Law Commons^™

The Convergence Of The Critical Race Theory Workshop With Latcrit Theory: A History, Stephanie L. Phillips

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Shifting Bottoms And Rotating Centers: Reflections On Latcrit Iii And The Black/White Paradigm, Athena D. Mutua

Journal Articles

This essay chronicles my participation at the LatCrit III Conference and examines some of the issues raised. It touches on battles that rage within our efforts to build coalitions across boundaries of race and ethnicity, and it poses questions of centers, bottoms, and models.

Specifically, it asks: What group should be at the center of a given study or enterprise? Whose faces are at the bottom of the well and What model shall we use to analyze a given situation? The questions are complex, but LatCrit is attempting to address these complexities, not only in theory but in practice. Institutionally, …

Stop Me Before I Quantify Again: The Role Of Political Science In The Study Of Election Law, James A. Gardner

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No abstract provided.

The African Human Rights Court: A Two-Legged Stool?, Makau Mutua

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This article examines the African continental human rights system that is built on the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. It pays particular attention to the deficits of that system and argues that the establishment of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights – a judicial body meant to strengthen the protection of human rights in Africa – falls far short. It exposes the normative and structural shortcomings that render the court virtually meaningless. It concludes that the court serves very little purpose except to address the enormous human rights challenges facing Africa.

Oppression, Lies, And The Dream Of Autonomy, Judy Scales-Trent

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No abstract provided.

Administrative Takings: A Realist Perspective On The Practice And Theory Of Regulatory Takings Cases, David A. Westbrook

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No abstract provided.

The Nature Of The American Constitution: Is There A Constitutional Right To Vote And Be Represented?, Jeffrey Rosen, James A. Gardner, Gary Peller, Edward Still, Brenda Wright

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No abstract provided.

Langdell's Auto-Da-Fé, John Henry Schlegel

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No abstract provided.

Protection, Privatization And Profit In The Foster Care System, Susan Vivian Mangold

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No abstract provided.

African Women In France: Immigration, Family And Work, Judy Scales-Trent

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No abstract provided.

Competent Legal Writing - A Lawyer's Professional Responsibility, Debra R. Cohen

Journal Articles

The legal profession is constantly evolving to keep pace with our increasingly complex society.' Today, the legal profession "is larger and more diverse than ever before." Despite this transformation, "the law has remained a single profession identified with a perceived common body of learning, skills and values." This common body of learning, skills, and values constitutes the fundamental elements of competent representation. Writing is one of the essential skills of competent representation.

"Law is a profession of words." Lawyers use words, both written and oral, in a wide array of contexts-to advise, to advocate, to elicit information, to establish legal …

Faragher, Ellerth, And The Federal Law Of Vicarious Liability For Sexual Harassment By Supervisors: Something Lost, Something Gained, And Something To Guard Against, William R. Corbett

Journal Articles

In this Essay, the author faces his nightmare exam question: he must define "sexual harassment" to the satisfaction of several potential graders with different perspectives on sexual harassment law. His valiant effort to justify his response leads him to a discussion of the federal law of vicarious liability for sexual harassment by supervisors after the Supreme Court's recent rejection of tort law respondeat superior analysis for such claims under Title VII. The author argues that, while the rejection of the tort standard for vicarious liability in Title VII claims removes the longstanding connection between Title VII law and state tort …

Affirmative Action And The First Amendment: The Attainment Of A Diverse Student Body Is A Permissible Exercise Of Institutional Autonomy, Darlene Goring

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No abstract provided.

The Police Power And The Regulation Of Medical Practice: A Historical Review And Guide For Medical Licensing Board Regulation Of Physicians In Erisa-Qualified Managed Care Organizations, Edward P. Richards

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No abstract provided.

More Lessons From The Laboratories: Cy Pres Distributions In Parens Patriae Antitrust Actions Brought By State Attorneys General, Susan Beth Farmer

Journal Articles

The structure of the article is outlined in the Table of Contents. First, the article introduces a problem - the denial of an effective remedy for consumers overcharged by antitrust conspiracies, then it describes the legislative solution and identifies the unintended consequences that followed. Next, it proposes two alternative means to resolve the newly discovered issue and, finally, structures a proposed test for courts seeking to order the most efficient and effective remedy for consumers in these cases. The article explains that the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act was adopted to fill a gap in antitrust remedies, which had made treble …

Broadening Our World: Citizens And Immigrants Of Color In America, Victor C. Romero

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This article was originally presented at a symposium. The article discusses affirmative action and ways of increasing diversity in higher education.

Supervisory Liability In Section 1983 Cases, Kit Kinports

Journal Articles

The topic of this presentation is supervisory liability in Section 1983 cases. Assume for present purposes that a plaintiff's constitutional rights have been violated - that some state official has acted in violation of the Constitution. The question to be addressed here is whether that state official's supervisors can be held liable for damages stemming from the constitutional violation.

Justice Blackmun's Mark On Criminal Law And Procedure, Kit Kinports

Journal Articles

When Justice Blackmun was nominated to the Court in 1970, Americans were consumed with the idea of crime control. In the 1968 presidential campaign, Richard Nixon had called the Supreme Court "soft on crime" and had promised to "put 'law and order' judges on the Court." While sitting on the Eighth Circuit, the Justice had "seldom struck down searches, seizures, arrests or confessions," and most of his opinions in criminal cases had "affirmed guilty verdicts and sentences." Thus, according to one commentator, Justice Blackmun seemed to be "exactly what Nixon was looking for: a judge who believed in judicial restraint, …

Introduction - Denver Journal Of International Law And Policy, Thomas E. Carbonneau

Journal Articles

The reconciliation of national law with a transborder standard is at the heart of the European enterprise to create an integrated legal process. Such reconciliation is also necessary to establish a unified political community with common core values. The various cases that are analyzed in this issue address critical questions of law and policy, and demonstrate the court’s progress in elaborating a communitarian practice in the various subject areas.

