Digital Commons Network^™

Carville: Remembering Leprosy In America, Chris J. Goertzen

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Public Opinion On Childhood Obesity As A Driving Force For Policy And Intervention Development, Charkarra Anderson-Lewis, Bonnie Harbaugh, Jerome R. Kolbo, Lei Zhang

Faculty Publications

Childhood obesity is a complex issue in which evidence describing strategies and methods for prevention are needed. It is important that the public’s perception of childhood obesity is understood. This includes determining attitudes about childhood obesity and assessing support for an array of policies and prevention initiatives. A multidisciplinary research team at The University of Southern Mississippi conducted the Mississippi Public Perception of Childhood Obesity telephone survey. Childhood obesity information was elicited from 1,352 Mississippi adults. Telephone interviewing was conducted using WinCATI on a sample selected using random-digit dialing. Data were weighted to reflect race, sex, and age distribution of …

A Distribution-Free Convolution Model For Background Correction Of Oligonucleotide Microarray Data, Zhongxue Chen, Monnie Mcgee, Qingzhong Liu, Megan Kong, Youping Deng, Richard H. Scheuermann

Faculty Publications

Introduction

Affymetrix GeneChip^® high-density oligonucleotide arrays are widely used in biological and medical research because of production reproducibility, which facilitates the comparison of results between experiment runs. In order to obtain high-level classification and cluster analysis that can be trusted, it is important to perform various pre-processing steps on the probe-level data to control for variability in sample processing and array hybridization. Many proposed preprocessing methods are parametric, in that they assume that the background noise generated by microarray data is a random sample from a statistical distribution, typically a normal distribution. The quality of the final results depends …

High-Throughput Next-Generation Sequencing Technologies Foster New Cutting-Edge Computing Techniques In Bioinformatics, Mary Qu Yang, Brian D. Athey, Hamid R. Arabnia, Andrew H. Sung, Qingzhong Liu, Jack Y. Yang, Jinghe Mao, Youping Deng

Faculty Publications

The advent of high-throughput next generation sequencing technologies have fostered enormous potential applications of supercomputing techniques in genome sequencing, epi-genetics, metagenomics, personalized medicine, discovery of non-coding RNAs and protein-binding sites. To this end, the 2008 International Conference on Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (Biocomp) - 2008 World Congress on Computer Science, Computer Engineering and Applied Computing (Worldcomp) was designed to promote synergistic inter/multidisciplinary research and education in response to the current research trends and advances. The conference attracted more than two thousand scientists, medical doctors, engineers, professors and students gathered at Las Vegas, Nevada, USA during July 14-17 and received great …

Finding A Reasonable Way To Enforce The Reasonable Efforts Requirement In Child Protection Cases, Jeanne M. Kaiser

Faculty Scholarship

Under federal law, state child protection agencies are required to exert "reasonable efforts" to reunite abused and neglected children with their parents before seeking to terminate parental rights and free the children for adoption. The scope of this requirement is undefined in federal statutes and in the statutory law of many states. As a result, it has fallen to appellate courts to determine the degree of effort a state agency must exert before the relationship between a parent and a child is severed. This has proven no easy task. By the time a parental termination case has reached an appellate …

Instant (Gender) Messaging: Expression-Based Challenges To State Enforcement Of Gender Norms, Taylor Flynn

Faculty Scholarship

Most challenges to state enforced conformity with gender norms are almost solely status-based equality claims. Given that a common term deployed by members of the trans community and in antidiscrimination laws is "gender identity and expression," situating such challenges in expression may, at first glance, appear to be little more than linguistic legerdemain. An understanding of gender as expressive, however, helps capture an often unarticulated, yet central aspect, of the harm enforced conformity inflicts on trans persons---compelled expression of the state's gender message over their profound objection. Consider governmental insistence that a trans student or employee present herself, through dress …

