Law Commons^™

Remarks On Case-Management Criminal Mediation, Maureen Laflin

Articles

No abstract provided.

The Property Clause: As If Biodiversity Mattered, Dale Goble

Articles

No abstract provided.

Apes, Darwinian Continuity, And The Law, Roger S. Fouts

Animal Law Review

This article proposes that the delusional worldview that “man” is outside and above the other “defective” organic beings in nature is completely without empirical scientific foundation. An alternative and harmonious way of being is presented that is derived from the acceptance of the biological reality of continuity.

Breed Specific Legislation: Unfair Prejudice And Ineffective Policy, Devin Burstein

Animal Law Review

This comment examines breed specific legislation—the unfortunate attempt of legislatures throughout the country to address the valid concern over vicious dog attacks by prohibiting or strictly regulating entire breeds, most often pitbulls. To prevent the tragedies that can occur when a dog attacks a human, legislation must take aim at the heart of the problem, the human owners that allow, through negligence or intentional mistreatment and training, these attacks to occur.

Sexual Tensions Of Post-Empire, Katherine M. Franke

Faculty Scholarship

In this essay Katherine Franke examines two contemporary cites in which state efforts to eradicate the traces of empire and to resurrect an authentic post-colonial nation have produced sexual subjects that serve as a kind of existential residue and reminder of a demonized colonial past and absence. Looking first at post-colonial Zimbabwe, Franke argues that President Mugabe's aggressively homophobic policies have played a key role in fortifying his leadership as authentically African and post-colonial.

Franke then turns to current efforts by the Mubarak government in Egypt to publically prosecute men for having sex with men. The Mubarak government has used …

Credit Card Policy In A Globalized World, Ronald J. Mann

Faculty Scholarship

This paper relies on data from countries around the world to present a comprehensive analysis of policy issues related to credit cards. The first part discusses the rise of credit cards and debit cards and how their uses differ from country to country. It closes with a framework for explaining why cards are more and less successful in different countries, focusing in large part on the ready availability of detailed consumer credit information. The second part considers the relation between credit card use and bankruptcy. Relying on a time series of data from the United States, Canada, Great Britain and …

Uncorporated Professionals, John Romley, Eric L. Talley

Faculty Scholarship

Professional service providers who wish to organize as multi-person firms have historically been limited to the partnership form. Such organizational forms trade the benefit of risk diversification off against the costs of diluted incentives and liability exposure in choosing their optimal size. More recently, states have permitted limited-liability entities that combine the simplicity, flexibility and tax advantages of a partnership with the liability shield of a corporation. We develop a game theoretic model of professional-firm organization that integrates the provision of incentives in a multi-person firm with the choice of business form. We then test the model's predictions with a …

Pari Passu And A Distressed Sovereign's Rational Choices, William W. Bratton

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Part I describes the disruptive role the pari passu clause plays in sovereign debt compositions, stating the case favoring the narrow reading. Part II reconsiders the economic incentives in play at the time lenders close loans to sovereigns, stating a case for the broad reading. Part III works the competing readings through the legal framework of bond contract interpretation. The exercise shows that the matter comes down to a choice between an ex ante reading, conducted as of the time the contract is executed and delivered, and an ex post reading, conducted as of the later time of distress. The …

Constitutional Dialogue And Human Dignity: States And Transnational Constitutional Discourse, Vicki C. Jackson

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The U.S. Supreme Court has been slower than some other national courts to become familiar with and discuss, distinguish, or borrow from related constitutional approaches of other nations and systems. The growth in transnational judicial discourse, especially on constitutional issues relating to human rights, has been remarked by many. National courts in Argentina, Botswana, Canada, Germany, India, South Africa, and elsewhere not infrequently refer to the constitutional jurisprudence of other nations in resolving domestic constitutional questions. Although such references are not unheard of in the United States, transnational discourse involving national courts, supranational and international tribunals is still subject to …

International Law Status Of Wto Dispute Settlement Reports: Obligation To Comply Or Option To "Buy Out"?, John H. Jackson

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

In four further parts of this comment, I undertake to fulfill my "obligation" to present a more thorough analysis. In part II, I briefly introduce some of the different elements that would go into normal treaty interpretation related to the issue in question, such as which text should be part of the analysis and whether "preparatory work" or intent of the parties, including statements by some nation-state governmental officials made contemporaneously with the drafting of the treaty, should be considered. Likewise, I mention the importance of the forty seven years of GATT practice to the interpretive process, and I note …

Sexual Orientation And The Paradox Of Heightened Scrutiny, Nan D. Hunter

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

In Lawrence v. Texas, the Supreme Court performed a double move, creating a dramatic discursive moment: it both decriminalized consensual homosexual relations between adults, and, simultaneously, authorized a new regime of heightened regulation of homosexuality. How that happened and what we can expect next are the subjects of this essay.

