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Crispr, Like Any Other Technology: Shedding Determinism & Reviving Athens, Jon Khan

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

This article examines current narratives surrounding CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) and the current Canadian treatment of this novel biotechnology. It argues that Canada’s current approach to genetic research and CRISPR appear to have succumbed to the false narrative of technological determinism. It argues that Canada must buck the narrative and alter the current status quo in two principal ways: Canada should pursue more somatic CRISPR clinical trials in humans and permit pre-clinical germline editing. To design a regulatory regime for clinical germline editing and better guidance on somatic CRISPR clinical trials, Canada should engage Deliberative Polling to …

Washoe Cty. Human Servs. V. Dist. Ct., 138 Nev. Adv. Op. 87 (Dec. 29, 2022), Rachel Blum

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Nevada Supreme Court considered this writ of mandamus as it held substantial precedential value and was a matter of first impression. Although the controversy was moot, they decided to hear the issue, as the duration of the challenges action is relatively short and a similar issue is likely to arise in the future. Further, the Court found the matter to be important, because the issue related to the protection of Nevada children. The Court held that NRS 432B.393(3)(c) is constitutional, as it does not infringe on the due process rights of parents concerning the altering or termination of custody …

Harmful Speech And The Covid-19 Penumbra, Kenneth Grad, Amanda Turnbull

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

We make two central claims in this essay. First, the themes of malinformation have remained remarkably consistent across pandemics. What has changed is only the manner of their spread through evolving technologies and globalization. Thus, as with pandemic preparedness more generally, our failure to take proactive measures reflects a failure to heed the lessons of the past. Second, we argue that the COVID-19 pandemic presents a unique opportunity to tackle online falsehoods and mitigate their impact in the future.

We proceed in three parts. Part one addresses the harmful speech that inevitably follows in pandemic’s wake. We illustrate this through …

“Do Not Ever Refer To My Lord Jesus Christ With Pronouns”: Considering Controversies Over Religiously Motivated Discrimination On The Basis Of Gender Identity, Linda C. Mcclain

Faculty Scholarship

In the by-now familiar framing “religious freedom versus LGBT+ rights,” perhaps the most visible conflicts today in the United States, and elsewhere, concern the “T”—transgender or gender identity rights. This issue of the Journal of Law and Religion includes a conversation in print between Patrick Parkinson, Laura Portuondo and Claudia Haupt, and Shannon Gilreath on this timely topic, and their contrasting perspectives mirror dimensions of the larger public controversies. Although tweets like those quoted above (by unsuccessful Republican congressional candidate Lavern Spicer) asserting that neither the Bible nor Jesus had pronouns sparked both factual corrections and comical retorts, ³ the …

A Unique Path To Nationwide Paid Family And Medical Leave: Through The U.S. States, Yan Goodwin

DePaul Law Review

No abstract provided.

Epa And Army’S New Wotus Definition And Another Finalized Rule This Spring, Joe Retzer

SLU Law Journal Online

On December 30, 2022, the EPA finalized its rule interpreting "waters of the United States," which redefined the boundaries of the Clean Water Act's jurisdiction. In this article, Joe Retzer discusses the new rule that attempts to implement public input by providing a definition that is clear and consistent for stakeholders and discusses future rules that may be on the horizon.

Law Over Legalism: International Court Legitimacy In Lautsi V. Italy, Sebastián Guidi

Duke Journal of Comparative & International Law

2009 brought an existential crisis to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). In November, it unanimously ordered Italy to remove crucifixes from public schools. Backlash was unprecedented. The government promptly announced it would not comply. Politicians and social actors all across the political spectrum harshly criticized the decision and bashed the Court. Ten European countries joined Italy in referring the case to the Grand Chamber of the Court, which reversed the decision in 2011. The storm abated. Lautsi v. Italy likely received the most public attention of any ECtHR judgment. Much of the Court’s subsequent case-law was decided with …

White Christian Nationalism Enters The Political Mainstream: Implications For The Roberts Court And Religious Freedom, Stephen M. Feldman

Seton Hall Law Review

No abstract provided.

Green Unionism And Human Rights: Imaginings Beyond The Green New Deal, Chaumtoli Huq

Pace Environmental Law Review

No abstract provided.

