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The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act: A Criminal Perspective
Get PDF[H]ate crimes ... leave deep scars not only on the victims, but on our larger community. They weaken the sense that we are one people with common values and a common future. They tear us apart when we should be moving closer together. They are acts of violence against America itself.. . As part of our preparation for the new century, it is time for us to mount an all-out assault on hate crimes, to punish them swiftly and severely, and to do more to prevent them from happening in the first place. We must begin with a deeper understanding of the problem itself.
1998 was a banner year for people killing out of enhanced animus. On June 7, 1998, James Byrd Jr., a 49-year-old African-American man, accepted a ride from three white men who, instead of taking him home, beat him, took off his clothes, chained him naked to the back of their truck, and dragged him to his death. On October 6, 1998, Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old gay college student, also accepted a ride and was not taken home. Instead he was driven to a remote area, tied to a fence, beaten within an inch of his life, and left to die. These brutal killings were committed because of animus towards the victims\u27 race and sexual orientation, and, consequently, brought hate crimes to the nation\u27s attention
Never Alone: Why the Inevitable Influx of Drones Necessitates a New Fourth Amendment Standard That Adequately Protects Reasonable Expectations of Privacy
Get PDFIn June 2011, North Dakota cattle rancher Rodney Brossart became the first American to be arrested with the aid of a drone (Unmanned Aircraft System(s) or UAS) operated by law enforcement. Six cows found their way onto Brossart\u27s property, and he refused to turn them over to law enforcement officials. Brossart and a few family members chased police officers off of his property at gunpoint, and police later returned with a warrant and SWAT team. A sixteen-hour standoff ensued until police called in the assistance of a UAS to pinpoint Brossart\u27s exact location. Shortly thereafter, SWAT officers rushed in, tased, then arrested Brossart on various charges including terrorizing a sheriff.
A federal judge rejected a motion to dismiss the case on the ground that law enforcement officials did not have a warrant to conduct the surveillance. On January 14, 2014, Brossart was sentenced to three years in prison
Out of Cite, Out of Mind: Navigating the Labyrinth That is State Appellate Courts\u27 Unpublished Opinion Practices
Get PDFImagine that you are an attorney, litigating an appellate case with an atypical fact pattern. You are familiar with the law; however, its application to your client\u27s circumstances is entirely unclear. After endless hours of research, you finally find it: a factually apposite case with a favorable outcome. Elated, you grab your legal pad to scribble down the case citation. But then you see it-that dreaded text at the top of the opinion: NOT SELECTED FOR PUBLICATION. This is an unpublished opinion. Perturbed and exhausted, your mind starts racing: What\u27s that rule again? Can I use this? I think that one attorney cited one in his brief with no problem. Or no, was that somewhere else?
The ambiguity and confusion surrounding the usage of unpublished opinions is pervasive throughout state appellate courts, especially with more states each year amending their own practices. Where some jurisdictions flatly prohibit citation to unpublished opinions, others value them no differently than their published counterparts. Even murkier are the jurisdictions that govern the use of unpublished opinions through conflicting formal and informal rules. The maze of clashing policies throughout state appellate courts has fostered uncertainty and arbitrariness in the administration of the law. The result is public distrust of the judiciary, lost precedent, and unintended language emerging as precedential law
Permitting Abused Spouses to Claim the Earned Income Tax Credit in Separate Returns
Get PDFThe earned income tax credit (EITC) is a refundable tax credit for federal income tax purposes that is generally available to lowincome taxpayers who have income from either employment or selfemployment. The EITC is currently the largest government program providing aid to low-income individuals. The subsidy provided by the EITC is of particular importance to individuals subjected to domestic abuse, given that such individuals are often impoverished, and the EITC can provide them with the financial resources necessary to improve, endure, or leave an abusive relationship.
Despite the importance of the EITC, married individuals subjected to domestic abuse face serious difficulties in claiming the credit. Because married individuals are not permitted to claim the EITC on a married filing separate return, such individuals are left with three return-filing options for claiming EITCs: (1) file a joint return, (2) qualify and file as a single taxpayer, or (3) qualify and file as a head of household. As discussed in this Article, the first option may be undesirable given the particular circumstances surrounding the abuse, and the second and third options may be either unattainable or only attainable by taking steps that may not be in the best interests of an individual from the standpoint of overall well-being
Monuments Should Reflect Today\u27s Thinking
No full textWith the recommendations of the task force created to consider what to do about Confederate-era monuments in Baltimore now before Mayor Stephanie Rawlings–Blake, we are embroiled once again in the issues surrounding the display of symbols representing people, institutions or ideas that most people no longer accept.
