Law Commons^™

Cocktails On Campus: Are Libations A Liability?, Susan S. Bendlin

Susan S. Bendlin

ABSTRACT: By Susan S. Bendlin

An estimated 1,825 college students die each year from alcohol-related, unintentional injuries. Roughly 599,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are injured every year while under the influence of alcohol. Tales of intoxicated college students’ wild, disgusting, and often violent behavior have made the national news. Litigation over alcohol-related incidents on college campuses arises from various situations, including injuries that result from intoxicated students falling, injuries suffered during parties and hazing rituals involving alcohol, and injuries from other assaults that occur after alcohol has been consumed on campus.

At the outset, this Article …

Copyright And Inequality, Lea Shaver

Lea Shaver

The prevailing theory of copyright law imagines a marketplace efficiently serving up new works to an undifferentiated world of consumers. Yet the reality is that all consumers are not equal. The majority of the world’s people experience copyright law not as a boon to consumer choice, but as a barrier to acquiring knowledge and taking part in cultural life. The resulting patterns of privilege and disadvantage, moreover, reinforce and perpetuate preexisting social divides. Class and culture combine to explain who wins, and who loses, from copyright protection. Along the dimension of class, the insight is that just because new works …

A Free Lunch In Chicago, Curtis E.A. Karnow

Curtis E.A. Karnow

A discussion of the ethical issues implicated by judges’ acceptance of travel and related expenses when attending privately sponsored judicial education, including seminars offered by educational institutions.

The Verdict And Response, Edward Earl Bell

Edward Earl Bell

The murdering of black boys is not foreign. Prior to Zimmerman, black boys were murdered in streets from coast to coast. “We” were somewhat silent calling for a global ending of these deaths. The Zimmerman verdict seems to have produced clamor not only in the black community but also in communities across the globe.

Gay Talk: Protecting Free Speech For Public School Teachers, Stephen J. Elkind, Peter D. Kauffman

Stephen J Elkind

In Garcetti v. Ceballos, the Supreme Court held that public employees are not entitled to free speech when speaking “pursuant to their official duties.” In most situations, this strips teachers of First Amendment protection when they discuss controversial subjects, such as homosexuality, with their students. To ensure their classrooms are tolerant and accepting environments for homosexual and questioning youth, teachers need free speech protection against adverse employment action their schools might take. The Garcetti Court, acknowledging that “expression related to academic scholarship and classroom instruction implicates” unique constitutional concerns, explicitly left open whether its decision applied in the education …

A Submission To The Australian Law Reform Commission On Copyright And The Digital Economy: Open Access, Matthew Rimmer

Matthew Rimmer

EXECUTIVE SUMMARYThis Submission is based upon work in progress, which has been presented at this forum and published in the form of opinion-editorials:1. Matthew Rimmer, 'Aaron's Army Fights the Trans-Pacific Partnership', Open Access Research Issues in the Humanities and Social Sciences, the Australian National University, 3 May 2013.2. Matthew Rimmer, 'Aaron's Army Fights the Trans-Pacific Partnership', The Conversation, 8 March 2013, https://theconversation.edu.au/aarons-army-fights-the-trans-pacific-partnership-12273 and Delimiter http://delimiter.com.au/2013/03/08/aarons-army-fights-the-trans-pacific-partnership/ RECOMMENDATIONSIn its discussion paper, the Australian Law Reform Commission proposed a broad, flexible exception of fair use. The Commission emphasized that the new fair use exception should contain: (a) an express statement that a fair …

Operating Standards For The High Altitude Ballooning Community, Jeremy Straub, John Nordlie, Ernest Anderson

Jeremy Straub

This paper provides an overview of work to define a set of standards for adoption by the academic high altitude balloon community. These standards go above-and-beyond the requirements imposed by §101 of the Federal Aviation Regulations, incorporating best practices and suggesting how §101 requirements should be interpreted and applied in several situations.

