University of Kashmir
University of Michigan Law School
University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School
Ohio Northern University
Walden University
Vanderbilt University Law School
Washington University in St. Louis
Northwestern University School of Law
Primacy In Theory And Application: Lessons From A Half-Century Of New Judicial Federalism,
2023
Maine Supreme Judicial Court
Primacy In Theory And Application: Lessons From A Half-Century Of New Judicial Federalism, Catherine R. Connors, Connor Finch
Maine Law Review
In his 1977 article, State Constitutions and the Protection of Individual Rights, Justice Brennan famously reminded jurists that our governmental system includes two constitutions applicable to each state, and New Judicial Federalism was born. Since then, state courts have applied their own Bills of Rights using different approaches with varying degrees of enthusiasm. The primacy approach, requiring state courts to consider the state constitution first, and turning to the federal constitution only if needed to resolve the case, is theoretically optimal but inconsistently followed, even in the few jurisdictions professing to adopt that approach. This Article posits that the reason …
Abusing Taxation Of Court Costs By Government Lawyers To Chill Pro Se Civil Rights Claimants,
2023
University of St. Thomas School of Law (Minneapolis)
Abusing Taxation Of Court Costs By Government Lawyers To Chill Pro Se Civil Rights Claimants, Gregory Sisk, Alexandra Gannon, Nicole L. Stangl
University of St. Thomas Law Journal
No abstract provided.
Letter From The Editor,
2023
University of Richmond
Letter From The Editor, Carley Ruival
Richmond Public Interest Law Review
No abstract provided.
State-Sanctioned Displacement: An Interstate Examination Of Felon Disenfranchisement,
2023
University of Richmond
State-Sanctioned Displacement: An Interstate Examination Of Felon Disenfranchisement, Claudia Leonor
Richmond Public Interest Law Review
In his dissent of New State Ice Co. v. Liebmann, Justice Louis Brandeis referred to the constituent states of the country as “laboratories for democracy.” He noted that, as sovereign entities within the United States, states are empowered to “try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country.” In postbellum American society, states have grappled with Reconstruction and the concomitant dismantlement of a caste system hinging on racism. In convening constitutional assemblies, the states experimented with racism and succeeded. In Southern jurisdictions, racial animus enabled the creation of constitutional frameworks and legislation that would have …
Redefining Youth: The Case For Applying The Principles Of Miller V. Alabama To Criminal Cases Involving Adults In Late Adolescence,
2023
University of Richmond
Redefining Youth: The Case For Applying The Principles Of Miller V. Alabama To Criminal Cases Involving Adults In Late Adolescence, Salua Kamerow
Richmond Public Interest Law Review
In 2012, in Miller v. Alabama, the United States Supreme Court held it unconstitutional to impose a mandatory sentence of life without parole on children because such a sentence fails to adequately account for a child’s developmental stage or ability to weigh long-term consequences. Children are fundamentally different from adults, making them more susceptible to lack of self-regulation, poor decision making, and peer pressure. In Miller, the Court found that these aspects of children’s behavior made children less culpable than adults.
