Law Commons^™

The Public-Private Security Partnership: Counterterrorism Considerations For Employers In A Post-9/11 World, Andrew P. Morriss

Faculty Scholarship

This Article examines the range of issues employers confront as a result of the federal government's reliance on private sector efforts as part of the war on terror. These include statutes protecting employees' positions while they serve on active duty, private activities by employees related to security concerns (e.g., the Arizona Minutemen, employees carrying concealed weapons), and employee involvement with charities and other organizations labeled as terror-connected. The Article also discusses the role of private security forces hired by employers and policy issues surrounding their cooperation with public security forces.

Real People, Real Resources, And Real Choices: The Case For Market Valuation Of Water, Andrew P. Morriss

Faculty Scholarship

How is one to value water? Indeed, how does anyone value anything? There are three broad categories of answers to these questions. One relies on the notion of an intrinsic value of a good. In other words, there is a definitive value of a particular good, and this value can be determined by some means. Theological speculations on the "just price" of a good and other speculations on "innate values" of various things often fall into this category. A second category of answers is to deny that a particular good is capable of valuation. Human lives, for example, are often …

Resolving Medical Malpractice Claims In The Medicare Program: Can It Be Done?, Eleanor D. Kinney, William M. Sage

Faculty Scholarship

There is increasing interest in an integrated approach to patient safety and medical liability among policymakers. We have proposed Medicareled malpractice reform that would provide Medicare beneficiaries with better safety, improved communication in the event of error, preservation of therapeutic relationships, timely settlement, and fair compensation at a lower administrative cost. Disputes in the reformed system would be adjudicated by Medicare's existing administrative appeals system that would work together with Medicare's quality improvement regulation and payment policy to reduce errors and compensate injured patients.

Despite the laudable rationale for Medicare-led malpractice reform, important issues attend the constitutional and statutory authority …

A Strategic Interpretation Of Legal Transplants, Nuno Garoupa, Anthony Ogus

Faculty Scholarship

In this Paper, we provide a strategic explanation for the spontaneous convergence of legal rules, which nevertheless falls short of harmonization across jurisdictions. We identify a free-riding problem and discuss its implications for legal culture, integration, and harmonization. It is argued that harmonization of legal rules by a central authority in order to generate a uniform legal culture could be the response to a coordination failure. It could also be a serious policy mistake, however, leaving everybody worse off. The result depends crucially on the relative benefits and costs of importing and integrating different legal orders.

Ethical Incentives For Employers In Adopting Legal Service Plans To Handle Employment Disputes, Michael Z. Green

Faculty Scholarship

Given the difficulties for employees in finding a lawyer to handle an employment dispute and with the growth of ADR, this article asserts that employers should adopt legal service plans as an employee benefit. It might seem counterintuitive for employers to provide their employees with a legal service benefit that may be used against them in employment disputes. However, comprehensive dispute resolution systems employ fair mechanisms that allow employees to resolve their disputes as soon as possible. Having sound legal counsel can become a major component of an employer's dispute resolution system because it offers a distinct human resource advantage …

Do Divorce Law Reforms Matter For Divorce Rates - Evidence From Portugal, Clarisse Coelho, Nuno Garoupa

Faculty Scholarship

The effect of divorce law reforms on divorce rates in the United States and elsewhere has generated a controversy in the law and economics literature. In this article, we study the contribution of divorce law reforms for the evolution of divorce rates in Portugal over the last 40 years. We focus on the reforms of divorce law in the 1970s and in the 1990s as well as socioeconomic factors as determinants of the divorce rate. We find that the introduction of a modern divorce law in the 1970s had a significant effect on the divorce rate, but the changes of …

Litigating To Regulate: Massachusetts V. Environmental Protection Agency, Andrew P. Morriss

Faculty Scholarship

By a 5-4 vote in Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency, the Supreme Court took yet another significant step away from the Framers' vision of the judiciary and toward a politicized Supreme Court sitting as a super-legislature and super-regulator. The Court substituted its judgment for that of the politically accountable branches of the federal government. By dramatically loosening the rules of standing, the Court invited those unhappy with the federal government's failure to regulate in a particular manner in any substantive area to use the federal courts to force federal agencies to regulate. In short, the Court encouraged interest groups …

Thinking About Economics As Religion, Andrew P. Morriss

Faculty Scholarship

Four years ago, the Case Western Reserve Law Review conducted a paper-only symposium on Bjom Lomborg's The Skeptical Environmentalist. That symposium was so successful that the editors decided to repeat the experience. Seeking a book that could approximate Lomborg's in its ability to inspire controversy, I suggested Robert H. Nelson's Economics as Religion: From Samuelson to Chicago and Beyond after Professor Nelson gave a well-received lecture here on environmentalism as a religion. The editors agreed. As before, the Review has assembled an impressive group to comment on Nelson's book. The group includes economists who take a wide range of …

Newfound Religion: Mothers, God, And Infanticide, Susan Ayres

Faculty Scholarship

This essay focuses on cultural constructions of infanticide and psychosis, especially cases in which the mother heard delusional commands to kill her children. Part I examines the background of the Yates, Laney, and Diaz cases. Part II explores whether these mothers can be seen paradoxically as feminist subjects of empowerment rather than as victims. This essay argues that psychotic mothers have been disempowered and silenced, so their acts cannot be seen as subversive feminist gestures. Part III, however, arguest that the legal trials of Laney and Diaz demonstrate a possible subversion through trial strategy. These two trials more fully told …

Student Quality As Measured By Lsat Scores: Migration Patterns In The U.S. News Rankings Era, William D. Henderson, Andrew P. Morriss

Faculty Scholarship

This study examines the change in entering-class median LSATscore, a key input into the U.S. News & World Report ("U.S. News') rankings, between 1993 and 2004. Using multivariate regression analysis, the authors model several factors that can influence the direction and magnitude of this change. The study presents six specific findings: (1) the marketfor high Law SchoolAdmission Test (LSAT) scores is divided into two segments that operate under different rules; (2) initial starting position is a strong predictor of the future gain or loss in LSATscores; (3) the allure of the high-end corporate law firms appears to cause a signficant …

Hardrock Homesteads: Free Access And The General Mining Law Of 1872, Andrew P. Morriss, Roger E. Meiners, Andrew Dorchak

Faculty Scholarship

Most discussions of the US General Mining Law of 1872 begin with the premise that the statute is an outdated relic of 19th-century attitudes towards resources and should be replaced with a modern system of royalties, permits and concessions. In contrast, this article argues that the statute provides institutional mechanisms that resolve incentive problems created by government ownership of mineral resources. Instead of calling for radical change in US mining laws, the authors hold up the free access principle of the General Mining Law of 1872 as a model for privatisation of assets whose value is unknown.

Jurisdictional Implications In The Reduced Funding Of Lower Federal Courts, James P. George

Faculty Scholarship

This article argues two related propositions. First, if Congress were to eliminate all funding for lower federal courts, its constitutional authority to regulate those courts would become as meaningless as the empty courthouses. Second, Congress breaches its duty to furnish a forum at a point short of full defunding, and with that breach, Congress's regulatory power over private civil disputes otherwise litigable in state courts--preempted and removable state law claims--becomes constitutionally invalid. The first fact setting of full defunding is hypothetical; the second has been underway for several years.