Digital Commons Network^™

Computers And The Law, James Hambleton, David Matone

Faculty Scholarship

The Computer can manipulate information and retrieve it in ways which traditional sources of legal research cannot. Using a traditional legal research book, the attorney is tied to the indexing and abstracting which the legal editor has used. Searching for a case on Ford Pinto crashes, where does the attorney start? Are these cases indexed under "Automobiles," "Products Liability," or "Torts?" The attorney has to second guess the indexer.

Using the computer, the attorney is not tied to any indexing system. Rather than containing just digest paragraphs or abstracts, the computer database holds the full text of case decisions. By …

Behind Closed Doors, Peter G. Fish

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Alter Ego Doctrine: Alternative Challenges To The Corporate Form, Antoinette M. Sedillo Lopez

Faculty Scholarship

This Comment examines alternative challenges to the separate entity fiction. First, it will analyze the economic policies underlying the separate entity concept and the justification for imposing shareholder liability in typical alter ego cases. Second, this Comment will review cases in which the corporate entity is challenged for alternative purposes and demonstrate how the usual alter ego analysis fails in these cases. Finally, this Comment proposes a three-stage analysis for examining alternative challenges to the separate entity fiction. The proposal would require courts to analyze the facts of the cases, identify the policies underlying the challenge, and balance the economic …

Representing Institutionalized Mentally Retarded Persons, James W. Ellis, Ruth A. Luckasson

Faculty Scholarship

The following article explores the need for increased legal advocacy for mentally retarded persons. Contrasting the services available to the mentally ill with the limited resources for the mentally retarded, the authors highlight the unique problems of this underrepresented population, and examine alternative forums for advocacy. In a practical, straightforward analysis, the article identifies barriers to effective representation, including the fundamental problem of lawyers' and advocates' reactions to institutionalized retarded persons' appearance and behavior, and the effect of these reactions on advocacy efforts. The article is followed by a client interview form and guide that focus on the special problems …

The Political Offense Exception As Applied In French Cases Dealing With The Extradition Of Terrorists, Thomas E. Carbonneau

Faculty Scholarship

There is no doubt that terrorism is a dangerous, costly and complex problem. Commentators have speculated extensively about its ideological character and other analysts have studied its sociological roots and psychological origins. Despite all this attention, there is a lack of consensus in the international community about whether terrorism is no more than a sensational form of criminality or a legitimate mode of political expression.

This article does not attempt to deal with all of the multifarious aspects of contemporary terrorism; its ambition is much more modest in scope, centering upon traditional legal mechanisms and doctrines that can be adapted …

Mobile Homes?--Public And Private Controls, Robert L. Schwartz

Faculty Scholarship

The mobile home of today is a far different creature than that from which it was bred. Changes in size, appearance, safety, convenience, and desirability as a place to live have caused the modem mobile home to bear little resemblance to its ancestors. Functioning as a permanently emplaced dwelling, the mobile home has come to be recognized as undeserving of the label "mobile." Other than by place of manufacture, mobile homes have become increasingly indistinguishable from conventional single family dwellings, raising the question of whether mobile homes can reasonably be restricted from areas reserved for single family dwellings. Land controls, …

The Sedition Of Free Speech, Lee C. Bollinger

Faculty Scholarship

Several years ago, a story appeared in The New York Times which provided a graphic illustration of how the Soviet government manipulates the news about itself. Each year on May Day, the Times reported, the Soviet leadership poses for a photograph while standing atop the Lenin tomb in Red Square. In the year of the Times story, however, the photograph had undergone a number of noticeable alterations as it appeared in the various government-run media outlets. One official had been removed altogether, another had been positioned a bit closer to Brezhnev, some who had not in fact been present were …

The 1982 Minimum Tax Amendments As A First Step In The Transition To A "Flat-Rate" Tax, Michael J. Graetz

Faculty Scholarship

The massive body of tax legislation enacted in the first two years of the Reagan Administration offers little guidance for predicting the future direction of United States tax policy. Dramatically different Congressional coalitions – each led by the President – passed by very narrow margins the nation's largest tax reduction (the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981) and then the next year enacted the largest peacetime tax increase (the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982). In each case, short-term political and fiscal concerns dominated the debates. The 1981 legislation reduced taxes in an effort to stimulate economic activity …

Pure Comparative Law And Legal Science In A Mixed Legal System, Lawrence G. Baxter

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Book Review, Administrative Law, Lawrence G. Baxter

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Commercial Arbitration In The Eighteenth Century: Searching For The Transformation Of American Law, Eben Moglen

