Civil Law Commons^™

Artificial Insemination From Donor (Aid) – From Status To Contract And Back Again?, Yehezkel Margalit

Hezi Margalit

The last few decades have witnessed dramatic changes in the institutions of family and parenthood and an abandonment of the historical emphasis on their bionormative structures. These changes are the result of societal shifts with respect to public openness and technological innovations that segregate marital relations from sexuality and fertility. The resultant parenthood structures, which depart from traditional spousal and parental models, intensify the ability and need to determine legal parenthood in numerous unprecedented contexts. Sir Henry Maine famously stated that mankind is pacing from status toward contract. This theme has had particular resonance during the past half century in ...

The Misapplication Of The Illinois Tort Immunity Act To The Intentional Torts Of Police Officers, William J. Campbell-Bezat

William J Campbell-Bezat

According to prevailing State and Federal case law, the Illinois Tort Immunity Act immunizes police officers against liability for a variety of tort offenses. Upper level courts have painted with too broad a brush in construing the Act, allowing defendant-officers to assert immunity as an affirmative defense to intentional torts. In practice the effect is both confusing and burdensome to plaintiffs and juries. In many intentional tort cases the misconstruction requires the unauthorized revision of jury instructions and an unjustified heightening of the mental state to be proved by plaintiffs.

While there are many variations, the prevailing approach of upper-level ...

The Dilemmas Posed By Self-Represented Litigants – The Dark Side, Tania Sourdin, Nerida Wallace

Access to Justice

There is limited information about self-represented litigants (SRLs) in Australia. Past research has highlighted significant and continuing data and research gaps about the demographics of those involved in court and tribunal processes and among those who are without representation.2 Some reports reveal information about SRLs, although much available information is dated. For example, research conducted more than a decade ago in the Family Court of Australia found that, 79 per cent of applicants and 88.4 per cent of respondents in children’s matters were SRLs.3 In terms of family law matters in the Federal Magistrate’s Court ...

The Reasoning Behind A "Good Reason" Standard: The Seventh Circuit's Analysis Of Successor Liability In Teed V. Thomas & Betts Power Solutions, L.L.C., James Long

Boston College Law Review

On January 9, 2013, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held in Teed v. Thomas & Betts Power Solutions, L.L.C. that a federal common law standard for successor liability applies to claims arising under the Fair Labor Standards Act. In doing so, the court established a new, broader standard for successor liability that applies to any claim arising from an employer’s violation of a federal labor or employment statute. This Comment argues that, although the court properly recognized congressional policies favoring employee protection, the new standard goes too far in liberalizing the successor liability ...

California Egg Toss - The High Costs Of Avoiding Unenforceable Surrgoacy Contracts, Jennifer Jackson

Jennifer Jackson

In an emotionally charged decision regarding surrogacy contracts, it is important to recognize the ramifications, costs, and policy. There are advantages to both “gestational carrier surrogacy” contracts and “traditional surrogacy” contracts. However, this paper focuses on the differences between these contracts using case law. Specifically, this paper will focus on the implications of California case law regarding surrogacy contracts. Cases such as Johnson v. Calvert and In Re Marriage of Moschetta provide a clear distinction between these contracts. This distinction will show that while gestational carrier surrogacy contracts are more expensive, public policy and court opinions will provide certainty and ...

The Civil Codes Of Libya And Syria: Hybridity, Durability, And Post-Revolution Viability In The Aftermath Of The Arab Spring, Dan E. Stigall

Dan E Stigall

The Arab Spring sent shockwaves through the political landscape of the Middle East and North Africa and upended long-standing authoritarian regimes throughout the region in rapid succession. Among the many countries touched by the Arab Spring, however, Libya and Syria have been among the most profoundly impacted, experiencing institutional deficits that complicate efforts to resolve ongoing conflicts and now threaten regional stability.

The effects of such instability pose a threat to the international community, making the stabilization of these countries a matter of international concern. In order to transition from conflict to peace and sustainable development in Libya and Syria ...

The Death Of Inference, Andrew S. Pollis

Boston College Law Review

This Article examines a disturbing trend in civil litigation: the demise of the jury’s historic prerogative to draw inferences from circumstantial evidence. Judges have arrogated to themselves the power to dismiss cases if they find the proffered inferences factually implausible. They have increasingly dismissed cases under the “equal-inference rule” by finding the proffered inferences no more plausible than other available inferences. And they have severely limited the powerful inferences jurors can draw when they conclude that a witness has lied. Commentators have bemoaned the heightened-pleading standard of the 2007 and 2009 U.S. Supreme Court cases, Bell Atlantic Corp ...

Los Tormentos De La Teoría Del Contacto Social: Contextualizando (Otra Vez) Una Categoría Jurídica, Renzo E. Saavedra Velazco

Renzo E. Saavedra Velazco

No abstract provided.

A Right In Theory But Not In Practice: Voter Discrimination And Trap Laws As Barriers To The Exercising Of A Constitutional Right, Rachel Suppé

Rachel Suppé

No abstract provided.

Cuentas Bancarias Para Menores De Edad, Enrique Varsi Dr.

