Digital Commons Network^™

Too Good To Be True: Second Thoughts On The Proliferation Of Mental Health Counts, H Archibald Kaiser

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

The last two decades have witnessed the proliferation of mental health courts, proffered by governments as an efficacious and sometimes exclusive response to the complex social dynamics causing the criminalization of persons who live with mental health problems. the ready embrace of this variant of the problem-solving-courts genre has diverted policy-makers and citizens from confronting the root causes of the challenging intersection of mental illness and crime. the new courts have acquired a legitimacy that belies a wide range of doubts about their existence and operation. this commentary will offer a counterpoint to the accelerating momentum of mental health courts. …

Precarious Pathways: Evaluating The Provincial Nominee Programs In Canada, Jamie Baxter

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Temporary foreign workers in Canada experience substandard employment relationships, are explicitly denied many formal rights and are practically excluded from most employment protections. Led by a growing emphasis on workers’ temporary status as a root cause of their employment-related vulnerabilities, some advocates, as well as elected officials, are now calling on governments to improve opportunities for workers to attain permanent residency in Canada, primarily for those in lower-skilled occupations. The central aim of this paper is to evaluate whether Provincial Nominee Programs are likely to address the real insecurities faced by vulnerable lower-skilled temporary foreign workers. Given that there are …

Watch Your Language: A Review Of The Use Of Stigmatizing Language By Canadian Judges, Jocelyn Downie, Michelle Black

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Despite ongoing advances in understanding the causes and prevalence of mental health issues, stigmatizing language is still often directed at people who have mental illness. Such language is regularly used by parties, such as the media, who have great influence on public opinion and attitudes. Since the decisions from Canadian courtrooms can also have a strong impact on societal views, we asked whether judges use stigmatizing language in their decisions. To answer this question, we conducted a qualitative study by searching through modern Canadian case law using search terms that were indicative of stigmatizing language. We found that, although judges …

Caveat Emptor, Venditor Et Praescribor: Legal Liability Associated With Methyplenidate Hydrochloride (Mph) Use By Postsecondary Students, Jocelyn Downie, Fiona Campbell, Simon Outram

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

For years, students have endured the physical and mental stress that comes as a result of the demands of post-secondary education. All -night cramming for exams and marathon paper writing sessions are considered, by many, to be a rite of passage, endured by generations of students. For many years, students have also turned to stimulants (from coffee to energy drinks and caffeine pills) to extend their physical and cognitive limits in order to better cope with the demands of school and life. In this sense, the use of stimulants as study-aids is not a new phenomenon nor has it been …

Canadian Parliament Must Act On Assisted Human Reproduction, Jocelyn Downie

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

In the past three months, three members of the Board of Directors of Assisted Human Reproduction Canada (AHRC) have resigned. Their resignation letters include the following statements: '[that following requests for information about the Agency's spending and budget] there was much reluctance and procrastination in providing information, and that when the information was provided, there were inconsistencies in what I received and what was originally presented. This raises concerns in my mind about the prudence and diligence in managing public funds'; 'I have encountered difficulties as a board member in receiving satisfactory replies to concerns and questions I have raised …

Dr. Cézanne And The Art Of Re(Peat)Search: Competing Interests And Obligations In Clinical Research, Robyn Bluhm, Jocelyn Downie, Jeff Nisker

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Clinician researchers have a number of roles, each of which carries specific obligations. There are times when these obligations may be in competition (up to and including conflict) with each other. Using a narrative case study that describes a group of colleagues discussing their clinical department's participation in an industry-sponsored research protocol, we illustrate a number of the obligations faced by clinician researchers, and discuss how competing interests and obligations can lead to ethical problems. The case study is followed by a discussion of the effect of university–industry relations on competing interests and obligations in both clinical research and the …

A Comment On Watersheds: Runoff From The Tax Code, Kim Brooks

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

The role of tax as an instrument of social and economic policy has recently come to the fore in debates about the environment. This paper provides a short comment on a paper authored by Janet Milne that explores the incentive effects of the tax code on watershed protection.

