Law Commons^™

The Neglected Political Economy Of Eminent Domain, Nicole Stelle Garnett

Michigan Law Review

This Article challenges a foundational assumption about eminent domain- namely, that owners are systematically undercompensated because they receive only fair market value for their property. In fact, scholars may have overstated the undercompensation problem because they have focused on the compensation required by the Constitution, rather than on the actual mechanics of the eminent domain process. The Article examines three ways that "Takers" (i.e., nonjudicial actors in the eminent domain process) minimize undercompensation. First, Takers may avoid taking high subjective value properties. (By way of illustration, Professor Garnett discusses evidence that Chicago's freeways were rerouted in the 1950s to avoid …

Conscripting Attorneys To Battle Corporate Fraud Without Shields Or Armor? Reconsidering Retaliatory Discharge In Light Of Sarbanes-Oxley, Kim T. Vu

Michigan Law Review

This Note advocates that federal courts should allow attorneys to bring retaliatory discharge claims under SOX. Traditional rationales prohibiting the claims of retaliatory discharge by attorneys do not apply in the context of Sarbanes-Oxley. This Note contends that the Department of Labor and the federal courts should interpret the whistleblower provisions of § 806 as protecting attorneys who report under § 307. Assuring reporting attorneys that they have protection from retaliation will encourage them to whistleblow and thereby advance SOX's policy goal of ferreting out corporate fraud. Part I explores the legal landscape of retaliatory discharge suits by attorneys. This …

Vol. 57, No. 2, September 19, 2006, University Of Michigan Law School

Res Gestae

•Class of 2009 by the Numbers •Renovations Deserve Our Applause •A Warm Welcome From Dean Caminker •My Return to Cable •Focus on Public Service •3L Pledging Begins with a Bang •The Keys to Success •Bar Night Pics •LSSS Gives the Lowdown on the Upcoming Year •Japanese Cuisine in the McNamara Terminal •Grade Curves •Crossword

Vol. 57, No. 1, August 28, 2006, University Of Michigan Law School

Res Gestae

•Tips for Early Interview Week and Beyond •All I Ever Needed to Know About OCI I Learned Doing My Laundry •Get Your Dream Job in Your Dream City •Top 10 Things Not to Say on Callbacks •If You Can Dodge the Wrench You Can Dodge These Interview Questions •The OCI Drinking Game! •The Opening of Law School Dating Season •10 Things Not to Do as a Summer Associate •Crossword •Green OCI

Lawful Personal Use, Jessica D. Litman

Law & Economics Working Papers Archive: 2003-2009

Whenever someone makes a copy of a copyrighted work, that copy is either authorized by the copyright owner, permitted by some express provision of the copyright statute (such as the ephemeral copy provision in section 112 or the fair use provision in section 107), or infringing. That's what we tell our colleagues and what we teach our students. But most of us don't actually believe it, and this article argues that that understanding of the copyright law is wrong.

I make this argument by examining the copyright law through the lens of personal use. Unlike many other jurisdictions, the United …

A Multinational Perspective On Capital Structure Choice And Internal Capital Markets, Mihir A. Desai, C. Fritz Foley, James R. Hines Jr.

Book Chapters

This paper analyzes the capital structures of foreign affiliates and internal capital markets of multinational corporations. Ten percent higher local tax rates are associated with 2.8% higher debt/asset ratios, with internal borrowing being particularly sensitive to taxes. Multinational affiliates are financed with less external debt in countries with underdeveloped capital markets or weak creditor rights, reflecting significantly higher local borrowing costs. Instrumental variable analysis indicates that greater borrowing from parent companies substitutes for three-quarters of reduced external borrowing induced by capital market conditions. Multinational firms appear to employ internal capital markets opportunistically to overcome imperfections in external capital markets.

