Digital Commons Network^™

Bottomheavy: Legal Footnotes, Joan Ames Magat

Faculty Scholarship

For decades, legal footnotes have been the deserving target of both ample criticism and self-mockery. Apart from their complaints as to footnotes’ mere existence, most critics draw a bead on the ballooning of footnote content. Some journal editors, aspiring to respond to this sound theme, hopefully inform their authors of a preference for “light footnoting.” But where does an author begin to trim, and what editor has the audacity to slash what the author (or her research assistant) has so laboriously compiled below the line? Changing our footnote habits is about benefits and costs. To gain the former, we must …

Full Faith And Credit In The Early Congress, Stephen E. Sachs

Faculty Scholarship

After more than 200 years, the Full Faith and Credit Clause remains poorly understood. The Clause first issues a self-executing command (that "Full Faith and Credit shall be given"), and then empowers Congress to prescribe the manner of proof and the "Effect" of state records in other states. But if states must accord each other full faith and credit-and if nothing could be more than full-then what "Effect" could Congress give state records that they wouldn't have already? And conversely, how could Congress in any way reduce or alter the faith and credit that is due?

This Article seeks to …

Maritime Delimitation In The Black Sea (Romania V. Ukraine), Coalter G. Lathrop

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Warp And Woof Of Statutory Interpretation: Comparing Supreme Court Approaches In Tax Law And Workplace Law, James J. Brudney, Corey Distlear

Faculty Scholarship

Debates about statutory interpretation-and especially about the role of the canons of construction and legislative history-are generally framed in one-size-fits-all terms. Yet federal judges including most Supreme Court Justices-have not approached statutory interpretation from a methodologically uniform perspective. This Article presents the first in-depth examination of interpretive approaches taken in two distinct subject areas over an extended period of time. Professors Brudney and Ditslear compare how the Supreme Court has relied on legislative history and the canons of construction when construing tax statutes and workplace statutes from 1969 to 2008. The authors conclude that the Justices tend to rely on …

Constitution And The Laws Of War During The Civil War, The Federal Courts, Practice & Procedure, Andrew Kent

Faculty Scholarship

This Article uncovers the forgotten complex of relationships between the U.S. Constitution, citizenship and the laws of war. The Supreme Court today believes that both noncitizens and citizens who are military enemies in a congressionally-authorized war are entitled to judicially-enforceable rights under the Constitution. The older view was that the U.S. government’s military actions against noncitizen enemies were not limited by the Constitution, but only by the international laws of war. On the other hand, in the antebellum period, the prevailing view was U.S. citizenship should carry with it protection from ever being treated as a military enemy under the …

Extraterritorial Electioneering And The Globalization Of American Elections, Zephyr Teachout

Faculty Scholarship

This Essay explores a fascinating new truth: because of the Internet, governments, corporations, and citizens of other countries can now meaningfully participate in United States elections. They can phone bank, editorialize, and organize in ways that impact a candidate's image, the narrative structure of a campaign, and the mobilization of base support. Foreign governments can bankroll newspapers that will be read by millions of voters. Foreign companies can enlist employees in massive cross-continental email campaigns. Foreign activists can set up offline meetings and organize door-to-door campaigns in central Ohio. They can, in short, influence who wins and who loses. Depending …

This Right Is Not Allowed By Governments That Are Afraid Of The People: The Public Meaning Of The Second Amendment When The Fourteenth Amendment Was Ratified , Clayton E. Cramer, Nicholas J. Johnson, George A. Moscary

Faculty Scholarship

The lingering question following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in District of Columbia v. Heller is whether the Court will employ the Fourteenth Amendment to incorporate the newly confirmed right to keep and bear arms as a limitation on states. The answer will hinge substantially on the Court's assessment of the intent and purpose of the Fourteenth Amendment with regard to the right to keep and bear arms. Discerning such intent requires detailed evaluation of the context within which the amendment emerged and the understanding of the right to keep and bear arms at the time. This Essay pursues in …

From Conflict To Cooperation: State And Tribal Court Relations In The Era Of Self-Determination, Aliza Organick, Tonya Kowalski

