Digital Commons Network^™

The Revolution In Law Through Arbitration, Thomas E. Carbonneau

Faculty Scholarship

My subject is arbitration. I explore how its re-emergence during the last forty years has revolutionized the thinking about, and the practice of, law. The development of a "strong federal policy favoring arbitration" cast aside traditional acceptations about law and adjudication. The rule of law-the human civilization associated with law and the legal process-has been profoundly, perhaps irretrievably, altered by the rise of arbitration. The landmark cases in labor and employment arbitration- Alexander v.Gardner-Denver Company (the "old time religion") and Gilmer v. Interstate/JohnsonLane Corporation (the "new age" thinking)- attest to the enormous distance that separates past and present concepts of …

Constitutional Change And Responsibilities Of Governance Pertaining To The Faith-Based And Community Initiative, Ira C. Lupu, Robert W. Tuttle

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This paper, commissioned and published in June 2008 in connection with the White House-sponsored Conference on Innovations in Effective Compassion, addresses the changing legal environment relevant to government partnerships with religious providers of social services. In particular, the paper maps the federal government's regulatory agenda in connection with the Faith-Based and Community Initiative (FBCI) onto the changes in constitutional law over the past several decades. After briefly surveying the key developmental points in the relevant constitutional law, the paper explores specific changes in federal regulations governing aid to religious providers of welfare services, and considers the litigation efforts that have …

Ball On A Needle: Hein V. Freedom From Religion Foundation And The Future Of Establishment Clause Adjudication, Ira C. Lupu, Robert W. Tuttle

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

In Hein v. Freedom from Religion Foundation, decided in June of 2006, the Supreme Court ruled that federal taxpayers lacked standing to bring an Establishment Clause challenge to a series of conferences designed to promote the Faith-Based and Community Initiative. The explicit grounds for Justice Alito's opinion, speaking for a plurality, is a distinction between legislative decisions to tax and spend for religion - still challengeable by taxpayers - and discretionary executive branch action, which taxpayers may not challenge.

This paper takes a close look at Hein, examines its conceptual underpinnings, and analyzes the questions likely to follow in its …

The Cross At College: Accommodation And Acknowledgment Of Religion At Public Universities, Ira C. Lupu, Robert W. Tuttle

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

In the fall of 2006, President Gene Nichol of the College of William & Mary decided that the college - a public institution - should no longer display a cross on the altar table of the college's Wren Chapel. He ordered the cross moved to a back room, from which it could be returned to the altar table during Christian worship. This decision sparked an outcry from many Christian conservatives, who asserted that President Nichol was undermining the college's historical legacy. After a period of campus furor, a special Committee proposed and the President accepted a compromise - the cross …

Criminal Law And The Pursuit Of Equality, Donald Braman

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This Article argues that, to make their vision of justice a reality, egalitarians need to change both their focus and their tactics with respect to criminal law. The tragedy of contemporary criminal justice is not that individual rights are too narrowly construed, but that those living in disadvantaged communities are injured both by crime and counter-productive law enforcement. The remedies that egalitarians have historically looked to - remedies articulated within the framework of individual rights - are poorly suited to address the systematic reproduction of inequality that results.

First, egalitarians will need to shift their focus from the racially motivated …

Cultural Cognition And Synthetic Biology Risk Perceptions: A Preliminary Analysis, Donald Braman, Gregory N. Mandel, Dan M. Kahan

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

We describe the results of a study to determine the synthetic-biology risk perceptions of a large and diverse sample of Americans (N = 1,500). The survey found that hierarchical, conservative, and highly religious individuals - one who normally are skeptical of claims of environmental risks (including those relating to global warming) - are the most concerned about synthetic biology risks. We offer an interpretation that identifies how selective risk-skepticism and risk-sensitivity can convey a cultural commitment to traditional forms of authority.

Why Do Women Lawyers Earn Less Than Men? Parenthood And Gender In A Survey Of Law School Graduates, Neil H. Buchanan

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Using a dataset of survey responses from University of Michigan Law School graduates from the classes of 1970 through 1996, I find that fathers tend to receive higher salaries than non-fathers (a "daddy bonus"). In addition, mothers earn less than non-mothers (a "mommy penalty"). There is also some statistical support for the inference that there is a penalty associated purely with gender (women earning less than men, independent of parenthood), another result that is unique to the literature. Analyzing full- or part-time status as well as work hours also suggests a key difference between women and men. Those who take …

Regional Protection Of Human Rights (Introduction), Dinah L. Shelton

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This book focuses on regional approaches to human rights. It discusses regional tools such as treaties, conventions, and case law. The book then discusses state obligations under regional agreements and during various conditions, such as an emergency. Next, the book discusses regional institutions such as courts and the procedures for attempting to receive redress. The book concludes by discussing responses to violations of human rights and looking ahead by examining suggestions for moving forward.