Before They Even Start: Hope And Incoming 1ls, Barbara Brunner

Faculty Scholarship

Newly-accepted law school 1Ls often express interest in how they should spend the summer before starting their fall courses in order to be best prepared for success in their first semester. This desire to have a "leg up" on law school success leads those of us teaching first-year courses to think more deeply about what constitutes a "good preparation" for the unique experiences that new law students will face, and what skills are really necessary to increase their possibilities of success, especially in the first semester.

Over the past few years, I have compiled a list of activities which I …

Preserving The Corporate Attorney-Client Privilege, Katrice Bridges Copeland

Faculty Scholarship

This Article argues that, while legislation such as the Attorney-Client Privilege Protection Act ("ACPPA") is necessary to preserve that corporate attorney-client privilege, any such legislation must include judicial oversight to deter prosecutorial misconduct effectively. Part II examines the costs and benefits of granting corporations the attorney-client privilege in criminal investigations. It concludes that the benefits of the privilege fat outweigh the costs and that the privilege must be safeguarded from unnecessary infringement. Part III traces the evolution of the DOJ's waiver policies that have threatened the corporate attorney-client privilege. It also examines the costs and benefits of the waiver policy …

What Is '(Im)Partial Enough' In A World Of Embedded Neutrals?, Nancy A. Welsh

Faculty Scholarship

The Supreme Court’s decision in Caperton v. A. T. Massey Coal Co. highlighted the fragility of judicial independence and impartiality in the United States. A similar, less-noticed fragility of independence and impartiality exists among the arbitrators, mediators and administrative hearing officers who resolve an increasing number of disputes. Everywhere one looks, there is unremarked yet remarkable evidence of the rise of - embedded neutrals, particularly in uneven contexts between one-time and repeat players. This phenomenon becomes particularly worrisome when the embedded neutral’s role is due to their special relationship with the repeat player, and the one-time player is not as …

Private Regulation And Foreign Conduct, Adam I. Muchmore

Faculty Scholarship

Current U.S. policy on safety regulation for imported food is based largely on ex post measures. Several reform proposals seek to strengthen the ex ante component of this regulatory program. These proposals rely on one or more of three basic strategies: direct extraterritorial regulation; delegation of regulatory authority to private entities; and delegation of regulatory authority to foreign government agencies. This paper explores the ability of each strategy to respond to several principal-agent problems relevant to imported-food safety: the regulatory license problem; interest group capture; and the reality of bribery and threats in many food-exporting countries. Through the lens of …

A Gulf United: Canada-Us Transboundary Marine Ecosystem-Based Governance In The Gulf Of Maine, Lawrence Hildebrand, Aldo Chircop

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

In 1989, the Northeastern states of Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire in the United States and the neighboring Canadian Provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia embarked upon a new form of regional marine environmental cooperation when their governors and premiers adopted the Agreement on Conservation of the Marine Environment of the Gulf of Maine Between the Governments of the Bordering States and Provinces.

Rapid Emergence Of Co-Colonization With Community-Acquired And Hospital-Acquired Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Strains In The Hospital Setting, Joanna R. Wares, Erika M.C. D'Agata, Glenn F. Webb

Department of Math & Statistics Faculty Publications

Background: Community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CAMRSA), a novel strain of MRSA, has recently emerged and rapidly spread in the community. Invasion into the hospital setting with replacement of the hospital-acquired MRSA (HA-MRSA) has also been documented. Co-colonization with both CA-MRSA and HA-MRSA would have important clinical implications given differences in antimicrobial susceptibility profiles and the potential for exchange of genetic information.

Methods: A deterministic mathematical model was developed to characterize the transmission dynamics of HA-MRSA and CA-MRSA in the hospital setting and to quantify the emergence of co-colonization with both strains Results: The model analysis shows that the …

The Role Of Prosecutorial Discretion In Immigration Law, Shoba S. Wadhia

Faculty Scholarship

The concept of "prosecutorial discretion" appears in the immigration statute, agency memoranda and court decisions about select immigration enforcement decisions. Prosecutorial discretion extends to decisions about which offenses or populations to target; whom to stop, interrogate, and arrest; whether to detain or release a noncitizen; whether to initiate removal proceedings; and whether to execute a removal order; among other decisions. Similar to the criminal context, prosecutorial discretion in the immigration context is an important tool for achieving cost-effective law enforcement and relief for individuals who present desirable qualities or humanitarian circumstances. Yet there is a dearth of literature on the …

