Digital Commons Network^™

Lyman Trumbull: Author Of The Thirteenth Amendment, Author Of The Civil Rights Act, And The First Second Amendment Lawyer, David B. Kopel

David B Kopel

Illinois Senator Lyman Trumbull is not well-known today, but he is one of the "Founding Sons" who transformed the nation and the Constitution before, during, and after the Civil War. He wrote the Thirteenth Amendment, the first Freedmen's Bureau Bill, and the Civil Rights Act. He sponsored the first federal statutes which actually freed slaves. As Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and later as a civil rights attorney, he did more to protect Second Amendment rights--including taking a test case to the U.S. Supreme Court (Presser v. Illinois)--than did any other lawyer or legislator in the century after Jefferson …

A European Solution To America’S Basketball Problem: Reforming Amateur Basketball In The United States, Jaimie K. Mcfarlin, Joshua Lee

Jaimie K. McFarlin

The system of amateur and collegiate basketball in America is flawed, as every year, thousands of young men and women pursue their basketball dreams under the shadow of a multi-million dollar, predatory business model. Integral to telling the history of the NCAA and AAU organizations are recruiting horror stories and other examples of young talents who were taken advantage of by unscrupulous actors, both of which continue today. The commercialization and professionalization of amateur basketball has fed an ecosystem of exploitation in which private actors and institutions capitalize on the American mantra of "amateurism." The European system of amateur athletics …

Key Change: The Role Of The Creative Industries In Climate Change Action, Tim Hollo

Matthew Rimmer

The role of the creative industries – arts and artists – in helping to drive the changes in laws and behaviours that are necessary to tackle climate change, while not superficially obvious, is a deep one. Arts and artists of all kinds, as cultural practitioners, have been closely entwined with social change and social control since time immemorial, in large part because they help shape our understanding of the world, framing ideas, prefiguring change, and opening hearts and minds to new ways of thinking. They have played a major role in campaigns for law reform on many issues, and climate …

Cross, Crucifix, Culture: An Approach To The Constitutional Meaning Of Confessional Symbols, Frederick Mark Gedicks, Pasquale Annicchino

Frederick Mark Gedicks

In the United States and Europe the constitutionality of government displays of confessional symbols depends on whether the symbols also have nonconfessional secular meaning (in the U.S.) or whether the confessional meaning is somehow absent (in Europe). Yet both the United States Supreme Court (USSCt) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) lack a workable approach to determining whether secular meaning is present or confessional meaning absent. The problem is that the government can nearly always articulate a possible secular meaning for the confessional symbols that it uses, or argue that the confessional meaning is passive and ineffective. What …

The Cisg In Israel, Dr. Yehuda Adar

Yehuda Adar Dr.

This article reviews the status of the CISG in the Israeli legal system. The survey reveals that the attitude of the Israeli courts toward international sales laws has in the past been rather ambivalent. The author argues that while some decisions of the Supreme Court have ignored the international context without a sufficiently clear reason, most of the cases where the convention was actually applied reflect a sympathetic approach toward the idea of a uniform international law of sales. Furthermore, on the last occasion in which the CISG was heavily relied upon by the Supreme Court, the Court’s analysis reflected …

The Rule Of Law In Cyberspace, Mireille Hildebrandt

Mireille Hildebrandt

This is a translation of my inaugural lecture at Radboud University Nijmegen. The Dutch version has been published as a booklet, the English version in available on my bepress site.

Unringing The Bell: The Government Speech Doctrine And Publicly-Funded Art, John Barlow

John Barlow

No abstract provided.

Unringing The Bell: The Government Speech Doctrine And Publicly-Funded Art, John Barlow

John Barlow

No abstract provided.

Unringing The Bell: The Government Speech Doctrine And Publicly-Funded Art, John Barlow

John Barlow

No abstract provided.

Unringing The Bell: The Government Speech Doctrine And Publicly-Funded Art, John Barlow

John Barlow

No abstract provided.

The Military Response To Criminal Violent Extremist Groups: Aligning Use Of Force Presumptions With Threat Reality, Geoffrey S. Corn

Geoffrey S. Corn

Debates over the permissible authority to use force against emerging non-state threats are consistently dictated by a binary legal paradigm: either armed conflict is recognized permitting status based targeting or law enforcement conduct based use of force norms must be respected. This paradigm has driven an expansion of the threats characterized by states as falling within the scope of non-international armed conflicts, a trend that has produced substantial controversy. At the same time, in many states organized criminal groups are creating unprecedented challenges to government authority by utilizing widespread and indiscriminate violence to sow the seeds of chaos and demonstrate …

The First Amendment Right To Bare All: How Should Courts Apply The Secondary Effects Doctrine To Strip Bars And Other Sexually Oriented Businesses?, Andrew L. Arons

Andrew L Arons

The U.S. Supreme Court has developed a deferential First Amendment Doctrine that can be used to uphold laws that target speakers on the basis of the content of their speech. This so-called “secondary effects” doctrine relies on a fictional premise: state and local laws that target certain forms of speech are actually aimed at the adverse secondary effects of the speech. The doctrine supposedly applies to any form of speech that produces secondary effects. It also theoretically permits targeted speakers to challenge the constitutionality of such laws by disproving the existence of secondary effects. Nevertheless, lower courts have impliedly limited …

Returning To Fundamentals: Principles Of International Law Applicable To The Resolution Of Sovereign Debt Crises, Alice De Jonge Dr

Alice de Jonge Dr

This paper explores the international law principles relevant to situations of sovereign bankruptcy. The paper argues for these principles to be kept in mind during debate over the handling of situations of actual or pending sovereign debt such as the EU is now experiencing with Greece.

