Law Commons^™

Why Equity Follows The Law, Adam J. Macleod

Faculty Articles

Renewed attention to equity in higher education is welcome because true equity helps us to reason together well. When administered correctly, the jurisprudence of equity models civil discourse and, therefore, can teach us how to carry out civic engagement reasonably. Equitable interpretation of the law teaches us how to understand each other charitably. And equity’s deference to law teaches us how to reason well together about our practical problems. Law is the practical reasoning that we do together. Equity serves the ends of justice by serving law, rather than undermining it. These functions of equity in adjudication point toward a …

Class Of 2026 Incoming Il Law Students, St. Mary's University School Of Law, St. Mary's University School Of Law

Incoming 1L Photos (Facebooks)

Photographs of incoming law students for the St. Mary’s University School of Law, class of 2026

When Machines Can Be Judge, Jury, And Executioner: Justice In The Age Of Artificial Intelligence (Book Review), Stacy Fowler

Faculty Articles

In When Machines Can Be Judge, Jury, and Executioner, former federal judge Katherine Forrest raises concerns over the pervasive use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the American justice system to produce risks and need assessments (RNA) regarding the probability of recidivism for citizens charged with a crime. Forrest’s argument centers on AI’s primary focus on utilitarian outcomes when assessing liberty for individual citizens. This approach leads Forrest to the conclusion that in its current form, AI is “ill-suited to the criminal justice context.” Forrest contends that AI should instead be programmed to focus on John Rawl’ 'concept of justice as …

Total Return Meltdown: The Case For Treating Total Return Swaps As Disguised Secured Transactions, Colin P. Marks

Faculty Articles

Archegos Capital Management, at its height, had $35 billion in assets. But in the spring of 2021, in part through its use of total return swaps, Archegos sparked a $30 billion dollar sell-off that left many of the world's largest banks footing the bill. Mitsubishi UFJ Group estimated a loss of $300 million; UBS, Switzerland's biggest bank, lost $861 million; Morgan Stanley lost $911 million; Japan's Nomura lost $2.85 billion; but the biggest hit came to Credit Suisse Group AG, which lost $5.5 billion. Archegos itself lost $20 billion over two days. The unique characteristics of total return swaps and …

The First Woman Dean Of A Texas Law School: Barbara Bader Aldave At St. Mary's University, Vincent R. Johnson

Faculty Articles

Long-time St. Mary's law professor Vincent Johnson details the arrival and tenure of Barbara Bader Aldave as Dean of St. Mary's University School of Law.

A Tribute To Gerald S. "Geary" Reamey, Michael Ariens

Faculty Articles

Geary Reamey began teaching at St. Mary's University School of Law in the Fall 1982 semester. He will have taught for forty-one years at St. Mary's when he retires in May 2023. Geary is known throughout Texas for his work, both as a speaker and as a writer, educating lawyers and judges about Texas criminal law and procedure. He is known among St. Mary's Law alumni for creating and operating, along with the late John Schmolesky, a vibrant criminal law and procedure curriculum, including the first-year Criminal Law course.

Taking Corrigibility Seriously, Dora Klein

Faculty Articles

This article argues that the Supreme Court's creation of a category of "irreparably corrupt" juveniles is not only an epistemological mistake but also a tactical mistake which has undermined the Court's express desire that only in the "rarest" of cases will juveniles be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

A Quarter Century Of Challenges And Progress In Education, And An Agenda For The Next Quarter Century, Albert H. Kauffman

Faculty Articles

As a native Texan who attended intentionally segregated Texas public schools, then an effectively segregated Texas public law school, litigated many cases against discrimination in Texas education, and now teaches Texas education law, I have what I think to be informed opinions on where we have been, where we are going, and what we should do next. I will briefly describe our sad history of discrimination in segregation, school finance, testing, higher education, and lack of responsiveness to newer issues in education at all levels. I will then summarize some of our ongoing challenges and some possible approaches that I …

The Lawyer As Dream Enabler, Gerald S. Reamey

Faculty Articles

In law school and in law practice, the power of preparation is reinforced. Generations of law students have heard me extol the virtue of preparation above all others. While it is true, even the best preparation will never beat luck; luck is fickle and not subject to our control. On the other hand, we totally control the amount and quality of the preparation we put into any project. I discovered preparation is more important than good looks, nice clothes, a shiny leather briefcase, eloquence, experience, or even intelligence.

