Digital Commons Network^™

Designated Diffidence: District Court Judges On The Courts Of Appeals Papers Of General Interest, James J. Brudney, Corey Distlear

Faculty Scholarship

Since 1980, District CourtJudges, designated pursuant to federal statute, have helped decide over 75,000 court of appeals cases-nearly one of every five merits decisions. Although scholars and judges have warned that the presence of these visitors on appellate panels may undermine consistency, legitimacy, or collegiality, little empirical evidence exists related to such concerns. Working with an especially complete data set of labor law opinions, the authors found that district court visitors perform in a much more diffident fashion than their appellate colleagues. They contribute notably fewer majority opinions and dissents. In addition, their participations do not reflect their professional or …

What's In A Name? Law's Identity Under The Tort Of Appropriation, Jonathan Kahn

Faculty Scholarship

This article is divided into three parts. In Part I, the article explores the notion that under the tort of appropriation, a person’s name is understood to implicate critical aspects of her identity. This notion is explored in relation to specific historical cases raising the issues of whether a woman who adopts her husband’s name has a property right in that name and whether a person who adopts a professional or stage name has separate rights in that name apart from his legal name. Second, Part II focuses on a person’s right to maintain the integrity of his physical image. …

Preserving The Public Trust In State-Owned Intellectual Property: A Recommendation For Legislative Action, Sharon Sandeen

Faculty Scholarship

Whether a state chooses to dedicate its intellectual property to the public domain or derive revenue from the licensing of its rights, absent express authority on the subject there is uncertainty. State employees who are aware of the existence of state-owned intellectual property are not certain how it should be managed or if they are authorized to expend state resources to pursue infringement claims. Individuals and entities who wish to use state-owned intellectual property do not know how to obtain permission for such use and without permission they cannot be certain that they will not be sued for infringement. Without …

Remembering Mrs. Murphy: A Remedies Approach To The Conflict Between Gay/Lesbian Renters And Religious Landlords, Marie Failinger

Faculty Scholarship

There have been a number of legislative, caselaw and academic attempts at trying to resolve the conflict between the non-discrimination rights of gay and lesbian couples seeking housing and the free exercise rights of religious landlords who don't believe they should rent to unmarried couples. The academic writing often tries to resolve this conflict either by minimizing the harm to one of the parties (e.g., by categorizing the landlord's harm as merely commercial, or the tenant's as merely a problem of housing availability) or denying the relative importance of one of the party's rights. Others attempt a more positivist approach, …

Regulatory Initiatives And The Internet: A New Era Of Oversight For The Securities And Exchange Commission, Roberta S. Karmel

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Dean And The Budget: Not 'Just A Bunch Of Damn Numbers', Steven R. Smith

Faculty Scholarship

The process of developing and implementing a budget is among the most important and least understood responsibilities of deans. When done properly, the budget will move the school toward its goals and promote its mission. When done improperly, the budget will waste the limited resources of the school.

This essay first considers the First Principle of Budgets for deans, then discusses procedural issues in developing a successful budget, and finally reviews a number of specific budget issues that law schools face.

The Dynamics Of Daubert: Methodology, Conclusions, And Fit In Statistical And Econometric Studies, David H. Kaye

Faculty Scholarship

This paper reviews the development of the law governing the admissibility of statistical studies. It analyzes the leading cases on scientific evidence and suggests that both the "reliability" and the "general acceptance" standards raise two major difficulties - the "boundary problem" of identifying the type of evidence that warrants careful screening and the "usurpation problem" of keeping the trial judge from closing the gate on evidence that should be left for the jury to assess.

