Digital Commons Network^™

[Insert Song Lyrics Here]: The Uses And Misuses Of Popular Music Lyrics In Legal Writing, Alex B. Long

ExpressO

Legal writers frequently utilize the lyrics of popular music artists to help advance a particular theme or argument in legal writing. And if the music we listen to says something about us as individuals, then the music we, the legal profession as a whole, write about may something about who we are as a profession. A study of citations to popular artists in law journals reveals that, not surprisingly, Bob Dylan is the most popular artist in legal scholarship. The list of names of the other artists rounding out the Top Ten essentially reads like a Who’s Who of baby …

Sex, Trust, And Corporate Boards, Joan M. Heminway

ExpressO

This essay collects and interprets social science research on sex and trust and uses this work to shed new light on the emerging case for gender diversity on corporate boards. Specifically, the essay describes research findings that indicate (1) that men and women trust and are trustworthy on different bases and (2) the existence of a bias against women in corporate leadership positions. Based on this research and current legal scholarship on corporate governance, the essay asserts that gender diversity on corporate boards may be desirable but difficult to attain. The essay also calls for more targeted research on the …

New Explorations In Culture And Crime: Definitions, Theory, Method, Kenneth B. Nunn

UF Law Faculty Publications

Culture affects criminal law in at least two key ways. First, culture and crime symbiotically define each other. Second, culture helps explain which courtroom narratives will be successful, and which will not. Culture influences who will be arrested, charged, convicted, and what sentence they will receive. Indeed, the invisible hand of culture drives the process of criminalization and helps to determine which acts we will sanction through criminal statutes.

Harmonizing Unfair Commercial Practices Law: The Cultural And Social Dimensions, Thomas Wilhelmsson

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

This article discusses, in light of the European experience concerning harmonization of unfair commercial practices law, the impact of social, cultural, and linguistic variations on the possibility of harmonizing or transplanting rules on commercial communications to consumers. Empirical research on national variations in consumers' responses to advertising and other marketing is used to create a typology of cases in which cultural factors should be taken into account when assessing a commercial practice from a consumer point of view. Differences between countries with regard to consumers' trust, understandings, rationality patterns, decision-making behaviour, values, and preferences are discussed as relevant cases. The …

Katrina, The Constitution, And The Legal Question Doctrine, Robin West

Chicago-Kent Law Review

The article argues that the non-existence of welfare rights in American Constitutional law, and the non-existence of a widely shared sense of moral obligation to attend to poverty through the use of law, cannot be explained by reference to the Constitutional text or history. Rather, it is a function of the over-identification of ordinary morality with Constitutionalism, of the Constitution with law, and of law, with adjudicative law—what the article calls "the legal question doctrine." As courts cannot, will not, and possibly should not enforce "welfare rights," as a matter of adjudicated Constitutional law, so, we conclude, neither the Constitution, …

On Miranda And Misinterpretation: A Look At The Rights Of Native American Defendants, S. Meredith Morris

Student Thesis Honors (1996-2008)

In this paper, I posit that the Miranda ruling from the infamous case Miranda v. Arizona, when poorly applied, results in profound and blatant Eracism. I will begin Part I by stepping back in history to look at the evolution of Miranda and the cases that followed. Next, I take a look at the 2000 Census data and address the relatively current minority population percentages. Then, in Part II, I dissect Miranda, revealing what "custody" and "interrogation", the "right to an attorney" and "valid waiver" mean according to the Supreme Court. In Part III of this paper, I take a …

The World Bank And The Ideology Of Reform In International Development Discourse, Joel M. Ngugi

ExpressO

Does the current development reform agenda, especially the one operationalized by the World Bank, is Ideological? If so, does it matter? These are the two questions that animate this article. In answering both questions in the affirmative, the article first demonstrates how the current development reform agenda is Ideological. It then discusses why and how it matters that the development reform agenda is Ideological. First, the article argues that Ideological rendering of the development reform agenda effectively weakens the ability of Third World countries to articulate their economic and foreign policies in ways that would benefit their citizenry the most. …

Valuing Cultural Differences In Behavioral Economics, Justin D. Levinson, Kaiping Peng

ExpressO

Behavioral economic research has tended to ignore the role of cultural differences in economic decision-making. The authors suggest that a systematic bias affects existing behavioral economic theory-- cognitive biases are often assumed to be universal. To examine how cultural background informs economic decision-making, and to test framing effects, morality effects, and out-group effects in a cross-cultural study, the authors conducted an experiment in the United States and China. The experiment was designed to test cultural and cognitive effects on a fundamental economic phenomenon-- how people estimate the financial values of objects over time.

Results of the experiment demonstrated dramatic cultural …

The Media As Participants In The International Legal Process, Monica Hakimi

Duke Journal of Comparative & International Law

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Realism About Constitutional Protection: Indigenous Rights Under A Judicialized And A Politicized Constitution, Matthew Sr Palmer

Dalhousie Law Journal

This article assesses the comparative effectiveness of constitutional protection of indigenous rights in Canada and New Zealand using a perspective of "constitutional realism". The two constitutions offer a useful contrast of similar systems distinguished by distinctly contrasting directions over the past twentyfive years. The reality of Canadas constitutional development has seen more power accrue to the judicial branch of government. The reality of New Zealand's constitutional development has seen more power accrue to the political branches ofgovernment. The article considers the reality of the behaviour of these branches of government in each jurisdiction in relation to indigenous rights. It finds …

Punitive Damages, Liquidated Damages, And Clauses Penale In Contract Actions: A Comparative Analysis Of The American Common Law And The French Code Civil, Charles R. Calleros

ExpressO

Although American common law allows punitive damages for reckless or intentional torts, it will neither allow a jury to assess punitive damages for breach of contract nor permit enforcement of a contractual damages clause that is deemed to be punitive. This approach is rooted in an early Chancery practice of granting equitable relief from oppressive penal bonds and has been more recently justified as a means of facilitating efficient breach. Economic efficiency, however, can be accomplished even if punitive damages could be assessed for intentional breach, because the parties would have an incentive to negotiate a release from the first …

Book Review, Robert W. Gordon

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

Women, Equality, And The Federal Marriage Amendment, Comille S. Williams

Brigham Young University Journal of Public Law

No abstract provided.