Originalism And The Meaning Of "Twenty Dollars", Michael L. Smith

Faculty Articles

Originalism claims to provide answers, or at least assistance, for those hoping to interpret a Constitution filled with wide-ranging, morally loaded terminology. Originalists claim that looking to the original public meaning of the Constitution will constrain interpreters, maintain consistency and predictability in judicial decisions, and is faithful to ideals like democratic legitimacy. This essay responds with the inevitable, tough question: whether originalism can tell interpreters what the Seventh Amendment's reference to "twenty dollars" means--both as a matter of original meaning and for interpreters today.

While this appears to be an easy question, I demonstrate that rather than telling modern legal …

Idaho's Law Of Seduction, Michael L. Smith

Faculty Articles

Seduction is a historical cause of action that permitted women's fathers to bring suit on their daughters' behalf in sexual assault and rape cases. This tort emerged long ago when the law's refusal to recognize women's agency left this as the only means of recovering damages in these cases. As time went on, the tort evolved, and women were eventually permitted to bring lawsuits for seduction on their own behalf. Today, most states have abolished seduction, along with other torts permitting recovery for damages arising from intimate conduct. One could be easily forgiven for thinking that such an archaic tort …

Is, Ought, And The Limited Competence Of Experts, Adam J. Macleod

Faculty Articles

The moral innovators whom C. S. Lewis criticized in The Abolition of Man supposed that they could draw imperatives out of their superior understanding of sentiment and instinct. They assumed that to know what human beings want to do is to know what human beings should do. But people want to do all sorts of things that are irrational, pointless, harmful, and even downright evil. And people want inconsistent things. So the innovators are incoherent. As Lewis correctly affirmed, no amount of knowledge about nature or the world is sufficient by itself to direct us to do what is good …

This Is Not Your Grandparents' Military Justice System: The 2022 And 2023 National Defense Authorization Acts, David A. Schlueter, Lisa M. Schenck

Faculty Articles

Despite the major reforms to the American military justice system in the 2016 Military Justice Act, the drumbeat for reform has continued. One of the most-often heard calls for reform over the last decade has suggested removing commanders from the military justice system. Some have argued that a command-centric military justice system was outdated, and it was time to make the system look more like the Federal criminal procedure system. Other critics have advocated for a military justice system that looks more like those of our allied nations. This article briefly addresses the 2022 and 2023 NDAA changes to the …

Policy's Place In Pedestrian Infrastructure (Book Review), Michael L. Smith

Faculty Articles

Angie Schmitt's Right of Way: Race, Class, and the Silent Epidemic of Pedestrian Deaths in America delves into the complex, multi-layered phenomenon of how traffic infrastructure and policies systematically disadvantage pedestrians and contribute to thousands of deaths and injuries each year. Despite the breadth of the problem and its often-technical aspects, Schmitt presents the problem in an engaging and approachable manner through a step-by-step analysis combining background, statistics, and anecdotes.

While Right of Way tends to focus on infrastructure design, it offers much for legal scholars, lawyers, and policymakers. Schmitt addresses several policy issues at length in the book. But …

Dinner With Andre: A Personal Tribute To Andre Hampton, David Dittfurth

Faculty Articles

A tribute to long-time St. Mary's University School of Law professor Andre Hampton upon his retirement.

