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Full-Text Articles in Law
The Cruel And Unusual Punishment Of Prison Rape: Why The Prison Rape Elimination Act Failed And How To Fix It, Savannah G. Plaisted
The Cruel And Unusual Punishment Of Prison Rape: Why The Prison Rape Elimination Act Failed And How To Fix It, Savannah G. Plaisted
University of Massachusetts Law Review
Recent studies show the rate of sexual abuse endured in prisons has been steadily increasing. To remedy this issue, the Prison Rape Elimination Act was passed in 2003, however it has had no legitimate impact on the rate of sexual abuse in prisons due to the absence of mandatory rules upon prisons and a private right of action. This note will argue that prison rape is an Eighth Amendment violation but is not punished as one and that the Prison Rape Elimination Act failed to provide Survivors of prison sexual abuse with any legitimate recourse against violators of the law. …
Rage Against The Machine: Reducing Robocall Abuse To Protect At-Risk Consumers, Nicole Egan
Rage Against The Machine: Reducing Robocall Abuse To Protect At-Risk Consumers, Nicole Egan
University of Massachusetts Law Review
For most people, robocalls are nothing more than an annoying side-effect of owning a cell phone today. But a successful robocall scheme is still capable of wreaking financial and psychological havoc on its victims. Senior citizens and cognitively impaired individuals are often targeted by fraudulent phone calls or texts because they may have trouble understanding how to identify and protect themselves from robocall abuse. This Note proposes a collaborative solution to this problem by calling on the judiciary and legislatures to minimize the amount of robocalls received by American telephone consumers. By adopting a broader understanding of the law and …
A Breath Of Fresh Air: A Constitutional Amendment Legalizing Marijuana Through An Article V Convention Of The States, Ryan C. Griffith, Esq.
A Breath Of Fresh Air: A Constitutional Amendment Legalizing Marijuana Through An Article V Convention Of The States, Ryan C. Griffith, Esq.
University of Massachusetts Law Review
Criminal enforcement of anti-marijuana laws by the United States federal government has been non-sensical for more than twenty years. Culminating, ultimately, in an anomaly within American jurisprudence when California legalized marijuana in 1996 in direct violation of federal law, yet the federal government did little to stop it. Since then, a majority of states have followed California and legalized marijuana. Currently, thirty-six states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical marijuana despite federal law. Every year billions of dollars are spent on the federal enforcement of anti-marijuana laws while states collect billions in tax revenue from marijuana sales. Even …
Too Clever By Half: Commanding The Nonuse Of State Authority To Regulate Health Benefits In The Aca, Michael F. Ryan
Too Clever By Half: Commanding The Nonuse Of State Authority To Regulate Health Benefits In The Aca, Michael F. Ryan
University of Massachusetts Law Review
Prior to the enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), state legislatures routinely passed laws requiring health insurance carriers to cover certain health care services or providers. At the behest of the insurance industry, Congress attempted to use the health reform law as a vehicle to reign in state-specific “mandated benefit” laws. That being said, the ACA does not prevent states from enacting mandated benefit laws; in fact, the statute expressly permits states to enact such laws. Instead, Congress created a significant barrier to continued state-specific regulation of health insurance benefits. Specifically, 42 U.S.C. § 18031(d)(3)(B)(ii) (Section …
Babies Aren't U.S., Zachary J. Devlin
Babies Aren't U.S., Zachary J. Devlin
University of Massachusetts Law Review
Parental leave has been an on-going issue in the political process, most recently during this presidential election. This is because upon the birth or adoption of a child, many in the United States cannot afford to take time off from work to care for and integrate children into their families. This is especially true for the contemporary family. The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) was Congress’s attempt to strike equilibrium between employment and family and medical needs. The FMLA put legal emphasis on the family unit in an effort to neutralize gender discrimination while promoting gender equality …
Keeping More Than One Fish In The Sea: Why The Magnuson-Stevens Act Should Be Reauthorized, Joseph Marino Iv
Keeping More Than One Fish In The Sea: Why The Magnuson-Stevens Act Should Be Reauthorized, Joseph Marino Iv
University of Massachusetts Law Review
The American fishing industry has long been an important part of the economy. In time, overfishing led to restrictions on the industry through the Magnuson-Stevens Act. However, the Act has led to severe curtailments on fishing that have severely hampered the industry. This caused particular harm to the Northeast, resulting in a federally declared fishing disaster. This Note argues that the recently proposed revisions to the Magnuson-Stevens Act allow for a balance between protecting our oceans and allowing the fishing industry to thrive again. This would help the Northeast fishing industry properly recover while preventing any further tragedies of the …
Adverse Modification Of The Endangered Species Act: Regulatory Impediment Or Tool?, Chuckie Sullivan
Adverse Modification Of The Endangered Species Act: Regulatory Impediment Or Tool?, Chuckie Sullivan
University of Massachusetts Law Review
In the past, the agencies charged with the implementation of the Endangered Species Act have shirked invoking the full range of regulatory tools at their disposal. They altered the structure of the Act in violation of Congressionally-granted authority to better accommodate both developmental and conservation interests. After a string of critical judicial decisions, the Services finally changed their implementation of the Act to parallel the protections envisioned by Congress. Though these changes will shift strength between provisions within the Act, they will not drastically alter the status quo by allowing the Services discretion in making judgments regarding the recovery of …
Uber’S Dilemma: How The Ada May End The On-Demand Economy, Bryan Casey
Uber’S Dilemma: How The Ada May End The On-Demand Economy, Bryan Casey
University of Massachusetts Law Review
This article is the first to point out that a few relatively low-profile lawsuits involving Uber’s liability under the ADA could have an outcome-determinative effect on O’Connor v. Uber Technologies, Inc., the blockbuster employment misclassification case brought against the startup by its own drivers. Because both types of lawsuits hinge on the role that drivers play within Uber’s business model, a ruling in favor of ADA liability which compelled Uber to exert additional control over its drivers would also, in turn, jeopardize the drivers’ legal status as independent contractors. Such an outcome would be catastrophic to Uber’s core business model, …