State and Local Government Law Commons^™

Administering Section 2 Of The Voting Rights Act After Shelby County, Christopher S. Elmendorf, Douglas M. Spencer

Publications

Until the Supreme Court put an end to it in Shelby County v. Holder, section 5 of the Voting Rights Act was widely regarded as an effective, low-cost tool for blocking potentially discriminatory changes to election laws and administrative practices. The provision the Supreme Court left standing, section 2, is generally seen as expensive, cumbersome, and almost wholly ineffective at blocking changes before they take effect. This Article argues that the courts, in partnership with the Department of Justice, could reform section 2 so that it fills much of the gap left by the Supreme Court's evisceration of section …

Who Is Best Suited To Combat Sexual Violence On College Campuses?: An Analysis Of H.B. 1785, Susana Bass

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

Virginia House Bill 1785, requiring campus police to notify the Commonwealth’s Attorney of any victim-initiated sexual assault investigations, is a positive step forward in helping to combat sexual assault on Virginia college campuses. Under this legislation, victims of sexual assault are much more likely to receive the protection and justice they deserve.

Part II of this comment outlines current federal law that intends to ad- dress sexual assault on college campus and whether these laws have been effective in preventing sexual assault. Part III details Virginia House Bill 1785 introduced in the 2015 Virginia General Assembly Session to address sexual …

Issue 2: Table Of Contents

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Testamentary Capacity Litigation In Virginia, F. Philip Manns Jr.

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

In Rust v. Reid, a 1918 case involving testamentary capacity, the Supreme Court of Virginia wrote the "cases upon this subject are almost without number, and they are not to be reconciled," but Rust referred to "all of the decisions of this court on the subject of competency of jurors," which also had been at issue in the case. However, in its decision in Rust, the Court easily could have leveled the same self-criticism about its cases deciding (1) which party bears the burden of proof in testamentary capacity litigation; (2) whether a presumption of testamentary capacity exists; and (3) …

Forfeiting Federalism: The Faustian Pact With Big Tobacco, Ryan D. Dreveskracht

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

This article discusses the effects of the largest legal settlement in United States history: the so-called Master Settlement Agreement , or "MSA." Part I discusses the settlement generally, and its intended effect on the U.S. tobacco market. Parts II through IV discuss the unintended consequences of the settlement.' Part II considers how states got into their current disarray, and how a perceived state windfall of billions of dollars ended up putting states on what by all accounts now appears to be very real risk of insolvency. Part III examines how the major tobacco companies are using the states' dire financial …

Let's Get Ethical, A Look At The New Ethics Reform In The Commonwealth Of Virginia, Davis C. Rennolds

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

In April of 2015, the Virginia General Assembly returned to Richmond for its annual veto session, with the main focus on putting the finishing touches on ethics reform.1 After lengthy debate and a number of amendments, the omnibus ethics bill passed the House and the Senate unanimously. House and Senate Members from both political parties touted the accomplishment as a significant step forward, as did Governor McAuliffe who called the legislation a “victory for transparency and accountability.”

This Article will argue the cases of Delegate Phil Hamilton and former Governor Bob McDonnell provide a framework for analyzing whether the new …

Recent Children's Policy And Legislative Developments In Virginia: A Brief History, A Bright Future, The Honorable Christopher K. Peace, Amy L. Woolard

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

In this piece, we will outline the structural and policy developments implemented in Virginia in recent years that set the stage for a sea change in children’s services in Virginia.

Protecting The Digital Afterlife: Virginia's Privacy Expectation Afterlife And Choices Act, The Honorable Mark Obesnshain, The Honorable Jay Leftwich

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

This article examines Virginia’s Privacy Expectation Afterlife and Choices Act. Part I surveys federal legislation and proposed uniform legislation that attempts to protect digital assets and records. Part II examines opposition to proposed legislation and another proposed law: the Privacy Expectation Afterlife and Choices Act. Part III details Virginia’s final version of the Privacy Expectation Afterlife and Choices Act. Part V concludes the Article.

What Role For Civility?, Bob Gibson

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

Every year recently, Virginians bemoan a loss of civility in a political arena that seems more callous, combative and partisan, less productive and turning churlish. Many view politics in Washington as hopelessly lost into gridlock and cycles of inaction, inattention to serious issues and retribution. Virginians hope that politics at the state level has not sunk as far.

What has happened to trust, civility, and respect in politics as it relates to this past General Assembly session?

Who Is Best Suited To Combat Sexual Violence On College Campuses?: An Analysis Of H.B. 1785, Susana Bass

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

Virginia House Bill 1785, requiring campus police to notify the Commonwealth’s Attorney of any victim-initiated sexual assault investigations, is a positive step forward in helping to combat sexual assault on Virginia college campuses. Under this legislation, victims of sexual assault are much more likely to receive the protection and justice they deserve.

