Local Legislation
Protecting Vulnerable Road Users: A Vicious Cycle
Ten-year-old, Julian Moore was riding his bicycle in a suburb in Rochester, NY on Sept. 7, 2018, when 66-year-old Doug Lamb hit him with his Range Rover. Lamb stopped the car after his collision with Moore, but did not give his information to Julian, the paramedics, or Julian’s mother. By the time the police arrived, […]
Electric Scooters and Data Reporting: A Roadmap to Smart Development
In many cities electric scooters appeared virtually overnight. These new forms of transportation have many benefits including: decreasing carbon emissions, making public transit more accessible, and solving first/last mile issues. Scooters also exacerbate many issues facing urban planners: taking up space on sidewalks, scaring pedestrians, increasing congestion, and may decrease public transit revenues. As state […]
Dying for a Greener Tomorrow: Legalizing Alkaline Hydrolysis
From the first intentional Neanderthal burials to Polish vampire burials and Himalayan sky burials, burial practices have long been and continue to be a large part of our cultural understanding of death and the afterlife. Today’s growing concerns with land and natural resource sustainability as well as global climate change, people look towards ways to […]
Sanctuaries With Guns? Turning The Rule Of Law Upside Down; by Delegate David Toscano (D-Charlottesville)
The Tazewell County, Virginia, Board of Supervisors recently jumped aboard the fast-moving “Second Amendment sanctuaries” train. In doing so, they embraced positions fundamentally at odds with state and federal constitutional law. Passing resolutions opposing certain laws or protesting governmental action is perfectly consistent with our traditions as a democracy, and no one should oppose the […]
Blanket Primaries or Ranked-Choice? Why Not Both?
A substantial number of Americans continue to voice dissatisfaction with current American electoral practices. This has put Justice Brandeis’s laboratories of democracy to work by prompting some states to exercise their powers to design election systems to experiment with various electoral reforms. Those powers derive from the state constitutions for elections of state officers; Article […]
Massachusetts Regulates Short-Term Rentals
Massachusetts’s Governor Baker signed An Act Regulating and Insuring Short-Term Rentals on December 28, 2018. The act regulates short-term rentals provided through services like Airbnb. The governor rejected an earlier version of the bill, and returned amendments primarily allowing for an exemption for owners who rent out their property for two weeks or less per […]
Mental Illness and Gun Violence: What’s Really Responsible?
You’ve heard it all before. In fact, you’ve heard the same arguments repeated back and forth so many times you have memorized them yourself. The cycle goes like this: There’s a mass shooting, then in the tragic aftermath, the liberal and conservative pundits begin repeating their arguments left and right. Usually, on the conservative right […]
Footloose in New York City–The Repeal of the Cabaret Act
The 1984 film, Footloose, imagines the small, midwestern town of Bomont, where dancing and rock’n roll music have been banned, only to be redeemed in the end by a teenager’s impassioned plea. Footloose’s plot may seem farfetched but a law with similar intent has gripped New York City since 1926 when the city passed the […]
WHO LET THE DOGS OUT? CALIFORNIA BANS USE OF PUPPY MILL
In October 2017, California became the first state to pass a law to deter the use of puppy mills by potential puppy buyers. Under the new law, pet stores must work with animal shelters and other rescue operations to obtain dogs, cats and rabbits, and are prohibited from using breeders. However, private and individual customers can […]
Negotiating with Goliath: Lawmakers’ battle with Uber & Lyft over ridesharing legislation
As I stepped off the plane and into the jet bridge, I already had my Uber app opened on my smartphone, and only a few short minutes after requesting a ride, the driver was calling me to tell say that he was outside baggage claim. This kind of convenience and ease that e-hailing companies like […]