Roger Nash Baldwin And The American Civil Liberties Union, Mathias Alfred Jaren

Mathias Alfred Jaren

The thesis for this essay is that social work, acting for the benefit and welfare of others, can be accomplished effectively by non-lawyers employing an agenda of political and legal interventions. Legal interventions even as uncomplicated as filing an amicus curiae brief for some unknown defendant being prosecuted for an offense against his government can have significant and important long term implications. This thesis is examined in the context of a life devoted to civil liberties - The Life and times of Roger Nash Baldwin.

Returning To Fundamentals: Principles Of International Law Applicable To Sovereign Debt Crises, Alice De Jonge Dr

Alice de Jonge Dr

The paper explores modern intenational law principles applicable to situations of soverign debt crises and the manner in which such crises should be resolved.

Restorative Justice In The Gilded Age: Shared Principles Underlying Two Movements In Criminal Justice, Ali M. Abid

Ali M Abid

Two very different approaches to Criminal Justice have developed in recent years suggesting systemic reforms that would reduce rates of crime and incarceration and lessen the disproportionate effect on minority groups and other suspect classes. The first of these is the Restorative Justice movement, which has programs operating in most US states and many countries around the world. The Restorative Justice movement focuses on reintegrating offenders with the community and having them repair the damage directly to their victims. The movement describes itself as based on the systems of indigenous and pre-modern societies and as wholly distinct from the conventional …

The Curious Case Of Convenience Casinos: How Internet Sweepstakes Cafes Survive In A Gray Area Between Unlawful Gambling And Legitimate Business Promotions, Steven Silver

Steven Silver

Once relegated to the Nevada desert and New Jersey shore, gambling is now everywhere in the United States. State governments strapped for cash and desperate for increased tax revenues are welcoming gambling with open arms as forty-three states sponsor lotteries and twenty-three states house casinos. Despite this gaming boom, the ease of access to casinos has not deterred entrepreneurs from successfully creating an offshoot industry of “convenience casinos.” Convenience casinos are simply Internet cafes that sell Internet time cards attached with instant-win sweepstakes entries, much like the code underneath a Coke bottle or a McDonald’s Monopoly game piece. Although seemingly …

The Curious Case Of Convenience Casinos: How Internet Sweepstakes Cafes Survive In A Gray Area Between Unlawful Gambling And Legitimate Business Promotions, Steven J. Silver

Steven Silver

Once relegated to the Nevada desert and New Jersey shore, gambling is now everywhere in the United States. State governments strapped for cash and desperate for increased tax revenues are welcoming gambling with open arms as forty-three states sponsor lotteries and twenty-three states house casinos. Despite this gaming boom, the ease of access to casinos has not deterred entrepreneurs from successfully creating an offshoot industry of “convenience casinos.” Convenience casinos are simply Internet cafes that sell Internet time cards attached with instant-win sweepstakes entries, much like the code underneath a Coke bottle or a McDonald’s Monopoly game piece. Although seemingly …

Unesco’S Cultural Heritage Lists: Protecting Indigenous Traditional Sports And Games, Jesse W. Busta

Jesse Busta

This Note, entitled UNESCO’s Cultural Heritage Lists: Protecting Indigenous Traditional Sports and Games, will be the first to examine fully from a legal perspective a proposal to develop a means for protecting indigenous traditional sports and games, which are a valuable asset to all humanity. Protections are needed for indigenous traditional sports and games due to the harmful effects of globalization and the deviation of today’s people from their ancestors’ traditions. Currently, only tangible cultural heritage and limited intangible cultural heritage are protected by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (“UNESCO”). Cultural heritage forms the backbone of human …

Leaving The Dale To Be More Fair: On Cls And First Amendment Jurisprudence, Mark Strasser

Mark Strasser

In Christian Legal Society of the University of California, Hastings College of Law v. Martinez, the Supreme Court upheld the Hastings College of Law’s requirement that all recognized student groups have an open membership policy. The decision has been criticized for a variety of reasons, e.g., that the Court conflated the First Amendment tests for speech and association. What has not been adequately explored is the degree to which the Court has modified limited purpose public forum analysis in the university context over the past few decades, resulting in a jurisprudence that is virtually unrecognizable in light of the more …

Moral Hazard Within The Greek Economic Crisis: An Analysis Of European Union Law Effectiveness In Dealing With The Greek Economic Crisis, Juan Castro, Juan Castro

