State and Local Government Law Commons^™

How To Limit The Downstream Costs Of Racially Restrictive Covenants, Randall K. Johnson

Faculty Works

This essay, which is part of the University of Kansas Law Review Symposium on the seventy-fifth (75th) anniversary of Shelley v. Kraemer, is the first to explain how a current successor in interest to a racially restrictive covenant may limit more of their own downstream costs through the use of self-help options. By definition, a downstream cost is any expense that arises after the formation, and in the course of performance, of a valid common law contract. Examples of downstream costs include the time, money and energy that property owners may expend in removing racially restrictive covenants.

The essay does …

First Amendment Defenses To Alien Transportation Crimes, Charquia Wright

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

Florida law now prohibits the transportation of undocumented aliens into the state. Briefings characterize these laws as unconstitutionally preempting federal immigration law and federal due process rights. Despite this emphasis on due process, field, and conflict preemption unconstitutionality, few have addressed the First Amendment implications of human smuggling prosecutions of natural and some corporate persons. The Supreme Court’s Free Exercise precedent protects the religious freedoms of natural persons and some corporations. Under state alien transportation laws, these freedoms cease to exist. Because the Supreme Court has extended these religious protections to some corporations, they too are entitled to First Amendment …

No Need To Wait: Congress Has The Power Under Section Five Of The Fourteenth Amendment To Abolish The Death Penalty In The States, Eric M. Freedman

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

Reformers currently proposing the abolition of capital punishment by federal legislation have only targeted the federal death penalty. They are aiming too low. Concerns about the roughly 50 prisoners facing execution by the federal government should not cause advocates to ignore the approximately 2,400 on the combined Death Rows of the states. Congress has the authority to abolish the death penalty in the states, and good reason to exercise it.

This Article takes as a given the Supreme Court’s view that the death penalty is not itself unconstitutional.

But under existing law Congress would have no difficulty in compiling a …

The Perennial Eclipse: Race, Immigration, And How Latinx Count In American Politics, Rachel F. Moran

Faculty Scholarship

In 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Evenwel v. Abbott, a case challenging the use of total population in state legislative apportionment as a violation of the Equal Protection Clause. The plaintiffs sued Texas, alleging that the State impermissibly diluted their voting power because they lived in areas with a high proportion of voting-age citizens. When total population was used to draw district lines, the plaintiffs had to compete with more voters to get their desired electoral outcomes than was true for voters in districts with low proportions of voting-age citizens. The Court rejected the argument, finding that states enjoy …

Rethinking Jurisdictional Maximalism In The Wake Of Mallory, Sayer Paige

Fordham Law Review

Jurisdiction-by-registration is the idea that by virtue of registering to do business in a state, corporations prospectively consent to jurisdiction on claims made against them in that state. For decades, this concept has stagnated behind the minimum contacts analysis developed by International Shoe Co. v. Washington and its progeny. Among other reasons, plaintiffs and states were not sure whether jurisdiction-by-registration withstood the Due Process Clause. But as the U.S. Supreme Court continued to narrow the limits of contacts-based jurisdiction, plaintiffs returned to registration based jurisdiction to recapture corporate defendants. Courts largely rejected these assertions. Then, in Mallory v. Norfolk Southern …

The Use Of Procedural Rules To Silence Minority Party Dissent In The Tennessee State Legislature And Its Racially Discriminatory Roots, Rosie Fatt

Journal of Law and Policy

The expulsion of two young Black legislators, Justin Jones and Justin J. Pearson, from the Tennessee General Assembly in April 2023 was not an aberration. This Note argues that the expulsions follow a historical pattern of systematic marginalization of Black representative power in the South. This Note connects the history of minority exclusion in state legislatures, beginning with Black legislators barred from taking their elected seats in the Georgia House, through to the present day. Specifically, it focuses on the use of procedural rules, particularly expulsions, as tools to limit the speech and representative power of Black legislators. It discusses …

Section 898: Targeting The Companies Behind Gun Violence In New York With Public Nuisance Doctrine, Mara Kravitz

William & Mary Law Review

On July 6, 2021, the New York State Legislature enacted sections 898-a to -e of the New York General Business Law (section 898), creating a clear path for public entities and private gun violence victims to sue gun industry members for their role in the gun violence public nuisance in New York. This Note explores why the legislature took a public nuisance approach to curbing gun violence, framing section 898 within public nuisance doctrine’s broader common law history and legal elements.

