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2007

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Articles 31 - 60 of 276

Full-Text Articles in Jurisprudence

"Sociological Legitimacy" In Supreme Court Opinions, Michael Wells Jul 2007

"Sociological Legitimacy" In Supreme Court Opinions, Michael Wells

Scholarly Works

Analysis of a Supreme Court opinion ordinarily begins from the premise that the opinion is a transparent window into the Court's thinking, such that the reasons offered by the Court are, or ought to be, the reasons that account for the holding. Scholars debate the strength of the Court's reasoning, question or defend the Court's candor, and propose alternative ways of justifying the ruling. This Article takes issue with the transparency premise, on both descriptive and normative grounds. Especially in controversial cases, the Court is at least as much concerned with presenting its holding in a way that will win …


Court Review: Volume 43, Issue 1 - Cover Jun 2007

Court Review: Volume 43, Issue 1 - Cover

Court Review: The Journal of the American Judges Association

No abstract provided.


Court Review: Volume 43, Issue 1 - Table Of Contents Jun 2007

Court Review: Volume 43, Issue 1 - Table Of Contents

Court Review: The Journal of the American Judges Association

No abstract provided.


Court Review: Volume 43, Issue 1 - President's Column, Steve Leben Jun 2007

Court Review: Volume 43, Issue 1 - President's Column, Steve Leben

Court Review: The Journal of the American Judges Association

The American Judges Association is the Voice of the Judiciary.® So says the United States Patent and Trademark Office, which accepted the AJA’s registration of this service mark on the principal register for patents and trademarks on March 27, 2007. This column will seek to answer two questions: What does this mean? And how did it come about?


Court Review: Volume 43, Issue - Editor's Note Jun 2007

Court Review: Volume 43, Issue - Editor's Note

Court Review: The Journal of the American Judges Association

I’m pleased to announce some long-term changes that I believe will greatly improve Court Review. Alan Tomkins, a law and psychology professor with experience in editing a similar journal, has agreed to join me as coeditor. As you’ll see from a greater description of his background, he brings a great number of valuable contacts throughout both the academic world and the judiciary.


Evaluating Court Processes For Determining Indigency, Elizabeth Neeley, Alan J. Tomkins Jun 2007

Evaluating Court Processes For Determining Indigency, Elizabeth Neeley, Alan J. Tomkins

Court Review: The Journal of the American Judges Association

The Sixth Amendment to the Constitution guarantees all people accused of a crime the right to legal counsel. In the landmark 1963 decision Gideon v. Wainright, 1 the United States Supreme Court affirmed the right of indigent defendants to have counsel provided. But Gideon did not end the Supreme Court’s discussion of the circumstances in which the state is required to provide defendants with an attorney when they claim not to have the means to pay for one. 2 Nor did it end the states’ examination of the requirement of any legal assistance paid for by taxpayers. 3 Moreover, …


Grounding Frequent Filers: The Trend Of Revoking The Special Status Of Overly Litigious Pro Se Litigants, Michael G. Langan Jun 2007

Grounding Frequent Filers: The Trend Of Revoking The Special Status Of Overly Litigious Pro Se Litigants, Michael G. Langan

Court Review: The Journal of the American Judges Association

Since the early 1990s, federal courts in the Second and Third Circuits have, with increasing frequency, revoked the special status of pro se civil litigants who have been overly litigious. This article discusses the reasons for this trend’s appearance in the Second and Third Circuits, the rationales for the trend, the fairness of the trend, and some practical advice for courts and practitioners wrestling with the issue of whether or not the special status of a particularly litigious pro se litigant should be revoked.


Recent Criminal Decisions Of The United States Supreme Court: The 2005-2006 Term, Charles Whitebread Jun 2007

Recent Criminal Decisions Of The United States Supreme Court: The 2005-2006 Term, Charles Whitebread

Court Review: The Journal of the American Judges Association

In this term, as in the previous one, the United States Supreme Court reasserted the rule of law in the context of the detainees in the war on terror. At the same time, however, the addition of two new justices shifted the Court’s ideological balance to the right. In terms of criminal cases, the Court handed down a mixed bag of decisions. It was a bad term for Fourth Amendment claimants with the government prevailing in four of five search-and-seizure cases. Outside the context of the Fourth Amendment, however, criminal defendants fared a little better.
In this article, I review …


Court Review: Volume 43, Issue 1 - The Resource Page Jun 2007

Court Review: Volume 43, Issue 1 - The Resource Page

Court Review: The Journal of the American Judges Association

No abstract provided.


