Digital Commons Network^™

Libguides, Blog Posts, And Articles, Oh My!, Marie Stefanini Newman, Taryn L. Rucinski

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

“Publish, publish, publish!” is a piece of advice commonly offered to students by career services departments in law schools across the country. Student publications typically take the form of law review or bar journal articles or perhaps competition submissions; however, with the advent of accessible Web 2.0 technologies, publishing has evolved to encompass all sorts of content, styles, lengths, and audiences.

The Pace Law Library approach has been mostly electronic in nature and incorporates into Pace’s advanced legal research courses portfolio pieces such as student-authored research guides, blog posts, and bar journal articles. Moreover, student notes that satisfy the school’s …

The Value Of Solar Tariff: Net Metering 2.0, Karl R. Rábago

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Increasing numbers of customers are installing solar photovoltaic systems on their homes and businesses. As module and system costs decline, customer demand grows, and more businesses organize around the solar opportunity, it is time to revisit the tariff structure under which these systems integrate with and operate on the electric grid. This article details a novel approach to a distributed solar tariff, called the “Value of Solar” tariff (“VOST”), that addresses important utility and customer issues, and offers some significant improvements over traditional net metering approaches. There is a saying in the venture capital world to the effect that, “It …

Happy Anniversary To The Cplr: A Joint Achievement Of The Practicing Bar And The Academy, Jay C. Carlisle

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This September, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Civil Practice Law and Rules of New York State. The CPLR was the handiwork of the Advisory Committee on Practice and Procedure, appointed in 1955 by the New York State Temporary Commission on the Courts. Under the leadership of the Committee's reporter, then Columbia Law School Professor Jack B. Weinstein, the Committee members, which included former New York State Bar Association presidents Jackson Dykman and S. Hazard Gillespie, spent five years overhauling, revising and reforming the Civil Practice Act of 1920. This remarkable joint venture between the practicing bar and the …

Eating Invaders: Managing Biological Invasions With Fork And Knife?, Joshua Ulan Galperin, Sara Kuebbing

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

As the public, academy, government, and private sector all turn increased attention to food systems, new ideas constantly emerge for healthy, sustainable, and just innovations in growing, marketing, and eating food. “Invasivory” — eating invasive species — is one such idea. Biological invasions occur when humans transport an organism from its ecosystem of origin into a new ecosystem and that organism adapts to its new location, spreading widely from the site of introduction. Invasive species can cause significant ecological, economic, and public health damage. Crops, homes, and native species are all at risk. “Invasivores,” as the proponents of invasivory are …

Food Court, Jason J. Czarnezki

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This article, focusing on produce and grain, discusses the environmental and climate change impacts of food production, processing, packaging, and distribution, which ultimately contribute to both economic and social costs. The article addresses environmental energy costs in the food supply. Figure 1 shows, for example, the significant amount of energy used in various aspects of food production, transportation, and processing.

Much of this article's focus will be on commodity crops. Along with wheat and rice, corn and soybeans constitute the world's most popular planted and consumed crops. The United States is the leading producer of corn, growing nearly 40 percent …

Mers Remains Afloat In A Sea Of Foreclosures, Shelby D. Green

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Despite the simple premise of the MERS System, opponents--or those simply trying to invalidate or forestall enforcement of their mortgages--have leveled various challenges to MERS's practices and even its basic business model. Taking an aerial view of the challenges, it is possible to discern a certain pattern as one challenge seemed to morph into the next (often following rejection of the earlier one in the courts). Some borrowers have asserted that MERS lacked legal standing to foreclose because it was a mere nominee and not the owner of the note. Even if MERS's legal standing was upheld, borrowers pointed to …

Arbitration Case Law Update 2013, Jill I. Gross

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The U.S. Supreme Court and lower state and federal courts continue to decide cases under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) at an astounding rate. This chapter summarizes Supreme Court opinions over the past year that interpret the FAA, as well as selected lower court decisions that apply the FAA and could have an impact on securities arbitration practice.

Ottinger Hall Dedication Remarks, Richard L. Ottinger

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Remarks by Richard L. Ottinger on the occasion of the dedication of Richard Ottinger Hall at Pace Law School, April 30, 2013. Video includes excerpts from remarks and interview with Dean Ottinger.

