingtonians need more action from the State Legislature to manage, protect, and restore our forests.

One way Washington can take a more proactive approach to combatting wildfires is by utilizing alternative methods for …

Investment Bankers And Inclusive Corporate Leadership, Afra Afsharipour

Seattle University Law Review

Few major deals happen without the engagement and advice of investment bankers. Whether a company is undertaking an initial public offering or engaging in a large merger or acquisition deal, investment bankers play a central role in advising corporate executives. Successful investment bankers are devoted to cultivating relationships with executives. And these relationships place bankers in a position to earn tens of millions in fees for their advisory and service roles in connection with corporate dealmaking. Investment bankers’ constant endeavors to nurture relationships with executives, while also maximizing their own ability to enhance fees, commonly leads to allegations of double-dealing, …

Selective Patronage, Omari Scott Simmons

Seattle University Law Review

Contemporary academic corporate governance narratives have a blind spot. They focus on institutions, rules, regulations, processes, procedures, intermediaries, and market forces. Yet, missing in this narrative, is the impact of corporate leadership. Ignoring the “black box” of corporate leadership, particularly individual actors, renders an incomplete descriptive assessment as well as potential miscalculations. The examination of key historical figures and their corporate activism provides an important lens through which to identify potential challenges and opportunities related to the contemporary ESG movement.

Generally, this essay examines corporate leadership’s potential to address socio-political issues through the prism of Civil Rights Movement activism. Specifically, …

Reframing The Dei Case, Veronica Root Martinez

Seattle University Law Review

Corporate firms have long expressed their support for the idea that their organizations should become more demographically diverse while creating a culture that is inclusive of all members of the firm. These firms have traditionally, however, not been successful at improving demographic diversity and true inclusion within the upper echelons of their organizations. The status quo seemed unlikely to move, but expectations for corporate firms were upended after the #MeToo Movement of 2017 and 2018, which was followed by corporate support of the #BlackLivesMatter Movement in 2020. These two social movements, while distinct in many ways, forced firms to rethink …

Women In Shareholder Activism, Sarah C. Haan

Seattle University Law Review

Even a cursory review of the history of American environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) shareholder activism reveals the presence of women leaders. This Article sketches some of this history and interrogates the role of women in the shareholder activism movement. That movement typically has involved claims by minority shareholders to corporate power; activists are nearly always on the margins of power, though minority shareholders may, collectively, represent a majority interest. This Article ascribes women’s leadership in shareholder activism to their longstanding position as outsiders to corporate organization. Women’s participation in shaping corporate policy—even from the margins—has provided women with …

#Metoo And The Corporation In Popular Culture, Brenda Cossman

Seattle University Law Review

#MeToo’s initial virtual explosion in the fall of 2017 was very much about Hollywood, with famous actresses speaking out against famous producers, media moguls and celebrities, exposing the ubiquity of sexual harassment and sexual violence in and around the entertainment industry. Since then, #MeToo has made its way into Hollywood representations without much irony. Films and television shows have explicitly taken up the #MeToo themes, exploring issues of sexual harassment and violence and its afterlives. Many television shows, from the relaunched version of Murphy Brown to Brooklyn Nine-Nine to The Good Fight have incorporated #MeToo themes into episodes exploring the …

Woke Capital Revisited, Jennifer S. Fan

Seattle University Law Review

Inclusive corporate leadership is now at the forefront of discussions related to corporate governance. Two corporate theories help to explain the rise in prominence of diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”) efforts in corporate leadership. First, an expanded definition of corporate purpose which elevated the idea of the importance of stakeholders, contributed to the momentum from business and legal quarters for broader corporate inclusion. Second, the increasing publicness of corporations—the social expectation of how large, typically public corporations should act given their position of power—also led to corporations becoming more active in the DEI space. It is against this backdrop that …

Army Commander’S Role—The Judge, Jury, & Prosecutor For The Article 15, Anthony Godwin

Seattle University Law Review

Service members in the armed forces are bound by a different set of rules when compared to other U.S. citizens. Some of the normal safeguards and protections that civilians enjoy are much more restrictive for military service members, and this is generally for a good reason. Such restrictions are partly due to the complex demands and needs of the United States military. Congress and the President have entrusted military commanders with special powers that enable them to handle minor violations of law without needing to go through a full judicial proceeding. Non-judicial punishments (NJP), also known as Article 15s, are …

A Synthesis Of The Science And Law Relating To Eyewitness Misidentifications And Recommendations For How Police And Courts Can Reduce Wrongful Convictions Based On Them, Henry F. Fradella