Faculty Scholarship

State and Tribal sovereigns have historically had a tense relationship, beginning in colonial times, when states vied with the federal government for trading rights and for control of Indian lands. Today, that tension still expresses itself in matters such as gaming compacts, criminal and civil jurisdiction, and taxation, to name just a few. While different sovereigns within a federal system may always vie for resources and power to some extent, it is time for states and Tribes to focus on what a more mutually supportive relationship with Tribal communities has to offer. This Essay explores the history of the two …

"Death Is Different" And A Refugee's Right To Counsel, John Mills, Kristen M. Echemendia, Stephen Yale-Loehr

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Consumer Scams And The Elderly: Preserving Independence Through Shifting Default Rules, Nathalie Martin

Faculty Scholarship

Modern technology has made it easier than ever for scammers, legitimate businesses with dubious intentions, and even charities to take advantage of telemarketing. For reasons including reduced mental faculties and loneliness, the elderly are increasingly at risk for losing money, credit, and ultimately independence to those who would exploit them. In this Article, Professor Martin explores the benefits of existing regulations, bankruptcy, and reverse mortgages as solutions to these problems. Professor Martin also recommends a new default rule for elderly consumers: no solicitations unless the consumer opts in.

Listening To Indigenous Voices: What The Un Declaration On The Rights Of Indigenous Peoples Means For U.S. Tribes, Aliza Organick

Faculty Scholarship

Part I of this article will provide a historical context for the Declaration by surveying the international recognition of the concept of "Indigenous" rights that led to the adoption of the Declaration. Part II will discuss the positions taken by each no-vote state and the reasoning employed by these states in support of those positions. Part Ill will focus on how U.S. Tribes might turn the Declaration into a living document in spite of the United States' continued resistance to do so.

Tribal Law And Best Practices In Legal Education: Creating A New Path For The Study Of Tribal Law, Aliza Organick

Faculty Scholarship

In Part I of this article, I explore the importance of introducing law students to tribal law and the culture of other local legal systems early and often. I assert that when the legal academy ignores the role that culture plays in the formation and understanding of our own legal system and the legal systems of other communities, we are ignoring the most basic and core aspects of society. By disregarding the role culture plays in legal systems, we are doing a disservice not only to our students, but also ultimately to the legal community and our clients. By failing …

The Evolving Architecture Of North American Integration, Laura Spitz

Faculty Scholarship

Given its potential significance for democracy, sovereignty, government, governance, and justice in each of Canada, the United States, and Mexico, North American integration qua integration has thus far received surprisingly little attention from legal scholars and social scientists. While an expanding body of research explores the dynamics of continental integration in other contexts (especially Europe) and/or examines the meaning of globalization, regionalism, and multilateral internationalism in a general sense, the specific constitution of an integrated North American space remains largely undertheorized. This Article aims to advance the literature in this area by examining legal discourse as an example of the …

The Dystopian Potential Of Corporate Law, D. Gordon Smith

Faculty Scholarship

The community of corporate law scholars in the United States is fragmented. One group, heavily influenced by economic analysis of corporations, is exploring the merits of increasing shareholder power vis-a-vis directors. Another group, animated by concern for social justice, is challenging the traditional, shareholder-centric view of corporate law, arguing instead for a model of stakeholder governance. The current disagreement within corporate law is as fundamental as in any area of law, and the debate is more heated than at any time since the New Deal. This paper is part of a debate on the audacious question, Can Corporate Law Save …

Untying The Gordian Knot: A Proposal For Determining Applicability Of The Laws Of War To The War On Terror, Geoffery S. Corn, Eric Talbot Jensen

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Exercising Passive Personality Jurisdiction Over Combatants: A Theory In Need Of A Political Solution, Eric Talbot Jensen

Faculty Scholarship

On March 4, 2005, a car carrying Nicola Calipari and Andrea Carpani, members of the Italian Ministry of Intelligence, and Giuliana Sgrena, a journalist who had been taken hostage one month before and who had just been released and was on her way back to Italy, was traveling to the Baghdad Airport. The car was fired on by US forces from a checkpoint, killing Mr. Calipari and wounding Ms. Sgrena and Mr. Carpani. As a result of this tragic event, a joint investigation occurred and but Italy and the United States could not agree on the results. The United States …

