Digital Commons Network^™

Contracts Ex Machina, Kevin Werbach, Nicolas Cornell

Duke Law Journal

Smart contracts are self-executing digital transactions using decentralized cryptographic mechanisms for enforcement. They were theorized more than twenty years ago, but the recent development of Bitcoin and blockchain technologies has rekindled excitement about their potential among technologists and industry. Startup companies and major enterprises alike are now developing smart contract solutions for an array of markets, purporting to offer a digital bypass around traditional contract law. For legal scholars, smart contracts pose a significant question: Do smart contracts offer a superior solution to the problems that contract law addresses? In this article, we aim to understand both the potential and …

The Bootstrap Trap, Sara Sternberg Greene

Duke Law Journal

In the mid-1990s, Congress fundamentally altered the public safety net when it passed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996, otherwise known as welfare reform. Under the PRWORA, cash assistance was no longer an entitlement for income-qualifying families; instead, recipients faced work requirements and lifetime limits on receiving benefits. Bipartisan reformers sought to transform welfare from a program believed to trap poor mothers in a "culture of dependence" into a program that would promote a culture of "self-sufficiency" and "personal responsibility." This shift in culture, it was argued, would ultimately lead to upward mobility. This Article …

Reflections On The Challenging Proliferation Of Mental Health Issues In The District Court And The Need For Judicial Education, Jessie B. Gunther

Maine Law Review

Maine's courts constantly deal with litigants with mental health issues. Historically, our decisions have relied on expert testimony addressing specific issues of responsibility, risk, and treatment. In recent years, by my observation, court involvement in the treatment process has increased, but the availability of expert evidence has decreased. Thus, we as judges have become the ultimate decision-makers regarding litigants' mental health treatment in both criminal and civil contexts, without supporting expert testimony. In the face of this development, three interconnected issues arise. The first issue is whether judges should even attempt to fill the void caused by lack of expert …

Lin V. United States Department Of Justice: The Circuits Split On The Issue Of Whether Marital Status Is Dispositive Of Asylum Eligibility In The United States For Individuals Who Suffer Persecution Under China's Coercive Family Planning Practices, Sara E. Stewart

Maine Law Review

In Lin v. United States Department of Justice, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit remanded three consolidated appeals to the Board of lmmigration Appeals (BIA) for reconsideration. Petitioners Shi Liang Lin, Xian Zou, and Zhen Hua Dong applied for asylum based on persecution they and their unmarried girlfriends suffered under the coercive family planning practices employed by the People's Republic of China. Retaining jurisdiction over the petitions after re-disposition by the BIA, the Second Circuit demanded that the BIA clarify two issues regarding its interpretation of United States' immigration laws. First, the Second Circuit insisted on …

Protecting The Rights Of The Mentally Disabled In Administrative Proceedings, Robert T. Drapkin

The Catholic Lawyer

No abstract provided.

Contracts Ex Machina, Kevin Werbach, Nicolas Cornell

Articles

Smart contracts are self-executing digital transactions using decentralized cryptographic mechanisms for enforcement. They were theorized more than twenty years ago, but the recent development of Bitcoin and blockchain technologies has rekindled excitement about their potential among technologists and industry. Startup companies and major enterprises alike are now developing smart contract solutions for an array of markets, purporting to offer a digital bypass around traditional contract law. For legal scholars, smart contracts pose a significant question: Do smart contracts offer a superior solution to the problems that contract law addresses? In this article, we aim to understand both the potential and …

Wage Theft: Pilfering Paychecks, One Lunch At A Time, James Levault

Northern Illinois University Law Review

The United States Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, is charged with enforcing the payment of minimum wage and overtime to employees. A common problem occurs when an employee performs work during their unpaid lunch. According to DOL regulations, an employee is entitled to payment for time worked whether they were requested to work or if the employer was completely unaware that work was being performed by the employee. Two tests are used to determine whether an employee should be paid for the work performed. The first test is the completely relieved of duty test and the second test …

Concluding Discussion Of Guatemala's Report, Human Rights Experts Post Questions On Human Rights Defenders, Addressing Conflict's Aftermath, Indigenous Rights

Law and Business Review of the Americas

No abstract provided.

