Digital Commons Network^™

Spn 122 - Latin American Language And Culture, Salvador Salazar

Open Educational Resources

Spanish 122 provides an overview of Latin American cultures. Students will analyze and discuss representative texts and other forms of cultural production (film, visual art, music, etc.) from various regions and time periods to better understand and appreciate the diversity of Latin American history and society. The course will be conducted in Spanish.

Spanish 120 - Advanced Spanish Grammar & Creative Writing, Kevin Martillo Viner

Open Educational Resources

No abstract provided.

Extending The Frontiers Of The Detective Novel In Adaora Ulasi’S The Man From Sagamu, Onyeka Odoh

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

Part of the beauty of detective literature is the mental engagement and psychological contest it stages between the author and the readers, as well as its fascinating probe into the nature and dynamism of crime. However, of greater import are the formulaic structural elements that define the genre—a crime, the detection of the crime, an omniscient detective who intelligently investigates the crime, and a justified resolution of all. Though the structure of Adaora Ulasi’s The Man from Sagamu does not exactly fit into the above model, it is still a detective novel. Therefore, this essay aims to propose a new …

“My Woman’S Voice, My Sexual Voice, My Poet’S Voice”: Poetics Of Sensuality As Reclamation Of Memory And Self In Yesika Salgado’S Tesoro, Jessie C. Bullard

Toyon: Multilingual Literary Magazine

No previous publications.

Library Publishing Curriculum Impact Module: Outreach, Engagement, And Collaboration (Unit 5), Instructor's Guide, John W. Warren

Library Publishing Curriculum

This unit focuses on strategies and tactics for audience engagement and outreach, with the goal of extending the impact of publishing organizations, publication portfolios and series, or individual publications. We will discuss approaches to engage faculty and students in the campus community, the local community, and other communities of interest. We define community engagement as interaction or collaboration with a community of interest. This involves reciprocity. Outreach, on the other hand, describes activities that are provided to, intended for, or done in communities.

“New Directions” In Translation Studies: Norms And Industrial Constraints In Linguistic Adaptation, Laurena Bernabo

Laurena Bernabo

Stories (Causal Inferencing & Truth Value Judgment Tasks) Combined, Andreas Schramm

Andreas Schramm

Political Refugees, Captives, Slaves And Other Migrants In International Law Of Ancient Near East (2nd Millenium Bc), Víctor M. Sánchez

Víctor M. Sánchez

International treaties in the 2nd millennium BC in the Ancient Near East (ANE) demonstrate the importance placed on regulating migratory movements at the time. The economic and political basis of such regulation helps outline a critical analysis in comparison to current international law regarding the same forms of migratory movements. The loss of social value of human beings arising from demographic changes explains the enormous difference between past and present regulatory models. Only the recovery of human value in its economic sense will permit changes to the current regulation of migratory movements. The variety of extradition clauses in the treaties …

How Does The International Community Reconcile The Principle Of Self-Determination And Territorial Integrity, Khazar Shirmammadov

Khazar Shirmammadov

Abstract

This paper explores the ambiguous nature of the two principles of international law - self-determination and territorial integrity, illustrating the controversial nuances of international law on a political board whereby the Crimean crisis has been described. In other words, it aims to elucidate the situation of Crimea from the existing international law prism by examination of these two principles. Multiple paradigms will be applied for interpreting juristic status of mentioned principles. After investigating the historical position and theoretical framework of the principle of self-determination and territorial integrity, research has been aimed to process the massive data collected over the …

The Hidden Psychology Of Constitutional Criminal Procedure, Tonja Jacobi, Jesse-Justin Cuevas

Tonja Jacobi

There is vast empirical evidence of the difference in men and women’s perceptions of and responses to police authority, their speech patterns and conduct. Yet these differences are rarely reflected in constitutional criminal procedure law, despite many of its rules hinging on a person’s manner of expression or subtleties of behavior. Similar evidence exists for the systematic impact of juvenile status and intellectual disability, but only modest and ad hoc consideration has been given to these factors. The result is that the “reasonable person” is actually implicitly a white male, adult and able-minded. His speech and conduct are treated as …

Dangerous Tongues: Storytelling In Congressional Testimony, Clare Keefe Coleman

Clare Keefe Coleman

The important and dangerous use of storytelling in making legislation has been largely ignored by legal academics. Although notable scholars, including Justice Scalia and Cass Sunstein, have written extensively about the use of legislative history in statutory interpretation, and much has been written about the use of storytelling in advocacy, the important role that stories play in making legislation has been overlooked by the legal academy, outside of a few articles relating to criminal statutes. The Congressional Record on a recent farm bill is full of stories told by special interests that draw on metaphors, archetypes, and myths. Snow White’s …

Legal Thinking, The Adversarial Process And Exonerating Innocent Defendants: A Socio-Legal View Of The Wrongful Conviction Process., Gary J. Kowaluk

