Law Commons^™

Commercial Surrogacy: Is Regulation Necessary To Manage The Industry?, Cara M. Luckey

Cara M Luckey

This paper discusses legal and ethical issues involved with commercial surrogacy both within the United States and Internationally. Inconsistencies in laws create an increased potential for the exploitation of the parties involved in a surrogacy agreement. The validity of contracts varies between states and certain countries that allow surrogacy do not adequately protect the surrogate mothers. As this field of Assisted Reproductive Technology becomes more prevalent, the need for effective regulation of commercial surrogacy is essential.

Another Role For Securities Regulation: Expanding Opportunity, Jasmin Sethi

Jasmin Sethi

Securities regulation can be justified on a number of grounds, but historically, expanding opportunities for wealth accumulation across sectors of the population has not been a justification given credence. This paper examines the implications of integrating an opportunities based perspective in evaluating securities regulation for policy decisions. I demonstrate how the policy implications of such a perspective are often distinct from those implicated by other approaches, such as a public welfare approach to securities regulation. In this article, I apply this perspective and what we know about human behavior to examine how securities policy could be shaped by an opportunities-based …

The Clean Water Act’S Final Frontier: Taking On Nonpoint Source Pollution Using Mandatory Tmdl Rules, Jason M. Stoffel

Jason M Stoffel

While the Clean Water Act, as it is currently structured, has few provisions that directly regulate nonpoint source pollution, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, in the case Friends of Pinto Creek v. United States EPA, 504 F.3d 1007 (9th Cir. 2007), has recognized the Total Maximum Daily Load ("TMDL") program as a tool that can be used by the EPA to indirectly compel states to regulate nonpoint source pollution in the nation’s impaired waters. In the context of the Ninth Circuit’s ruling, in 2010, the EPA made national headlines by pushing states to regulate nonpoint source pollution in the …

Electronic Health Records In The Global Market: Enforcing Security Overseas, Luis J. Acevedo

Luis J Acevedo

ABSTRACT

As the U.S. implements its chimerical plan to contain health care costs and improve the provision of services, aided by the much desired implementation of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) technology, the possibility of an increase in the outsourcing of health care services surfaces. The ordinary citizen should be worried. The protected health information (PHI) contained in their EHRs could be at greater risk when stored, accessed or transmitted overseas. Our current federal regulatory framework does not provide adequate protection because our enforcement mechanisms to ensure the security of data do not extend beyond the U.S. borders. The remedies available …

Case Note: Nabozny V. Podlesny, William B. Turner

William B Turner

This case note describes and provides context for the 1996 opinion in Nabozny v. Podlesny, in which the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a district judge's grant of summary judgment to defendants in a suit by a former student who complained of years of severe bullying and harassment by his peers because of his sexual orientation, which school administrators persistently failed to take steps to stop.

Accountable Care Organizations: The Clash Of Liability Standards With Cost Cutting Goals”, Christopher R. Smith

Christopher R Smith

This article seeks to examine the conflict between non-cost conscious medical malpractice liability standards and health care cost cutting measures within the context of Accountable Care Organizations (“ACOs”) under the new health care reform law. The article begins by providing an overview of the high level of health care spending within the United States health care system in order to provide a context for better understanding policymakers’ push for cost cutting measures, including ACOs. The article then examines the tension between cost containment efforts and provider medical liability standards through an examination of the “stuck in the middle” mentality that …

Path Dependence And Durability Of Hong Kong's Existing Corporate Reorganization System, Charles Zhen Qu Dr

Charles Zhen Qu Dr

A corporate reorganization system that ensures optimal deployment of distressed companies’ assets helps promote economic development. In many developed economies, faltering firms are reorganized through a formal corporate reorganization procedure. The Hong Kong government has recently recommended the enactment of such a procedure on the assumption that the existing corporate and insolvency framework is ill-equipped to restructure failing companies. This article rebuts this assumption through an assessment of the efficiency of the judicially-developed reorganization system that has emerged as a result of the failure to introduce a formal reorganization procedure a decade ago. It argues that since an efficient alternative …

