Law Commons^™

Merit Pay And Pain: Linking Congressional Pay To Performance, Jonathan D. Mcpike

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Alien Tort Statute And Flomo V. Firestone Natural Rubber Company: The Key To Change In Global Child Labor Practices?, Jessica Bergman

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

The case of Flomo v. Firestone Natural Rubber Company involves child laborers' claims that labor practices on a Liberian rubber plantation violate international norms. Though the case was recently resolved in favor of the defendants at the district court level, the case's complicated procedural and substantive history offers insight into the viability of future child labor claims. This Note examines the Flomo case and explores how standards from the ATS and the United States Supreme Court case Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain apply to future plaintiffs' claims. This Note also analyzes the potential repercussions that plaintiffs face in using the ATS as …

The Costs Of Heightened Pleading, Alexander A. Reinert

Indiana Law Journal

In Conley v. Gibson, the Supreme Court announced its commitment to a liberal pleading regime in federal civil cases, and for decades thereafter was steadfast in resisting ad hoc heightened pleading rules adopted by lower courts. Thus, from 1957 until a few years ago, most litigants could count on surviving a motion to dismiss a complaint for failure to state a claim so long as their pleading provided some minimal notice to the defendant of the nature of their claim. Enter Ashcroft v. Iqbal and Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly. Iqbal and Twombly, by many accounts, two-stepped the Court from …

Signing Unconstitutional Laws, William Baude

Indiana Law Journal

It has become fairly common for Presidents to sign laws that they think are unconstitutional, at least in part. Some scholars argue that this is unconstitutional. Others defend it, but on pragmatic grounds, as if one cannot afford to be a constitutional formalist in today’s government.

Both sides are wrong. In a wide range of cases, there is nothing wrong with signing unconstitutional laws. Indeed, it is required. Yet the President must exercise this power responsibly. He must have other constitutional duties that justify signing the remainder of the bill into law, and he must be prepared to use his …

Section 1983 Wrongful Death And Survival Actions In The Seventh Circuit: An Indiana Litigant's Guide To Claims After Russ V. Watts, Michelle R. Gough

Indiana Law Journal

The availability of survival and wrongful death damages in 42 U.S.C. § 1983 cases is an area that involves both changing precedent and unaddressed issues within the Seventh Circuit. In both of the aforementioned types of claims, the cases will necessarily involve the tangled application of both state and federal law, and the Seventh Circuit and other federal courts of appeals have struggled to provide a clear, coherent approach to these issues. Indeed, there is strong disagreement among the circuits. Dean Steven H. Steinglass offered the most comprehensive discussion of the nature of both types of claims under § 1983 …

From Sovereignty To Responsibility: An Emerging International Norm And Its Call To Action In Burma, Alison Mccormick

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

"[O]ur struggle for democracy is a struggle for our everyday life." This, in the words of long-detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, describes the isolated pariah state of Burma. Under brutal military rule since 1962, Burma is still desperately trying to change its deplorable circumstances through the leadership of Suu Kyi, but continues to fail due to the regime-written "new" constitution that guarantees the regime's continued leading role in the state apparatus.2 Illegitimate elections and continued repression of the democratic opposition allow for the regime's violations of basic human rights to continue. Rights violations that include displacement, forced labor, …

A Review Of Beyond Citizenship: American Identity After Globalization, By Peter J. Spiro, Andy Williams

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

No abstract provided.

Respect My Authority: Analyzing Claims Of Diminished U.S. Supreme Court Influence Abroad, Aaron B. Aft

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

This paper critiques the argument that the U.S. Supreme Court is losing influence among national and constitutional courts worldwide as a result of its nonparticipation in the emerging judicial globalization. It does so, inter alia, by reviewing two examples of how U.S. authority is cited abroad, and concludes that arguments of diminished influence appear overstated, and that changes in U.S. judicial influence are not likely due to attitudes toward citation of foreign law.

The Fight For Clean Technology Funds: Who Should Control The Future Of Low-Carbon Technology In The Developing World, William Gardner

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

As part of a multilateral climate change treaty, the parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) have discussed establishing an international aid mechanism, or fund, to support low-carbon energy generation and energy efficiency projects in developing countries. The selection of a fund administrator has been particularly contentious. Many developed countries believe that, rather than creating a new fund, the COP should use an already established one-the World Bank's Clean Technology Fund (CTF)-and select the World Bank as fund administrator.H owever, many developing countries believe the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UNFCCC should create a …

Counting The Costs Of A Global Anglophonic Hegemony: Examining The Impact Of U.S. Language Education Policy On Linguistic Minorities Worldwide, Stephen M. Harper

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

As the need for efficient communication between global participants in academia, business, and politics has grown in recent decades, English has quickly become the dominant universal language in these arenas. Language policy scholars have noted, however, that the rapid spread of English could present a substantial threat to the linguistic diversity of the world, as some scholars have estimated that as many as fifty percent of the world's languages will be extinct by the end of the twenty-first century. This Note argues that the United States' current stance in the area of language education will contribute to this global language …

Teachers' Religious Garb As An Instrument For Globalization In Education, Caitlin S. Kerr

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

Nebraska and Pennsylvania currently have laws in place that prohibit public school teachers from wearing religious garb. This Note applies the appropriate constitutional framework-a balancing test-in order to determine the propriety of a religious garb statute. Courts have upheld the statutes in light of perceived government endorsement of teachers' religion and feared impact on impressionable young children. However, both of these concerns are exaggerated and misplaced. Rather, a court must consider the demands a newly globalized world places on effective education for tomorrow's global citizens.

Democracy, Gender Equality, And Customary Law: Constitutionalizing Internal Cultural Disruption, Susan H. Williams

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

Customary law often includes gender discriminatory rules that violate women's rights under constitutional equality guarantees. Dialogic democracy theory offers valuable tools that can help a legal system both to protect customary law and to protect the equality of its women citizens. By focusing on the need for challenge and on the dialogue within the cultural community, the legal system can create incentives and conditions to support the capacity of women to shape the customary law of their own communities. This approach is necessary because legal rights for women, when imposed by the larger society, often result in backlash within minority …

Retroactivity And The Fraud Enforcement And Recovery Act Of 2009, Matthew Titolo

Indiana Law Journal

This Article resolves confusion over the scope of the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act (FERA), which amends the False Claims Act (FCA), to clarify that it covers fraud against the taxpayers even where committed by and against other government contractors and subcontractors. I focus on a controversial retroactivity clause applying FERA’s expanded liability language to pre-enactment conduct. Ambiguity has led to inconsistent outcomes: some courts have ruled that FERA’s new language applies to pre-enactment conduct while others have reached the opposite result. Much of practical consequence rides on how we resolve this ambiguity—the Department of Justice is currently investigating over …