16885 research outputs found
Sort by
Law Schools Must Do More to Retain First-Generation Students
Get PDFLaw schools must do more to encourage, mentor, and engage first-generation law students to not only improve graduation rates, but also to improve law firm diversity, say William & Mary Law School Dean A. Benjamin Spencer and second-year law student Charleigh Kondas. They explain the work of the school’s First Generation Student Alliance, created as a place where students can freely discuss any struggles and questions
An Unfulfilled Promise: Section 1557\u27s Failure to Effectively Confront Discrimination in Healthcare
Get PDFWhen the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act passed, it offered a broad promise to provide access to quality care on a nondiscriminatory basis. To achieve nondiscrimination, Congress included Section 1557, which integrated the nondiscrimination protections granted under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments, Section 504, and the Age Discrimination Act. The language of the statute has proved that the section cannot achieve its broad promise. Covering only intentional discrimination and usually interpreted to divide the standard so that intersectional discrimination cannot be redressed, Section 1557 fails to address discrimination in a way that could effectively reduce health disparities and improve overall health outcomes. While it is possible to interpret the statute to provide for an intersectional claim, the limit to only intentional discrimination narrows the scope such that expanding Section 1557’s reach is necessary but not sufficient to improve the health of marginalized communities. As evidenced during the COVID-19 pandemic, implicit bias and disparate impact discrimination has a real impact in actual life and death healthcare decisions, for which the consequences must have an available remedy. Section 1557 opens the door to a broader approach but remains passive as a ‘nondiscrimination’ clause. Any further efforts to improve health outcomes and reduce health discrimination must take an active and intersectional ‘antidiscrimination’ approach
Cannabis, Consumers, and the Trademark Laundering Trap
Get PDFAt the moment, cannabis companies cannot acquire federal trademark protection for their marijuana products because the \u27\u27lawful use doctrine limits trademark registration to goods lawfully sold in commerce. Given that marijuana remains illegal under federal law, this may not sound like much of a problem, but it has serious consequences for consumers. Without trademark rights, one cannabis company can simply use the brand name of another, more prominent, company on its marijuana products, and consumers will assume that they are getting the products they have come to rely on, with potentially dangerous results. The current approach of the United States Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) and the federal courts does little to protect against this outcome and is thus at odds with trademark law\u27s consumer protection and fair competition goals.
This Article examines how the PTO and the courts have mishandled marijuana marks and identifies how they have interpreted and deployed the lawful use doctrine in ways that undermine and conflict with trademark\u27s stated goals. Given that the PTO is unlikely to abandon the lawful use doctrine anytime soon, we propose changes to the way the PTO applies that doctrine in the trademark registration process, as well as changes to the courts\u27 consideration of trademark disputes involving cannabis companies. These changes will ensure that both consumers and marijuana businesses are protected as the United States transitions from marijuana prohibition to a post-prohibition federal regulatory regime
Brick by Brick: Deconstructing Pyramid-Like Companies by Requiring Disclosures from Multilevel Marketing Schemes
Get PDFMultilevel marketing companies ( MLMs ) have thrived in the internet era as participants are able to market their products to their friends and followers on social media sites. Further, periods of high unemployment, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic, have led to increased enrollment in these companies. However, very few people actually make any money from selling for these companies. Beyond that, almost half of those who participate lose money due to the enrollment costs. This Note examines past case law surrounding MLMs and critiques the current regulations in place that fail to ensure that new participants are making a fully informed decision when they sign up to work for these companies. Ultimately, this Note proposes new disclosure requirements on MLMs that will better protect consumers and make sure that these business structures do not harm financially at-risk populations
New Strategies for Groundwater Litigation in Texas
Get PDFThis Article evaluates the evolution of the understanding of groundwater rights since the Day decision and assesses the relative power of property rights in groundwater that have emerged and what can be done to equalize resulting inequities. Part I reviews the current state of groundwater ownership rights and includes a brief history of litigation that led to that point. Part II explains the authority and obligations of groundwater conservation districts, which create a regulatory overlay on the common law vested rights through permitting rules and the statewide planning process. Part III summarizes the history of constitutional challenges litigated after the Day decision established a vested property right in groundwater.
Finally, Part IV presents recommendations for how litigation can also be used by landowners who seek to maintain their groundwater or protect the resource itself. First, litigants can use the obligations in Chapter 36, which find their roots in the conservation amendment, to compel GCDs to plan and permit groundwater in ways that prioritize conservation and avoid waste. Second, an examination of inverse condemnation jurisprudence provides pathways for courts to avoid requiring compensation for alleged property rights infringements. Finally, other litigation opportunities are discussed including options for impacted surface water rights holders.
This abstract has been adapted from the author\u27s introduction
Law on the Half Shell: Applying a Right-to-Farm Framework to Virginia\u27s Aquaculture Industry
Get PDFAdapting the state’s existing RTF [Right-to-Farm] regime to include aquaculture has the potential to help Virginia navigate an array of economic and legal challenges. This Article examines the intersection of RTF law and aquaculture and discusses the role that RTF law may play in encouraging Virginia’s expanding aquaculture industry. Part I offers an overview of RTF laws and their operation in Virginia. Part II discusses aquaculture generally and Virginia’s expanding aquaculture industry. Part III documents problems faced by aquaculture producers in Virginia under Virginia’s existing RTF law. Part IV details related challenges facing the industry. Part V concludes by detailing potential mechanisms that may protect Virginia aquaculture producers.
This abstract has been adapted from the authors\u27 introduction
The Water Is On Fire: Current Circuit Approaches to Fee-Shifting in Citizen-Suits Under the Clean Water Act and the Need for Clearer and More Uniform Standards
Get PDFThis Note will start by providing a short explanation of the origins of and congressional goals for the fee-shifting provision in the CWA [Clean Water Act]. It will then offer a brief summary of how Supreme Court precedent has both clarified and confused this issue. Then, it will dive into an examination of how the different circuits and their district courts have interpreted the CWA’s fee-shifting provision and how these interpretations have struggled with past Supreme Court decisions. Finally, this Note will explore the costs and benefits associated with these fee-shifting standards and offer a potential solution to this problem. Ultimately, this Note will argue that, in the absence of Supreme Court guidance, the circuits must adopt clearer, more uniform standards in order to fulfill congressional objectives, bolster the viability of CWA citizen-suits, and ensure that citizens do not pay the price for their public service.
This abstract has been adapted from the author\u27s introduction
The Next Fight Over Guns in America
Get PDFWith Thursday’s Supreme Court decision [in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen], the only real remaining question is not whether Americans can carry firearms, but where
Uncertainty Following the Reversal of Roe v. Wade
No full textMary Ziegler, a Professor at UC Davis Law School, discusses the options to protect abortion rights now that the Supreme Court has wiped out the constitutional right to abortion. Neal Devins, a Professor at William & Mary Law School, discusses whether state supreme courts in Republican states are likely to protect abortion rights. June Grasso hosts
Has Chief Justice Roberts Lost His Power on the Supreme Court?
No full textUntil recently, Chief Justice John Roberts was seen as a judge with a lot of influence over his eight colleagues on the high court. But that has ended as his five fellow conservatives split with him over the abortion ruling [Dobbs v. Jackson Women\u27s Health Organization]. KNX In Depth got more on the future from two experts on the Supreme Court: Allison Orr Larsen of the William and Mary Law School; and David Yalof, head of the political science department at the University of Connecticut