Class 2 (9/8): Text Answer questions below. Cases: Hunter, Gomillion, Rogers, Nixon, Avery

Transcription

1 Law of Cities and Towns Fall Term 2015 Adjunct Prof. Milt Rowland T-Th 7:00-8:15p.m., Rm 143 Assignment schedule first five classes Class 1 (9/3): Text If you have time to read all 66 pages, please do. Otherwise (and in any event) please read what is necessary to answer questions 1-10 (below) Class 2 (9/8): Text Answer questions below. Cases: Hunter, Gomillion, Rogers, Nixon, Avery Class 3 (9/10): Text Answer questions below. Cases: City of Phoenix, Holt Civil Club, Milliken, Belle Terre, Ball, Kessler Class 4 (9/15): Text Answer questions below. Cases: Wit, Pittsburgh, Bakies Class 5 (9/17): Text , , Answer questions below. Cases: White, Bridgewater, New Morgan, Chilton, Chatham, Sacramento County. TEXT: Briffault & Reynolds, Cases & Materials on State and Local Government Law (West) 7 th ed. (2009): ISBN Note: Only the questions for classes 1-3 questions are completed. This handout will be supplemented. 1

2 Class One 1. What was the tectonic shift to which our casebook authors refer on p.1, and how does that shift affect us today (see p.2)? 2. According to text p. 8-9, how many local governments exist? What do they do? What are they called? Why is this course (local government law) not simply a focused course on administrative law? 3. What is the classic top-down unit of local government? Distinguish its role as agent of the state from its role as agent for its electorate? (text 9-11) 4. What is the classic bottom-up local unit? What are the various types of such units? What are the top-down elements of this type of unit? (text 11-12) 5. What is a special district? Why are special districts created? What are the top-down and bottom-up elements to special districts? (13-15) 6. According to Tiebout, what choices do citizens make about where they live, on what basis are those choices made, and what pressures do these choices place on city managers? (27-31) 7. According to Gerald Frug, what is wrong with what he calls city powerlessness? (36-37) What is Richard Briffault s answer to Frug and Tiebout? (37-45) 8. What is the distinction between the concepts of constitution-as-grant and constitution-as-limitation, and how does this distinction affect the outcome in Gangemi, 134 A.2d 1(text p. 52) 9. Text p. 55, n.1, discusses the application of the expressio unius concept to state constitutions. Idaho has come up with a unique application of that principle. What is the principle and how does Idaho, uniquely, apply the principle to its own constitution? 10. The late Justice Brennan urged state court judges to rely upon state constitutions to vindicate individual rights (p. 65). What does that mean and what has appeared to be the result of Justice Brennan s law review article? 2

3 Class Two 11. In Hunter, what were the citizens of Allegheny upset about? What were their allegations? How did the Supreme Court respond? (70-73) 12. What does note 4, p , tell us about the debate between the Hunter approach (plenary state power) and the Cooley approach (some inherent right of local self-government)? Who was Judge Dillon? 13. In Gomillion, what had the Alabama legislature done to exclude African- Americans from voting in Tuskegee, AL? What arguments did the plaintiffs make? The state? How did the court resolve them? 14. Distinguish Hunter from Gomillion. 15. What is the standing issue confronted in Rogers? How does that court resolve them? What do notes 1 and 2, p , enlighten us on this key issue? What does Lawrence County tell us on this issue (p. 88)? 16. What did the Missouri legislature do in Nixon, and how did that affect local governments? What was the preemption issue in Nixon, and how was it resolved? Is Nixon consistent with Hunter and Gomillion? 17. How was the Equal Protection Clause implicated in Avery? What was the legislative vs. administrative dichotomy addressed in Avery? What was the one ground rule imposed by the Avery court? 18. Summarize the holdings discussed in notes 1-2, p , regarding the one-person, one-vote principle. 3

4 Class Three 19. The City of Phoenix court relied on Cipriano, 395 U.S. 701 (discussed at p. 110). What was the holding in that case? What is the difference between a general obligation bond and a revenue bond? How does that difference allegedly support a denial of the franchise in City of Phoenix to property owners? 20. What is the holding in City of Phoenix? What are the rationales the Court offers for this distinction? 21. What did the legislature do in Holt Civic Club? How did Justice Rehnquist strip the case of its voting rights attire? Why was it acceptable that citizens outside Tuscaloosa could be regulated by a government agency in which they had no vote? 22. What is the point of footnote 10 in Holt Civic Club, p. 120? How does the dissent distinguish Kramer? What is the distinction between mere extraterritoriality and de facto governance? How far would legislature have had to go to get five justices to agree that its action was unconstitutional? 23. What is the holding in Milliken? Why is it a 5-4 decision? 24. Does Milliken reject all regional remedies for segregation? (p. 137) Explain. 25. What was the holding in Belle Terre? State three facts that were key to the Court s decision, changing any one of which may have changed the outcome of the case (facts related to availability of alternatives, nature of suburb, etc.). 26. How did the Ball v. James majority distinguish Reynolds? Why did the majority believe this case (Ball) was controlled by Salyer? Why did the dissent believe that the District s services were sufficiently governmental that restrictions on the franchise were unconstitutional? What was the restriction on the franchise? 27. Trace out the functions of the Grand Central BID, its funding, the authorizations from state and local government, and explain why an entity that does everything from collecting your trash to policing your streets is not a government entity. What level of review (strict, middle tier, rational) was used to scrutinize the classifications made for assessment purposes? Why was the assessment not a tax? Why was the fact that only one Board member represented the interests of residential property users (out of 52) acceptable? 4

5 Class Four 28. If a person owns homes in two cities in Washington, under the statute in effect in Wit, she would only be allowed to vote in one of the two cities. Why isn t that statute subject to strict scrutiny? What is the outcome of a challenge to the statute, under Wit? 5