Law Commons^™

It’S Not A Small World After All: Regulating Obesity Globally, Eloisa Rodriguez-Dod

Eloisa C Rodríguez-Dod

The rate of obesity and overweight among the world population has increased dramatically over the past several years in both adults and children. Childhood obesity is a critical health care concern. There have been well-publicized efforts to regulate children‘s obesity both in the U.S. and abroad through such measures as mandated nutritional school lunch programs. This article focuses, however, on a less examined area of regulation—the recent worldwide efforts to curb obesity among adults. The regulations discussed in this article include measures proposed or adopted by either administrative agencies or legislative bodies, whether on a local or national level. The …

Jurisdictional Standards (And Rules), Adam I. Muchmore

Adam I. Muchmore

This Article uses the jurisprudential dichotomy between two opposing types of legal requirements — “rules” and “standards” — to examine extraterritorial regulation by the United States. It argues that there is natural push toward standards in extraterritorial regulation because numerous institutional actors either see standards as the best option in extraterritorial regulation or accept standards as a second-best option when their first choice (a rule favorable to their interests or their worldview) is not feasible. The Article explores several reasons for this push toward standards, including: statutory text, statutory interpretation theories, the nonbinary nature of the domestic/foreign characterization, the tendency …

The Neomercantilist Fallacy And The Contextual Reality Of The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Philip Nichols

Philip M. Nichols

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act is domestic legislation and should be analyzed as such. This article addresses a persistent failure in analysis of the Act, by scholars and policymakers alike. Many discussions of the Act approach it from a neomercantilist perspective. This approach contains three flaws. First, whereas neomercantilism envisions manipulation of the market to give advantage to national champion industries, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act was adopted for the purpose of strengthening and enhancing the integrity of the global market. A neomercantilist perspective is contrary to the purpose of the Act. Second, this article shows that neomercantilism fundamentally misunderstands …

Racking Up The Money: A Solution To The Ongoing Battle Between Rico And The Revenue Rule, Kye C. Handy

Kye C Handy

The Revenue Rule, a common law rule from British court systems, prevents foreign countries from bringing claims in the United States to enforce or adjudicate tax claims that did not happen in the United States. The Supreme Court in Pasquantino v. United States held that Canada’s right to collect imported liquor taxes was not barred by the Revenue Rule. However, the Second Circuit in European Community v. RJR Nabisco Inc., ruled the European Union and Colombia could not recover lost tax money or enforcement costs from cigarette smuggling under RICO because of the Revenue Rule. The European Community petitioned the …

Enforcement Of Foreign Restraining Orders, Stefan D. Cassella

Stefan D Cassella

Legislation in the United States now permits the federal courts to register and enforce orders issued by foreign courts for the purpose of preserving assets that are subject to forfeiture under foreign law.

This article discusses the problems the United States encountered when it first attempted to enact and apply legisation designed to facilitate the enforcement of foreign asset-preservation orders, the remedial legislation enacted to address those problems, and the recent success the U.S. government has had under the new legislation in restraining assets at the request of foreign courts so that they may be forfeited under foreign law.

The President, The Environment, And Foreign Policy: The Globalization Of Environmental Politics, David A. Wirth

David A. Wirth

By comparison with domestic environmental issues, international environmental diplomacy is distinguished by the far greater role of the Executive Branch, and in particular the President, in making law. This essay explores the legal consequences of the President's dual role in international environmental diplomacy: his duty faithfully to execute statutory mandates adopted by Congress while also serving as the Nation's chief diplomat and negotiator of international agreements with foreign powers. The piece discusses the legal and policy dynamics surrounding two concrete examples affecting domestic and international environmental policy, in which Presidential power assumes dramatically different forms: (1) climate change, and in …

Sovereignty And The American Courts At The Cocktail Party Of International Law: The Dangers Of Domestic Invocations Of Foreign And International Law, Donald J. Kochan

Donald J. Kochan

With increasing frequency and heightened debate, United States courts have been citing foreign and “international” law as authority for domestic decisions. This trend is inappropriate, undemocratic, and dangerous. The trend touches on fundamental concepts of sovereignty, democracy, the judicial role, and overall issues of effective governance. There are multiple problems with the judiciary’s reliance on extraterritorial and extra-constitutional foreign or international sources to guide their decisions. Perhaps the most fundamental flaw is its interference with rule of law values. To borrow from Judge Harold Levanthal, the use of international sources in judicial decision-making might be described as “the equivalent of …

Clueless: The Misuse Of Batf Firearms Tracing Data, David B. Kopel

David B Kopel

Sometimes the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms traces the registered sales history of a gun which was used in a crime, or which has been seized by the police. Traced guns are not representative of the broader universe of crime guns. Accordingly, drawing public policy conclusions based on tracing data is unwise.