Part II of this comment outlines current federal law that intends to ad- dress sexual assault on college campus and whether these laws have been effective in preventing sexual assault. Part III details Virginia House Bill 1785 introduced in the 2015 Virginia General Assembly Session to address sexual …

Equality, Centralization, Community, And Governance In Contemporary Education Law, Eloise Pasachoff

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

A response to Robert Garda, Searching for Equity Amid a System of Schools: The View from New Orleans, 42 FORDHAM URB. L.J. 613 (2015).

Understanding State Constitutions: Locke And Key, Gary S. Lawson

Faculty Scholarship

Steve Calabresi and Sofia Vickery have done a great service by uncovering the pre-Fourteenth Amendment case law in state courts interpreting and applying state constitutional provisions which contain "Lockean" language guaranteeing rights to life, liberty, property, safety, happiness, or some combination of those rights.' These cases are manifestly one of the keys to understanding the legal world in which the Fourteenth Amendment was crafted and ratified. It is instructive and fascinating to see the development and application of these Lockean provisions, whose influence 2 seems to have spread beyond this country. It is a pleasure and honor to be asked …

Time To Upgrade Drinking Water Protections, Noah M. Sachs

Law Faculty Publications

A year ago, residents of Charleston, W.Va., learned that their entire drinking water supply had become contaminated by MCHM, a toxic chemical used to wash coal. Ten thousand gallons of MCHM had spilled from a corroding storage tank by the Elk River, located a mile upstream of the city’s drinking water intake pipes. As a result of the chemical spill, 300,000 citizens lost their water for more than a week, and hundreds sought emergency care.

That accident alone should have been a wake-up call for Virginians about the need to protect our water supply from chemical spills. But a year …

Unilateral Non-Colonial Secession And The Criteria For Statehood In International Law, Glen Anderson

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

The following article examines the interactions between the right of peoples to unilateral non-colonial (“UNC”) secession and the criteria for statehood in international law. In this respect a three-point thesis is developed. First, it is argued that the law of self-determination has resulted in a less strict application of the criteria for statehood based on effectiveness, particularly the effective government criterion. This means that a state created by UNC secession pursuant to the law of self-determination will not have its statehood called into question if lacks an effective government. Second, it is argued that the declaratory approach to recognition is …

Cu Law Library Launches New Resource For Historical Colorado Statutory Research, Robert M. Linz

Publications

No abstract provided.

Inferiority Complex: Should State Courts Follow Lower Federal Court Precedent On The Meaning Of Federal Law?, Amanda Frost

Vanderbilt Law Review

The conventional wisdom is that state courts need not follow lower federal court precedent when interpreting federal law. Upon closer inspection, however, the question of how state courts should treat lower federal court precedent is not so clear. Although most state courts now take the conventional approach, a few contend that they are obligated to follow the lower federal courts, and two federal courts of appeals have declared that their decisions are binding on state courts. The Constitution's text and structure send mixed messages about the relationship between state and lower federal courts, and the Supreme Court has never squarely …

Legal After-Shocks On The Energy Seismograph: Judicial Prohibition Of Recent State Regulation And Promotion Of Power, Steven Ferrey

Suffolk University Law School Faculty Works

“If Congress won't act soon to protect future generations, I will. I will direct my cabinet to come up with executive actions we can take, now and in the future, to reduce pollution, prepare our communities for the consequences of climate change, and speed the transition to more sustainable sources of energy.” ~ President Obama, State of the Union Speech, February 2014

As set forth above, as a result of unilateral executive action, critical technology and modern American society are changing fundamentally. But is this form of executive action legal? There are significant unresolved legal issues as to what can …

Fixing Hollingsworth: Standing In Initiative Cases, Karl Manheim, John S. Caragozian, Donald Warner

Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review

In Hollingsworth v. Perry, the Supreme Court dismissed an appeal filed by the “Official Proponents” of California’s Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in California. Chief Justice Roberts’ majority opinion held that initiative sponsors lack Article III standing to defend their ballot measures even when state officials refuse to defend against constitutional challenges. As a result, Hollingsworth provides state officers with the ability to overrule laws that were intended to bypass the government establishment—in effect, an “executive veto” of popularly-enacted initiatives.

The Article examines this new “executive veto” in depth. It places Hollingsworth in context, discussing the initiative process …

Remodeling Federal Medical Malpractice Act: A Possible Improvement To The Affordable Care Act, Nancy Kubasek, Tiffany Durham

Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review

During the debates about healthcare reform, the Congressional Budget Office found that federal medical liability reform could drastically reduce federal budget deficits, yet political and legal scholars could not reach agreement about the best way for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) to provide such reform. Instead, provisions were made to fund state level demonstration projects. The law that is considered one of the most successful models to date of conventional tort reform is the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act of California. This Article exams that legislation and discusses how we might use what can be learned from …

A Hole In The Plastic Bag: Identifying And Closing The Loophole In The California Environmental Quality Act, Scott Menger

Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review

No abstract provided.