Faculty Scholarship

Some recent writing on the history of American law, notably that of Morton Horwitz, has observed a "transformation" in the early years of the nineteenth century as a new legal culture replaced the pre-commercial regime and altered rules of law in favor of the commercially active founders of industrial capitalism. In the course of this transformation, Horwitz argues, merchants and lawyers identified possible grounds for an "alliance," in which the lawyers gained social status and a monopoly in adjudicative institutions, while the commercial classes gained a system of law which subsidized their interests at the expense of other classes in …

The Binding Force Of International Arbitral Awards, William W. Park, Jan Paulsson

Faculty Scholarship

A party that submits a controversy to arbitration may later regret having abandoned recourse to the courts. Once the award is rendered, the chosen arbitrator may no longer seem so wise to the losing party, who may refuse to comply with his decision. A legal system must therefore legitimize the arbitrator's authority if the award is to be more than an unenforceable attempt at conciliation.

The Reagan Administration's Habeas Corpus Proposals, Larry Yackle

Faculty Scholarship

"Democracy," said Churchill, "means that if the door bell rings in the early hours, it is likely to be the milkman." He might have added that if the caller is not the milkman, but a police officer, Anglo-American democracy contemplates that the writ of habeas corpus will be available to the citizen awakened and dragged off into the darkness. The Great Writ has no substantive content of its own but provides the machinery for putting claims before state and federal courts-for translating substantive principles of liberty into effective law. The writ is process, but more than process. It is the …

The Lex Loci Arbitri And International Commercial Arbitration, William W. Park

Faculty Scholarship

Luke's gospel reports that Jesus once declined to arbitrate a family dispute over an inheritance by asking a disgruntled sibling, "Who set me over you to arbitrate?" Private resolution of business disputes raises a related question: whence springs the arbitrator's authority to render a binding award? A company that submits a controversy to arbitration may later regret having abandoned recourse to the courts. On the day of reckoning, the sage chosen to decide the dispute may no longer seem so wise to the losing party, and the loser might consider refusing to comply with the arbitrator's decision. Some legal system, …

Predestination And Swiss Arbitration Law: Geneva's Application Of The International Concordat, Philippe Neyroud, William W. Park

Faculty Scholarship

Historically, Geneva has proved an attractive site for international commercial arbitration. Today, however, Geneva's arbitral popularity is threatened by the interventionist practices of Switzerland's cantonal courts, which have liberally interpreted their powers to review and overturn arbitral awards. In an effort to prevent a decline in Switzerland's popularity as an arbitral center, Swiss jurists have recently proposed rules providing for greater arbitral autonomy in the private resolution of international business disputes. The authors analyze Swiss judicial intervention in the arbitral process, the problems inherent in such intervention, and a proposed solution to those problems.

English Judicial Recognition Of A Right To Privacy, David J. Seipp

Faculty Scholarship

The average Englishman's habits of reserve and regard for his own privacy are legendary. It is surprising, therefore, that English courts have, until very recently, shown great reluctance to recognize privacy as an interest worthy of legal protection in its own right. The experience of other common law countries has not been the same; privacy law has flourished in the United States' and has gained a foothold in Australia and Canada. Moreover, a right to privacy has received international recognition in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the European Convention on …

The Law School Library: Its Function, Structure, And Management, Robert J. Desiderio

Faculty Scholarship

The law library has a special and unique importance because of the nature of our legal system and its role as a laboratory for anyone involved in a legal proceeding. Students, faculty, lawyers, judges, and lay persons cannot accomplish legal work without the library. Law libraries, in the process of transition, are planning or implementing computer-based retrieval systems and video devices for training and instruction. Law librarians have significant responsibilities for accurate information retrieval and teaching legal research techniques.

"Value" Judgments: Accounts Receivable Financing And Voidable Preference Under The New Bankruptcy Code, Neil B. Cohen

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Free Speech Metamorphosis Of Mr. Justice Holmes, David S. Bogen

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Juan Estevan Pino, "Se Los Coma": New Mexico Land Speculation In The 1820s", G. Emlen Hall

Faculty Scholarship

Ever since regional historians began taking New Mexico land history seriously, they have focused on changes in Spanish and Mexican land tenure brought on by the advent of American sovereignty in 1846. The confusing land claim adjudications by the United States' Office of the Surveyor General for New Mexico and Congress, and by the subsequent Court of Private Land Claims yield interesting stories. Manipulations of those confirmed rights in the 1870s, 80s and 90s by organized private interests tell an even more spectacular tale. But the pyrotechnics of territorial land speculation mask the fact that sharp dealing in New Mexico …

