Digital Commons Network^™

Legal Education As A Rule Of Law Strategy - Problems And Opportunities With U.S.-Based Programs, David Pimentel

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No abstract provided.

Maximizing The Impact Of Digital Supports In Mathematics Learning Support In Higher Education – An Overview Of The 9th Annual Imlsn Workshop, Cormac Breen, Anthony Cronin

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In this article we give a short description of the 9th Annual Workshop of the Irish Mathematics Learning Support Network (IMLSN). The workshop theme was ‘Maximizing the impact of digital supports in Mathematics Learning Support in Higher Education’. We briefly describe the Irish Mathematics Learning Support Network (IMLSN) and outline the factors that motivated this workshop theme. We will also discuss the presentations, some of the issues that were raised during the workshop and we close with some brief conclusions on this very successful event.

Efficient Computational Strategies For Doubly Intractable Problems With Applications To Bayesian Social Networks, Alberto Caimo, Antonietta Mira

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Powerful ideas recently appeared in the literature are adjusted and combined to design improved samplers for doubly intractable target distributions with a focus on Bayesian exponential random graph models. Different forms of adaptive Metropolis–Hastings proposals (vertical, horizontal and rectangular) are tested and merged with the delayed rejection (DR) strategy with the aim of reducing the variance of the resulting Markov chain Monte Carlo estimators for a given computational time. The DR is modified in order to integrate it within the approximate exchange algorithm (AEA) to avoid the computation of intractable normalising constant that appears in exponential random graph models. This …

Design For Transitions - From And To What?, Cameron Tonkinwise

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No abstract provided.

Analyses Of Ionizing Radiation Effects In – Vitro In Peripheral Blood 1 Lymphocytes With Raman Spectroscopy, Adrian Maguire, Isabel Vegacarrascal, Lisa White, B. Mcclean, Orla L. Howe, Fiona Lyng, Aidan Meade

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The use of Raman spectroscopy to measure the biochemical profile of healthy and diseased cells and tissues may be a potential solution to many diagnostic problems in the clinic. Although extensively used to identify changes in the biochemical profiles of cancerous cells and tissue, Raman spectroscopy has been used less often for analyzing changes to the cellular environment by external factors such as ionizing radiation. In tandem with this, the biological impact of low doses of ionizing radiation remains poorly understood. Extensive studies have been performed on the radiobiological effects associated with radiation doses above 0.1 Gy, and are well …

Designing Work: A Study Of Collaboration And Concentration In Open-Plan Offices, John Walsh

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This article looks at the design of open-plan offices, particularly in relation to the impact of spatial design on different work-modes. It examines the history of the open-plan office, looking at how the open-plan workplace has evolved. It reports the findings of a survey on office design of 150 office workers across multiple industry sectors, job types and age categories. Finally, assuming there will not be a return en masse to the traditional, space hungry, cellular office for most knowledge workers this article considers what have we learned so far, and how spaces can be designed to support different work-modes, …

Best Practices For Conducting Evaluations Of Sign Language Animation, Matt Huenerfauth, Hernisa Kacorri

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Automatic synthesis of linguistically accurate and natural-looking American Sign Language (ASL) animations would make it easier to add ASL content to websites and media, thereby increasing information accessibility for many people who are deaf. Based on several years of studies, we identify best practices for conducting experimental evaluations of sign language animations with feedback from deaf and hard-of-hearing users. First, we describe our techniques for identifying and screening participants, and for controlling the experimental environment. Finally, we discuss rigorous methodological research on how experiment design affects study outcomes when evaluating sign language animations. Our discussion focuses on stimuli design, effect …

Materiality And A Theory Of Legal Circularity, Wendy Gerwick Couture

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This Article argues that the materiality doctrine, which lies at the heart of securities fraud, has the potential to operate as a self-fulfilling prophecy. This Article labels this phenomenon "legal circularity." In order to place the potential legal circularity of materiality in context among the various other legal doctrines that share this potential, this Article proposes a two part Theory of Legal Circularity. First, this Article proposes the following Legal Circularity Test to identify potentially circular doctrines: A legal doctrine is potentially circular if: (1) the legal doctrine incorporates the behavior or attitude of a population or person, either hypothetical …

Making "Conservation" Work For The 21st Century: Enabling Resilient Place, Jerrold A. Long

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During the New Deal, as part of a larger effort implementing Progressive Era "conservation" regimes, the federal government authorized the structurally-invasive Flood Control Act of 1936. At the same time, the Standard State Soil Conservation Districts Law promoted the creation of local, place-based efforts to protect or restore locally-valued resources. "Conservation" thus came to signify both the invasive, structural, engineering approach of mid-20th Century flood control, and the local, more responsive and flexible nature of soil conservation districts. But our understandings of our place in the natural world have changed subtly but significantly over the past century. Any legitimate natural …

