Washburn Law Journal Online

The Right Pipeline for all the Wrong Reasons

John Spisak | November 10, 2022 | PDF Version (141 KB) Read this comment

Summary: The United States Supreme Court reversed the Third Circuit's ruling that Eleventh Amendment sovereign immunity barred private parties from exercising delegated federal eminent powers.  PennEast Pipeline Company held a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission certificate for public convenience and necessity authorizing the construction of a natural gas pipeline from Pennsylvania to New Jersey.  Even though the Court correctly held that the federal government can delegate its power to sue the nonconsenting states, the Court's reasoning did not rationally support its holding.

Preferred Citation: John Spisak, The Right Pipeline for All the Wrong Reasons, 62 Washburn L.J. Online 1 (2022), https://washburnlaw.edu/wljonline/spisak-pipeline.

The Bankruptcy Cheat Code: How Bad Actors Are Escaping Liability Through the Bankruptcy Code

Britani Potter | November 2, 2022 | PDF Version (166 KB) Read this comment

Summary: The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York vacated Purdue Pharma’s settlement plan that the Bankruptcy Court had approved because the plan included a release of liability in existing and potential future opioid related civil cases for individuals that are not parties to the bankruptcy proceeding.  The court found that there is no existing statutory authority to allow bankruptcy courts to authorize such third-party releases for non-debtors.  Allowing such releases provides for an escape of liability for knowingly bad acts—a purpose outside of what the bankruptcy system is intended to do.

Preferred Citation: Britani Potter, The Bankruptcy Cheat Code: How Bad Actors Are Escaping Liability Through the Bankruptcy Code, 62 Washburn L.J. Online 1 (2022), https://washburnlaw.edu/wljonline/potter-bankruptcy.

Bad Education: Does the New Kansas Law Criminalizing Falsely Representing Oneself as an Election Official Pass Constitutional Muster? [K.S.A. § 25-2438 / League of Women Voters of Kansas, et al., v. Schwab (Kan. 3d Dist. Ct. 2021) (2021-CV-000299)] 

Taylor Murray | April 29, 2022 | Read this comment

Summary: The Kansas Legislature enacted K.S.A. § 25-2438, which makes it a felony to falsely represent oneself as an election official. Kansas voter education groups filed suit, claiming that the wording of the statute keeps them from engaging in protected political speech because of fear of prosecution. The Shawnee County District Court rejected the plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction without fully acknowledging the confusion generated by the statute’s construction.

Preferred Citation: Taylor Murray, Bad Education: Does the New Kansas Law Criminalizing Falsely Representing Oneself as an Election Official Pass Constitutional Muster?, 61 Washburn L.J. Online (2022) 97, https://washburnlaw.edu/wljonline/murray-bad-education/.