Psychological studies have demonstrated that adolescence is more protracted than previously recognized. Profound malleability of the brain characterizes the …
Python Patrol: Combatting The Problem Of Evasive Non-Native Snakes In Florida,
2023
University of Richmond
Python Patrol: Combatting The Problem Of Evasive Non-Native Snakes In Florida, Jessica Rooke
Richmond Public Interest Law Review
The Florida hotspot of non-native invasive species has long been recognized as a fascinating, yet perplexing environmental issue since the late 1900s. After decades of patchwork efforts by the federal and state government, it has become clear that a more holistic approach must be taken to help eradicate the Burmese Pythons that have overtaken Southern Florida. This article highlights the prior efforts taken federally and state-wide to combat this issue and assesses the current gaps in these efforts and what must be done to achieve a more holistic approach. Other states are used as points of comparison in regard to …
Eviction Crisis Not Averted: Challenging Disparate Impact In The Search For Housing Stability During The Virginia Rent Relief Program's Epilogue,
2023
University of Richmond
Eviction Crisis Not Averted: Challenging Disparate Impact In The Search For Housing Stability During The Virginia Rent Relief Program's Epilogue, Olivia Seksinsky, Madelyn Bellew
Richmond Public Interest Law Review
Historically, the Commonwealth of Virginia has experienced some of the highest eviction rates in the county, containing five of the top ten U.S. cities with the highest eviction rates. After experiencing scrutiny in the national news due to these rates, the Commonwealth enacted legislation which provided increased tenant protections and distributed the highest percentage of rental assistance funds in the country. It was once thought that the Virginia Rent Relief Program (“RRP”) could be the solution to the eviction crisis, but now that the Program has ended, Virginia is once again experiencing an eviction crisis. Though thousands of households received …
Prefatory Matter,
2023
University of Richmond
How California's Racial Justice Act Of 2020 Protects Criminal Defendants From Racial Discrimination And Why The Equal Protection Clause Is Not Enough,
2023
University of Richmond
How California's Racial Justice Act Of 2020 Protects Criminal Defendants From Racial Discrimination And Why The Equal Protection Clause Is Not Enough, Hannah Laub
Richmond Public Interest Law Review
The Equal Protection Clause should prevent racial discrimination in the criminal legal system, yet Black people and people of color are disproportionately arrested, prosecuted, and incarcerated in the United States. This is partially due to the heavy evidentiary burden required to demonstrate an Equal Protection violation and the failure of the Supreme Court to ease that burden in McCleskey v. Kemp. With federal law largely ineffective, states such as California have passed legislation to provide more robust civil rights protections. This article explores how the Equal Protection Clause fails to provide a remedy for criminal defendants who experience racial discrimination …
The Proper Role Of Judicial Opportunism In Constitutional Rights Scrutiny,
2023
University of Richmond
The Proper Role Of Judicial Opportunism In Constitutional Rights Scrutiny, R. George Wright
Richmond Public Interest Law Review
To one degree or another, judges in constitutional rights cases may exploit their available range of discretion in a narrowly political, ideologically rigid, or partisan way. But there are also important contexts in which a court’s ample discretion under tiered scrutiny and related tests can be turned toward some more nearly consensual or reasonably well-established basic public good. These opportunities to judicially promote the public good remain available even in our age of political polarization, hostility, fragmentation, and distrust.
Where such important opportunities exist, and where it is otherwise constitutionally permissible and generally prudent to do so, courts should feel …
Spendthrift Trusts: The Tension Between Testamentary Freedom And Public Policy Concerns,
2023
Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights and Social Justice
Spendthrift Trusts: The Tension Between Testamentary Freedom And Public Policy Concerns, Hailey Dobin Reichel
ERSJ Blog
In 1875, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Miller delivered the opinion of the court in a case pertaining to the construction of a woman’s trust created for her children. The matter focused on a provision in the testamentary trust that stated that the trust would terminate with respect to a son’s interest if he were to go bankrupt or insolvent, and that the resulting funds were to be collected by the trustees. Despite arguments presented to the court about how this inclusion acted as an attempt to evade notions of bankruptcy law, Justice Miller upheld the provision of the trust.
