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GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Series

2003

Evidence

Articles 1 - 3 of 3

Full-Text Articles in Law

A Compromise Approach To Compromise Verdicts, Michael B. Abramowicz Jan 2003

A Compromise Approach To Compromise Verdicts, Michael B. Abramowicz

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Although one of the legal system’s most salient attributes is its insistence that a civil jury choose the story of one party over that of another, scholars have thus far paid almost no attention to the possibility of replacing the preponderance-of-the-evidence rule with an alternative that is not “winner-take-all.” This Article focuses on the issue of uncertainty about what the defendant did or whether the plaintiff was injured, offering an alternative to the extremes of all-or-nothing and compromise verdicts. It considers the possibility that, while sometimes an all-or-nothing verdict is appropriate, at other times a compromise verdict would be better. …


The Virtues Of Knowing Less: Justifying Privacy Protections Against Disclosure, Daniel J. Solove Jan 2003

The Virtues Of Knowing Less: Justifying Privacy Protections Against Disclosure, Daniel J. Solove

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This Article develops justifications for protections against the disclosure of private information. An extensive body of scholarship has attacked such protections as anathema to the Information Age, where the free flow of information is championed as a fundamental value. This Article responds to two general critiques of disclosure protections: (1) that they inhibit freedom of speech, and (2) that they restrict information useful for judging others.

Regarding the free speech critique, the Article argues that not all speech is of equal value; speech of private concern is less valuable than speech of public concern. The difficulty, however, is distinguishing between …


Implementing Constitutional Rights For Juveniles: The Parent-Child Privilege In Context, Catherine J. Ross Jan 2003

Implementing Constitutional Rights For Juveniles: The Parent-Child Privilege In Context, Catherine J. Ross

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This article advocates for the creation of a parent-child privilege by focusing on the parental contribution to raising their children. The article argues that children cannot fully exercise their constitutional rights without being able to confide freely in their parents and consult them before waiving rights and while working with their attorneys. I begin by describing the current state of privilege law and suggest that there is already a “de facto” tendency to observe a parent-child privilege. I show that courts have failed to distinguish among three distinctive kinds of confidences: (1) testimony concerning confidences from a minor child to …