Rio+20 And Biodiversity: What Next? The International And Brazilian Perspectives, Nicholas A. Robinson

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Extended written remarks of the oral panel presentation by Professor Nicholas A. Robinson at the international colloquium in tribute to Ambassador Luiz Alberto Figueiredo do Machado on Rio+20 and Biodiversity: Assessing the Future We Want. Presented as part of the Inaugural Panel, held in the Senate Chamber of Brazil in Brasilia on 26 April 2013 and televised nationally.

The ‘Value Of Solar’ Rate: Designing An Improved Residential Solar Tariff, Karl R. Rábago

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The most commonly adopted rate treatment for residential solar systems connected to the grid is net metering, or, as it is also known, net energy metering. The first net metering tariff was adopted in 1983, and the approach is part of utility policy in over 40 states in the U.S.

"Turn On The Lights" -Sustainable Energy Investment And Regulatory Policy: Charting The Hydrokinetic Path For Pakistan, Nadia B. Ahmad

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Hydrokinetic energy is an under-recognized, low-cost renewable technology that can be deployed in Pakistan through a robust national energy strategy and international investment schemes to tackle the country’s acute energy crisis. This article will show how national and local laws can be amended to favor progress in the sustainable energy sector and achieve hydrokinetic energy production in Pakistan, which if actualized, would be nothing short of a game changer—strategically and environmentally. Despite current legal regimes that disfavor small scale hydroelectric power production, Pakistan and other less developed countries can adapt and deploy hydrokinetic technology through revamped investment laws, regulatory rules, …

International Perspectives On Correcting Wrongful Convictions: The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, Lissa Griffin

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Part I of this Article traces the history of the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) and outlines the procedures employed by the SCCRC after an application is received, with particular attention to its extensive investigatory procedures. It also describes and analyzes the standards for referral of an application to the Scottish court. Part II briefly sets forth the statistics concerning applications, referrals, and judicial decisions. Part III includes an analysis of the SCCRC’s work by looking at the cases that have been referred and decided by the court. Those cases are divided into several categories: fresh evidence referrals, referrals …

Changes Spark Interest In Sustainable Urban Places: But How Do We Identify And Support Them?, John R. Nolon

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Changes in climatic and demographic trends are sparking renewed interest in cities generally and sustainable communities particularly. On the one hand, residents and workers in denser, mixed-use neighborhoods served by transit have half the carbon footprint of those in spread-out suburban areas. On the other hand, many of the smaller households that characterize the nation’s growing population prefer to live in precisely those compact, mixed-use neighborhoods. In New York, these changes align with several new state policies that encourage cities and towns to reduce carbon emissions, reduce vehicle travel, create sustainable buildings and neighborhoods, and preserve the landscapes that sequester …

When Are Damages Tax Free?: The Elusive Meaning Of “Physical Injury”, Ronald H. Jensen

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Part I of this article traces the evolution in the tax treatment of litigation damages from 1918 through the enactment of the 1996 Amendments and reviews the various rationales that have been offered for such treatment. In Part II, I set forth a number of hypothetical cases illustrating some of the issues created by the 1996 Amendments. In Parts III through Part VI, I set forth my analyses of these issues. Finally, In Part VII, I critique the 1996 Amendments and make a proposal that would eliminate much of the uncertainty and inequity that the 1996 Amendments created while satisfying …

Hard, Soft & Uncertain: The Guarani Aquifer And The Challenges Of Transboundary Groundwater, David N. Cassuto

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This Article begins with an overview of the ecology of the Guarani Aquifer region before turning to the legal and ecological problems it faces. Because the majority of the Guarani Aquifer underlies Brazil (with the rest residing below Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay), the laws and policies of Brazil have a significant managerial impact. Consequently, the Brazilian legal regime forms the focus of the first Part of the Article. The Article then analyzes the international transboundary framework before turning to the recently enacted Agreement on the Guarani Aquifer. This Agreement, signed but not yet ratified by four countries, represents a major …

Subverting Brady V. Maryland And Denying A Fair Trial: Studying The Schuelke Report, Bennett L. Gershman