Court Review: Volume 43, Issue 1 - Complete Issue Jun 2007

Court Review: Volume 43, Issue 1 - Complete Issue

Court Review: The Journal of the American Judges Association

No abstract provided.


The Race Question In Latcrit Theory And Asian American Jurisprudence, Robert S. Chang, Neil Gotanda Jun 2007

The Race Question In Latcrit Theory And Asian American Jurisprudence, Robert S. Chang, Neil Gotanda

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.


"Sociological Legitimacy" In Supreme Court Opinions, Michael L. Wells Jun 2007

"Sociological Legitimacy" In Supreme Court Opinions, Michael L. Wells

Washington and Lee Law Review

Analysis of a Supreme Court opinion ordinarily begins from the premise that the opinion is a transparent window into the Court's thinking, such that the reasons offered by the Court are, or ought to be, the reasons that account for the holding. Scholars debate the strength of the Court's reasoning, question or defend the Court's candor, and propose alternative ways of justifying the ruling. This Article takes issue with the transparency premise, on both descriptive and normative grounds. Especially in controversial cases, the Court is at least as much concerned with presenting its holding in a way that will win …


The Social Construction Of Sarbanes-Oxley, Donald C. Langevoort Jun 2007

The Social Construction Of Sarbanes-Oxley, Donald C. Langevoort

Michigan Law Review

Part I will take a close look at the legitimacy of SOX by examining the two plausible stories of SOX's origins and considering the early post-SOX evidence on its costs and benefits. There is no clear-cut answer to the question of how much SOX benefits investors; both positive and critical positions are plausible. Costs have been far greater than expected, but more from SOX's implementation than from the legislative text. Before turning to how and why implementation has occurred that way-which to me is the central question of interpretation-Part II considers whether there is an alternative interpretation of SOX that …


Of Equal Wrongs And Half Rights, Gideon Parchomovsky, Peter Siegelman, Steven Thel Jun 2007

Of Equal Wrongs And Half Rights, Gideon Parchomovsky, Peter Siegelman, Steven Thel

All Faculty Scholarship

With a tiny handful of exceptions, common law jurisprudence is predicated on a “winner-take-all” principle: the plaintiff either gets the entire entitlement at issue or collects nothing at all. Cases that split an entitlement between the two parties are exceedingly rare. While there may be sound reasons for this all-or-nothing rule, we argue in this Article that the law should prefer equal division of an entitlement in a limited but important set of property, tort and contracts cases. The common element in such cases is a windfall, a gain or loss that occurs despite the fact that no ex ante …


The Constitution Of Terror: Big Lies, Backlash Jurisprudence, And The Rule Of Law In The United States Today, Francisco Valdes Jun 2007

The Constitution Of Terror: Big Lies, Backlash Jurisprudence, And The Rule Of Law In The United States Today, Francisco Valdes

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.


Furman'S Mythical Mandate, Scott W. Howe May 2007

Furman'S Mythical Mandate, Scott W. Howe

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Article argues for the rescue and reform of Supreme Court doctrine regulating capital sentencing trials under the Eighth Amendment. Many legal commentators, both liberal and conservative, including several members of the Supreme Court, have concluded that the Court's regulation of capital sentencing trials is a disaster. The repeated criticisms rest on a commonly accepted view about a principal goal of capital sentencing regulation. The prevailing account, fueled by the rhetoric of the Justices, stems from the notion that Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 208 (1972), revealed a mandate of consistency in the use of the death penalty that …


Algunos Apuntes En Torno A La Prescripción Extintiva Y La Caducidad, Edward Ivan Cueva May 2007

Algunos Apuntes En Torno A La Prescripción Extintiva Y La Caducidad, Edward Ivan Cueva

Edward Ivan Cueva

No abstract provided.