Living With Lawrence, Nan D. Hunter

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This Article will proceed in three steps. First, I will examine the Court's treatment of liberty. I see Lawrence as marking the emergence of a new approach to substantive due process analysis, one that has been simmering in the concurring opinions of Justices Souter, Stevens, and Kennedy for the last decade. These three Justices apparently now have a majority for extending meaningful constitutional protection to liberty interests without denominating them as fundamental rights. They also appear to be jettisoning, at least prospectively, a special category for privacy rights. Second, I will turn my attention to the ramifications of Lawrence's equality …

Not-So-Peaceful Coexistence: Inherent Tensions In Addressing Tort Reform, Jeffrey W. Stempel

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Camping In Lake Tahoe: Does A Temporary Deprivation Of All Beneficial Use Of Land Justify Rejection Of The Categorical Lucas Rule?, Akke Levin

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Egyptian Feminism: Trapped In The Identity Debate, Lama Abu-Odeh

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This Article argues that if we wish to account for the limited gains made in the area of family law reform in Egypt in the twentieth century, it is crucial to relate the debate on family law with another debate, one revolving around the identity of the Egyptian legal system. Whereas the dispute over family law reform forced decisions on gender and the family, the contest surrounding identity centered on the ongoing and agonized struggle by Egyptians to define the nature of their country's contemporary cultural identity. The question of identity was often framed as a debate over the "character" …

Walking The Clinical Tightrope: Enhancing The Role Of Teacher, Jane H. Aiken

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The University of Maryland School of Law is celebrating thirty years of providing exceptional clinical education. Such occasions offer unique opportunities to reflect. In thirty years there has been a lot of growth and a lot of change. Some say that the change has detoured us from the ultimate goal of client service and access to justice. I say that the thirty years have changed us for the better. One thing that hasn't changed is that clinicians still have an abiding interest in dealing with social injustices and in playing a proactive role in ensuring a just society. Thirty years …

Health Of The People: The Highest Law?, Lawrence O. Gostin

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Law and ethics in population health are undergoing a renaissance. Once fashionable during the Industrial and Progressive eras, the ideals of population health began to wither with the rise of liberalism in the late twentieth century. In their place came a sharpened focus on personal and economic freedom. Political attention shifted from population health to individual health and from public health to private medicine.

The field of public health law and ethics needs a theory and definition (what is public health law and ethics and what are its doctrinal boundaries?); a well-articulated vision (why should health be a salient public …

Getting Spending: How To Replace Clear Statement Rules With Clear Thinking About Conditional Grants Of Federal Funds, Brian Galle

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

How much federalism is too much? The answer, of course, depends on whom you ask. It is no surprise, then, that in both judicial and academic debates about the proper balance between national and local power, the fiercest arguments have been fought not over "how much?" (perhaps an impossible question in any event) but "who?" Thus, for each key aspect of national power-for example, the scope of the Commerce and Treaty powers, the Tenth and Fourteenth Amendments, and Congress's ability to subject states to suits for damages by private individuals -- there is an accompanying literature considering who best to …

Editorial: The European Union As A Constitutional Experiment, George Bermann

Faculty Scholarship

In the constellation of international governance regimes, the European Union occupies a singular place, and not merely because it has recently engaged in the process of drafting a document whose title includes the words A Constitution for Europe'. Even if that particular document, or any such document, were never to see the light of day as a fully adopted and ratified instrument (an eventuality I consider to be unlikely), the EU will already have been constitutionalised, albeit in a fashion unfamiliar to those who, like most of us, are accustomed to the constitutions of Nation States. To claim that the …

Judicial Review In The United States And In The Wto: Some Similarities And Differences, Carlos Manuel Vázquez

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Among international organizations, the World Trade Organization (WTO) is widely credited with having the most effective dispute settlement system. Its highly developed dispute settlement system, which is one of the few in international law to include a standing appellate body, invites comparisons to the institution of judicial review in the United States under the paradigm of Marbury v. Madison. Such a comparison yields insights about both the WTO dispute settlement system and Marbury-style judicial review. This article first notes an important parallel between the two systems: like the WTO, judicial review in the United States began as the …

The Gifts Of Mary Dunlap (1949-2003), Wendy Webster Williams

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

I guess it never really occurred to me that Mary was mortal. It certainly never crossed my mind that I would somehow be around, alive and kicking, in a world without Mary in it. Mary Cynthia Dunlap, larger than life, a force of nature, who filled up a room with her presence, her tall solid self, her waving arms, her energy, her laugh, her voice, her words and words and more words, her hair that (of course) stood straight up on her head, electrified. Mary who, Saint Frances-like, rescued birds and fed them in her big palms, loved dogs and …

