Law Commons^™

Regulation And Business Behavior, Neil Gunningham, Robert Kagan

Robert Kagan

Presents an introduction to various articles and issues discussed in the April 1, 2005 issue of the journal "Law and Policy."

General Deterrence And Corporate Environmental Behavior, Dorothy Thornton, Neil Gunningham, Robert Kagan

Robert Kagan

This research addresses the assumption that“general deterrence” is an important key to enhanced compliance with regulatory laws. Through a survey of 233 firms in several industries in the United States, we sought to answer the following questions: (1) When severe legal penalties are imposed against a violator of environmental laws, do other companies in the same industry actually learn about such“signal cases”? (2) Does knowing about“signal cases” change firms’ compliance-related behavior? It was found that only 42 percent of respondents could identify the“signal case,” but 89 percent could identify some enforcement actions against other firms, and 63 percent of firms …

The Next Los Angeles: The Struggle For A Livable City, Regina Freer, Robert Gottlieb, Mark Vallianatos, Peter Dreier

Mark Vallianatos

While most historians, journalists, and filmmakers have focused on Los Angeles as a bastion of corporate greed, business boosterism, political corruption, cheap labor, exploited immigrants, and unregulated sprawl, The Next Los Angeles tells a different story: that of the reformers and radicals who have struggled for alternative visions of social and economic justice. In a new preface, the authors reflect on the gathering momentum of L.A.'s progressive movement, including the 2005 landslide victory of Antonio Villaraigosa as mayor.

Motivating Management: Corporate Compliance In Environmental Protection, Neil Gunningham, Dorothy Thornton, Robert Kagan

Robert Kagan

Based on interviews with facility managers in the electroplating and chemical industries, this study examines regulated firms’ perceptions of how various instrumental, normative, and social factors motivated their firms’ environmental actions. We found that“implicit general deterrence” (the overall effect of sustained inspection and enforcement activity) was far more important than either specific or general deterrence, and that deterrence in any form was of far greater concern to small and medium-sized enterprises than it was to large ones. Most reputation-sensitive firms in the environmentally sensitive chemical industry chose to go substantially beyond compliance for reasons that related to risk management and …

Responding To Foreclosures In Cuyahoga County: An Assessment Of Progress, Alan Weinstein, Kathryn Hexter, Molly Schnoke

Kathryn W. Hexter

In August 2006, Cleveland State University was asked to conduct an initial assessment of the Cuyahoga County Commissioners' Report and Recommendations on Foreclosure that would assist the county in planning for future phases of the project. This report presents the findings of this initial assessment of the first 18 months of the initiative. It documents the process undertaken by the county, assesses the progress made toward reaching goals, identifies successes and concerns, and offers some preliminary recommendations about program operations. It also offers suggestions for a more formal evaluation process going forward

Responding To Foreclosures In Cuyahoga County: A Pilot Initiative, Interim Report, Alan Weinstein, Kathryn Hexter, Molly Schnoke

Kathryn W. Hexter

The Center for Civic Education and the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law released their report, on May 12, 2008. The report, prepared for the Cuyahoga County Board of Commissioners, is an assessment of the County's comprehensive approach to addressing foreclosures on two levels: 1) Making foreclosure proceedings faster and fairer and 2) Creating an early intervention program to help residents prevent foreclosure.

All Americans Not Equal: Mistrust And Discrimination Against Naturalized Citizens In The U.S., Alev Dudek

Alev Dudek

Workshop | Body Worn Video Recorders: The Socio-Technical Implications Of Gathering Direct Evidence, Katina Michael, Alexander Hayes

Alexander Hayes Mr.

- From in-car video recording to body-worn video recording

- Exploring available technologies: how do they work, pros and cons

- Storing direct evidence in secure storage: factors to consider

- Citizens “shooting” back with POV tech – what are their rights?