Dispatches From The Tort Wars, Anthony J. Sebok May 2007

Dispatches From The Tort Wars, Anthony J. Sebok

Articles

It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that, as a political matter, the modern tort reform movement has been very successful. This essay reviews three books that either rebut the tort reform movement's central theses or analyze the strategies that allowed the movement to prevail. I discuss Tom Baker's The Medical Malpractice Myth, Herbert Kritzer's Risks, Reputations, and Rewards: Contingency Fee Legal Practice in the United States, and William Haltom & Michael McCann's Distorting the Law: Politics, Media, and the Litigation Crisis. Although each book has a very different focus from the other two, I argue that a common theme …


God Vs. The Gavel: A Brief Rejoinder, Douglas Laycock May 2007

God Vs. The Gavel: A Brief Rejoinder, Douglas Laycock

Michigan Law Review

I recently reviewed God vs. the Gavel by Professor Marci Hamilton, and she published a brief response. My review briefly summarized the book and then made three principal points, addressing Hamilton's institutional competence thesis, her "no-harm" principle, and the remarkable number of legal and factual errors in the book. In this reply, I will review each of these points in turn.


Why Originalism Won’T Die - Common Mistakes In Competing Theories Of Judicial Interpretation, Tara Smith Apr 2007

Why Originalism Won’T Die - Common Mistakes In Competing Theories Of Judicial Interpretation, Tara Smith

Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy

In the debate over proper judicial interpretation of the law, the doctrine of Originalism has been subjected to numerous seemingly fatal criticisms. Despite the exposure of flaws that would normally bury a theory, however, Originalism continues to attract tremendous support, seeming to many to be the most sensible theory on offer. This Article examines its resilient appeal (with a particular focus on Scalia’s Textualism). By surveying and identifying the fundamental weaknesses of three of the leading alternatives to Originalism (Popular Will theory, Dworkin’s value theory, and Judicial Minimalism), the Article demonstrates that the heart of Originalism’s appeal rests in its …


The Unseen Track Of Erie Railroad: Why History And Jurisprudence Suggest A More Straightforward Form Of Erie Analysis, Donald L. Doernberg Apr 2007

The Unseen Track Of Erie Railroad: Why History And Jurisprudence Suggest A More Straightforward Form Of Erie Analysis, Donald L. Doernberg

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.


Judicial Activism: An Empirical Examination Of Voting Behavior On The Rehnquist Natural Court, Lori A. Ringhand Apr 2007

Judicial Activism: An Empirical Examination Of Voting Behavior On The Rehnquist Natural Court, Lori A. Ringhand

Scholarly Works

This paper attempts to quantify one of the most deeply contested terms in constitutional law: “judicial activism.” Most discussions of “judicial activism” define activism either in reference to a particular political ideology (such as complaints about “liberal activist judges”) or a particular method of constitutional interpretation (such as assertions that a decision was “activist” because it was not based on the original meaning of the Constitution). This paper sidesteps those debates, focusing instead on an empirical examination of how recent U.S. Supreme Court justices have in fact exercised their judicial power. I do this by examining the voting records of …


Death Penalty Jurisprudence In New York And The Supremacy Clause Of The United States Constitution: How Supreme Is It?, Joseph E. Fahey Apr 2007

Death Penalty Jurisprudence In New York And The Supremacy Clause Of The United States Constitution: How Supreme Is It?, Joseph E. Fahey

Pace Law Review

No abstract provided.


Race And Wealth Disparity: The Role Of Law And The Legal System, Beverly Moran, Stephanie Wildman Apr 2007

Race And Wealth Disparity: The Role Of Law And The Legal System, Beverly Moran, Stephanie Wildman

Faculty Publications

In response to the prevalent view that American law and legal institutions are class and color blind, this Article provides examples of how legal institutions sometimes do create and maintain racialized wealth disparities. The Article offers examples of this phenomenon by examining a sequence of federal judicial decisions, the federal taxing statutes, the role of legal education, and access to legal services. These examples are instructive because they cut across a broad spectrum of components of the American legal system. By revisiting issues of race and wealth in different legal settings from the Constitution to federal cases, the tax system, …


The Future Of Footnote Four, Dan T. Coenen Apr 2007

The Future Of Footnote Four, Dan T. Coenen

Scholarly Works

The Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Carolene Products Co. generated the most famous footnote-and perhaps the most famous passage-in all of the American Judiciary's treatment of constitutional law. Among other things, Footnote Four suggested that "prejudice against discrete and insular minorities may be a special condition, which tends seriously to curtail the operation of those political processes ordinarily to be relied upon to protect minorities, and which may call for a correspondingly more searching judicial inquiry." The importance of this principle cannot be overstated. It pervaded the work of the Warren Court and has played a prominent role …


