Law Commons^™

The Dream Of Property: Law And Environment In William T. Vollmann’S Dying Grass And Leslie Marmon Silko’S Almanac Of The Dead, Ted Hamilton

Faculty Journal Articles

This article describes how the law inflects the narration of environmental conflict in William T. Vollmann’s Dying Grass (2015) and Leslie Marmon Silko’s Almanac of the Dead (1991). By focusing on the legal common sense of settler colonialism—its emphasis on private property in land and its subjugation of Indigenous peoples to the guardianship of the state—the article explores the ways in which Vollmann’s and Silko’s novels present counternarratives to the law’s story of justified conquest. Combining a law and literature approach with ecocriticism, this article highlights the importance of the legal imagination in defining human-land relations in the United States. …

Limiting Limited Liability: Requiring More Than Mere Subsequence Under Federal Rule Of Evidence 407, Cynara Hermes Mcquillan

Scholarly Works

Rule 407 of the Federal Rules of Evidence, the “Subsequent Remedial Measures” Rule, is troubling. This exclusionary rule of evidence prohibits using subsequent remedial measures to demonstrate negligence, culpable conduct, or product defect. But, other than in the title of the rule, the phrase “subsequent remedial measures” does not appear anywhere in the rule’s text and the rule itself does not expressly define what measures fall within its purview. This omission creates space for different judicial interpretations of the rule’s language and ultimately disparate judicial outcomes. Although the Federal Rules of Evidence lend themselves to fact-specific inquiries that can lead …

State Digital Services Taxes: A Good And Permissible Idea (Despite What You Might Have Heard), Young Ran (Christine) Kim, Darien Shanske

Articles

Tax systems have been struggling to adapt to the digitalization of the economy. At the center of the struggles is taxing digital platforms, such as Google or Facebook. These immensely profitable firms have a business model that gives away “free” services, such as searching the web. The service is not really free; it is paid for by having the users watch ads and tender data. Traditional tax systems are not designed to tax such barter transactions, leaving a gap in taxation.

One response, pioneered in Europe, has been the creation of a wholly new tax to target digital platforms: the …

The Value Of Fiduciary Duties: Evidence From En Bloc Sales In Singapore, Jianfeng Hu, Kelvin F. K. Low, Wei Zhang

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper examines the impact of fiduciary duties on collective asset sales in the case of owners acting as delegates for other owners, thereby potentially inducing conflicts of interests. Our identification strategy exploits a unique legal shock in Singapore, which established fiduciary duties in those transactions in the real estate market known colloquially as en bloc sales. The imposition of fiduciary duties caused the price premium of units sold via en bloc sales to increase over units ineligible for en bloc sale, as well as over units that, although eligible for en bloc sale, are sold individually. In addition, this …

From Experiencing Abuse To Seeking Protection: Examining The Shame Of Intimate Partner Violence, A. Rachel Camp

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Shame permeates the experience of intimate partner violence (IPV). People who perpetrate IPV commonly use tactics designed to cause shame in their partners, including denigrating their dignity, undermining their autonomy, or harming their reputation. Many IPV survivors report an abiding sense of shame as a result of their victimization—from a lost sense of self, to self-blame, to fear of (or actual) social judgment. When seeking help for abuse, many survivors are directed to, or otherwise encounter, persons or institutions that reinforce rather than mitigate their shame. Survivors with marginalized social identities often must contend not only with the shame of …

Tragedies Of The Cultural Commons, Etienne C. Toussaint

Faculty Publications

In the United States, Black cultural expressions of democratic life that operate within specific historical-local contexts, yet reflect a shared set of sociocultural mores, have been historically crowded out of the law and policymaking process. Instead of democratic cultural discourse occurring within an open and neutral marketplace of ideas, the discursive production and consumption of democratic culture in American politics has been rivalrous. Such rivalry too often enables dominant White supremacist cultural beliefs, values, and practices to exercise their hegemony upon law’s production and meaning. The result has been tragedy for politically disempowered and socioeconomically excluded communities.

