Digital Commons Network^™

A Core Of Agreement, Donald Braman, Dan M. Kahan, David Hoffman

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

In this short comment, we respond to papers by Robinson, Kurzban, and Jones (RKJ) and by Darley, who replied to our paper, Punishment Naturalism. We align ourselves wholeheartedly with Darley’s argument that intuitions of criminal wrongdoing, while mediated by cognitive mechanisms that are largely universal, consist in evaluations that vary significantly across cultural groups. RKJ defend their finding of “universal” intuitions of “core” of criminal wrongdoing. They acknowledge, however, that their method for identifying the core excludes by design factors that predictably generate cultural variance in what behavior counts as murder, rape, theft and other “core” offenses. On this basis, …

Some Realism About Punishment Naturalism, Donald Braman, Dan M. Kahan, David A. Hoffman

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

In this paper we critique the increasingly prominent claims of punishment naturalism – the notion that highly nuanced intuitions about most forms of crime and punishment are broadly shared, and that this agreement is best explained by a particular form of evolutionary psychology. While the core claims of punishment naturalism are deeply attractive and intuitive, they are contradicted by a broad array of studies and depend on a number of logical missteps. The most obvious shortcoming of punishment naturalism is that it ignores empirical research demonstrating deep disagreements over what constitutes a wrongful act and just how wrongful it should …

Conservation With Justice: A Rights-Based Approach, Dinah L. Shelton, Thomas Greiber, Melinda Janki, Marcos Orellana, Annalisa Savaresi

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This article suggests a rights-based approach (RBA) to conservation of environmental resources. The article points out benefits of an RBA model, such as identifying the causes of environmental impacts on citizens’ human rights and bettering the regulation of environmental resources. However, the RBA also poses challenges, such as resistance from non-State actors, comparing the importance of different rights, and a commitment of many resources. The article next identifies substantive and procedural rights provided by international law. An RBA implicates, among others, the right to life, the right to health, the right to an adequate standard of living, the right to …

Emerging Policy And Practice Issues (2009), Steven L. Schooner, David J. Berteau

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This paper, presented at the West Government Contracts Year in Review Conference (covering 2009), attempts to identify the key trends and issues for 2010 in U.S. federal procurement. In large part, the paper focuses upon the challenges inherited by the Obama administration and its efforts during its first year in office. Among other things, the paper suggests that the administration charted a course of what it perceived as bold action – most dramatically, touting "savings" and accountability, while permitting special interests to distract focus from value for money and customer satisfaction. Accordingly, at least to date, the Obama administration's procurement …

Emerging Policy And Practice Issues (2010), Steven L. Schooner, David J. Berteau

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This paper, presented at the West Government Contracts Year in Review Conference (covering 2010), attempts to identify the key trends and issues for 2011 in U.S. federal procurement. The paper, among other things, focuses on the intense activity that emanated from the Defense Department, primarily through USD(AT&L) Ashton Carter’s Efficiency and Productivity Initiative; summarizes empirical evidence that the federal procurement spending growth cycle finally has run its course; offers a window into the concentration of spending amongst the largest contracting agencies and government contractors; points out that, despite all of the attention focused upon government contracting, over the last decade …

Terrorism And The Law: Cases And Materials, Gregory E. Maggs

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Terrorism and the Law: Cases and Materials (2d ed. 2010) is a textbook written by Professor Gregory E. Maggs (of the George Washington University Law School) and published by West (ISBN-13: 9780314908582).

The textbook considers legal aspects of a broad range of methods that governments have for fighting terrorism, including criminal penalties, economic sanctions, immigration restrictions, military force, and civil liability. It addresses not just the steps taken in reaction to the 9/11 attacks, but also many other counterterrorism measures by the United States and other nations in recent years. To offer a global and comparative perspective, the materials include …

Towards A Jurisprudence Of Hybridity, Paul Schiff Berman

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Debates about non-state normative communities often devolve into clashes between two polarized positions. On the one hand, we see the desire to eradicate difference through forced obeisance to a single overarching state norm. On the other, we see claims of complete autonomy for non-state lawmaking, as if such non-state communities could plausibly exist in isolation from the communities that both surround and intersect them.

Neither of these positions takes seriously the importance of engagement and dialogue across difference. Navigating difference doesn’t require either assimilation or separation; it requires negotiation. Legal pluralists have long charted this process of negotiation, noting, for …

Contractors And The Ultimate Sacrifice, Steven L. Schooner

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This brief article quantifies how, in Iraq and Afghanistan, contractor personnel increasingly have made the ultimate sacrifice alongside, or in lieu of, service members. The enormity of the contractor sacrifice gives pause - more than 2,000 contractors have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. But what is more striking is that contractors are bearing an increasing proportion of the annual death toll. In the first half of 2010, more contractors died in Iraq and Afghanistan supporting the war effort than members of the U.S. military waging these wars.