One area where FAR§101 is extremely vague is with regards to the operations of balloons with small payloads. These payloads are exempt from most requirements; however, they are required to not create a “hazard”. Problematically, what exactly qualifies as a “hazard” is not defined in FAR§101 or elsewhere …

How Quickly We Forget: The Short And Undistinguished Career Of Affirmative Action, Robert Parrish

Robert Parrish

Diversity initiatives in higher education, also known as affirmative action are nearing their nadir. For those who have been watching the jurisprudence and the progression of events closely this should come as little surprise. These initiatives have been under attack since their very inception and now sit teetering on the brink of being declared unconstitutional as the United States Supreme Court considers Fisher v. Texas. Beginning with Regents of California v. Bakke in 1978, the Supreme Court has gradually and consistently whittled away these higher education diversity programs, leaving them currently in a vulnerable and legally precarious position. The Court’s …

Tactics, Strategies & Battles—Oh My!: Perseverance Of The Perpetual Problem Regarding Preaching To Public School Pupils & Why It Persists, Casey S. Mckay

Casey Scott McKay

After reviewing the history of the religious war on Darwin’s Theory of Evolution, my article, “Tactics, Strategies & Battles—Oh My!: Perseverance of the Perpetual Problem Regarding Preaching to Public School Pupils & Why it Persists,“ examines why such a seemingly well-settled issue survives and, to some extent, succeeds.

First, by exploiting common misconceptions among the American public, lawmakers are able to take advantage of ignorance driven by strong emotions. Next, religious special interests groups, with seemingly unlimited funds, thrust propaganda supported by worldwide media reinforcement on an already vulnerable American public. Thus, irresponsible state legislators, caught between a rock and …

Reforming Teacher Pensions, Leigh Anenson

Leigh Anenson

Pension reform has taken center stage in the public policy debate as states struggle to deal with the fallout from the Great Recession. Retirement benefits are not only a critical component of income-maintenance for public retirees, but also a source of economic stimulus to every state economy. In this article, we integrate and extend the pension reform movements in law, education and economics by studying teacher pensions across the United States. Our interdisciplinary approach concentrates on defined benefit plans in states that do not contribute to Social Security. Focusing on this vulnerable and important group of government workers, we aim …

Tactics, Strategies & Battles—Oh My: Perserverance Of The Perpetual Problem Regarding Preaching To Public Shool Pupils & Why It Persists, Casey S. Mckay

Casey Scott McKay

After reviewing the history of the religious war on Darwin’s Theory of Evolution, my article, “TACTICS, STRATEGIES & BATTLES—OH MY: PERSERVERANCE OF THE PERPETUAL PROBLEM REGARDING PREACHING TO PUBLIC SHOOL PUPILS & WHY IT PERSISTs,“ examines why such a seemingly well-settled issue survives and even, to some extent, prospers.

First, by exploiting common misconceptions among the American public, lawmakers are able to take advantage of ignorance driven by strong emotions. Next, religious special interests groups, with seemingly unlimited funds, thrust propaganda supported by worldwide media reinforcement on an already vulnerable American public. Thus, irresponsible state legislators, caught between a rock …

The International Trafficking In Arms Regulations: Precluding Innovation In Academic Spacecraft Engineering — Or Are They?, Jeremy Straub, Joe Vacek

Jeremy Straub

Government regulations and uncertainty about their enforcement can be a significant barrier to innovation. In business, it is undesirable to consume time and other resources developing a product that cannot be sold or which requires navigating significant bureaucracy for each sale. In academ-ia, where limited funding is available prior to the submission of a grant pro-posal and receipt of an award, proposal-stage compliance costs can derail a project long before it begins. This paper reviews the International Traffick-ing in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and their impact on spacecraft research in academia, private research labs and industry. It reviews the exemptions available, …

Whose Choice Are We Talking About: The Exclusion Of Students With Disabilities From For-Profit Online Charter Schools, Matthew Bernstein

Matthew Bernstein

By examining the history of special education law against the emergence of the for-profit and online education movements, this paper explores the charter school movement from a consumer law perspective. It aims to explain why much of the current debate over test scores, “accountability,” and teacher evaluation obscures other systemic faults that implicate the very reasons we have a public education system in the first place. In the last fifteen years, information technologies have fostered the emergence of a new kind of school: the fully-online “cyber” or “virtual” charter. These schools, operated almost exclusively by for-profit, publicly-traded private companies, are …

Do California’S Teacher Tenure Laws Violate California’S Constitutional Right To Education, Allen W. Hubsch

Allen W Hubsch

The accompanying note addresses an important and topical issue. In May 2012, Ted Olson, the former Solicitor General of the United States, and Theodore Boutrous, co-chair of the appellate practice at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, filed a complaint in Los Angeles Superior Court, entitled Vargara v. California, naming the State of California, the California Department of Education, the Los Angeles Unified School District and others as defendants.

