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Lost in the Thicket
Get PDFAs part of a symposium on his biography of Felix Frankfurter, Democratic Justice, Brad Snyder revisits Baker v. Carr and explores the contrasts between Justice William Brennan’s judicially supremacist majority opinion and Frankfurter’s departmentalist dissent and unheeded warnings about empowering the judiciary. As Frankfurter wrote in his Baker dissent, he placed more faith in the U.S. Congress, as opposed to the judiciary, to protect democracy
Incomplete Streets
Get PDFOver 1700 complete streets policies have been adopted by state and local government; these policies typically provide that streets shall be designed to benefit all users, not just motorists. This article analyzes some complete streets policies, and concludes that even above-average policies are often too vague and underfunded to significantly change the status quo. The article suggests a variety of reforms that might make complete streets policies more effective
Why the United States Should Change Its Standards for Food Additives
Get PDFProcessed food products sold in the United States are vastly different than those in Europe, often containing unnecessary and potentially dangerous additives. Recently, food consumer advocacy groups and reporters are bringing attention to these differences, thereby raising awareness of the poor processed food quality in the United States. The United States should take a new and improved method to food safety that mirrors the European Union’s approach. This Note will compare the differences between food additives in the United States and Europe, and further, will propose solutions to increase regulation on food additives in the United States
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Artificial Intelligence
Get PDFWith governmental use of artificial intelligence (“AI”) becoming more prevalent, Americans are at risk of being subjected to the factual and legal findings of ill-equipped AI systems. The possibility of an AI takeover of the judicial branch is an undesirable reality to some individuals who are challenging laws and government programs which utilize AI systems to enforce traffic code violations. This Article considers the procedural fairness, privacy rights, and effectiveness of the various uses of AI systems in traffic code enforcement. By undertaking a thorough review of New York case law, this Article also analyzes the treatment of AI systems in different modes of traffic code enforcement. Based on the current trend of the United States Supreme Court to consult the views of the Founding Fathers on controversial matters of nationwide importance, this Article further considers the ethical, moral, and legal aspects of having an AI-controlled adjudicator as understood by the constitutional framers. Ultimately, this Article concludes by finding that the New York school bus stop-arm camera safety program (Vehicle Traffic Law (“VTL”) § 1174-a) is constitutional and passes muster under rational basis review, and that the framers would not likely endorse the prevalent use of AI within the judicial branch
In a New York State of Mind: The Corporate Trustee’s Toolkit for Effectuating Non-Judicial Trust Modifications in the Empire State
Get PDFWhen the need to effectuate a non-judicial trust modification of a New York trust arises, the law in its current form provides corporate trustees with a tremendous amount of power and flexibility to amend, revoke, and establish new trusts with more favorable provisions. Depending upon the facts and circumstances of a particular situation (i.e., whether the settlor is alive, whether minor beneficiaries hold an interest in the trust, and whether there is dissension and discord among the beneficiaries, etc.) there are various statutes that will help a corporate trustee implement a sound strategy to modify a trust to attain favorable results for all interested parties. This article seeks to provide corporate trustees, trust officers, and other Trusts and Estates practitioners with an overview of several statutory mechanisms that can be implemented by a trustee to help mitigate the risk of litigation or judicial intervention. These statutes include EPTL § 7-1.13, which is commonly referred to as the “trustsplitting” statute, EPTL § 7-1.9, which allows for non-judicial trust modifications under circumstances where the settlor is still alive and where consent to reform the trust can be obtained from all interested parties under the instrument, and EPTL § 10-6.6, the so-called trust “decanting” statute, which permits the trustee of a trust to exercise a “special power of appointment” to invade the corpus of an existing trust and appoint the assets into new trusts with modified terms and provisions. This article will also provide a brief overview of general protections afforded to New York trustees under common law
In re Polo Grounds Area Project I: Lessons from a Forgotten Lawsuit
Get PDFIn 1961, the City of New York, using its eminent domain power, took title to the famed Polo Grounds. In 1967, in the Polo Grounds Area Project II case, the New York Court of Appeals ordered the City to pay millions of dollars in compensation to the site’s owners. This Article recalls the much more obscure Polo Grounds Area Project I case. Decided in 1964, it represents the opening act in the legal drama set off by the New York Giants’ move to San Francisco. It also provides guidance on three subjects important for practicing lawyers: 1) the correct method of forming a multi-client relationship; 2) the propriety of using market rates to set their fees; and 3) the importance of keeping time sheets
Livin\u27 on a Legislative Prayer: How Prayer at a School Board Meeting Survives Under an Exception to the Establishment Clause
Get PDFThis Note discusses the circuit split between the Ninth Circuit and the Fifth Circuit on whether prayer should be permitted to open up a school board meeting. First introducing the topic and explaining the history of legislative prayer in America, the Note then discusses governing Supreme Court precedent concerning school prayer and legislative prayer. After analyzing the cases that are the subject of the circuit split, the Note concludes with a recommendation that the Supreme Court permit the recitation of prayer to begin a school board meeting, citing the commonalities between a school board and a legislature and making three suggestions for a constitutionally structured legislative prayer
Breaching the Walls of the Inviolable Citadel: The Supreme Court\u27s Treatment of the Lemon Test and its Progeny
Get PDFThe Supreme Court in Kennedy v. Bremerton finally laid the three-pronged Lemon test to rest. Instead of Lemon and its progeny, Establishment Clause cases are now to be decided based upon the historical practices and understandings of our Founding Fathers. Subsequently, the Eleventh Circuit instructed the Middle District of Florida to its analysis in Rojas v. City of Ocala. In Rojas, a prayer vigil occurred in the City\u27s public square and featured uniformed police chaplains singing and engaging in Christian prayers. After this Note was written and submitted for publication, the district court issued its decision in Rojas on remand granting plaintiff\u27s motion for summary judgment which is consistent with the analysis provided in this Note. Following a careful review of the history of the Lemon test and its progeny, this Note examines the roots of the new historical-reference test
