Law Commons^™

The Principle Of Resilience, Lia Helena Monteiro De Lima Demange

Dissertations & Theses

This article departs from the observation of accentuated degradation of ecosystems worldwide to stress the urgency in changing the patterns of occupation of the land, production, consumption and the ecological and ethical goals of environmental conservation. Aiming to achieve these ends, this article proposes the acknowledgement of the principle of resilience in international environmental law. The principle of resilience is articulated herein based on the concept of ecological resilience; the values of land ethic; and the existing principles of international environmental law. Later, the article explains how the principle can be applied to adaptive governance; adaptive management; environmental impact …

Children At War: The Criminal Responsibility Of Child Soldiers, Megan Nobert

Pace International Law Review Online Companion

The problem of child soldiers is not going to go away. While it may not be a popular solution, child soldiers need to be prosecuted for the actions they commit during conflicts in addition to the prosecution of child soldier recruiters. Without legal ramifications, there is no incentive for the child soldier recruiters to stop their actions. This article explores how both child soldiers and their recruiters can be prosecuted for actions committed during conflict.

Re-Appraising The Appraisers: Expanding Liability To Buyers And Borrowers In The Story Of The 2008 Financing Industry Crisis, Shelby D. Green

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

On the surface, suing in negligence seems the most promising avenue for recovery against appraisers, because liability depends on an examination of defendant's conduct alone and does not require an examination or defendant's mental state to show intent or agreement. But historically insuperable hurdles have operated to prevent recovery under this seemingly simple cause of action. One hurdle is lack of privity. The appraiser's legal relationship is with the hiring party--the lender--to assess the risks of the loan transaction and not with the purchaser, who may rely on the appraisal in making the decision to purchase. Because of the lack …

Land Use For Economic Development In Tough Financial Times, John R. Nolon

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The recession hit cities hard. Basic municipal staffs and services are being cut, debt is being restructured, capital projects delayed, and other cost cutting measures reported. The Congressional Budget Office reports that by November of last year there were 241,000 fewer municipal employees than there were three years earlier when the recession began. In its most recent report from city finance officers, the National League of Cities states that city spending cutbacks since 2009 are the largest since the survey was first taken, over twenty-five years ago. Despite this serious trend, municipalities have not defaulted in debt payment and there …

Educating Prosecutors And Supreme Court Justices About Brady V. Maryland, Bennett L. Gershman

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The author reviews the Supreme Court decision in Connick v. Thompson and provides a course outline, including problems, for training prosecutors on their duty to disclose materially favorable evidence to the defendant under Brady v. Maryland.

Keeping It Legal: Transboundary Management Challenges Facing Brazil And The Guarani, David N. Cassuto

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This paper examines the legal and ecological problems facing the Guarani Aquifer System. Because the majority of the Guarani Aquifer System underlies Brazil, the Brazilian legal regime forms the paper’s principal focus. The importance of the region makes the need for accurate information crucial. Yet relying on such information to manage a complex resource presents risks. Too often, the role of uncertainty in regulating is underplayed. Increasing knowledge over the resource demands categorizing “hard” and “soft” uncertainties, especially those presented by climate change. In addition, regulators must acknowledge the unitary nature of the aquifer while remaining sensitive to differing national …

Making Sand Castles As The Tide Comes In: Legal Aspects Of Climate Justice, Elizabeth Burleson

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Achieving climate justice and the Millennium Development Goals (“MDGs”)2 are mutually reinforcing challenges. The achievement of both is well within the capacity of the international community. Indeed, reaching carbon neutrality in an affordable, environmentally sound way requires integrating the strategies of mitigation, adaptation, sustainable development, and disaster risk management.

Arbitration Case Law Update 2011, Jill I. Gross

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Parties to arbitration agreements sometimes invoke the judicial system to litigate collateral issues arising out of the arbitration process, such as arbitrability of some or all of the claims, arbitrator bias, and award enforcement or vacatur. When deciding these collateral issues arising out of securities arbitration, courts interpret and apply the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. §§ 1 et seq. (2010) (FAA). In this chapter, we identify recent judicial decisions in the area of arbitration law, and analyze their impact on securities arbitration practice.