The Divine Dilemma: The Development Of Puritan Thought Concerning Church And State In New England, 1630-1780., John Tyler Clemons

Honors Theses

As devout Calvinists, the Puritans’ first loyalty to their interpretation of the Bible put them at odds with the English Crown and the Anglican Church, which demanded obedience to religious and secular authority above all else. Unwilling to recant, the Puritans found themselves in a “divine dilemma” with two equally unacceptable options: continued persecution or open rebellion. The flight to New England temporarily solved the Puritans’ dilemma by removing them from the immediate reach of the king and his bishops. Upon their amval in Massachusetts, the Puritans began constructing a “City on a Hill,” a religiously homogenous society based upon …

Euskal Herritarrak Gara: A Study Of A People And Their History, Culture, And Identity, Madison Rebekah Halbrook

Honors Theses

Throughout history, Basque nationalism has constantly been defined by a series of struggles to protect their unique culture and identity and by a reaction of the Basque people to resist outside change and influence. This thesis will identify, examine, and discuss both the causes and the effects of this sentiment, and also why and how it has developed the way that it has. There are a number of factors in which this struggle can be seen. They include the fight to protect the Basque region fi'om foreign invaders, the struggle to retain political autonomy within a larger group, and certain …

Fruit And Vegetable Consumption Of Elementary Students In Serve Only Service And Offer Versus Serve Service, Margaret Louise Harbison

Honors Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a significant difference in fiiiit and vegetable consumption among fourth and fifth grade elementary students who participate in the NSLP Serve Only service compared to the Offer Versus Serve (OVS) service. Methods Weighed and visual plate waste data were collected for five consecutive days at two elementary schools. School A used Serve Only service (students are served all five food components of the lunch meal) and school B used OVS service (students may select as few as three of the five food components of the lunch meal). Costs disposed …

A Comparison Of Training Modalities On Vertical Jump Performance In Recreationally Trained College Males, Katie Alexis Jackson

Honors Theses

Vertical jumping ability is a vital component of superior athletic performance. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of six weeks of resistance training (RT), plyometric training (PT), and complex training (CT) on vertical ground reaction forces in vertical jump measures in college-aged males. Thirty participants were divided into three training groups: RT (n=l 1), PT (n=9), or CT (n=10). The participants trained two days a week for six weeks and participated in pre-testing, mid-testing, and post testing sessions for a total study period of nine weeks. The testing sessions consisted of a 1RM back squat, Romanian …

Five Point Zero Divisor Graphs, Florida Victoria Levidiotis

Honors Theses

We study the zero divisor graphs, determined by equivalence classes of zero divisors of a ring R. with exactly five vertices. In particular, we determine which graphs with exactly five vertices can be realized as the zero divisor graph of a ring. We provide rings for the graphs which are possible, and prove that the rest of graphs can not be realized via any commutative ring. There are thirty-four graphs in total which contain exactly five vertices.

A Qualitative Analysis Of Policing Methods With Regard To Chinese Crime Groups In The United States, Jessica P. Moeller

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

The University Of Mississippi: Marketing And Managing For Improvement During A Recession, Christine Marie Sims

Honors Theses

The objective of this thesis is to provide gthe University of Mississippi during a recession erms recession and social marketing. Then, a statement on the university s position and a SWOT Analysis; an analysis of an organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats; are provided for the University of Mississippi- Following the background SWOT Analysis, ten problematic areas and ten associated benchmarks are presented. both of which were developed from a personal audit of the university s management. Finally, ten goals are proposed with the intent of guiding the university to success highly marketable university over the next fifty years. Each …

Alpha-Representability Of Vector Lattices, Matthew Judson Stephenson

Honors Theses

The primary topic of this thesis is representation of vector lattices. The related theory of Boolean algebras is used as a tool to this end. In [1], Brown and Nakano present a theorem that establishes what we will call cr-representabihty for vector lattices in this thesis. We cast their proof in the light of the Boolean algebra of bands. Consequently, we show that it is the Loomis-Sikorski Theorem which makes their proof work. We then exploit this insight to study a-representability for greater cardinal numbers a. A primary goal of this thesis is to be self-contadned. As a result of …

Table Of Contents, Depaul College Of Law

DePaul Business & Commercial Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Fire With Fire: Heterodox Law & Economics, Karl T. Muth

DePaul Business & Commercial Law Journal

No abstract provided.

On Systemically Important Financial Institutions And Progressive Systemic Mitigation, James B. Thomson

DePaul Business & Commercial Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Narrowing Successorship: The Alter Ego Doctrine And The Role Of Intent, Drew Willis, Richard A. Bales

DePaul Business & Commercial Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Ftc V. Whole Foods Market: A New Ftc Preliminary Injunction Standard?, Jessica Fricke

DePaul Business & Commercial Law Journal

No abstract provided.