Judicial Style In Californias Federal Admiralty Court: Ogden Hoffman And The First Ten Years, 1851-1891', Christian G. Fritz

Faculty Scholarship

The admiralty jurisdiction of Californias federal district court in San Francisco between 1851 and 1861 provides insight into how one federal judge understood and executed his role in a frontier setting. How the Northern District of California's first judge, Harvard-educated Ogden Hoffman, conducted his court, exercised his jurisdiction, arrived at his conclusions, and fashioned his opinions--what might be considered his judicial style--reveals much about legal practice and judicial process in the far west as the middle of the nineteenth century. An examination of the first decade of federal admiralty cases in California suggests that law on the frontier entailed learning, …

The Case Against Shark Repellent Amendments: Structural Limitations On The Enabling Concept, Ronald J. Gilson

Faculty Scholarship

The tactical history of the tender offer movement resembles an unrestrained arms race. Faced with offeror assaults in the form of Saturday night specials, various types of bear-hugs, godfather offers, and block purchases, target management responded with equally intriguing defensive tactics: the black book, reverse bear-hug, sandbag, show stopper, white knight, and, drawing directly on military jargon, the scorched earth. But however varied the labels given particular defensive strategies, they share the common characteristic of being responsive: They are available only after an offer is made and the battle for the target's independence joined. From the target's perspective, what was …

The Ohio Sunshine Act: An Appraisal, Frederic White

Faculty Scholarship

The Ohio open meetings or "Sunshine" law has existed in its present form since November 28, 1975 [hereinafter the "Sunshine Law" or "The Act"]. So-called open meeting legislation is neither new or unique to Ohio. Indeed, every state has enacted one or more open meetings laws. This article will examine the Sunshine Law to determine whether it has served its purpose, that is, making the processes of government more accessible to the citizens of the state of Ohio, and suggest some changes to increase the effectiveness of the legislation.

Judicial Experimentation With A Strict Products Liability Rule: A Comparison Of The Law In The United Kingdom, Louisiana, And United States' Common Law Jurisdictions, Thomas E. Carbonneau, Catherine Garvey

Faculty Scholarship

Since the mid-nineteenth century, products liability law has undergone significant modifications. The applicable doctrine has oscillated between contract and tort theories; fault and no-fault liability schemes have competed for predominance. Despite attempts to create an internationally accepted liability norm, different legal systems continue to espouse differing perceptions of the liability formula in the products area. In addition, even in jurisdictions in which courts adhere to identical liability theories, there is disagreement as to the application and implications of the same standard. This article attempts to set the shifting doctrinal character of products liability analysis into a comparative perspective principally between …

Application Of Customary International Law By U.S. Domestic Tribunals, Lori Fisler Damrosch

Faculty Scholarship

In recent years there has been a significant expansion of the number and kinds of cases in U.S. courts raising issues of customary international law. U.S. courts are increasingly asked to enforce international norms of behavior against foreign governments, state and local governments, and indeed the U.S. Government itself. To a greater and greater extent the courts themselves have become actors on the international scene: in the view of one party to a lawsuit, judicial or quasi-judicial acts may threaten to violate international law, while in the view of another party those same sorts of acts can contribute affirmatively to …

The Competency Of Children And Adolescents To Make Informed Treatment Decisions, Lois A. Weithorn, Susan B. Campbell

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

‘The State’ And Other Basic Terms In Public Law, Lawrence G. Baxter

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Reason And Law, George C. Christie

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Case For Treason, George P. Fletcher

Faculty Scholarship

"If this be treason, make the most of it." Patrick Henry had no fear of the ultimate crime against his King. Nor did the burghers of Maryland who set ablaze the Peggy Stewart in Annapolis Harbor. One would think that for us as Americans the crime of treason would carry special significance. Our nation was born in acts of treason. The threat of prosecution made the crime foremost in the mind of the constitutional draftsmen. Indeed, treason is the only crime to find definition in our basic document.

There are other indications that the crime of treason is central to …

Promises In Morality And Law, Joseph Raz

Faculty Scholarship

J.L. Austin thought that philosophers have much to learn from lawyers and the law. No doubt philosophers and lawyers have a lot to learn from each other wherever their interests intersect. But until now philosophical analysis has done more to elucidate important legal concepts and distinctions than viceversa. P.S. Atiyah's Promises, Morals, and Law may redress this imbalance. In this book, one of today's most accomplished students of the common law examines the nature of promises and the grounds of their binding force. Written in Atiyah's characteristically vigorous and lucid style, the book is a philosophical treatise, but one that …