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Pedaling Backwards: Examining the King County Board of Health’s Choice to Repeal Its Bicycle Helmet Law
Get PDFIn Part I, this Comment will explain the Helmet Law itself and the timeline that ultimately led to its repeal. Part II will focus on the positive impact of the Helmet Law, the dangers associated with the repeal, why the repeal should not have occurred in the manner it did, and what societal costs stem from the BOH’s decision. Part III will address the actions that must be taken to revoke this repeal and the reasons behind these alternative pathways, including an Equity Impact Review study specifically on the consequences of repeal, a collaborative outreach program to bring helmets to King County’s riders, educational programming, and a removal of the enforcement mechanism while reinstating the law. These ideas, inspired by the original proposed amendments, would be a solution that would do the difficult work of solving many sides of a complex problem rather than checking a box to solve a problem only halfway
New Community Sponsorships for Humanitarian Immigrants: Guidance on Washington’s Practice of Law and Immigration Services Fraud Prevention Rules
Get PDFEvery state, including Washington, has enacted laws to protect the public from the harm caused when an unqualified person provides legal services. Each state defines the practice of law and generally limits that practice to members of the state bar association. In Washington, a complex collage of case law, statutes, and a Supreme Court rule attempt to define the practice of law, identify when the practice of law by a nonlawyer is unauthorized, and determine when public policy considerations allow such nonlawyer practice.
Protecting immigrants from unauthorized practice of immigration law is a particular concern. People who claim to be qualified to help immigrants routinely victimize newcomers; others may assist in good faith. Either way, unauthorized legal representation can cause an immigrant to miss viable opportunities for protection, to be unnecessarily detained or deported, to incur penalties for filing false claims, and often to be tricked into spending thousands of dollars for such “assistance.” The Washington legislature has attempted to prevent such harms through its Immigration Services Fraud Prevention Act.
The line between authorized and unauthorized practice of law, especially in the immigration context, can be thick and blurry. New federal programs that allow community financial sponsorship of immigrants fleeing war and state collapse are unintentionally contributing to this grey area. The Biden administration has recently authorized Ukrainians and others to come to the United States temporarily, but only when supported by a U.S.-based financial sponsor. A U.S.-based individual initiates the process by applying to become a financial sponsor. Like all immigration documents, this sponsorship application form can be unclear, particularly for noncitizens. Submission of the form affects an applicant’s legal rights and its completion involves the exercise of legal discretion. Individuals seeking to become financial sponsors are turning to friends and other non-lawyers for help in completing these applications.
This article sheds light on the concern that a layperson’s help in completing a financial sponsor application form may represent the unauthorized practice of law in Washington, including the unauthorized provision of immigration-related services. An understanding of this issue is critical, as the Biden administration has expanded community financial sponsorship programs exponentially within the first nine months of their existence.
We conclude that a layperson who assists another in completing a financial sponsorship application form is engaged in the practice of law in Washington. A layperson’s assistance that goes beyond entering objective data or language translation likely triggers a violation of Washington’s civil and criminal unauthorized practice rules, as well as its Immigration Services Fraud Prevention Act
2023 May Commencement
No full textSeattle University School of Law\u27s 2023 Commencement Ceremony was held in McCaw Hall on May 13, 2023.
Notice: Regretfully, due to a clerical error, the graduate honors for two of our students were understated at this year\u27s ceremony. We would like to apologize for the oversight and correct the graduate honors for the following students: Duk In Kim -- cum laude Amanda Shu-Wah Eunice Lee -- cum laude Hye-Young Lee -- magna cum laudehttps://digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/commencement-videos/1003/thumbnail.jp
Student Life E-Newsletter March 06, 2023
Get PDFhttps://digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/studentlife/1123/thumbnail.jp
Student Life E-Newsletter November 6, 2023
Get PDFhttps://digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/studentlife/1141/thumbnail.jp
A New Right is the Wrong Tactic: Bring Legal Actions Against States for Internet Shutdowns Instead of Working Towards a Human Right to the Internet (Part 2)
Get PDFThis Article is the second of a two-part series about an increasingly prevalent threat to human rights: State-sanctioned Internet shutdowns. Part 1 detailed Internet shutdown tactics and potential human rights violations that could result from a shutdown. Now, Part 2 addresses the deficiencies of advocating for Internet access to be a recognized human right as a means of combatting shutdowns. Despite the popularity of this proposed solution, the harms of Internet shutdowns are better addressed through traditional legal avenues, such as bringing claims against the sanctioning state.
Part 1 can be found in The Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental & Innovation Law: Vol. 13: Iss. 2, Article 6., available at:
https://digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/sjteil/vol13/iss2/6
