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Fleeing Cuba: A Comparative Piece Focused on Toro and the Options Victims of Domestic Violence Have in Seeking Citizenship in the United States and Canada
Get PDFThe United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit decided a case on February 4, 2013 that has undoubted international implications. Toro v. Sec’y dealt with the language of the Cuban Refugee Adjustment Act of 1966 (CAA) and the provisions of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).
This article focuses on how and why the court reached its decision. It analyzes the conflict between the “plain language” of the CAA and its statutory construction to rebut the court’s assertion that the VAWA self-petition was irrelevant in this case, and ultimately, offer an alternative analysis to this case.
This article also explores Canadian immigration law and demonstrates the difference in that nation’s law, as applied to domestic violence survivors, from Unites States immigration law. Finally, this article discusses how this precedent will affect the future of immigration law and its effect on natives of other countries
The Damage from Mega-Sporting Events in Brazil
Get PDFOver the past several years, Brazil’s federal government and the city and state governments of Rio de Janeiro have invested tens of billions of dollars to develop the transportation, stadium, tourist, communications and security infrastructure required to host the 2007 Pan American Games, 2014 World Cup, and 2016 Summer Olympics. As Brazil seeks to use these mega- sporting events to assert itself as a major economic player on the word stage, its strategy demonstrates how hosting mega-events serves to attract regional and global capital, and to reinforce unequal power structures at the expense of the public treasury, environmental quality and social equity
Bridging the North-South Divide: International Environmental Law in the Anthropocene
Get PDFThis article calls for a fundamental reorientation of international environmental law to bridge the North-South divide and respond to the ecological crises of the Anthropocene. Such a reconceptualization of international environmental law must be normatively grounded in respect for nature and in the quest for environmental justice within, as well as between, countries.
International environmental law must directly challenge the relentless drive toward economic expansion and unbridled exploitation of people and nature rather than merely attempt to mitigate its excesses. An essential step toward such a reconceptualization is to examine the ways in which international law has historically engaged with nature and with the peoples of the global South in order to identify the policies and practices that subordinate the South and hasten the destruction of the planet\u27s ecosystems.
The article proceeds in four parts. Part I examines the colonial and post-colonial origins of the North-South divide. Part II analyzes the role of international economic law in perpetuating unsustainable and inequitable patterns of production and consumption. Part III argues that sustainable development has failed to challenge the dominant, growth-oriented economic paradigm at the core of the ecological and economic crisis. Finally, Part IV discusses the way forward
Environmental Law in Austerity
Get PDFThe EPA has always had enemies. Vigorously denouncing EPA\u27s activities as “overzealous,” “job killing,” or a “regulatory train wreck” has become commonplace on the campaign trail and from special interest groups covered by the agency\u27s reach. Perhaps this is to be expected, since EPA\u27s regulations influence a remarkably wide range of activities throughout the country. The agency, though, has been subject to far more than just harsh rhetoric.
