Digital Commons Network^™

Algorithmic Selection Of Iconic Constitutions, Tejas Ramdas, Patrick Chung-Chia Huang, Nuno Garoupa, Martin T. Wells, Yun-Chien Chang, Tom Ginsburg

Coase-Sandor Institute for Law & Economics Research Paper Series

This chapter examines the influence of pre-20th century constitutions using a quantitative approach, comparing expert-selected “iconic” constitutions with those identified algorithmically. In prior work, human experts identified four influential constitutions: the U.S. 1791, France 1791, Spain 1812, and France 1848. Here, we employ a genetic algorithm and Document Term Matrix (DTM) analysis to assess which one or four of 180 pre-1899 constitutions had the greatest textual impact on 581 post-1900 constitutions. Two criteria guide the selection: coverage and originality. Through iterative optimization, the algorithm identifies the most textually influential constitutions, allowing for a direct comparison with expert selections. This chapter …

Annual Survey Of Georgia Law: Legal Ethics, Patrick Longan

Articles

This Survey covers the period from June 1, 2024–May 31, 2025.1 The Article discusses developments with respect to lawyer discipline, bar admission and reinstatement, malpractice, ineffective assistance of counsel, disqualification of counsel, judicial misconduct and recusal, attorney’s fees and liens, contempt and other sanctions, unauthorized practice of law, attorney-client privilege, prosecutorial misconduct, amendments to the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct, advisory opinions, one miscellaneous matter, and potential reforms to the delivery of legal services.

Causation's Due Process Dimensions, Cassandra Burke Robertson, Charles W. "Rocky" Rhodes

Faculty Publications

For decades, courts have grappled with the tension between compensating victims of mass harms and maintaining fairness to defendants when causation is difficult to prove. This Article argues that the Supreme Court’s due process jurisprudence provides a relevant framework for navigating this tension. We contend that the Court over the last three decades has established a consistent Fourteenth Amendment due process approach in punitive damages and personal jurisdiction cases, which is rooted in antecedents tracing to the nineteenth century and relies on a nexus of interests that balances individual rights, state interests, and federalism concerns. This framework, we argue, has …

Modeling Meaning: Causal Inference Under The California Racial Justice Act, Ball, W. David

Santa Clara Law Review

In order to evaluate claims arising under the California Racial Justice Act (RJA), judges and attorneys need to learn how to draw inferences about racial disparity from data—and, equally importantly, to learn how to avoid drawing inaccurate inferences from data. The key questions in many RJA claims are, first, how to determine what constitutes “defendant[s] who have engaged in similar conduct and are similarly situated” and, second, what might supply race-neutral reasons for those disparities. In other words, how can practitioners learn to distinguish between permissible disparities driven by offender characteristics and conduct and impermissible disparities driven by factors the …

Navigating Wastewater: Minnesota Mining Wastewater Permit Challenges And Evolving Compliance Standards, Madelaine Adamich

Journal of Earth and Life Science

February of 2021 marked the beginning of Minnesota clearly establishing that groundwater qualifies as a Class 1 water in a legal battle involving United States Steel, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, WaterLegacy, Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, the Minnesota Court of Appeals, and eventually the Minnesota Supreme Court (MNSC). Minnesota has a water classification system, as required by the federal Clean Water Act, with 7 classes of use. Class 1 waters are waters used for domestic consumption (MPCA 4, n.d.). According to Minnesota Statute § 7050.0220, the acceptable level for sulfate is 250 mg/L in Class 1 …

Informing Choice: The Role Of Adoption In Women’S Pregnancy Decision-Making, Elizabeth R. Kirk, Ryan Hanlon

Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy

No abstract provided.

The Primacy Of Parental Authority In End-Of-Life Decisions For Children, Patrick A. Tully

Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy

No abstract provided.

