Digital Commons Network^™

Underlying Principles, Randy E. Barnett

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

In his forthcoming article, Original Meaning and Abortion, Jack Balkin makes the startling disclosure that he is now an originalist. "[C]onstitutional interpretation," he writes, "requires fidelity to the original meaning of the Constitution and to the principles that underlie the text. The task of interpretation is to look to original meaning and underlying principle and decide how best to apply them in current circumstances. I call this the method of text and principle."

In this brief reply, the author cautions that, to remain faithful to the Constitution when referring to underlying principles, we must never forget it is a text …

Originalism And The Natural Born Citizen Clause, Lawrence B. Solum

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The enigmatic phrase "natural born citizen" poses a series of problems for contemporary originalism. New originalists, like Justice Scalia, focus on the public meaning of the constitutional text, but the notion of a "natural born citizen" was likely a term of art, derived from the idea of a "natural born subject" in English law--a category that most likely did not extend to persons, like John McCain, who were born outside sovereign territory. But the constitution speaks of "citizens" and not "subjects," introducing uncertainties and ambiguities that might (or might not) make McCain eligible for the presidency.

What was the original …

The Paradoxes Of Cultural Property, Naomi Mezey

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Many current cultural disputes sound in the legal language and logic of discrimination or hate speech. The focus of this essay is on the claims made explicitly or implicitly on the basis of cultural property. The problem with using ideas of cultural property to resolve cultural disputes is that cultural property encourages an anemic theory of culture so that it can make sense as a form of property. Cultural property is a paradox because it places special value and legal protection on cultural products and artifacts but does so based on a sanitized and domesticated view of cultural production and …

Private Standards, Public Governance: A New Look At The Financial Accounting Standards Board, William W. Bratton

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (the "FASB") presents a puzzle: How has this private standard setter managed simultaneously (1) to remain independent, (2) to achieve institutional stability and legitimacy, and (3) to operate in a politicized context in the teeth of opposition from its own constituents? This Article looks to governance design to account for this institutional success. The FASB's founders made a strategic choice to create a regulatory agency that sought independence rather than political responsiveness. The FASB also set out a coherent theory of accounting, the "Conceptual Framework," to contain and direct its decisions. The Conceptual Framework contributed …

Due Process Land Use Claims After Lingle, J. Peter Byrne

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The Supreme Court held in Lingle v. Chevron U.S.A. Inc. that challenges to the validity of land use regulations for failing to advance governmental interests must be brought under the Due Process Clause, rather than the Takings Clause, and must be evaluated under a deferential standard. This Article analyzes and evaluates the probable course of such judicial review, and concludes that federal courts will resist due process review of land use decisions for good reasons but not always with an adequate doctrinal explanation. However, state courts can use due process review to provide state level supervision of local land use …

A Light-Weight Middleware Framework For Fault-Tolerant And Secure Distributed Applications, Ian Jacob Baird

Masters Theses

"This thesis outlines the design, implementation, and performance of a lightweight middleware framework for interprocess communication with an update log propagation algorithm. The system was designed and implemented using a point-to-point based lightweight middleware framework and compared to a similar system implemented utilizing CORBA--Abstract, page iii.

Performance Improvement Of Adaptive Filters For Echo Cancellation Applications, Deepak Challa

Masters Theses

"This work focuses on performance improvement of adaptive algorithms for both line and acoustic echo cancellation applications. Echo in telephone networks, Line Echo, is observed naturally due to impedance mismatches at the long-distance/local-loop interface. Acoustic echo is due to the acoustic coupling between the microphone and the speaker of a speakerphone. The Affine Projection (APA) and the Fast Affine Projection (FAP) algorithms are two examples of reliable and efficient adaptive filters used for echo cancellation...This thesis presents, Variable Regularized Fast Affine Projections (VR-FAP) algorithm, with a varying, optimal regularization value which provides the desirable property of both fast and low …

Converting Some Global Optimization Problems To Mixed Integer Linear Problems Using Piecewise Linear Approximations, Manish Kumar

Masters Theses

"Some global optimization problems are converted to mixed-integer linear problems (MILP) using piecewise-linear approximations in this thesis so that they can be solved using commercial MILP solvers, such as CPLEX. Special attention is given to approximating two-term log-sum functions, which appears frequently in generalized geometric programming problems. Numerical results indicate the proposed approach is sound and efficient"--Abstract, page iii.

Real-Time Detection Of Grip Length Deviation For Fastening Operations: A Mahalanobis-Taguchi System (Mts) Based Approach, Deepak Mohan

Masters Theses

"Hand-held fastening tools are extensively used in manufacturing, especially in aerospace industry. Typically, the process is monitored by the operator and joints are visually inspected after the process is completed. When complex products, such as an aircraft, are considered, fastening process and its inspection can be very time consuming. In addition, no inspection data is typically collected during the process unless a major problem is encountered. Real-time monitoring and verification of the fastening process of joint quality are two important advancements to reduce the manufacturing lead time while ensuring safety and quality"--Abstract, page iv.

