Law Commons^™

Incarcerated Workers Will Be Heard: Protecting The Right To Unionize Prisoners Through Dignity, Samuel Richter

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

This Comment posits that incarcerated workers possess an inherent right to unionize pursuant to human dignity. Centering dignity in this discussion highlights the ways in which prisoners’ unions secure the economic and political conditions needed to express their autonomy and foster rehabilitation. By reviewing the historical successes and missteps of the incarcerated workers’ labor movement in the United States, this Comment demonstrates that an appreciation for dignity is crucial to prevent factional violence between incarcerated people on the one hand and the over-professionalization of prisoner organization on the other. Recognizing that unionization is a matter of dignity, not free speech …

Co-Managers? The Need For Clarification Regarding State And Federal Powers In Federal Elections, Amber Mccomas

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

This article argues that the Court needs to clarify the distinction between the state and federal government’s roles in federal elections to avoid chaos and unconstitutional overreach. As a part of this clarification, the Court should also clarify how information is deemed “necessary.” This article looks specifically at one potential consideration: public fears regarding election security. Data and logic indicate that such fears should not be a consideration in the necessity determination as they are unreliable. Section II examines the background of the Election Assistance Commission, the applicable law, as well as criticism and support the agency has received since …

The News Media Engagement Principle: Why Social Media Has Not Actually Overrun The Limited Purpose Public Figure Category, Zachary R. Cormier

University of Miami Law Review

Has the rise of social media ruined the limited purpose public figure category of the First Amendment’s actual malice privilege? Justice Gorsuch believes so—and he has recently invited courts to get rid of it. He argues that the category now includes vast numbers of otherwise private citizens that have “become ‘public figures’ on social media overnight.” With so many people qualifying as limited purpose public figures (and having to overcome the actual malice standard to prevail on a defamation claim), he claims that the category has evolved to provide an unjustified shield for the masses of misinformation-peddlers on social media. …

Mental Health And The Workplace: How The Fmla And The Ada Should Work Harmoniously To Ensure Job Security And A Healthy Workplace For Employees With Mental Illness, Rafael Guzman

St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics

No abstract provided.

From Patients To Patents: The Disappearing I Of Innovation, Maggi Robert

St. Mary's Law Journal

The creation of the Mayo/Alice two-step test for patent eligible subject matter flipped the patent world upside down. Following its establishment, invalidation rates soared—particularly in the healthcare sector—impacting patients everywhere. The importance of patents in healthcare innovation and innovation generally has been emphasized as the consequences of this framework are realized.

The United States is no longer seen as a clear leader in innovation, and as a result, the economy is at risk. Start-ups and investors have turned to foreign nations where return on their investments in innovation are protected. This level of uncertainty regarding patents has never been seen …

Contract Law—Conspicuous Arbitration Agreements In Online Contracts: Contradictions And Challenges In The Uber Cases, Matthew Hoffman

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Addressing The Empty Chair: A Standard For The Sufficiency Notices Of Nonparty Fault, Mckenna Meadows

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Under-Enforcement Of Federal Animal Protection Laws: Agencies Abdicating Enforcement Authority, And An Outlier Eleventh Circuit ‘Serious Harm’ Rule, Rebekah Green

Catholic University Law Review

Congress enacted the Endangered Species Act, Animal Welfare Act, and the Marine Mammal Protection Act to protect and preserve endangered and threatened fish and wildlife, animals, and marine mammals. The United States Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) is the primary administrative agency in charge of regulating zoos, wildlife centers, and aquariums, yet fails to consistently enforce the Animal Welfare Act, which this Comment reviews. This means that private animal advocacy agencies are left suing zoos, wildlife centers, and aquariums under the “taking” clause of the Endangered Species Act in order to ensure animal safety and care. While most circuits agree upon …

Blurring The Line Between Student And Employee: Exploitation Of For-Profit College Students, Michele Abatangelo

Touro Law Review

For decades, for-profit colleges throughout the United States have exploited their students through a predatory business model. In February 2022, the Education Department approved $415 million in borrower defense claims for nearly 16,000 students who attended for-profit schools finding that these schools misrepresented post-graduation employment prospects. For-profit colleges also use manipulative recruitment tactics such as targeted advertising of low-income and minority students and providing false information to prospective students about loan repayment obligations post-graduation. Some for-profit institutions also rely on student labor in their facilities rather than hiring paid employees. This review discusses why it is imperative that courts scrutinize …