Topical Application Of Entry Inhibitors As "Virustats" To Prevent Sexual Transmission Of Hiv Infection, Michael M. Lederman, Robin L.P. Jump, Heather A. Pilch-Cooper, Scott F. Sieg

Faculty Scholarship

With the continuing march of the AIDS epidemic and little hope for an effective vaccine in the near future, work to develop a topical strategy to prevent HIV infection is increasingly important. This stated, the track record of large scale "microbicide" trials has been disappointing with nonspecific inhibitors either failing to protect women from infection or even increasing HIV acquisition. Newer strategies that target directly the elements needed for viral entry into cells have shown promise in non-human primate models of HIV transmission and as these agents have not yet been broadly introduced in regions of highest HIV prevalence, they …

The New European Choice-Of-Law Revolution, Ralf Michaels

Faculty Scholarship

Conflict of laws in Europe was long viewed by outsiders as formalist, antiquated, and uninteresting. Now that the European Union has become more active in the field, things are changing, but most view these changes as a mere gradual evolution. This is untrue. Actually, and fascinatingly, we are observing a real European conflicts revolution—in importance, radicalness, and irreversibility comparable to the twentieth-century American conflicts revolution. European developments go beyond the federalization of choice-of-law rules in EU regulations. In addition, EU choice of law is being constitutionalized, in particular through the principles of mutual recognition and the country-of-origin principle, along with …

The Right To Silence Helps The Innocent: A Response To Critics, Alex Stein

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The French Subjective Theory Of Contract: Separating Rhetoric From Reality, Wayne Barnes

Faculty Scholarship

Most of the world, including Anglo-American jurisdictions, conforms to the objective theory of contract, which posits that contract formation is determined by reference solely to external evidence of manifestations of assent. On the other hand, France uniquely clings to the rhetoric of its “subjective” theory of contract, championing the freedom of the individual and the autonomy of the will. France’s association with a subjective theory of contract is widely recognized and assumed. One would initially assume that the French subjectivist philosophy would result in dramatically different outcomes in actual cases, when compared with the objectivist rules-based perspective that obtains in …

Punitive Damages, Criminal Punishment, And Proportionality: The Importance Of Legislative Limits, Leo M. Romero

Faculty Scholarship

This Article addresses the timely and controversial topic of constitutional limits on punitive damages and brings a criminal punishment theory perspective to the analysis of this issue. The question of how to determine when punishment is unconstitutionally excessive has been and continues to be a subject of intense debate in the courts and scholarly circles. The United States Supreme Court has subjected criminal sanctions, criminal forfeitures, and punitive damages to a proportionality requirement, but the Court uses different approaches to the proportionality analysis depending on the type of punishment. In the criminal context, the Court has retreated in large part …

Electronic Tax Fraud - Are There "Sales Zappers" In Japan?, Richard Thompson Ainsworth

Faculty Scholarship

Although there is no public acknowledgement - in the press, in a court case, though any announcement by the Japanese National Tax Administration, or in any academic studies or papers - that Zappers and Phantom-ware are a fraud problem in Japan, a number of factors suggest that Japan may be very fertile ground for technology-assisted cash skimming fraud. Those factors include: (1) a high concentration of small to medium sized businesses; (2) the fact that the retail economy is highly cash-based; and (3) the high level of technology acceptance in the Japanese retail sector - electronic cash registers (ECRs) and …

Systemic Risk, Steven L. Schwarcz

Faculty Scholarship

Governments and international organizations worry increasingly about systemic risk, under which the world’s financial system can collapse like a row of dominoes. There is widespread confusion, though, about the causes and even the definition of systemic risk, and uncertainty about how to control it. This Article offers a conceptual framework for examining what risks are truly “systemic,” what causes those risks, and how, if at all, those risks should be regulated. Scholars historically have tended to think of systemic risk primarily in terms of financial institutions such as banks. However, with the growth of disintermediation, in which companies can access …

America's Unknown Constitutional World, Christian G. Fritz

Faculty Scholarship

Historical and popular understandings of the American constitutional tradition have adopted the contentions of only one side of this debate and its role in bringing about the 1787 constitution. In doing so, these accounts miss much of that tradition’s actual history.

