University of California Hastings College of the Law
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Beyond Privity of Blood: Intestacy and Charity
No full textWhen an individual dies without leaving a will, the law of intestacy functions to distribute the decedent’s estate to a surviving spouse and/or close blood relatives. Yet, this default regime fails to account for the possibility that some individuals wish to allocate part of their estates to charity. Drawing on empirical evidence, including data presented here for the first time, this Article advocates building a charitable component into intestacy in those cases where majorities of decedents prefer to establish estate plans transcending traditional heirs. Evidence suggests that this majority preference arises in four situations: (1) where the decedent was extremely wealthy, (2) where the decedent was less wealthy but died without descendants, (3) where the decedent died without descendants and had made charitable donations, irrespective of wealth, and (4) where the decedent died without any known relatives. The Article proposes personalizing the process of intestacy further by granting charitable shares, when called for, to those causes which decedents had individually supported during their lifetimes. The Article assesses the structural costs and benefits of these innovations and concludes that they would not prove excessively complex or administratively burdensome
California’s BUG Problem: The Backup Generation Information Gap and its Impact on Vulnerable Communities
No full textCalifornia’s electricity system has faced unprecedented challenges in recent years. Extreme heat, wildfires, and additional severe weather events stressed the system to a breaking point. The state’s electric grid operator repeatedly called for rolling blackouts on hot summer days to preserve the integrity of the electric grid. Electric utilities proactively shut off power during dry and windy conditions to prevent their equipment from sparking wildfires. Strings of powerful winter storms left hundreds of thousands across the state without power for multiple days.
In response to the poor reliability of the electrical grid, demand for backup generation has skyrocketed. Both residents and businesses are finding alternative ways to keep their lights on, especially during emergency events. Yet backup generation predominantly runs on fossil fuels to supply temporary power. These generators create high environmental costs, emitting greenhouse gases and air pollutants that contribute to climate change and negatively impact public health. Some communities are well-positioned to respond to these impacts, while others are more vulnerable and experience disproportionate harm.
This Note reviews the evolving legal landscape that allows the deployment and use of backup generation in California with a particular focus on the use of backup generation during emergency events. In doing so, it demonstrates a lack of readily available information associated with these generators and raises the concern that the backup generation information gap harms the state’s most vulnerable populations. This Note concludes by suggesting an approach to reduce the information gap through increased reporting, tailored monitoring, and managed access of backup generators. Such an approach supports vulnerable communities while recognizing the role of backup generators in California’s electricity system of the future
Replicating Reality: is Trademark Use in The Metaverse Commercial or Expressive?
No full textThis Note will examine how trademark law should be applied to emerging digital spaces known as metaverses, which can function as both new-age video games and digital marketplaces. The Note will first explain the concept of the metaverse. Next, it will lay out the current landscape of trademark law as it is applied to marks in artistic works, including First Amendment protections for artistic relevance. Then, the Note will illustrate trademark infringement lawsuits dealing with fashion and digital media. Following that, this Note will detail how trademark law is applied to video games, especially in cases involving artistic expression. The analysis portion of the Note will further explain how trademark caselaw can be applied in the future to marks used in video games. Finally, the Note will distinguish how trademark law should be applied to protect brands in metaverses that function more like marketplaces, rather than traditional video games
The Primacy of International Treaties in the Republic of Kosovo: A Critical Review of the Kosovo Constitutional Court Case No. 95/13 Through the Lenses of the Law of Treaties
No full textIn 2013, the Constitutional Court of Kosovo (the Court) issued an important verdict in its constitutional review of the first agreement between Kosovo and Serbia. In its obiter dictum, the Court made conclusions regarding the relationship between international treaties and domestic law, and the hierarchy between these two norms as well as signature, ratification, and entry into force of treaties. Ten years post-judgment, this research returns to the Court’s arguments presented by the Court and argues that the Court made significant mistakes in its arguments and therefore made erroneous interpretations in its rather short arguments of the judgment. Using well known techniques of interpretation such as textual, grammatical, and systematic interpretation to determine the relationship and hierarchy between international treaties and domestic law, as well as enlightening the meaning of signature, ratification, and entry into force of a treaty, this paper will come to challenge all mentioned conclusions advanced by the Court. Canons of interpretation that will be used here are effet utile, lex posterior, ejusdem generis, argumentum ad absurdum, and argumentum per analogiam. Contrary to the Court, this paper argues that international treaties are supreme law in Kosovo, standing at the same hierarchical level as the Constitution, and therefore are not inferior to the latter as the Court concluded. Further, when in conflict, international treaties have priority over the Constitution. As explored further below, Kosovo’s legal system represents a clear case of a monist approach, not a dualist one as suggested by the Court; international treaties in force are directly applicable in Kosovo unless they are not selfexecuted and require further legislation to facilitate it. This paper also disagrees with the Court’s definition and interpretation of the terms signature, ratification, and entry into force.
KEY WORDS: primacy of international treaties; application of international treaties; constitution of Kosovo; constitutional court of Kosovo; signature; ratification; entry into force
