Digital Commons Network^™

Tax In Law Schools, Michael Hatfield

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At the 2023 Association of American Law Schools Tax Section meeting, professors discussed their impressions of a decline in the number of JD students studying tax. Their impressions were consistent with declines that have been documented in similar fields. Between 2011 and 2021, U.S. accounting programs saw an 18% drop in students, while new CPA candidates declined 39% from 2010 to 2022. In the United Kingdom, the number of law schools that teach tax has diminished by 43% since 2002. This Article examines tax education in 40 U.S. law schools, focusing on course offerings and enrollment trends from 2012 to …

The Muslim Secular: Parity And The Politics Of India's Partition: By Amar Sohal, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2023, 328 Pp., £83.00 (Hardback), Isbn: 9780198887638, Salmoli Choudhuri

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Sohal's book explores early to mid-twentieth century Muslim thinkers who rejected communal separatism in favour of a secular nationalism that upheld a unified vision of India. But what was the ideological enemy of the Muslim secular in the high noon of anti-colonial nationalism? Crucially, secularism itself lacks a stable conceptual ‘other’. Often, this space is occupied by ‘communalism’, a unique and ambiguous Indian nomenclature that is pejoratively and variously ascribed to minority positions, exclusive majoritarianism, and anti-nationalism. As a result, despite Sohal’s careful identification of intellectual differences between the thinkers, the master noun he uses to organise them conceals more …

Three Implications Of Moore., Reuven S. Avi-Yonah

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In his majority opinion in Moore, Justice Brett Kavanaugh listed several provisions of the code that could be subject to a constitutional challenge if realization were a constitutional requirement, as suggested by Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Samuel A. Alito Jr., Clarence Thomas, and Neil M. Gorsuch. Kavanaugh wrote: In short, the Moores cannot meaningfully distinguish the [mandatory repatriation tax] from similar taxes such as taxes on partnerships, on S corporations, and on subpart F income. The upshot is that the Moores’ argument, taken to its logical conclusion, could render vast swaths of the Internal Revenue Code unconstitutional. See, e.g., 26 …

From Land Reform To Landfare: Land Claims And The Welfare State In Kerala, India, Sudheesh R.C

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While large-scale land reform may still be underway in many countries, other contexts have states responding to land claims through scattered land provision measures. This article puts forward “landfare” as a lens to capture such measures and unpacks its features in one location. The article first explains this term, outlining its location in and departure from the land reform scholarship. It next shows how Kerala, India, widely cited in the scholarship for its 20th century land reform, addresses the land claims of its Adivasi citizens in the 21st century through landfare. Through an exploration of Adivasi land claims and an …

Gender Equality Plans In Research Organisations And Higher Education Institutions As A Catalyst For Transformative And Sustainable Change, Yvonne Galligan

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Gender Equality Plans (GEPs) play a pivotal role in shaping the European Union’s commitment to fostering sustainable structural change in Research organisations regarding gender equality. This article considers the dynamic evolution of the EU policy on GEPs, assesses the state of play with regards to GEPs following the requirements at EU level, and poses the question: What further can be done to deliver the transformative potential of GEPs, embed their sustainability and advance towards inclusiveness at greater speed? Drawing on the insights of feminist institutionalism, which highlights the relevance of informal practices as well as formal rules in shaping an …

Sweeping Section Three Under The Rug: A Comment On Trump V. Anderson, William Baude, Michael Paulsen

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No abstract provided.

Dispatches From Amendment Valley, Alison Lacroix

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No abstract provided.

Reflections And Gratitude: The Journal Of Food Law & Policy From A Twenty-Year Perspective, Margie Alsbrook

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Twenty years after the Journal of Food Law & Policy published its first issue, I find myself looking back with deep gratitude for the people who helped create it, for the students who sustained it, and for the community that continues to make it thrive. What began as an untested idea has grown into a respected publication and a cornerstone of a still-growing field. This essay is both a reflection on that journey and a heartfelt thank-you to everyone who made it possible.