Looking Backward: Richard Epstein Ponders The "Progressive" Peril, Michael Allan Wolf Apr 2007

Looking Backward: Richard Epstein Ponders The "Progressive" Peril, Michael Allan Wolf

Michigan Law Review

In the 1888 novel Looking Backward, Edward Bellamy dreamed up a twentieth century America that was a socialist utopia, a vision invoked four years later by the conservative Justice David J. Brewer as a warning against government regulation. In How Progressives Rewrote the Constitution, Richard Epstein, looking back at the twentieth century through an interpretive lens much more similar to Brewer's than Bellamy's, sees and bemoans the growth of a dominant big government of which the novelist could only dream. Epstein pulls no punches in his attack on those he deems responsible for the shift in the American …


Health Law—The Arkansas Resident's Rights Statute And Civil Enforcement—Cutting Off Its Nose To Spite Its Face: How The Arkansas Resident's Right Statute Is Defeating Its Purpose Of Improving Quality Of Care To Nursing Home Residents By Crippling The Nursing Homes Themselves. Health Facilities Management Corp. V. Hughes, No. 05-90, 2006 Ark. Lexis 122 (Feb. 9, 2006)., Carol Elizabeth Nixon Apr 2007

Health Law—The Arkansas Resident's Rights Statute And Civil Enforcement—Cutting Off Its Nose To Spite Its Face: How The Arkansas Resident's Right Statute Is Defeating Its Purpose Of Improving Quality Of Care To Nursing Home Residents By Crippling The Nursing Homes Themselves. Health Facilities Management Corp. V. Hughes, No. 05-90, 2006 Ark. Lexis 122 (Feb. 9, 2006)., Carol Elizabeth Nixon

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

Arkansas's current path in nursing-home regulation is leading to the destruction of its nursing-home system. In particular, the Arkansas Resident's Rights Statute favors plaintiffs and allows for high damage awards. The statute's civil enforcement provision lacks guidelines for the application of the statute or the award of damages. In February of 2006, the Arkansas Supreme Court decided Health Facilities Management Corp. v. Hughes, a nursing home case concerning the Arkansas Resident's Rights Statute. The court's decision on the issue of liability under the statute was well-reasoned and stayed faithful to the goals of the statute, encouraging nursing-home licensees to live …


Interpreting Immunity, Chaim Saiman Apr 2007

Interpreting Immunity, Chaim Saiman

Working Paper Series

This paper offers an examination and critique of the Supreme Court’s doctrine of qualified immunity—the immunity from constitutional tort liability granted to government officials in cases in which the tort was not “clearly established” by prior case law. Currently, courts must engage in a two-pronged inquiry: first, whether the official’s conduct was unconstitutional, and second, whether the unconstitutionality was clearly established. This paper argues that while the first question presents a standard case of common law interpretation and analysis, the second inquiry forces courts to approach the body of constitutional tort law as if it were a legislated code. However, …


Harmonizing Plural Societies: The Cases Of Lasallians, Families, Schools – And The Poor, Patrick Mckinley Brennan Apr 2007

Harmonizing Plural Societies: The Cases Of Lasallians, Families, Schools – And The Poor, Patrick Mckinley Brennan

Working Paper Series

The modern state characteristically assumes or asserts a monopoly over “group persons” and their right to exist; group persons are said to exist at the pleasure or concession of the state. According to Catholic social teaching, by contrast, these unities of order -- such as church and family, as well as corporations and schools and the like -- are, at least in potency, ontologically prior to the state. Such group persons both constitute conditions of the possibility of human flourishing and, correlatively, impose limitations on the “sovereign” state. Such group persons are not mere concessions of an unbounded state: They …


A Quandary In Law? A (Qualified) Catholic Denial, Patrick Mckinley Brennan Apr 2007

A Quandary In Law? A (Qualified) Catholic Denial, Patrick Mckinley Brennan

Working Paper Series

A contribution to the second law review symposium dedicated to Steven Smith’s Law’s Quandary (Harvard 2004), this paper asks whether the “quandary” in which Smith finds modern law and jurisprudence is not, at least in part, the consequence of misunderstanding the classical natural law jurisprudence. The paper advances an interpretation of natural law according to which the natural law is the human person’s “participation” in the eternal law itself, with literally cosmic consequences for how we understand the ends and measures of human lawmaking. Mounting an argument against Justice Scalia’s thesis that “God applies the natural law,” the paper goes …