New Criminal Law Review Symposium On Privilege Or Punish: Criminal Justice And The Challenge Of Family Ties, Naomi R. Cahn, Douglas A. Berman, Gabriel J. Chin, Jennifer M. Collins, Ethan J. Leib, Dan Markel

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This symposium includes three review essays by Professors Doug Berman, Naomi Cahn, and Jack Chin. The review essays are focused on a recent book by Professors Dan Markel, Jennifer M. Collins and Ethan J. Leib entitled 'Privilege or Punish: Criminal Justice and the Challenge of Family Ties' (Oxford 2009). You can download the entire book for free at http://ssrn.com/abstract=1677503. In addition to the three review essays, the collection includes an essay by the book's authors that serves as a reply to this set of critiques. Collectively, we are grateful to the New Criminal Law Review, which is hosting this collection …

Credible Utility In Patent Law, Martin J. Adelman

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This paper discusses the law relating to the patentability of products and methods of their use. Specifically, the paper examines the circumstance where an inventor has brought forth a product which has no known credible utility or industrial applicability, but adds some guesses to her patent application in the hopes that if she guesses correctly, she will obtain a valuable patent. If one of the guesses proves correct, should this be treated in essence as a constructive reduction to practice sufficient to justify the grant of a valid patent?

This paper suggests that the proper answer should be no because …

The Eleventh Amendment And The Nature Of The Union, Bradford R. Clark

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Leading theories of the Eleventh Amendment start from the premise that its text makes no sense. These theories regard the Amendment as either under-inclusive, over-inclusive, or an incoherent compromise because it prohibits federal courts from hearing "any suit" against a state by out-of-state citizens, but does not prohibit suits against a state by its own citizens. Two of these theories would either expand or contract the immunity conferred by the text of the Amendment in order to avoid this absurd or anomalous result. This Article suggests that the Eleventh Amendment made sense as written when understood in its full historical …

The Political Branches And The Law Of Nations, Bradford R. Clark

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the U.S. Supreme Court went out of its way to follow background rules of the law of nations, particularly the law of state-state relations. As we have recently argued, the Court followed the law of nations because adherence to such law preserved the constitutional prerogatives of the political branches to conduct foreign relations and decide momentous questions of war and peace. Although we focused primarily on the extent to which the Constitution obligated courts to follow the law of nations in the early republic, the explanation we offered rested on an important, …

The National Labor Relations Act At 75: In Need Of A Heart Transplant, Charles B. Craver

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

When the NLRA was enacted in 1935, 13.2% of workers were union members. Industrial unions used the power provided in the NLRA to organize manufacturing workers and achieve a union membership of 35% by the mid-1950s. Although the NLRA was significantly amended in 1947 and 1959, it has not been meaningfully changed since then. As a result, a statute designed for mass production industries is no longer relevant to the service and white-collar positions occupied by most individuals today. The NLRA must be modified to include independent contractors who work like regular employees and perma-temps hired from employment agencies on …

How To Make The Much-Needed Employee Free Choice Act Politically Acceptable, Charles B. Craver

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

The proposed Employee Free Choice Act (AFCA) would make it easier for employees to select bargaining agents by allowing unions to become certified based upon authorization cards instead of secret ballot Labor Board elections. This practice would be similar to the practice employed by the Labor Board under the original NLRA from 1935 until 1947. To ensure that a majority of workers really desire representation, EFCA could require that 60% or 67% of employees in proposed bargaining units sign authorization cards before the designated union could be certified. EFCA would also require first contract arbitration in the many instances in …

What Makes A Great Legal Negotiator?, Charles B. Craver

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

What factors are associated with successful legal negotiators? I have found no significant correlation between student GPAs and negotiating results achieved on course exercises. I have found no differences in the results achieved by race or gender. Negotiator styles influence bargaining success, with many skilled negotiators employing the hybrid Competitive/Problem-Solving approach where they explore the underlying interests of the parties and seek to expand the overall pie to be divided, but use subtle manipulation to claim a greater share of the joint surplus for themselves. Proficient negotiators are thoroughly prepared, they have realistic, but elevated aspirations,and they begin with elevated, …

Negotiation Ethics For Real World Interactions, Charles B. Craver

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Attorneys negotiate constantly. Many persons who teach negotiation courses feel uncomfortable with the deception often associated with bargaining. Negotiators demand more or offer less than they are willing to accept, and over- and under-state the value of different items for strategic purposes. Such "puffing" and "embellishment" are part of most business and legal interactions, and are are accepted by most professionals. On the other hand, misrepresentations of material information is clearly improper. Collaborative and Cooperative lawyers who feel uncomfortable using deceptive tactics to further client interests have agreed to be entirely open and cooperative when they negotiate. At what point …

Traditional Versus Economic Analysis: Evidence From Cardozo And Posner Torts Opinions, Lawrence A. Cunningham

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This Article contributes a new approach and evidence to the longstanding debate concerning the relative merits of traditional legal analysis compared to contemporary economic analysis of law. It evaluates prominent opinions of two judicial exemplars of the contending conceptions, the traditionalist Benjamin Cardozo and the economist Richard Posner, in torts, the field where economic analysis has greatest impact. Comparative critique of their opinions appearing in current torts casebooks, where they are the most ubiquitous judges, provides evidence that traditional legal analysis is a more capacious and persuasive basis of justification than contemporary economic analysis of law.