Rahimi And The Future Of (The Rest Of) The Protection Order Prohibition, Bonnie Carlson

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In the summer of 2024, the Supreme Court considered United States v. Rahimi. Scholars and lawyers watched with bated breath to see how the court would interpret and apply the foundation-shifting Second Amendment test it established in New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen two years earlier. Ultimately, the Court upheld the federal law which temporarily bans some protection order respondents from possessing firearms. But the Court provided little in the way of additional guidance that lower courts desperately needed as evidenced by the disparate outcomes on gun cases nationwide following Bruen. Rather, the Court opted for a …

Locating Consumer Financial Regulation, Nikita Aggarwal

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Recent advances in data-driven technology in consumer financial markets, commonly referred to as "fintech," have resurfaced the question of whether and to what extent data, particularly consumers' personal data, should be a locus for regulatory intervention in these markets. While innovation in fintech and the accompanying increase in the processing of personal data offer to improve the functioning of consumer financial markets, like all advances in technology, they also come with costs and risks. In 2024, in a move that favored the regulation of personal financial data per se and many of the traditional features of personal data protection regulation, …

Human Masters/Robot Servants: Highly Automated Vehicle Design, Intoxicated Drivers & Vicarious Liability, William H. Widen, Marilyn C. Wolf

Articles

A traditional engineering role is to design a safe product. Safety engineering is an exercise in harm avoidance ex ante. In contrast, liability attribution is an exercise to compensate for loss post hoc — traditionally viewed as a legal matter. We observe that, when a natural person incurs liability for a loss that exceeds insurance coverage, economic ruin can follow. Neither engineering nor law focus on the loss suffered by defendants considering law as a "safety risk." The highly automated vehicle (HAV) design space, however, provides an opportunity to prevent this kind of economic harm from occurring ex ante just …

The Legacy Of Ferguson: Building Worker, Community, And Student Power To Respond To The Carceral State, Donna Coker, Melody Sinckler, Kira Mikes

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The 2014 killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri sparked national outrage regarding police violence in Black communities. But as time passed, Ferguson came to symbolize more than another episode of law enforcement violence. A Department of Justice (DOJ) report revealed that Ferguson's city coffers relied on an intentionally extractive criminal legal system that aggressively levied fines and fees in a racially discriminatory manner. As the DOJ findings illustrate, advocates seeking to transform or abolish the criminal legal system must rigorously analyze the political economy of the carceral system in their locale.

We describe a law school course aimed at …

Math And Aftermath: Impacts Of Unbundling A Large Journal Package On Researcher Perceptions And Behavior, Kizer S. Walker, Adam Chandler, Caitlin Finlay, Gabriela Castro Gessner, Tobi Hines, Jesse Koennecke, Susan Kendrick, Leah Mcewen, Jacob Sayward, Henrik W.W. Spoon

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This study seeks to understand the effects on researchers’ work at a large research university in the wake of the university library’s shift from a near-comprehensive journals package with a single, large publisher to a selective list of individual journal subscriptions. Analyzing historical journal usage, along with turnaway and interlibrary loan trends from the years following the changes, the authors made use of structured interviews with local researchers to bring context and meaning to the quantitative data. The interviews highlighted researchers’ strategies for gaining access to literature in their fields to which the library does not subscribe, and revealed assumptions …

Colombia, Covid-19, And The Colonial Trap: Reflections On The Politics Of Knowledge Production, Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, Bill Rolston, Claire Wright

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The COVID-19 pandemic has made historical and contemporary colonial relationships between and within states more fraught. This complexity is apparent within the research process itself, adding a new dimension to debates on positionality and the politics of knowledge production. Drawing on critical approaches to International Relations, and in dialogue with an emerging literature on the implications of the pandemic for knowledge decolonization, we reflect on our experience as scholars from the UK/Ireland researching colonial legacy and Transitional Justice in Colombia. The aim of this autoethnographic article is to suggest how the COVID-19 pandemic affected inequalities between researchers based in Europe …

Cultural Cognition And The Thoughtful Judge, Jack H.L. Whiteley

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That judges follow what the law is, and not what they wish it was, is a requirement of the rule of law. At the same time, scholars, lawyers, and judges often say that judges’ values influence their decisions. Connecting these two ideas has generated a conversation about the relationship between law, ideology, and politics.

