Law Commons^™

Women, Poverty, Access To Health Care, And The Perils Of Symbolic Reform, Mary Anne Bobinski, Phyllis Griffin Epps

Faculty Articles

This article looks at health care through gendered eyes. We sift though available data on access to health care, health status, and health treatments to determine whether men and women experience health care differently in the United States. While we do not doubt that overt gender-based discrimination occasionally occurs in health care, this article focuses on the importance of unintended consequences and unconscious bias. We also explore the impact of symbolism about women's roles on the process of health care reform. The results have important implications for policy makers, advocates, and health care providers.

The United States has a large …

Progressive Race Blindness: Individual Identity, Group Politics, And Reform, Darren L. Hutchinson

Faculty Articles

This Article responds to the advocates of "progressive race blindness" with several critiques of their central claims. Part I examines the contours of progressive race blindness in greater detail, giving centrality to the emergence of this theory in legal scholarship. Part I sets forth the common themes articulated in progressive race blindness arguments and highlights important differences among its proponents. Part II isolates several problems with the progressive race blindness literature and demonstrates that these weaknesses make the literature unhelpful as a political or legal theory and even dangerous to the cause of antiracism. Part III offers suggestions for future …

Roi’S Can Validate Your Library’S Value, Robert H. Hu

Faculty Articles

The Return-On-Investment (ROI) rate, when determined and positively proven, may be the most effective tool for marketing a library. ROI is a cost-and-benefit analysis that determines whether money spent on the library produces a positive return. Proving and communicating a library's value to its governing board or constituents is increasingly necessary for law libraries to survive and flourish. A ROI analysis may be difficult to undertake if the library works in a not-for-profit setting, and requires a set of criteria different from those used for libraries in the for-profit setting. Although the ROI is a time-consuming and difficult analysis, libraries …

One View To Add To The Many, Bill Piatt

Faculty Articles

The United States offers its citizens the opportunity to participate in the legal and political system through which it governs. The Constitution ensures that its citizens may engage, participate, and represent the body politics in government and the application of its laws. The recent attacks on America and the failure of the immigration system in monitoring its applicants has resulted in more restrictive immigration laws and policy.

The country’s legal education system must continue to improve its efforts in diversifying the nation’s law schools. More minorities should be represented as students, professors, and deans. Accomplishing a more diversified legal education …

Teaching Tips From The Lotus Sutra, John W. Teeter Jr

Faculty Articles

The Lotus Sutra reveals that everyone has the potential for unlimited spiritual growth and each of us should aspire to be a bodhisattva; one who assists others on the road to enlightenment. Applying ancient Buddhist tenets to the law school classroom, the Lotus Sutra exhorts professors to challenge and befriend their students through the use of “expedient means” inspired by Buddhist thought. The poetic beauty and idealism of the Lotus Sutra transcend denominational differences to inspire the way we conceptualize legal education and the professorial mission.

An Essay On The Tort Of Negligent Infliction Of Emotional Distress In Texas: Stop Saying It Does Not Exist, Charles E. Cantú

Faculty Articles

The injury of emotional distress is an interesting tort, which has long perplexed the Anglo-American system of jurisprudence. While, originally, allegations of this kind did not constitute a cause of action, today, there is no question that an injured plaintiff may recover for the infliction of emotional distress. The majority and minority positions differ now only on what must be alleged and proved.

Texas was the first jurisdiction in the United States to allow recovery for mental anguish. However, in 1993 in the case of Boyles v. Kerr, the Texas Supreme Court appeared to depart from the majority view when …

The Ethical Foundations Of American Judicial Independence, Vincent R. Johnson

Faculty Articles

Most lawyers and many citizens could recall the federal constitutional basis for judicial independence. Article III of the United States Constitution mandates that positions be filled through appointment by the President and confirmation by the Senate. That formidable selection process almost invariably ensures that federal judges are intelligent, well educated, and professionally experienced. Those qualities are conducive to judicial independence.