Lead Poisoning: An Alarming Public Health Problem In Bangladesh, Amal K. Mitra, Akhlaque Haque, Manirul Islam, S.A. M.K. Bashar

Faculty Publications

To assess the risk of lead poisoning among preschool and school-aged children in Bangladesh, 345 children were screened for blood lead levels (BLLs) from one rural and two urban areas in Bangladesh from September 2007 through January 2008. An urban industrial area at Tongi was identified as a disaster area, where 99% (104/105) of those tested had BLLs >= 10 mu g/dL. Industrial emissions and use of leaded gasoline by two-stroke engine vehicles were identified as possible sources of lead in that area. A rural nonindustrial area at Chirirbandar, Dinajpur was identified as another high-risk area, where 14% of the …

Practitioners Beware: Under Amended Trap 47, Unpublished Memorandum Opinions In Civil Cases Are Binding And Research On Westlaw And Lexis Is A Necessity., Andrew T. Solomon

St. Mary's Law Journal

In 2003 and 2008, the Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure (TRAP) 47 was amended. TRAP 47 is the rule which governs the issuance, citation, and precedential value of unpublished and memorandum opinions. The 2003 amendment was designed to make the law more readily available by prohibiting the issuance of unpublished opinions in civil cases and authorizing memorandum opinions in place of unpublished opinions. Despite its intention, the 2003 amendment failed to make civil case law more readily available. This is because such new opinions are only available via electronic repository, such as Westlaw or Lexis. As a result, to completely …

Professional Malpractice In A World Of Amateurs., Thomas D. Morgan

St. Mary's Law Journal

Clients experience the speed at which the world changes, both technologically and socially. They expect lawyers to keep pace. The technology which permits lawyers to deliver legal services faster also chains lawyers to their electronic devices. This technology has also led to a growing market of those who promise to do the same work faster, better, and cheaper. Such developments will ultimately affect how lawyers view professional malpractice or the way the industry understands “competence and diligence normally exercised by lawyers.” The malpractice question becomes: to what standard of care and competence should such “amateur” lawyers be held? The legal …

Could Government Speech Endorsing A Higher Law Resolve The Establishment Clause Crisis., Bruce Ledewitz

St. Mary's Law Journal

The Establishment Clause crisis exists due to the Supreme Court’s promise that America would have a secular government—meaning one which was neutral between religion and irreligion, as well as being neutral to all religions. This promise evolved pursuant to the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Establishment Clause. Nevertheless, the commitment to neutrality was never carried to fulfillment by the Court. The crisis may be illustrated by Congress’ addition of the words “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954. This addition seemed to violate the promise of neutrality made by the Supreme Court in Everson v. Board of Education …

Of Lies And Disclaimers - Contracting Around Fraud Under Texas Law., Robert K. Wise, Andrew J. Szygenda, Thomas F. Lillard

St. Mary's Law Journal

The Texas Supreme Court has failed to provide a bright-line test in determining whether reliance disclaimers are enforceable. A reliance disclaimer is a provision in a contract that disclaims all extra-contractual representations and provides that the contracting parties are not relying on any such representations. By including a reliance disclaimer, a contracting party may be attempting to immunize itself from liability for false statements made during negotiations. Even if a contracting party’s misrepresentations or non-disclosures were made with fraudulent intent, Texas law gives contracting parties broad freedom to contract around misrepresentation claims. In Forest Oil Corp. v. McAllen, the Texas …

Judge William Wayne Justice: A Life Of Human Dignity And Refractory Mules Tribute., Albert H. Kauffman

St. Mary's Law Journal

Judge Wayne Justice had a deep impact on the lives of many people and was an unyielding advocate who protected the rights of all U.S. citizens. Many of the Judge’s orders and consent decrees forced Texas to comply with more stringent federal requirements in education and health care and had a far reaching effect across the nation. Judge Justice presided over Doe v. Plyler that ensured the benefit of public education for the children of undocumented immigrants. In United States v. Texas, Judge Justice required that the Texas Education Agency monitor school district actions and policies to assure that they …

