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Good Newsletter October 3, 2023
Get PDFhttps://digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/goodnewsletter/1008/thumbnail.jp
Regulation, Radiation, and Rationality: Calculating an Intersection of Law and Economics to Enable Nuclear Power Innovation in the United States
Get PDFAntimatters: The Curious Case of Confederate Monuments
No full textConfederate monuments sit at a crossroads of speech frameworks as contested government speech, as concrete edifices of hate speech, and as key protest sites. The interplay of state law and speech doctrines in states like Alabama and Florida has cemented monuments as physical representations of government speech that municipal governments cannot speak on. To understand the confounding ways that doctrinal principles take on inverse implications, this Article draws on the concept of antimatter in physics—matter that has the same mass and properties of ordinary matter but with the opposite charge—to analyze doctrinal intersections of constitutional law that are made to appear doctrinally neutral or generally applicable but are contextually charged with the full force of white supremacy. Physicists refer to the observable material that makes up the known universe as matter but have theorized and identified corresponding material that has the same mass but the opposite properties, known as antimatter. Although physicists are certain that antimatter exists, its nature makes its presence difficult to articulate, and represents an asymmetry in the visible universe due to our limitations in perceiving the phenomena. Thus, a limited perception prevents people from understanding antimatters, and, theoretically, may be due to antimatter having a different relationship to time itself—antimatter travels backwards, or at least in a different direction in time than the known, observable universe.Physicists refer to the observable material that makes up the known universe as matter but have theorized and identified corresponding material that has the same mass but the opposite properties, known as antimatter. Although physicists are certain that antimatter exists, its nature makes its presence difficult to articulate, and represents an asymmetry in the visible universe due to our limitations in perceiving the phenomena. Thus, a limited perception prevents people from understanding antimatters, and, theoretically, may be due to antimatter having a different relationship to time itself—antimatter travels backwards, or at least in a different direction in time than the known, observable universe. Physicists refer to the observable material that makes up the known universe as matter but have theorized and identified corresponding material that has the same mass but the opposite properties, known as antimatter. Although physicists are certain that antimatter exists, its nature makes its presence difficult to articulate, and represents an asymmetry in the visible universe due to our limitations in perceiving the phenomena. Thus, a limited perception prevents people from understanding antimatters, and, theoretically, may be due to antimatter having a different relationship to time itself—antimatter travels backwards, or at least in a different direction in time than the known, observable universe. Framing the practical contradictions created by the doctrinal intersections, I argue that state legislation has turned Confederate monuments into antimatters—all the properties of speech, but obfuscated by state legislation, becoming intangible legal phenomena that are in transit back in time. Governments no longer need to express explicit support of white supremacy. By providing special protection for these Confederate monuments, states demonstrate allegiance to the ideology the statues represent. Theorizing antimatters thus reframes the doctrines of constitutional law by focusing on phenomena rendered intangible by rhetorics of neutrality and objectivity to contextualize the operation of power and belonging in the law—like Confederate monuments that regulate time and place in the name of white supremacy under the protection of neutral, doctrinal applications
Investment Bankers and Inclusive Corporate Leadership
Get PDFFew major deals happen without the engagement and advice of investment bankers. Whether a company is undertaking an initial public offering or engaging in a large merger or acquisition deal, investment bankers play a central role in advising corporate executives. Successful investment bankers are devoted to cultivating relationships with executives. And these relationships place bankers in a position to earn tens of millions in fees for their advisory and service roles in connection with corporate dealmaking. Investment bankers’ constant endeavors to nurture relationships with executives, while also maximizing their own ability to enhance fees, commonly leads to allegations of double-dealing, self-dealing, and conflicts of interests. Beyond such conflicts, however, investment banking faces two additional issues as society grapples with rising expectations around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). First, investment banking has a deeply rooted gender divide. Relying on hand-collected data, this Article reveals the dramatic gender gap at investment banks, including the most prominent boutique investment banks advising corporate executives. Second, the culture and accepted practices of investment banking reinforce masculine norms and bias against women in banking. This Article argues that not only do these issues hinder gender equity in investment banking as a profession, but they also influence the relationship between bankers and corporate executives. Bankers often serve as one of the most crucial advisors to corporate executives, and the norms and divides of investment banking calibrate corporate cultures and values in the C-suite, thus enabling the continued gender gap in corporate America