When Are Capitalization Exceptions Justified?, Ethan Yale

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

It is a widely accepted general principle that a taxpayer should capitalize an expenditure that produces a benefit lasting beyond the current tax period. Yet rules putting this principle into practice are among the most controversial in all of federal income taxation. Many argue that a retreat from the general principle is warranted when designing capitalization rules, and even those who argue that capitalization rules ought to be sweeping usually conclude that exceptions are necessary or desirable. For instance, most commentators accept uncritically that expenses incurred to procure certain intangible capital should be expensed, as under current law, without exploring …

Panel Ii: Public Appropriation Of Private Rights: Pursuing Internet Copyright Violators, Rebecca Tushnet, Michael Carlinsky, Justin Hughes, Sonia Katyal

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

It seems to me that the story of music on the Internet over the past five or six years is the story of two fantasies colliding. The first fantasy is that information wants to be free, that with the Internet we can throwaway all the bottles and just have the wine and the free flow of data, which apparently was generated from somewhere and then circulated forever. So, there was that fantasy, that we would not need copyright anymore because everything would be available to everyone. The other fantasy is the record companies' fantasy of perfect control, that there would …

Clients As Teachers, Jane H. Aiken

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

I am deeply honored to have been selected to hold the William Van Cleve Chair. After the announcement several months ago, I have had the pleasure of having people tell me just how wonderful a man Bill Van Cleve was and how lucky I am to have this chair in honor of him. The picture that I have gotten of this man is truly that of the lawyer statesman. He took his profession very seriously. He approached his work with dedication and passion but, more significantly, he loved his profession in the broadest sense. He understood that the practice of …

Introduction: Rawls And The Law, William Michael Treanor

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Professor John Rawls of Harvard University, who died in November of 2002, is widely regarded as the most important political philosopher of the twentieth century, and his influence on legal thought was particularly profound. There have been a number of conferences or symposia on Rawls's individual books, such as A Theory of Justice and Political Liberalism, but, astonishingly, until the symposium presented in this issue of the Fordham Law Review was held in November 2003, no symposium or conference had focused on the implications of his work for the law. Simply because of its subject, then, this symposium was of …

Regulatory Takings Challenges To Historic Preservation Laws After Penn Central, J. Peter Byrne

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The Penn Central decision, in its most immediate concern, provided a legal framework within which local governments could enforce historic landmark restrictions without a regular constitutional requirement to pay "just compensation." The decision amalgamated regulatory takings analysis of historic landmark restrictions to the familiar and tolerant federal standards for reviewing zoning. Affirming the importance of the public interest goals of historic preservation, the Court directed inquiry to whether sufficient economic potential remained in the control of the property owner, given reasonable expectations at the time of her investment in the property. While the broader jurisprudential merits of Penn Central's approach …

Gaming Delaware, William W. Bratton

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Back in 2000, at the World Trade Center in Portland, Oregon, Time Belden and other Enron electricity traders carefully studied the regulations governing California's new electricity market. Belden thought that the complex rules were "prone to gaming." And game them he did. Under one strategy, Enron filed imaginary transmission schedules, creating nonexistent congestion, so as to draw on the rules' provision of payment to alleviate congestion. They called it "Death Star." Then there was "Ricochet," or megawatt laundering, under which Enron circumvented price caps by exporting power out of California, only to bring the power back later, when the State, …

The Proper Scope Of The Police Power, Randy E. Barnett

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

In this Article, I will contend that the Constitution is not really silent at all on the proper scope of state powers; that the original meaning of what the Constitution says requires that state powers over their citizens have fairly easy to identify limits - though as with most constitutional provisions, applying these limits to particular cases requires judgment and is not a matter of strict deductive logic. This account will require me to briefly review the method of interpretation I advocate - original meaning originalism-and its limits. These limits require that interpretation of original meaning be implemented by means …

Leaders, Followers, And Free Riders: The Community Lawyer’S Dilemma When Representing Non-Democratic Client Organizations, Michael R. Diamond, Aaron O'Toole

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This article will explore various aspects of the dissonance between the democratic ideal and the reality of groups in disenfranchised and disempowered communities. We will discuss the intersection of democracy and community action by examining the sociology of groups and the social psychology of leaders and followers. We will also examine the role of, and choices presented to, an attorney working in a community and for local community groups.

Folktales Of International Justice, David Luban

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

When Laura Dickinson asked me to participate on this panel, she very nicely said that she hoped I could bring a different perspective to the discussion. I thought I knew what she meant. The other panelists share a profound knowledge of how international criminal-law institutions work. My "different perspective" would therefore be the perspective of abject ignorance.

Taking comfort from the Socratic dictum that there is wisdom in knowing what you do not know, I accepted the invitation because it gives me the opportunity to pose questions rather than proposing answers. I will raise my questions by examining some stories …