Interstate Comparison - Use Of Contribution Margin In Determination Of Price Fixing, Tsui Tat Chee

Pace International Law Review Online Companion

For over a century, anti-trust law has been used to maintain an open and fair market economy by preventing monopolies. However, anti-trust law has never precisely defined the term “monopoly”, which makes evaluating the interactions between the prohibition of monopoly and encouraging competition increasingly challenging.

In 2006, the Hong Kong Government appointed Arculli & Associates Solicitor Firm to study issues relating to competition in the auto-fuel retail market in Hong Kong. A test based on contribution margins was recommended, leading to the conclusion that price fixing is not a crime in the industry.

This article examines the problems related …

Magic, Mutilation, And Murder: A Case For Granting Asylum To Tanzanian Nationals With Albinism, Stacy Larson

Pace International Law Review Online Companion

This paper argues that the: language and intent of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act; current country conditions in United Republic of Tanzania; international treaties; and recent developments in case law defining the scope and coverage of the “particular social group” category, all support the right of Persons with Albinism (PWAs) to seek asylum because of the persecution they have suffered or fear on account of their disability. It should be noted, that to date, there are no reported cases of PWAs seeking asylum in the U.S. Although research has not revealed why PWAs have not yet sought asylum in …

Integrating Sustainable Development Planning And Climate Change Management: A Challenge To Planners And Land Use Attorneys, John R. Nolon

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This essay is based on our new book, Climate Change and Sustainable Development Law in a Nutshell (West 2011) which describes the close relationship between sustainable development and climate change management. It begins with a discussion of recent discussions and agreements at the international level and it provides a brief history of sustainable development and climate change policy. The article then explores national and local strategies to address sustainable development goals. Local planning and zoning, transit oriented development, energy efficiency and green infrastructure issues are also addressed.

Craigslist, The Cda, And Inconsistent International Standards Regarding Liability For Third-Party Postings On The Internet, Peter Adamo

Pace International Law Review Online Companion

This Comment explores the nature and purpose of the Communications Decency Act (CDA), the legislative upbringing, and the application of the CDA to Craigslist. It compares the CDA to approaches taken abroad through legislation and judicial proceedings. It explains, contrary to the one other commentator to broach the subject matter, how the CDA continues to provide robust protection to Craigslist. Finally, it explores potential avenues for redrafting the CDA as well as the difficulties and trade-offs associated with implementing such change.

Nyc Budget Cuts: A Counter-Productive Method To Effective Government-Nonprofit Contracting Relationships?, Anna-Kay Sinclair

Wilson Center for Social Entrepreneurship

This study examines the relationship between New York City budget cuts and the expenditure of human service nonprofits specifically involved in the government contracting relationship. With a focus on the Department for the Aging (DFTA), I examine nonprofits that provide a variety of services to the aging population on behalf of the DFTA. Correlations and regressions are presented examining the relationship between DFTA budget and nonprofit spending. The results of my analysis do not indicate a positive relationship between these two variables.

Constitutional Rigidity In Kosovo: Significance, Outcomes, And Rationale, Fisnik Korenica, Dren Doli

Pace International Law Review Online Companion

This article discusses the issue of constitutional rigidity from the perspective of the Constitution of Kosovo. At the outset, the article analyzes the amendment procedure within the Constitution and its nature in terms of the actors and procedures involved. Next, the article questions the nature of constitutional rigidity in Kosovo and seeks to address the position of veto players. Arguing that the Constitution of Kosovo is rather rigid, the article then questions the significance of constitutional rigidity in light of the model of separation of powers, human rights, and the Constitutional Court’s constitutional “updating” role. The article concludes that constitutional …

Rethinking Addiction: Drugs, Deterrence, And The Neuroscience Revolution, Linda C. Fentiman

