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Full-Text Articles in Law

No Right At All: Putting Consular Notification In Its Rightful Place After Medellin, Alberto R. Gonzales, Amy L. Moore Jul 2014

No Right At All: Putting Consular Notification In Its Rightful Place After Medellin, Alberto R. Gonzales, Amy L. Moore

Law Faculty Scholarship

This Article covers the history of consular notification and presentation in the U.S. federal and state courts and in the International Court of Justice. Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations provides that nation-states should notify detained foreign nationals of their right to contact their consulate about their detention. This Article argues that the U.S. Supreme Court, as matters of institutional responsibility and judicial economy, should have concluded that the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations does not contain an enforceable individual right. Moreover, no analog for this right has been found in American jurisprudence.


In Search Of Justice: An Examination Of The Appointments Of John G. Roberts And Samuel A. Alito To The U.S. Supreme Court And Their Impact On American Jurisprudence, Alberto R. Gonzales Mar 2014

In Search Of Justice: An Examination Of The Appointments Of John G. Roberts And Samuel A. Alito To The U.S. Supreme Court And Their Impact On American Jurisprudence, Alberto R. Gonzales

Law Faculty Scholarship

During 2005, President George W. Bush appointed Federal Circuit Court Judges John G. Roberts and Samuel A. Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court. These appointments were the culmination of years of examination of the work, character, and temperament of both men commencing during the 2000 presidential transition. Our evaluation included face-to-face interviews; an analysis of judicial opinions, speeches, and writings; and conversation with friends, colleagues, and court experts. Based on this work, a select group of Bush Administration officials developed a set of predictors that formed the basis of our recommendation to President Bush that he elevate Circuit Court Judges …


The Future Of Ediscovery In Tennessee, Roe Frazer, Marc Jenkins Jan 2014

The Future Of Ediscovery In Tennessee, Roe Frazer, Marc Jenkins

Belmont Law Review

This Article begins by outlining changes in the modern digital world through an examination of essential laws of computing unfamiliar to most lawyers but crucial to an understanding of the changing landscape of technology and its projected impact on modern society. Part II then applies these principles to the practice of law in the context of electronic discovery, pointing to the challenges posed under the current Rules of Civil Procedure, an ever-increasing overabundance of discoverable data, and the inadequacy of existing technology and processes possessed by the typical lawyer to deal with these challenges. Finally, Part III of this Article …


Reforming Tennessee's Rules Of Appellate Procedure: Separate Notices Of Appeal...Or Not?, Robert F. Parsley, Travis R. Mcdonough, Marcia M. Eason Jan 2014

Reforming Tennessee's Rules Of Appellate Procedure: Separate Notices Of Appeal...Or Not?, Robert F. Parsley, Travis R. Mcdonough, Marcia M. Eason

Belmont Law Review

When it comes to the filing of separate notices of appeal, Tennessee’s Rules of Appellate Procedure contain an internal inconsistency. This inconsistency, which has yielded two conflicting and incompatible lines of judicial interpretation, undermines the coherence of Tennessee appellate procedure and poses unfairly contradictory outcomes for similarly situated appellants. To resolve this inconsistency, Tennessee’s Rules of Appellate Procedure should be reformed.


What Might Have Been: 25 Years Of Robert Bork On The United States Supreme Court, Benjamin Pomerance Jan 2014

What Might Have Been: 25 Years Of Robert Bork On The United States Supreme Court, Benjamin Pomerance

Belmont Law Review

This Article tries to briefly attempt an answer to what would have happened if Robert Bork had sat on the Supreme Court bench. Part I examines the backgrounds of Judge Bork and Justice Kennedy, and then studies some of the major cases decided by the Court in four key areas — abortion, freedom of speech, the right to bear arms, and civil rights — during the last twenty-five years. Part II then evaluates the voting record of Justice Kennedy in these cases, as well as the views held by Judge Bork — based on Bork’s own writings, on opinions that …


Whose Rights Should Prevail? Toward A Child-Centric Approach To Revocation Of Birthparent Consent In Domestic Infant Abortion, David L. Thibodeaux Jan 2014