Environmental Justice For Food System Workers: Heat- Illness Prevention Standards As One Step Toward Just Transition, Sarah Matsumoto

Pace Environmental Law Review

The recent dual crises of the COVID-19 pandemic and extreme heat in the Pacific Northwest have brought environmental injustices for food system workers into stark view. These events prompt us to reflect on how and why our existing laws, some of which expressly include environmental justice “tools,” failed to fully protect food system workers during times of crisis, and what changes we might implement to ensure that people employed in food system jobs are safe at their places of work. These events also revealed the need for proactive, prospective changes now before another crisis occurs; indeed, experts believe that global …

Developing Ecological Security Pattern For Coastal Wetlands Based On “Three-Line Integration” Spatial Strategy, Xiaowen Li, Liehui Zhi, Tiantian Ma, Zengli Liu, Baoshan Cui, Dongdong Shao, Yu Cao, Yonglin Mu

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Coastal wetlands function as key socioeconomic resources as well as ecological barriers for sustainable development in coastal regions. Although previous research and practices indicate that restoration of degraded wetlands needs combination with intact natural wetlands to achieve best integrated ecosystem services, this kind of integration is still lacking both in research and practice. In the past decades, increased land reclamation coupling with climate change (e.g. sea level rise) have led considerable coastal squeeze effects and intensified degradation and loss in coastal wetlands along Chinese coastline, restoration of damaged coastal wetlands is therefore urgently needed to enhance the overall ecological functions …

Speculative Constitutions In Ursula K. Le Guin’S Hainish Cycle And The Rights Of Nature, Ted Hamilton

Faculty Journal Articles

This paper examines two speculative examinations of humanity as a unified species and agent of ecological change: Ursula K. Le Guin’s Hainish Cycle and the rights of nature movement. Le Guin’s Cycle imagines the slow interplanetary reintegration of human polities against a backdrop of cultural and environmental difference. I read the novels of the Cycle as an allegory for the rights of nature movement, which seeks to synthesize traditional and modern knowledge in a legal solution to ecological crisis. Both discourses, I argue, productively imagine a new historical understanding of humanity’s place on Earth, but they provide a weak theory …

Patent Forfeiture, Sean B. Seymore

Duke Law Journal

Patent law doesn’t look kindly on patent owners who engage in wrongdoing involving the patent. The U.S. Supreme Court and lower courts have refused to enforce patents tainted with inequitableness, fraud, or bad faith. This issue typically arises in patent litigation when an accused infringer asserts that the patent should be unenforceable if the patentee engaged in one of four proscribed activities: inequitable conduct (deliberate misrepresentations or omissions of material information from the Patent Office); patent misuse (anticompetitive licensing practices); unclean hands (business or litigation misconduct); or waiver/estoppel (a lack of candor before a standard-setting organization). This seems right—a patentee …

Men Are Winning: Why Paid Paternity Leave Has Not Taken Full Flight In The United States, Nina Franco

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs (2012 - Present)

No abstract provided.

Strengthening A One Health Approach To Emerging Zoonoses, Samira Mubareka, John Amuasi, Arinjay Banerjee, Hélène Carabin, Joe Copper Jack, Claire Jardine, Bogdan Jaroszewicz, Greg Keefe, Jonathon Kotwa, Susan Kutz, Deborah Mcgregor, Anne Mease, Lily Nicholson, Katarzyna Nowak, Brad Pickering, Maureen Reed, Johanne Saint-Charles, Katarzyna Simonienko, Trevor Smith, J. Scott Weese, E. Jane Parmley

Articles & Book Chapters

Given the enormous global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza in Canada, and manifold other zoonotic pathogen activity, there is a pressing need for a deeper understanding of the human-animal-environment interface and the intersecting biological, ecological, and societal factors contributing to the emergence, spread, and impact of zoonotic diseases. We aim to apply a One Health approach to pressing issues related to emerging zoonoses, and propose a functional framework of interconnected but distinct groups of recommendations around strategy and governance, technical leadership (operations), equity, education and research for a One Health approach and Action Plan …

Externalities,Scarcity And Abundance, Brett M. Frischmann, Giovanni B. Ramello

Faculty Publications

Introduction: Do externalities work and matter differently in a world of scarcity vs. a world of abundance? In this article, we critically examine the economic phenomena of externalities. The concept of externality, an important idea in economics and law, is useful in exploring the complex and dynamic relationships between resource supply and human flourishing within various sociotechnical systems.