Enrique Varsi Rospigliosi

No abstract provided.

Evaluating The Performance And Accountability Of Regulators, Colin Scott

Seattle University Law Review

The global financial crisis came in the wake of significant reforms to the structures, processes, powers, and rules of the regulatory regimes for financial markets in many of the countries adversely affected by the crash. The global financial crisis came in the wake of significant reforms to the structures, processes, powers, and rules of the regulatory regimes for financial markets in many of the countries adversely affected by the crash. In this Article, I follow the logic of an argument that regulation necessarily has political dimensions, even where it may appear technical. I am asking questions about how we might ...

The Timing And Source Of Regulation, Frank Partnoy

Seattle University Law Review

The distinction between specific concrete rules and general abstract principles has engaged legal theorists for decades. This rules–principles distinction has also become increasingly important in corporate and securities law, as well as financial market regulation. This Article adds two important variables to the rules–principles debate: timing and source. Although these two variables are relevant to legal theory generally, the specific goal here is not to address and engage the rules versus principles literature directly. Rather, the goal here is to ask whether the debate about financial market regulation might benefit from a more transparent analysis of temporal and ...

Are Defined Contribution Pension Plans Fit For Purpose In Retirement?, Jeremy R. Cooper

Seattle University Law Review

This Article considers the historical basis for the shift from defined benefit plans to defined contribution plans, the structural and practical shortcomings of defined contribution plans, alternate pension models, and adjustments to existing retirement plan models that may offer a degree of protection to plan contributors. Like the United States, Australia is now realizing the limitations of a defined contribution retirement system insofar as it relates the provision of reliable retirement income for a population with increasing life expectancy. Unlike defined contribution plans, defined benefit plans provide a benefit based typically on time served and a predetermined proportion of either ...

¿La Noción De Contrato Es Homogénea?, Renzo E. Saavedra Velazco

Renzo E. Saavedra Velazco

No abstract provided.

In Defense Of Disparate Impact: An Opportunity To Realize The Promise Of The Fair Housing Act, Valerie Schneider

Valerie Schneider

Abstract:

Twice in the past three years, the Supreme Court has granted certiorari in Fair Housing cases, and, each time, under pressure from civil rights leaders who feared that the Supreme Court might narrow current Fair Housing Act jurisprudence, the cases settled just weeks before oral argument. Settlements after the Supreme Court grants certiorari are extremely rare, and, in these cases, the settlements reflect a substantial fear among civil rights advocates that the Supreme Court’s recent decisions in cases such as Shelby County v. Holder and Fisher v. University of Texas are working to dismantle many of the protections ...

Marriage Equailty: Why Laws Restricting Same-Sex Couples' Rights Should Be Subject To Heightened Scrutiny Under Equal Protection Challenges., Cory A. Delellis

Cory A DeLellis

This thesis discusses why laws that restrict marital rights and recognition, on the basis of the couple’s sexual orientation, should be subject to a heightened or intermediate level of judicial scrutiny under Equal Protection challenges. This thesis addresses, analyzes, and suggests why sexual orientation – within the context of same-sex couples – should be considered a quasi-suspect class, rather than a non-suspect class, so that laws negatively impacting couples based on their sexual orientation are subjected to a fairer and more reasonable level of judicial scrutiny.

Justice Scalia's Jurisprudence, Megim A. Parks

Megim A Parks

This paper analyzes Justice Scalia's decisions and reasonings as to affirmative action, examining closely his rulings regarding what he calls "disparate-impact" discrimination versus "unintentional" discrimination, focusing on cases wherein affirmative action was either questioned or considered.

Tell Us A Story, But Don't Make It A Good One: Resolving The Confusion Regarding Emotional Stories And Federal Rule Of Evidence 403, Cathren Page

Cathren Page

Abstract: Tell Us a Story, But Don’t Make It A Good One: Resolving the Confusion Regarding Emotional Stories and Federal Rule of Evidence 403

by Cathren Koehlert-Page

Courts need to reword their opinions regarding Rule 403 to address the tension between the advice to tell an emotionally evocative story at trial and the notion that evidence can be excluded if it is too emotional.

In the murder mystery Mystic River, Dave Boyle is kidnapped in the beginning. The audience feels empathy for Dave who as an adult becomes one of the main suspects in the murder of his friend ...

Unfulfilled Promise: Mental Disability Voting Rights And The Halving Of Hava’S Potential, Benjamin O. Hoerner

Benjamin O Hoerner

In 2012, the heated presidential election between President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney reanimated the debate surrounding the voting rights of mentally disabled citizens in the United States. A decade earlier, in October 2002, President George W. Bush signed into law the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA), aiming to protect the voting rights of the country’s disabled population. At the time of its enactment, legislators and commentators lauded HAVA as “the most important voting rights bill since the passing of the Voting Rights Act in 1965.” However, since its passage, HAVA has been subjected to a flurry ...

Irrational, Ineffective, And Unethical: Breed Specific Legislation Defies Common Sense, Elizabeth J. Baker

Elizabeth J. Baker

No abstract provided.