Digital Commons Network^™

The Senate Filibuster: The Politics Of Destruction, Emmet J. Bondurant

Emmet J Bondurant

The notion that the Framers of the Constitution intended to allow a minority in the U.S. Senate to exercise a veto power over legislation and presidential appointments is not only profoundly undemocratic, it is also a myth. The overwhelming trend of law review articles have assumed that because the Constitution grants to each house the power to make its own rules, the Senate filibuster rule is immune from constitutional attack. This Article takes an opposite position based on the often overlooked history of the filibuster, the text of the Constitution and the relevant court precedents which demonstrate that the constitutionality …

Accountable Care Organizations: The Clash Of Liability Standards With Cost Cutting Goals”, Christopher R. Smith

Christopher R Smith

This article seeks to examine the conflict between non-cost conscious medical malpractice liability standards and health care cost cutting measures within the context of Accountable Care Organizations (“ACOs”) under the new health care reform law. The article begins by providing an overview of the high level of health care spending within the United States health care system in order to provide a context for better understanding policymakers’ push for cost cutting measures, including ACOs. The article then examines the tension between cost containment efforts and provider medical liability standards through an examination of the “stuck in the middle” mentality that …

Assessing The Applicability Of The Business Judgment Rule And The “Defensive” Business Judgment Rule In The Chinese Judiciary: A Perspective On Takeover Dispute Adjudication, Xiao-Chuan Charlie Weng

Xiao-chuan Charlie Weng

With the surge of takeovers in China, many issues regarding takeover adjudication and legislation have increasingly received academic attention. The issues of the independence and professionalization of the judiciary and the scarcity of legislation on duty of care are the major predicaments facing corporate China. Massive legislative and judicial reform of takeover adjudication is not viable in the near future. However, U.S. common law standards of review, including the business judgment rule and serial rules against hostile takeover, with diacritical the business judgment rule stamp, may hold potential for reform within the current economic environment. The article investigates the problems …

Home Is Where The Hatred Is: A Proposal For A Federal Housing Administration Truth And Reconciliation Commission, Brian G. Gilmore

Brian G Gilmore

No abstract provided.

Studying Japanese Law Because It's There, Tom Ginsburg

Tom Ginsburg

No abstract provided.

Standing In The Age Of Citizen Revolt: Legislative Standing, Direct Democracy, And The Supreme Court, Frank M. Dickerson Iii, Reid M. Bolton

Frank M. Dickerson III

One of the most interesting questions raised by California’s Proposition 8 is the question of standing for ballot-initiative supporters in defensive litigation. This Article addresses the question raised in the Proposition 8 case and the issue of standing for ballot initiative supporters to defend their initiative on appeal more generally. It suggests that such standing for ballot-initiative sponsors is consistent with both prior Supreme Court precedent and the Constitutional and prudential concerns underlying the doctrine of standing.

China’S Gigantic Appetite For Natural Resources Spurs Multilateral Concerns, Yuliya Kostelova

Yuliya Kostelova

China is the second largest economy in the world today. Its economic growth is unbridled and expansion is rampant. A rapidly growing communistic state with an attempt for capitalistic market is alarming in the international economic community. China’s insatiable oil appetite creates various concerns among major sovereign partners. Notwithstanding, China is fully committed to its economic development in the future regardless of widely expressed multilateral concerns.

The Learning Disability Mess, Ruth Colker

Ruth Colker

This essay explores the problems that have plagued society since 1975 when Congress first tried to define what is a “learning disability.” The statement that “No one really knows what a learning disability is” rings as true today as in 1975. Rather than solve this problem with an improved classification scheme, Professor Colker recommends that schools, testing entities and the federal government should place less weight on which students are classified as “learning disabled.” Plodders University should become the norm, where students are admitted based, in part, on their scores on exams taken under extended time conditions.