The Responsibility Gap: The Cia, Covert Actions And Violations Of International Law, Angela Huddleston

Angela Huddleston

Throughout the course of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the United States of America has committed covert actions in virtually every major region in the world, particularly during the Cold War. These actions are not without their repercussions and have often led to massive violations of international law and human rights. Yet the US is not held responsible for its actions due to legal deficiencies that allow it to breach some of the most basic rules of international law without accountability. This paper examines the obligations of international law concerning covert actions before turning to state responsibility and highlighting the …

Directors In The Dock: An Analysis In The Light Of Maksud Sayid Case, Jitendra Soni

Jitendra Soni

No abstract provided.

A Contribution To Simple Recursive Forecasting Model, Kyayima Muteba

Kyayima Muteba

We forecast inflation as a learning (linear) process with optimal learning gain (best forecast) obtained by minimizing the Mean Square Error (MSE) as a function of the constant gain. Our results show that the forecast fits well the true observations and captures well theirs fluctuations

Home Sweet Homestead? Not If You Are Subject To A Mandatory Homeowners' Association!, Bridget M. Fuselier

Bridget M Fuselier

While Texas homestead law has provided a great degree of protection for homeowners in the past, the rising power of the Homeowners' or Property Owners' Association is placing that protection in jeopardy. Over the past 20 years, associations have grown in number and power. Currently homestead property may be foreclosed on in a non-judicial foreclosure process for non-payment of HOA dues despite the fact that is not one of the liens constitutionally permissible to attach to homestead property. This problem must be remedied, especially in light of stories such as that of Captain Clauer who had his $300,000 home foreclosed …

The Wisdom Of Solomon: Why We Can't Split The Pre-Embryo, Bridget M. Fuselier

Bridget M Fuselier

Due to the fact that there are at least 500,000 cryo-preserved pre-embryos and a very small amount of common law or statutes to provide guidance, legislators need to act and take steps to guide the people impacted by these problems.

This article promotes modifications to property concepts that protects the special dignity of the pre-embryo while also recognizing the autonomy of the individual gamete providers. The article proposes a form of ownership that would prevent the pre-embryos from passing through wills and by intestate succession. It would also eliminate the possibility of ending up with a multitude of owners for …

Medical Malpractice From A Surgeons Surgical Instruments, Andre77 S. Brown

andre77 S Brown

Medical malpractice happens more often then what some individuals may think. It targets tens of thousands of people nationwide each year. Some studies show that at least 98,000 individuals have been affected by the surgeon....

Central Counterparties (Ccp) And The New Transnational Lex Mercatoria, Christian Chamorro-Courtland

Christian Chamorro-Courtland

This article argues that the new transnational lex mercatoria is the main source of law governing the operations of Central Counterparty (CCP) clearing systems. It demonstrates that the new transnational lex mercatoria has been recognized by the courts in various common law jurisdictions as the appropriate source of law governing the operations various other commercial and financial institutions. It is argued that this new legal regime requires official recognition by the courts in order to protect CCP arrangements from burdensome corporate insolvency laws; especially for the protection of non-financial market CCPs, which are currently not protected by special legislation like …

Standing In The Age Of Citizen Revolt: Legislative Standing, Direct Democracy, And The Supreme Court, Frank M. Dickerson Iii, Reid M. Bolton

Frank M. Dickerson III

One of the most interesting questions raised by California’s Proposition 8 is the question of standing for ballot-initiative supporters in defensive litigation. This Article addresses the question raised in the Proposition 8 case and the issue of standing for ballot initiative supporters to defend their initiative on appeal more generally. It suggests that such standing for ballot-initiative sponsors is consistent with both prior Supreme Court precedent and the Constitutional and prudential concerns underlying the doctrine of standing.

China’S Gigantic Appetite For Natural Resources Spurs Multilateral Concerns, Yuliya Kostelova

Yuliya Kostelova

China is the second largest economy in the world today. Its economic growth is unbridled and expansion is rampant. A rapidly growing communistic state with an attempt for capitalistic market is alarming in the international economic community. China’s insatiable oil appetite creates various concerns among major sovereign partners. Notwithstanding, China is fully committed to its economic development in the future regardless of widely expressed multilateral concerns.

