Law Commons^™

Gender Inequality In Contracts Casebooks: Representations Of Women In The Contracts Curriculum, Deborah Zalesne

FIU Law Review

Gender has always explicitly or implicitly played a critical role in contracting and in contracts opinions—from the early nineteenth century, when married women lacked the legal capacity altogether to contract, through the next century, when women gained the right to contract but continued to lack bargaining power and to be disadvantaged in the bargaining process in many cases, to today, when women are present in greater numbers in business and commerce, but face continued, yet less overt, obstacles. Typical casebooks provide ample offerings for discussions of the ways in which parties can be and have been disadvantaged because of their …

The Application Of Law As A Key To Understanding Judicial Independence, Tahirih V. Lee

FIU Law Review

Judges across China recently declined to apply a law that the National People’s Congress had newly brought into effect. In this article, I describe this startling finding and explore the significance of it. I conclude that it represents an exercise of judicial independence. Using a thickly descriptive approach that focuses on textual analysis and institutional context, I demonstrate that judges in China have no legal duty to apply law and that it is professionally risky for them to apply law; that judges there operate within a professional culture that encourages restraint; and that the court system has developed a strong …

You'll Grow Into It: How Federal And State Courts Have Erred In Excluding Persons Under Twenty-One From 'The People' Protected By The Second Amendment, Ryder Gaenz

FIU Law Review

After more than two centuries of jurisprudential stillness, the United States Supreme Court undertook the task of discerning the Second Amendment’s meaning in District of Columbia v. Heller, holding that the Second Amendment protects the individual right to self-defense. Since Heller, the lower courts have grappled with determining the scope of the Second Amendment. One question of scope—the subject of this piece—is at what age does a person come within the scope of the Second Amendment’s protections? Some federal and state courts have suggested, and in some cases held, that persons under twenty-one do not enjoy Second Amendment rights. However, …

"Covid-19 Was The Publicist For Homeschooling" And States Need To Finally Take Homeschooling Regulations Seriously Post-Pandemic, Kristia Hoffman

FIU Law Review

Homeschooling was rapidly growing in the U.S. even before COVID-19. The pandemic accelerated this growth by quickly exposing nearly every American family to homeschooling in some form. The pandemic has ushered in a new age of homeschooling characterized by flexibility, technology, collaboration, and alternative forms of schooling beyond the traditional parent-teaching-child framework. Although the Supreme Court has never recognized a fundamental right of parents to homeschool their children, it has repeatedly recognized that parents have the right to direct their children’s education and to choose to educate them in the way they deem fit. There is debate as to what …

Contemporary Crises In Cuba: Economic, Political, And Social, Silvia Pedraza, Carlos Romero

FIU Law Review

In this paper my co-author and I will present the various crises that are taking place in Cuba at present: economic, political, and cultural. We rely on published data, such as the GDP, as well as materials from in-depth interviews and participant observation.

The Distribution Of Justices' Votes And Countering National Disunity, Nicholas L. Georgakopoulos

FIU Law Review

The estimation of the distribution that matches the voting of the justices of the Supreme Court shows that voting is correlated and reveals three phenomena: an outlier distribution produced by one composition of the Court, the surprising frequency of unanimous decisions, and the intensity with which the Court avoids 4–4 decisions. The intensity with which the Court avoids 4–4 splits and the strength of the drive to produce unanimous decisions seem sensitive to national disunity. At times of greater disunity, 1965 to 1975 and 2001 to 2020, the Court avoids 4–4 splits more intensely and has a greater fraction of …

Against Imperial Arbitrators: The Brilliance Of Canada's New Model Investment Treaty, Charles H. Brower Ii

FIU Law Review

Investment treaty arbitration has become politically “toxic” even in states that pioneered the development of investment treaties. There is consensus on the need for reform. But there is a dearth of historical research on what went wrong with investment treaties, when it happened, or how to find the way forward in light of the past. As a result, reform efforts have a stumbling quality. One can see this in multilateral fora, such as the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), where over four years of study and negotiations have produced little consensus. One can also see it in …

America’S Fraught Relationship With Privacy, Russell L. Weaver

FIU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Mysterious Ways, Lawrence M. Friedman

FIU Law Review

The “mystery” or “detective” novel originated in the first half of the 19th century, and quickly became extremely popular. Its origins betray changes in English and American society—the same changes that led to innovations in criminal justice, especially the creation of detective squads in the big cities. The goal of the detective was to expose secret crime—crimes committed by confidence men, and others who worked in the shadows. Thousands and thousands of detective novels have been written; they are extremely varied; but they tend to share one common trait: they turn on the problem of hidden personal identities, which the …

The Road To Bostock, John Towers Rice

FIU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Why The Dea & Not The Fda? Revisiting The Regulation Of Potentially Addictive Substances, Taleed El-Sabawi

