Law Commons^™

Preventing Perpetuity: Ensuring Clean Mine Closure Without Water Treatment Into Infinity, Nicholas Clabbers

Nicholas Clabbers

Mine closure is a pressing environmental problem. Done improperly, mine closure can leave behind an ugly legacy of water and soil pollution from heavy metals and mining byproducts. Many scientific studies that attempt to quantify and explain the impacts of mine closure, both the formal legal and policy analysis, are sparse, especially with regards to proposed solutions. This article fills that gap – it provides an overview of the legal barriers to clean mine closure, a survey of existing law, and a thorough analysis of a possible framework for improved mine remediation. It advances practical solutions and works through the …

How To Do Things With Hohfeld, Pierre Schlag

Pierre Schlag

This article provides a comprehensive account of Hohfeld's 1913 article on jural relations and draws out some crucial critical, political, and economic implications. Hohfeld's "platform" is presented as an important contribution to contemporary legal thought and as a powerful antidote for common legal reasoning errors.

Coase Minus The Coase Theorem--Some Problems With Chicago Transaction Cost Analysis, Pierre Schlag

Pierre Schlag

In law as well as economics, the most well-known aspect of Coase’s “The Problem of Social Cost,” is the Coase Theorem. Over the decades, that particular notion has morphed into a crucial component of Chicago law and economics—namely, transaction cost analysis. In this Article, I deliberately bracket the Coase Theorem to show that “The Problem of Social Cost” contains far more interesting and unsettling lessons—both for law as well as for economics. Indeed, while Coase’s arguments clearly target the Pigouvian attempts to “improve on the market” through government correctives, there is, lurking in those arguments, a much more profound critique …

"Destinations:" A Comparison Of Sex Trafficking In India And The United States, Sarah Montana Hart

Sarah Montana Hart

This paper finds similarities in the sex trafficking industries in the United States and India, and offers some suggestions for the international community moving forward.

The Stock Act - Dispelling A Legal Perception, Casey K. Lekahal

Casey K Lekahal

“Few practices, short of manipulation, have as deleterious an effect on the investing public’s confidence in corporate institutions and the securities markets as the selective disclosure of and misuse of so-called inside information, i.e., material nonpublic information.”

Insider trading harms investor confidence in the markets which makes it more difficult for firms to raise capital and decreases liquidly. Further, insider trading harms the issuing corporation as it creates an incentive for management to direct the company to maximize their personal monetary gain rather than the corporation’s. Finally, insider trading hurts a non-issuer employer, such as a law firm or financial …

Inextricably Political: Race, Membership And Tribal Sovereignty, Sarah Krakoff

Sarah Krakoff

Courts address equal protection questions about the distinct legal treatment of American Indian tribes in the following dichotomous way: are classifications concerning American Indians “racial or political?” If the classification is political (i.e. based on federally recognized tribal status or membership in a federally recognized tribe) then courts will not subject it to heightened scrutiny. If the classification is racial rather than political, then courts may apply heightened scrutiny. This article challenges the dichotomy itself. The legal categories “tribe” and “tribal member” are themselves political, and reflect the ways in which tribes and tribal members have been racialized by U.S. …

The Collateral Consequences Of Juvenile Publicity: What The Montana Legislature Has Overlooked In The Youth Court Act, Sarah Montana Hart

Sarah Montana Hart

This article discusses what the Montana Legislature should do in order to remedy some unforeseen effects of keeping Youth Court proceedings public.

Cook: Stewing In His Own Juice Why Walter Cook’S “Logical And Legal Basis” Never Had A Chance, Sarah Montana Hart

Sarah Montana Hart

This article discusses the internal inconsistencies in Walter Cook's 1924 article “The Logical and Legal Bases of the Conflict of Laws,” and the ramifications for the Conflict of Laws field.

Defending Against The Defenders Why I Can Be A Good Prosecutor And A Good Person, Sarah Montana Hart

Sarah Montana Hart

This article discusses the choice to become a prosecutor, specifically in light of the critics of the profession from writers like Paul Butler and Abbe Smith.