Juan Castro

In this paper I will present the historical background of the current Greek economic crisis. I will delve into the causes of the fiscal and current-account deficits since Greece’s euro entry in 2001. In addition to the economic and financial information provided, I will also present cultural aspects and differences between Greece and its surrounding neighbors, primarily Germany, and how moral hazard has exacerbated the conflict. Further I will discuss the legality of the countermeasures and solutions presented and how these encroach upon European Union law treaties. Lastly I will conclude that in order for Greece and Germany to stabilize …

Dropped In Tripoli; Exploded In New York: Assessing The Collateral Consequences Of Nato’S [Mi]Sleading Intervention In Libya, Eberechi Ifeonu

Eberechi Ifeonu

Few days after the bloodied former Libyan President, Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi was arrested and hurled into a steaming vehicle and subsequently killed by his captors – an image that not only became an instant hit on YouTube but nearly bested that of the pop sensation, Justin Bieber – NATO announced the end of its “humanitarian mission” in Libya. While the mood in the African region, at best, was that of subdued resignation, in the West, there was a palpable air of accomplishment as leaders and the media celebrated what was regarded as the epiphany of a renewed commitment by the …

A Line In The Sand: The Affair Between Henry Ii And Thomas Becket, Deana Perry

Deana Perry

No abstract provided.

The Skeptic's Guide To Information Sharing At Sentencing, Ryan W. Scott

Ryan W. Scott

The “information sharing” model, a leading method of structuring judicial discretion at the sentencing stage of criminal cases, has attracted broad support from scholars and judges. Under this approach, sentencing judges should have access to a robust body of information, including written opinions and statistics, about previous sentences in similar cases. Armed with that information, judges can conform their sentences to those of their colleagues or identify principled reasons for distinguishing them, reducing inter-judge disparity and promoting rationality in sentencing law. This Article takes a skeptical view, arguing that information sharing suffers from three fundamental weaknesses as an alternative to …

Honor Amongst Thieves: Organized Crime And The Illicit Antiquities Trade, Kimberly L. Alderman

Kimberly L. Alderman

Government agencies, non-profits, scholars, and advocacy groups alike assert that organized crime dominates the illicit antiquities trade. The illicit antiquities trade has been linked to money laundering, extortion, the drug and arms trades, terrorism and insurgency, and even slavery. This Article considers the connection between organized crime and the illicit antiquities trade, examines known criminal subcultures and evidence of their involvement in the trade, and analyzes lateral cooperation between loosely organized criminal groups. Finally, the Article poses the broader question of whether this lateral cooperation suggests that the antiquities trade as a whole operates as an organized criminal industry.

Preventive Detention In The Law Of Armed Conflict: Throwing Away The Key?, Diane Webber

Diane Webber

More than ten years after 9/11, the “clear legal framework for handling alleged terrorists” promised by President Obama in 2009 is still undeveloped and “the country continues to hold suspects indefinitely, with no congressionally approved mechanism for regular judicial review.” Should terrorists be treated as criminals, involving traditional criminal law methods of detection, interrogation, arrest and trial? Or should they be treated as though they were involved in an armed conflict, which would involve detention and trial in accordance with a completely different set of rules and procedures? Neither model is a perfect fit to deal with twenty-first century terrorism. …

How The British Gun Control Program Precipitated The American Revolution, David B. Kopel

David B Kopel

Abstract: This Article chronologically reviews the British gun control which precipitated the American Revolution: the 1774 import ban on firearms and gun powder; the 1774-75 confiscations of firearms and gun powder, from individuals and from local governments; and the use of violence to effectuate the confiscations. It was these events which changed a situation of rising political tension into a shooting war. Each of these British abuses provides insights into the scope of the modern Second Amendment.

From the events of 1774-75, we can discern that import restrictions or bans on firearms or ammunition are constitutionally suspect — at least …

A Problem Of Power: The Impact Of Modern Sovereignty On The Rule Of Law In Comparative And Historical Perspective, Bruce P. Frohnen

Bruce P Frohnen

No abstract provided.

Tripartism In Ireland, Jon Foster

Jon Foster

Over the past few years, the term “PIIGS” has become synonymous with economic concerns and fears of collapse. The acronym, which currently refers to the European countries of Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece, and Spain: was originally just ‘PIGS’ , used to group the similar economies of Southern Europe when considering them for acceptance into the European Monetary Union. Nevertheless, as a result of the global financial crisis, this term soon came to identify economically weak and overly indebted nations. However, unlike Italy, Greece, and Portugal, who had before the crisis demonstrated relatively slow growth, modest unemployment, and a propensity to …

Ocean Governance For The 21st Century: Making Marine Zoning Climate Change Adaptable, Robin K. Craig

Robin K. Craig

The variety of anthropogenic stressors to the marine environment—including, increasingly, climate change—and their complex and synergistic impacts on ocean ecosystems testifies to the failure of existing governance regimes to protect these ecosystems and the services that they provide. Marine spatial planning has been widely hailed as a means of improving ocean governance through holistic ecosystem-based planning. However, that concept arose without reference to climate change, and hence it does not automatically account for the dynamic alterations in marine ecosystems that climate change is bringing.

This Article attempts to adapt marine spatial planning to climate change adaptation. In so doing, it …