The Oak And The Reed: Counter-Terrorism Mechanisms In France And The United States Of America, Antoine Garapon

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Majority Rights, Minority Freedoms: Protestant Culture, Personal Autonomy, And Civil Liberties In Nineteenth Century America, Daniel F. Piar

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Toward Praxis, Emily Houh

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

This Essay, written for a 2005 symposium issue of the U.C. Davis Law Review, responds to an important question posed by the symposium organizers: What is the future of critical race feminism? In this Essay, I use a common law contractual good faith antidiscrimination claim, developed and proposed by me in a series of previously written articles, to help answer that question. While, in the past, my proposed good faith claim aimed principally to operationalize some recurring and foundational insights of critical race theory, such as the race crits' critique of the intentionality requirement in conventional antidiscrimination law, the Davis …

Changing The Domestic Violence (Dis)Course: Moving From White Victim To Multi-Cultural Survivor, Adele M. Morrison

Law Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.

Harry Potter And The Law, Benjamin H. Barton

Scholarly Works

The magnitude of the Harry Potter phenomenon alone would make it worthy of consideration; the fact that it is children's literature, and thus may play a significant part in forming a future generation's attitudes toward law and legal institutions, makes it even more so. The various contributions to this article explore various aspects of law and culture as presented in or viewed through the Harry Potter stories. The contributions of James Charles Smith and Danaya Wright address the depiction of families in the narratives and the limited role and development of family law. Benjamin H. Barton's contribution considers the failings …

Financial Moral Panic! Sarbanes-Oxley, Financier Folk Devils, And Off-Balance Sheet Arrangement, Jose M. Gabilondo

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Note: Legal Excisions: The Rights Of Foreigners In Japan, Timothy Webster

Faculty Publications

This article examines various moments in the constitutional rights of foreigners in Japan. Beginning with the drafting of the Japanese Constitution, it shows how Japanese members of the drafting committee did not passively accept whatever their American counterparts “foisted” on them, but quite deliberately sculpted and limited the reach of the Constitution through word choice and selective translation. It then examines several lawsuits, from the 1970s to the 2000s, where foreigners have asserted various rights in Japanese courts. In the absence of constitutional rights, foreigners must rely on Japanese statutory law, guided by international law, to buttress their claims to …

The Real French Constitution, Anthony Chase

Nova Law Review

No abstract provided.

Nova Law Review 30, 2

Nova Law Review

No abstract provided.

Law Reviews, Richard A. Posner

Articles

No abstract provided.

Review Essay: 'Seeing Beyond The Limits Of International Law,' Jack L. Goldsmith And Eric A. Posner, 'The Limits Of International Law', Paul Schiff Berman

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

In 'The Limits of International Law,' Jack Goldsmith and Eric Posner use the simplifying assumptions of rational choice theory in an attempt to demonstrate that international law has no independent valence whatsoever. Rather, according to the authors, each state single-mindedly pursues its own rational interest and obeys international legal norms only to the extent that such norms serve those pre-existing interests. In this Review Essay, I argue that their vision of international law is deeply flawed. In particular, I take issue with the authors' assumption that states simply have pre-existing unitary interests that they then rationally pursue. First, I argue …

Legal Excisions Omissions Are Not Accidents, Timothy Webster

Cornell International Law Journal

No abstract provided.

I Am Certain He Is The Man...I Think, Tim Harris

The Modern American

No abstract provided.

Reconciling The Right Of Return With Shari'a In Gaza, Corinne Souad Aftimos

University of Miami Business Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Media As Participants In The International Legal Process, Monica Hakimi

Faculty Scholarship

We know what we know about current international events through the media. The media (with their instantaneous transmission of images and sound across great distances) inform us of everything from the train bombings in Madrid and London, to human rights abuses in Darfur, to the fall of Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. Yet the media do not simply communicate raw information; they selectively filter, define and give shape to the events that they cover — in terms of what is happening, whether it is appropriate, and how relevant international actors should and do respond. The media thus are the nerves of the …

On Justitia, Race, Gender, And Blindness, I. Bennett Capers

Michigan Journal of Race and Law

This Essay focuses on Justitia's more problematic attributes. Like Justitia's blindfold, which has been described as "the most enigmatic" of her traits. Is the blindfold merely emblematic of Justitia's purported impartiality, her claim to algorithmic justice? As law professor Costas Douzinas and art historian Lynda Nead have asked, does the blindfold enable Justitia "to avoid the temptation to see the face that comes to the law and put the unique characteristics of the concrete person before the abstract logic of the institution"? Or does the blindfold signify something more, a second sight of sorts? Maybe that Justitia, unable to see, …

The Landscape Of Search And Seizure: Observations On Recent Decisions From The United States Court Of Appeals For The Eighth Circuit, Christine Hutton

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.