If You Think Law Schools Teach Students To "Think Like A Lawyer"...Think Again!, Douglas Rush

Douglas Rush

Law school faculty and deans purport to teach law students to “think like a lawyer.” Indeed, this phrase has been repeated so often that it has become legal pedagogical dogma. Professor Wegner, co-author of the Carnegie Report Educating Lawyers: Preparation for the Profession of Law, has stated that “thinking like a lawyer” has been embraced as a ”trope of the core identity” of the legal academy. Unfortunately, whether law schools truly teach their students to “think like a lawyer” has not been previously subjected to empirical analysis.

This article is an empirical examination using logistic regression analysis of two different …

If You Think Law Schools Teach Students To "Think Like A Lawyer"...Think Again!, Douglas Rush

Douglas Rush

Law school faculty and deans purport to teach law students to “think like a lawyer.” Indeed, this phrase has been repeated so often that it has become legal pedagogical dogma. Professor Wegner, co-author of the Carnegie Report Educating Lawyers: Preparation for the Profession of Law, has stated that “thinking like a lawyer” has been embraced as a ”trope of the core identity” of the legal academy. Unfortunately, whether law schools truly teach their students to “think like a lawyer” has not been previously subjected to empirical analysis.

This article is an empirical examination using logistic regression analysis of two different …

Exceptions: The Criminal Law's Illogical Approach To Hiv-Related Aggravated Assaults, Ari E. Waldman

Ari E Waldman

This article identifies logical and due process errors in cases involving HIV-related aggravated assaults, which usually involve an HIV-positive individual having unprotected sex without disclosing his or her HIV status. While this behavior should not be encouraged, this paper suggests that punishing this conduct through a charge of aggravated assault – which requires a showing that the defendant’s actions were a means likely to cause grievous bodily harm or death – is fraught with fallacies in reasoning and runs afoul of due process. Specifically, some courts use the rule of thumb that HIV can possibly be transmitted through bodily fluids …

Wine Retailers Lobby To Put A Cork In Discriminatory State Liquor Laws And Proposed Care Act, Marissa Prosky

Marissa Prosky

Because the wine production and distribution industries have substantially expanded with the introduction of online wine sales, the impact of the CARE Act on the industries would be devastating. The history of liquor legislation has progressed from the nation’s initial laws enacted prior to prohibition, to the Supreme Court’s interpretation of state liquor laws after the Eighteenth and Twenty-First Amendments, and most recently the Supreme Court’s decision on state liquor laws in Heald. Several lower courts have shown difficulty in applying the Supreme Court’s Heald decision. Congress has taken action to resolve the confusion in applying Heald by proposing the …

Neutrality And Diversity In The Internet Ecosystem, Andrea Renda

Andrea Renda

The public policy approach to the Internet has become more and more complex as several markets – including fixed and mobile communications, media and content, IT – converge into one single Internet ecosystem. As in all ecosystems, zones and domains depend on each other, and there is no possibility of touching one layer without affecting all others. This paper reflects on the economics of the Internet and emerging business models, and comments on the current debates in each of the layers of modern all-IP architectures, from the unbundling of network elements to net neutrality and the emerging discussion on search …

Staring Down The Sights At Mcdonald V. City Of Chicago: Why The Second Amendment Deserves The Kevlar Protection Of Strict Scrutiny, James J. Williamson Ii

James J. Williamson II

In District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court found that a federal law that restricted the possession of handguns within a federal enclave to be in direct conflict with the Second Amendment, and therefore, unconstitutional. Two years after that decision, the Supreme Court, in McDonald v. City of Chicago, held that the Second Amendment is applicable to the States through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. In both cases, however, the High Court failed to articulate a standard of review by which future Second Amendment challenges should be adjudicated. This note argues that the appropriate standard of …

The Learning Disability Mess, Ruth Colker

Ruth Colker

This essay explores the problems that have plagued society since 1975 when Congress first tried to define what is a “learning disability.” The statement that “No one really knows what a learning disability is” rings as true today as in 1975. Rather than solve this problem with an improved classification scheme, Professor Colker recommends that schools, testing entities and the federal government should place less weight on which students are classified as “learning disabled.” Plodders University should become the norm, where students are admitted based, in part, on their scores on exams taken under extended time conditions.