In the cases that are studied, the ECJ rendered preliminary rulings on previously unresolved issues of Community law. The ECJ has the power under Article 177 ofthe EC Treaty to issue …

Guarding The Gate To The Courthouse: How Trial Judges Are Using Their Evidentiary Screening Role To Remake Tort Causation Rules, Lucinda M. Finley

Journal Articles

The article looks at what trial judges are actually doing in toxic tort cases in the post-Daubert world; it reviews and critiques cases in which judges have in effect adopted a new rule of causation law that requires plaintiffs to rely on epidemiology, and in particular epidemiology that demonostrates an increase in relative risk of 2.0 or greater; the article considers the substantive as well as the normative implications of this legal treatment of epidemiology.

Devolution And The Paradox Of Democratic Unresponsiveness, James A. Gardner

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No abstract provided.

In Memoriam: Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr. - A Tribute, Kenneth F. Ripple

Journal Articles

In remembering Justice Powell, my memory invariably recalls three distinct images from the years I spent at the Supreme Court. Two of these memories are from my own work with him. The other is from my observation of him on the bench. In the days since his death this past autumn, all three have sparked a great deal of reflection about his enduring contribution to our jurisprudence and to our profession.

Ingos As Political Actors, Makau Mutua

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No abstract provided.

The Erie Doctrine Revisited: How A Conflicts Perspective Can Aid The Analysis, Joseph P. Bauer

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I have taught Civil Procedure for the past twenty-five years. Having returned to teaching Conflict of Laws last year, after not having taught that course since the mid-1980s, I was interested in re-examining the Erie doctrine from the vantage point of both of these subject areas. My goal was to see whether a combination of learning from these two related disciplines would introduce additional coherence into the analysis of this topic.

In one sense, the Erie doctrine and traditional choice of law determinations present analogous questions, since they both involve making a selection between competing legal rules. Choice of law …

Legal Writing In The New Millennium: Lessons From A Special Teacher And A "Special Classroom", Kenneth F. Ripple

Journal Articles

After receiving the invitation to address this conference, I found my thoughts often returning to my own education in legal writing. As I recall, my legal writing experience in law school was not a very intensive—or positive—one. As was quite typical in that era (almost thirty-three years ago), the program at my law school was not very extensive: we wrote a memorandum of law and a brief under the guidance of a graduate law student.

My real legal writing education took place in the study of the Chief Justice of the United States. For the better part of five years, …

Covenant And Contract, Steven Nock, Margaret F. Brinig

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In this article we ask, "What distinguishes a covenant from a mere contract, and what role does this distinction play for natural law?" Both of us have thought substantially about covenant over the past several years. The concept of covenant comes to us originally from religious sources, so we have paid explicit attention to what the Bible and organized religion have to say about covenant. We have also drawn from our own disciplines of law, economics, and sociology as they explain or draw from the initial concepts.

Covenant is a concept that takes us beyond contract. Indeed, the idea that …

What Is The Common Good, And Why Does It Concern The Client's Lawyer?, John M. Finnis

Journal Articles

Why is anything of real concern to any of us? Because, besides our simply emotional motives, we have reasons for action (which may be supported or opposed by our emotions). What are reasons for action? Some are instrumental, means to further ends: I have reason to start reading this paper to you, and you had reason to come back into the room to hear it. What reasons? Well, doing so is my contribution to this symposium's reflection on its subject-matter. That reflection, in turn, is intended to be instrumental in promoting a wider and deeper understanding of an important set …

Plea Bargaining And The Criminal Defendant's Obligation To Plead Guilty, Gerard V. Bradley

Journal Articles

One criticism of plea bargaining holds that: "So long as defendants routinely expect to receive some form of sentencing consideration in exchange for an admission of guilt, the essence of a system of bargain justice is present."

Taken as a criticism ― that "bargain justice" is defective justice and that the "routine" upon which it depends should be significantly reduced, or eliminated ― this view is quite mistaken. On the assumption (which I believe to be true, but for which I do not argue here) that a large majority of the criminally accused are in reality guilty, many ― and …

Retribution And The Secondary Aims Of Punishment, Gerard V. Bradley

Journal Articles

Punishing criminals involves more than visiting unwelcome experiences–the rack, the gallows, confinement, sitting in a corner–upon them. Privations such as these constitute the behavioral substratum, the raw material of punishment. But behaviors such as confinement become the acts that they are, including acts of punishment by confinement, according to the justifying aim(s) which suffuse(s) the behavior. For behaviors such as confinement are ambiguous; limiting another's freedom of movement may be constitutive of a number of different human acts, including quarantine, kidnapping, institutionalization, and imprisonment for crime. Same behavior, different acts. Each of the ends of punishment shapes privations imposed upon …

Retribution: Punishment's Formative Aim, John M. Finnis

Journal Articles

This Article explores the theoretical underinnings of punishment, in light of statements made about punishment in the works of Friedrich Nietzsche.