Law Commons^™

Murder, Suicide, And The Fight Over An Inheritance, Joanna L. Grossman

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

The seven-year marriage between Brandy and Joshua Matthews ended in tragedy. He shot and killed her before turning the gun on himself. There were no criminal charges arising out of this tragedy since the murderer died alongside the victim. But there was a civil fight over inheritance, raising the question whether Brandy’s family should inherit from Joshua’s estate. In a unanimous opinion, the Alabama Supreme Court said no -

Traditional Surrogacy In Tennessee: Strange Statute Begets Strange Judicial Ruling, Joanna L. Grossman

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

According to a recent article in the New York Times by Tamar Lewin, the United States has become – or is in the process of becoming – a mecca for foreign couples seeking the services of a surrogate to gestate a child for them. Theories differ as to the draw, but the lack of national policy or strict regulation is among the most likely suspects.

Click Away: A Texas Law On “Improper Photography” Bites The Dust, Joanna L. Grossman, Lawrence M. Friedman

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

Ronald Thompson was arrested in Texas and charged with 26 counts of “improper photography” in 2011. He was seen taking pictures of kids underwater at Sea World. After parents complained, he was arrested. A search of his camera revealed 73 photos of children in swimsuits, with the focus on their breasts and buttocks.

His behavior, according to the authorities, violated a provision of the Texas criminal code on “improper photography” (Tex. Penal Code, sec. 21.15). This provision outlawed photographs taken “without the other person’s consent,” and “with intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of any person.” Thompson’s defense: …

If She Don’T Win It’S A Shame: Female Executive Sues New York Mets For Pregnancy Discrimination, Joanna L. Grossman, Deborah L. Brake

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

Leigh Castergine was the first woman to become a Senior Vice President in the Front Office of the Mets, a once-beloved, but now losing Major League Baseball team in New York. She was in charge of ticket sales and was rewarded over the years for innovations and successes to the tune of multiple $50,000 raises and a $125,000 bonus. But she met her glass ceiling when she, an unmarried woman, announced her pregnancy in 2013.

The End Of The Road: The Late Anna Nicole Smith’S Quest To Inherit Is Over, Joanna L. Grossman

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

Twenty years. Five times the length of the human relationship. Almost twenty times the length of the marriage. That’s the duration of the litigation about whether Anna Nicole Smith should share in the estate of her husband J. Howard Marshall II. The parties are long dead—J. Howard’s death at age 90 in 1995 gave rise to the estate and litigation over it; Anna Nicole died of a drug overdose at 39 in 2007; and J. Howard’s son (and Anna Nicole’s nemesis), Pierce Marshall, died at age 67 in 2006. Yet the litigation waged seven years after all the parties were …

Hard Labor: New Pregnancy Discrimination Guidance From The Eeoc, Joanna L. Grossman

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

Pregnancy discrimination in the workplace is an intractable problem, one that has resulted in a startling number of claims each year to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)—rising at a faster rate than women are joining the workforce—and increased media attention. But it has also led to extensive litigation that raises, in a variety of contexts, the question of what constitutes illegal pregnancy discrimination under federal law.

In light of these developments, the EEOC has just issued new Enforcement Guidance on pregnancy discrimination—its first in several decades—to explain its interpretation of applicable statutes. In this column, I’ll explain key …

Abstract Risk And The Politics Of The Criminal Law, Brenner M. Fissell

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

Much of the criminal law contains what theorists call “abstract endangerment” statutes — crimes that punish not actual, but hypothetical, creation of risk. Consider the case of underage alcohol possession: age does not necessarily imply immaturity, and possession does not necessarily lead to consumption. The crime is therefore doubly “abstract”: many violations will create no risk of harm at all but the conduct is nevertheless prohibited. Theoretical defenses of these overinclusive laws proceed mainly by emphasizing the deficiencies of individuals in assessing their own cases of risk. What these defenses implicitly assume, though, is that the entity the individual must …

Designing Related-To Bankruptcy Jurisdiction, Jack Zarin-Rosenfeld

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

This Note offers a framework for analyzing related-to bankruptcy jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1334 that courts can implement immediately within the bounds of the statute and case law. It argues that that the requirements for related-to jurisdiction should be better deployed in accordance with the relative merits of jurisdictional rules and standards. Part I describes the requirements that courts impose to test related-to bankruptcy jurisdiction. Part II demonstrates how the requirements for related-to jurisdiction can be better deployed in accordance with the relative merits of jurisdictional rules and standards. Part III proposes a broad threshold inquiry backstopped by a …

Prison Health Care After The Affordable Care Act: Envisioning An End To The Policy Of Neglect, Evelyn Malave

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

Inadequate prison health care has created a health crisis for reentering prisoners and their communities--a crisis that is exacerbated by barriers to employment and other collateral consequences of release. This Note will first examine how current Eighth Amendment doctrine has failed to sufficiently regulate prison health care so as to have any significant effect on the crisis. Next, it will argue that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) alters the Eighth Amendment analysis by triggering a change in the "evolving standards of decency" that guide the doctrine. Specifically, this Note will argue that, after the passage of the ACA, releasing sick, …

Neither Father Nor Doctor “Knows Best”: From Tradition To Choice In The Family And On The Wards, Janet L. Dolgin

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

This review article analyzes 3 developments within the world of health care that involve concomitant changes in the scope of family and the form of family relationships. The first follows from construction of the informed‐consent doctrine and its implementation, the second stems from stunning innovations in reproductive technology, and the third involves the increasing significance of genetic information for medicine. The article suggests that an analysis of changing relationships within the world of health care may offer insights about shifts in the meaning of family. As social domains, the world of family and the world of health care have undergone …

Don't Cry For Sovereign Debtors: Why Argentina's Defeat In U.S. Courts Does Not Justify A Sovereign Debt Treaty, Julian G. Ku

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

The recent triumph of holdout bondholders over Argentina in U.S. court litigation arising out of Argentina's 2001 default on its sovereign bonds has renewed calls for the creation of an internationallyadministered sovereign debt restructuring mechanism (SDRM). Such a "sovereign bankruptcy" mechanism is needed, supporters have argued, because future Argentina-style holdout litigation could undermine the ability of sovereigns to reach equitable restructurings. This Article argues that the danger of future disruptive sovereign debt litigation in U.S. courts is overstated. A close analysis of the legal basis for U.S. court decisions in the Argentina litigation suggests that it will be difficult for …

“Best Interests Of The Child”, Andrew Schepard

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

Parents are essential to raising children. They love them, make major decisions for them, provide a roof over their heads. They offer emotional, educational, and economic support. In “intact” families, parents make decisions for their children jointly. There is no issue about where a child lives because parents live together with the child in the same place.