Fearing The Bogeyman: How The Legal System's Overreaction To Perceived Danger Threatens Families And Children, David Pimentel

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In the last generation, American parenting norms have shifted dramatically, reflecting a near obsession with child safety and especially the risk of stranger abduction. A growing body of literature shows, however, that the threats to children are more imagined than real, and that the effort to protect children from these "bogeymen" may be doing more harm than good. Advocates of "Free-Range" parenting argue that giving children a long leash can help them learn responsibility, explore the world outside, get physical exercise, and develop self-sufficiency. But the state, usually acting through Child Protective Services (CPS), is likely to second-guess parents' judgments …

Civic Education, The Rule Of Law, And The Judiciary: A Republic, If You Can Keep It, Donald L. Burnett Jr.

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No abstract provided.

Dodging The Taxman: Why The Treasury's Anti-Abuse Regulation Is Unconstitutional, Linda Jellum

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To combat abusive tax shelters, the Department of the Treasury promulgated a general anti-abuse regulation applicable to all of subchapter K of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. The Treasury targeted subchapter K because unique aspects of the partnership tax laws-including its aggregate entity dichotomy-foster creative tax manipulation. In the anti-abuse regulation, the Treasury attempted to "codify" existing judicially-created anti-abuse doctrines, such as the business-purpose and economic-substance doctrines. Also, and more surprisingly, the Treasury directed those applying subchapter K to use a purposivist approach to interpretation and to reject textualism.

In this article, I demonstrate that the Treasury exceeded both …

The Constitution, Desegregation, And Public Opinion: Swan V. Charlotte-Mechlenburg Board Of Education, James L. Hunt

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The first three words of the preamble to the Constitution are "We the People." Yet the vast majority of constitutional scholarship is limited to the opinions of judges, lawyers, law professors, and other political and economic elites. This article takes a different approach to constitutional understanding. It describes the legal thoughts of the citizens for whom the Constitution exists. It does so through an analysis of the public's reaction to the federal court decisions in Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, a desegregation case. The lead attorney for the Swann plaintiffs was Julius LeVonne Chambers, an alumnus and future …

The Role Of Non-Governmental Organizations In Advancing International Criminal Justice, Charles C. Jalloh

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This article examines the role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in advancing international criminal justice. I argue that NGOs have had considerable impact by contributing, among other things, to the global struggle against impunity through advocacy for the creation of more robust institutional mechanisms to prosecute those who perpetrate such crimes. This ranges from supporting the processes that led to the creation of several ad hoc international tribunals for Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Sierra Leone, all the way through to their support for the establishment of an independent permanent international penal court based in The Hague. The crux of my claim is …

Criminal Corruption: Why Broad Definitions Of Bribery Make Things Worse, Albert W. Alschuler

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No abstract provided.

The Political Economy Of Crowdsourcing: Markets For Labor, Rewards, And Securities, Richard A. Epstein

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No abstract provided.

Food Trucks, Incremental Innovation, And Regulatory Ruts, Elizabeth Kregor

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No abstract provided.

The Intractable Normative Complexities Of Valuing Foreign Lives, Jonathan Masur

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No abstract provided.

Legal Scholarship For Judges, Diane P. Wood

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No abstract provided.

Offensive Disclosure: How Voluntary Disclosure Can Increase Returns From Insider Trading, M. Todd Henderson, Alan Jagolinzer, Karl Muller

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No abstract provided.

Transforming Trepidation Into Transactional Lawyering, John H. Matheson

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Those of us teaching the Business Associations course in law schools are almost universally presented with a combination of circumstances that provides a unique opportunity for transformative teaching. These circumstances start with the outstanding quality of our students but also include their limited educational exposure and experience in business matters, their indoctrination into the “lawyer as litigator” model of the first-year curriculum, their lack of contact with transactional and collective decision making, and their unfamiliarity with the concept of lawyer as value creator.

A Response To The Ipcc Fifth Assessment, Sarah J. Adams-Schoen, Deepa Badrinarayana, Cinnamon Carlarne, Robin Kundis Craig, John C. Dernbach, Keith H. Hirokawa, Alexandra B. Klass, Katrina Fischer Kuh, Stephen R. Miller, Jessica Owley, Shannon Roesler, Jonathan Rosenbloom, Inara Scott, David Takacs

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The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report presented significant data and findings about climate change. But the IPCC's working groups' summaries for policymakers avoid making normative statements about the IPCC's findings. The authors, members of the Environmental Law Collaborative, bridge this gap by identifying the normative claims that stem from the working groups' summaries to spark deeper discussion and help shape the IPCC's sixth assessment.