The Guatemalan Femicide: An Epidemic Of Impunity, Natalie Jo Velasco

Law and Business Review of the Americas

No abstract provided.

Assessing Law Students As Reflective Practitioners, Margaret Reuter

Faculty Works

We begin with two premises. One, legal educators, particularly clinical faculty who teach experiential courses, aim for their students to become reflective practitioners. Two, despite the highly personal nature of reflection, law faculty can assess law students’ ability to reflect meaningfully by reviewing and evaluating their reflective journals and essays. This is a story about the three authors of this essay: the genesis of our teaching techniques in reflective practice; how we discovered our similar approaches to assessing reflective practice; and how we have embarked on a project to discover whether a rubric we developed collectively can become the basis …

On Encouraging Lawyers To Serve The Poor, John F. Castellano

The Catholic Lawyer

No abstract provided.

Developments In Liability Theories And Defenses, Robert A. Destro

The Catholic Lawyer

No abstract provided.

A Reform Long Overdue: Raising Virginia's Felony Grand Larceny Threshold, Bill Rice

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

Virginia has one of the lowest felony grand larceny thresholds in the nation. This low threshold has not been adjusted with inflation since 1980 and, thus, results in a high number of felony convictions in the state today. This article examines the current debate surrounding Virginia’s felony grand larceny threshold and presents a remedy that will reasonably man- age the state’ s interests in preventing future larcenies while not unduly punishing citizens for committing minor crimes.

Legislating Components Of A Humane City: The Economic Impacts Of The Austin, Texas "No Kill" Resolution (City Of Austin Resolution 20091105-040), Sloane Hawes, Devrim Ikizler, Katy Loughney, Philip Tedeschi, Kevin Morris

Animal Law and Legislation Collection

This report investigates and measures the economic impacts of the City of Austin Resolution 20091105-040, commonly referred to as the “No Kill” resolution, utilizing standard impact assessment methodology. Resolution 20091105-040 resulted in the implementation of a series of recommendations that included achieving and maintaining a 90% Live Release Rate for all companion animals housed at the City of Austin’s municipal animal shelter.

In addition to exploring the specific economic impacts of Resolution 20091105- 040, this report also outlines, but does not quantify, the potential broader impacts of the Resolution on human, animal, and environmental health. These areas of impact include: …

Millennials In Crisis: Myth-Busting Millennial Debt Narratives, Stephanie Ben-Ishai, Tanner Stanley

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

Intense pop-cultural commentary on millennial finances and indebtedness perpetuates two conflicting narratives. One suggests that millennials are doomed and face higher debt levels than earlier generations, compounded by rising tuition costs, a lack of affordable housing, high costs of living, and an increasingly competitive job market. The contrary “millennial bootstrapping” narrative denies that millennials are more financially challenged than previous generations and argues that millennials need to pull themselves up their proverbial bootstraps and improve their work ethic to secure financial success. This article fact-checks these two narratives and fills a significant gap in the Canadian academic literature on the …

A Foundation Upon Which Justice Is Built: The Chicago Bar Foundation's Innovations To Improve Access To Justice During Tough Economic Times, Danielle Elyce Hirsch

Maine Law Review

“Equal justice for all” is one of the United States’ most proudly proclaimed principles, embellished on courthouse entrances and regularly cited in constitutional decisions. The Illinois Constitution also contains a strong commitment to equal and unimpeded access to our legal system for all of our citizens: “Every person shall find a certain remedy in the laws for all injuries and wrongs which he receives to his person, privacy, property or reputation. He shall obtain justice by law, freely, completely and promptly.” Notwithstanding these constitutional principles, a large number of people with urgent and important issues at stake—such as the custody …

Diocesan Self-Insurance Programs: The Philadelphia Approach, John P. O'Dea

The Catholic Lawyer

No abstract provided.

Looking At Justice Through A Lens Of Healing And Reconnection, Annalise Buth, Lynn Cohn

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

No abstract provided.

Panel Discussion: Expanding Our Conception Of Justice

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

No abstract provided.