Over the past three decades, there have been concerted efforts in Congress to restrain the EPA both by legislation and, less directly, by reducing its resources. Crippling amendments have largely failed but efforts to restrict budgets and personnel have been far more successful. Consider, for example, a description of Congress\u27 most recent EPA budget by the Center for Effective Government: “In a continuing effort to dismantle the ability of the [EPA] to protect public health and the environment, Congress is poised to adopt a fiscal year 2015 budget that would reduce the agency\u27s funding for the fifth year in a row. The $60 million cut in EPA\u27s budget, which builds on previous reductions, will bring the agency\u27s staffing to its lowest level since 1989. These funding cuts are not surprising, given that anti-regulatory forces in Congress have made clear their intent to use the budget process to block EPA\u27s work
School Psychologists\u27 and Upper-level Graduate School Psychology Students\u27 Knowledge and Attitudes Regarding Lesbians, Gays and Bisexuals
No full textAfter several nationally publicized tragic incidents involving the suicides of students that were victims of bullying, the federal government, as of 2010, has undertaken the task of understanding bullying, its repercussions, how to stop it, and has encouraged states to address this problem seriously or face possible legal consequences (Bornstein, 2010). In 2012 New York State implemented The Dignity Act (also known as Dignity for All Students Act, or DASA). DASA emphasizes a holistic creation of environments of tolerance and respect for others by students and staff alike. DASA amended New York State Education Law requiring instruction in civility, citizenship, and character education, to increase sensitivity in the relations of people, including but not limited to, different races, weights, national origins, ethnic groups, religions, religious practices, mental or physical abilities, sexual orientations, gender identity, and sexes. DASA also requires yearly reports from every school in the state regarding material incidents of bullying, and the inclusion of language addressing The Dignity Act in each board of educations\u27 code of conduct. The purpose of this study was to investigate school psychologists\u27 and school psychology graduate students\u27 knowledge of LGB (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual) history, symbols and community as measured by The Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Knowledge and Attitudes Scale for Heterosexuals (LGB-KASH), as an indicator of LGB-affirmativeness and preparedness for implementation of DASA, specifically on behalf of LGBT students. The attitudes and self-perceived proficiencies of practicing school psychologists and graduate students to work with LGBT students were explored in relation to their education/training about sexual minorities, and the presence of a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) in their school(s). The listsery for the New York Association of School Psychologist (NYASP), the state affiliation of the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), was used to recruit practicing New York State school psychologists (n = 162, 58.1%) for participation in an online survey. Likewise, upper-level school psychology students (n = 117, 41.9%) enrolled in Master\u27s, Specialist and Doctoral level school psychology training programs in New York were recruited via the NASP online directory of approved programs. The participants in this study included 242 (86.7%) women, 34 (12.3%) men, and 3 participants who did not identify (1.1%). Overall both graduate students and practicing school psychologists participants held positive attitudes regarding LGB individuals and issues as measured by the Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Knowledge and Attitudes Scale for Heterosexuals (LGB-KASH), but lacked knowledge about LGB history, symbols and community. Education was shown to increase Knowledge scores for both students and practicing school psychologists. School psychologists in schools with Gay Straight Alliances (GSAs) did not differentiate in terms of Knowledge scores from those who did not have a GSA, however the presence of a GSA did increase school psychologists\u27 self-perceptions for working effectively with bullying that involved LGBT students, and appropriately providing interventions for a student coming out. This result is an area for further inquiry. Similarly, another area for additional research is building resilience so students have the social skills or assertiveness training, which they may not be learning at home, and as a result make them even more vulnerable when bullied. Finally, research can be expanded to include school psychologists and graduate student knowledge and attitudes towards students that identify as transgender. Limitations of this study are explored
Building Resilient Communities in the Wake of Climate Change While Keeping Affordable Housing Safe from Sea Changes in Nature and Policy
Get PDFThis Article will explore the twin interests of responding to climate change and preserving accessible and affordable housing. Part II will give a broad overview of the scientists\u27 climate change predictions. Part III will discuss what these predictions portend for populations, housing, and communities. Part IV will describe the broad responses that the federal, state, and local governments are making to climate change to create communities that are thriving and resilient. Part V discusses the efficacy of these responses and their potential impact on the poor, housing, and communities. Part VI looks for parallels between the resilient cities movement and the urban revitalization programs of the past to see if there are lessons that should be heeded and discusses ways to mediate the intersection of what should be parallel interests-- resiliency and community. In Part VII, I suggest that climate change will force new conceptions of what it means to own property and what it means to govern democratically. In conclusion, this Article offers some prescriptions for going forward