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The Schuelke Report about the ill-fated federal prosecution of the late-Senator Ted Stevens is an extraordinary contribution to criminal procedure. No other official documentation or investigative study of a criminal prosecution to my knowledge has dissected and analyzed as carefully and thoroughly the sordid and clandestine actions of a team of prosecutors who zealously wanted to win a criminal conviction at all costs. In examining this Report, one gets the feeling that as the investigation and prosecution of Senator Stevens unfolded, and the prosecution’s theory of guilt unraveled, the prosecutors became indifferent whether the defendant was really guilty; they just …

Dynamic Governance Innovation, Elizabeth Burleson

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This article frames environmentally sound innovation in the context of transnational network theory with the goal of setting forth a preliminary framework for international legal policy coherence. I consider how network dynamics can facilitate broad diffusion of environmentally sound technologies, concluding that what appears to be fragmented trade, environment, and human rights regimes are indeed sustainable development building blocks with which to achieve dynamic governance. Collaborative environmentally sound innovation networking may be able to shepherd whole renewable energy sectors across the innovation valley of death and help turn a global responsibility to ramp up green technology into a global initiative …

Global Environmental Law: Food Safety & China, Jason J. Czarnezki

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This article makes the case for food security law and policy as a component of global environmental law in recognition of the global economy, trade liberalization, and concerns for food safety and environmental harm. It further describes rule of law as a significant force in mitigating food safety concerns and pollution in China. Part II explores global food safety concerns in the context of United States-China relations, while Part III discusses the U.S. Food & Drug Administration's on-the-ground presence in China as an example of the emergence of cooperative agreements in global environmental governance. Part IV shows how increased rule …

Shifting Paradigms Transform Environmental And Land Use Law: The Emergence Of The Law Of Sustainable Development, John R. Nolon

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

We began these two decades reacting to the market’s interest in developing greenfields and coastal property and end it wondering how to prepare more urbanized places for a growing population of smaller households who seek the amenities of urban living and some protection from the storms ahead. This essay discusses this and nine other fundamental paradigm shifts in environmental and economic conditions that are reshaping the law and changing the way state and local governments control land use and order human settlements.

Land Use And Climate Change: Lawyers Negotiating Above Regulation, John R. Nolon

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Sea level rise requires a new paradigm for controlling the development of coastal lands that are in harm’s way, calling for adjustments in the law, legal practice, and legal education. This article discusses the historical tendency of the law to adjust to changes in society and the recent emergence of new legal institutions and strategies for mitigating and adapting to climate change, particularly sea level rise. It illustrates how the lack of certainty about the extent and pace of sea level rise collides with the total takings doctrine of the Lucas case to frustrate the application of traditional land use …

The Inevitable Irrelevance Of Affirmative Action, Leslie Y. Garfield

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This article proceeds in three parts. In Part I of this article, I provide a narrative of affirmative action jurisprudence in higher education, with a particular focus on the meaning of viewpoint diversity in higher education. This section tracks the definitional shift in preference policies from their original design as remedial and compensatory programs for those suffering the effects of educational discrimination to interest convergence programs, which assure equal benefits irrespective of race. In Part II, I explore the circumstances giving rise to Fisher, including an overview of the lower court decisions. This section presents a discussion of the likely …

At&T Mobility And The Future Of Small Claims Arbitration, Jill I. Gross

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This article focuses on small claims arbitration and examines the impact of AT&T Mobility on the legitimacy of the process. Part II of the article describes the Supreme Court’s AT&T Mobility decision, which held that the FAA preempts a California rule that declared a class arbitration waiver in a consumer contract unconscionable. Part III describes the primary features of the two options remaining for the Concepcions—small claims court and small claims arbitration, as well as their perceived advantages and disadvantages. Part IV demonstrates that courts have endorsed simplified arbitration. Part V examines whether simplified arbitration is a fair method of …

Hydrofracking: State Preemption, Local Power, And Cooperative Governance, John R. Nolon

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Advocates for the gas drilling technology known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, argue that it will bring significant economic benefits to the private and public sectors. Its opponents dispute these claims and point to significant environmental and public health risks associated with fracking—risks that must be considered in adopting government regulations needed to protect the public interest. One of the many issues raised by fracking is which level of government should regulate which aspects of the practice. This debate is complicated by the fact that the risks associated with fracking raise concerns of federal, state, and local importance and fit …