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This article connects the debate about addiction with the fundamental criminal law principle of deterrence. It seeks to bridge the gap between the competing medical and criminal justice approaches by exploring addiction in light of recent research about the brain, gender differences, and what works best from both a treatment and justice perspective. To sharpen the issues, the article deliberately focuses on the emotionally freighted subject of pregnant drug users. This approach will illuminate prevailing assumptions about how biological, genetic, cultural, and other environmental factors shape human behavior and challenge conventional understandings of deterrence in light of new research on …

An Equal Rights Amendment To Make Women Human, Ann Bartow

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Though the Fourteenth Amendment' provides women with partial legal armament (a dull sword, a small shield), equal protection requires something twice as powerful in the form of a Twenty-Eighth Amendment that would expressly vest women with equal rights under the law. The Fourteenth Amendment has completed only half of the job.

Pretrial Procedures For Innocent People: Reforming Brady, Lissa Griffin

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

In this article, the author proposes that the prosecution’s obligation to disclose exculpatory information to the defense be formalized by statute, court rule, or internal protocol in ways that would reflect the current state of our knowledge of and experience with both Brady and wrongful convictions. This would improve on the current ineffective constitutional protection—and any existing statutory or rule-based regimes—in several ways. First, such a formalized regime would require disclosure of all materials that are reasonably helpful to the defense. Second, unlike the constitutional doctrine, which provides no reliable mechanism for monitoring police disclosure to the prosecution, an accompanying …

Unsex Cedaw, Or What's Wrong With Women's Rights, Darren Rosenblum

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Part I discusses why CEDAW continues to be relevant as the primary source of international law on sex discrimination. Until the advent of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), CEDAW was the most widely-subscribed international treaty. Some of the draft language of CEDAW reflects the tension between category and identity and how "women" won the debate. Part II contrasts CEDAW with the Convention for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD). It points to the identitarian focus of CEDAW as a core reason for its failures. Had CEDAW reflected a category focus, as CERD did, it would more …

No Bitin’ Allowed: A Hip-Hop Copying Paradigm For All Of Us, Horace E. Anderson Jr.

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

It is long past time to reform the Copyright Act. The law of copyright in the United States is at one of its periodic inflection points. In the past, major technological change and major shifts in the way copyrightable works were used have rightly led to major changes in the law. The invention of the printing press prompted the first codification of copyright. The popularity of the player piano contributed to a reevaluation of how musical works should be protected. The dawn of the computer age led to an explicit expansion of copyrightable subject matter to include computer programs. These …

Innovation Cooperation: Energy Biosciences And Law, Elizabeth Burleson

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This Article analyzes the development and dissemination of environmentally sound technologies that can address climate change. Climate change poses catastrophic health and security risks on a global scale. Universities, individual innovators, private firms, civil society, governments, and the United Nations can unite in the common goal to address climate change. This Article recommends means by which legal, scientific, engineering, and a host of other public and private actors can bring environmentally sound innovation into widespread use to achieve sustainable development. In particular, universities can facilitate this collaboration by fostering global innovation and diffusion networks.

Prosecutorial Decisionmaking And Discretion In The Charging Function, Bennett L. Gershman

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

A prosecutor's charging decision is the heart of the prosecution function. The charging decision involves an extraordinary exercise of discretionary power that is unreviewable. As a result, the decision is difficult to guide except in the broadest terms. The proposed revisions to the ABA's Criminal Justice Standards for the Prosecution Function attempt to address several key issues that inform the charging decision, by broadening the language of several provisions of the current Standards as well as adding several new provisions. To be sure, the proposed Standards significantly change the current Standards with respect to the proper factors and considerations affecting …

Perspective On Economic Critiques Of Disability Law: The Multifaceted Federal Role In Balancing Equity And Efficiency, Elizabeth Burleson

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Given the recent enactment of the ADA Amendments Act, this article analyzes a Rawlsian philosophical framework with which to view society's treatment of people with disabilities. Allocation of resources remains a pervasive concern of economists and attorneys alike. Need, merit, and market compete as means by which to decide who should receive what benefits. This article concludes that while economics can play a powerful role in the initial allocation of limited resources, there remains a multifaceted federal role to confront discrimination and promote equity.