Recently, part of this conversation has focused on a theory called cultural cognition. The theory offers an account of how people’s values shape how they interpret things without their noticing. People whose values tend toward hierarchy sometimes perceive facts differently than people whose values tend toward …

Introduction: Corporate Governance At Work, Claire Hill, Silvie Rohr

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No abstract provided.

Tonry’S Blueprint For The Comparative Study Of Sentencing Law And Policy, Kevin R. Reitz

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This essay explores Michael Tonry’s treatment of sentencing law and policy within the U.S. as an inherently comparative project. The essay draws from Tonry’s “early period” in comparative sentencing from the late 1970s to the middle 1990s, when his writing was largely U.S.-centric, focued on quickly changing conditions in dozens of states and the federal system. Tonry classified the several models of “sentencing reform” that were being tried across the country, drew contrasts in the legal architectures of the new systems, collected data and evaluation research for as many states as possible, and treated the reform-active states as “laboratories” whose …

Trends Impacting Law And Popular Culture Collecting In Law School Libraries, Jacob Sayward

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No abstract provided.

Standardization And Accuracy Of Race And Ethnicity Data: Equity Implications For Medical Ai, Alexandra Tsalidis, Lakshmi Bharadwaj, Francis X. Shen

Articles

The rapid integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into healthcare has raised many concerns about race bias in AI models. Yet, overlooked in this dialogue is the lack of quality control for the accuracy of patient race and ethnicity (r/e) data in electronic health records (EHR). This article critically examines the factors driving inaccurate and unrepresentative r/e datasets. These include conceptual uncertainties about how to categorize races and ethnicity, shortcomings in data collection practices, EHR standards, and the misclassification of patients’ race or ethnicity. To address these challenges, we propose a two-pronged action plan. First, we present a set of best …

Revolutionizing Brain Research Using Portable Mri In Field Settings: Public Perspectives On The Ethical And Legal Challenges, Molly K. Madzelan, Frances Lawrenz, Susan M. Wolf, Francis X. Shen

Articles

Introduction New, highly portable MRI (pMRI) technology promises to revolutionize brain research by facilitating field-based studies that can expand research to new settings beyond the traditional MRI suite in a medical center. At this early stage of development, understanding public knowledge and attitudes about pMRI research is crucial. Objective In this article we present the first empirical study of the general public’s willingness to participate in pMRI research, and their perceptions of expected benefits and concerns. Methods & Results We conducted a nationally representative online survey (N = 2,001) administered Aug. 15-31, 2022. We found that respondents were overwhelmingly willing …

Designer Organs: Ethical Genetic Modifications In The Era Of Machine Perfusion, Irina Filz Von Reiterdank, Susan M. Wolf, Raphaela Bento, Insoo Hyun

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Gene therapy is a rapidly developing field, finally yielding clinical benefits. Genetic engineering of organs for transplantation may soon be an option, thanks to convergence with another breakthrough technology, ex vivo machine perfusion (EVMP). EVMP allows access to the functioning organ for genetic manipulation prior to transplant. EVMP has the potential to enhance genetic engineering efficiency, improve graft survival, and reduce posttransplant complications. This will enable genetic modifications with a vast variety of applications, while raising questions on the ethics and regulation of this emerging technology. This review provides an in-depth discussion of current methodologies for delivering genetic vectors to …

Fairness In Contract Law: An Impossibility Theorem?, Francesco Parisi, Brian H. Bix

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Scholars have long debated whether contract law should prioritize maximizing efficiency and social welfare or, instead, prioritize justice, fairness and other deontological values. The debate is partly prescriptive (what should we try to do with contract law rules) and partly conceptual (how should we understand contract law). This article surveys central positions in this debate, distinguishing between the corrective and redistributive functions of contract law and between doing justice between the parties and more systemic effects. It highlights an impossibility theorem that underscores the self-defeating nature of redistributive policies in price-based contractual relationships, using a numerical example and two policy …

Public Perceptions Of Neurotechnologies Used To Target Mood, Memory, And Motor Symptoms, Rémy A. Furrer, Amanda R. Merner, Ian Stevens, Peter Zuk, Theresa Williamson, Francis X. Shen, Gabriel Lázaro-Muñoz

