State and Local Government Law Commons^™

How Federalism Built The Fbi, Sustained Local Police, And Left Out The States, Daniel C. Richman, Sarah Seo

Faculty Scholarship

This Article examines the endurance of police localism amid the improbable growth of the FBI in the early twentieth century when the prospect of a centralized law enforcement agency was anathema to the ideals of American democracy. It argues that doctrinal accounts of federalism do not explain these paradoxical developments. By analyzing how the Bureau made itself indispensable to local police departments rather than encroaching on their turf, the Article elucidates an operational, or collaborative, federalism that not only enlarged the Bureau’s capacity and authority but also strengthened local autonomy at the expense of the states. Collaborative federalism is crucial …

Displacement And Preemption Of Climate Nuisance Claims, Jonathan H. Adler

Faculty Publications

Part I begins with a brief sketch of the common law environmental protection that preceded and matured alongside the development of environmental regulation, including the rise of federal common law actions for interstate pollution. With an eye toward preemption, and its role within our federalist system, Part II sketches the system of state and local environmental regulation that served as the background for the adoption of federal environmental law. While federal environmental laws are quite comprehensive and far-reaching, they operate alongside state and local efforts, often in collaborative fashion, and rarely preempt state regulation or litigation. [...]

Parts III and …

The Messy History Of Michigan’S “Purity Clause”, Joshua Perry

Michigan Law Review Online

So it’s worth asking: What does the Purity Clause actually mean? Can contemporary courts properly invoke it to justify restrictions purportedly aimed at controlling “voter fraud”? Should they?

Part I diagnoses the problem: Recently, Michigan courts have invoked the Purity Clause to legitimize voting rights restrictions without applying their usual tools of constitutional interpretation or scrutinizing the Clause’s complex history. As a result, voting restrictions have been justified by reference to a badly underexamined constitutional provision.

Part II examines the Clause with the tools that Michigan courts use to interpret the state constitution. This Part argues that neither the original …

Doe V. Brown University, 253 A.3d 389 (R.I. 2021), Katie Gradowski

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

State V. Reisner, 253 A.3d 1273 (R.I. 2021), David Tice

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Butler V. Gavek, 245 A.3d 750 (R.I. 2021), David Braga

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Koback V. Municipal Employees’ Retirement System Of R.I., 252 A.3d 1247 (R.I. 2021), Morgan E. Hedly

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Frederick Douglass And The Hidden Power Of Recording Deeds, Randall K. Johnson

Faculty Works

This Essay answers a single question: What led Frederick Douglass to accept an appointment as the D.C. Recorder of Deeds, especially at the height of his public service career? A possible answer, which is informed by the historical record and more contemporary accounts, is that Douglass accepted such an appointment for three reasons. The first reason is that the D.C. Recorder has been long recognized as an exemplar of fairness, perhaps due to its ministerial obligations, even when there could be no such expectation with respect to how Black folks are treated. The second reason is this office provided Douglass …

No-One Receives Psychiatric Treatment In A Squad Car, Judy Ann Clausen, Joanmarie I. Davoli

UF Law Faculty Publications

This Article explores tragedies caused by our current system for responding to mental health emergencies: homelessness, institutionalization, criminalization, harm to self, harm to others, and harm by police. In the wake of the George Floyd murder, there has been increased attention on our response to mental health emergencies and an outcry to reduce the role of police. This Article analyzes reforms from California, Colorado, Eugene, Oregon, the federal government, Dallas, and Nebraska. This Article posits that any reform that focuses only on first responders will not fix our system. Harm by police is only one of the tragedies suffered by …

Hb 1405: Amendments To The Zoning Procedures Law, Audra Murphey, Kristy Nguyen

Georgia State University Law Review

The Act amends the zoning procedures law to clarify the process for challenging and appealing certain land use decisions. The Act codifies the long-standing appeals process for zoning decisions that existed prior to 2017 such that legislative zoning challenges will be reviewed de novo by a superior court. Additionally, the Act designates which local government employees receive notice of such zoning appeals.

Stopping The Spin: Reforming The Rhode Island State Ethics Commission And The Revolving Door Statute, Samuel Weathers

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Bi Boat Basin Assocs. V. Sky Blue Pink, 242 A.3d 462 (R.I. 2020), Colten H. Erickson

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

State V. Hampton-Boyd, 253 A.3d 418 (R.I. 2021, Brian W. Murphy

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Mondoux V. Vanghel, 243 A.3d 1039 (R.I. 2021), Samuel Weathers

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Epic Enters. V. 10 Brown & Howard Wharf Condo. Ass’N, 253 A.3d 383 (R.I. 2021), Matthew Lewicki

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Is The Shipwreck I Found In Lake Michigan Mine? Great Lakes Shipwreck Legal Research Basics And Sources, Kincaid C. Brown

Law Librarian Scholarship

There have been approximately 6,000 shipwrecks claiming an estimated 30,000 lives in the Great Lakes and new shipwrecks continue to be located, such as the recently discovered Atlanta. There are many opportunities for divers, boaters, and other users of the Great Lakes to come across found and new shipwrecks. This article discusses the basic framework of federal, state, and other law governing these shipwrecks.

“No Skateboarding Allowed”: Municipal Bylaws, Urban Common And Public Property, And The Regulation Of “Undesirable” Or “Disruptive Use", Sara Gwendolyn Ross

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

The mechanics of daily local inequality and marginalization can be readily observed within the language of local bylaws that govern urban spaces and places and their use — whether these govern the hours and types of use that can be made of local “public” parks, spaces where loitering is identified as unwelcome, or how and where certain activities can take place. While affinity spaces can be, on the one hand, welcomed and celebrated for the mentorship of youth, extracurricular activity, environmentally friendly transportation, or as a skill-building goal-oriented endeavour, the language of bylaws creates an ecosystem equally predisposed to prohibiting …

America's Lawyerless Courts: Legal Scholars Work To Recommend Large-Scale Changes In Lawyerless Civil Courts, Anna E. Carpenter, Colleen F. Shanahan, Jessica K. Steinberg, Alyx Mark

Faculty Scholarship

At approximately 9:00 on most weekday mornings, thousands of state civil courts open their doors and begin hearing cases. These cases involve hundreds of thousands of people acrossthe country. State civil courts are the core of America's civil justice system, whether measured by a raw number of cases or courts'impact on ordinary people's lives. These courts handle 98% of all civil matters filed each year – around 20 million cases.

Many people are pulled into civil court because they cannot pay their rent or debts. Many more come to court for help with intimate and family relationships, including those seeking …

Protecting State Constitutional Rights From Unconstitutional Conditions, Kay L. Levine, Jonathan R. Nash, Robert A. Schapiro

Faculty Articles

The unconstitutional conditions doctrine limits the ability of governments to force individuals to choose between retaining a right and enjoying a government benefit. The doctrine has primarily remained a creature of federal law, with neither courts nor commentators focusing on the potentially important role of state doctrines of unconstitutional conditions. This omission has become especially significant during the COVID-19 pandemic, as actions by state and local governments have presented unconstitutional conditions questions in a range of novel contexts. The overruling of Roe v. Wade and the resulting focus on state constitutional rights to abortion will offer additional new settings for …

Cities, Preemption, And The Statutory Second Amendment, Joseph Blocher

Faculty Scholarship

Although the Second Amendment tends to dominate the discussion about legal limits on gun regulation, nothing has done more to shape the state of urban gun law than state preemption laws, which fully or partially limit cities’ ability to regulate guns at the local level. The goals of this short Essay are to shed light on this “Statutory Second Amendment” and to provide a basic framework for evaluating it.