Performance Improvements Of Automobile Communication Protocols In Electromagnetic Interference Environments, Fei Ren

Masters Theses

"Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) is frequently encountered in automobile communication systems due to a large number of inductive nodes used in these systems. This thesis investigates the effects of EMI on two types of automobile communication systems, the Controller Area Network (CAN) and the FlexRay. It also proposes a modified Automatic Repeat reQuest (ARQ) scheme to improve the communication performances in EMI environments"--Abstract, page iii.

Fast Sphere Decoder For Mimo Systems, Praveen G. Krishnan

Masters Theses

"This work focuses on variants of the conventional sphere decoding technique for Multi Input Multi Output (MIMO) systems. Space Time Block Codes (STBC) have emerged as a popular way of transmitting data over multiple antennas achieving the right balance between diversity and spatial multiplexing. The Maximum Likelihood (ML) technique is a conventional way of decoding the transmitted information from the received data, but at the cost of increased complexity. The sphere decoder algorithm is a sub-optimal decoding technique that is computationally efficient achieving a ;symbol error rate that is dependent on the initial radius of the sphere. In this thesis, …

Characterization Of Noise On Pdn And Electromagnetic Shielding, Sandeep K. R. Chandra

Masters Theses

"Modern FPGA and microprocessor have complex logic inside them, which draw current from the Power Distribution Network (PDN). This current drawn from the PDN creates disturbance on the PDN, which then propagates to other IC in different places on the Printed Circuit Board (PCB), and appears as a noise voltage. Ability to predict noise voltage at any point on the PCB gives a greater ability to carefully design the board and the PDN. In order to accurately predict the noise, it is important to accurately predict the current drawn and the transfer impedance from the source to the victim point. …

The Social Construction Of Sarbanes-Oxley, Donald C. Langevoort

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The closer one looks at SOX and its origins in the financial scandals of the early 2000s, the blurrier the picture, which lets commentators see what they want to see and draw inferences accordingly. That is why social construction is so crucial. My aim in this paper is to illuminate the social nature of SOX's diffusion into practice. I will leave to the reader the judgment about whether this has been or will be good or bad, and for whom. If I seem to challenge SOX's critics more than its supporters, it is because the critics have been more venomous …

Impacts Of White, Roy A. Schotland

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Changes in judicial elections stem from four identifiable causes. First, court decisions involve increasingly higher stakes and more serious consequences. The U.S. Senate confirmation battles also reflect this cause. Second, non-candidate groups, many from out of state, bring in enormous sums of money which often leads to ugly, even damaging, campaigns. Third, the first two causes are making judicial campaigns more like non-judicial campaigns, bringing new elements to judicial campaigns: campaign consultants and a win-at-any-cost approach.

Trademark Law As Commercial Speech Regulations, Rebecca Tushnet

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

False advertising law has largely escaped constitutional scrutiny because courts consider false or misleading commercial speech outside the protection of the First Amendment. Even moderate First Amendment protection for truthful commercial speech, however, requires some constitutional policing of the line between truth and falsity. Current enforcement of false advertising law, whether administrative, as with the FDA's regulation of drug-related speech, or judicial, as with Lanham Act suits brought by private parties, is ill-equipped to deal with First Amendment doctrine's very different concerns, rules, and presumptions. This contribution to the symposium will explore some of the ways in which the First …

Domain And Forum: Public Space, Public Freedom, Rebecca Tushnet

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The particular problems of content and viewpoint discrimination rarely surface in copyright, though some people have argued that fair use implicates them. Nonetheless, one important lesson for copyright from public forum doctrine is that First Amendment law can take some - though not many - speech-related options off the table. In this brief comment, I argue that analogies between copyright law and public forum doctrine highlight important shared commitments to free and robust public discourse, but also substantial practical barriers to judicial enforcement of those commitments.

Reforming The Taxation Of Deferred Compensation, Ethan Yale, Gregg D. Polsky

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Executive pay is currently a topic of significant interest for policymakers, academics, and the popular press. On August 14, 2006, in reaction to widespread press reports and academic criticism of extravagant executive perquisites, the SEC proposed new regulations designed to change fundamentally the manner in which executive compensation is reported to shareholders. Despite all of this attention, one significant aspect of executive deferred compensation has gone virtually unnoticed - the federal tax rules governing this form of compensation are fundamentally flawed and must be extensively overhauled. These rules are flawed because they often create a significant incentive for companies and …

What’S International Law Got To Do With It? Transnational Law And The Intelligence Mission, James E. Baker

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The United States faces an immediate and continuous threat of terrorist attack using weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons. The intelligence function and national security law, including international law--or more accurately transnational law--are central to addressing this threat. Indeed, international law is more relevant today in addressing this threat than it was before September 11. Part II of this article describes a continuum of contemporary threats to U.S. national security, with a focus on nonstate terrorism. Part III addresses the role of intelligence and national security law, and in particular law addressed to process, in combating these threats. Part …

The Federal “Claim” In The District Courts: Osborn, Verlinden, And Protective Jurisdiction, Carlos Manuel Vázquez

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

In the title of his influential article, “The Federal ‘Question’ in the District Courts,” Professor Paul Mishkin reminded us that the phrase “federal question” is a misnomer as a description of the “arising under” jurisdiction of the district courts. The purpose of the “arising under” jurisdiction of the district courts is not solely, or even primarily, to resolve disputed questions of federal law, but to provide a hospitable forum for the vindication of federal rights. Such rights can be frustrated by an inhospitable forum not just through the misinterpretation of federal law, but through misinterpretation of state law or through …

Hegel And The Becoming Of Essence, David G. Carlson

Articles

No abstract provided.