Common Grounds, Common Waters: Towards A Water Ethic - Roundtable Discussion, Gabriel Eckstein, Irene Klaver

Faculty Scholarship

The purpose of this roundtable discussion is to continue the dialogue but in a more informal setting, and to allow people to develop some of the ideas and concepts that they started earlier but could not finish because of the time limits.

It is also to get the audience and the panelists to ask questions of each other and to participate in more of a dialogue. To start this discussion I want to raise, at least to the panelists, this issue of wants versus needs, and I am actually going to add one more-versus rights-because I thought that was very …

Variable Judgments Of Decisional Capacity In Cognitively Impaired Research Subjects, Marion B. Patterson, Peter J. Whitehouse

Faculty Scholarship

OBJECTIVES: To compare assessments of the decisional capacity of cognitively impaired patients by research assistants (RAs) and by family caregiver/proxies and to determine whether either or both groups judge capacity differently depending on the specific (hypothetical) research enrollment decision being made. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. SETTING: Three clinics, one each in Ohio, Kentucky, and Illinois. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred forty-nine patients with established dementia diagnoses and their caregiver/proxies. MEASUREMENTS: As part of a longer interview, patients were asked about future enrollment in five hypothetical research projects with varying risks and benefits. After patients reported each decision and reasons for that decision, RAs (using …

Dances With Elephants: Administrative Resolution Of Medical Injury Claims By Medicare Beneficiaries, Eleanor D. Kinney, William M. Sage

Faculty Scholarship

In our judgment, Hoffmann and Rowthorn's research clearly demonstrates that the QIO-based complaint review process does not provide genuine relief to beneficiaries. People who complain typically want an explanation of their bad experience, compensation for harm they may have suffered, and assurance that future experiences will be better for themselves and for others. Medicare beneficiaries, however, receive minimal information about the resolution of their complaints and no substantive relief whatsoever.

As Hoffmann and Rowthorn point out, several reform proposals are now before Congress, including moving the beneficiary complaint function from QIOs to new "Medicare Provider Review Organizations." It is not …

Understanding And Problematizing Contractual Tort Subrogation, Brendan S. Maher, Radha A. Pathak

Faculty Scholarship

The modern incarnation of tort subrogation allows an insurer to force its insured to turn over the litigation proceeds independently obtained by the insured against a third-party tortfeasor, even if the insured has not been made whole by such litigation. This Article demonstrates that such a result is the product of a subrogation-as-contract paradigm that has taken hold in the federal system, most notably by the United States Supreme Court in Sereboff v. Mid-Atlantic Services, 547 U.S. 356 (2006). More importantly, the Article illustrates the conceptual and historical roots of subrogation to demonstrate the extent to which subrogation-as-contract is divorced …

The Changing Face Of Family Law: Global Consequences Of Embedding Physicians And Biotechnology In The Parent-Child Relationship, George J. Annas

Faculty Scholarship

Sexual reproduction, also known as making babies the old-fashioned way, has always brought with it significant challenges for family law, especially regarding protecting the best interests of children, and the identification of parents with the right and responsibility to rear them. But these challenges often seem mundane in the face of what has evolved since physicians have been injected into baby making and thus into novel parent-child relationships. The addition of physicians and their "new" medical technologies, sometimes called Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART), have forced the law to reconsider the very definition of motherhood and have radically altered society's view …

Protecting Public Health And The Environment By The Stroke Of A Presidential Pen: Seven Executive Orders For The President's First 100 Days, Eileen Gauna

Faculty Scholarship

This white paper recommends a series of seven Executive Orders to the new Administration, all in the areas of health, safety, and the environment. Each of the suggested Executive Orders directs agencies of the government to take specific steps that would make a realworld difference and simultaneously send a signal to the public, Congress, the business community, and others that a new course has been charted and that change has arrived.