Additionally, federal judges enjoy the following constitutional guarantees: life tenure during good behavior, non-reducible compensation, and removal only through impeachment. These protections free federal judges from the need to behave in politically advantageous ways in order to keep their positions. …

Trial Rights And Psychotropic Drugs: The Case Against Administering Involuntary Medications To A Defendant During Trial, Dora W. Klein

Faculty Articles

This paper explores the legal problems that arise when the government undertakes to render a criminal defendant competent to stand trial, by administering involuntary psychotropic medications. Among these problems are the infringement of the defendant's trial rights, such as the right to receive assistance of counsel and to confront witnesses, as well as interference with the defendant's ability to testify and to present evidence of a mental illness. This paper explores these problems with special reference to the case of Russell Weston, who has been charged with murder in the deaths of two Capitol police officers and who spent more …

A Spurious Solution To A Genuine Problem: An In-Depth Look At The 1848 Import Drugs Act, Angela Walch

Faculty Articles

The Import Drugs Act has been relatively ignored by the academic community, and is most often relegated to a passing reference in a footnote. Yet the Act represents an important step in our nation's creation of a safe supply of drugs, and thus deserves some attention. In this paper, I give the Act that attention, and seek to place it in an historical context. In Chapter 1, I describe how Congressional action was prompted by medical conditions during the Mexican War and the belief that American soldiers were being given adulterated drugs. Chapter 2 describes the involvement of the professional …

Sight, Sound, And Stereotype: The War On Terrorism And Its Consequences For Latinas/Os, Steven W. Bender

Faculty Articles

In the days and weeks following the September 11 terrorist attacks, reports emerged of hate crimes, discrimination, and profiling directed at Arab Americans, Arabs, and Muslims in the United States. Although aware that the primary targets of the public and private response against terrorism were those of Arab or Muslim appearance, I realized that the backlash within the United States also affected Latinas/os and certain other subordinated groups. This Article grew out of my concern that while Latinas/os at first might be deemed "safe" by the American public, their negative societal construction made their targeting inevitable as the fervent, amorphous …

Clarence Thomas The First Ten Years: Looking For Consistency, Mark Niles

Faculty Articles

Dean Niles describes his observation and impression of the first ten years of Clarence Thomas’ judgeship. While Dean Niles admits that his own views are more liberal than Clarence Thomas’, he was not initially concerned about those differences. But as the days, weeks and years passed, notwithstanding Dean Niles’ early stoicism, serious concerns about the candidate, and later the Justice, began to arise. These concerns were not based on Justice Thomas' beliefs or ideology, but on a growing set of inconsistencies that began to arise between some of his beliefs and actions. With all due respect to a man who …

Improving Legal Writing Courses: Perspectives From The Bar And Bench, Constance Krontz, Susan Mcclellan

Faculty Articles

To fine-tune legal writing courses to better prepare law students to enter legal practice, Professors Constance Krontz and Susan McClellan surveyed judges and practicing attorneys who supervise the work of first-year associates or judicial law clerks. They selected attorneys from a variety of practices in Washington State, including offices of public defenders and state prosecutors, the Attorney General's office, and private firms of various sizes. They sought information about the performance of all first-year clerks and associates, without reference to where they obtained their law degrees. Knowledge of the bench and bar's perception of the oral and written performance of …

When Interests Diverge, Robert S. Chang, Peter Kwan

Faculty Articles

In this review of Mary Dudziak's important book, Cold War Civil Rights: Race and the Image of American Democracy (Princeton Univ. Press 2000), Professors Chang and Kwan find the book to provide compelling historical narratives about the intersection of the Cold War and civil rights struggles. Dudziak demonstrates through an amazing array of historical evidence a story that runs counter to the standard narrative of racial sin followed by racial redemption, which helps us to reassess who we are and to be cognizant of the work that remains.

The Way We Were And What We “B”, Kelly Kunsch

Faculty Articles

This article describes the changes over the past 20 years in the job of reference librarian. Using typical reference questions and quotes from leading law librarians in the early '80s, the author compares current practice and explains the differences in the time, place, and manner of legal reference. Although answering questions may be done today more quickly and efficiently than 20 years ago, the increase in demand and expectations make the job more challenging than ever.

Developing The Asset Protection Dynamic: A Legacy Of Federal Concern, John K. Eason

Faculty Articles

This article analyzes and critiques the modern asset protection environment, drawing from various paradigms of influence. Particularly, the article considers federal influence over asset protection—proposing that such federal factors need to be investigated with a critical eye in order to comprehensively understand asset protection issues in the modern landscape.