How Firms Turn Middle Managers into Diversity Leaders
Get PDFIn 2007, the Conference Board published a piece calling middle managers “the biggest roadblock to diversity and inclusion” for standing in the way of change efforts. Today, many chief diversity officers report that they have failed both to diversify middle management and to get middle managers involved in promoting inclusion. We explore popular diversity programs that create “paper” or “symbolic” principles for achieving diversity (diversity policy statements and guidelines for hiring, promotion, and discharge), as well as programs that engage middle managers in promoting diversity (special recruitment and mentoring programs, and diversity task forces). “Paper” policies often fall flat, but by getting managers involved in finding new talent, mentoring staff, and designing new diversity initiatives, firms have turned them into champions of diversity. Our quantitative analyses, tracking more than 800 firms over more than three decades, show that “paper” policies often have adverse effects, while manager-led targeted recruitment programs, mentoring programs, and diversity taskforces have been hugely effective at diversifying the ranks of management. Interviews with managers document why these programs are so effective
Court’s Choice of Law Ruling Undermines Washington Community Property Law: A Critique of Shanghai Commercial Bank v. Chang
Get PDFThis Article deals with the issues that arise when Washington courts face the following scenario. One spouse enters into a contract without the joinder (and perhaps without the knowledge) of the other spouse. Both spouses are domiciled in Washington. The contract has contacts with one or more jurisdictions other than Washington and is generally governed as to validity and interpretation by the law of another jurisdiction. The contracting spouse defaults and the other party to the contract obtains a judgment on the contract. The court confronts a question about the property to which the plaintiff will have recourse to collect the judgment.
This Article will briefly describe the basics of Washington’s community property laws as they relate to contract obligations incurred by one spouse without the joinder of the other. It will then survey Washington’s choice of law rules generally and its earlier cases dealing with the choice of law for the property recourse issue. Finally, it will discuss and critique the Shanghai Commercial case in more detail. It respectfully concludes that Shanghai Commercial was wrongly decided both as a policy matter and in its application of prior Washington law and that the courts of Arizona, another community property state, have taken a better approach to the property recourse issue
Use of Immigration Status for Coercive Control in Domestic Violence Protection Orders
Get PDFIn the context of domestic violence (DV), immigration-related circumstances can be exploited by an abuser to coerce and manipulate their partner. Using an intersectional structural framework, we examine how social structures overlaid with immigration-specific experiences operate to further enhance opportunities for abuse against immigrant women. We conducted a textual analysis to identify how socially constructed systems interact with a victim-survivor’s immigration status to introduce more tools for abusers to engage in coercive control and/or acts of violence in a random sample of petitioners (i.e., victim-survivors) who were granted a Domestic Violence Protection Order (DVPO) in King County, WA (n = 3,579) from 2014–2016 and 2018–2020. We hand-reviewed textual petitioner narratives and identified n = 39 cases that discussed immigration- related circumstances and related acts of violence and coercion. These narratives included threats to contact authorities to interfere with an ongoing immigration process, deportation threats, and threats that would separate families. In many cases, petitioners indicated that immigration-related threats prevented them from leaving the violent partner, seeking help, or reporting the abuse. We also found mention of barriers for victims to receive protection and gain autonomy from further abuse including a lack of familiarity with US protections and laws, and restrictions on authorizations to work. These findings demonstrate that structurally created immigration-specific circumstances provide opportunities for threats and retaliation against victim-survivors by abusers and create barriers to seeking help initially. Policy should respond to anticipate these threats in the immigrant community and engage early responders (e.g., healthcare providers, law enforcement) to support victim-survivors from immigrant communities
2023 December Commencement
No full textSeattle University School of Law celebrates our graduates during the 2023 December Commencement Ceremony held on Saturday, Dec. 16 in Pigott Auditorium.https://digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/commencement-videos/1004/thumbnail.jp