Necessary Subjects: The Need For A Mandatory National Donor Gamete Registry, Naomi R. Cahn

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This brief article calls for a mandatory national donor gamete registry. It first discusses the history of secrecy in the adoption context before turning to issues involving confidentiality in the donor context. After analyzing the issues involved in maintaining the secrecy of donor gametes, the article ultimately recommends the establishment of a national information registry, similar to that in place in numerous other countries, to keep track of children both through donor egg, embryo, and sperm, as well as the identities of the gamete providers. Participation in the registry would be mandatory for anyone involved in supplying donor gametes. Once …

Rating Risk After The Subprime Mortgage Crisis: A User Fee Approach For Rating Agency Accountability, Jeffrey Manns

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This article argues that an absence of accountability and interconnections of interest between rating agencies and their debt issuer clients fostered a system of lax ratings that provided false assurances on the risk exposure of subprime mortgage-backed securities and collateralized debt obligations. It lays out an innovative, yet practical pathway for reform by suggesting how debt purchasers, the primary beneficiaries of ratings, may bear both the burdens and benefits of rating agency accountability by financing ratings through an SEC-administered user fee system in exchange for enforceable rights. The SEC user fee system would require rating agencies both to bid for …

An Investigation Of Meromixis In Cave Pools, Lechuguilla Cave, New Mexico, David B. Levy

International Journal of Speleology

Chemical characteristics of permanent stratification in cave pools (meromixis) may provide insight into the geochemical origin and evolution of cave pool waters. The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that some pools in Lechuguilla Cave may be subject to ectogenic meromixis, where permanent chemical stratification is induced by input of relatively saline or fresh water from an external source. However, because organic C concentrations in Lechuguilla waters are low (typically < 1 mg L^-1), biogenic meromixis resulting in O₂(g)-depleted subsurface waters is not expected. Four pools at various depths below ground surface (0 m) were studied: (1) …

Net Neutrality, Free Speech, And Democracy In The Internet Age, Dawn C. Nunziato

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Professor Nunziato's book explains why the growth of the Internet as the most open forum for free expression in history is now threatened by the privatization of the Internet, the gatekeeper control over expression exercised by a handful of corporate owners, and their power to censor what we say and read online. She sets forth how we got to this place and what must be done about it to guarantee meaningful free speech rights in the Internet age.

The Environmental Features Of The Monte Corchia Cave System (Apuan Alps, Central Italy) And Their Effects On Speleothem Growth, L. Piccini, G. Zanchetta, R. N. Drysdale, J. Hellstrom, I. Isola, A. E. Fallick, G. Leone, M. Doveri, M. Mussi, F. Mantelli, G. Molli, L. Lotti, A. Roncioni, E. Regattieri, M. Meccheri, L. Vaselli

International Journal of Speleology

The Monte Corchia cave system, one of the most famous and popular caves in Italy, has in recent times been the subject of investigation on its speleothems as paleoclimate archives. This paper describes the geology, geomorphology and water chemistry of the cave system with the aim to elucidate the processes that have generated these speleothems and the properties they contain that are so useful for paleoclimatology. Some general conclusions can be drawn: i) the Corchia system is a cave developed over different altitudes during progressive uplift of the mountain chain in which it is located, probably under drainage conditions very …

Book Review: Outsourcing Sovereignty: Why Privatization Threatens Democracy, Richard J. Pierce Jr

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This is a review of Paul Verkuil's new book: Outsourcing Sovereignty: Why Privatization Threatens Democracy and What we Can Do About It. The book consists of a wide-ranging and well-documented critique of what Verkuil views as excessive reliance on private contractors to perform a variety of inherently governmental tasks, with particular emphasis on military and other national security functions. Verkuil discusses in detail numerous ways in which the U.S. might reduce the scope and severity of the severe problems that excessive reliance on poorly-supervised contractors is now having.

