Law Commons^™

Bias And Misrepresentation Of Science Undermines Productive Discourse On Animal Welfare Policy: A Case Study, Kelly Jaakkola, Jason N. Bruck, Richard C. Connor, Stephen H. Montgomery, Stephanie L. King

Faculty Publications

Reliable scientific knowledge is crucial for informing legislative, regulatory, and policy decisions in a variety of areas. To that end, scientific reviews of topical issues can be invaluable tools for informing productive discourse and decision-making, assuming these reviews represent the target body of scientific knowledge as completely, accurately, and objectively as possible. Unfortunately, not all reviews live up to this standard. As a case in point, Marino et al.’s review regarding the welfare of killer whales in captivity contains methodological flaws and misrepresentations of the scientific literature, including problematic referencing, overinterpretation of the data, misleading word choice, and biased argumentation. …

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 …

Your View: ‘Do Not Track’ Should Apply To Drivers, Too, Hillary B. Farber

Faculty Publications

Location tracking data can reveal quite a bit of information about a person when it is all pieced together. Just by knowing where and when a person frequents certain places we can know about his/her recreational habits, religious affiliations, professional affiliations, relationship status, personal health and hygiene, social preferences and contacts, and so much more. That is why it is so important to regulate the use of location tracking technology. There are a variety of efforts afoot to rein in government use of such technology – this op-ed is concerned with automated license plate readers.

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

Faculty Publications

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 …

Representation Reinforcement: A Legislative Solution To A Legislative Process Problem, Anita S. Krishnakumar

Faculty Publications

One of the most valuable—and disturbing—insights offered by public choice theory has been the recognition that wealthy, well-organized interests with narrow, intense preferences often dominate the legislative process while diffuse, unorganized interests go under-represented. Responding to this insight, legal scholars in the fields of statutory interpretation and administrative law have suggested that the solution to the problem of representational inequality lies with the courts. Indeed, over the past two decades, scholars in these fields have offered up a host of John Hart Ely-inspired representation reinforcing "canons of construction," designed to encourage judges to use their role as statutory interpreters to …

Evaluating Katrina: A Snapshot Of Renters’ Rights Following Disasters, Eloisa Rodriguez-Dod, Olympia Duhart

Faculty Publications

Hurricane Katrina destroyed the homes of many people living in parts of the Gulf Region. The storm displaced as many as 800,000 victims and it is still difficult for them to return home. Consequently, many homeowners have turned to renting because of the slow recovery process. Renters face added difficulties; they are often the last in line for government benefits and other assistance. There is much hostility towards the rights of renters, creating even more difficulties for them.

This article focuses on the difficulties evacuee renters faced in New Orleans following the disaster. This article discusses legislation and attempted legislation …

Towards A Madisonian, Interest-Group-Based, Approach To Lobbying Regulation, Anita S. Krishnakumar

Faculty Publications

Recent lobbying scandals involving Jack Abramoff and Representative Tom DeLay have created a much-needed impetus for legislative reform of the lobbying process. But the question cries out: Will Congress actually enact any of the multitude of reform proposals currently on the table, and if it does, will any of those reforms make a difference in how the lobbying process operates? History suggests that the answer is "no."

This Article examines the reasons for Congress's persistent failure to enact effective lobbying reform and posits that the primary cause is an underlying disjunct between legislators' and the public's views about the value …

The Case Against Private Disparate Impact Suits, Thom Lambert

Faculty Publications

This article argues that the Third Circuit, and the courts that have implicitly approved private disparate impact suits, have erred in construing Title VI to permit private plaintiffs to sue federally funded entities for discrimination based on disparate impact alone. From a policy standpoint, permitting private disparate impact suits is a bad idea, for the threat of such suits will lead to deterrence of actions and decisions that have incidental disparate effects but are, on the whole, good.

Harming Future Persons: Obligations To The Children Of Reproductive Technology, Philip G. Peters Jr.

Faculty Publications

Two paradigms dominate contemporary ethical and legal debate about the risks posed to children who owe their lives to reproductive technology. One asks whether the children have lives so tragic that life itself is harmful. The other approach asks whether children so conceived are likely to enjoy a minimally decent existence. Although the two approaches have quite different analytic foundations, they share one crucial trait. Each concludes that children who owe their lives to reproductive technology are harmed only when that technology causes genuinely catastrophic injuries.Because these conventional paradigms define harmful conduct exclusively by reference to the magnitude of the …

The Illusion Of Autonomy At The End Of Life: Unconsented Life Support And The Wrongful Life Analogy, Philip G. Peters Jr.

Faculty Publications

Overwhelming evidence indicates that physicians routinely ignore patient preferences about life-sustaining care. Yet, the ability of wrongfully treated patients to recover compensatory damages has recently been placed in doubt. Both courts and commentators have suggested that actions for unconsented life support are analogous to actions for wrongful life and should, for that reason, be rejected. In this article, Professor Philip Peters argues that the obvious similarity between the two kinds of claims is overshadowed by many factors that distinguish the two settings. As a result, Professor Peters concludes that a physician who wrongfully administers life-sustaining care over the objections of …

Breathe Deeply: The Tort Of Smokers' Battery, Irene Scharf

Faculty Publications

This Article explores the long and faltering history of attempts to impose liability on tobacco product manufactures. Part II traces the manufacturers' historical and current actions of targeting youth through both promotions and deceptive advertising. Part III argues in favor of an expanded cause of action against the manufacturers for the intentional tort of battery. Part IV discusses the prospect of awards of punitive damages in these cases, and the Epilogue summarizes other advantages of the battery cause of action.

Criminal Discovery In Oklahoma: A Call For Legislative Action, Rodney J. Uphoff

Faculty Publications

This article first explores the Allen decision and the extent to which Allen changed the law of criminal discovery in Oklahoma. Next, the article examines some of the theoretical and practical problems with the Allen procedures as well as the efforts of the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals to address some of the troublesome questions generated by Allen. Finally, the article discusses the need to replace the Allen provisions with a legislative framework that facilitates pretrial access to information and minimizes “trial ambush,” but without compromising the fair and efficient operation of the adversary system.