- Crowdsourced sousveillance- harnessing public data for forensic profiling

- Police force policies and practices on the application of new media

Endogenous Research And Development And Intellectual Property Laws In Developed And Emerging Economies, Aniruddha Bagchi, Abhra Roy

Abhra Roy

The incentive of providing protection of intellectual property has been analyzed both for an emerging economy and for a developed economy. The optimal patent length and the optimal patent breadth within a country are found to be positively related to each other for a fixed structure of laws abroad. Moreover, a country can respond to stronger patent protection abroad by weakening its patent protection under certain circumstances and by strengthening its patent protection under other circumstances. These results depend on the curvature of the research-and-development production function. Finally, we investigate the impact of an increase in the willingness to pay …

War Against Muslims Post 9/11?, Alev Dudek

Alev Dudek

Total Recall: A Demand For Accountability From Elected Officials., Chiehwen Ed Hsu

Chiehwen Ed Hsu

Efforts by the public to unseat an underperforming legislator on February 14 are the first steps in a campaign seeking to make all politicians more accountable.

Better Inputs For Better Outcomes: Using The Interface To Improve E-Rulemaking, Cynthia Farina, Claire Cardie, Thomas Bruce, Erica Wagner

Cynthia R. Farina

We believe that e-rulemaking does indeed have potential to increase both the transparency of, and participation in, regulatory policymaking. We argue in this paper that this potential can be realized only if the public interface at www.regulations.gov is substantially redesigned.

The Value Of Words: Narrative As Evidence In Policymaking, Dmitry Epstein, Josiah Heidt, Cynthia Farina

Cynthia R. Farina

Policymakers today rely primarily on statistical, financial, and other forms of technical data as their basis for decision-making. Yet, there is a potentially underestimated value in substantive reflections of the members of the public who will be affected by a particular piece of regulation. We discuss the value of narratives as input in the policy making process, based on our experience with Regulation Room–a product of an interdisciplinary initiative using innovative web technologies in real-time online experimentation. We describe professional policymakers and professional commenters as a community of practice that has limited shared repertoire with the lay members of the …

Voting By Elderly Persons With Cognitive Impairment: Lessons From Other Democratic Nations, Jason Karlawish, Richard Bonnie

Jason Karlawish

No abstract provided.

Financial Security Scorecard: A State-By-State Analysis Of Economic Pressures Facing Future Retirees, Christian Weller, Nari Rhee, Carolyn Arcand

Christian Weller

As Americans increasingly worry about their retirement prospects, states play an important and growing role in retirement security policy. States already manage long-term care programs for the elderly through Medicaid. Concerned about the impact of future elder poverty on state and local budgets and their local economies, a number of states are exploring the creation of low-cost and low-risk retirement savings plans for private sector workers who lack access to pensions or 401(k)s on the job. Some states have developed programs to help older workers find work.

This report presents the Financial Security Scorecard, designed to inform state-level stakeholders and …

Governance Approaches That Can Be Used To Implement Sustainability Criteria, Evgenia Pavlovskaia

Evgenia Pavlovskaia

Implementation of sustainability criteria, both in legal frameworks and voluntary sustainability standards, is an urgent and important issue. In the article, three less state-centric governance approaches and their capacity to be used to implement sustainability criteria have been investigated. The chosen approaches are good governance, multi-level governance and selfgovernance. Their potential strengths and weaknesses have been pointed out. The research indicates that sustainability criteria can be implemented in different ways, which have the potential to highlight, strengthen or weaken different aspects of their function. The use of different governance approaches, or their combinations, can lead to different implementation results for …

Disaster Law And Policy, Daniel Farber, Jim Chen, Robert Verchick, Lisa Grow Sun

Daniel A Farber

E-Mails, Statutes, And Personality Disorders: A Contextual Examination Of The Processes, Interventions, And Perspectives Of Parenting Coordinators, Sherrill Hayes, Melissa Grady, Helen Brantley

Sherrill W. Hayes

The current study uses a survey instrument to examine parenting coordination through the lens of Bronfenbrenner's Person, Process, Context, Time (PPCT) model. The survey focused on contextual factors such as statutes, local rules, interpersonal characteristics, dynamics of the clients, and background characteristics of parenting coordinators. Responses from a sample of PCs were obtained using list serves and a snowball sampling procedure. Results included the extent to which the parenting coordination process occurs through email and other technology rather than in-person sessions. Mental health disorders and inability to pay were primary barriers to the PC process.