Seattle University Law Review

The empirical literature on perception and memory consistently demonstrates the pitfalls of eyewitness identifications. Exoneration data lend external validity to these studies. With the goal of informing law enforcement officers, prosecutors, criminal defense attorneys, judges, and judicial law clerks about what they can do to reduce wrongful convictions based on misidentifications, this Article presents a synthesis of the scientific knowledge relevant to how perception and memory affect the (un)reliability of eyewitness identifications. The Article situates that body of knowledge within the context of leading case law. The Article then summarizes the most current recommendations for how law enforcement personnel should—and …

A Uniform Approach To Farm Animal Welfare Laws: Thought For Our Food Instead Of Food For Our Thought, Channing Burd

Journal of Food Law & Policy

We have all seen the commercials and know “Happy Cows Come from California,” but there is a larger issue hidden inside the phrase. Why should not all farm animals be happy, regardless of which state they were raised in? Why are only the cows in California happy, but not the chickens and the hogs as well? Farm animal welfare in the United States needs regulatory overhaul, and we needed it decades ago. This article will illustrate why regulatory overhaul is needed. First, we will examine how a new system of laws, which are part of a uniform code enacted by …

The Cow Has Left The Barn: Updating Standards Of Identity To Reflect Consumer Understanding Of Plant-Based Foods, Nicholas G. Miller

Journal of Food Law & Policy

Have you ever seen “tofurkey” at the supermarket and thought it was a rare, delicious cousin of the turkey? The animal based food industries, led by milk and meat producers, are claiming that the reasonable consumer might. On the other hand, the plant based food substitutes are appearing on supermarket shelves with increasingly bold names for their products that tap into our familiarity with animal-based foods, using names like “Beyond Meat.” Where do we draw the line on what plant based food can be called? And who should draw that line? This paper examines the debate surrounding the labeling of …

The Cost Of Compassion: Why State Ballot Initiatives Complicate Farm Animal Welfare And Overlook The True Problems In Modern Agriculture, Seth Victor

Journal of Food Law & Policy

Farm animal welfare is a concern for many Americans, both among those who value a higher standard of care for the animals’ own sake, and those concerned with food safety. Industrial agriculture has become the dominant form of animal production to satiate a daunting demand for meat, eggs, and dairy products. Industrial animal-raising facilities, also known as concentrated animal feeding operations (“CAFOs”), prioritize volume and efficiency and are a key factor in keeping consumer prices low. CAFOs are highly specialized and excel at production by minimizing inputs, maximizing confined animals, and externalizing environmental costs. This production method comes at the …

Federal Food Safety Framework: Where Does Seaweed Fit In?, Catherine M. Janasie

Journal of Food Law & Policy

When one mentions seaweed as food, what do you think of? The dried nori used to wrap your sushi roll or perhaps the seaweed salad on the side? In fact, seaweed has many uses, including as both a food source in its own right and as a food additive. While the seaweed market has been dominated by East Asian countries, seaweed is cultivated in about 50 countries, and the U.S. seaweed industry is steadily growing. The global seaweed industry is currently worth about $6 billion annually. Food products for human consumption account for about 85% of this value.

Do States Prefer Alcohol Over Marijuana? A Look At Labeling Regulatory Differences Between The Alcohol And Edibles Industries, Mckinley H. Groves

Journal of Food Law & Policy

In the children’s book "Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There", Alice interacts with Humpty Dumpty. During their conversation, Humpty notes that he, alone, can decide the meaning of words. Even Alice, at the young age of seven, casts doubt on this idea. Definitions of words and phrases play an important role in human interactions and even more so when the words and phrases defined are within a statute. In the United States, Congress and state legislatures play the role of Humpty Dumpty by coming up with meanings of important words and phrases found in the laws they …

Following The Framework: Intentional Genomic Alterations In Animals, Sarah Copper

Journal of Food Law & Policy

Intentional genomic alterations in animals or genetically engineered animals have existed in their modern form since the 1980s. However, the introduction of these animals into our food supply has been a more recent development. The federal government has taken steps in an attempt to regulate these products in a streamlined and efficient manner but has faced criticism in their approach. While the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) is currently responsible for the regulation of intentional genomic alterations (“IGAs”) in animals, there is significant effort behind transferring that oversight to the United States Department of Agriculture (“USDA”). However, in the meantime, …

Facing New Mexico's 21st Century Water Challenges; A Report Of The New Mexico Water Policy And Infrastructure Task Force, New Mexico Water And Infrastructure Task Force N/A

Publications

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