"Prep"Aring For A Challenge To Government-Owned Patents, Caleb Holland

Catholic University Law Review

The United States Government owns one of the largest patent estates in the world, but it rarely brings suit for patent infringement. To understand why that may be, this paper looks critically at the Government as a patent holder. Specifically, the paper reviews the fundamentals of American patents and explores the intricacies unique to the Government as an entity that both grants and holds patent rights. The paper examines the historical progression of how the United States Government positions itself with regard to its patents, tracing this evolution from Constitutional origins to more recent statutory refinements. Finally, the paper looks …

Bad Law Or Just Bad Timing?: Post-Pandemic Implications Of Managed Care Advisory Group, Llc V. Cigna Healthcare, Inc.’S Ban On The Use Of Virtual Technology For Taking Non-Party Evidence Under Section 7 Of The Federal Arbitration Act, Latoya C. Brown

University of Miami Law Review

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an enormous socio-economic impact globally. To continue operations, the legal field, like other sectors, has had to adapt to the exigencies of the pandemic by, inter alia, becoming increasingly reliant on remote technologies to conduct business. Yet, only a few months before COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, the Eleventh Circuit ruled in Managed Care Advisory Group, LLC v. CIGNA Healthcare, Inc., 939 F.3d 1145 (11th Cir. 2019), that Section 7 of the Federal Arbitration Act (the “FAA”), 9 U.S.C. § 7, prohibits prehearing discovery and does not allow a summonsed witness to appear in locations …

A Clean Water Act, If You Can Keep It, Sean G. Herman

Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal

The Clean Water Act has traveled a successful but tortuous path. From combustible beginnings on the Cuyahoga River; through the Lake St. Clair wetlands; to reservoirs near the Miccosukee; and eventually discharged (or “functionally” discharged) off the Maui coast. With each bend, the nearly fifty-year-old Act has proven to be not just resilient, but among our most successful environmental laws. Much of that success stems from an effective enforcement structure that focuses more on treating pollutant sources rather than just impaired waters. The text creating that structure has largely remained untouched by Congress for decades.

This article begins by posing …

Knowingly Benefitting: Blocking Relief For Drc Child Cobalt Miners, Austin Clements

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.

Are Digital Services Taxes Imposed By Other Countries Creditable Under Irc Section 903? Yes. But, What If The Opposite Is True?, Charles Edward Andrew Lincoln Iv

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Comic Books, The First Amendment, And The “Best Test” For Right Of Publicity Issues, Rachel Silverstein

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Warranty, Product Liability And Transaction Structure: The Problem Of Amazon, Edward J. Janger, Aaron D. Twerski

Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law

Amazon, and other internet sales platforms, have revolutionized the manner in which goods are purchased and sold. The obligations undertaken by Amazon in those sales are unclear, both as a matter of transparency, and as a matter of legal doctrine. Is Amazon a store? Is it a shipper? Is it a telephone? In various transactions Amazon can play some or all of these roles. Choosing the right metaphor has consequences. Amazon knows this and has done everything it can to deploy the metaphors selectively to its best legal and practical advantage, even when the chosen characterizations are inapt or even …

Where We’Re Going, We Don’T Need Drivers: Autonomous Vehicles And Ai-Chaperone Liability, Peter Y. Kim

Catholic University Law Review

The future of mainstream autonomous vehicles is approaching in the rearview mirror. Yet, the current legal regime for tort liability leaves an open question on how tortious Artificial Intelligence (AI) devices and systems that are capable of machine learning will be held accountable. To understand the potential answer, one may simply go back in time and see how this question would be answered under traditional torts. This Comment tests whether the incident involving an autonomous vehicle hitting a pedestrian is covered under the traditional torts, argues that they are incapable of solving this novel problem, and ultimately proposes a new …

Confusion, Conflict, And Case Law: Analyzing The Language Of The United States Patent Act And Conflicting Case Law Regarding The Transfer Of Patent Rights In The 21st Century, Lucas C. Logic

Marquette Intellectual Property Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Copyrightability Of Fictional Characters: Why Harry Potter, Arya Stark, And Matrim Cauthon Are Copyrightable, Justin Scharff

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Department Of Insurance, Sarah Marie Burgh, Joseph Cheng, J. D. Fellmeth

California Regulatory Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

California Public Utilities Commission, Charles Kreuzberger, Thomas G. Routson, Negin Taleb, R. C. Fellmeth