Remediating Public Health Crises Through Litigation: Lessons From Oklahoma In The Tobacco And Opioid Epidemic Litigations, Caroline Beckworth

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

Social Justice, Practical Lawyering, And The Elephant In Solitary Confinement: Why Animal Law Belongs In The Legal Writing Classroom, Conley Wouters

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

A Continuum Of Responsibility: An Examination Of The Human Right To A Healthy Environment Of Present And Future Generations, Sarah Dávila A.

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Harmonizing Delegation And Deference After Loper Bright, Kristin Hickman, Amy J. Wildermuth

Articles

By overturning Chevron, the Supreme Court's Loper Bright decision clearly changed the way in which courts must approach agency actions interpreting statutes. But Loper Bright stopped well short of declaring that courts should always ignore agency interpretations and only interpret statutes using their independent judgment. In two critical paragraphs, the Court acknowledged that some statutory provisions delegate discretionary authority to agencies counseled a more restrained judicial review for reasoned decisionmaking when agencies exercise such power. But, whereas Chevron focused nearly exclusively on the statutory word or phrase that an agency was endeavoring to interpret and implement, Loper Bright shifts …

Reflections On The Importance Of Critical Theory To Teaching Environmental Law, Sean Kammer

Faculty Publications

The freedom of students to learn about critical approaches to understanding their world is under sustained political attack. In this time of increasing environmental peril and political dysfunction, Professor Sean M. Kammer reflects upon the importance of critical theory (including Critical Race Theory) to understanding—and ultimately redressing—the related problems of resource scarcity and environmental degradation. While these problems can surely be described in terms of “economic inefficiencies” or “ecological disturbances,” as they most often are, they must also be understood (and taught) as problems of colonial exploitation and violence. For example, one cannot understand Justice John Marshall’s discovery doctrine or …

Psychedelic Medicine Exceptionalism, Mason Marks, I. Glenn Cohen

Scholarly Publications

Research on psychedelic medicines is experiencing a revival. Some clinicians, scientists, and ethicists believe that psychedelics are so different from other treatments that they warrant special consideration in how they are researched, regulated, commercialized, and administered. Others argue that psychedelic medicines show clinical potential, but they should be treated like other medical interventions. In other words, identical standards should apply. This article analyzes whether psychedelic medicines warrant special consideration from a regulatory and ethical perspective.

George A. Leet Business Symposium: Introduction – Relational Contracts And Industrial Policy: Diversity Shows Discriminating Alignment In Choosing Organizational Structures And Enforcement Techniques, Juliet Kostritsky

Case Western Reserve Law Review

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Law—Prepared For What? Oregon Officials Granted Immunity After Failing To Prioritize Inmates In Covid-19 Vaccines—Maney V. Brown, 91 F.4th 1296 (9th Cir. 2024), Emily Riccio

Suffolk Journal of Trial and Appellate Advocacy

No abstract provided.

Agreement On Climate Change, Trade And Sustainability: Forging New Frontiers In Trade And Sustainability Debate, Rishabha Meena, Apoorva Singh Vishnoi

Indian Journal of International Economic Law

The Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability (ACCTS) is a historic international trade agreement that weaves environmental considerations into a traditional trade agreement. While only four countries, namely New Zealand, Switzerland, Iceland, and Costa Rica, are Parties to the ACCTS, it is open to new members, and a textual analysis of its review provisions underscores the commitment of ACCTS Parties to ‘design flexibility’. Its Chapters liberalising trade in environmental goods and services, disciplining fossil fuel subsidies and providing voluntary guidelines on ecolabelling mark it as an international trade agreement with many historical firsts. This Article will undertake a legal …

Copyright's Dominion, Shani Shisha

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

Copyright law is under attack. Scholars and activists have long argued that American copyright law is a shambolic mess—vague, unpredictable, and startlingly overbroad. But amidst the swirling chaos, one core principle has remained intact: the idea that copyright attaches only to intangible goods. In theory, copyright resides in an intangible work of authorship, not a physical artifact. It is the intellectual creation, rather than the material copy, that gives rise to copyright protection. Copyright law thus rests on a stark distinction between the intellectual property of authors and the personal property of consumers—in short, between the intangible work and the …