The complaint alleges that California’s teacher tenure statutes are unconstitutional under the California constitution because such laws have the effect of preventing school districts from providing a quality education to school age children. …

The Legal Impact Of Emerging Governance Models On Public Education And Its Office Holders, Robert A. Garda Jr., David Doty

Robert A. Garda

The idea that changing the formal structure of governance can lead to better schools is rooted in American political and intellectual history. Politicians, career educators, parents, business leaders, and investors continue to wrangle over the control of public schools all across the country. With these battles for control have come more lawsuits, more laws, and more administrative regulations dictating the governance structures of educational institutions. Indeed, one could argue that, in recent years, debates over how schools and school districts should be governed have subsumed the curriculum debates over how and what children should be taught. Leadership matters, and therefore …

See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil; Stemming The Tide Of No Promo Homo Laws In American Schools, Madelyn Rodriguez

Madelyn Rodriguez

In several states, and many more local governments, teachers are being mandated to teach their students that homosexuality is inherently abhorrent and should be shunned. These so called “No Promo Homo” policies vary in scope; from those barring any positive discussion of homosexuality to those which insinuate the association of homosexuality with various social ills. As a result of these policies, teachers are being used as a conduit for misinformation and, more disturbingly, for discrimination and bias. Because teachers naturally have an immense impact on their students, the concepts and values advocated or discouraged by them will have an immeasurable …

A Right To Sexual Orientation Privacy: Strengthening Protections For Minors Who Are Outed In Schools, Adam J. Kretz

Adam Kretz

This Article examines a unique question in constitutional law and privacy rights – namely, what rights minor students have to control who can and cannot be informed of their sexual orientation. Through an examination of case law and social science data, the Article proposes that students should hold greater power over information regarding their sexual orientation, and hold responsible school officials who “out” students to a family member, parent, or guardian without the student’s consent.

A Way Forward: Transparency At American Law Schools, Kyle P. Mcentee, Patrick J. Lynch

Kyle P McEntee

Law school has long been thought of as an investment in human capital inherently worth consuming. This is a dated view. Today, entering the legal profession through law school requires an increasingly significant financial investment. Yet very little information about the value of a legal education is available for prospective law students. In fact, much of the information tends to mislead rather than inform aspiring lawyers.

This Article surveys the available information with respect to one important segment of the value analysis: post-graduation employment outcomes. It then proposes a new standard for the presentation of post-graduation outcomes, "The LST Proposal." …

An Increased Role For The Department Of Education In Addressing Federalism Concerns, Benton C. Martin

Benton C. Martin

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), one of the most important pieces of education legislation in our nation’s history, is overdue for reauthorization. Prior attempts at reauthorization have failed because of political controversy surrounding the Act, including controversy surrounding the extent of the federal role in education. NCLB does not fit squarely into traditional models of federalism and new theories of federalism have emerged to address the unique new dynamics raised by its expansive use of the federal spending power. This Article argues these theories point to practical changes that Congress can make to improve NCLB.

Although …

Cost And Punishment: Reassessing Incarceration Costs And The Value Of College-In-Prison Programs, Gregory A. Knott

Gregory A Knott

This article is the first study examining college-in-prison programs as part of the cost-reducing and risk-management trends currently dominant in criminal justice systems. The article concedes that college programs will not be of benefit to every inmate and may confer benefits on politically unpopular constituencies, but argues that such educational offerings are nevertheless a powerful tool for reducing recidivism and incarceration costs.

Conceptualizing The Right Of Children To Adaptable Education, Shulamit Almog, Lotem Perry-Hazan

Dr. Lotem Perry-Hazan

The contention put forward here is that conceptualization of the right to adaptable education, derived from international human rights law, may be a key factor in interpreting and reviving the notion of multiculturalism in education. We will begin by analyzing three interrelated dimensions of the right to adaptable education: adaptability to the children's circles of cultural affiliations, adaptability to the children’s preferences, and adaptability to the changes of time. We will continue by describing the need to balance between the right to adaptable education and other features of the right to education - available education, accessible education and acceptable education …

Tinker And The Diminution Of Public Education, Ryan Hardy

Ryan Hardy

Part I of this article discusses clothing as speech. Part II examines Tinker v. Des Moines. Part III examines the three other Supreme Court student expression cases. Part IV discusses the framework set up by the Supreme Court cases. Part IV also illustrates lower court decisions involving specific types of clothing or symbols and the confusion among those lower courts. Part V discusses the mission of public education and its relation to student expression. Part VI describes Tinker’s lasting effects on public education. Part VII explains that the Supreme Court should overrule Tinker and adopt a new standard