Whose Rights Should Prevail? Toward A Child-Centric Approach To Revocation Of Birthparent Consent In Domestic Infant Abortion, David L. Thibodeaux

Belmont Law Review

Though overhaul of adoption laws across the United States has been nearly universal, there is still no uniformity among the states in approach to voluntary relinquishment of parental rights: the very issue at the heart of the controversial cases that sparked reform. This Note attempts to track the development of domestic adoption laws as they affect birthparent consent in infant adoptions, the competing policies driving these developments, and the way states have attempted to reconcile that friction. Part I of this Note provides an underpinning of adoption terminology by outlining the actors involved, the basic elements required for infant adoption …


An Examination Of Federal Sentencing Guidelines’ Treatment Of Mdma (“Ecstacy”), Alyssa Hennig Jan 2014

An Examination Of Federal Sentencing Guidelines’ Treatment Of Mdma (“Ecstacy”), Alyssa Hennig

Belmont Law Review

This Note analyzes the MDMA drug equivalency ratio under the current Guidelines and argues that the ratio is based on incomplete and inaccurate information. Part I of this Note provides an overview of the United States Sentencing Commission (“the Commission”) and the United States Sentencing Guidelines (“the Guidelines”). Part II discusses the rise of MDMA and the legislative response. It also summarizes the Commission’s findings regarding the social and physiological harms of MDMA that formed the basis for the Commission’s decision about the appropriate MDMA drug equivalency ratio. Part III examines the errors in the Commission’s empirical analysis of the …


College Students And State Voter Id Laws: Can I Vote In The State Where I Attend College? I Have A Student Id Card, Tracey Carter Jan 2014

College Students And State Voter Id Laws: Can I Vote In The State Where I Attend College? I Have A Student Id Card, Tracey Carter

Law Faculty Scholarship

Presidential debates are purposely held on college campuses because it is well-known that college students are a large voting population who often serve as leaders when it comes to political activism and community involvement. Moreover, when students leave home to attend college, some of them want to vote in their college towns. In fact, the U.S. Supreme Court in its 1979 landmark decision in Symm v. United States held that students have the constitutional right to register and vote where they attend college. However, despite the Symm’s decision and other constitutional protections, college students also have to be knowledgeable about …


The Quest For Finality: Five Stories Of White Collar Criminal Prosecution, Lucian E. Dervan Jan 2014

The Quest For Finality: Five Stories Of White Collar Criminal Prosecution, Lucian E. Dervan

Law Faculty Scholarship

In this symposium article, Professor Dervan examines the issue of finality and sentencing. In considering this issue, he argues that prosecutors, defendants, and society as a whole are drawn to the concept of finality in various ways during criminal adjudications. Further, far from an aspirational summit, he argues that some outgrowths of this quest for finality could be destructive and, in fact, obstructive to some of the larger goals of our criminal justice system, including the pursuit of truth and the protection of the innocent. Given the potential abstraction of these issues, Professor Dervan decided to discuss the possible consequences …


Reality Over Ideology: A Practical View Of Special Needs Voucher Programs, Elizabeth Adamo Usman Jan 2014

Reality Over Ideology: A Practical View Of Special Needs Voucher Programs, Elizabeth Adamo Usman

Law Faculty Scholarship

In many school systems across the country, children with disabilities are not receiving the education that they are entitled to by law and need in order to reach their full potential. Although there are certainly triumphant examples of school systems that have succeeded in supporting students with special needs, there are unfortunately far too many examples of neglect, misunderstanding, and, ultimately, failure across the country. Into this struggling system emerges an expanding and difficult challenge that only adds further pressure. Due to the growing numbers of children diagnosed with Autism and the level of expertise required to deal with many …


Twenty Years Of Compromise: How The Caps On Damages In The Civil Rights Act Of 1991 Codified Sex Discrimination, Lynn Ridgeway Zehrt Jan 2014

Twenty Years Of Compromise: How The Caps On Damages In The Civil Rights Act Of 1991 Codified Sex Discrimination, Lynn Ridgeway Zehrt