Planetarian Identity Formation And The Relocalization Of Environmental Law, Sarah Krakoff

Sarah Krakoff

Local food, local work, local energy production—all are hallmarks of a resurgence of localism throughout contemporary environmental thought and action. The renaissance of localism might be seen as a retreat from the world’s global environmental problems. This paper maintains, however, that some forms of localism are actually expressions, and appropriate ones, of a planetary environmental consciousness. The paper’s centerpiece is an in-depth evaluation of local climate action initiatives, including interviews with participants as well as other data and observations about their ethics, attitudes, behaviors, and motivations. The values and identities being forged in these initiatives form the basis for timely …

Blood Quantum, Race, And Identity In Indian Country, Sarah Montana Hart

Sarah Montana Hart

This article discusses how blood quantum laws affect racism and other relations between Indian nations and the United States.

Religious Rules: The Judeo-Christian Nature Of The Aba Model Rules And What It Means For The Legal Profession, Sarah Montana Hart

Sarah Montana Hart

This article argues that the American Bar Association Model Rules of Professional Conduct are not only biased in favor of Judeo-Christian biblical values, but actually are religious rules based in the Bible. The religious nature of the Model Rules affects lawyers in several different ways. There must be awareness of and a conscious choice about the nature and effects that these rules have on law students, bar applicants, and practicing lawyers.

An Unintended Casualty Of The War On Terror, Aya Gruber

Aya Gruber

As the dust of the Bush administration’s war on terror settles, casualties are starting to appear on the legal battlefield. The United States’ human rights reputation and the Supreme Court’s international influence lay wounded in the wake of U.S. policies that flouted international law by advocating torture, suborning indefinite detention, and erecting irregular tribunals. Through declining citation, the courts of the world are telling the Supreme Court that if it does not respect international and foreign law, international and foreign courts will not respect it. Some might object that the Supreme Court should not be lumped with the Bush administration …

A Distributive Theory Of Criminal Law, Aya Gruber

Aya Gruber

In criminal law circles, the accepted wisdom is that there are two and only two true justifications of punishment―retributivism and utilitarianism. The multitude of moral claims about punishment can thus be reduced to two propositions: (1) Punishment should be imposed because defendants deserve it; and/or (2) punishment should be imposed because it makes society safer. At the same time, most penal scholars notice the trend in criminal law to de-emphasize intent, centralize harm, and focus on victims, but they largely write off this trend as an irrational return to antiquated notions of vengeance. This Article asserts that there is in …

Rape, Feminism, And The War On Crime, Aya Gruber

Aya Gruber

Over the past several years, feminism has been increasingly associated with crime control and the incarceration of men. In apparent lock step with the movement of the American penal system, feminists have advocated a host of reforms to strengthen state power to punish gender-based crimes. In the rape context, this effort has produced mixed results. Sexual assault laws that adopt prevailing views of criminality and victimhood, such as predator laws, enjoy great popularity. However, reforms that target the difficulties of date rape prosecutions and seek to counter gender norms, such as rape shield and affirmative consent laws, are controversial, sporadically-implemented, …

Spam Jurisprudence, Air Law, And The Rank Anxiety Of Nothing Happening (A Report On The State Of The Art), Pierre Schlag

Pierre Schlag

No abstract provided.

The Problem Of The Subject, Pierre Schlag

Pierre Schlag

No abstract provided.

The Aesthetics Of American Law, Pierre Schlag

Pierre Schlag

No abstract provided.

The Empty Circles Of Liberal Justification, Pierre Schlag

Pierre Schlag

No abstract provided.

Law And Phrenology, Pierre Schlag

Pierre Schlag

No abstract provided.

Hiding The Ball, Pierre Schlag

Pierre Schlag

No abstract provided.

Values, Pierre Schlag

Pierre Schlag

No abstract provided.

The Problem Of Transaction Costs, Pierre Schlag

Pierre Schlag

No abstract provided.