At The Hart Of Immigration Reform: How Dhs’S New Biometric Database Will Infringe On The Privacy Rights Of U.S. Citizens, Permanent Residents, And Foreign Nationals, Calypso Moschochoritis

Catholic University Journal of Law and Technology

Immigration is a regular feature of American life; President Obama once described the U.S. as “a nation of immigrants.” Even as the host of more immigrants than any other nation, the American public has historically found immigration contentious. Since Congress has failed to agree on comprehensive immigration reform, this responsibility has moved to the executive and judicial branches of government. In 2016, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) began working on the Homeland Advanced Recognition Technology (HART) Program, a new biometric information management system, to replace IDENT (Automated Biometric Identification System), DHS’s current biometrics database. HART will join other initiatives …

Kid Clickbait: Online Privacy Concerns For The Children Of Today's Social Media Movement, Kiara Green

Mitchell Hamline Law Journal of Public Policy and Practice

No abstract provided.

Surrogacy Agencies In Canada: Intended Parents' Experiences, Stefanie Carsley

Canadian Journal of Family Law

This article sheds new light on intended parents’ experiences working with surrogacy agencies—businesses that match surrogates with prospective parents. These agencies contravene the Assisted Human Reproduction Act, a federal law that prohibits commercial surrogacy. Interviews with intended parents suggest that some agencies are taking advantage of surrogates and intended parents and lend support to calls to regulate agencies’ practices. This piece will interest scholars and lawmakers advocating for evidence-based law and policy responses to surrogacy in Canada. It broadens the frame relevant to addressing surrogacy beyond relations between surrogates, intended parents, and children to include a commercial sector.

Evaluating Elective Egg Freezing Consent Materials From Canadian Fertility Clinics, Kathleen Hammond

Canadian Journal of Family Law

The use of elective egg freezing (EEF) has rapidly increased in recent years. Despite its popularity, scholars have documented a host of concerns in relation to the use of this technology, especially given aggressive advertising of EEF by the fertility industry as “insurance” and lack of data about success rates. Informed consent processes, and informed consent materials, are particularly important in situations like EEF where healthy people are undergoing interventions that are neither life nor health preserving. Despite these concerns necessitating a rigorous consent process, no research in Canada has explored consent processes surrounding EEF at Canadian fertility clinics to …

Sorting Out Surrogacy: Three Considerations For Evidence-Informed Law Reform, Vanessa Gruben, Alana Cattapan

Canadian Journal of Family Law

This article draws on novel survey research with surrogates in Canada—the Exploring Surrogates Experiences and Insights Survey—to examine three critical issues for potential law reform: (1) reimbursement and compensation (i.e., payment); (2) the work of surrogacy agencies; and (3) surrogacy arrangements involving foreign intended parents. Following a brief history of the regulation of surrogacy in Canada and a description of the survey’s methods, it explores each of these areas in turn, using the survey results to identify considerations for law reform. It argues that while the current legislative and regulatory framework largely addresses key issues related to commercialization and commodification, …

Factors Affecting The Joy Of Life In Old Age: A Scale Development Study, Yalçın Karagöz, Yusuf Karaşi̇n, Mustafa Filiz, Mehmet Ateş

Adultspan Journal

This study aims to introduce a measurement tool into the literature that can reveal the factors affecting the joy of life in older adulthood. Participants included 266 individuals aged 55 and over living in Izmir, Turkey. The process of developing the scale includes the following stages: problem identification, item pool creation, expert opinion, form shaping, pilot application, and finalizing the scale. The exploratory factor analysis revealed that the scale consists of 6 different dimensions, and the variance explained by these dimensions was found to be 65.184%. The acceptable values for the scale's fit indicators are as follows: χ²/df0.90, IFI > 0.90, …

Tackling The Next Public Health Crisis: Lessons Regarding Long-Term Care From The Covid Era, M. Sara Rosenthal, Keith R. Knapp, Laura Morton

Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy

This paper reviews multiple ethical and clinical issues during the COVID era affecting long-term care. The authors are members of one of many long-term care COVID task forces[1] that emerged in multiple jurisdictions to address a pandemic emergency. This paper applies the pandemic ethics literature that informed healthcare providers during COVID and recommends adjusting health messaging and communication that may shift responsiveness in the next public health crisis.