Concurring In Part & Concurring In The Confusion, Sonja R. West

Michigan Law Review

When a federal appellate court decided last year that two reporters must either reveal their confidential sources to a grand jury or face jail time, the court did not hesitate in relying on the majority opinion in the Supreme Court's sole comment on the reporter's privilege-Branzburg v. Hayes. "The Highest Court has spoken and never revisited the question. Without doubt, that is the end of the matter," Judge Sentelle wrote for the three-judge panel of the Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. By this declaration, the court dismissed with a wave of its judicial hand the arguments …

Information Asymmetries And The Rights To Exclude, Lior Jacob Strahilevitz

Michigan Law Review

The American law generally regards the "bundle of rights" as property's dominant metaphor. On this conception of property, ownership empowers an individual to control a particular resource in any number of ways. For example, he may use it, transfer it, exclude others from it, divide it, and perhaps even destroy it. The various rights in the bundle, however, are not equal in terms of importance. To the contrary, American courts and commentators have deemed the "right to exclude" foremost among the property rights, with the Supreme Court characterizing it as the "hallmark of a protected property interest" and leading property …

The Fair Housing Act And Disparate Impact In Homeowners Insurance, Dana L. Kaersvang

Michigan Law Review

This Note argues that because homeowners insurance is central to homeownership, the FHA applies to insurance underwriting policies, such as those mentioned above, that have a disparate impact on minority potential homeowners. Part I considers whether the FHA applies to homeowners insurance and concludes that homeowners insurance is covered by the Act. Part II goes on to argue that the FHA applies to homeowners insurance even where the discrimination results from disparate impact, rather than from disparate treatment. Finally, Part III analyzes the above-mentioned policies of the insurance industry under the FHA disparate impact standard.

Learning The Wrong Lessons From "An American Tragedy": A Critique Of The Berger-Twerski Informed Choice Proposal, David E. Bernstein

Michigan Law Review

Margaret Berger and Aaron Twerski are among the leading scholars in their respective fields of Evidence and Products Liability. I have benefited from their work on many occasions. Precisely because of the deserved respect and esteem in which Berger and Twerski are held-not to mention the prominence of their forum, the Michigan Law Review-their proposal to create a new "informed choice" cause of action in pharmaceutical litigation is likely to receive sympathetic attention. Because I believe that their proposal is ill-conceived and dangerous, I feel compelled (with some trepidation) to write this response. Berger and Twerski propose that courts recognize …

From The Wrong End Of The Telescope: A Response To Professor David Bernstein, Margaret A. Berger, Aaron D. Twerski

Michigan Law Review

On the pages of this law review, in an article entitled Uncertainty and Informed Choice: Unmasking Daubert, the authors argued for the recognition of a new product liability cause of action when drug companies fail to warn about uncertain risks attendant to the use of non-therapeutic drugs whose purpose is to enhance lifestyle. We noted that in the post-Daubert era, plaintiffs have faced increasing difficulty in proving that a given toxic agent was causally responsible for the injuries suffered after ingesting a drug. That plaintiffs cannot overcome the barriers to proving injury causation does not mean that defendants have met …

Ieepa's Override Authority: Potential For A Violation Of The Geneva Conventions' Right To Access For Humanitarian Organizations?, Jennifer R. White

Michigan Law Review

This Note argues that, should the President exercise his override authority to prohibit or restrict the donation of humanitarian articles during an armed conflict involving the United States, the resulting prohibition or restriction would cause the United States to violate its obligations under the Conventions. This Note does not assert that the United States should not have the ability to put in place controls to prevent terrorists from benefiting from donations of funds and other humanitarian items; instead, it asserts that domestic law must tread as lightly and narrowly as possible where a widely accepted multilateral treaty exists and that …

Greed And Pride In International Bankruptcy: The Problems And Proposed Solutions To “Local Interests”, John A. E. Pottow

Law & Economics Working Papers Archive: 2003-2009

From just-enacted (2005) chapter 15 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code to the U.K. Enterprise Act of 2002, legislative reforms to international bankruptcy are on the rise. One of the thorniest issues facing scholars and policymakers alike in these efforts is what to do with the nettlesome problem of “local interests.” What exactly are these “local interests,” and what is it that we are we trying to protect? Literature to date has been elusive in pinning this down and has offered, for the most part, only undifferentiated anxiety that an international bankruptcy regime may impinge undesirably upon “local concerns.” This article …

How Qui Tam Actions Could Fight Public Corruption, Aaron R. Petty

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Note argues that public corruption at the state and local levels is a serious problem throughout the United States. Because public corruption decreases confidence in the democratic system at all levels of government, a strong response is necessary. Due to difficulties inherent in the deterrence, detection, and prosecution of state and local corruption, innovative methods to respond to this problem are needed. The author argues that amending the federal criminal statutes most commonly used to prosecute state and local public corruption, to allow a private citizen to bring a qui tam civil action against the public official for violations …

Unconscionable Contracting For Indigent Defense: Using Contract Theory To Invalidate Conflict Of Interest Clauses In Fixed-Fee Contracts, Jacqueline Mcmurtie