Law Faculty Scholarship

This article takes a novel approach and reexamines the legislative history surrounding the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1991 with a central focus on exploring the issue of capped damages. Part I begins by briefly contrasting and summarizing the diverging remedies available under 42 U.S.C. § 1981 and Title VII. The article then shifts in Part II to an examination of the political climate and legislative history that forged the enactment of the 1991 Act, paying particular attention to the debate surrounding damages. This history reveals that many members of Congress had a discriminatory motive in capping damages …


Judicial Panel: Tennessee Legal Reform From A Judicial Standpoint, Cornelia A. Clark, Martha Craig Daughtrey, William C. Koch Jr. Jan 2014

Judicial Panel: Tennessee Legal Reform From A Judicial Standpoint, Cornelia A. Clark, Martha Craig Daughtrey, William C. Koch Jr.

Belmont Law Review

A transcript of the judicial panel discussion held at the Belmont University College of Law Symposium, "Tennessee Legal Reform."


Two Years Later And Counting: The Implications Of The Supreme Court's Taxing Power Decision On The Goals Of The Affordable Care Act, Alberto R. Gonzales, Donald B. Stuart Jan 2014

Two Years Later And Counting: The Implications Of The Supreme Court's Taxing Power Decision On The Goals Of The Affordable Care Act, Alberto R. Gonzales, Donald B. Stuart

Law Faculty Scholarship

In 2012, in a highly anticipated decision, the United States Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of a requirement that most Americans obtain health insurance or pay a monetary penalty.' The statute in question that contained this requirement, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Act or ACA), often labeled as "Obamacare," or the Affordable Care Act, was a monumental piece of legislation (over 900 pages) that was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2010. The Act represented a significant overhaul of the country's health care system and structure. The primary objectives of this legislation …


Rife With Latent Power: Exploring The Reach Of The Irs To Determine Tax-Exempt Status According To Public Policy Rationale In An Era Of Judicial Deference, Amy L. Moore Jan 2014

Rife With Latent Power: Exploring The Reach Of The Irs To Determine Tax-Exempt Status According To Public Policy Rationale In An Era Of Judicial Deference, Amy L. Moore

Law Faculty Scholarship

Using the case of Bob Jones University v. United States as a springboard, this article contends that the IRS has the legal authority to revoke the 501(c)(3) tax-exempt statuses of any institution that the IRS deems to be in violation of public policy. The first step to such an expansion might be to apply to private, religious universities that practice discrimination in areas other than race (e.g. gender and sexual orientation). This article traces the background and analysis of the Supreme Court decision in Bob Jones and how the Court left the door open for the IRS to make other …


Resolving The Great Divide In Pregnancy Discrimination, Lynn Ridgeway Zehrt Jan 2014

Resolving The Great Divide In Pregnancy Discrimination, Lynn Ridgeway Zehrt

Law Faculty Scholarship

The Supreme Court granted certiorari on July 1, 2014, in the Fourth Circuit case of Young v. United Parcel Service, to resolve a fundamental disagreement between the federal courts of appeals over the extent to which employers are required to provide reasonable accommodations to pregnant workers under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978. Prior to granting certiorari, the Supreme Court invited the Solicitor General to submit an amicus curiae brief providing the position of the United States. It was the opinion of the Solicitor General that the Fourth Circuit “erred in holding that petitioner failed to establish a prima facie …


Tennessee’S Unique Religious Protections In Employment: Do They Mean What They Say?, Waverly D. Crenshaw Jr., Brian A. Pierce Jan 2014

Tennessee’S Unique Religious Protections In Employment: Do They Mean What They Say?, Waverly D. Crenshaw Jr., Brian A. Pierce

Belmont Law Review

Tennessee has a long history of strongly held and diverse religious beliefs and practices. Equally firmly established is its “at-will” employment rule that allows businesses to create and control their workforces to maximize operations and profits to the benefit of employers and employees. When an employee’s religious beliefs conflict with his obligations to his employer, state and federal laws resolve the tension. Employees who experience this tension and feel they have been discriminated against based on their religion generally have the choice to bring their claims of discrimination under federal law, state law, or both. Because claims under federal law …


"Made-Whole" Made Fair: A Proposal To Modify Subrogation In Tennessee Tort Actions, John A. Day Jan 2014

