Law Commons^™

Risk-Utility Balancing In Design Defect Cases, David G. Owen

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Design defectiveness is generally defined in terms of a risk-utility balance, the form of liability test adopted by the Restatement (Third) of Torts: Products Liability. However, confusion abounds in how courts formulate such balancing tests. A national survey of recent appellate court decisions reveals that courts generally define the balance in terms of the product's risks and utility, a formulation which appears to call for weighing the product's global costs against the product's global benefits. So defined, the design defect test is incorrect. What appellate courts mean for juries to decide, and what juries ordinarily do in fact decide, …

Section 1500 And The Jurisdictional Pitfalls Of Federal Government Litigation , Paul Frederic Kirgis

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Question Of Intent: Aiding And Abetting Law And The Rule Of Accomplice Liability Under § 924©, Tyler B. Robinson

Michigan Law Review

Firearms are common tools of the violent-crime and drugtrafficking trades. Their prevalence is reflected in the frequency with which federal prosecutors charge, juries apply, and courts review 18 U.S.C. §924(c). That provision imposes heavy penalties for either the use or carrying of a firearm "during and in relation to any crime of violence or drug trafficking crime," in addition to the punishment provided for the underlying violent or drug-related offense. A conviction under section 924(c) carries at the very least a mandatory, consecutive five-year sentence, even when the underlying crime already provides enhanced punishment for use of a dangerous weapon …

Rescuing Multidistrict Litigation From The Altar Of Expediency, Carter G. Phillips, Gene C. Schaerr, Anil K. Abraham

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Congressional Power Over Federal Court Jurisdiction: A Defense Of The Neo-Federalist Interpretation Of Article Iil, Robert J. Pushaw Jr.

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Trail Mountain Coal Co. V. Utah Division Of State Lands & Forestry: Can States Retroactively Alter Their Own Contractual Obligations?, Michael S. Lee

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Path To Habeas Corpus Narrows: Interpreting 28 U.S.C. § 2254(D)(1), Sharad Sushil Khandelwal

Michigan Law Review

The enforcement of the U.S. Constitution within the criminal justice system is an odd subspecies of constitutional law. In areas other than criminal law, federal courts act as the ultimate guarantors of constitutional rights by providing remedies whenever violations occur. Criminal law, however, is different by necessity; the bulk of criminal justice occurs in state courthouses, leaving constitutional compliance largely to state judges. The U.S. Supreme Court, of course, may review these decisions if it chooses, but a writ of certiorari can be elusive, especially given the Court's shrinking docket. After World War II, however, this feature of criminal constitutional …

To The Best Of My Recollection: Memory Malingerers And Congressional Testimony, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article (1) describes some common concepts of clinical research on memory malingering and (2) advocates the heuristic value of these concepts for political committees seeking to devise methods that elicit truthful statements from individuals providing testimony.

Speaking To Tribal Judges On The Matter Of Improving Children's Court Practice In Child Abuse And Neglect Cases In Our Country: A Proposal For A Uniform Children's Code, Julian D. Pinkham

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Since the 1970 the responsibilities of the tribal children's courts have increased dramatically. In child welfare case tribal courts no longer simply determine whether a child has been abused or neglected. They now also oversee the placement of the child in a shelter, foster care, or a permanent home, as well as determine the parent's treatment or visitation rights The complexity of the cases causes unacceptable delays in placing Indian children in need of care and hinders the placement of Indian children within the tribal community.

Judge Pinkham introduces a proposed solution to the problems of current tribal child welfare …

Filling The Box: Responding To Jury Duty Avoidance, Thomas L. Fowler

North Carolina Central Law Review

No abstract provided.

What Went Wrong With Fre Rule 609: A Look At How Jurors Really Misuse Prior Conviction Evidence, Robert D. Dodson

North Carolina Central Law Review

No abstract provided.

Civil Liberty And The Civil War: The Indianapolis Treason Trials, William Rehnquist

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Uniform Commercial Code Meets The Seventh Amendment: The Demise Of Jury Trials Under Article 5?, Margaret L. Moses

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Erie Awry: A Comment On Gasperini V. Center For Humanities, Inc., C. Douglas Floyd

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Extending The Due Process Clause To Prevent A Previously Recused Judge From Later Attempting To Affect The Case From Which He Was Recused, S. Matthew Cook

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Gaining Appellate Review By "Manufacturing" A Final Judgment Through Voluntary Dismissal Of Peripheral Claims, Rebecca A. Cochran

Mercer Law Review

In recent decades, the paths from federal district courts to the federal circuit courts of appeals have narrowed considerably. Appeals through rule 54(b), section 1292(b), the collateral order doctrine, and other litigants and judges to test the limits of the most prevalent appellate path-appeal from a final judgment. This Article argues that the purposes of the final judgment rule, including judicial economy, are served, not hindered, by voluntary dismissals with prejudice of peripheral claims to render final an earlier ruling that decided the heart of the litigation.