"Grossly Negligent Utilities," "Unimaginable Property Damage" And The Scope Of Liability Insurers' Duty To Indemnify Subrogated Property Insurers - Probative And Empirical Inferences From Courts' Divided Subrogation And Indemnification Decision, Willy E. Rice

Faculty Articles

Each year, extreme weather, natural disasters and allegedly "grossly negligent" investor-owned utilities concurrently destroy property, persons and lives. In the wake, billions of dollars are lost. Given utilities' general immunity under the judicially created filed-rate or filed-tariff doctrine, residential and commercial owners are precluded from filing ordinary negligence actions against utilities. Thus, many injured consumers try to settle their property-loss claims with their insurers. Some property insurers satisfy the "make-whole" doctrine and cover all losses. Most insurers, however, refuse to settle any claim. Or, they partially compensate the insureds. Yet, an overwhelming majority of property insurers are increasingly filing subrogation …

Transforming Military Justice: The 2022 And 2023 National Defense Authorization Acts, David A. Schlueter, Lisa Schenck

Faculty Articles

For the past decade there have been numerous and significant changes to the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), the statutory basis for the military justice system. Although the Military Justice Act of 2016 made major changes to the UCMJ, the calls for change continued. One of the most-often heard calls for reform over the last decade has suggested removing commanders from the military justice system. Some have argued that a command-centric military justice system was outdated, and it was time to make the system look more like the federal criminal procedure system. Other critics have advocated for a military …

The Mystery Of The Leavenworth Oaths, M H. Hoeflich, Stephen M. Sheppard

Faculty Articles

Lawyers have sworn an oath to be admitted to the Bar since the beginnings of the Anglo-American legal profession. The oath serves several extremely important purposes. First, it is the formal act that admits an individual into the Bar and confers upon the oath taker the right to perform the duties of an attorney in the jurisdiction in which the oath is given. Second, the oath admits the new attorney to the broader world of the legal profession and signifies that the new attorney has been judged by the oath giver as worthy of the right to practice law. Third, …

Ethical Lawyering: The Role Of Honor, Conscience, And Codes (Reviewing Michael S. Ariens, The Lawyer’S Conscience: A History Of American Lawyer Ethics), Vincent R. Johnson

Faculty Articles

Michael Ariens’ new book, The Lawyer’s Conscience: A History of American Lawyer Ethics, is a monumental work, rooted in his decades of excellent scholarship in the fields of attorney professional responsibility and legal history. The Lawyer’s Conscience captures the great sweep and key features of the roughly 250-year period in American legal ethics running from colonial times to the present day. Richly detailed and vividly presented, the story takes the reader on a grand tour of the landmark events and changing ideas that have defined the aspirations, responsibilities, and accountability of members of the American legal profession.

The Scholar: Twenty-Five Years Of Change, Catherine Casiano

Faculty Articles

Catherine Casiano, the Assistant Dean of Admissions at St. Mary's University School of Law, a former staff writer and editor for The Scholar, reflects on the journal's twenty-fifth anniversary and evolution.

Class Of 2025 Incoming Il Law Students, St. Mary's University School Of Law, St. Mary's University School Of Law

Incoming 1L Photos (Facebooks)

Photographs of incoming law students for the St. Mary’s University School of Law, class of 2025

2022-2023 School Year, St. Mary's University School Of Law

The Witan

No abstract provided.

The Fall Of An American Lawyer, Michael Ariens

Faculty Articles

John Randall is the only former president of the American Bar Association to be disbarred. He wrote a will for a client, Lovell Myers, with whom Randall had been in business for over a quarter-century. The will left all of Myers’s property to Randall, and implicitly disinherited his only child, Marie Jensen. When Jensen learned of the existence of a will, she sued to set it aside. She later filed a complaint with the Iowa Committee on Professional Ethics and Conduct. That complaint was the catalyst leading to Randall’s disbarment.

Randall had acted grievously in serving as Lovell Myers’s attorney. …

When Police Volunteer To Kill, Alexandra L. Klein

Faculty Articles

The Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of lethal injection, yet states continue to struggle with drug shortages and botched executions. Some states have authorized alternative methods of execution, including the firing squad. Utah, which has consistently carried out firing squad executions throughout its history, relies on police officers from the jurisdiction where the crime took place to volunteer to carry out these executions. This represents a plausible-and probable method for other states in conducting firing squad executions.