Methods: First, we define the basic concept and explain why it is fundamental to economic analysis of complex social environments Second, we briefly survey the intellectual history of externalities with the goal of tying together a few different strands of economic theory …

On Pope Benedict, Science, Faith, And His Legacy, Bruce Ledewitz

Newspaper Columns

Collected biweekly contributions to the Pennsylvania Capital-Star, a nonpartisan, nonprofit news site.

Commercialization Of Separated Human Body Parts - Unpacking Instrumentalization Approach, Arseny Shevelev, Georgy Shevelev

Pace International Law Review

The principle of non-commercialization, which prohibits trade in separated human body parts, has long been firmly embedded in many European legal orders and has become an integral part of them. However, many new uses for human biomaterials have now been discovered, and the need for them has reached a historical climax. This paper aims to explain the main tenets of non-commercialization theory, including such principles as human dignity and need to protect human’s health, and to show that these categories have so far been understood in a very one-sided and visceral way, and largely in contradiction to their true spirit. …

The Future Of Pandemics: Land Use Controls As Means Of Preventing Zoonotic Disease, Bailey Andree

Pace International Law Review

Zoonotic diseases are increasing in frequency as climate change worsens around the world, with the recent COVID-19 pandemic highlighting the inadequate mechanisms in place to counteract disease spread. This article reviews various zoonotic diseases and their patterns of spread, highlighting land use change as the key driver of disease to demonstrate the need for legal intervention. International land use law is a little-developed subsect of environmental law that holds the key to combating this disease spread, and this article proposes solutions through this legal lens. Land use techniques which may be used to combat disease spread include conservation laws, setback …

Returning Integrated Genomic Risk And Clinical Recommendations: The Emerge Study, Ellen W. Clayton, Jodell E. Linder, Aimee Allworth, Sara T. Bland, 100 Others...

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

The potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to reduce health care disparities and inequities is recognized, but it can also exacerbate these issues if not implemented in an equitable manner. This perspective identifies potential biases in each stage of the AI life cycle, including data collection, annotation, machine learning model development, evaluation, deployment, operationalization, monitoring, and feedback integration. To mitigate these biases, we suggest involving a diverse group of stakeholders, using human-centered AI principles. Human-centered AI can help ensure that AI systems are designed and used in a way that benefits patients and society, which can reduce health disparities and inequities. …

Perbandingan Bentuk Hukum Perusahaan Perseroan Negara Indonesia Dan Brunei Darussalam, Gilang Prabowo

"Dharmasisya” Jurnal Program Magister Hukum FHUI

Limited Liability Company is a legal entity established under an agreement, carrying out business activities with authorized capital which is entirely divided into shares and fulfills the requirements stipulated in the law of limited liability companies and their implementing regulations. Research with a normative juridical approach that is descriptive begins with the regulation of limited liability companies, establishment, and organs contained in limited liability companies in Indonesia and comparison with the state of Brunei Darussalam. The purpose of this paper is to make Comparative Regulations governing the Indonesian state-owned companies with Brunei Darussalam.

Keywords: company; limited company; regulation; Indonesia; …

Food, Freedom, Fairness, And The Family Farm, Robin Rotman, Sophie Mendelson

West Virginia Law Review

The concept of the “family farm” holds powerful sway within the American narrative, embodying both nostalgia for an imagined past and anxiety for a future perceived to be under threat. Since the founding of the United States, this cultural ideal has been invoked in support of a rosy vision of agrarian democracy while obscuring the ways in which the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s codified definition of “family farm” has unfairly aggregated advantages for the benefit of a particular kind of family (nuclear) and farmer (white, male, straight). At the same time, consumers are misled by an under-interrogated conflation of family …

Wild Cards In Natural Resource Planning: High Impact Surprises That Shape The Future, Dr. David Bengston

Natural Resources Journal

Wild cards are improbable, high impact events. Such events, like the COVID-19 pandemic, have the ability to shape policy by upending entire systems and paradigms. Unfortunately, long-term planning and policymaking rarely account for wild card events. Instead, planning and policymaking typically assume that existing trends will continue without major disruption. Moreover, adequately planning for potential wild card events is challenging because they are inherently difficult to predict. However, planning for wild card events in natural resources and environmental policymaking is vital as global developments, such as climate change, create more extreme conditions and challenges. This review, (1) defines and characterizes …