Faculty Publications

In addressing the opioid overdose crisis, Congress has explicitly questioned its historic reliance on a criminal justice approach to problem drug use and has instead adopted a more health-oriented approach. Despite Congress' rhetoric, the DEA, a criminal justice agency, continues to retain the power to make key decisions on the classification of potentially-addictive substances, thereby affecting their manufacture, distribution, and overall availability. While the DEA is statutorily required to defer to the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”), a public health agency, at junctions of the decision-making process, the current “split enforcement” scheme laid out in the statutes has not actualized …

The Role Of Pressure Groups And Problem Definition In Crafting Legislative Solutions To The Opioid Crisis, Taleed El-Sabawi

Faculty Publications

Organized interest groups and federal administrative agencies have historically been influential in defining problem drug use during nationwide crisis. As such, the manner in which these pressure groups defined the problem may have influenced or, at least, provided support for legislators’ decisions to shy away from a criminal justice approach and towards acceptance of a more “health-oriented” — one that did not comprehensively address demand factors or demonstrate a commitment to reforming U.S. drug policy to meet international standards of best practice. In an effort to provide a snapshot of what such involvement may look like, this article explores the …

The Ilc’S Past Practice On Progressive Development And Codification Of International Law—An Empirical Analysis Focusing On The Law Of The Sea, Law Of Treaties And State Responsibility, Patrícia Galvão Teles

FIU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Codification And Progressive Development Of International Law: A Legislative History Of Article 13(1)(A) Of The Charter Of The United Nations, Arnold N. Pronto

FIU Law Review

No abstract provided.

What Motivates Legislators To Act: Problem Definition & The Opioid Epidemic, A Case Study, Taleed El-Sabawi

Faculty Publications

This article explores why federal legislators may have been motivated to treat the current opioid crisis as a health issue, when past drug problems have been treated as a criminal justice issue. Using theories from political science, policy studies and sociology, this article summarizes leading theories of legislative behavior and applies them to the current opioid crisis, in an effort to better understand what motivates legislators to enact legislation to solve pressing social problems in a way that reframes the problem. Part II of this article provides an overview of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, its significance, and how …

Léon Duguit And The Social Function Of Property In Argentina, M. C. Mirow

Faculty Publications

Despite its early introduction to Argentina in 1911, the doctrine of the social function of property was not quickly appropriated into the Argentine legal system. Only after a period of more than thirty-five years did this concept of property find expression in this country through the Constitution of 1949, the Peronist constitution drafted under the guidance of the Arturo Enrique Sampay. Duguit's writings formed part of a broader understanding of the social function of property that was informed by various scholars and sources, and particularly by works on Christian humanism and the social doctrine of the Roman Catholic church. Although …

Defining The Opioid Epidemic: Congress, Pressure Groups, And Problem Definition, Taleed El-Sabawi

Faculty Publications

The passage of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016 evidences a shift in federal legislative support from criminal justice oriented legislative alternatives to more health oriented legislative alternatives to addressing the ongoing Opioid Epidemic. Such a shift was preceded by a redefinition of problem drug use in the policy discourse from an issue of deviancy to a health issue. However, the redefinition of problem drug use as a health issue, has been dominated by policy narratives and causal stories that do not define problem drug use in a manner that aligns with a multi-modal public health oriented legislative …

The History Of The Florida Supreme Court, M C. Mirow

Faculty Publications

This article describes the challenges to writing the history of Florida's colonial courts in the Spanish and British periods from 1513 to 1821. These courts are an important yet understudied aspect of Florida legal history.

Law In East Florida 1783-1821, M C. Mirow

Faculty Publications

Using primary sources from the East Florida Papers, this article explores colonial legality in St. Augustine and the Province of East Florida during the second Spanish period from 1783 to 1821. In addition to discussing the promulgation of the Constitution of Cádiz and its effects, the article reaches into legal records dealing with civil and testamentary cases to explore and to describe aspects of private law in this North American Spanish colony. Economic and social relations are revealed in the sources that are rich in legal information concerning slavery, family, religion, trade, and landholding. The article concludes that the sources …

The Age Of Constitutions In The Americas, M C. Mirow

Faculty Publications

The late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries have been aptly called the “Age of Codifications.” The same period was also the Age of Constitutions. Although a great deal is known about the migration of prenational and transnational legal sources and ideas that led to national codes of civil and criminal law in Europe and the Americas, much less is known about similar processes on the constitutional level. Constitutional historians have been more parochial than their private law counterparts, most likely because of the relationship between constitutions and nations. In the light of independence, nations immediately needed constitutions to solidify gains and …

Pre-Constitutional Law And Constitutions: Spanish Colonial Law And The Constitution Of Cádiz, M C. Mirow

