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Law Comics Exhibit Catalog - Spring 2024
Get PDFA mini-comic produced to accompany the inaugural launch of the Law Comics Collection and a limited-run exhibit of comics printed for display at the University of Richmond School of Law Library.https://scholarship.richmond.edu/law-comics/1008/thumbnail.jp
The Challenges of Meeting the Needs of Virginia Students with Disabilities Through Individualized Education Programs
Get PDFThe authors were honored to participate in a panel on “Understanding the IEP” at the Richmond Public Interest Law Review’s Symposium on October 27, 2023. The recommendations and strategies in this article are rooted in decades of combined experience and anecdotal observations from two special education attorneys and three special education advocates who serve Virginia’s children and families and help to develop appropriate Individualized Education Programs (“IEPs”) pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”). Recent criticism of Virginia’s system of special education and related services by state and federal agencies has laid bare deep-seated inconsistencies in how schools in the Commonwealth identify, evaluate, and serve students with disabilities. Moreover, inadequate guidance from the Virginia Department of Education (“VDOE”) about the IEP development process has left both schools and parents confused and frequently at odds. In this article, the authors outline the history of the IDEA, in the context of the Civil Rights Movement, to meet the educational needs of students with disabilities. The authors then lay out the fundamental elements of an IEP; identify the central deficits in Virginia’s system of special education and related services and their impact on the development of IEPs; provide practical guidance for attorneys and advocates using vignettes based on authentic encounters in the field; and offer suggestions for how various processes related to IEPs can be improved in the Commonwealth
Stopping the Cycle of Abuse Before It Starts: An Evaluation of Virginia’s Domestic Violence Primary Prevention Model in Schools
Get PDFIn 1994 the United States was faced with a domestic violence epidemic that led Congress to pass the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). The Act was passed to respond to the needs of victims, particularly women, who are at the highest risk of victimization in crimes such as domestic violence and sexual assault. While domestic violence has been recognized as an important public health problem, most services provided are focused on after-the-fact interventions rather than prevention.
Many states, including Virginia, have since created domestic violence prevention programs, added preventative requirements to their state code, and tasked their respective Departments of Education with creating age-appropriate family life curricula that address sexual and domestic violence. Since the passing of VAWA, Virginia has taken a two-pronged approach to prevention by focusing on curriculum and state funding. First, the legislature began requiring curriculum that educates students about the possible threats of sexual and domestic violence. Second, the Virginia General Assembly designated a non-reverting fund towards prevention programs in Virginia.
As it stands, this two-pronged approach to primary prevention does not fulfill the Commonwealth’s legitimate interest in preventing domestic violence because the current curriculum lacks consistency, repetition, and contains loopholes that render it ineffective. Virginia legislators should remedy the gaps in the Virginia Department of Education’s Standard of Learning for family life by: (1) requiring domestic and sexual violence education be taught every year from first grade through twelfth grade; (2) barring gender-segregated family life classrooms; and (3) barring parental opt-outs from family life education. These three policy changes will allow the school\u27s domestic violence primary prevention program to be more effective in meeting all the elements of a successful primary prevention program, and in reducing domestic violence. This legislation would directly support the Commonwealth’s objective of reducing and preventing intimate partner and domestic violence
Misconstruing Digital Advertising Taxes as Consumption Taxes
Get PDFEarlier this year, an article by professors Christine Kim and Darien Shanske supporting the adoption of state-level digital advertising taxes gained traction in state legislative circles. They recently reiterated many of their arguments in this publication. In their articles, the professors contend that digital advertising taxes can be justified as taxes on the interactions between users of digital services and the providers of those services. They further argue that those interactions are properly characterized as barter transactions representing untaxed consumption and that digital advertising taxes are permissible vehicles for taxing that consumption..
Highly efficient CO2 electrochemical reduction on dual metal (Co–Ni)–nitrogen sites
No full textThe electrochemical reduction (ECR) of CO2 is a promising approach for CO2 removal and utilization, which is a critical component of the circular carbon economy. However, developing efficient and selective electrocatalysts is still challenging. Single-atom catalysts (SACs) have gained attention because they offer high metal atom utilization and uniform active sites. However, tuning the active metal centres to achieve high activity and selectivity in CO2 reduction remains a significant challenge. This study presents a novel electrocatalyst (Co–Ni–N–C) for CO2 ECR on the diatomic metal–nitrogen sites prepared through ion exchange using a zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF) as a precursor. During pyrolysis, nitrogen-doped graphitic carbon serves as the host material, anchoring the diatomic Co–Ni sites. The resulting bimetallic active sites demonstrate exceptional performance, achieving a high CO yield rate of 53.36 mA mgcat.−1 and an impressive CO faradaic efficiency of 94.1% at an overpotential of −0.27 V. Spectroscopic, microscopic, and density functional theory (DFT) analyses collectively unveil the crucial synergistic role of the Co–Ni–N6 moiety in promoting and sustaining exceptional electrocatalytic activities. The successful utilization of bimetallic sites in enhancing catalyst performance highlights the potential of this approach in developing efficient electrocatalysts for various other reactions
The role of health campaigns in stigma toward those with anorexia nervosa
Get PDFMedia health campaigns often seek to bring awareness to medical conditions and to eradicate or, at least, minimize stigma. However, these campaigns can result in unintended consequences. In the current work, we examined elements of anorexia nervosa messages. Specifically, we compare a more biofocused approach to one focused on treatment. In doing so, we build on mindset theory and suggest that a biofocused message sends more of a static and stable message (fixed mindset), whereas treatment-focused communications send an implicit message that anorexia can change (growth mindset). We investigate how these messages and mindsets relate to stigma. Across three studies, participants in the growth mindset message (e.g., change is possible with treatment), relative to the fixed mindset message (e.g., anorexia is rooted in biology) conditions, reported greater blame, and via this mechanism, more stigma. However, they also reported less essentialism, and via this mechanism, less stigma. There were no changes in the levels of stigma across conditions. We conclude with the importance of understanding potential unintended consequences that can result from different health campaigns
I See Your True Colors Shining Through : How judge attributes affect outcomes in transgender rights cases
Get PDFThis study examines how U.S. District Court judge attributes influence case outcomes in transgender rights lawsuits. The judge attribute model says that judges are influenced by outside factors, which are the key independent variables in this study. These include judge ideology, gender, and age. There is variation in the categories that transgender cases fall under, so different case types are tested. Additionally, there is a concurring region and religiosity variable. This variable stems from data that certain regions are more religious than others and that religion may have an influence on the viewpoints of transgender people. The dependent variable is case outcome, coded as either liberal or conservative. With a sample of 37 cases spanning 2003 to 2020, most outcomes favored transgender rights except six. Of all the favorable outcomes, only six were decided on the merits. Judgments on the merits state that the discrimination the trans plaintiff experienced violated a law, which is more meaningful in the court. Findings reveal that judge ideology and gender have the most apparent influence, with gender playing even more of a role than ideology. Case types involving youth bathroom access saw 100% favorable rulings, suggesting differential treatment of transgender youth than adults, who saw more conservative decisions. Age and regional religiosity correlations were present but mixed. Ultimately, the research supports the judge attribute model’s applicability to transgender rights cases, with judicial ideology and gender significantly shaping district court outcomes so far. The interaction of gender and ideology in this study supports the in-group, out-group theory that women judges may experience. As more cases enter courts, future studies can further document these partisan and identity-based effects around upholding transgender protections