California Regulatory Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Slip Slidin' Away: The Erosion Of Apa Adjudication, William Funk

Journal of the National Association of Administrative Law Judiciary

Although the enactment of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) was intended to establish a uniform set of procedures applicable to adjudications "required by statute to be determined on the record after opportunity for an agency hearing," agencies have long sought to avoid those procedures, and, in particular, Administrative Law Judges, by substituting informal, non-APA adjudications. Over time, the courts have accelerated this substitution through a misapplication of three Supreme Court opinions. This article describes the original understanding of the APA and how that original understanding has been eroded over the years. The article then asks whether this is a problem …

The Erie/Sears/Compco Sqeeze: Erie's Effects On Unfair Competition And Trade Secret Law, Sharon K. Sandeen

Akron Law Review

On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the Supreme Court's famous decision in Erie Railroad v. Tompkins, this article explores the consequences of that decision on the development of unfair competition law in the United States. It details efforts by lawyers and legislators to grapple with those consequences and provides an overview of the evolution of unfair competition law in the U.S. since Erie, with a particular focus on trade secret law.

The Unlikely Duo That Shocked The Intellectual Property World And Why The Supreme Court Was The Chosen One To Restore Balance, Nicholas Dilts

University of Miami Law Review

The United States Congress passed the Leahy Smith America Invents Act in 2011 in an effort to streamline the patent system and reduce patent litigation, allowing the United States to continue to be competitive globally. The Act enabled the U.S. Patent Office to facilitate patent challenges through an administrative process called inter partes review, an adversarial proceeding before the newly established Patent Trial and Appeal Board that was designed to be a cheaper and more efficient alternative for post-grant patent review than litigation in front of the federal district courts. In the years that followed, the Patent Trail and Appeal …

Save Our Sound Obx, Inc. V. North Carolina Department Of Transportation, Mitch L. Werbell V

Public Land & Resources Law Review

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled in favor of several governmental agencies seeking to construct a new bridge in the Pamlico Sound adjacent to North Carolina’s Outer Banks. For years, state and federal agencies have put forth a massive coordinated effort to address the constant weather damage and erosion which occurs to a section of North Carolina Highway 12. The court found the agencies properly cleared NEPA’s environmental review requirements for the bridge’s construction. Additionally, the opponent-litigants’ efforts to add claims challenging the project, based on new information about a shipwreck in the bridge’s path, were futile.

Petitioner Estoppel From Patent Trial And Appeal Board Proceedings After Sas Institute Inc. V. Iancu, Jennifer Esch, Paula Miller, Stacy Lewis, Tom Irving

Chicago-Kent Journal of Intellectual Property

No abstract provided.

All Or Nothing: Why The Supreme Court Sas Mandate Does Not Eliminate The Shaw Safe Harbor, Matt Johnson, Michael Lavine, Daniel Kazhdan Ph.D, Lisa Furby, David Anderson

Chicago-Kent Journal of Intellectual Property

No abstract provided.

Nevor V. Moneypenny Holdings, Llc: Availability Of Prejudgment Interest For Mixed Maritime Law And Jones Act Claims, Adam S. Bohanan

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

In maritime personal injury cases, courts have traditionally seen prejudgment interest as part of the compensation due to a prevailing plaintiff. The goal of ensuring the fullest compensation possible has long been recognized as a basic principle of admiralty law. However, federal appellate courts are split over whether to award prejudgment interest on a mixed claim under general maritime law and the Jones Act. This Note explores this issue in Nevor v. Moneypenny Holdings, LLC, which was the first time the question had been raised in the First Circuit. The Fifth and Sixth Circuits have held that because prejudgment interest …

The Future Of Disability Rights Protections For Transgender People, Kevin M. Barry, Jennifer L. Levi

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

No Prior Experience Desired: Villarreal V. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. And The Scope Of Disparate Impact Claims Under The Adea, Nicholas Placente

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

This Note argues that § 4(a)(2) of the ADEA permits disparate impact claims for job applicants, despite the revised holding of the Eleventh Circuit. First, the plain meaning of § 4(a)(2) strongly suggests that disparate impact protections lie for job seekers, in contrast to the Eleventh Circuit’s ultimate finding. This argument draws on a close textual and structural analysis of the ADEA, supplemented with a comparative analysis to Title VII. Furthermore, this Note unpacks the legal arguments surrounding the 1972 amendment to Title VII, demonstrating that the absence of the “applicants for employment” language from § 4(a)(2) does not …