Mitigating Climate Change by Zoning for Solar Energy Systems: Embracing Clean Energy Technology in Zoning’s Centennial Year
Get PDFAdopting land use regulations that encourage solar and other clean energy systems is an essential strategy for promoting clean power and one that focuses on the essential role that local governments play in mitigating climate change. This article explores efforts at the state and local level to reform zoning and land use regulations to permit, encourage, require, and incentivize rapidly-evolving clean energy systems, particularly solar, that, in the aggregate, have the ability to significantly increase power generation and decrease carbon emissions. The article illustrates how zoning, as it approaches its 100th anniversary, is encrusted with provisions that prohibit or discourage clean and solar energy systems: barriers that are being removed by progressive communities, some more successfully than others. It describes these barriers, then provides a framework and best practice examples for revising zoning codes and other land use regulations, first to eliminate regulatory barriers to permitting clean energy systems, focusing on solar as an example, and then to require and incentivize clean energy system deployment. Included is a review of the common law of solar access easements that helps explain the importance of the legislative powers of local government to facilitate solar power generation. The article concludes with an endorsement of state and federal actions that increase the speed of local adoption of zoning reforms by providing critical support, consistent with new scholarly findings that demonstrate how top down governmental influences can facilitate bottom-up progress, charting a strategy applicable to many other local initiatives to accommodate a wide array of emerging clean energy systems
Investigating Jurors on Social Media
Get PDFThis essay proceeds in three parts. First, it examines the current state of jury investigations, and how they differ from those conducted in the past. Then, it describes the evolving legal and ethical positions that are combining to encourage such investigations. Finally, it offers a note of caution–condoning such investigations while keeping them hidden from jurors may be perceived as unfair and exploitative, risking a possible backlash from outraged jurors. Instead, I propose a modest measure to provide notice and explanation to jurors that their online information is likely to be searched, and why
Transforming “Transformative Use”: The Growing Misinterpretation of the Fair Use Doctrine
Get PDFStarting in late 2012, and continuing into late 2013, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York wreaked havoc on the traditional interpretation of the copyright infringement defense known as “fair use.” Two cases stemming from the advent of the Google Books Project are Author’s Guild, Inc. v. HathiTrust and Author’s Guild, Inc. v. Google, Inc. These cases adopted a controversial interpretation of the fair use defense, codified in 17 U.S.C. § 107, when each case determined that the mass digitization of thousands of books constituted fair use merely because the digitization was what is known as “transformative use.”
This Comment will explore the background of the fair use defense, from its common law origins, to its codification in the 1976 Copyright Act, to its application in modern law. Keeping this background in mind will explain why the current legal state of the fair use defense, as propagated by the District Court for the Southern District of New York and the United States Courts Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, is inconsistent with traditional statutory construction principles.
Proposed recommendations to solve legal inconsistencies in Section 107 can come from clarification either from Congress by way of an amendment to this Section, or by a decision from the United States Supreme Court
A Dangerous Situation – The Knowing Transmission of HIV in an Out-Of-Body Form and Whether New York Should Criminally Punish Those Who Commit Such an Act
Get PDFIn June 2013 the New York State Court of Appeals held that the saliva of a defendant afflicted with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus ( HIV”) does not constitute a dangerous instrument so as to support a conviction for aggravated assault. Despite this holding, the question remains whether the administration of HIV in an out-of-body form to another individual qualifies for dangerous instrument treatment so as to subject greater criminal liability under the New York State Penal Law (“Penal Law”). Another question remains – should New York punish those who knowingly transmit HIV to another individual? If so, should the punishment be charged through the Penal Law or through other state legislation? If this legislation does not exist, what should New York consider when drafting legislation?
Part I of this Article provides an overview of HIV and how it can be transmitted to an individual. Part II analyzes the Penal Law’s current provisions on dangerous instruments and penalties imposed by these provisions. Part III discusses New York case law on dangerous instruments. Part IV evaluates whether administering HIV in an out-of-body form qualifies for dangerous instrument treatment under the Penal Law and New York case law standards. Part V provides an overview of relevant case law on the question of whether a hypodermic needle constitutes a deadly weapon rather than a dangerous instrument. Part VI discusses statutory punishment of defendants who knowingly transmit HIV to another individual. Part VII analyzes factors that New York should consider when drafting specific criminal law provisions that target the knowing transmission of HIV. Part VIII is a brief conclusion of the article