Pierce praises Verkuil's description and documentation of the problem he addresses in …

Stemming The Tide Of Law Student Depression: What Law Schools Need To Learn From The Science Of Positive Psychology, Todd Peterson, Elizabeth Waters Peterson

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

A growing body of literature shows that law students exhibit unique signs of psychological distress, including elevated levels of depression, stress, and anxiety. Law students also report significantly higher incidences of alcohol and drug abuse than their peers at other graduate schools. The article assesses the programs that 75 top law schools currently use to combat these alarming trends and finds that they are primarily reactive and that they do not sufficiently address the source or the scope of the problem. This article explores some of the ways in which positive psychology may be uniquely suited to address this student …

There Is A There There: How The Zippo Sliding Scale Has Destabilized The Structural Foundation Of Personal Jurisdiction Analysis, Catherine J. Ross

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

In 1997, the Federal District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania evaluated one in a line of emerging personal jurisdiction cases that raised the question of whether Internet-based contacts with citizens of the forum state can alone establish the defendant purposefully availed himself of the benefits and protections of the forum state. In this unlikely watershed case, Zippo Mfg. Co. v. Zippo Dot Com, the District Court wrangled with the new concept of purposeful availment through electronic contact with the forum state. The court viewed Zippo and its antecedents as components of a new body of personal jurisdiction law: …

Legal Constraints On Child-Saving: The Strange Case Of The Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints At Yearning For Zion Ranch, Catherine J. Ross

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

It may seem counterintuitive, but children in foster care are more likely to achieve permanency if we take the legal rights of their parents seriously. When all state actors, from social workers to judges, consider parental rights before removing children from their families or terminating parental rights, subsequent adoptions are more likely to be insulated from ongoing litigation, or in the worst instance, revocation. I am a strong proponent of children’s rights. In the context of the child welfare system, however, respect for the rights of parents can protect children from unnecessary and frightening disruptions. The doctrine of parens patriae, …

Picking The Correct Argument, Stephen A. Saltzburg

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This article on trial tactics suggests that probably no rule of thumb is more important to a trial lawyer than this: You need only one good theory of admissibility or objection to win a point, and in many instances the key is to pick the winner and avoid the losers. The rule is easy to state and widely acknowledged. It is more difficult, however, to apply than to acknowledge. A related rule is that a lawyer who has a powerful, potentially winning argument, may ultimately lose if that argument is lost in a flurry of less persuasive arguments.

Rule 404(B) And Reversal On Appeal, Stephen A. Saltzburg

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This article discusses a strange case, United States v. Bell, 516 F.3d 432 (6th Cir. 2008), that illustrates the point that, if hard cases make bad law, strange cases sometimes produce surprising appellate decisions. The case began with a domestic violence call to the police, led to a consent search of a home and discovery of drugs and guns, and produced a conviction on drug and weapons charges. Despite the abuse of discretion standard of review and the usual deference appellate courts give to trial judge decisions with respect to the admissibility of uncharged crime evidence, the court of appeals …

The Importance Of An Independent Bar, Stephen A. Saltzburg

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This paper, presented at International Bar Association's 10th Transnational Crime Conference in Washington, D.C., on June 9, 2007 begins from the premise that, as the world becomes more complex and therefore more dangerous, governments seek to limit individual rights in the name of crime control and/or national security. The paper cautions that we must always keep in mind that individual rights once lost are not easily regained. Accordingly, the unique and important role of an independent bar in protecting and defending liberty is more, not less, important than ever before. Thus, the efforts of the lawyers, military and civilian, to …

Interpreting The Americans With Disabilities Act: A Case Study In Pragmatic Judicial Reconstruction, Michael Selmi

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This article challenges the prevailing academic consensus regarding the Supreme Court's interpretation of the Americans With Disabilities Act ("ADA"). In a series of cases over the last decade, the Supreme Court has sharply limited the scope of the statute by narrowly defining what constitutes a disability, and most commentators have attributed the cases to a judicial backlash or a lack of empathy for the disabled. This article offers a counter narrative. Although the Supreme Court's interpretations have plainly narrowed the scope of the statute, and without regard to congressional intent, I suggest that the decisions are largely consistent with congressional …

The New Vulnerability: Data Security And Personal Information, Daniel J. Solove

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This book chapter was originally written for a conference on privacy and security at Stanford Law School held in March 2004. The chapter argues that abuses of personal information are caused by the failure to regulate the way companies manage personal information. Despite taking elaborate technological measures to protect their data systems, companies readily disseminate the personal information they have collected to a host of other entities and sometimes even to anyone willing to pay a small fee. Companies provide access to their record systems over the phone to anybody in possession of a few easy-to-find pieces of personal information …