Beyond Brown V. Board Of Education: The Need To Remedy The Achievement Gap, Dora W. Klein

Faculty Articles

Addresses the need to remedy the disparity in academic achievement of black and white students and examines why this disparity continues to exist in spite of the desegregation decrees issued under "Brown." Reviews how a court decides whether a school district has complied with a desegregation decree. Explains why schools are being released from desegregation decrees despite achievement gap.

Observations On The Evolution Of Minorities In The Law: From Law School To Practice, Charles E. Cantú

Faculty Articles

The St. Mary’s University School of Law has a rich history in promoting the representation of minorities in its faculty and student body. Moreover, its history in this area was a tradition long before the country found its social conscience, and before the American government, prodded by the civil rights movement, urged institutions of higher learning to engage in affirmative action. St. Mary’s and Hispanics led the way in this national movement. This year, as St. Mary’s University School of Law celebrates its seventy-fifth year, it is a perfect time to reflect upon the evolution of minorities in the Law …

On The Hijacking Of Airplanes (And Agencies): The Faa, ‘Agency Capture,’ And Airline Security, Mark Niles

Faculty Articles

This article will analyze the allegation that the FAA has been "captured" by airline industry interests. It begins with a summary of agency capture theory, and a brief reference to some of its more important complexities and nuances.

Transboundary Dispute Resolution As A Process And Access To Justice For Private Litigants: Commentaries On Cesare Romano's "The Peaceful Settlement Of International Disputes: A Pragmatic Approach", Henry Mcgee, Timothy W. Woolsey

Faculty Articles

Professor McGee reviews Cesare Romano's The Peaceful Settlement of International Environmental Disputes: A Pragmatic Approach. Cesare R. P. Romano, of the New York University Center for Global Cooperation, argues for and advocates arbitrative processes as the most tenable means of solving transboundary conflicts over the impacts of environmental pollution as well as access to natural resources.

After Intersectionality, Robert S. Chang, Jerome Culp

Faculty Articles

This essay is part of a symposium that looks at what Peter Kwan has described as post-intersectionality theory. It responds to the principal article in the symposium by Nancy Ehrenreich, Subordination and Symbiosis: Mechanisms of Mutual Support Between Subordinating Systems. While the authors applaud the effort by Ehrenreich to advance identity theory to account for multiple oppression, they suggest that Ehrenreich and other post-intersectionality scholars work to make these theories speak more directly to legal doctrine and legal actors.

Designing And Maintaining Law Library Web Sites: Some Practical Considerations, Kent Milunovich

Faculty Articles

In recent years law library Web sites have become an increasing presence on the Internet. In a recent Law Library Journal article, Marie Stefanini Newman discussed criteria to use in evaluating law-oriented Internet sites. This article will expand upon some of the principles she addressed by exploring the design and maintenance of law library Web sites. Given that most law libraries now have at least a basic Web site, this article will not discuss HTML (HyperText Markup Language) and methods of using such Web-design tools as Microsoft FrontPage; such information changes over time. Instead the primary focus will be on …

Seekin’ The Cause: Social Justice Movements And Latcrit Community, Steven W. Bender, Keith Aoki

Faculty Articles

LatCrit VII, held May 2-5, 2002, in Portland, Oregon, adopted the theme Coalitional Theory and Praxis: Social Justice Movements and LatCrit Community. The conference's opening roundtable set an activist tone by centering within LatCrit discourse several progressive movements for sociopolitical transformation existing in academia and beyond. This article embraces the conference theme as an opportunity to examine and compare the LatCrit scholarly movement with those beyond academia, particularly current and past sociopolitical movements originating in Latina/o communities.