[1]. Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services Long-Term Care Advisory Task Force (in alphabetical order): Muhammad Babar, MD, MBA, MSc, CMD, SNF medical director; Belinda Beard, BS, RN, Division Director, …

Whose “Best Interests”? Concerns About The Use Of Fiduciary Framing In Long-Term Care Decisions, Jennifer L. Herbst

Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy

As part of reimagining America’s long-term care system, this article will explain how today’s system is, in many ways, the logical extension of historical presumptions that are foundational to our understanding of family, medical, and organizational governance as “fiduciary” in nature. More specifically, much of our current language (operating in someone’s “best interests,” acting consistent with their “substituted judgment” if now incapacitated) and jurisprudence (parens patriae, trusts, guardianships, conservatorships, and corporate governance) descends from centuries of equity and law centered on the management of property, not people or health.

This legal framework is firmly rooted in English statutes, court opinions, …

The Need To Explore The Potential Of Marine Cdr With A One-Earth Strategy: A Guide For Policy-Makers, Philip W. Boyd, Jean-Pierre Gattuso, Minhan Dai, Louis Legendre, Terre Satterfield, Romany M. Webb

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Rapid, deep and sustained reductions in carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions are essential to achieve the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement of keeping the long-term global average surface temperature increase well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C . In addition, the 2021 IPCC Report explains that carbon dioxide removal (CDR) will be needed to offset residual CO₂ emissions from activities and sectors that are difficult to decarbonize by 2050. The objective of CDR is removal of atmospheric CO2 from residual emissions and its durable storage in reservoirs, which is an additional critical element …

'Decide One More Time': Prostitution And Sexual Intelligence In The Early Writings Of Andrea Dworkin, Janine Benedet

All Faculty Publications

Andrea Dworkin’s first book, Woman Hating, was published in 1974, and written while Dworkin was in her 20s. It is experimental, literary, and ultimately hopeful. Right Wing Women, which had its start as a Ms. Magazine article in 1977, was expanded into a book in 1983. The most difficult of Dworkin’s works to find today, it was also her least favourite, owing to the academic conventions demanded by the publisher. It is dense, political and unflinching in its criticism. Despite their differences, these two books demonstrate the evolution of Dworkin’s thinking as she grapples with a central feminist …

Sauce For The Gander: The False Symmetry Of Myths And Stereotypes Against The Accused In Sexual Assault Trials, Janine Benedet

All Faculty Publications

As sexual assault laws evolved to be expressed in sex-neutral language, so too have arguments relating to myths and stereotypes in the context of sexual offences. This article evaluates the argument that myths and stereotypes, traditionally a reflection of systemic discrimination against female complainants in rape trials, also operate against male accused. Understood correctly, this trend repackages anti-feminist backlash to early equality reform efforts, ultimately working to revive the belief that women’s accusations of sexual assault are often false. The Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in R v Kruk affirms that this historical context matters when it comes to claims …

The Damage Done: How The Disease Model Of Addiction Harms Marginalized People In Canada, Sara Gordon

All Faculty Publications

Over 50,000 Canadians have died of unregulated drug poisoning since 2016. And while the toxic drug crisis is the leading cause of death in British Columbia for people between the ages of 10 and 59, some British Columbians are at a higher risk than others. In 2023, First Nations people—who comprise 3.4% of BC’s population—accounted for 17.8% of its toxic drug deaths. Other marginalized communities are also at heightened risk: racialized people, young people, and people living in poverty or without shelter are all disproportionately impacted. These disparities reflect more than a public health crisis—they largely exist due to legal …

What’S Wrong With Inflicting Death? Evaluating Marquis’S “Future Of Value” Account, Christopher Kaczor

Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy

No abstract provided.