Gender Diversity And Disparity In The Legal Profession: An Empirical Analysis Of The Gender Profile In National Law Firms And Law Schools, Edward S. Adams, Samuel P. Engel

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Gender representation in the context of large law firms has received extensive scholarly attention and has been the subject of multiple Supreme Court cases.1 Recently, Ellen Pao lost a highly publicized gender discrimination case against Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers.2 The case unveiled disturbing gender discrimination that affects the lives of many people, especially in the legal profession. With a renewed attack on the “gender gap,” and on cultural sexism in the highest areas of business and law, the question remains: where are we today? How bad is gender discrimination in these desirable fields? What disadvantages do women face and …

The New Way Of War: Is There A Duty To Use Drones?, Oren Gross

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Drones have become the poster child for America’s continuing fight against terrorism under President Obama, playing the role that torture had occupied during the Bush administration: a morally, legally, and politically controversial issue that drives a wedge between the United States and much of the rest of the world. Covert drone attacks orchestrated by the CIA around the world, including in areas that lie outside recognized war zones, raise a range of difficult questions that have been heavily debated by scholars, policy-makers and in the general media. However, that discussion has focused on whether states have the legal right to …

The Liberal Case For Hobby Lobby, Brett Mcdonnell

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The Supreme Court decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. has stirred strong objections from political liberals. Those objections are misguided, and the Court's opinion reflects core liberal values of social responsibility and tolerance of diversity. In the first half of its decision, the Court held that in some circumstances, for-profit corporations committed to religious goals may invoke the religious liberty protection of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). Liberals have treated this as an appalling and/or humorous extension of rights, which should apply only to humans. However, the Court's decision rightly recognizes that corporations can, and sometimes do, …

Institutionalizing The Uspto Law School Clinic Certification Program For Transactional Law Clinics, Jennifer S. Fan

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With 188 transactional law clinics nationwide and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) Law School Clinic Certification Program (“Program”) recently established as a statutory program of the USPTO, this Article argues that every transactional clinic that works on trademark and patent applications should apply to become part of the Program. In satisfying the participation requirements of the Program, transactional law clinics will usher in a new, uniform way to educate aspiring intellectual property attorneys. As a result, the law students will not only be “practice ready,” but also more effective attorneys once they are in practice. Participating in …

Coming Of Age: Innovation Districts And The Role Of Law Schools, Jennifer S. Fan

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New urban models, dubbed “innovation districts” are gaining traction in entrepreneurial-focused areas across the United States. This article begins by defining what innovation districts are. It then examines the potential role that law schools, together with technology transfer offices, can play as innovation cultivators within such districts. Specifically, it looks at three potential models that law schools can consider when contemplating a relationship with the technology transfer office within a university. Integrating a clinic and technology transfer office within an innovation district does not come without its challenges, however. Accordingly, this article will suggest ways for transactional law clinics to …

Pragmatism Rules, Elizabeth G. Porter

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The Roberts Court’s decisions interpreting the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are reshaping the litigation landscape. Yet neither scholars, nor the Court itself, have articulated a coherent theory of interpretation for the Rules. This Article constructs a theory of Rules interpretation by discerning and critically examining the two starkly different methodologies the Roberts Court applies in its Rules cases. It traces the roots of both methodologies, explaining how they arise from — and reinforce — structural, linguistic, and epistemological tensions inherent in the Rules and the rulemaking process. Then, drawing from administrative law, it suggests a theoretical framework that accommodates …

"Home Rule" Vs. "Dillon's Rule" For Washington Cities, Hugh D. Spitzer

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This Article focuses on the tension between the late-nineteenth-century “Dillon’s Rule” limiting city powers, and the “home rule” approach that gained traction in the early and mid-twentieth century. Washington’s constitution allows cities to exercise all the police powers possessed by the state government, so long as local regulations do not conflict with general laws. The constitution also vests charter cities with control over their form of government. But all city powers are subject to “general laws” adopted by the legislature. Further, judicial rulings on city powers to provide public services have fluctuated, ranging from decisions citing the “Dillon’s Rule” doctrine …

The Struggle To Bury Pre-Existing Condition Consideration, Sallie Thieme Sanford [email protected]

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As of January 1, 2014, applicants for comprehensive health insurance do not face questions about their health history. The ACA prohibits health insurers from considering an individual’s health history in determining whether to sell that person a comprehensive health insurance policy, the policy’s price, or its coverage terms. Pre-existing condition (PEC) consideration is, in this crucial context, dead. Few will mourn its passing. This legislative milestone marks a significant step towards the goal of a healthier population. While celebrating this achievement, however, in this article I argue that we ought to recall the context of PEC consideration, its practical application, …