This …
Endnotes,
2023
American University Washington College of Law
Using Federal Public Lands To Model A New Energy Future: Why The Biden Administration Should Prioritize Renewable Energy Development On Public Lands,
2023
American University Washington College of Law
Using Federal Public Lands To Model A New Energy Future: Why The Biden Administration Should Prioritize Renewable Energy Development On Public Lands, Meghen Sullivan
Sustainable Development Law & Policy
Oil and gas extraction on public lands and waters is responsible for twenty percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. If American public lands were their own country, they would be the fifth-largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world. As of 2020, only twenty percent of total U.S. electricity generation came from renewable energy sources. While renewable energy development on public lands has increased, most renewable energy comes from private lands. However, public lands contain immense renewable energy potential; for example, it is estimated that half of this country’s geothermal resources are found on public lands. Despite underutilized renewable energy potential …
Crumbling Crown Jewels: Addressing The Impact Of Recreational Overuse In America's National Parks,
2023
American University Washington College of Law
Crumbling Crown Jewels: Addressing The Impact Of Recreational Overuse In America's National Parks, Ellen Spicer
Sustainable Development Law & Policy
National Parks are the “crown jewels” of America. However, in recent years they have become subjected to rampant overcrowding and overuse, so much so that they are being loved to death. The 1916 National Park Service (“NPS”) Organic Act calls for the conservation of “the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life . . . and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave [park sites] unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.” Due to increased visitation, one of the mandates of the NPS is being …
Pedal Into The Future,
2023
American University Washington College of Law
Pedal Into The Future, Elliot Wiley
Sustainable Development Law & Policy
Congress severely weakened the Electric Bicycle Incentive Kickstart for the Environment Act (E-Bike Act) when the bill was absorbed into the Build Back Better Bill. Electricity is the future, yet Congress has defanged a bill that could create significant progress in making bicycling a more accessible option for commuters.
Making Room For The Past In The Future: Managing Urban Development With Cultural Heritage Preservation,
2023
American University Washington College of Law
Making Room For The Past In The Future: Managing Urban Development With Cultural Heritage Preservation, Kubra Guzin Babaturk
Sustainable Development Law & Policy
Few would disagree that art and architecture are indispensable aspects of the collective human experiences. But can there be “too much” of it? How much is “too much?” Could art and cultural heritage be a hindrance to progress, urbanization, and sustainability? Which art is worth saving? A growing question is how to balance and reconcile expanding urban needs with efforts to preserve cultural heritage. Many cities across the global face this fresh moral dilemma. Cities like Istanbul, Rome, and Cairo––heirs to great empires, with history and art cursing through every alley, are still modern-day metropolises, with ever-burgeoning populations and social …
Toward A Utah Intentionally Created Surplus Program,
2023
American University Washington College of Law
Toward A Utah Intentionally Created Surplus Program, Devin Stelter
Sustainable Development Law & Policy
The Colorado River Basin continues to face a now two decade-long drought sparked by the drastic effects of climate change on the region. Climate forecasting predicts that the adverse effects of climate change will only increase in severity in years to come. These effects have led federal, state, tribal, and private actors operating in the basin to search for innovative and effective solutions to the significant water scarcity problems that will persist into the future. A closely linked threat stemming from Colorado River water scarcity is the prospect of a “Compact call” on Upper Basin water by the Lower Basin …
About Sdlp,
2023
American University Washington College of Law
About Sdlp, Sdlp
Sustainable Development Law & Policy
The Sustainable Development Law & Policy Brief (ISSN 1552-3721) is a student-run initiative at American University Washington College of Law that is published twice each academic year. The Brief embraces an interdisciplinary focus to provide a broad view of current legal, political, and social developments. It was founded to provide a forum for those interested in promoting sustainable economic development, conservation, environmental justice, and biodiversity throughout the world.
Editor's Note,
2023
American University Washington College of Law
Editor's Note, Juliette Jackson, Bailey Nickoloff
Sustainable Development Law & Policy
The Sustainable Development Law and Policy Brief (“SDLP”) is celebrating twenty-two years of legal scholarship on issues related to environmental, energy, natural resources, and international development law. SDLP continues to provide cutting-edge solutions to these legal issues in the face of the global COVID-19 Pandemic, while also transitioning back into a “new normal.” This issue is no different, as we published articles challenging our lawmakers and policy heads to address the impending needs of our communities to develop more sustainable infrastructure—needs that are only exacerbated by man-made climate change. We are proud of the work published, and we are forever …
Endnotes,
2023
American University Washington College of Law