The paper proposes partial solutions to these problems, and it applies them to statistical and econometric proof, particularly in the context of a recent antitrust …

Thoughts About Corporate Lawyers After Reading The Cigarette Papers: Has The "Wise Counselor" Given Way To The "Hired Gun"?", Bruce A. Green

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Yahoo And Democracy On The Internet, Joel R. Reidenberg

Faculty Scholarship

This article examines the French court order requiring Yahoo to prevent French Internet users from accessing images of Nazi memorabilia available for auction on the company's American web site. The article uses the French case to challenge the popular belief that an entirely borderless Internet favors democratic values. The article starts from the premise that while the Internet enables actors to reach a geographically dispersed audience, the Internet should not change the accountability of those actors for their conduct within national borders. The article shows that Yahoo's extensive business in France justifies the application of France's democratically chosen law and …

Dissing Congress , Ruth Colker, James J. Brudney

Faculty Scholarship

This article adopts a novel separation of powers framework to analyze the Rehnquist Court's recent decisions under the Commerce Clause and Section Five of the Fourteenth Amendment. We demonstrate in historical terms how the Court's methods for assessing the constitutional adequacy of federal laws have changed dramatically since the mid-1990s, and we argue that these new methods are undermining the proper role of Congress and producing a significant shift in the balance of power between the Branches. We identify two distinct methodologies employed by the Rehnquist Court that have resulted in growing disrespect for Congress - the "crystal ball" and …

Reflections On The Ethics Of Legal Academics: Law Schools As Mdps; Or, Should Law Professors Practice What They Teach Symposium: Ethics Of Law Professors, Bruce A. Green

Faculty Scholarship

[A member of the House of Commons said in Samuel Johnson's presence] that he paid no regard to the arguments of counsel at the bar of the House of Commons, because they were paid for speaking. JOHNSON. 'Nay, Sir, argument is argument. You cannot help paying regard to their arguments, if they are good, If it were testimony, you might disregard it, if you knew that it were purchased. There is a beautiful image in Bacon upon this subject: testimony is like an arrow shot from a long bow; the force of it depends on the hand that draws it. …

The Girl Who Cried Pain: A Bias Against Women In The Treatment Of Pain, Diane E. Hoffmann, Anita J. Tarzian

Faculty Scholarship

In general, women report more severe levels of pain, more frequent incidences of pain, and pain of longer duration than men, but are nonetheless treated for pain less aggressively. The authors investigate this paradox from two perspectives: Do men and women in fact experience pain differently - whether biologically, cognitively, and/or emotionally? And regardless of the answer, what accounts for the differences in the pain treatment they receive, and what can we do to correct this situation?

Reconceptualizing Federal Habeas Corpus For State Prisoners: How Should Aedpa's Standard Of Review Operate After Williams V. Taylor?, Adam N. Steinman

Faculty Scholarship

This Article aims to expand the debate over the proper standard of review that applies in state prisoner habeas corpus actions in federal court. To date, this debate has centered on whether federal habeas courts should defer to the state court's resolution of federal legal questions, or whether federal habeas courts should assess and apply federal law de novo. However, in Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 362 (2000), the Supreme Court held that the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) imposes a deferential standard of review that precludes a federal habeas court from granting relief based simply on its …

Why The Eleventh Amendment Always Matters, Even When Transaction Costs Are Zero: A Reply To Professor Farber, Neil S. Siegel

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Ali And The Ucc, Lance Liebman

Faculty Scholarship

I will speak at less length than some of my colleagues here for two reasons. One is, my knowledge of this subject is extremely limited. I've taught for thirty years, but in areas of law that have nothing to do with these. And, it is only on coming to the American Law Institute job a year ago, that I find myself learning about NCCUSL, learning about all these issues, and learning in substantive ways about commercial law. Suddenly, out of the repressed memory, have come back my experiences in Professor Brancher's course in commercial law. I didn't learn it then, …

Making Deals In Court-Connected Mediation: What's Justice Got To Do With It?, Nancy A. Welsh

Faculty Scholarship

When mediation was first introduced to the courts, the process was hailed as “alternative.” Mediation gave disputants the opportunity to discuss and resolve their dispute themselves; the role of the third party was to facilitate the disputants’ negotiations, not to dictate the outcome; and because the disputants were able to focus on their underlying interests in mediation, the process could result in creative, customized solutions. The picture of mediation is changing, however, as the process settles into its role as a tool for the resolution of personal injury, contract, and other nonfamily cases on the courts’ civil dockets. Attorneys dominate …

All In The Family: Darwin And The Evolution Of Mediation, Nancy A. Welsh

Faculty Scholarship

Maybe I’ve been thinking about evolution more than is normal for the average lawyer. I have a 5-year-old son who is fascinated by every species of dinosaur. As a result, I read to my son nearly every night about the events and the evolving cast of creatures that populated the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Since the Triassic period began 240 million years ago, this provides a real sense of perspective.