"Made-Whole" Made Fair: A Proposal To Modify Subrogation In Tennessee Tort Actions, John A. Day

Belmont Law Review

This Article proposes the adoption of the “Modified Made-Whole Doctrine Proposal." Part I begins by explaining the roots of the law of subrogation rights and its current jurisprudential inconsistencies. It also explores the relationship between such subrogation rights and the made-whole doctrine in the context of Tennessee tort law as well as how this doctrine would be applied in Tennessee today. Part II briefly outlines some of the general questions regarding Tennessee’s current application of the made-whole doctrine, particularly the unresolved issues surrounding the impact of comparative fault on subrogation rights. These are questions which the author’s suggested Proposal is …


Proactive Protection: How The Idea Can Better Address The Behavioral Problems Of Children With Disabilities In Schools, Patrick Ober Jan 2014

Proactive Protection: How The Idea Can Better Address The Behavioral Problems Of Children With Disabilities In Schools, Patrick Ober

Belmont Law Review

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”) needs to be amended to proactively promote positive behavioral interventions and reduce unnecessary and highly dangerous uses of restraint and seclusion. The IDEA purports to advance these goals, but in reality the relevant provisions of the IDEA require behavioral plans only as a reactionary measure to violent or disruptive behavior. This Note proposes an amendment to the IDEA to address these problems proactively.


Medicaid Expansion By Any Other Name: Exploring The Feasibility Of Expanded Access To Care In The Wake Of Nfib V. Sebelius, Michele Johnson, Kristin Ware Jan 2014

Medicaid Expansion By Any Other Name: Exploring The Feasibility Of Expanded Access To Care In The Wake Of Nfib V. Sebelius, Michele Johnson, Kristin Ware

Belmont Law Review

This Article will examine aspects of the Tennessee Plan for Medicaid coverage in order to make the argument that Tennessee must either accept the Medicaid expansion as codified in the Affordable Care Act, or make modifications to the Tennessee Plan that better comport with the federal waiver program, the central goals of Medicaid, the United States Constitution, and the spirit of cooperative federalism.


Finding The Lost Involuntary Public Figure, Jeffrey Omar Usman Jan 2014

Finding The Lost Involuntary Public Figure, Jeffrey Omar Usman

Law Faculty Scholarship

This Article begins in Part I through observation of the beginning and development of the Supreme Court’s jurisprudence on the constitutional limitations imposed upon defamation actions under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Part II of the Article then briefly sets forth the constitutional framework that the Supreme Court imposed in 1974 on defamation actions in Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. The Article then addresses in Part III how the pressures of the First Amendment have eroded the structure that Gertz built. In doing so, Part III specifically explores the expanding definition of who constitutes a public official …


Menu Labeling: The Unintended Consequences To The Consumer, Ellen A. Black Jan 2014

Menu Labeling: The Unintended Consequences To The Consumer, Ellen A. Black

Law Faculty Scholarship

Why are Americans, along with the rest of the most populous nations, more overweight than twenty or thirty years ago? Most nutritionists and scientists agree that the answer is complex and multifaceted, with genetics, exercise, and diet all playing at least a partial role. Americans, for the last thirty years, have been reportedly eating out at restaurants more frequently than they have been eating at home; as a result, the restaurant industry has been blamed, in part, for the rise in obesity, based upon the presumption that more calories are consumed at restaurants than at home. Yet determining the underlying …


Judicial Selection In Tennessee: Deciding “The Decider”, Margaret L. Behm, Candi Henry Jan 2014

Judicial Selection In Tennessee: Deciding “The Decider”, Margaret L. Behm, Candi Henry

Belmont Law Review

This article includes an overview of judicial selection in Tennessee, as well as providing the author's personal perspectives on the subject. The quality of judges and the manner of selecting them matters; this is a basic premise underpinning the rule of law in the United States. From the inception of the United States’ democratic system, the judiciary’s Damoclean Sword has been the threat of subrogation at the hands of the Legislature, and perhaps the easiest way to rattle the sword has been to legislatively interfere with judicial selection — whether by changing the manner of appointment or by simply refusing …