Law Commons^™

The Dormant Commerce Clause And Water Export: Toward A New Analytical Paradigm, Christine Klein

Christine A. Klein

Facing water shortages, states struggle with competing impulses, desiring to restrict water exports to other states, while simultaneously importing water from neighboring jurisdictions. In 1982, the Supreme Court weighed in on this issue through its seminal decision, Sporhase v. Nebraska. Determining that groundwater is an article of commerce, the Court held invalid under the dormant commerce clause a provision of a Nebraska statute limiting water export. The issue has again come into the national spotlight, as the Tarrant Regional Water District of Texas challenged Oklahoma legislation limiting water exports, and as Wind River LLC of Nevada contested the denial of …

"Beyond Rules", Larry A. Dimatteo, Samuel Flaks

Larry A DiMatteo

Our article, in contrast to the predominant scholarly view, contends that the influential Legal Realist Movement of the 1930s was actually two movements—radical legal realism and conservative legal realism (CLR). CLR is best understood through the works of Nathan Isaacs. This article will investigate the legitimacy and determinacy of the legal order through the lens of CLR as represented by Isaacs.

Isaacs and CLR are especially worthy subjects for study given the current economic crisis. It is a crisis, much like the Great Depression, that has spurred many people to question core capitalistic premises, such as the superiority of minimal …

The Environmental Deficit: Applying Lessons From The Economic Recession, Christine Klein

Christine A. Klein

In 2007, the nation entered a financial downturn unprecedented since the Great Depression of the 1930s. A period of national introspection followed, including memorable moments such as Federal Chairman Alan Greenspan’s gut-wrenching admission that his “whole intellectual edifice” had collapsed during the summer of 2007. Although prescriptions for financial rescue varied widely in the details, a surprisingly-broad consensus began to emerge as to the underlying pathology of the crisis. This Essay focuses on three underlying errors: rejecting rules through deregulation, trivializing risk through overly-optimistic analyses, and recklessly borrowing and lending money. Those powerful lessons, accepted by a stunned nation in …

Contributory Negligence, Technology, And Trade Secrets, Elizabeth A. Rowe

Elizabeth A Rowe

In tort law, the doctrine of contributory negligence captures conduct by the plaintiff which falls below the standard to which he should conform for his own protection. Whether one has been contributorily negligent is determined by an objective standard of reasonableness under the circumstances. This Article, for the first time, applies these contributory negligence principles to trade secret law. It draws upon this doctrine to frame and analyze a problem posed by modern technology. The very technological tools in use today that increase the efficiency with which companies do business create challenges for trade secret protection. They make trade secrets …

A Sociological Approach To Misappropriation, Elizabeth A. Rowe

Elizabeth A Rowe

This paper is grounded on the premise that sociological analysis can be of great benefit to trade secret law. More specifically, a sociological approach can improve our understanding of the social factors involved in the complex interplay between legal doctrine and compliance. As the first article to apply sociological analysis to trade secret law, this paper uses a group which constitutes the largest segment of the workforce, namely, Generation X and Generation Y (collectively referred to and coined in the Article as “New Generation Employees”) as a case study for analyzing how values and social norms influence compliance with trade …

From Downes V. Bidwell To Boumediene V. Bush: "The Constitution Follows The Flag ... But It [Still] Doesn't Quite Catch Up With It", Pedro A. Malavet

Pedro A. Malavet

Boumediene v. Bush, resolved by the U.S. Supreme Court in June of 2008, granted habeas corpus rights, at least for the time being, to the persons detained at Guantanamo Bay Naval Station. The majority partially based its ruling on the doctrine of the Insular Cases, first set forth in the 1901 decision in Downes v. Bidwell. Indeed, the court was unanimous that the plurality opinion of Justice Edward Douglass White in Downes is still the dominant interpretation of the Constitution’s Territorial Clause, abandoning the rule set forth in Dred Scott v. Sanford. This article provides historical context and analysis of …

Cultural Norms As A Source Of Law: The Example Of Bottled Water, Christine A. Klein, Ling-Yee Huang

Christine A. Klein

As a metaphor for the interaction of law and culture, a crystal-clear bottle of water is striking in its simplicity and purity. Bottled water has spawned a rich subculture of beverage drinkers, united by the truths and myths of bottled water that they embrace. More recently, an equally fertile subculture of bottled water protest has begun to coalesce. Notably, the cultural norms evidenced by supporters and detractors go far beyond mere hydration, touching upon such far-flung notions as health, taste, convenience, status, morality, truth-telling, and anti-privatization. In contrast, the legal narrative is surprisingly sparse, overlooking an important opportunity to engage …

The Story Of Downes V. Bidwell: "The Constitution Follows The Flag ... But Doesn't Quite Catch Up With It", Pedro Malavet

Pedro A. Malavet

A study of the principal decision of the Insular Cases of 1901, which has provided constitutional authorization for the U.S. territorial empire for over a century. The cases were most recently referenced by the U.S. Supreme Court in its 2008 opinion in Boumediene v. Bush.

Toward A Vibrant Peruvian Middle Class: Effects Of The Peru-United States Free Trade Agreement On Labor Rights, Biodiversity, And Indigenous Populations, Stephen J. Powell, Paola A. Chavarro

Stephen Joseph Powell

Past research confirms that trade and human rights are inextricably linked by trade's effects on poverty, labor, women, indigenous populations, health, and the environment. We identified surprisingly direct linkages between these two vital policies in WTO agreements as well as that regional trade agreements add positive indirect contributions by to rules-based governance through their emphasis on transparency, accountability, and due process by governments, as well as timeliness, inclusive record keeping, and impartiality in the administrative decisional process. The present research examines a particular country and a single trade agreement, Peru and the trade agreement between Peru and the United States. …

Afterword: Outsider Citizenships And Multidimensional Borders: The Power And Danger Of Not Belonging, Pedro Malavet

Pedro A. Malavet

A critical review of the essays and articles included in the LatCrit VIII Symposium issue.

Introduction: Latcritical Encounters With Culture, In North-South Frameworks, Pedro Malavet

Pedro A. Malavet

A critical introduction of a group of articles in the LatCrit VI Symposium issue, discussing the authors' diverse approaches to Latin American legal cultures and contextualizing the publications in the growing body of LatCrit scholarship.