To unpack how and why New York took this approach, the first Part of this Note traces the history …

Glossip V. State Of Oklahoma: Brief Of Federal Courts Scholars As Amici Curiae In Support Of Petitioner, Eve Brensike Primus

Appellate Briefs

Amici are law professors who teach and write about the federal courts, habeas corpus, and the relationship between federal and state law. A list of amici is attached as Appendix A. Amici sign this brief in their individual capacities and not on behalf of their institutions; institutional affiliations are provided solely for identification purposes.

The Mosaic Theory In Fourth Amendment Jurisprudence: The Last Bastion Of Privacy In A Camera-Surveilled World, Auggie Alvarado

St. Mary's Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Ordinary Meaning As Last Resort: The Meaning Of "Undue Hardship" In Title Vii, James Phillips

BYU Law Review

Ordinary meaning reigns supreme in modern statutory interpretation. Yet that supremacy can cause an interpreter to miss specialized meaning. And the Supreme Court has never fully clarified when ordinary meaning must give way to specialized or technical meaning.

This Article attempts to provide doctrinal clarification as to when one should use ordinary as opposed to other meanings through putting the doctrinal pieces together in a full and coherent way. That doctrinal clarity leads to a methodological refinement: rather than the starting point, ordinary meaning is the ending point of statutory interpretation.

This Article applies this doctrine and methodology, as well …

State Compacts Vs. Emergency Powers, Ann Melise Mullins

Helm's School of Government Conference - 2021-2024

It has been a continuous battle between state governments and the federal government on which party is best suited to provide relief and aid to citizens in times of natural disasters and public health crises. This paper will analyze the history of the state and federal government’s involvement in providing aid and relief in times of national crises, as well as the Constitutional provisions for which party should take responsibility.

Pleading For Justice: Analyzing Ohio’S Wrongful Conviction Compensation Statute And The Guilty Plea Disqualification Provision, Paige Betley

Cleveland State Law Review

Innocent until proven guilty? For some who have walked through the criminal justice system, this American adage did not seem to ring true. The criminal justice system has produced many wrongful convictions, which is an unthinkable injustice. These individuals must then fight for compensation to get back on their feet in society after spending years, if not decades, unjustly behind bars. Ohio’s wrongful conviction compensation statute perpetuates this injustice by categorically excluding exonerees who pled guilty to a crime they did not commit from receiving compensation from the State, with no exceptions. This Note critically analyzes the inherent harms from …

The Deception Of Student Athlete Protection: The Failures Of The Miller-Ayala Athlete Agents Act In The Age Of Nil, Matthew R. Hand

Loyola of Los Angeles Entertainment Law Review

No abstract provided.

Appeal No.1025: K&H Partners Llc, V. Division Of Oil & Gas Resources Management, Ohio Oil & Gas Commission

Ohio Oil & Gas Commission Decisions

Review of Chief's Order 2-23-139

Appeal No.1026: Northwood Energy Corp. V. Division Of Oil & Gas Resources Management, Ohio Oil & Gas Commission

Ohio Oil & Gas Commission Decisions

Review of Chief's Order 2023-22

Silent Today, Conversant Tomorrow: Education Adequacy As A Political Question, Yeju Hwang

Northwestern University Law Review

When the Supreme Court declined to recognize the right to education as one fundamental to liberty, and thus unprotected by the U.S. Constitution, state courts took on the mantle as the next best fora for those yearning for judicial review of inequities present in American public schools. The explicit inclusion of the right to education in each state’s constitution carried the torch of optimism into the late twentieth century. Despite half a century of litigation in the states, the condition of the nation’s public school system remains troubling and perhaps increasingly falls short of expectations. Less competitive on an international …

The Next Thirty Years: Developments In Mandamus Jurisprudence In The Last Thirty Years And Why The General Rule That Mandamus Is Unavailable To Review The Denial Of Summary Judgment Is Inconsistent With Modern Mandamus Jurisprudence Under The In Re Prudential Balancing Test, Timothy Delabar

St. Mary's Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Mass Incarceration, Violent Crimes, And Lengthy Sentences: Using The Race-Class Narrative As A Messaging Framework For Shortening Prison Sentences, Eric Petterson

St. Mary's Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Restore Texas Land: A Proposal To Utilize Emission Reduction Credits To Fund The Railroad Commission Of Texas' Well Plugging Initiative, George Coates Roberts

St. Mary's Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Brief Of Amicae Curiae Susan Boundy-Sanders And Paula Waters In Support Of Friends Of Sammamish Valley And Futurewise, King County V. Friends Of Sammamish Valley, Washington State Supreme Court Docket No. 102177-1, William Bailey

Court Briefs

No abstract provided.