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Public attitudes toward four neurotechnologies for treating three types of brain disorders (mood, motor, and memory) vary on a range of metrics, such as perceived risk, invasiveness, and likelihood of use. In a survey of 1,052 US participants, deep brain stimulation (DBS) was seen as the most invasive and risky among the surveyed methods, involving the greatest perceived change to the person and the least likely to be used personally. Non-surgical options like transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and pills were viewed as more acceptable. Devices targeting motor symptoms were rated as more beneficial and acceptable than those for mood or …

Standardization And Accuracy Of Race And Ethnicity Data: Equity Implications For Medical Ai, Alexandra Tsalidis, Lakshmi Bharadwaj, Francis X. Shen

Articles

Abstract

The rapid integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into healthcare has raised many concerns about race bias in AI models. Yet, overlooked in this dialogue is the lack of quality control for the accuracy of patient race and ethnicity (r/e) data in electronic health records (EHR). This article critically examines the factors driving inaccurate and unrepresentative r/e datasets. These include conceptual uncertainties about how to categorize races and ethnicity, shortcomings in data collection practices, EHR standards, and the misclassification of patients’ race or ethnicity. To address these challenges, we propose a two-pronged action plan. First, we present a set of …

Revoluntionizing Brain Research Using Portable Mri In Field Settings: Public Perspectives On The Ethical And Legal Challenges, Molly K. Madzelan, Frances Lawrenz, Susan Wolf, Francis X. Shen

Articles

Introduction

New, highly portable MRI (pMRI) technology promises to revolutionize brain research by facilitating field-based studies that can expand research to new settings beyond the traditional MRI suite in a medical center. At this early stage of development, understanding public knowledge and attitudes about pMRI research is crucial.

Objective In this article we present the first empirical study of the general public’s willingness to participate in pMRI research, and their perceptions of expected benefits and concerns.

Methods & Results

We conducted a nationally representative online survey (N = 2,001) administered Aug. 15-31, 2022. We found that respondents were overwhelmingly willing …

Race, Gender, And Ordinary Peace: Assessing The Women, Peace, And Security Agenda Through A Coloniality Lens, Fionnuala Niaolain, Claire Wright

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No abstract provided.

By Way Of Conclusion: Making Sense Of Fallacies, Claire Hill

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As noted in the Introduction to this volume, our collective goal is to examine some of the key misconceptions and unquestioned assumptions – which we refer to as ‘fallacies’ – that guide, and often misguide, developments in modern corporate law and financial regulation. These fallacies are embedded and instantiated in scholarship, law, public policy and public opinion. Their intellectual and practical impact is considerable, but it is largely hidden. Critically, these fallacies too often frame legal and policy debates, strongly influencing and even determining policy choices. While our volume does not (and indeed cannot) provide an exhaustive analysis of this …

Tribes And Temperament: Two Underappreciated Determinants Of Market Actor Behavior, Motivations And Beliefs, Claire A. Hill

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This chapter, written for a volume on Hidden Fallacies in Corporate Law and Financial Regulation, argues that markets and market actors can be better understood by taking into account some neglected determinants of behavior, motivations and beliefs -- and ultimately, by embracing an expanded view of rationality.

The neglected determinants are tribes, by which I mean communities with their own norms, rituals, and institutions, and temperament, which I use in its colloquial sense. Deal makers, for instance, can be said to have a community, with norms as to, among other things, ‘what’s market.” Knowing and abiding by the norms conveys …

Core Skills & "Cool Tools" From The Third Generation Of Fcil Librarians, Meredith Capps, Clement Lin, Devan Orr, Alison A. Shea, Loren Turner, Latia Ward

Articles

There have been three generations of foreign, comparative, and international law (FCIL) librarians in the United States (US) in the postwar era. FCIL librarians of the first generation were foreign lawyers who emigrated to the US after World War II. Those of the second generation were American lawyer-librarians who built the infrastructure of FCIL librarianship into what it is today. The third generation of FCIL librarians includes the authors of this article. We perform many of the same research tasks as our predecessors, but we do so primarily online through an ever-evolving array of new and emerging technologies. This article …

Kill 1l, Prentiss Cox

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No abstract provided.