Law & Health Care Newsletter, Fall 2017

Law & Health Care Newsletter

No abstract provided.

C-Drum News, Fall 2017

The C-DRUM News

No abstract provided.

Professional Licensing And Teacher Certification For Non-Citizens: Federalism, Equal Protection And A State’S Socioeconomic Interests, Janet M. Calvo

Publications and Research

Some states have recently addressed the integration of their non-citizen populations and their socioeconomic needs by expanding the eligibility of professional licensing to noncitizens. Changes made in 2016 in the two states with the largest immigrant populations, California and New York, were extensive and comprehensive. California removed immigration status requirements for licensing through legislation that covered all occupations regulated by the California Department of Consumer Affairs. The New York Board of Regents and Commissioner of Education expanded the categories of non-citizens eligible for professional licensing and teaching certification through administrative regulations, including all non-citizens permanently residing in the state under …

Smu Pro Bono Centre’S New Premises Officially Unveiled, Singapore Management University

SMU Press Releases and News

“Pro bono legal services represent the highest form of social work that the legal profession can perform in service to the public. Everyone needs some form of legal assistance or advice at one time or another. It is not just free work, but free work for our poor ‘neighbours’ without expectation of any kind of material reward – it is the work of the Good Samaritan. It is free work, given from the heart,” said Mr Chan Sek Keong, former Chief Justice and current Senior Judge at the Singapore Supreme Court, at the official opening of the SMU Pro Bono …

Child Welfare's Scarlet Letter: How A Prior Termination Of Parental Rights Can Permanently Brand A Parent As Unfit, Vivek S. Sankaran

Articles

In many jurisdictions, once a parent has her rights terminated to one child, the State can use that decision to justify the termination of parental rights to another child. The State can do so regardless of whether the parent is fit to parent the second child. This article explores this practice, examines its origins, and discusses its constitutional inadequacies.

Reclaiming Restorative Justice: An Alternate Paradigm For Justice, Shailly Agnihotri, Cassie Veach

City University of New York Law Review

No abstract provided.

"I'Ve Got My Mind Made Up": How Judicial Teleology In Cases Involving Biologically Based Evidence Violates Therapeutic Jurisprudence, Michael L. Perlin

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The article critiques the teleological reasoning employed by judges in cases involving biologically-based evidence, particularly in mental disability law. It argues that judges often prioritize pre-determined outcomes over evidence, leading to decisions that neglect valid scientific data and violate the principles of therapeutic jurisprudence.

Smart Contracts: Terminology, Technical Limitations And Real World Complexity, Eliza Mik

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

If one is to believe the popular press and many “technical writings,” blockchains create not only a perfect transactional environment but also obviate the need for banks, lawyers and courts. The latter will soon be replaced by smart contracts: unbiased and infallible computer programs that form, perform and enforce agreements. Predictions of future revolutions must, however, be distinguished from the harsh reality of the commercial marketplace and the technical limitations of blockchains. The fact that a technological solution is innovative and elegant need not imply that it is commercially useful or legally viable. Apart from attempting a terminological “clean-up” surrounding …

Seventh Circuit's Taxation Of Members Of Religious Orders - A Change Of Habit, Francine M. Corcoran

The Catholic Lawyer

No abstract provided.

You Learn What You Live: Prevalence Of Childhood Adversity In The Lives Of Juveniles Arrested For Sexual Offenses, Jill S. Levenson, Michael Baglivio, Kevin T. Wolff, Nathan Epps, William Royall, Katherine C. Gomez, Dahlia Kaplan

Publications and Research

Social workers often find themselves working with children or adolescents who have been victims of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), including youths who have ended up in the juvenile justice system. Childhood trauma has been linked to negative health, mental health, and behavioral outcomes across the lifespan. The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence rates of child maltreatment and household dysfunction in the lives of juveniles who have been arrested for sexual offenses (JSO; n = 6,549). ACE prevalence rates for JSOs were compared by gender to juveniles arrested for other crimes, to adults arrested for sexual offenses, …

Redeeming The Pledge: Justice For All, Cardozo Center For Rights And Justice, New York State Bar Association

2017 Event Invitations

No abstract provided.