On The Formation Of The American Corporate State: The Fuller Supreme Court, 1888-1910, George Skouras

George Skouras

This paper deals with the formation and legitimation of the American Corporate State by the Fuller Supreme Court. It argues that the Fuller Court was wrong to use the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment and natural law to support laissez-faire capitalism and the emergent corporate structure at the expense of labor and labor unions. It also argues that the corporatization of America has created a social and cultural environment that places business as the center of the American universe. This has led to a very asymmetrical relationship between corporations and citizens. It further argues that recent revisionist scholarship …

Product Concept To Complete Business Plan In Three Months In An Ug Course For Business + Engineering Students, Paul Swamidass, Nels Madsen, P.K. Raju, Jackie Dipofi

Paul Swamidass

sophomores/juniors work in multi-disciplinary teams to conceive and select a technology-intensive product, develop a project schedule, conduct market research and survey, complete product engineering/design, make manufacturing/sourcing decisions, estimate demand for five years, develop production/sourcing capacity, estimate investment needed and 5-yr cash flow as part of a business plan in 3 months; the business plan presentation is judged by a panel. The course is called Introduction to Business and Engineering but it is a holistic Technology Ventures course that prepares engineering and business students to partner together in bringing a technology-intensive product to the market. This course can be easily adopted …

Judge Harold Baer's Quixotic Crusade For Class Counsel Diversity, Michael H. Hurwitz

Michael H Hurwitz

In this comment, the author discusses the recent rulings of U.S. District Court Judge Harold Baer, Jr. directing that proposed class counsel provide evidence of its racial and gender diversity. After summarizing the provisions of Rule 23(g) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure that govern the appointment of class counsel, the author analyzes Judge Baer’s rulings in light of Rule 23(g)’s requirements. The author concludes that Judge Baer’s rulings are inconsistent with the Rule’s requirements and, instead, represent the judge’s effort to impose his own policy views over the interests of the class members served by the Rule’s narrow …

The Bible And The Constitution, Brad Jacob

Robert Weston Ash

ABSTRACT

The Bible and the Constitution Prof. Bradley P. Jacob

Is the United States Constitution consistent with the Holy Bible? For many people today, and especially for most lawyers, legal scholars and judges, the question is both irrelevant and silly. Their answer would be a simple, “Who cares?”

Yet there are some – Christian judges, lawyers and legal scholars – for whom the question matters a great deal. It matters to anyone who follows the tradition of Thomas Aquinas, William Blackstone, and Martin Luther King, Jr., in holding that a human law that violates God’s eternal principles of justice is …

This Is A Big @&%#*^! [Political Question] Deal!”, Ryan H. James

Ryan H. James

No abstract provided.

Social Semiotics In The Fair Use Analysis, H Brian Holland

H Brian Holland

Social Semiotics in the Fair Use Analysis

34,314 words

3,809 footnotes (Bluebook formatted)

This article presents an alternate theory of fair use, employing social semiotics as a process theory of meaning-making to frame the transformativeness inquiry. It is an argument for an expansion of fair use based not on theories of authorship or rights of autonomy, but rather a theory of the audience linked to social practice. The article asks, in essence, whether audiences determine the meaning, purpose, function, or social benefit of an allegedly infringing work, often regardless of what the work’s creator did or intended. If so, does …

Is Three A Crowd? The Role Of The Courts In Sec Settlements, Samantha A. Dreilinger

samantha a dreilinger

In August 2009 Judge Jed Rakoff made the unprecedented decision to reject a settlement proposed by the SEC and Bank of America. Although Judge Rakoff eventually approved the agreement, his decision appears to have sparked a trend of judicial scrutiny for SEC settlements. In contrast with the long tradition of judicial deference, some courts are now requiring evidence that the proposed provisions are "fair, reasonable and in the public interest." In order to promote justice, judges are also questioning light penalties and why executives are not being held accountable for the alleged misconduct of a corporate defendant. Critics of this …

Dennis The Menace?: An Analysis Of Whether The Episcopal Church’S Dennis Canon Entitles The Church To An Exemption From Neutral Trust Law, Robert W. Humphrey Ii

Robert W Humphrey II

In 1979, the Episcopal Church amended its canons to include a provision whereby all dioceses and local churches agreed to hold their property in trust for the national church. The Dennis Canon, as it is known, was a response to a schism within the church and an attempt by the church to preserve real property owned by local churches. Many courts construing the effect of the Dennis Canon have found it applies even when common law trust principles would provide otherwise. However, the Supreme Court of South Carolina recently refused to give effect to it, stating it has “no legal …