Tinker And The Diminution Of Public Education, Ryan Hardy

Ryan Hardy

Part I of this article discusses clothing as speech. Part II examines Tinker v. Des Moines. Part III examines the three other Supreme Court student expression cases. Part IV discusses the framework set up by the Supreme Court cases. Part IV also illustrates lower court decisions involving specific types of clothing or symbols and the confusion among those lower courts. Part V discusses the mission of public education and its relation to student expression. Part VI describes Tinker’s lasting effects on public education. Part VII explains that the Supreme Court should overrule Tinker and adopt a new standard

Education, Labor Rights, And Incentives: Contract Teacher Cases In The Indian Courts, Varun Gauri, Nick Robinson

Varun Gauri

Since the liberalization of India\'s economy beginning in the early 1990\'s, the government has increasingly employed contract workers to perform various state functions, including in the education sector. Yet, little research has been done to examine how courts have reacted to this shift in government labor policy. This paper looks at all reported cases involving contract teachers in the Indian Supreme Court and four High Courts over the last thirty years. It finds that although almost never explicitly overturning precedent, the judiciary in India has increasingly become less sympathetic to contract teachers demands, particularly at the Supreme Court level. The …

The Ability To Claim And The Opportunity To Imagine: Rights Consciousness And The Education Of Ultra-Orthodox Girls, Lotem Perry-Hazan, Shulamit Almog

Dr. Lotem Perry-Hazan

In this article we explore the linkage between human rights education and the development of rights consciousness - the process that enables people to define their aims, wishes and difficulties in terms of rights. We argue that the factors that develop rights consciousness - human rights knowledge and the implementation of rights - are particularly important for the development of the rights consciousness of children. The Israeli Ultra-Orthodox education for girls offers a unique opportunity to explore our contentions, since it combines wide general education with extreme messages of gender inequality. We demonstrate that their wide general education is not …

Redressing Grievances And Complaints Regarding Basic Service Delivery, Varun Gauri

Varun Gauri

Redress procedures are important for basic fairness. In addition, they can help address principal-agent problems in the implementation of social policies and provide information to policy makers regarding policy design. To function effectively, a system of redress requires a well-designed and inter-linked supply of redress procedures as well as, especially if rights consciousness is not well-developed in a society, a set of organizations that stimulate and aggregate demand for redress. On the supply side, this paper identifies three kinds of redress procedures: administrative venues within government agencies, independent institutions outside government departments, and courts. On the demand side, the key …

The External Effects Of Black-Male Incarceration On Black Females, Stéphane Mechoulan

Stéphane Mechoulan

This paper examines how the increase in the incarceration of Black men and the sex ratio imbalance it induces shape the behavior of young Black women. Combining data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics and the Current Population Survey to match male incarceration rates with individual observations over two decades, I show that Black male incarceration lowers the odds of Black non-marital teenage fertility while increasing young Black women's school attainment and early employment. These results can account for the sharp bridging of the racial gap over the 1990s for a range of socio-economic outcomes among females.

Education As A Counterterrorism Tool And The Curious Case Of The Texas School Book Resolution, Diane Webber

Diane Webber

As a case study, this paper reviews a resolution passed by the Texas State Board of Education on September 24, 2010. The resolution rejects certain Social Studies texts that contain what the Board determined were pro-Islamic/anti-Christian distortions…The resolution is itself doing what it complains about – it is showing “chronic partiality to one of the world’s great religions and animus against another.”…At a time when “reciprocal negative perceptions between the Western and Muslim worlds continue to escalate”, it is essential to acknowledge the important role of education to promote tolerance… The knowledge gained from religious tolerance education can then be …

Innovation Cooperation: Energy Biosciences And Law, Prof. Elizabeth Burleson

Prof. Elizabeth Burleson

This Article analyzes the development and dissemination of environmentally sound technologies that can address climate change. Climate change poses catastrophic health and security risks on a global scale. Universities, individual innovators, private firms, civil society, governments, and the United Nations can unite in the common goal to address climate change. This Article recommends means by which legal, scientific, engineering, and a host of other public and private actors can bring environmentally sound innovation into widespread use to achieve sustainable development. In particular, universities can facilitate this collaboration by fostering global innovation and diffusion networks.

Deconstructing The Marginalization Of “Underclass” Students: Disciplinary Alternative Education, I. India Geronimo

I. India Geronimo

Disciplinary alternative education programs have the potential to marginalize students by separating and permanently tracking them out of the mainstream school system into an underclass of the educational community. The students who are funneled into alternative education programs are often those students who are perceived to be undesirable and low-achieving. Marginalizing these students is attractive because it: 1) is an immediate method for relieving school administrator fatigue; 2) it is an extension of the zero tolerance and punitive approach that has plagued the criminal justice system and is a politically attractive manner for administrators and politicians to appear “tough on …