Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University
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Electronic Discovery and the Constitution: Inaccessible Justice
Get PDFComputers are the cynosure of American society. As a result, most information is stored electronically and only a small amount of information ever becomes a paper document. This explosion of electronically stored information has affected every aspect of society, including the court system. Litigation is drastically different than a few years ago due to this onset of electronically stored information. The discovery of electronically stored information in litigation has become known as electronic discovery. For many, electronic discovery is expensive and complicated, and thus, litigants are settling frivolous cases to avoid the costs and complexities of engaging in discovery to exchange electronically stored information. Even now, many attorneys do not understand how to obtain and utilize electronically stored information nor do they have the resources to engage an information technology technician to assist them. Often judges are not educated in the exchange of electronically stored information either. The advent of electronic discovery in civil litigation is not only foreign to many attorneys and judges, but also unrepresented parties, and thus, impacting indigents\u27 access to justice. The United States Supreme Court has declared access to justice - including access to the courts - a fundamental right. The United States recognizes a right to counsel for indigent litigants in criminal cases, but not civil cases. Indigent civil litigants already are at the losing end when involved in the court system, even with the aid of the self-help centers and the handful of volunteer lawyers and legal aid societies. Poor litigants are usually self-represented in civil matters because of the inability to afford counsel. Yet, significant rights - basic needs -- may be at stake in these cases, such as housing, safety, health, child custody or sustenance. Electronic discovery is significantly impacting access to justice because the costs and complexities of electronic discovery are further preventing poor and even moderate income litigants from accessing justice in the American legal system
Cybercrime
Get PDFThis essay recounts campaigns against privacy; the fortifications erected against them; and hi-jinx attributable to hackers, crackers, and miscreants under the Fair Credit Reporting Act
Law Day Fifth District Court of Appeal Oral Arguments at Florida A&M University College of Law, 2012
Get PDFAs part of Law Day activities, the Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal is holding a session in the FAMU College of Law Ceremonial Moot Courtroom. A three judge panel is hearing oral arguments from attorneys representing their clients in cases involving appellant\u27s fraud on the trial court, public records questions, attorney\u27s fees, and jurisdiction. A question-and-answer session follows each set of arguments during which the justices and attorneys entertain questions about the appellate process and organization of the court.https://commons.law.famu.edu/law-day/1005/thumbnail.jp
The Second Annual Distinguished Lecture Florida A&M Environmental Law and Justice Symposium, November 3-4, 2011
Get PDFMunicipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4)--Assigning Responsibility for Pollutants That Reach the Nation\u27s Waters
Get PDFThe United States Supreme Court will review a ruling of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that found the Los Angeles County Flood Control District in violation of its permit under the Clean Water Act for its Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4) discharges into the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers. Segments of those rivers that constitute a part of the MS4 have been paved to improve flood control, and the pollution levels measured as the water moves through those segments and other monitoring locations exceed the amounts allowed by the District’s permit. The District claims that pollution is not a discharge of the District, but is instead the mere passage of water from one part of the river to another
Constitutionalizing Immigration Law: The Vital Role of Judicial Discretion in the Removal of Lawful Permanent Residents
Get PDFFor decades, scholars and advocates criticized the harsh, mandatory nature of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. They argued that federal district court judges should have discretion to authorize a punishment that fits the facts and circumstances of the crime and the defendant. Similarly, immigration scholars and advocates criticize the harsh laws that categorically remove lawful permanent residents, even after minor crimes, from the United States. In 2005, in United States v. Booker, the Supreme Court constitutionalized the Sentencing Guidelines by rendering them advisory, and returning judicial discretion to federal judges. This Article argues that the similar constitutional, historical, theoretical, societal, and humanitarian policy considerations underlying sentencing and removal support the return of judicial discretion to the removal proceedings of longtime lawful permanent residents. By returning judicial discretion, Congress and the President would constitutionalize the deportation process rather than wait for Supreme Court action. The Article concludes with a proposal for legislative reform: The Longtime Lawful Permanent Residents and Family Unit ReliefAct