Law, Institutions And Corruption Cleanups In Africa, John Mukum Mbaku

JOHN MUKUM MBAKU

ABSTRACT Since independence, virtually all African countries have suffered and continue to suffer from extremely high rates of bureaucratic corruption. Today, corruption remains one of the most important constraints to social, political and economic development. Despite the efforts made, in several countries, to deal with corruption and other forms of political opportunism (e.g., rent seeking), these phenomena remain entrenched in these countries and continue to constrain entrepreneurship and creation of the wealth that is needed to deal with extremely high rates of poverty and material deprivation. Part of the reason why many African countries have not been able to effectively …

Iran’S “New Constitutionalism”: Constitutional Politics In Post-Revolutionary Iran, Kambiz Behi

Kambiz Behi

This Article argues that the Iranian constitutional system, although distinctive in application and in jurisprudence, is structurally and functionally similar to a set of rapidly globalizing forms of constitutional arrangement. These similarities include, in the main, legal institutions, legal thought, and methods of jurisprudence. In particular, I argue that the post-1989 constitutional reforms in Iran incorporate a globalizing constitutional mode of legal arrangement marked by proportionality analysis and judicial interventionism at the expense of representative politics. The Article also aims to make a contribution to the methodology of legal analysis by applying a Critical approach to the study of a …

Employee "Free" Choice In The Mirror Of Liberty, Fairness And Social Welfare, Harry G. Hutchison

Harry G. Hutchison

The publication of Richard Epstein’s book, THE CASE AGAINST THE EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT provides an opportunity to reconsider (A) the movement to displace the regime of judge-made law that had previously governed labor relationships, (B) the purpose of the NLRA and (C) the revolutionary implications of the effort to transform the NLRA into a law that places its thumb on the scale in favor of unionization. Describing the central provisions of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), its economic consequences, its constitutional implications, and its connection to the decline of unionism, Epstein offers a balanced portrayal of the EFCA …

Executive Compensation: The Law And Incentives, Stas Getmanenko

Stas Getmanenko

Excessive executive compensation frequently breeds resentment, undermines consumer faith in the financial system, and overly stigmatizes otherwise common business failures. Frequently, the opponents of lavish pay packages compare executive compensation to the compensation of rank-and-file workers. Such criticism reflects perfectly appropriate societal concerns over pay equity and distribution of wealth within a society. An entirely separate source of friction is the shareholders’ right to benefit from the corporation’s wealth. Shareholders’ dividend is directly reduced by the company’s expenses, one of which executive compensation. For most of today’s public companies the executive compensation expense is often negligible when considered in light …

The Case Ebay Inc. Vs. Mercexchange Llc, It's Impact On Npes And Patent Enforcement, Severin De Wit

Severin de Wit

The article describes the impact of US court decision eBay vs. MercExchange on patent injunctions, seen from a European perspective. It deals with European equivalents of injunctive relief. Debates about Patent Reform have a tendency to evolve also around the issue of patent trolls and whether they constitute a threat to the patent system or to innovation (or both). As patent trolls produce no goods, nor do they "practice" the patented invention themselves, trolls have been labeled a "threat" to operating companies. Authors defends that NPEs have gone through considerable effort to locate and acquire patents that remain undervalued, unused …

Legal Analysis Of Petroleum Investment In An International Conflict Zone: Southern Sudan, Barrie Hansen

Barrie Hansen JD (Hons), LLM

The "resource curse" is a term that was coined to describe the problems that inevitably occur in developing countries with significant resource wealth. Little academic attention has been given to the legal issues which may permit an American resource investor to safely make an investment in a developing country. The article addresses the spectrum of legal issues that have arisen in one particular "conflict zone" and how the investor may structure their investment to maximize their real return whilst avoiding the legal hazards of investing in a conflict zone.

An Economic Analysis Of Patent Law's Inequitable Conduct Doctrine, Thomas F. Cotter

Thomas F. Cotter

In recent years, patent law’s inequitable conduct doctrine has attracted considerable attention from judges, legislators, patent lawyers and commentators, culminating most recently in the Federal Circuit’s decision to reconsider en banc several aspects of the doctrine in Therasense, Inc. v. Becton, Dickinson & Co. Building on the work of other scholars, this Article proposes an instrumental view of the doctrine as, ideally, a tool for inducing patent applicants to disclose the optimal quantity of information relating to the patentability of their inventions; it then presents a formal model of the applicant’s choices in deciding how much information to reveal. The …

An Economic Analysis Of Patent Law's Inequitable Conduct Doctrine, Thomas F. Cotter