Gary J Kowaluk

Little is as frustrating as advocating the release of an innocent defendant who has been wrongfully convicted. Surprisingly, most of the wrongfully convicted fail to overturn their cases through the courts, and rely on government officials and prosecutor’s to find other ways to release them from custody. Too often the wrongful conviction process leaves lawyers and judges arguing to legally support injustices in the face of a practical common sense indicating a defendant’s innocence. This paper is an attempt to understand the tendency of legal professionals to argue against remedying a wrongful conviction in favor of the continued social injustice …

The Case For Sanctioning State Sponsors Of Genocide Incitement, Henry K. Kopel

Henry K. Kopel

This Article recommends a policy designed to reduce the incidence of genocide, by legislation that would impose sanctions against state sponsors of genocide incitement. Genocide incitement is a crime under the UN Genocide Convention. The goal of sanctioning state sponsors of such incitement is to prevent genocides proactively, before the mass killing starts. Three prominent twentieth-century genocides–those of the European Jews, the Bosnian Muslims, and the Rwandan Tutsi–all were preceded by pervasive and deliberate campaigns of state-sponsored hate incitement. Most if not all genocides are preceded by similar patterns of incitement. Historical studies also show that most of the actual …

Crowdsourcing (Bankruptcy) Fee Control, Matthew Bruckner

Matthew Adam Bruckner

In this article, I explore how crowdsourcing can help reduce the cost of professional representation in corporate bankruptcy cases. The cost of professional representation in bankruptcy cases is currently a hot topic, with oral argument haven taken place before the U.S. Supreme Court in Baker Botts L.L.P. v. Asarco, L.L.C. in February 2015, which case addressed various issues raised in my article. In brief, the fees of lawyers, investment bankers, and other bankruptcy professionals has been spiraling out of control because chapter 11’s existing fee control system is broken. That system can neither identify nor control professional overcharging, which empirical …

“Whimsy Little Contracts” With Unexpected Consequences: An Empirical Analysis Of Consumer Understanding Of Arbitration Agreements, Jeff Sovern

Jeff Sovern

Arbitration clauses have become ubiquitous in consumer contracts. These arbitration clauses require consumers to waive the constitutional right to a civil jury, access to court, and, increasingly, the procedural remedy of class representation. Because those rights cannot be divested without consent, the validity of arbitration agreements rests on the premise of consent. Consumers who do not want to arbitrate or waive their class rights can simply decline to purchase the products or services covered by an arbitration agreement. But the premise of consent is undermined if consumers do not understand the effect on their procedural rights of clicking a box …

It's All Interpretation, All The Way Down, Or, The Reason We Call It The “Practice” Of Law: With Observations From Two Different Legal Systems, John R. Prince Iii

John R. Prince III

This article explores one aspect of the philosophy of law; not what it means to refer to “the law” but what it means to discuss the “practice of law.” That practice is identified as a discursive practice, one where a text is applied to a particular factual context, and thus an interpretive practice. However, the type of interpretation involved in the practice of law is not one of translating one verbal formulation of a rule into another verbal formulation, but the act of bridging the gap between the rule and what that rule means here, and now, in a particular …

The Fixation Thesis: The Role Of Historical Fact In Original Meaning, Lawrence B. Solum

Lawrence B. Solum

The central debate in contemporary constitutional theory is the clash between originalists and living constitutionalists. Originalism is the view that the original meaning of the constitutional text should constrain or bind constitutional practice—paradigmatically, the decision of constitutional cases by the United States Supreme Court. Living constitutionalists contend that the content of constitutional law should evolve over time in response to changing values and circumstances. One of the central questions in this debate is over the question whether the meaning of the constitutional text is fixed or changeable. This essay makes the case for the Fixation Thesis—the claim that the linguistic …

The Right To Read, Lea Shaver

Lea Shaver

Reading – for education and for pleasure – may be framed as a personal indulgence, a moral virtue, or even a civic duty. What are the implications of framing reading as a human right?

Although novel, the rights-based frame finds strong support in international human rights law. The right to read need not be defended as a “new” human right. Rather, it can be located at the intersection of more familiar guarantees. Well-established rights to education, science, culture, and freedom of expression, among others, provide the necessary normative support for recognizing a universal right to read as already implicit in …

Federalism, Mandates And Individual Liberty, John T. Valauri

John T. Valauri

FEDERALISM, MANDATES AND INDIVIDUAL LIBERTY ABSTRACT This article presents the missing federalism and individual liberty portion of Chief Justice Roberts’ health care case opinion. It illuminates and reinforces the commerce power and limited and enumerated powers arguments he makes there just as the Tenth Amendment and the doctrine of federalism more generally illuminate and reinforce the commerce power and the doctrine of limited and enumerated powers in constitutional law and doctrine. It also answers and explains the claims made by the Chief Justice’s critics on and off the bench that his opinion and similar arguments made by like-thinking lower court …

With All Deliberate Speed: Nlrb V. Canning And The Case For Originalism, Adam Lamparello

Adam Lamparello

Record numbers of Americans are renouncing their citizenship. California’s citizens have amassed enough signatures to place on the 2016 ballot a proposal to divide California into six separate states. At least 34 states recently called for a second constitutional convention. Several states have ignored or enacted laws defying Supreme Court precedent. One has threatened to secede. Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens has responded to this crisis by calling for the addition of six constitutional amendments, several of which expand federal authority. That, in a nutshell, is the problem. This Article argues that, to remedy the imbalance in power …

With All Deliberate Speed: Nlrb V. Canning And The Case For Originalism, Adam Lamparello

Adam Lamparello

No abstract provided.