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Indigent defense remains in crisis and yet constitutional challenges to promote systemic change have met with mixed success. This Article explores the new strategy of applying contract theory and principles to challenge indigent defense contracts that violate the canons of professional responsibility. This Article begins by discussing the author's experience working on cases of indigent defendants whose convictions were overturned through the efforts of the Innocence Project Northwest. The erroneous convictions were facilitated by the indigent defense contract in place at the time of the convictions. Pursuant to this contract, the indigent defense contractor agreed to provide representation in all …

Two Spirits, Two Eras, Same Sex: For A Traditionalist Perspective On Native American Tribal Same-Sex Marriage Policy, Jeffrey S. Jacobi

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Recently, several states amended their constitutions to define marriage as only a union between a man and a woman. Many Native American Indian tribal governments thereafter also adopted laws prohibiting homosexual marriages. However, this new policy conflicts with traditional tribal values. This Note shows that historically many tribes accepted and even honored same-sex unions. This Note proposes that tribes consider their traditions as they existed before European contact, and argues that, for some tribes, same-sex civil unions are a historically and culturally appropriate answer to the modern objections to same-sex marriage.

Drugged, Carl E. Schneider

Articles

The Supreme Court's recent decision in Gonzales v. Oregon, like its decision last year in Gonzales v. Raich (the "medical marijuana" case), again raises questions about the bioethical consequences of the Controlled Substances Act. When, in 1970, Congress passed that act, it placed problematic drugs in one of five "schedules," and it authorized the U.S. attorney general to add or subtract drugs from the schedules. Drugs in schedule II have both a medical use and a high potential for abuse. Doctors may prescribe such drugs if they "obtain from the Attorney General a registration issued in accordance with the …

The University Of Michigan Law School Report Of Giving, July 1, 2005 - June 30, 2006, University Of Michigan Law School

Miscellaneous Law School History & Publications

An annual report of giving from the members of the University of Michigan Law School community.

Megasubsidiaries And Asset Sales Under Section 271: Which Shareholders Must Approve Subsidiary Asset Sales, Yaman Shukairy

Michigan Law Review

Corporate law statutes determine the nature of the relationship between shareholders, the principal owners of the corporation, and the board of directors, those w ho run and operate the corporation. Under the Delaware General Corporation Law ("DGCL"), many of the powers are delegated to the board of directors. More specifically, under section 141, "the business and affairs of every corporation . . . [are] managed by or under the direction of a board of directors . . . ." The Delaware courts have interpreted this provision by deferring to decisions by directors and their designated management under the business judgment …

Brand New Deal: The Branding Effect Of Corporate Deal Structures, Victor Fleischer

Michigan Law Review

Consider the unusual legal structures of the following four deals: When Google went public in 2004, it used an Internet auction to sell its stock to shareholders. When Ben & Jerry's went public in 1984, it sold its stock only to Vermont residents. Steve Jobs's contract with Apple entitles him to an annual cash salary of exactly one dollar. Stanley Works, a Connecticut toolmaker, considered reincorporating in Bermuda to reduce its tax liability. Under public pressure, it changed its mind and remains legally incorporated in Connecticut. What do these deals have in common? In each case, the legal infrastructure of …

The Political Market For Criminal Justice, Rachel E. Barkow

Michigan Law Review

In 2004, the number of individuals incarcerated in the United States exceeded the two million mark. The current incarceration rate in the United States is 726 per 100,000 residents, the highest incarceration rate in the Western world and a dramatic increase from just three decades ago. Not only are more people serving time, but sentences have markedly lengthened. What should we make of these trends? The answer has been easy for most legal scholars: to them, the incarceration rate in the United States is too high, and reforms are necessary to lower sentences. But many political leaders and voters reach …

Mark(Et)Ing Nondiscrimination: Privatizing Enda With A Certification Mark, Ian Ayres, Jennifer Gerarda Brown

Michigan Law Review

People in the United States strongly support the simple idea that employers should not discriminate against gays and lesbians. In a 2003 Gallup poll, eighty-eight percent of respondents said that "homosexuals should . . . have equal rights in terms of job opportunities." Even prominent social conservatives- such as George W. Bush-give lip service to the idea that employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is wrong. But gay rights advocates have achieved only modest legal reform on this issue. Seventeen states have prohibited employment discrimination against gays and lesbians. A seemingly modest bill, the Employment Non Discrimination Act …