Thomas F. Cotter

In recent years, patent law’s inequitable conduct doctrine has attracted considerable attention from judges, legislators, patent lawyers and commentators, culminating most recently in the Federal Circuit’s decision to reconsider en banc several aspects of the doctrine in Therasense, Inc. v. Becton, Dickinson & Co. Building on the work of other scholars, this Article proposes an instrumental view of the doctrine as, ideally, a tool for inducing patent applicants to disclose the optimal quantity of information relating to the patentability of their inventions; it then presents a formal model of the applicant’s choices in deciding how much information to reveal. The …

Assuring Responsible Risk Management In Banking: The Corporate Governance Dimension, Michael E. Murphy

Michael E Murphy

ABSTRACT The corporate governance dimension of risk management in banking concerns the structures needed to assure the power and independence of control centers. Three are clearly relevant: the risk management departments themselves, the audit function and particularly internal audit, and the contingent of independent directors on the board. A fourth, the shareholder base, is problematic. A survey of corporate governance disclosures reveals a need for more progress in assuring the independence of the risk management and internal audit functions by linking them more closely to the board. The board’s own capacity to function as an independent control center relates most …

An Economic Analysis Of Patent Law's Inequitable Conduct Doctrine, Thomas F. Cotter

Thomas F. Cotter

In recent years, patent law’s inequitable conduct doctrine has attracted considerable attention from judges, legislators, patent lawyers and commentators, culminating most recently in the Federal Circuit’s decision to reconsider en banc several aspects of the doctrine in Therasense, Inc. v. Becton, Dickinson & Co. Building on the work of other scholars, this Article proposes an instrumental view of the doctrine as, ideally, a tool for inducing patent applicants to disclose the optimal quantity of information relating to the patentability of their inventions; it then presents a formal model of the applicant’s choices in deciding how much information to reveal. The …

White Phosphorus: Smokescreen Or Smoke And Mirrors?, Ubaid Ul-Haq

Ubaid ul-Haq

Chemical and biological weapons have for centuries been relegated to a widely disfavored status among most nation States. Since these early times, it has been recognized that the use of these weapons, even during the chaotic realm of warfare, is unnecessary and unnatural. As such, there have evolved in the past 150 years several conventions that have codified this increasingly apparent sentiment of non-use, eventually culminating in the ideal of non-proliferation. Today, however, the changing atmosphere of the battlefield and the foreign tactics employed therein have led to a resurgence of the utility of using such weapons, particularly since certain …

Applying Torture And Asylum Protections To Prevent The Deportation Of Persons With Hiv/Aids, Christine Chiu

Christine Chiu

Granting a foreign national with HIV/AIDS permission to remain in a country, whether temporarily or indefinitely, is a weighty decision. Faced with limited resources and often fervent public antagonism towards increased immigration, states must pick and choose whom to expel from its borders. This paper examines the extent to which HIV status is considered in determining whether a petitioner is eligible or even has a right to remain in a country. The analysis consists largely of a comparison of the asylum and torture protections afforded to petitioners with HIV/AIDS in the United States, Canada, and the European Court of Human …

Engaging Law Students In Leadership, Faith Rivers James

Faith R Rivers James

The new challenge of legal education is preparing civic-minded lawyers to assume leadership roles in their communities, law firms, the legal profession, and in the public square. Defined as the process of influencing and persuading others to achieve a common purpose, leadership describes the lawyers’ task with individual and organizational clients; considered as a characteristic of people in positions of power, lawyers often assume the mantle of leading organizations. Whether defined as process or position, lawyering involves leadership in the private sector or in the public realm. This article considers the progressive structure of a comprehensive law & leadership program, …

A Japanese Calpers Or A New Model For Institutional Investor Activism? Japan's Pension Fund Association And The Emergence Of Shareholder Activism In Japan, Bruce Aronson

Bruce Aronson

If activist institutional investors are arguably the primary external monitors of management under leading corporate governance systems in the United States and the United Kingdom, who might assume that role in other countries? And, more importantly, what activist shareholder strategies may be possible under different corporate governance systems and operating environments that are generally less supportive of shareholder activism than the United States and the United Kingdom? This Article seeks to address that question through a comparison of the well-known strategy of CalPERS with that of a rare, real-world example of institutional investor activism outside of the “Anglo-Saxon” model—Japan’s Pension …