Kill-Lists And Accountability, Greg Mcneal

Greg McNeal

This article is a comprehensive examination of the U.S. practice of targeted killings. It is based in part on field research, interviews, and previously unexamined government documents. The article fills a gap in the literature, which to date lacks sustained scholarly analysis of the accountability mechanisms associated with the targeted killing process. The article makes two major contributions: 1) it provides the first qualitative empirical accounting of the targeted killing process, beginning with the creation of kill-lists extending through the execution of targeted strikes; 2) it provides a robust analytical framework for assessing the accountability mechanisms associated with those processes. …

Commonhealth: Mass. A National Leader In Overdose Prevention, Leo Beletsky, Alexander Walley

Leo Beletsky

In this interview on Radio Boston, Leo Beletsky and Alexander Walley discuss their viewpoint piece, “Prevention of Fatal Opioid Overdose,” which appeared in the Nov. 14, 2012 issue of the Journal of the Medical American Association.

Gay Parenthood And The Revolution Of The Modern Family: An Examination Of The Unique Barriers Confronting Gay Adoptive Parents, Nicholas Arntsen

Nicholas Benedict Arntsen

Abstract: In recent decades, the structure of the American family has been revolutionized to incorporate families of diverse and unconventional compositions. Gay and lesbian couples have undoubtedly played a crucial role in this revolution by establishing families through the tool of adoption. Eleven adoptive parents from the state of Connecticut were interviewed to better conceptualize the unique barriers gay couples encounter in the process adoption. Both the scholarly research and the interview data illustrate that although gay couples face enormous legal barriers, the majority of their hardship comes through social interactions. As a result, the cultural myths and legal restrictions …

Advance Notice Provisions In Plant Closing Legislation: Do They Matter?, Ronald Ehrenberg, George Jakubson

Ronald G. Ehrenberg

This paper evaluates the cases for and against plant closing legislation. In spite of the growth of legislative efforts in the area, there has been surprisingly little effort devoted to analyzing what the effects are of existing plant closing legislation, of provisions in privately negotiated collective bargaining agreements that provide for advance notice in case of plant shutdowns and/or layoffs, and of voluntary employer provision of advance notice. The paper summarizes the results of previous research, and our own empirical analyses that used the January 1984 Bureau of Labor Statistics Survey of Displaced Workers, on the effects of advance notice …

Are Targeted Killings Unlawful? A Case Study In Empirical Claims Without Empirical Evidence, Greg Mcneal

Greg McNeal

Critics of the U.S. policy of targeted killing by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or drones) generally lack credible information to justify their critiques. In fact, in many circumstances their claims are easily refuted, calling into question the reliability of their criticisms. This chapter highlights some of the most striking examples of inaccurate claims raised by critics of the U.S. policy of drone based targeted killing. Specifically, this chapter offers a much needed corrective to clarify the public record or offer empirical nuance where targeted killing critics offer only unsubstantiated and conclusory statements of fact and law. Section I of this …

New Approaches To Reducing And Mitigating Harm To Civilians, Greg Mcneal

Greg McNeal

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan highlighted the strategic importance of the U.S. commitment to civilian protection. Both wars were eventually fought as a counterinsurgency (COIN) and both revealed how protecting civilians is a central feature of COIN. This chapter examines the importance of civilian casualty mitigation in U.S. counterinsurgency operations, it describes the theoretical and practical lessons learned regarding civilian casualties and situates them in a broader strategic context. The chapter also describes the U.S. military’s newest doctrinal publication aimed specifically at preventing and mitigating harm to civilians. The chapter concludes noting that protecting the population and winning hearts …

