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Fordham Law School

Fordham Urban Law Journal

1999

Articles 1 - 30 of 68

Full-Text Articles in Law

Section 60.41 Of The New York Criminal Procedure Law: The Sexual Assault Reform Act Of 1999 Challenges Molineux And Due Process, Brooks Holland Jan 1999

Section 60.41 Of The New York Criminal Procedure Law: The Sexual Assault Reform Act Of 1999 Challenges Molineux And Due Process, Brooks Holland

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The 1999 Sexual Assault Reform Act of 1999 proposed the addition of section 60.41 to Article 60 of the New York Criminal Procedure Law to allow prosecutors in sexual assault prosecutions to introduce evidence of a defendant's previous commission of any "offense or offenses of sexual assault.., on any matter to which it is relevant, including the defendant's propensity to commit an offense of sexual assault or the credibility of the alleged victim of the sexual assault . ." The author argues that this law would upset a century of New York law under the Molineux rule, which holds that …

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Mother Still Knows Best: Cancer-Related Gene Mutations, Familial Privacy, And A Physician's Duty To Warn, Alissa Jan 1999

Mother Still Knows Best: Cancer-Related Gene Mutations, Familial Privacy, And A Physician's Duty To Warn, Alissa

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The vows of the Hippocratic Oath which include a vow to abstain from sharing a patient's personal information remains an important tenet of medical care today. Physician-patient confidentiality even abstains sharing information with patients' families. However, when medical information affects the health of the patient's relatives, many medical professionals assert that they have a duty to share the information, with or without the patient's consent, particularly in the context of children of patients with genetic diseases and disorders, where forewarning may significantly decrease the risks or increase prevention of the effects of the disease or disorder. Currently, while physicians respect …

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The Uncertain Legacy Of Gilmer: Mandatory Arbitration Of Federal Employment Discrimination Claims, John W.R. Murray Jan 1999

The Uncertain Legacy Of Gilmer: Mandatory Arbitration Of Federal Employment Discrimination Claims, John W.R. Murray

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The United States Supreme Court in Alexander v. Gardner-Denver Co. held that an employee could not be forced to arbitrate his discrimination claim against an employer pursuant to his union's collective bargaining agreement. Subsequent cases viewed Gardner-Denver as prohibiting mandatory arbitration in employment discrimination claims, until the Supreme Court upheld an agreement to submit all statutory discrimination claims to arbitration in Gilmer v. Interstate/Johnson Lane Corp. Gilmer seems to have limited the prohibition of mandatory arbitration in Gardner-Denver to collective bargaining agreements. Subsequently, many lower courts interpret Gilmer as an approval of arbitration clauses in employment agreements, and as such, …

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Nimby's Legacy: A Challenge To Local Autonomy: Regulating The Siting Of Group Homes In New York, Anna L. Georgiou Jan 1999

Nimby's Legacy: A Challenge To Local Autonomy: Regulating The Siting Of Group Homes In New York, Anna L. Georgiou

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Group homes represent a non-traditional alternative to single family living. The advent of the group home has taken place since the 1970s for a number of reasons, namely, due to a severe shortage in affordable housing, particularly for newly employed young adults and the elderly, due to public policy considerations calling for deinstitutionalization of the developmentally disabled and mentally ill, and finally due to a growing need for congregate type living arrangements for other special needs populations. Part I of the article explores the framework of the New York State zoning authority and the methods by which municipalities regulate the …

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The High Cost Of Efficiency: Mandatory Arbitration In The Securities Industry, Beth E. Sullivan Jan 1999

The High Cost Of Efficiency: Mandatory Arbitration In The Securities Industry, Beth E. Sullivan

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Mandatory arbitration agreements have become standard in the securities industry via the required Form U-4 for anyone seeking a license to buy or sell a security. However, the arbitration agreements generally submits a claimant to a panel of "white males in their sixties," and often claimants do not fare well before such panels. The article explores the claims of proponents of such agreements, such as the efficiency of resolving the dispute, which allegedly benefits both employers and employees, notions of freedom of contract, and ability to foster employment relationships which otherwise would be difficult to enact. However, the article examines …

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Starr, Singleton, And The Prosecutor's Role, David A. Sklansky Jan 1999

Starr, Singleton, And The Prosecutor's Role, David A. Sklansky

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This article discusses the lessons contained in States v. Singleton and the system that has been adopted for investigating and prosecuting high executive officers. After describing Singleton and the tumult it triggered in Part I of this Article, Part II returns to the Starr Referral and poses a question that may at first seem idle: what distinguishes Starr's promises to Lewinsky in exchange for her testimony from the efforts he charges the President made to help find her a job? Part III of the Article broadens the focus. It argues there has been a general failure to think rigorously about …