Regulating Environmental And Safety Hazards Of Agricultural Biotechnology For A Sustainable World, George Van Cleve

Faculty Articles

This essay first presents an overview of key legal principles that support sustainability. This essay then reviews the major alleged risks of agricultural biotechnology. It then describes the existing U.S. and European agricultural biotechnology regulatory system designed to control those risks. Next, this essay analyzes the existing U.S. regulatory system using sustainability principles. In the course of that analysis, this essay considers lessons to be derived from three case studies: the permitting of Starlink™ corn, the discovery of Mexican maize containing genetically engineered corn genes, and the possible permitting of transgenic salmon for ocean fish farming. This essay also considers …

Lesbigay Identity As Commodity, David Skover, Kellye Testy

Faculty Articles

In America's popular culture, LesBiGay identities abound. In its political culture, however, they emerge more tentatively. The commercial and entertainment industries increasingly commodify and celebrate LesBiGay identities. The courts and legislatures generally discount and condemn them. Thus, there is a deep dissonance between the validation of LesBiGay identities in the economic marketplace of items and ideas, and their devaluation in the legal arena of rights and remedies. This piece explores the deep dissonance that exists today between the validation of American LesBiGays in the commercial marketplace and their devaluation in political and legal arenas, and questions the failure of legal …

Institutionalizing Inequality: The Wto Agreement On Agriculture, Food Security, And Developing Countries, Carmen G. Gonzalez

Faculty Articles

The article examines the food security implications of the WTO Agreement on Agriculture. It places the Agreement in historical context, examines its key provisions, and argues that the Agreement systematically favors industrialized country agricultural producers at the expense of farmers in developing countries. The Agreement enables industrialized countries to continue to subsidize agricultural production and to protect domestic producers from foreign competition while requiring market openness in developing countries. The article evaluates the effect of this imbalance on food security in developing countries, and proposes reforms to provide developing countries with the tools to promote access by all people at …

Truth As Right And Remedy In International Human Rights Experience, Thomas Antkowiak

Faculty Articles

Early this year, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in San Jose, Costa Rica, was faced yet again with a seemingly basic question: Does an individual have a legal right to know the truth about the circumstances surrounding the serious human rights violations a loved one has suffered? One might expect to encounter such a privilege in our victim centered system of international human rights protection-especially within the progressive jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court. Yet, it is simply not to be found as a substantive, explicit right. This essay seeks to explore the origins, scope, and key possibilities of an …

The Legitimacy Of Amnesties Under International Law And General Principles Of Anglo-American Law, Ronald Slye

Faculty Articles

This article discusses what makes an amnesty legitimate. The author does this by evaluating amnesties in light of international law critiques of amnesties for human rights violations and from principles of both Anglo-American and international law. First, the author breaks the international law critiques into three schools: the obligation to prosecute, the fundamental rights of victims, and the social stability. From these schools, the author derives principles to evaluate the legitimacy of amnesties. After establishing that the doctrine of non bis in idem is not a barrier to evaluating the legitimacy of foreign amnesties, the author selects areas of law …

Hacia Un Regimen De Responsabilidad Civil Por Dano Ambiental Transfronterizo, Henry Mcgee, Luz E. Ortiz Nagle

Faculty Articles

This article discusses the importance of protecting the environment on a global level. In view of the gravity of the ecological problems, and the ineffectiveness of existing environmental standards of regimes that are purely national, countries and specialized institutions have concluded that it is imperative to implement international regulations.

Undeserving Addicts: Ssi/Ssd And The Penalties Of Poverty, Dean Spade

Faculty Articles

Since the late 1980's, American media and politicians have produced and participated in a moral panic around the issue of illegal drug use. This panic has generated vivid pictures in the American imagination of drug users as a morally depraved, irresponsible, and willfully criminal underclass. Such images have fueled the "war on drugs," a multi-faceted rhetoric and policy approach to drug use that focuses on incarceration, interdiction, and other criminal justice strategies. The punitive approach of the war on drugs has bled into poverty and disability policy with alarming persistence. The trend has influenced numerous poverty alleviation and disability programs …

Closing Essay: Developing A Collective Memory To Imagine A Better Future, Robert S. Chang

Faculty Articles

This closing essay to a symposium inaugurating UCLA Law School's Program in Critical Race Studies suggests that the racialized Asian American body can operate as a site for collective memory and thus serve as reminders of past mistakes in order to restrain current and future abuses of power. One of the lessons to be learned is from World War II when extreme subordination of one Asian American group, Japanese Americans, was accompanied by the elimination of certain barriers for another Asian American group, Chinese Americans. A similar dynamic may be happening now following September 11. With the increase in legal …