Freeze-Outs: Transcontinental Analysis And Reform Proposals, Marco Ventoruzzo

Faculty Scholarship

One of the most crucial, but systematically neglected, comparative differences between corporate law systems in Europe and in the United States concerns the regulations governing freeze-out transactions in listed corporations. Freeze-outs can be defined as transactions in which the controlling shareholder exercises a legal right to buy out the shares of the minority, and consequently delists the corporation and brings it private. Beyond this essential definition, the systems diverge profoundly. This gap exists despite the fact that minority freeze-outs are one of the most debated issues in corporate law, in the public media, in a vast body of scholarly work …

Improving Accuracy Of Large-Scale Prediction Of Forest Disease Incidence Through Bayesian Data Reconciliation, Ephraim M. Hanks

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Increasing the accuracy of predictions made from ecological data typically involves replacing or replicating the data, but the cost of updating large-scale data sets can be prohibitive. Focusing resources on a small sample of locations from a large, less accurate data set can result in more reliable observations, though on a smaller scale. We present an approach for increasing the accuracy of predictions made from a large-scale eco logical data set through reconciliation with a small, highly accurate data set within a Bayesian hierarchical modeling framework. This approach is illustrated through a study of incidence of eastern spruce dwarf mistletoe …

Honors Senior Project, Mustafa Husaini

Honors Projects

In the first section of a three part series looking at health care reform, this segment analyzes a brief history of healthcare, a comparison of selected health care systems in the world, and the ethical and moral basis for health care systems in the respective countries. After analyzing the health care systems in England, France, and Germany, the ethical basis for health care in America will be established.

It is important to analyze important paradigm shifts in healthcare as the latest is advent of employee sponsored healthcare. Without this advancement, it is very difficult for a majority of individuals to …

Lawyering In Juvenile Court: Lessons From A Civil Gideon Experiment, Katherine Hunt Federle

Fordham Urban Law Journal

To understand how a good lawyering paradigm may nevertheless undermine client empowerment and perpetuate disability, it is necessary to appreciate the larger ethical debate about client autonomy. This Article will examine two dominant models of good lawyering and explore their implications for client choice and lawyer autonomy, with an emphasis on poverty lawyering. The Article then turns to a discussion of the lawyering experience in juvenile court to illustrate the ways in which dominant visions of the client as dependent, incompetent, and disabled affect not only the role and responsibilities of the attorney for the child but the extension of …

Examining The Real Demand For Legal Services, Herbert M. Kritzer

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Legal needs are real, but can also be virtually open-ended. Studies tell us that 85% of the civil legal needs of low income persons are currently not being met but we have no idea as to what portion of that 85% legal assistance would meaningfully help to resolve those needs, or how the cost of providing that assistance compares to the benefit that would be generated. This article examines extant studies of legal needs, and concludes that there is a need for baseline data to enable us to assess the degree of legal need that takes into account the range …

Nothing For Something? Denying Legal Assistance To Those Compelled To Participate In Adr Proceedings, Stephan Landsman

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The traditional view of the courts in their handling of unrepresented litigants has been that those who proceed pro se must look out for themselves and that there is no constitutional right to receive personal instruction from the trial judge on courtroom procedure. The opposing view, which has received increasing support, is that courts have a duty to ensure that pro se litigants do not lose their right to a hearing on the merits of their claim due to ignorance of technical procedural requirements. This Article explores the treatment of unrepresented litigants in ADR (alternative dispute resolution) settings, contends that …

Access To Justice In A World Without Lawyers: Evidence From Texas Bodily Injury Claims, Charles Silver, David A. Hyman

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Will tort reform capping contingency fees limit plaintiffs' ability to recover for their injuries? If self-representation is a viable option, contingency fees may have less of an impact on access than one might otherwise expect. Conversely, if tort recoveries flow only or mostly to plaintiffs who either actually hire lawyers or can credibly threaten to do so, caps on contingency fees may make it difficult or impossible for many victims to obtain justice. This article explores the issue by looking at patterns of representation among claimants who received payments for bodily injury in Texas during 1988-2005. Over an extended period …

Introduction: 2008 Aba Section Of Litigation Access To Justice Symposium, Robert L. Rothman

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The 2008 ABA Section of Litigation conducted a symposium designed to explore the challenges inherent in creation of a civil right to counsel and to generate critical though, dialogue, and scholarship on the subject.

