Law Commons^™

Loan Guarantees, Israeli Settlements, And Middle East Peace, John Quigley

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Professor Quigley questions whether the United States should guarantee loans for Israel in light of Israel's continued occupation of the West Bank. The author believes that Israel's policies of displacing the local Palestinian population and transferring its own population into the West Bank violate the Geneva Civilian's Convention and the accepted principles of belligerent occupation. Consequently, Mr. Quigley argues that any aid the United States gives Israel might facilitate these illegitimate activities and make the aid grant itself an illegal act in the eyes of the international community. Professor Quigley concludes that the United States support of Israel's settlement activities …

Competition Among Municipalities As A Constraint On Land Use Exactions, Stewart E. Sterk

Vanderbilt Law Review

Even before the Supreme Court decided Nollan v. California Coastal Commission,' courts and scholars debated the wisdom and constitutionality of land use exactions and impact fees-government-imposed charges on the right to develop land. Many municipalities have long required developers to finance infrastructure improvements.s Fiscally drained municipalities, particularly big cities, had begun to use, or to consider using, exactions or their close cousins, "linkage" programs, as a means to finance a wider variety of government services.

The controversy these fees have generated reflects more general concerns about financing local government. Municipalities and their defenders justify exactions and impact fees as necessary …

Book Review: U.S. Energy And Environmental Interest Groups By Lettie Wenner, Tracey E. George

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Interest groups have played a dominant if not determinative role in the "greening of America." Thus, that Lettie Wenner, a political scientist who has devoted much of her career to studying environmental issues (The Environmental Decade (1982) and One Environment Under Law (1976)), should publish a compendium describing such groups is an occasion for optimism. And, indeed, she does provide a useful reference tool for those seeking basic descriptions of these groups; yet, unfortunately, she does not offer a thorough or critical understanding of how they operate.