This Article uses …

The Private Law Of Stablecoins, Kara J. Bruce, Christopher K. Odinet, Andrea Tosato

Faculty Scholarship

Stablecoins are one of the cornerstones of the crypto world. They’ve attracted significant attention over the past few years, ranging from Wall Street to kitchen table investors, and even the White House. As a less volatile alternative to crypto-assets like bitcoin, stablecoins have the potential to change the way we make payments, unlock the groundwork needed for more blockchain-based applications, and even reorient the economy toward private money. But how stable are these stablecoins, really? Can they be relied upon in the way their many proponents claim? And how much of the popular beliefs about stablecoins match their realities? That’s …

Exploring Perceptions Of Control Within Offender Cognition And Recidivism Paradigms, Anistasha H. Lightning, Danielle Polage

Student Published Works

Elements of perceived control are associated with recidivism in offender populations. We investigated the application of locus of control to the frequency of personal involvement with the law and to beliefs surrounding the likelihood of future contact with the legal system. We hypothesized that, as the number of sentencings or legal experiences increased, locus of control would externalize. We also predicted that increased legal involvement would lead to greater belief in the likelihood of future involvement. A statistically significant path model suggests that locus of control appears to be a predictor of increased criminality, as opposed to the other way …

Brief For Petitioners, Gonzalez V. Google, 143 S.Ct. 1191 (2023) (No. 21-1333), Eric Schnapper, Robert J. Tolchin, Keith L. Altman

Court Briefs

QUESTION PRESENTED: Section 203(c)(1) of the Communications Decency Act immunizes an “interactive computer service” (such as YouTube, Google, Facebook and Twitter) for “publish[ ing] ... information provided by another” “information content provider” (such as someone who posts a video on YouTube or a statement on Facebook). This is the most recent of three court of appeals’ decisions regarding whether section 230(c)(1) immunizes an interactive computer service when it makes targeted recommendations of information provided by such another party. Five courts of appeals judges have concluded that section 230(c)(1) creates such immunity. Three court of appeals judges have rejected such immunity. …

Implication Of Personalized Advertising On Personal Data: A Legal Analysis Of The Eu General Data Protection Regulation, Noor Ashikin Basarudin, Ridwan Adetunji Raji

All Works

The accelerating emergence of personalised advertising is mostly driven by data. Accordingly, algorithmic profiling has become a constant experience for every online user in predicting preference and interest. The profiling process raises several issues of human privacy and personal data invasion. Therefore, this study adopts the doctrinal legal method through the analysis of International Instruments and the European Union General Data Protection Regulation as legal avenue to safeguard and protect online activities of the data subjects. The findings of this paper discuss the main principles to be observed by the data controller in ensuring the legality of personal data profiling. …

Dueling Textualisms Or Multimodal Analysis? Using Bostock To Show Why No One Is Really A Textualist, Anne Marie Lofaso

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Comments Of The Cordell Institute For Policy In Medicine & Law At Washington University In St. Louis, Neil Richards, Woodrow Hartzog, Jordan Francis

Faculty Scholarship

The Federal Trade Commission—with its broad, independent grant of authority and statutory mandate to identify and prevent unfair and deceptive trade practices—is uniquely situated to prevent and remedy unfair and deceptive data privacy and data security practices. In an increasingly digitized world, data collection, processing, and transfer have become integral to market interactions. Our personal and commercial experiences are now mediated by powerful, information-intensive firms who hold the power to shape what consumers see, how they interact, which options are available to them, and how they make decisions. That power imbalance exposes consumers and leaves them all vulnerable. We all …

South Korean Court’S Landmark Decision Against North Korea, Hyesoo Hahn

CICLR Online

During the Korean War, about 50,000 to 70,000 South Korean soldiers were taken prisoner of war (POW) by North Korea and its allies. While North Korea claimed that most South Korean POWs expressed to remain in North Korea and repatriated only 8,343 POWs, 80 South Korean POWs who escaped from North Korea told a different story. Most testified that they were never asked whether they want to return to South Korea, and some testified that they were forced to say they want to remain in North Korea. Held captive against their will, 50,000 South Korean POWs were sent to North …

American Voter Turnout: The Influence Of Education Levels On Voter Participation, Jack Thomas Bunzel-Hardie

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

This study is intended to explore the relevant relationship between mistrust in government officials and voter turnout. Within a research article such as this, it is important to distinguish the dependent and independent factors from one another so as not to get them confused. This article identifies the growing sense of mistrust that many Americans feel towards their government officials as the independent factor while examining the relationship that voter turnout has with that growing fear, therefore making that the dependent variable. While this issue has been studied in the past there have been many new events taking place and …

