Arizona State Law Journal Blog

By Alexandra Klein.In August of 2019, the Ninth Circuit held in United States v. Begay that second-degree murder was not a “crime of violence.” You read that right. Second-degree murder is categorically not a crime of violence. The FactsIn 2013, Randly Begay was arguing in a car with his then girlfriend, Meghan Williams, regarding rumors that she was cheating on him with Roderick Ben. While Ben was in the car, Begay took out his gun and laid it on his leg. Begay continued to argue with Williams and then shot Ben in the head, stating he was not scared to go to prison for life. Subsequently, Begay was charged with and convicted of murder in the second degree and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence. The trial court…

By Sierra Brown. Case Study: Phillip B. v. McKay In 2018, Phillip B. worked as a caregiver at New Horizons, a group home for male children. On July 6, 2018, a fifteen-year-old resident of the home called the Arizona Department of Child Safety (“DCS”), alleging that Phillip pressed his elbow against the throat of a thirteen-year-old resident, G.C., until he “made a gasping sound.” During its investigation, DCS interviewed two residents that were present during the incident, including the teen who called DCS. They provided similar accounts, explaining that G.C. was unable to breath when appellant forcibly pressed on his neck. However, G.C. told DCS that appellant had grabbed his shirt by the neck. DCS also interviewed appellant and another caregiver who was present at the scene. They consistently denied…

By Sterling Johnson. What is the proper method of allocating liability where A and B owe contract duties to C under separate contracts, and each breaches independently, and it is not reasonably possible to make a division of the damage caused by the separate breaches? This is called the multiple causation problem, and Arizona needs a statutory solution. Approaches Taken in Other Jurisdictions Arizona courts have not considered the multiple causation problem. The jurisdictions that have considered it generally adopt one of two solutions. In a majority of jurisdictions, if a defendant’s (A or B) breach of contract was a substantial factor in causing the plaintiff’s injury, the defendant bears full responsibility for it even though there were other contributing causes. A substantial factor is defined as something that is…

By Ava Esler. Background Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (“DACA”) was implemented by President Obama as a means to provide work authorization and prevent the removal of young undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children. Since DACA was enacted by executive order in 2012, over 700,000 individuals have taken advantage of the program. This means that they are protected from removal and can apply for work authorization, as well as obtain a driver’s license and social security benefits. In keeping with one of his controversial campaign promises, President Trump announced that his administration was moving to officially terminate DACA on September 5, 2017 amidst significant backlash. On November 12, 2019, the Supreme Court began to hear oral arguments challenging President Trump’s formal termination of DACA. The high-stakes Supreme…

By Tyson Woodford. Background For me, O’Bannon v. NCAA (previously mentioned on this blog here and here) was a landmark case that impacted my daily life. Sure, it dealt with the NCAA profiting from the image and likeness of its uncompensated student athletes, but to me (not a college athlete) it just meant the death of my favorite video game. After the court’s decision, EA Sports discontinued their successful line of College Football and College Basketball games, thereby ending an era of building fictional dynasties and competing for virtual Heisman trophies. While the game has been kept on life support by a few dedicated individuals, the masses have lost access to the once popular game. (Look at the price for EA Sports NCAA Football 2014, it might surprise you.) Hope…

By Jay Dosad. Background In 2011, two hundred female inmates in an Illinois prison were marched to a beauty salon and a bathroom off of a gym. In full view of male and female cadets, correctional officers, and civilians, as guards screamed insults and derogatory statements, they were ordered to strip naked and bend over, spread their buttocks and vaginas, and cough. This is known as a “visual body-cavity search,” since the guards did not touch the prisoners. According to prison officials, the search was a cadet training exercise. After a prisoner claimed Fourth Amendment and Eighth Amendment violations, the case, Henry v. Hulett, eventually came before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. In 2019, the Seventh Circuit’s holding rejected the argument that Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches applied,…

By Caitlin White. On September 9, 2019, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the Northern District Court of California’s decision to grant a preliminary injunction forbidding LinkedIn from denying plaintiff hiQ access to publicly available LinkedIn member profiles. As a result of HiQ Labs, Inc. v. LinkedIn Corp., hiQ may continue scraping data from public LinkedIn profiles to provide data analytics to its clients under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). LinkedIn has over 660 million members on its professional networking website. LinkedIn members own the content they post to LinkedIn but grant LinkedIn a non-exclusive license to “use, copy, modify, distribute, publish, and process” their personal information. hiQ is a data analytics company that uses automated bots to “scrape” information from public LinkedIn profiles. This information yields analytics identifying employees…

By Delilah Cassidy. Taylor Swift is one of the best-selling singer-songwriters of all time. At fifteen, she signed her first record deal with Big Machine Label Group (“Big Machine”) and created six albums with the label. Upon expiration, Swift signed with Universal Music Group (“UMG”). Under the UMG agreement, she owns all original sound recordings of new songs (original sound recordings are “masters”). However, about eight months after her switch, talent manager Scooter Braun purchased Big Machine, including the masters to Swift’s first six albums. Swift publicized her frustration with the deal because she was not offered the chance to buy her masters. Swift said in an August interview that she will begin re-recording her Big Machine-era songs in November 2020, the first opportunity her contract with Big Machine allows…

By KC Hooker. In May 2019, the Supreme Court decided Franchise Tax Board of California v. Hyatt, which overturned Nevada v. Hall and held that citizens cannot sue a state in another state’s courts. The decision was not surprising given the Court’s expansion of sovereign immunity—or the idea that governments are immune from suits by private parties—since the mid 1990s. As the Court expanded sovereign immunity during that decade, it departed from the literal text of the Eleventh Amendment, which limits federal court jurisdiction to entertain suits against states, and began to rely on a principle called the “dignity rationale.” The dignity rationale is the idea that States are immune from suit because it is an affront to their dignity, as sovereign entities, to be dragged into court at the…

By Christian Fernandez. What is Arizona’s compulsory arbitration program? Arbitration is a form of alternative dispute resolution where an independent third party hears the case and determines the result. Arizona courts have adopted a compulsory arbitration program for all civil lawsuits that meet the requirements listed in Rules 72–77 of the Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure. All civil disputes valued under a specific amount are resolved through this arbitration program instead of litigating in court. This program applies to plaintiffs that are only seeking money damages. In addition, this program does not apply to criminal lawsuits. How does the compulsory arbitration program work? A person that brings a lawsuit in Arizona is required to fill out a form stating the type and estimated value of damages they seek. The compulsory…