Whether the subject is a building, such as the recently renamed Byrd Stadium at the University of Maryland College Park; a monument; a plaque or a flag, the opposition to removing these negative symbols relies on two basic arguments. Those arguments are reasonable and worth exploring. At the end of the day, however, they are either inapplicable or can be accommodated. Accordingly, society can develop a principled method for removing objects that convey messages that we reject
Public Laws and Private Lawmakers
Get PDFThe Obama Administration\u27s Clean Power Plan for addressing industrial carbon emissions is controversial as a matter of environmental policy. It also has important constitutional implications. The rule was initially crafted not by officers or employees of the Environmental Protection Agency, but by two private lawyers and a scientist with industry ties. Private parties operate extra-constitutionally, and no existing legal doctrine tethers constitutional scrutiny to the nature of the power delegated to them. The nondelegation doctrine applies to delegations by Congress-not to agencies\u27 subdelegations of legislative power to private parties. The other doctrinal lens for reviewing rulemaking by entities other than Congress--Chevron U.S.A. v. National Resources Defense Council, Inc. and its progeny-is equally blind to subdelegations of policymaking authority to parties that function beyond the boundaries of the Constitution. This Article takes up the issue of private rulemaking, and argues that its inescapable constitutional implications warrant a stronger nondelegation doctrine and a morenuanced approach to Chevron that emphasizes public accountability,legitimacy, transparency, and rational decision-making over notions of agency prerogative
Student Comment: Syrian Refugees - Economic Benefit or Substantial Burden on States of the European Union
Get PDFThis comment will discuss the current status of the Syrian refugee crisis as well as the economic and humanitarian issues the European Union is facing to assist these refugees in their escape. This comment will also discuss the efforts being made by the European Union to alleviate the issue of refugees coming into their member states. Further describing how these efforts are impacting the European Union’s budget and how much money has already been allocated towards these projects. Is it in the best interest of the European Union to continue to let refugees into their country by the thousands or to put that money towards assisting to build up areas around the borders of neighboring countries? This paper will also discuss whether there are significant benefits in permitting refugees into the country, in regards to the economics of the member states. Specifically, this comment will examine how the European Union is balancing the potential financial harm of accepting refugees while adhering to international humanitarian obligations
Evolving Contours of Immigration Federalism: The Case of Migrant Children
Get PDFIn a unique corner of immigration law, a significant reallocation of power over immigration has been occurring with little fanfare. States play a dramatic immigration gatekeeping role in the process for providing protection to immigrant youth, like many of the Central American children who sought entry to the United States in the 2014 border “surge.” This article closely examines the history of this Special Immigrant Juvenile Status provision, enacted in 1990, which authorized a vital state role in providing access to an immigration benefit. The article traces the series of shifts in allocation of power between the federal government and state courts between 1990 and the present, often to the detriment of the children themselves. Through careful analysis of the changes in the law and changes in federal capacity since the law was originally enacted in 1990, the article shows the unintended ways that the state role diminishes the federal quality of immigration law. The geographic disparities, the access to justice problems that have intensified in recent years, and the availability of another institutional design option, all compel those concerned with improving the protection of children to consider whether it is time to rethink the state gatekeeping role entirely, and federalize the process for these migrant children
Recent Development: Jackson v. State: Successive Post-Conviction Petitions Are Not Barred by the Doctrine of Res Judicata or Maryland Rule 4-704; A Petition for DNA Testing Will Be Denied if the Evidentiary Threshold for a Wrongful Conviction Claim is Not Met.
Get PDFThe Court of Appeals of Maryland held that the doctrine of res judicata and Maryland Rule 4-704 do not bar successive DNA petitions. Jackson v. State, 448 Md. 387, 406, 139 A.3d 976, 987 (2016). The court further held that denying Jackson’s petition for DNA testing without a hearing under Maryland Rule 4-709 was proper, because none of his assertions would have produced exculpatory evidence. Id. at 411, 139 A.3d at 990
Recent Development: Toms v. Calvary Assembly of God, Inc.: Noise Resulting From Legally Permissable Fireworks Does Not Constitute an Abnormally Dangerous Activity, and the Application of Strict Liability is Inappropriate.
Get PDFThe Court of Appeals of Maryland held that noise emitted from a lawful fireworks display did not constitute an abnormally dangerous activity; therefore, the parties were not subject to strict liability. Toms v. Calvary Assembly of God, Inc., 446 Md. 543, 569, 132 A.3d 866, 881 (2016)