I wonder how Charles Darwin would use his theory of evolution to explain the many strange and wonderful variations of mediation that have flowered in the past decade. And …

Legal Argument In The Opinions Of Montana Territorial Chief Justice Decius S. Wade, Andrew P. Morriss

Faculty Scholarship

Decius Spear Wade was the longest serving member of the Montana Territorial Supreme Court, holding the Chief Justiceship between 1871 and 1887, more than sixteen years. Wade authored an impressive 192 majority opinions, along with fourteen concurrences and dissents, of the total of 637 reported majority opinions issued by that court. By productivity and length of service alone, Wade stands out on the Montana court and among territorial judges generally. Unlike many territorial judges, including some of his brethren on the Montana court, Wade was well-regarded by his contemporaries. Subsequent observers have also ranked Wade among the best of the …

Lessons From The Development Of Western Water Law For Emerging Water Markets: Common Law Vs. Central Planning, Andrew P. Morriss

Faculty Scholarship

The story of water in the American West shows that political intervention is unnecessary. Local institutions and rules could be the basis for a legal regime sufficient to deal with water issues that arise. The importation of central planning regimes for water can thus not only lead to the allocation of water in ways that harm the interests of indigenous peoples, but also can contribute to the destruction of customary legal systems, which themselves form a valuable part of indigenous people's cultural heritage. Failing to resist the attempts by special interests at a water grab may thus leave both the …

The Failure Of Epa's Water Quality Reforms: From Environment-Enhancing Competition To Uniformity And Polluter Profits, Andrew P. Morriss, Bruce Yandle, Roger E. Meiners

Faculty Scholarship

Since 1970, pollution control in the United States has centered on national level regulatory approaches built on federal command-and-control regimes. Enacted in reaction to well-publicized "failures" of markets, common law, and state and local regulation such as the "killer smogs" of the 1950s and 1960s and the "burning" of Cleveland's Cuyahoga River in 1969 modem environmental statutes shifted authority away from states, local governments, and private property holders to the national government.

Section I reviews the history of federal and state regulation of water quality and highlights the delicate balance of authority that has emerged between various levels of government. …

From Reconstruction To Deconstruction: Undermining Black Landownership, Political Independence, And Community Through Partition Sales Of Tenancies In Common, Thomas W. Mitchell

Faculty Scholarship

This article considers one of the primary ways in which African Americans have lost millions of acres of land that they were able to acquire in the latter part of the nineteenth century and the beginning part of the twentieth century and the sociopolitical implications of this land loss. Specifically, this article highlights the fact that forced partition sales of tenancy in common property, referred to more commonly as heirs' property, have been a major source of black land loss within the African American community. The article argues that involuntary black land loss has had a significant negative impact upon …

Global Governance And The Changing Face Of International Law, Charlotte Ku

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Technologies Of Property Rights: Choice Among Alternative Solutions To Tragedies Of The Commons, Bruce Yandle, Andrew P. Morriss

Faculty Scholarship

Garrett Hardin's classic description of the tragedy of the commons tells us that all environmental problems require a property rights solution. The property solution or rule may call for the definition and enforcement of common, public, or private property rights, but any escape from the tragedy requires some rationing mechanism that allocates a form of property rights to some entity. These solutions fall into one of two broad traditions within economics: the Pigouvian, or regulatory tradition, and the Coasean, or market-based tradition. Any proposal for action in either tradition implies some definition of property rights. The difference lies in the …

Outing The Madman: Fair Housing For The Mentally Handicapped And Their Right To Privacy Versus The Landlord's Duty To Warn And Protect, Frederic White

