Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Law Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 5 of 5

Full-Text Articles in Law

"We The People," Constitutional Accountability, And Outsourcing Government, Kimberly N. Brown Oct 2013

"We The People," Constitutional Accountability, And Outsourcing Government, Kimberly N. Brown

Indiana Law Journal

The ubiquitous outsourcing of federal functions to private contractors, although benign in the main, raises the most fundamental of constitutional questions: What institutions and actors comprise the “federal government” itself? From Abu Ghraib to Blackwater, a string of scandals has heightened public awareness that highly sensitive federal powers and responsibilities are routinely entrusted to government contractors. At the same time, the American populace seems vaguely aware that, when it comes to ensuring accountability for errors and abuses of power, contractors occupy a special space. The fact is that myriad structural and procedural means for holding traditionally government actors accountable do …


Can Self-Regulation Work? Lessons From The Private Security And Military Industry, Daphne Richemond-Barak Sep 2013

Can Self-Regulation Work? Lessons From The Private Security And Military Industry, Daphne Richemond-Barak

Daphne Richemond-Barak

Various efforts have been undertaken in recent years to clarify the legal framework governing the outsourcing of security and military functions to private actors. While national and international legislation have made little progress, self-regulation has advanced steadily. The article provides the first normative assessment of self-regulation in the private security and military industry – and as such offers interesting insights for other industries that are transnational in reach and under-regulated by domestic, regional, and international law. Though industry critics tend to deplore the normative 'softness' of self-regulation and its voluntary nature, it appears to have shifted behavioral norms and triggered …


Federal Incarceration By Contract In A Post-Minneci World: Legislation To Equalize The Constitutional Rights Of Prisoners, Allison L. Waks Apr 2013

Federal Incarceration By Contract In A Post-Minneci World: Legislation To Equalize The Constitutional Rights Of Prisoners, Allison L. Waks

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

In the 2012 case Minneci v. Pollard, the United States Supreme Court held that federal prisoners assigned to privately-run prisons may not bring actions for violations of their Eighth Amendment right against cruel and unusual punishment and may instead bring actions sounding only in state tort law. A consequence of this decision is that the arbitrary assignment of some federal prisoners to privately-run prisons deprives them of an equal opportunity to vindicate this federal constitutional right and pursue a federal remedy. Yet all federal prisoners should be entitled to the same protection under the United States Constitution-regardless of the type …


Productions Chains And Workplace Law Violations: The Case Of Apple And Foxconn , Hilary K. Josephs Jan 2013

Productions Chains And Workplace Law Violations: The Case Of Apple And Foxconn , Hilary K. Josephs

Global Business Law Review

For decades U.S. based multinational companies have outsourced production of goods to developing countries with low labor costs and weak implementation of protective legislation. The consumer electronics giant Apple is a prime example: it outsources virtually all of its manufacturing to companies such as Foxconn, a Taiwanese original equipment manufacturer, which employs over a million assembly line workers in China. In the last several years Foxconn's operations have been under scrutiny for violation of Chinese domestic employment law. This paper focuses on the problem of compulsory overtime, a violation of both Chinese law and international labor standards, and various measures …


Emerging Policy And Practice Issues (2012), Steven L. Schooner, David J. Berteau Jan 2013

Emerging Policy And Practice Issues (2012), Steven L. Schooner, David J. Berteau

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This paper, presented at the West Government Contracts Year in Review Conference (covering 2012), attempts to identify the key trends and issues for 2013 in U.S. federal procurement. Budgetary and financial insecurity emerge as the most significant emerging issues in government contracting. Consistent with prior practice, this chapter offers extensive coverage of the federal procurement spending trend and attempts to predict what lies ahead. Among other things, it discusses the pending sequestration, procurement spending rates, agency purchasing data (particularly at the Defense Department, Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of State and the Agency for International Development), grants spending, …