Glorification Of Serial Killers: How The Law Fails To Protect Families Of The Victims, Ksenia Khlystova-Gowda

AELJ Blog

Serial killers have always caused controversy. They have been talked about, feared, studied, and after their deaths, they have been remembered and memorialized in various forms of art. In pursuit of success and fame, movie and documentary directors attempt to promote their own narratives while depicting the gruesome and hideous murders and crimes of these killers. However, it appears that few consider the pain and suffering these “art forms” cause the families of serial killer victims. Almost every year, there are new media productions that put serial killers in the spotlight and depict their victims as sacrificial plot elements that …

How Ufc Fighters Are Being Punched In The Mouth Even After Stepping Out Of The Cage, William Schwartz

AELJ Blog

There is no questioning that the Ultimate Fighting Championship (“UFC”) is the premier mixed martial arts (“MMA”) promotion in the world. The UFC does pay their fighters more than other MMA promotions, but there are still plenty of people rightfully claiming that the UFC substantially underpays their fighters. In 2019, the UFC made over $900,000,000 in revenue and paid their fighters less than $150,000,000. That is sixteen percent of their revenue, which is significantly lower than what the National Football League (“NFL”), National Basketball Association (“NBA”), and Major League Baseball (“MLB”) pay their players. Those aforementioned leagues pay their players …

When It Comes To Prosecuting Trump, Merrick Garland Needs To Decide Already, Bruce Ledewitz

Newspaper Columns

Collected biweekly contributions to the Pennsylvania Capital-Star, a nonpartisan, nonprofit news site.

Dynamic Disclosure: An Exposé On The Mythical Divide Between Voluntary And Mandatory Esg Disclosure, Lisa Fairfax

All Faculty Scholarship

In March 2022, for the first time in its history, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) proposed rules mandating disclosure related to climate change. The proposed rules are remarkable because heretofore many in the business community, including the SEC, vehemently resisted climate-related disclosure, based primarily on the argument that such disclosure is not material to investors. This resistance is exemplified by the current lack of any SEC disclosure mandates for climate change. The proposed rules have sparked considerable pushback including allegations that the rules violate the First Amendment, would be too costly, and focus on “social” or “political” issues …

Law School News: Rwu Law Team Will Compete At National Moot Court Finals 11-28-2022, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Mmu: 11/28/22–12/04/22, Student Bar Association

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The Uscis Policy Manual: Exercising Questionable Authority Through Obscure Language, Marcy Pineda

ERSJ Blog

In 2022, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) began creating a centralized online repository for USCIS's immigration policies called the USCIS Policy Manual ("the Manual"), a tool to assist and further consistency in the decisions rendered by immigration officers. The Manual also establishes procedure around certain nuances of immigration policy. Consequently, USCIS has established new procedures around the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) self-petition.

This post was originally published on the Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights and Social Justice website on November 28, 2022. The original post can be accessed via the Archived Link button above.

Ndls Communicator: Week Of 11.28.22, Notre Dame Law School

NDLS Communicator

The Latest News

• Notre Dame Law Review hosts symposium on 'Liberalism, Christianity, and Constitutionalism'
• Judge Theodor Meron delivers ND Law’s 2022 Peace Through Law Lecture in London
• DEI Podcast, Episode 3: Understanding Imposter Feelings
• The Religious Liberty Clinic represents Sikhs, Muslims, Bruderhof, and Jewish groups defending a Rastafarian inmate forcibly shaved bald
• Sadie Blanchard's article, "Contracts Without Courts or Clans: How Business Networks Govern Exchange" has been published in the Georgia Law Review.
• Randy Kozel's new paper, “Government Employee Speech and Forum Analysis” was published in the Journal of Free Speech and challenges the idea that free speech claims by …

The Legality Of Russian Gray-Market Imports, Ruben Attia

CICLR Online

In its efforts to cope with Western sanctions implemented in response of its invasion of Ukraine, Russia launched the parallel imports scheme, allowing the importation of many goods without the consent of their intellectual property right-holder. Such goods are called grey market goods because they have been formulated or packaged for a particular jurisdiction and are imported into a different jurisdiction in contradiction to the brand owner’s intention. The value of parallel imports in Russia may well attain $16 billion by the end of 2022, as reported by Russian Minister of Industry and Trade Manturov. The Russian scheme also protects …