The Importance Of Information And Participation Principles In Environmental Law In Brazil, David N. Cassuto, Romulo S.R. Sampaio

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This article explores the two different kinds of uncertainty, ‘hard’ uncertainty (unknown unknowns) and ‘soft’ uncertainty (known unknowns), in the context of environmental law decision making. First, the authors argue that these different categories should not be treated the same when facing decisions under uncertainty. To deal with these different uncertainties, a tiered risk analysis process is called for, using participatory techniques to turn hard uncertainty into (more manageable) soft uncertainty as well as to increase the legitimacy of environmental decision making, even in cases of hard uncertainty. This methodology can and should apply to all instances of domestic, transnational …

Reversing Course: A Critique Of The Court Of Appeals New Rules For Unjust Enrichment And Criminal Legal Malpractice Actions, Jay C. Carlisle Ii

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This article will discuss recent developments by the New York Court of Appeals on the doctrine of unjust enrichment and on the elimination of non-pecuniary damages in criminal legal malpractice actions. Specifically, the article will examine the cases of Georgia Malone & Co. v. Ralph Rieder and Dombrowski v. Bulson.

No Jokes About Dope: Morse V. Frederick's Educational Rationale, Emily Gold Waldman

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This piece begins with a “protective” reading of Morse v. Frederick, showing how this rationale provides a good starting point in understanding Morse but is ultimately incomplete. Indeed, Justice Stevens’ dissent is largely an argument that the protective rationale falls short here. I then re-examine Morse from the perspective of the educational rationale and conclude that the underlying, largely unstated premise of the Morse majority is that schools—as part of teaching students about the gravity of drug use—should be able to convey disapproval of messages suggesting that drug use is a joking or trivial matter. This helps to explain why …

Challenges To China's Natural Resources Conservation And Biodiversity Legislation, Jason J. Czarnezki

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Despite China's legislative attempts to conserve its natural resources and in turn protect biodiversity, Chinese law in many aspects remains ineffective in pursuit of these goals due to struggles with implementation, enforcement, and insufficient public participation, as well as legislative prioritization of economic values over ecological ones. This Article provides an overview of biodiversity and conservation legislation in China, and suggests that China can improve this legislation by increasing the public's role in conservation efforts, increasing liability and enforcement mechanisms, and improving administrative coordination.

University Imprimaturs On Student Speech: The Certification Cases, Emily Gold Waldman

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The Article begins in Part I by describing these three student speech cases and then examining what makes them a distinct category within the larger student speech landscape. As I discuss, the student speech framework was largely developed by the Supreme Court in the K-12 public school context. Conflicts over student speech in universities, in turn, have generally centered on the extent to which the K-12 framework should carry over to the higher education context, given the greater independence and maturity of university students. Recent cases about universities' ability to control student publications, for example, fall into this mold, with …

Privacy Laws And Privacy Levers: Online Surveillance Versus Economic Development In The People’S Republic Of China, Ann Bartow

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This Essay describes and contextualizes the ongoing efforts by the Communist Party of China (CPC) to reconcile two dramatically competing interests: the desire to extensively monitor the communications of its citizenry, and a burning ambition to further develop its banking and financial industries, its high tech innovation capabilities, and its overall share of the “knowledge economy.”

Monitoring and censoring communications, especially via “one-to-many” social networking platforms, is viewed as essential for the prevention of mass anti-Party political activities ranging from peaceful civil disobedience to armed insurrection and for the protection of the reputations of individual Party leaders. Mobile Internet technologies …

Is Sugar The New Tobacco? How To Regulate Toxic Foods, Barbara L. Atwell

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This article explores the health risks associated with added sugar. It then examines how, if at all, sugar should be regulated, by considering tobacco regulation as a possible model. Part I identifies the health risks of sugar consumption. Part II examines the reasons why sugar is added to so much of our food supply. Part III provides an overview of tobacco regulation, including educational initiatives, warning labels, advertising restrictions, age limitations, and taxes. Finally, Part IV provides a framework for sugar regulation, suggesting that most of the foregoing laws designed to discourage tobacco use should, with the exception of age …