Faculty Publications

This article contributes to the intellectual and legal history of this constitutional document. It also provides a close study of how pre-constitutional laws are employed in writing constitutions. It examines the way Spanish colonial law, known as "derecho indiano" in Spanish, was used in the process of drafting the Constitution and particularly the way these constitutional activities and provisions related to the Americas. The article asserts that this pre-constitutional law was used in three distinct ways: as general knowledge related to the Americas and their institutions; as a source for providing a particular answer to a specific legal question; and …

The Constitution Of Cádiz In Florida, M C. Mirow

Faculty Publications

The article explores the vibrant constitutional community that existed in St. Augustine and the province of East Florida in the final decade of Spanish control of the area. Based on relatively unexplored primary sources, it reveals a great deal of unknown information about the importance of the Constitution in Florida immediately before the territory was transferred to the United States. The article provides full description of the Constitution's promulgation in 1812 and a second promulgation of the Constitution in 1820 (something unknown in the general literature). It also addresses the construction of the St. Augustine monument to the Constitution erected …

Florida's First Constitution, M C. Mirow

Faculty Books

The central square of St. Augustine, Florida, the Plaza de la Constitución, is not named for the United States Constitution. Instead, its name comes from Florida’s first constitution, the Spanish Constitution of Cádiz of 1812. Daily political life in Florida’s Spanish colonial cities was governed by this document, and cities like St. Augustine ordered their activities around the requirements, rights, and duties expressed in this constitution. The Constitution of Cádiz was the first truly transatlantic constitution because it applied to the entire Spanish empire, of which St. Augustine and Pensacola were just a part. It was drafted by representatives from …

Marbury In Mexico: Judicial Review’S Precocious Southern Migration, M C. Mirow

Faculty Publications

In attempting to construct United States-style judicial review for the Mexican Supreme Court in the 1880s, Ignacio Vallarta, president of the court, read Marbury in a way that preceded this use of the case in the United States. Using this surprising fact as a central example, this article makes several important contributions to the field of comparative constitutional law. The work demonstrates that through constitutional migration, novel readings of constitutional sources can arise in foreign fora. In an era when the United States Supreme Court may be accused of parochialism in its constitutional analysis, the article addresses the current controversy …

The Code Napoléon, Buried But Ruling In Latin America, M C. Mirow

Faculty Publications

Following Maitland's famous observation on the place of the forms of action in English law at the beginning of the twentieth century, this essay argues that the Code Napoleon has had a similar effect on Latin American law. It examines various factors that have served to bury the Code and those that have served to continue its rule in Latin America. For Latin America, the author paraphrases Maitland to assert that the Code Napoleon we have buried, but it still rules us from its grave.

Compelled Expression And The Public Forum Doctrine, Howard M. Wasserman

Faculty Publications

This Article analyzes the theory underlying the Fist Amendment protection against being compelled by government to utter, present, or fund unwanted expression. The author creates a three-part model for determining when the fire speech rights of an objecting payer have been triggered. Under that model, First Amendment rights are implicated when there has been an actual government compulsion requiring an individual to give money to, or for the express benefit of, a specific private speaker for some use that, in itself, should be understood as expressive. This model strikes a necessary balance between the important theoretical underpinnings of the protection …

Civil Rights And Civil Liberties In A Crisis: A Few Pages Of History, Thomas E. Baker

Faculty Publications

Tribute to Judge Procter Hug of the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, based on a talk adapted from Thomas E. Baker's At War With the Constitution: A History Lesson from the Chief Justice, 14 BYU J. Pub.L. 69 (1999).

It is but a truism that the powers of the government are greatest when the Nation is at war. All of our wartime Commanders-in-Chief have conducted themselves based on this belief. For its part, the Supreme Court has acquiesced in draconian measures undertaken by the Executive that would not be permitted during peacetime. The lasting problem …

Latin American Legal History: Some Essential Spanish Terms, M C. Mirow

Faculty Publications

Terms related to Latin American legal history translated into English.

The Riddle Of Harmless Error In Michigan, Elizabeth Price Foley, Robert M. Filiatrault

Faculty Publications

Examines the harmless error rule as interpreted by Michigan case law.

The Power Of Codification In Latin America: Simón Bolívar And The Code Napoléon, M C. Mirow

Faculty Publications

Codification can be an effective means to centralize and to consolidate state power. The use of codification in this manner runs against the commonly perceived notion that it promotes republican and egalitarian values. As Simon Bolivar's dictatorship quickly crumbled around him, he turned to codification based on the Code Napoleon as part of an attempt to unify Gran Colombia. Factors leading him to this undertaking and source were the need for legal reform, his emulation of Napoleon, his exposure to the works of Jeremy Bentham, and, speculatively, the influence of Andres Bello. Boivar's attempt at codification was not to complete …