First, this Article profiles the district court cases in which peripheral claims dismissals …

Slavery And The Arkansas Supreme Court, L. Scott Stafford

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Pre-Natal Fictions And Post-Partum Actions, Ian R. Kerr

Dalhousie Law Journal

The author examines the theory of liability for pre-natal injuries adopted by Canadian courts. This theory has recently been adopted by the New Brunswick Court of Appeal in an unprecedented decision that allows an infant to sue its own mother for alleged negligent conduct that occurred prior to the child's birth. The author argues that, despite contrary claims, the present theory of liability relies on the judicial use of a legal fiction. He maintains that this fiction has been stretched beyond its theoretical limits and concludes that courts are no longer justified in adopting the present theory of liability in …

Nkacoang U. Ins: A Complementary Theory For Denying Reinstatement Of Voluntary Departure, Richard Cameron Blake

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Unwelcome Judicial Obligation To Respect Politics In Racial Gerrymandering Remedies, Jeffrey L. Fisher

Michigan Law Review

Like it or not, the attack on "bizarrely" shaped majority-minority electoral districts is now firmly underway. Nearly four years have passed since the Supreme Court first announced in Shaw v. Reno that a state's redistricting plan that is "so extremely irregular on its face that it rationally can be viewed only as an effort to segregate the races for purposes of voting" may violate the Equal Protection Clause. Such a district, the Court held, reinforces racial stereotypes, carries us further from the goal of a political system in which race no longer matters, and "threatens to undermine our system of …

Congress, The Courts, And The Long Range Plan , Patrick E. Longan

American University Law Review

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Cultivating A Seedling Charter: South Africa's Court Grows Its Constitution, Margaret A. Burnham

Michigan Journal of Race and Law

As South Africa emerges from the vestiges of apartheid, its Constitutional Court struggles to develop a jurisprudence that reflects the lasting ideals of a constitutional democracy. This Article examines the Court's use of international and foreign law in developing a unique form of constitutional jurisprudence. It argues that the Constitutional Court is in the process of developing an innovative form of decision-making that effectively combines domestically derived principles of justice with those developed in the international forum. This Article concludes that reliable methods of adjudication are firmly entrenched in the South African legal system and that its constitutional jurisprudence should …

Translating & Interpreting Foreign Statutes, Andrew N. Adler

Michigan Journal of International Law

This article aspires to address academics and anyone who must translate or interpret foreign statutes without previous in-depth education in the alien language and law. To make matters more interesting, the author concentrates on the plight of the minority of judges who want to arrive at independently reasoned interpretations of foreign law when given the opportunity. Most judges strive mightily to avoid even having to glance at foreign laws. And, when it becomes absolutely necessary to read a foreign code, most judges and litigators retain the centuries-old habit of relying too slavishly on tendentious expert testimony. Furthermore, while most states …

The Role Of National Courts In International Trade Relations, Meinhard Hilf

Michigan Journal of International Law

Part I of this article identifies and analyzes some modern trends in judicial review in the area of international relations. Section Part II then examines and briefly discusses the existence of judicial review for both national and international levels of protection and the possibilities for linking the two. A major part, Part III, is devoted to the specific role of national courts within the WTO system. Finally, Part IV draws conclusions and suggests some means for improving the judicial review offered by national courts and for linking them to the interstate dispute settlement on the international level.

Human Rights Litigation In U.S. Courts: A Hypocritical Approach, Mark Gibney

Buffalo Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

Court Of Appeals Ballentine V. Koch (Decided October 22, 1996)

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Public Welfare, Supreme Court Monroe County, Brown V. Wing

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Toward A South African Administrative Justice Act, Michael Asimow

Michigan Journal of Race and Law

Section 33 of South Africa's Constitution provides fundamental principles of administrative justice. It also requires Parliament to adopt an Administrative Justice Act. This Article contends that without enactment of such legislation Section 33 will be ineffective in practice and may prove to be an obstacle to achieving the economic and social objectives of the Constitution. In addition, such legislation is essential to preserving the legitimacy and the effectiveness of the Constitutional Court.

Peanut Butter And Politics: An Evaluation Of The Separation-Of-Powers Issues In Section 802 Of The Prison Litigation Reform Act, Jennifer A. Puplava

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Recent Developments In American Indian Law

American Indian Law Review

No abstract provided.