Between Access To Counsel And Access To Justice: A Psychological Perspective, Nourit Zimmerman, Tom R. Tyler

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Looking into the pro se phenomenon, this paper will explore the lessons that can be learned from the experiences of the many individuals representing themselves in the American legal system today. Our interest in this paper will try to understand better the procedural values that matter to people and how they are related to having or not having professional legal representation. Does having a lawyer or not having a lawyer influence the experiences of lay people operating within the legal system, their evaluations of the process and the system, and of the outcomes obtained by them, and in what ways? …

Formalizing Local Citizenship, Peter J. Spiro

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This essay highlights recent state and local policies relating to immigrants and the respects in which they reflect the community membership of those who do not have national citizenship, and makes a case for bundling measures premised on alien membership through the institutional challenge of citizenship. The article also explores the modalities of a formalized local citizenship.

"Sanctuary Cities" And Local Citizenship, Rose Cuison Villazor

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This article explores the ways in which sanctuary laws illustrate the tensions between national and local citizenship, and specifically examines the ways in which "sanctuary cities" have constructed membership for undocumented immigrants located within their jurisdictions.

Can Urban University Expansion And Sustainable Development Co-Exist?: A Case Study In Progress On Columbia University, Keith H. Hirokawa, Patricia E. Salkin

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This article uses the expansion of Columbia University as a case study to demonstrate the difficulty in labeling projects as "sustainable" or "unsustainable" when key stakeholders view the process and outcomes of sustainability differently.

Moving Targets: Placing The Good Faith Doctrine In The Context Of Fragmented Policing, Hadar Aviram, Jeremy Seymour, Richard A. Leo

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The debate sparked by Herring v. United States is a microcosm of the quintessential debate about the scope of the Fourth Amendment’s exclusionary rule and ultimately the appropriate breadth of police authority and constitutional review by courts. Offering a new reading of the decision, this article argues that Herring reflects a healthy dosage of real politic and an acknowledgment that American policing is characterized by a fragmented, localized structure with little overview and control, and much reliance on local agencies. Part I presents the authors’ interpretation of Herring as a case hinging upon the question “who made the mistake?” as …

Databases, Doctrine, And Constitutional Criminal Procedure, Erin Murphy

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Over the past twenty years there has been an explosion in the creation, availability, and use of criminal justice databases. Large scale database systems now routinely influence law enforcement decisions ranging from formal determinations to arrest or convict an individual to informal judgments to subject a person to secondary pre-flight screening or investigate possible gang membership. Evidence gathered from database-related sources is now commonly introduced, and can play a pivotal proof role, in criminal trials. Although much has been written about the failure of constitutional law to adequately respond to the threat to privacy rights posed by databases, less attention …

The Tragedy Of Urban Roads: Saving Cities From Choking, Calling On Citizens To Combat Climate Change, Christian Iaione

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Article argues that the best response to the tragedy of road congestion has to rely on market-based regulatory techniques and public policies aimed at controlling the demand-side of transportation congestion. Among market-based regulatory techniques, economists seem to favor price-based instruments over quantity-based instruments. This Article argues instead that quantity instruments, such as tradable permits of road usage and real estate development, can better internalize all the externalities that road congestion produces. This Article also advances the idea that quantity instruments are more successful tools in addressing urban congestion for four reasons: (1) they respond better to equity concerns; (2) …

Welcome To Amerizona - Immigrants Out: Assessing Dystopian Dreams And Usable Futures Of Immigration Reform, And Considering Whether Immigration Regionalism Is An Idea Whose Time Has Come, Ketih Aoki, John Shuford

Fordham Urban Law Journal

No abstract provided.