Prescribing A Balance: The Texas Legislative Responses To Sell V. United States., Brian D. Shannon

St. Mary's Law Journal

In Sell v. United States, decided in 2003, the United States Supreme Court addressed the question of “whether the Constitution permits the Government to administer antipsychotic drugs involuntarily to a mentally ill criminal defendant – in order to render that defendant competent to stand trial for serious, but nonviolent crimes.” The Court concluded that the Constitution does permit doing so “in limited circumstances…upon satisfaction of conditions” that the Court delineated. This Article will first address the Court’s parameters for determining when the administration of antipsychotic medications on an involuntary basis is permissible. The remainder of the Article, however, will discuss …

The Yearning For Zion Raid And Its Impact On Texas Child Welfare Cases: How A Botched Rescue Effort Exposed A Need To Refocus Efforts On Effective Service Plans Comment., Shannon K. Dunn

St. Mary's Law Journal

The raid of the Yearning for Zion ranch exposed fundamental flaws in the operation of the Texas Department of Children and Family Services (the Department). In the raid, the Department took custody of 468 children without a court order and removed them from their homes. This is one of the most glaring examples of the Department’s disregard for the Texas Family Code. Subchapter B of section 263 of the Texas Family Code mandates for the creation and implementation of a comprehensive service plan whenever the Department removes a child from his home. The Department, however, failed to create service plans …

Practical Challenges Of Implementing The Complementarity Between International Humanitarian And Human Rights Law - Demonstrated By The Procedural Regulation Of Internment In Non-International Armed Conflict, Laura M. Olson

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

Security Detention - United Kingdom Practice, Dominic Mcgoldrick

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

Giving Bite To The Eu-U.S. Data Privacy Safe Harbor: Model Solutions For Effective Enforcement, Daniel R. Leathers

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

The Push To Criminalize Aggression: Something Lost Amid The Gains, Mark A. Drumbl

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

Guantanamo Habeas Review: Are The D.C. District Court's Decisions Consistent With Ihl Internment Standards, Laura M. Olson

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

International Law And The Torture Memos, Michael P. Scharf

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

Introduction, Margaret P. Battin, Arthur G. Lipman

Utah Law Review

The landscape of drug theory, policy, and practice is highly "siloed" divided into differing spheres of discussion that appeal to differing underlying assumptions, that are regulated by different federal and other entities operating under quite different rationales, and that have quite different consequences for people who use drugs, from prescription medications to a social drink in the evening to illegal street drugs. This is the circumstance we find inconsistent, incoherent and disturbing-and to which this collection is addressed.

The Harmful Side Effects Of Drug Prohibition, Randy E. Barnett

Utah Law Review

An addiction to drug laws is caused by an inadequate understanding of individual rights and the vital role such rights play in deciding matters of legality. As a result, policies are implemented that cause serious' harm to the very individuals whom these policies were devised to help and to the general public. If the rights of individuals to choose how to use their person and possessions are fully respected, there is no guaranty that people will exercise their rights wisely. Some may mistakenly choose the path of finding happiness in a bottle or in a vial. Others may wish to …

Medical Marijuana: The Conflict Between Scientific Evidence And Political Ideology, Peter J. Cohen

Utah Law Review

At the beginning of this article, a basic question was posited: Should the approval or disapproval of medical marijuana as a legitimate therapeutic agent be governed by the same statute (and philosophy) that applies to all other new drugs or pharmaceutical agents, the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and should the drug be evaluated by the appropriate regulatory agency, the Food and Drug Administration, for its safety and efficacy as demonstrated by "evidence consisting of adequate and well-controlled investigations, including clinical investigations, by experts qualified by scientific training and experience"? If not, should medical marijuana be exempt from scientific review …