The Historical Race Competition For Corporate Charters And The Rise And Decline Of New Jersey: 1880-1910, Charles M. Yablon

Articles

No abstract provided.

Evaluation Of An Adult Education Technology Program, Iwasan D. Kejawa

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the adult education technology program at a chartered alternative adult education center in Florida. The adult education center had a low rate of students passing the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT). This study examined the impact of the use of computer technology in an effort to improve student learning in mathematics, reading, and science. Computers at the institution were used by all students for tutorials to prepare them for the FCAT and to obtain a high school diploma. The research questions for this study were as follows:

1. Is the education technology program …

Towards Efficient Computation Of Quality Bounded Solutions In Pomdps: Expected Value Approximation And Dynamic Disjunctive Beliefs, Pradeep Reddy Varakantham, Rajiv Maheswaran, Tapana Gupta, Milind Tambe

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

While POMDPs (partially observable markov decision problems) are a popular computational model with wide-ranging applications, the computational cost for optimal policy generation is prohibitive. Researchers are investigating ever-more efficient algorithms, yet many applications demand such algorithms bound any loss in policy quality when chasing efficiency. To address this challenge, we present two new techniques. The first approximates in the value space to obtain solutions efficiently for a pre-specified error bound. Unlike existing techniques, our technique guarantees the resulting policy will meet this bound. Furthermore, it does not require costly computations to determine the quality loss of the policy. Our second …

American Images Of Denmark During The Cold War, Anders Kristian Baerholm Frikke

The Bridge

The study of the past is essential for our understanding of the present day. In other words, if you want to know something about your own time, a good place to start is to study the previous historical events.

Exploring The Causality Between The Pollution Haven Hypothesis And The Environmental Kuznets Curve, Brian W. Jbara '07

Honors Projects

In recent years, increased economic development, globalization, and liberalization of international trade have been linked by economists and environmental scholars as possible causes for specific trends in pollution. One of the most studied and controversial hypotheses is the Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis (EKC), which states that a country's pollution concentrations rise with development and industrialization up to a certain point, after which they fall again as the country uses its increased affluence to reduce pollution concentrations again. If true, plotting pollution concentrations against income per capita will yield an inverted V-the EKC. Another controversy is the manner in which the …

Analyzing The Relationship Between Change In Money Supply And Stock Market Prices, Biniv Maskay '07

Honors Projects

This paper examines the relationship between change in the money supply and the level of stock prices. This paper also dichotomizes change in the money supply into anticipated and unanticipated change and analyzes each of their relationships with stock market prices. Competing theories exist on how change in the money supply affects stock prices. The real activity theorists argue that change in the money supply and stock prices are positively related, where as the Keynesian economists argue otherwise. This study finds a positive relationship between change in the money supply and stock prices, agreeing with the real activity theorists. Economists …

Bs News

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

A Nation Of Policyholders: Governmental And Market Failure In Flood Insurance, Adam F. Scales

MC Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Best Defense: Why Elected Courts Should Lead Recusal Reform, Deborah Goldberg, James Sample, David E. Pozen

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

In recent years, we have seen an escalation of attacks on the independence of the judiciary. Government officials and citizens who have been upset by the substance of judicial decisions are increasingly seeking to rein in the courts by limiting their jurisdiction over controversial matters, soliciting pre-election commitments from judicial candidates, and drafting ballot initiatives with sanctions for judges who make unpopular rulings. Many of these efforts betray ignorance at best, or defiance at worst, of traditional principles of separation of powers and constitutional protections against tyranny of the majority.

The attacks are fueled in part by the growing influence …

Regulation Of Foxo Stability And Activity By Mdm2 E3 Ligase, Wei Fu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Members of the forkhead class O (FOXO) transcription factors are tumor suppressors and key molecules that control aging and lifespan. The stability of mammalian FOXO proteins is controlled by proteasome-mediated degradation but general ubiquitin E3 ligases for FOXO factors remain to be defined. The current studies demonstrate that MDM2 bound to FOXO1 and FOXO3A and promoted their ubiquitination and subsequent degradation, a process apparently dependent on FOXO phopshorylation at PKB sites and on the E3 ligase activity of MDM2. The binding occurred between endogenous proteins and was involved the forkhead box of FOXO1 and the region of MDM2 that controls …