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Working Outside The Rules: The Undefined Responsibilities Of Federal Prosecutors, Laurie L. Levenson Jan 1999

Working Outside The Rules: The Undefined Responsibilities Of Federal Prosecutors, Laurie L. Levenson

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Article discusses the undefined responsibilities of federal prosecutors. For purposes of example, the essay focuses primarily on five situations in which federal prosecutors are often expected to operate "outside" of the rules, including: charging and investigative decisions, discovery, plea bargaining, dealing with the press, and sentencing decisions. While there are "rules" in each of these areas, they take a back seat to the discretionary powers prosecutors are expected to exercise wisely when performing their duties. In judging whether there has been an appropriate exercise of those powers, it is not the rules that will govern society's judgment. Rather, the …

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We Have Seen The Enemy: Scenes From A Trial, Robert E. Precht Jan 1999

We Have Seen The Enemy: Scenes From A Trial, Robert E. Precht

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Article examines two traps that are particularly likely to undermine prosecutorial decision-making--the confirming-evidence trap and the anchoring trap. During the World Trade Center bombing trial, at which the author served as defense counsel, prosecutors stumbled into both of these traps. Part I of this Article examines the confirming-evidence trap in the context of the prosecution's failure to accept contradictory evidence regarding the material used in the bomb. Part II similarly examines the anchoring trap in light of the debacle that occurred during testimony by the prosecution's main witness. In addition to examining these episodes, the Article concludes that prosecutors …

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Thinking Strategically: How Federal Prosecutors Can Reduce Violent Crime, Elizabeth Glazer Jan 1999

Thinking Strategically: How Federal Prosecutors Can Reduce Violent Crime, Elizabeth Glazer

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Part I of this Article discusses how, in their traditional role, fed- eral prosecutors have limited their function to case-processing and accordingly reduced their natural ability to fashion effective crime- fighting techniques. Part II explores how certain features of the prosecutor's function make him well-placed to act as the federal agencies' strategic thinker. Finally, the Article suggests how the strategic potential of the prosecutor's role could be realized.

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Welcome, John D. Feerick Jan 1999

Welcome, John D. Feerick

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Welcome speech given by Dean Feerick.

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Why Should Prosecutors "Seek Justice"?, Bruce A. Green Jan 1999

Why Should Prosecutors "Seek Justice"?, Bruce A. Green

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This article discusses how prosecutors should conduct themselves in light of the principle that has traditionally ben thought to define the prosecutor's professional ethos: "the duty to seek justice." Part I sketches the outlines of this concept, both historically and in its contemporary incarnation. Part II offers two reasons for asking why prosecutors should seek justice. Part III examines alternative justifications for the duty--first, that the duty derives from prosecutors' extraordinary power, and second, that the duty derives from their role on behalf of a sovereign whose own interest is in achieving justice--and explains why the second provides the more …

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Panel Discussion: The Expanding Prosecutorial Role From Trial Counsel To Investigator And Administrator Jan 1999

Panel Discussion: The Expanding Prosecutorial Role From Trial Counsel To Investigator And Administrator

Fordham Urban Law Journal

MODERATOR: Daniel C. Richman PANELISTS: Laurie L. Levenson, GerardE. Lynch, Honorable John S. Martin, Jr., Julie R. O'Sullivan, Mary Lee Warren, Mary Jo White

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Remarks Jan 1999

Remarks

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Remarks by Rudolph W. Guliani in memory of Bill Tendy.

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Panel Discussion: The Regulation And Ethical Responsibilities Of Federal Prosecutors Jan 1999

Panel Discussion: The Regulation And Ethical Responsibilities Of Federal Prosecutors

Fordham Urban Law Journal

MODERATOR: Bruce A. Green PANELISTS: John Q. Barrett, Michael R. Bromwich, Rory K. Little, Mark F. Pomerantz, Robert E. Precht

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Teaching Jewish Law In American Law Schools: An Emerging Development In Law And Religion, Samuel J. Levine Jan 1999

Teaching Jewish Law In American Law Schools: An Emerging Development In Law And Religion, Samuel J. Levine

Fordham Urban Law Journal

There has been a "religious lawyering movement," where religion has gained increased prominence in the legal profession and academia. This essay discusses one aspect of the movement, Jewish law in the American law school curriculum. The author describes four models for courses teaching Jewish law in American law schools, outlining their advantages and disadvantages. The first model teaches Jewish law in comparative law. The course would compare and contrast the substantive areas of law in both Jewish and American law. The second model teaches Jewish law in international law. By focusing on the impact of Jewish law on Israel's legal …