Three Suggestions For The Texas Limited Liability Company Law, Val D. Ricks

Val D. Ricks

Since I began asking my students to study the Texas Business Organizations Code, I have encountered several provisions that are difficult to explain. In this article, I address the three most bothersome such provisions in the code applicable to limited liability companies: (1) The statute addressing “Transactions Involving Interested Governing Persons” actually does not address such transactions. (2) The statute applicable to agents of limited liability companies overturns nearly the entire common law of agency and leaves us with uncertainty. (3) Against the explicit provisions of the Code, legislative history, and another provision making it almost impossible procedurally, courts apply …

On The Formation Of The American Corporate State: The Fuller Supreme Court, 1888-1910, George Skouras

George Skouras

This paper deals with the formation and legitimation of the American Corporate State by the Fuller Supreme Court. It argues that the Fuller Court was wrong to use the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment and natural law to support laissez-faire capitalism and the emergent corporate structure at the expense of labor and labor unions. It also argues that the corporatization of America has created a social and cultural environment that places business as the center of the American universe. This has led to a very asymmetrical relationship between corporations and citizens. It further argues that recent revisionist scholarship …

Off The Roads & Out Of The Courts: Enter A Technology Fix For Drunk Driving, Nora J. Pasman-Green

Nora J. Pasman-Green

More than 1.4 million people are arrested annually for drunk driving, a crime that results in over 10,000 fatalities, more than 225,000 non-fatal injuries, and economic costs exceeding $50 billion. Drunk driving has become a major public health problem. This article traces development of the technology – the alcohol ignition interlock – which prevents drunk drivers from operating their vehicles. Ongoing research is underway to equip new automobiles with alcohol detection devices as standard equipment. The article explores the possibility of eliminating drunk driving once all vehicles are manufactured with pre-market interlocks installed. The article examines the impact of current …

Judge Harold Baer's Quixotic Crusade For Class Counsel Diversity, Michael H. Hurwitz

Michael H Hurwitz

In this comment, the author discusses the recent rulings of U.S. District Court Judge Harold Baer, Jr. directing that proposed class counsel provide evidence of its racial and gender diversity. After summarizing the provisions of Rule 23(g) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure that govern the appointment of class counsel, the author analyzes Judge Baer’s rulings in light of Rule 23(g)’s requirements. The author concludes that Judge Baer’s rulings are inconsistent with the Rule’s requirements and, instead, represent the judge’s effort to impose his own policy views over the interests of the class members served by the Rule’s narrow …

Banking On Allowances: The Epa’S Mixed Record In Managing Emissions-Market Transitions, Nathan D. Richardson, Arthur G. Fraas

Nathan D Richardson

The history of emissions-trading markets in the United States is marked by change. Since cap-and-trade programs were first implemented on a large scale after the 1990 Amendments to the Clean Air Act, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has repeatedly revised and replaced emissionstrading markets for nitrous oxides and sulfur dioxide. In each transition, the agency has had to decide what to do with emissions allowances banked in the earlier program. These banked allowances represent early reductions in emissions, with corresponding environmental benefits, but also the expectation on the part of regulated entities that they will continue to hold value …

Social Semiotics In The Fair Use Analysis, H Brian Holland

H Brian Holland

Social Semiotics in the Fair Use Analysis

34,314 words

3,809 footnotes (Bluebook formatted)

This article presents an alternate theory of fair use, employing social semiotics as a process theory of meaning-making to frame the transformativeness inquiry. It is an argument for an expansion of fair use based not on theories of authorship or rights of autonomy, but rather a theory of the audience linked to social practice. The article asks, in essence, whether audiences determine the meaning, purpose, function, or social benefit of an allegedly infringing work, often regardless of what the work’s creator did or intended. If so, does …