Faculty Scholarship

Over the past fifty years, America has steadily deinstitutionalized its mentally handicapped population, often with mixed results. The primary goal of this process was to place these long-forgotten people back into the so-called mainstream of American life, allowing them access to the same kinds of advantages schools, jobs, housing-that most of us take for granted. This road has not always been easy. In particular, providing safe and accessible housing for the mentally handicapped is an important step toward establishing meaningful self-sufficiency for these individuals. However, to ensure that the needs of all tenants are fulfilled, several potential conflicts between the …

Restricting Hate Speech Against Private Figures: Lessons In Power-Based Censorship From Defamation Law, Victor C. Romero

Faculty Scholarship

This article examines the debate between those who favor greater protection for minorities vulnerable to hate speech and First Amendment absolutists who are skeptical of any burdens on pure speech. The author also provides another perspective on the debate by highlighting the "public/private figure" distinction as an area within First Amendment law that acknowledges differences in power, a construct anti-hate speech advocates should use to further their cause. Specifically, the author places the "public/private figure" division in a theoretical and historical context and then provides empirical support for the thesis that whites enjoy a more prominent societal role and greater …

Racial Profiling: Driving While Mexican And Affirmative Action, Victor C. Romero

Faculty Scholarship

This Essay will focus on "racial profiling" not just in the way people think about the term - that is, with respect to stopping motorists for traffic violations based solely on their race, so-called "Driving While Mexican" or "Driving While Black" - but also in the context of "affirmative action - namely, using race as a factor in employment and educational decisions. More broadly, then, I want us to think of "racial profiling" as simply "the use of race to develop an understanding of an individual" which moves us slightly away from more pejorative notions of the phrase that have …

On Elián And Aliens: A Political Solution To The Plenary Power Problem, Victor C. Romero

Faculty Scholarship

The poignant story of a little boy fished out of the sea after losing his mother to the elements captured the country's imagination and ignited a political firestorm. The Elián González saga drew conflicting opinions from nearly every branch of American local, state, and federal governments.

This article takes no specific position on Elián's situation. Rather, this artivle values the González story for putting a human face on often faceless legal issues. More specifically, Elián's saga raises the following important question: When should the right of the human being to be treated as an individual trump the right of government …

Rape And Force: The Forgotten Mens Rea, Kit Kinports

Faculty Scholarship

In rape cases involving physical violence or express threats of physical harm, proof of the actus reus obviously does establish mens rea with respect to force as well as nonconsent. A defendant who beat or threatened to kill his victim could hardly raise a plausible argument that he did not know he was using force. But, in other circumstances, the defendant's mens rea vis-a-vis force may be less clear, and it may therefore make a difference whether a rape conviction requires proof that the defendant purposely intended to use force, or whether it is enough that he knew he was …

Two Fallacies About Dna Data Banks For Law Enforcement, David H. Kaye

Faculty Scholarship

This commentary on the article Legal and Policy Issues in Expanding the Scope of Law Enforcement DNA Data Banks, 67 Brook. L. Rev. 127 (2001), by Mark Rothstein and Sandra Carnahan, argues that the case for confining law enforcement DNA databases to noncoding loci and to samples from individuals convicted of violent crimes is quite weak.

It describes alternative approaches, including the possibility of a population-wide database; the privacy implications of the loci now used in forensic identification; the law governing DNA dragnets; and the limits on DNA databases imposed by recent cases on searches and seizures. It notes the …

The Constitutionality Of Dna Sampling On Arrest, David H. Kaye

Faculty Scholarship

Every state now collects DNA from people convicted of certain offenses. Law enforcement authorities promote offender DNA databanking on the theory that it will identify offenders who commit additional crimes while or probation or parole, or after they have finished serving their sentences. Even relatively small databases have yielded such dividends. As these database searches uncover the perpetrators of rapes, murders, and other offenses, the pressure builds to expand the coverage of the databases.

Recent proposals call for extending not merely the scope of crimes for which DNA databanking would be used, but also the point at which the samples …