Crime, Criminals, And Competitive Crime Control, Wayne A. Logan

Michigan Law Review

Given the negative consequences of crime, it should come as no surprise that states will endeavor to make their dominions less hospitable to potential criminal actors. This predisposition, when played out on a national stage, would appear ripe for a dynamic in which states will seek to "out-tough" one another, leading to a spiral of detrimental competitiveness. Doran Teichman, in an article recently appearing in these pages, advances just such a view. Teichman posits that the decentralized structure of America's federalist system provides states with "an incentive to increasingly harshen" their crime control efforts, with the net result being excessive …

Decentralizing Crime Control: The Political Economy Perspective, Doron Teichman

Michigan Law Review

In an article recently published on the pages of this Law Review, The Market for Criminal Justice: Federalism, Crime Control, and Jurisdictional Competition ("The Market"), I put forward a theory of crime control in a decentralized government. Specifically, I made three distinct claims. First, criminal justice policies affect the geographic decision of criminals as to where to commit their crimes. Other things being equal, criminal activity will tend to shift to areas in which the expected sanction is lower. Second, local jurisdictions attempting to lower their crime rates will react to policies adopted by neighboring jurisdictions and try …

Free Will To Will? A Case For The Recognition Of Intestacy Rights For Survivors To A Same-Sex Marriage Or Civil Union?, Christine A. Hammerle

Michigan Law Review

This Note argues that courts should recognize intestacy rights for same sex couples that were validly married or civilly united in a state other than the one in which one of the partners died. Courts may validly recognize the marriage for intestacy purposes, even while refusing to recognize the marriage as against public policy. Part I details the recent provision of benefits in various states to same-sex couples. Part II argues that same-sex couples cannot necessarily rely on wills to effectuate their intent to leave their property to their spouses. Part III argues that when states refuse to recognize the …

The Executive Role In Culturing Export Control Compliance, Matthew G. Morris

Michigan Law Review

Part I argues that the nature of export control enforcement requires extensive self-governing behavior on the part of exporters and that enforcement should be directed toward that end. Part II examines several possible justifications for penalizing a business entity and concludes that deterrence and rehabilitation through education are the most viable, particularly in a self-regulating industry. Part III argues that examining the export compliance program is actually a necessary prerequisite to determining the general culpability required under the general factors, and on that basis alone cannot be relegated to a mitigating factor. Part IV argues that an emphasis on corporate …

A Tribute To Travis A Skelton, Wesley E. Stockard

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

A tribute to Travis Skelton, Editor in Chief, Volume 38, University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform.

Something Must Be Done: An Argument For The Partial Deregulation Of Research On Bipolar Disorder And The Implementation Of Rolling Informed Consent, Janalee S. Kraschnewski

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Bipolar disorder (BD) cripples the lives of countless individuals across the globe. The healthcare community has had difficulty securing effective, long-term treatment for this disease. This Note argues that enlarging the pool of possible research subjects through partial deregulation of BD research would facilitate the development of better treatment. This Note further proposes the implementation of a system of rolling informed consent to ensure that actual and full consent is obtained from BD research subjects.

Finding The Sex In Sexual Harassment: How Title Vii And Tort Schemes Miss The Point Of Same-Sex Hostile Environment Harassment, Yvonne Zylan

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

It has been nearly a quarter century since the United States Supreme Court first recognized the cause of action for a sexually hostile work environment under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson, the Court essentially adopted the view offered by legal academician Catharine MacKinnon that harassment taking the form of a sexually hostile work environment is a manifestation of gender-based power. In so doing, the Court created a remedy for many aggrieved employees, permitting redress in the federal courts for a problem that makes many workplaces unbearable. At the same …

Rethinking Gender Opportunities: Nontraditional Sports Seasons And Local Preferences, Kristen Boike

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

In Communities for Equity v. Michigan High School Athletic Association, the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed a district court decision, holding that the scheduling of high school girls' sports in "nontraditional" seasons in Michigan violated the Equal Protection Clause. The Supreme Court of the United States, granting certiorari, vacated and remanded this case back to the Sixth Circuit. This Note suggests reasons why the Sixth Circuit and/or the United States Supreme Court should protect the Michigan High School Athletic Association's (MHSAA) current scheduling of sports seasons. Specifically, using the model provided by Romer v. Evans and …