Home-School Collaboration : Strategies For Improvement, Kelly O'Bryan

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Home-school collaboration, the manner in which overt partnerships among schools, families, and the community are established, has been shown to be beneficial to all parties involved. Although the benefits of collaboration are known, empirical strategies to accomplish these benefits remain lacking in the literature. The current study examines the specific types of school practices occurring at the secondary level, as gathered through the 2003 Parent and Family Involvement in Education Survey, and whether those practices predict involvement. Although parent education, parental work - . hours, personal notes from school, and memos from school were significant predictors of parent attendance at …

Supporting School Persistence : An Examination Of Student Experiences In An Alternative High School, Molly O'Connor

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Many researchers have investigated the problem of high school dropouts and the role of traditional schools in supporting· students' academic persistence. Despite traditional schools' efforts to support academic persistence, they are not meeting the needs of many students. Alternative schools have become increasingly available to support the needs of at-risk students. This is a qualitative case study, which examines how the experiences of students have been supported at a Midwestern alternative high school. Four themes emerged as being important to supporting student's academic . persistence: (a) positive relationships with teachers, (b) classes structured to meet needs, (c) student empowerment, and …

School Counselors' Perceptions Of The Needs Of Children Of Incarcerated Parents, Sarah Wakefield

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Children of incarcerated parents are a population that have specialized needs. While previous research has explored the effects of parental incarceration on children and their needs, the current study evaluated schools' awareness of such effects and the resources they have to meet those needs. Because the majority of children attend school, schools are an appropriate setting for such interventions and services. The current study showed that school counselors are not aware of all of the students affected by parental incarceration, they need additional information concerning specific issues and needs associated with parental incarceration, and they believe their schools lack the …

Surface Temperature Mapping Of The University Of Northern Iowa Campus Using High Resolution Thermal Infrared Aerial Imagery, Alexander Savelyev

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The goal of this study was to produce and analyze a heat loss map of the University of the Northern Iowa campus using thermal infrared remote sensing data. Aerial data with the spatial resolution of 0.29m and radiometric resolution of 14 bit was collected. A model for the pixel to radiance and temperature conversion was developed with its parameters estimated with an R² of 0.78. Temperature imagery was shown to be consistent over the time of the survey and accurate to within 12°C. The temperature map then was used to assess the conditions of the rooftops and steam pipelines …

Does Motor Skill Level Affect Physical Activity-Related Self-Efficacy And Enjoyment In Third Grade Students?, Rachel Kautzky-Braley

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Childhood obesity has nearly tripled in the past three decades. Because of these alarming numbers, government health officials are highly concerned with causes of this trend. It has been shown that poor diet, certain behaviors such as television viewing, and a lack of physical activity are some of the causes of this increase. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between self-efficacy and enjoyment and a child's motor skill level. The study participants included 80 third grade students (43 girls and 37 boys). The sample was split into an intervention group (n=43) and a control group (n=37). …

List, Emails For Painted Bunting Publications, Circa 2008, Paul W. Sykes Jr.

Florida Ornithological Society - Records - Full Collection

List of email addresses for distribution of Painted bunting publications, including contacts in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and Cuba.

Janesville Csd K-12 School Library: A Facility Design And Development Study, Christine Jacobs

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this study was to research the planning procedures undertaken during the design and development of the Janesville Consolidated School District's K-12 School library facility. This research focused on the importance of building a new K-12 school library, in a small rural school setting, while emphasis on the planning procedures and the analysis of its layout/design, and overall effectiveness.

The methodology the researcher used for this study was a narrative design, in order to collect data that occurred over twelve months. The researcher interviewed fourteen key stakeholders that had adequate experience and/or a leadership role regarding the facility …

Modeling Physical Activity In Working Adults: How Suitable Is The Expanded Parallel Process Model?, Adwoa B-H-Sam

Health Services Research Dissertations

This study is an assessment of the usefulness of the Expanded Parallel Process Model in predicting health enhancing physical activity as an outcome variable. The theory is tested in the context of risk for coronary heart disease and involves secondary analyses of a dataset from a group of working adults. These individuals had elected first to participate in a health plan ‘Quality Improvement Study’ and were then randomly selected to receive an intervention program designed to get people to be more active.

Data on self-reported demographics, physical activity levels, health status characteristics and perceptions measured on a Likert-type scale known …