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Symposium Reflections: A Rulemaking Perspective, Edward H. Cooper

Mercer Law Review

These reflections seek to situate this most excellent Symposium in the rulemaking process. All contributors are working with an eye to that process. Their goal is to achieve a better understanding of how offer-of-judgment rules actually work in practice. The major focus is on Rule 68 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure as it has affected practice in actions brought under fee-shifting statutes, but Professor Yoon's article adds insights into state practice in the very different world of automobile accident claims. There is no reason to attempt to summarize or synthesize the papers or discussions that stand so well …

Pennsylvania State Police V. Suders, Letoyia C. Brooks

Mercer Law Review

In Pennsylvania State Police v. Suders, the United States Supreme Court reached two conclusions. First, the Court wrote that an employee who resigns as a result of sexual harassment may assert a Title VII constructive discharge claim where the employee can show that the "working conditions became so intolerable that a reasonable person in the employee's position would have felt compelled to resign." Second, the Court held that an employer may assert the affirmative defense established in Burlington Industries, Inc. v. Ellerth and Faragher v. City of Boca Raton, ("Ellerth/Faragher") in a situation where an employee …

What Is Islamic Law?, Feisal Abdul Rauf

Mercer Law Review

The Fifth Annual John E. James Distinguished Lecture
September 20, 2005

Padgett V. Donald: Why Not So Special, Victoriya Kulik

Mercer Law Review

In Padgett v. Donald, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously held that a state statute, permitting compelled collection of saliva samples from incarcerated felons for DNA profiling, does not violate the federal Constitution's Fourth Amendment, the search and seizure provisions of the state constitution, or the felons' rights to privacy under the federal or state constitutions. The circuits are split whether to apply the special needs analysis or the balancing test to DNA profiling statutes. In this case of first impression for the circuit, the Eleventh Circuit applied the balancing test. This decision is important because it opens …

Police Pursuits: A Comprehensive Look At The Broad Spectrum Of Police Pursuit Liability And Law, Patrick T. O'Connor, William L. Norse Jr.

Mercer Law Review

Law enforcement's need to pursue criminal suspects has existed, in all probability, since the first laws were ever written. From the days of travel by foot, to horse, and now in the age of motorized transportation, however, one thing has become clear: police pursuits can be extremely dangerous. In 2003 there were an estimated 35,000 police pursuits across the United States. Nearly forty percent of those pursuits, or 14,000, resulted in crashes. Of that number at least half resulted in injuries. Additionally, there were 350 pursuit-related fatalities. Of these fatalities, approximately one-third were innocent bystander deaths. A particularly challenging component …

Table Of Cases

Mercer Law Review

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Mercer Law Review

No abstract provided.

Holy Moses: What Do We Do With The Ten Commandments?, Haynes Maier, Eric R. Mull

Mercer Law Review

In McCreary County v. ACLU, the United States Supreme Court held displays of the Ten Commandments in two county courthouses unconstitutional because the displays violated the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution. However, in Van Orden v. Perry, the United States Supreme Court held that a display of the Ten Commandments on the Texas State Capitol grounds did not violate the Establishment Clause. This obvious contradiction does little to resolve the uncertainty of current Establishment Clause jurisprudence. In McCreary the Court reaffirmed the Establishment Clause test articulated in Lemon v. Kurtzman, while at the same time …

Death Penalty Law, Holly Geerdes, Nikki Cox

Mercer Law Review

This Article surveys fifteen death penalty decisions of the United States Supreme Court from June 1, 2004 through June 20, 2005. It was written as a companion to Death Penalty Law, a survey of death penalty decisions of the Georgia Supreme Court from June 1, 2004 through May 31, 2005. Focusing on the Court's decisions that affect the trial and appeal of death penalty cases, this Article, with some exceptions, does not concern holdings in capital cases that are common to other criminal appeals.

Analyze This: Using Taxonomies To "Scaffold" Students' Legal Thinking And Writing Skills, Christine M. Venter

Mercer Law Review

Legal Writing

Many legal writing teachers speak glibly about training their students to think like lawyers, but have not necessarily tailored their pedagogy to meet that goal. If teachers are not clear and explicit in how they go about teaching students analytical skills, they cannot necessarily expect students to become experts in analysis. While it is true that over the course of their law school careers, most students will develop legal analytical skills through exposure to the law and by means of the Socratic method; teachers can do better. Lawyers pride themselves on precision. This Article argues that legal writing …

Tax Terrorism: Nasty Truths About Investor Control Theory And The Accommodation Of Social Security Privatization, Bobby Lewis Dexter

Mercer Law Review

While American taxpayers spend the vast majority of their tax lives shouldering the monetary burden of the prevailing progressive tax scheme, Congress will, periodically, lighten the load and extend the warm hand of legislative grace. New deductions, creative tax credits, and outright reductions in income tax rates are not uncommon, and in fact, political motivations have long fueled an aggressive interest in the modification of federal tax rules to curry favor with large segments of the population. The protection of retirement savings from the burden of immediate taxation is a special congressional favorite.6 In addition to easing the tax burden …

What's The Use? The Court Takes A Stance On The Public Use Doctrine In Kelo V. City Of New London, Randy J. Bates Ii

Mercer Law Review

By a 5-4 vote in Kelo v. City of New London, the United States Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of public takings for the purpose of private economic development under the Fifth Amendment's Public Use Clause. In holding that the takings were valid, the Court concluded that it must defer to the state legislature's judgment because the takings were beneficial to the public and were within the state's police power.