Evidence And The Pursuit Of Truth In The Law, Jeffery L. Johnson

Jeffery L Johnson

Lawyers should be much more concerned with the concepts of truth and evidence. The entire profession depends on truth. It is what police detectives, District Attorneys, juries, trial judges, appellate judges, and academic lawyers offering interpretive theories, are all concerned with. But, since truth is seldom apparent on its sleeve, these legal actors are equally dependent on evidence as the only(?) reliable(?) means of determining truth. I defend a commonsensical theory of [good] evidence. I argue that this view, inference to the best explanation, captures most, if not all, of a lawyer’s appeal to evidence. It is far from clear, …

In Defense Of Disparate Impact: An Opportunity To Realize The Promise Of The Fair Housing Act, Valerie Schneider

Valerie Schneider

Abstract:

Twice in the past three years, the Supreme Court has granted certiorari in Fair Housing cases, and, each time, under pressure from civil rights leaders who feared that the Supreme Court might narrow current Fair Housing Act jurisprudence, the cases settled just weeks before oral argument. Settlements after the Supreme Court grants certiorari are extremely rare, and, in these cases, the settlements reflect a substantial fear among civil rights advocates that the Supreme Court’s recent decisions in cases such as Shelby County v. Holder and Fisher v. University of Texas are working to dismantle many of the protections of …

The Accidental Postmodernists: A New Era Of Skepticism In Environmental Law, Shi-Ling Hsu

Shi-Ling Hsu

Environmental law and policy conflicts seem to have entered a new phase. The emergence of complex problems such as climate change and of complex technologies such as hydraulic fracturing and genetic modification have created new political and legal schisms that no longer break down predictably along "pro-environment" versus "pro-business" lines. Rather, a new era of skepticism seems to be taking hold in which antagonists spar over the epistemic legitimacy of certain claims made in support of a policy position. Environmental law and policy conflicts thus divide antagonists into two camps: self-styled positivists – scientists (physical, chemical, biological, and social) and …

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 …

Two Dogmas Of Originalism, Ian C. Bartrum

Ian C Bartrum

In the early 1950s, Willlard Quine’s Two Dogmas of Empiricism offered a devastating critique of logical positivism and the effort to distinguish “science” from “metaphysics”. Quine demonstrated that positivists relied on dogmatic oversimplifications of both the world and human practices, and, in the end, suggested that our holistic natural experience cannot be reduced to purely logical explanations. In this piece, I argue that constitutional originalism—which, too, seeks to define a constitutional “science”—relies on similar dogmatisms. In particular, I contend that the “fixation thesis,” which claims that the constitutional judge’s first task is to fix the text’s semantic meaning at a …

The Uncertain Promise Of Predictive Coding, Dana Remus

Dana Remus

No abstract provided.

We The Peoples: The Global Origins Of Constitutional Preambles, Tom Ginsburg, Daniel Rockmore, Nick Foti

Tom Ginsburg

No abstract provided.

Valuing Our Discordant Constitutional Discourse: Autonomous-Text Constitutionalism And The Jewish Legal Tradition, Shlomo C. Pill

Shlomo C. Pill

This paper considers the viability of autonomous-text constitutionalism, a constitutional interpretive and adjudicative theory based on Hans Georg-Gadamer’s philosophical hermeneutics. As the paper explains, this theory is premised on the subjectivity of all interpretive activity; it admits the legitimacy of a wide spectrum of reasonable interpretations of the Constitution, each given their unique character by the dialectical merging of experiential horizons between the fixed text and individual interpreter. This theory embraces a plurality of constitutional meanings in theory, limited by the need for unity in national spheres of constitutional practice. Such practical certainty is achieved by our empowering judicial institutions …

Book Review: The Three And A Half Minute Transaction: What Sticky Boilerplate Reveals About Contract Law And Practice, Andrea J. Boyack

Andrea J Boyack

This review situates Gulati & Scott’s findings with respect to sovereign debt instruments and the contracting process in the context of a legal profession on the brink of change. Gulati and Scott’s book addresses the inexplicable failure of lawyers to respond to a sovereign debt litigation outcome by clarifying a boilerplate provision after an adverse judicial interpretation. Their fascinating study of boilerplate in sophisticated transactional legal practice is timely and compelling both in terms of the specific story it tells, namely the persistence of the pari passu clause in sovereign debt instruments, as well as its broader implications: Structural flaws …