Preface To The Paperback Edition Of United States, International Law, And The Struggle Against Terrorism, Thomas Michael Mcdonnell

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

It is remarkable that in less than two years so many significant developments have taken place that concern the United States and the struggle against transnational terrorism. Perhaps the three most significant are as follows: (1) the Obama administration’s failure to reject wholesale the Bush-Cheney administration’s counterterrorism policies and practices; (2) the popular revolts sweeping the Arab world, often referred to as the “Arab spring”; and (3) the US Navy Seals killing Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

Punishing Without Free Will, Luis E. Chiesa

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This Article will argue that there are good moral reasons to conclude that the scientific plausibility of determinism ought to lead us to abandon the notion of free will. Contra P. F. Strawson and Moore, this Article suggests that rejecting free will does not undermine the human experience, and doing so is plausible and attractive because it would likely lead to more humane and efficient institutions of blaming and punishing.

The Family Court—A Short History, Merril Sobie

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The New York State Family Court was established in 1962. The framer's intent, which was largely achieved, was the formation of an omnibus tribunal capable of adjudicating every justiciable family related dispute. Accordingly, Family Court incorporated the former State Children's Courts, the domestic violence parts of the local criminal courts, and the paternity parts of the former Court of Special Sessions. In addition, Family Court was granted adoption and abandonment jurisdiction, concurrent child custody jurisdiction, and concurrent post-divorce modification and enforcement jurisdiction. This paper will outline the pre-Family Court history in synopsis form, and briefly describe the Court's post-1962 developments.

Genocide: A Normative Account By Larry May, Alexander K.A. Greenawalt

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Future Of Food Eco-Labeling: Organic, Carbon Footprint, And Environmental Life-Cycle Analysis, Jason J. Czarnezki

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This Article discusses public and private efforts to inform consumers about environmentally preferable food choices. Part II describes the environmental consequences of the modern food system. Part III describes existing public and private eco-labeling regimes, including organic labeling, carbon footprint labeling, and country of origin labeling.

Climate Policy & U.S.-China Relations, Jason J. Czarnezki

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The Chinese stance, that no cap on carbon emissions will ever exist no matter how high, may be a product of China's belief in a cold and hard, and potentially true, reality-that global economic power is paramount and will provide the only avenue to adapt to an inevitable climate crisis, as well as achieve the milestones of superpower status, many of which they have already achieved (e.g., Olympic Games, World Expo, United Nations Security Council). While China's policy remains problematic, as is United States' failure to lead in the international community on the issue of climate change, China's actions, while …

Badmouthing Authority: Hostile Speech About School Officials And The Limits Of School Restrictions, Emily Gold Waldman

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The Article's first two parts discuss the extent to which schools can legally restrict hostile student speech about school officials, should they choose to do so. Part I examines how courts have traditionally approached hostile student speech about school officials when it occurs at school, and Part II then considers how courts have been analyzing the issue when it moves off campus. In the course of this discussion, the Article identifies three key categories of such speech: (1) speech that arguably threatens toward a school official; (2) speech that is primarily vulgar about a school official; and (3) the most …

The Zealous Prosecutor As Minister Of Justice, Bennett L. Gershman

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

As my contribution to this Memorial tribute to Professor Fred Zacharias, I have chosen to write about Fred's 1991 article in theVanderbilt Law Review entitled Structuring the Ethics of Prosecutorial Trial Practice: Can Prosecutors Do Justice? I have always seen this article as a classic, one of the finest and most important discussions of the special role of the prosecutor in the criminal justice system and of the meaning of the prosecutor's ethical duty to “do justice.” This article is cited repeatedly for numerous points: the conception of the prosecutor's duty not to win a case but to see …