Public and academic discussion of the firing squad has centered on questions of pain and suffering. It has not engaged with the …

Originalism's Implementation Problem, Michael L. Smith, Alexander S. Hiland

Faculty Articles

Originalism has received a great deal of recent, mainstream attention. President Donald Trump's nomination of three justices to the Supreme Court amplified discussions of their judicial philosophies during and following their confirmation proceedings. Supporters of these nominations highlighted the nominees' originalist credentials, arguing that originalism was the dominant approach to constitutional interpretation.

In the academic sphere, volumes of articles and books set forth originalist theories and methodology. Its academic proponents also refer to it as the dominant form of constitutional interpretation—often asserting that opponents of originalism have failed to enunciate a coherent alternative theory. Some argue that originalism (at least, …

Distracted Walking, Michael L. Smith

Faculty Articles

Throughout the United States and across the world, cities are enacting bans on "distracted walking." These bans target cell phone users who cross the street while using a telephone. Doing so in certain cities may result in a fine, community service, or even jail. Drawing inspiration from municipalities, lawmakers in several states have proposed similar statewide legislation. Pushback against these measures is rare-as many people have either directly, or indirectly, experienced the slow and oblivious behavior of "smartphone zombies."

This Article surveys these laws and demonstrates that the science is, at best, mixed on whether device usage results in distraction …

Originalism And The Inseparability Of Decision Procedures From Interpretive Standards, Michael L. Smith

Faculty Articles

In his article, Originalism: Standard and Procedure, Professor Stephen E. Sachs describes a never-ending debate between originalism's advocates and critics. Originalists argue that certain historical facts determine the Constitution's meaning. But determining these facts is difficult, if not impossible for judges, attorneys, and the public. Sachs seeks to rise above this debate, arguing that the legal community should not expect originalism to offer a procedure for interpreting the Constitution. Instead, the legal community should treat originalism as a

standard to judge interpretations.

This Article takes issue with this approach. Originalism is not like other instances in law where statutes or …

Beyond Compulsory Licensing: Pfizer Shares Its Covid-19 Medicines With The Patent Pool, Chenglin Liu

Faculty Articles

On March 15, 2022, the United States, European Union, India, and South Africa reached an agreement on the waiver of intellectual property rights (IP rights) for COVID-19 vaccines. The waiver agreement has rekindled the debate on the balance between IP rights protection and equitable access to medicines during a public health crisis. India, South Africa, and other developing countries maintain that a waiver was the only way to make vaccines affordable and accessible. Leading pharmaceutical companies argue that the waiver will stifle innovation and make lifesaving medicines less accessible. Both sides have seemingly overlooked Pfizer's voluntary agreement with the Medicines …

Respecting The Identity And Dignity Of All Indigenous Americans, Bill Piatt

Faculty Articles

The United States government attempted to eliminate Native Americans through outright physical extermination and later by the eradication of Indian identity through a boarding school system and other "paper genocide" mechanisms. One of those mechanisms is the recognition of some Natives but not the majority, including those who ancestors were enslaved. The assistance provided to recognized tribes by the government is inadequate to compensate for the historical and continuing suffering these people endure. And yet the problem is compounded for those unrecognized Natives whose ancestors were enslaved and whose tribal identity was erased. They are subjected to a double-barreled discrimination. …

"Only To Have A Say In The Way He Dies:" Bodily Autonomy And Methods Of Execution, Alexandra L. Klein

Faculty Articles

Capital punishment is one of the most significant intrusions into a person's bodily autonomy; the state takes a person's life. Even though the state has stripped a person on death row of much of their autonomy and intends to kill them, removing all autonomy, a person sentenced to death may, in some circumstances, choose how they will die. While most states rely on a single method of execution, some states permit a condemned person to choose among two or more methods of execution. Constitutional challenges to methods of execution requires the challenger to demonstrate a substantial risk of severe pain …