Jd-Next: A Valid And Reliable Tool To Predict Diverse Students’ Success In Law School, Jessica Findley, Adriana Cimetta, Heidi Burross, Katherine Cheng, Matt Charles, Cayley Balser, Ran Li, Christopher Robertson

Faculty Scholarship

Admissions tests have increasingly come under attack by those seeking to broaden access and reduce disparities in higher education. Meanwhile, in other sectors there is a movement towards “work-sample” or “proximal” testing. Especially for underrepresented students, the goal is to measure not just the accumulated knowledge and skills that they would bring to a new academic program, but also their ability to grow and learn through the program. The JD-Next is a fully online, noncredit, 7- to 10-week course to train potential JD students in case reading and analysis skills, prior to their first year of law school. This study …

Pemenuhan Hak Atas Kesehatan Bagi Fakir Miskin Saat Pandemi Covid-19 Di Indonesia, Bonita Cinintya Putri

"Dharmasisya” Jurnal Program Magister Hukum FHUI

Economy and Social Welfare should not be read and understood as two separate concepts separately. Human rights are rights that humans have solely because they are human. Humanity has it not because it was given to it by society or based on positive law, but solely based on its dignity as a human being. The state's obligation to the right to health is stated in Article 34 Paragraph (3) of the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia. The state as the holder of the obligation to fulfil human rights has the responsibility to comply with these aspects when talking …

Katz Or Dogs? Why The Katz Reasonable Expectation Of Privacy Test Is More Applicable To Advancing Technology Than A Test Applied To Dog Sniffs, Blade M. Allen

Student Published Scholarship

Most often, when law enforcement agencies or governments use a person’s DNA or genetic information, they do so in the pursuit of justice. That said, there are privacy concerns that arise when the government or police have open access to any person’s DNA or genetic information, especially through the Internet. This article attempts to present an argument for a reasonable expectation of privacy (REP) in a person’s genetic information or DNA as well as other forms of advancing technology. It begins with a history of the US Supreme Court’s interpretations of the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution, continues with …

Pandemic As Transboundary Harm: Lessons From The Trail Smelter Arbitration, Russell A. Miller

Scholarly Articles

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused incalculable harm around the world. The fact that this immense harm can be traced back to a localized outbreak in or near Wuhan, China, raises questions about the responsibility China might bear for the pandemic under public international law. Famously applied in the seminal Trail Smelter Arbitration (1938/1941), the Transboundary Harm Principle provides that no state can use or allow the use of its territory in a manner that causes significant harm in the territory of other states. This article does not intend to tap into the unseemly, xenophobic spirit that animates much of the …

International Law In The Boardroom, Kishanthi Parella

Scholarly Articles

Conventional wisdom expects that international law will proceed through a “state pathway” before regulating corporations: it binds national governments that then bind corporations. But recent corporate practices confound this story. American corporations complied with international laws even when the state pathway broke down. This unexpected compliance leads to three questions: How did corporations comply? Why did they do so? Who enforced international law? These questions are important for two reasons. First, many international laws depend on corporate cooperation in order to succeed. Second, the state pathway is not robust, then or now. It is therefore vital to identify alternatives to …

The Costs Of A Free And Public Education: An Analysis Of A School District's Student Fees, Jacob D. Skousen, Ellianna Rodriguez

BYU Education & Law Journal

Since the late 1800s U.S. states have provided a “centrally administered organization of public schools, overseen by a state superintendent or department of education and financed by state income tax revenues in addition to local taxes.” States have governed a system of public schools through the states’ constitutions. Each state’s constitution has a statement identifying the state as being responsible to provide its citizenry with a public education and in the majority of states’ constitutions there is further clarification noting that this education is provided free of charge. An example of this statement can be found in Nevada’s State Constitution, …

Speculative Immigration Policy, Matthew Boaz

Scholarly Articles

This Article considers how speculative fiction was wielded by the Trump administration to implement destructive U.S. immigration policy. It analyzes the thematic elements from a particular apocalyptic novel, traces those themes through actual policy implemented by the president, and considers the harm effected by such policies. This Article proposes that the harmful outcomes are not due to the use of speculative fiction, but rather the failure to consider the speculative voices of those who have been historically marginalized within the United States. This Article argues that alternative speculative visions could serve as a platform for radical imagination about future U.S. …