Moral Philosophy Meets Social Work, Frederic Reamer

Frederic G Reamer

In recent years, social workers have become increasingly aware of ethical dilemmas in practice. Beginning especially in the mid-to-late 1970s, social work's literature has included a steady stream of reflections on difficult moral choices involving conflicts among professional duties and obligations (Loewnberg and Dolgoff 1996; Congress 1998; Reamer 1998, 1999). To what extent do clients have the right to engage in self-harming behavior without interference? How should social workers allocate scarce or limited resources such as emergency services, shelter beds, funds, and even their own time? Is it ethically permissible for social workers to violate laws and regulations they believe …

The Federal Protective Power And Targeted Killing Of U.S. Citizens, Greg Mcneal

Greg McNeal

In this responsive essay I argue that the Constitution envisions circumstances when the president may order U.S. citizens to be killed. It may be akin to the facts in al-Awlaki, where one is actively making war against the United States, or it may be in lesser circumstances that threaten the instruments of federal power. A settled example where a killing was authorized to protect the federal government was in Cunningham v. Neagle, 135 U.S. 1 (1890), there the Court addressed the killing of a U.S. citizen by Neagle, a federal marshal who was dispatched to protect Justice Field from an …

Copyright Backlash, Ben Depoorter

Ben Depoorter

In the past decade the entertainment industry has waged a legally very successful campaign against online copyright infringements. In a series of high profile decisions, content industries persuaded courts to accept expansive interpretations of contributory enforcement, to create novel doctrines of copyright infringement, and to apply broad interpretations of statutory damage provisions. Many private file-sharers, technology companies, university administrators and Internet service providers have felt the reach of this litigation effort. Yet a significant empirical anomaly exists: even as the copyright industry has ramped up the level of deterrence, online copyright infringements continue unabated. Why has the legal battle against …

The U.S. Practice Of Collateral Damage Estimation And Mitigation, Greg Mcneal

Greg McNeal

This paper explains how the U.S. military estimates and mitigates the impact of conventional weapons on collateral persons and objects in most military operations involving air-to-surface weapons and artillery. It is the descriptive part of a larger work discussing the normative implications of U.S. targeting practices. In recent years, an entire body of academic literature and policy commentary has been based on an incomplete understanding of how the U.S. conducts military operations. The literature is incomplete because U.S. practices are shrouded in secrecy and largely inaccessible. As a result commentators have lacked a descriptive foundation to analyze and critique U.S. …

The Status Quo Bias And Counterterrorism Detention, Greg Mcneal

Greg McNeal

Counterterrorism detention policy in the United States is a mess. Commentators on both sides of the political spectrum have decried the U.S. approach. Those on the left have criticized the arbitrary and unfair nature of U.S. policy; they argue that detention policy has unfairly trampled on the rights of individuals, producing results that are inconsistent and, perhaps, counterproductive, especially in the eyes of U.S. allies and the Muslim world. Others have approached this question from a security perspective, decrying the granting of privileges to those who fail to follow the rules of civilized nations yet then demand the protection of …

Technology & Torts: A Theory Of Memory Costs, Nondurable Precautions And Interference Effects, Ben Depoorter

Ben Depoorter

This Article examines the influence of nondurable precaution technologies on the expansion of tort awards. We provide four contributions to the literature. First, we present a general, formal model on durable and non-durable precaution technology that focuses on memory costs. Second, because liability exposure creates interference, we argue that tort law perpetuates the expansion of awards. Third, because plaintiffs do not consider the social costs of interference effects, private litigation induces socially excessive suits. Fourth, while new harm-reducing technologies likely increase accident rates, such technologies also raise the ratio of trial costs to harm, leaving undetermined the overall effect of …