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A Vocation For Law? American Jewish Lawyers And Their Antecedents, Marc Galanter Jan 1999

A Vocation For Law? American Jewish Lawyers And Their Antecedents, Marc Galanter

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Louis D. Brandeis is the presiding eminence in the story of the encounter of Jewish with the American legal order. In the centuries since Brandeis started practicing law, Jews have flourished exceedingly in both the legal professional mainstream (practitioners, judiciaries, academics) and the public interest sector. Can this extravagant participation in both hemispheres of the world of American lawyering be explained by something unique to the Jewish tradition or experience? This Essay addresses that question by focusing on Brandeis, who manifests in his person both sides of this extraordinary flourishing. Brandeis seems a felicitous path to understanding, not because he …

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Religion And The Public Defender, Sadiq Reza Jan 1999

Religion And The Public Defender, Sadiq Reza

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This essay argues that the public defender should not undertake, or fail to undertake, any action to the legal detriment of a client on the basis of a conflict the attorney perceives between religious and professional responsibility, except for imminent death or serious bodily harm to another. Having accepted the responsibility of representing indigent criminal defendants, the public defender is duty-bound to not compromise that responsibility for competing religious obligations. This argument rests on four premises: (1) the public defender occupies a unique position in our legal system, and options available to private interest lawyers or other clients should not …

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The Spirit And The Law , Thomas W. Porter, Jr. Jan 1999

The Spirit And The Law , Thomas W. Porter, Jr.

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Essay asserts that the practice of law is experiencing a spiritual crisis at both the personal and professional level. The Essay seeks to determine the role that the crisis in our paradigms has played in the crisis our personal and institutional lives. Although the crisis in our paradigms are not necessarily responsible for all our problems, our institutions and systems can cause us to be estranged from ourselves and that is what is happening today in the practice of law. We, as a profession, are beginning to see the limitations of our old paradigm, with retributive justice as its …

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Can A Religious Person Be A Big Firm Litigator? , Amelia J. Uelmen Jan 1999

Can A Religious Person Be A Big Firm Litigator? , Amelia J. Uelmen

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Essay takes on the challenge of describing some of the ways in which values often defined as "personal" or "religious" can be integrated into the practice of law at a large firm. Part I describes some of the aspects of big firm practice that make it particularly difficult to integrate religious and personal values which may give meaning to one's work. Part II suggests that such meaning can be found through a religious vision of what it means to be a person, which includes a sense of obligation to serve the common good. Part III explores how this concept …

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Vocation As Curse, F. Giba-Matthews, Ofm Jan 1999

Vocation As Curse, F. Giba-Matthews, Ofm

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Essay argues that while legal work as a vocation may have positive effects for society as a whole, as well as overall benefits for the legal profession, vocation could very well hurt the lawyer "called" to take up such a vocation. A vocation is not simply the application of one's religious belieft to the practice of law; rather, it is a "burning fire" in a lawyer's soul which the lawyer "cannot contain." Thus, a lawyer's vocation becomes an overwhelming priority. Part I of this Essay provides an explanation of the biblical underpinnings of vocation through a discussion of the …

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Honoring The Spirit In The Law: A Lawyer's Confession Of Faith, Melissa M. Weldon Jan 1999

Honoring The Spirit In The Law: A Lawyer's Confession Of Faith, Melissa M. Weldon

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Essay is a lawyer's public proclamation of her beliefs, using the words of her faith. She explains how her faith permeates through her daily life, and is even relevant to her profession as a lawyer.

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A Plumber's Guide To Lawyering, Stephen P. Wink Jan 1999

A Plumber's Guide To Lawyering, Stephen P. Wink

Fordham Urban Law Journal

We accept as the natural way that some must lose if others are to win; that some must go hungry, while others eat fully. But, Jesus taught that there is a third way that can arrest the cycle of violence and domination. A way that strikes a chord at the core of beings so that we may fully hear and see the other person we are dealing with. This is what is sometimes called nonviolent resistance. It springs from a conversation with another -- beyond just talking -- but a dialogue of being with another on a one to one …

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The Profession Of Religion And Law, Ted Dotts Jan 1999

The Profession Of Religion And Law, Ted Dotts

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This essay provides definitions for the terms "religion," "law" and "profession." The professional bears the power to bid forth -- to announce, command, tell, declare and make aware. Religion is the power to relate. Law is the power to regulate. The author concludes that religion and law are givens of human living. The question is not whether to have one or the other. The question is how we live with these realities.