Recreational Drug Regulation: A Plea For Responsibility, Donald A. Dripps

Utah Law Review

This Article has argued that U.S. thinking about drug policy is inconsistent with the criminal law's rejection of any addiction defense and that the criminal law is right to reject that defense. Once society accepts that the choice to use drugs is not categorically different than the choice to consume many other consumer products with dangerous potentials and insidious long-term consequences, it is possible to see how misguided supply-side efforts have been. Supply-side enforcement wastes large quantities of resources with real economic opportunity costs, causes massive reductions in consumer welfare, and addresses the external costs of drug use inefficiently and …

Prosecutors And Drugs Policy: A Tale Of Six European Systems, Marianne Wade

Utah Law Review

The Symposium that this issue of the Law Journal documents is dedicated to a discussion of drugs and justice in the United States. It is hoped that with this contribution detailing the drug policy and the handling of related cases in several European jurisdictions an opportunity to reflect on certain issues from a different perspective and for discussion will arise. The data presented here stem mostly from a study conducted by the author and a group of researchers across Europe seeking to explore the function of prosecution services within six criminal justice systems: England and Wales, France, Germany, the Netherlands, …

Imagining The Addict: Evaluating Social And Legal Responses To Addiction, Elizabeth E. Joh

Utah Law Review

Often we refer to the response to an unwanted addictive behavior, but of course there is no unified social or legal response. Instead, addictive or compulsive behaviors occasion a variety of social and legal responses: restrictive or prohibitive legislation, individual litigation, the emergence of advocacy groups, and the issue of expert opinion. Yet even if these responses do not originate from a single plan, they converge in a particular way. When a new "epidemic" of addictive behavior is identified, a narrative about that addiction emerges. Who are I the addicts? What danger do they pose? Who bears responsibility for the …

High Society: Call To Arms, Joseph A. Califano, Jr.

Utah Law Review

If you wonder why I call our nation a high society, consider just one fact. Although we Americans are only 4 percent of the world's population, we consilme two-thirds of the world's illegal drugs. l And that, my friends, is only the tip of the iceberg. HIGH SOCIETY. is a book about the pervasive and pernicious role of alcohol and drug abuse in our 'country? It shows how such abuse causes and aggravates just about every intractable problem our nation faces. And it calls for a revolution in our attitude about substance abuse and addiction and how we deal with …

A Government Insider's Perspective On The War On Drugs, Scott Burns

Utah Law Review

On behalf of the White House and on behalf of John Walters, the director of Drug Czarl of the United States, it's an honor to be here. It's been six years now that I've been at the White House, and looking at Scott Daniels, Scott Carver, Judge Boyden, Paul Boyden, and other friends, I'm reminded how I got there. I was sitting in my office as the Iron county attorney, and I was right in the middle of a really ugly sexual abuse case. I got a call and my secretary, Colleen-I think we had three lawyers and three secretaries …

Judd And The Jury: How The Utah Supreme Court Dealt A Blow To The Constitutional Right To A Jury Trial By Allowing A Cap On Pain And Suffering Damages, Adam Weinacker

Utah Law Review

The Judd court identified two "analytically simple and reasonable" schools of thought with respect to the right to a trial by jury. In choosing one, it failed to adequately analyze the history behind Utah's right to a jury trial. The debates among delegates at the state. constitutional convention clearly indicate that the right to a jury trial was to be left alone aside from a permissible tinkering with the number ofjurors. Instead of looking to the convention or relying on the plethora of cases that state that damages are within the constitutional dominion of the jury, the Judd majority followed …

Pioneers, Probate, Polygamy, And You, Michael Cobb

Utah Law Review

The point is this: as we start to spin out our own wonderful and grotesque ideas about love, marriage, death, and wills, religion, and Marx, we also need to start thinking of marriage and family commitments as wills in and of themselves, pondering the implications of making the family a supeniatural relation of terror, longing, loss, and arrest. The Last Will and Testament that we are always making when we are in families, when we "I do," is shot through with a deep connection between love and property that keeps us wishing that we could survive our deaths. The will …