Landlord Duties To Combat Tenant-On-Tenant Discrimination Under The Fair Housing Act, Nicholas Cinquina

ERSJ Blog

Congress passed the Fair Housing Act (“FHA”) during the Civil Rights movement, seeking to dispel discriminatory practices in the United States housing market. Relevant here, the FHA makes it unlawful to discriminate against protected class members in the “terms, conditions, or privileges of...rental of a dwelling, or in the provision of services or facilities in connection therewith....” Additionally, under the FHA, it is unlawful to “...interfere with any person in the exercise or enjoyment of...any right granted or protected...in this title.” Whether the FHA can be construed to make it unlawful for a property owner to acquiesce in tenant-on-tenant discriminatory …

Wto Security Exceptions: A Sliding Scale Approach To Protect The Rules-Based System For Global Free Trade, Ts Somashekar, Kanchan Yadav

Articles

Since the enforcement of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1947 and subsequently with the establishment of the World Trade Organization, the global community has been moving towards a more secure and rule-based international trade law regime. The cornerstones of the system are predictability and transparency, which ensure that a state, no matter how powerful, cannot undertake a discriminatory trade measure against another going above and beyond the rules. However, the recent instances of unilateral invocation of the security exceptions found in the various trade agreements endanger the very basis of the WTO system. The very first …

Summary: New Perspectives On Worker Subordination, Valerio De Stefano, Sara Slinn, Eric Tucker

International Symposium on New Perspectives on Worker Subordination

No abstract provided.

Worker Participation In A Time Of Covid: A Case Study Of Occupational Health And Safety Regulation In Ontario, Alan Hall, Eric Tucker

Articles & Book Chapters

This study examines worker voice in the development and implementation of safety plans or protocols for covid-19 prevention among hospital workers, long-term care workers, and education workers in the Canadian province of Ontario. Although Ontario occupational health and safety law and official public health policy appear to recognize the need for active consultation with workers and labour unions, there were limited – and in some cases no – efforts by employers to meaningfully involve workers, worker representatives (reps), or union officials in assessing covid-19 risks and planning protection and prevention measures. The political and legal efforts of workers and unions …

Dynamic Pricing Algorithms, Consumer Harm, And Regulatory Response, Alexander Mackay, Samuel Weinstein

Articles

Pricing algorithms are rapidly transforming markets, from ride-sharing, to air travel, to online retail. Regulators and scholars have watched this development with a wary eye. Their focus so far has been on the potential for pricing algorithms to facilitate explicit and tacit collusion. This Article argues that the policy challenges pricing algorithms pose are far broader than collusive conduct. It demonstrates that algorithmic pricing can lead to higher prices for consumers in competitive markets and even in the absence of collusion. This consumer harm can be initiated by a single firm employing a superior pricing algorithm. Higher prices arise from …

Comments On The International Criminal Court Office Of The Prosecutor's Draft Policy On The Crime Of Gender Persecution Under The Rome Statute, Milena Sterio

Law Faculty Reports and Comments

The Draft Policy promises to be a seminal contribution not only to the Office of the Prosecutor's (OTP) policy and practice and the International Criminal Court's (ICC) jurisprudence on gender persecution, but also to the development of international criminal law generally. Building on its prior work, including the 2014 Policy Paper, the OTP is well placed to develop policies and procedures that protect historically marginalized and oppressed groups, deliver justice that accurately reflects the depth and breadth of the gender persecution suffered, and shed light on a crime that has to date received only limited attention.

As it finalizes the …

Dean’S Desk: The Iu Maurer School Of Law And The Indiana Supreme Court, Christiana Ochoa

Christiana Ochoa (7/22-10/22 Acting; 11/2022-)

On Nov. 1, my first day as the 17th dean of the Indiana University Maurer School of Law, I attended the robing ceremony for Derek Molter, Indiana’s 111th Supreme Court justice. This public ceremony was an opportunity for those in attendance to celebrate Justice Molter’s formal swearing in, which had occurred privately on Sept. 1. For the IU Maurer School of Law, it was also an opportunity to celebrate Justice Molter joining three other IU Maurer alumni on the five-person court.

Established in 1816, the court precedes our law school by about 30 years. Still, for most of Indiana’s history, …