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A Man For All Decades, Honorable John F. Keenan Jan 1999

A Man For All Decades, Honorable John F. Keenan

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Article examines the life and legal career of Whitman Knapp, a former lawyer and United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York who contributed much towards the improvement of the laws that relate to urban society. The Article focuses on some of the cases Judge Knapp partook in either as a litigator or as a judge. These cases deal with a wide range of issues, including First Amendment speech, labor racketeering and extortion, police corruption, and the Mafia.

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Smart Growth: A Catalyst For Public-Interest Investment, Honorable Norman B. Rice Jan 1999

Smart Growth: A Catalyst For Public-Interest Investment, Honorable Norman B. Rice

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Written by a former mayor of Seattle, this Article describes the "smart growth" movement as a way to sustain the livability of large urban centers in the twenty-first strategy. It describes some of the problems facing urban areas experiencing population growth, namely traffic, rising housing prices and a scarcity of open space. The "smart growth" movement seeks to address these problems in a cost efficient and environmentally friendly manner. Specifically, it seeks to do so through increased citizen participation in development decisions an constructive dialogue regarding development on individual neighborhoods. Ultimately, the goal of the movement is to make urban …

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Reforming The Urban Workplace: The Legacy Of Frances Perkins, Honorable Jeanine Francis Pirro Jan 1999

Reforming The Urban Workplace: The Legacy Of Frances Perkins, Honorable Jeanine Francis Pirro

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Article focuses on the life and legacy of Francis Perkins, a twentieth century champion of woman's and worker's rights. It examines her work as a reformer and as Secretary of Labor under Franklin Roosevelt, specifically on the issues of woman's rights, education, social services and working conditions for poor. By focusing on specific legislation she helped enact, such as the Social Security Act and laws regarding working conditions, the Article ultimately seeks to portray Perkins as the most influential person to urban America in the twentieth century.

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1998 Survey Of Ethics In Land-Use Planning, Patricia E. Salkin Jan 1999

1998 Survey Of Ethics In Land-Use Planning, Patricia E. Salkin

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Beginning from the premise that 1998 saw an increase in the number of land-use ethics cases, this Article describes the issues and problems that relate to ethics in land-use cases by breaking them into four separate categories: conflicts of interest, compatibility of office, bias and prejudgment, and miscellaneous. The conflicts of interest section describes cases involving financial gain for oneself, a family member or a business associate. The compatibility of office section describes situations where a person holds multiple public offices and the conflicts in duty that might arise. The bias and prejudgment section describes situations where a person's predetermined …

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A Trial Judge's Perspective - Promoting Justice And Fairness While Protecting Privilege, Honorable Marian Blank Horn Jan 1999

A Trial Judge's Perspective - Promoting Justice And Fairness While Protecting Privilege, Honorable Marian Blank Horn

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Article discusses the topic of privileged communications and ethics in the courtroom. The Article offers the unique perspective of a trial judge and his courtroom interactions with lawyers and witnesses alike. It discusses cases relating to established courtroom privileges, such as marriage, attorney/client and priest/penitent, as well as qualified privileges such as the journalism privilege. Further, it discusses the potential for new or novel privileges, such as the accountant/auditor-client work product privilege and the academic peer review privilege. Finally, the Article lays out suggestions for trial judges for how to best utilize the privilege rules while simultaneously promoting fairness …

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Hiv Name Reporting And Partner Notification In New York State, Sonia Bhatnager Jan 1999

Hiv Name Reporting And Partner Notification In New York State, Sonia Bhatnager

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Article focuses on a 1998 New York law that required physicians and other health officials to report individuals who test positive for HIV, AIDS, or other HIV-related illnesses to the municipal health commissioner. As New York has the highest rate of reported AIDS cases, the Article notes that the state's decision to enact this law could have significant influence on other states. It begins by describing the partner notification system laws in the United States, and then presents arguments for and against partner notification. The Article ultimately argues for a modified version of the New York law. This refined …

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More Trees Please: Utilizing Natural Resources In The Urban Environmental Management Of New York City, Vivian D. Encarnacion Jan 1999

More Trees Please: Utilizing Natural Resources In The Urban Environmental Management Of New York City, Vivian D. Encarnacion

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Article discusses the impact of urban development on trees. It discusses the importance of having trees in urban neighborhoods by increasing property value and highly benefiting the ecological system. It also discusses alternative policies that other cities have implemented to deal with the impact of development on the environment. Finally, the Article proposes various solutions to the problems faced by New York City specifically, arguing that the city should adopt a comprehensive urban forestry program that would asses the current status of the urban forest, evaluate the environmental impact of development, and protect tree and landscaping ordinances.

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