Digital Commons Network^™

Two Myths About The Alien Tort Statute, Bradford R. Clark, Anthony J. Bellia Jr.

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

In Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co., the Supreme Court applied the presumption against extraterritorial application of U.S. law to hold that the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) did not encompass a claim between aliens for misconduct that occurred in another nation. Without much elaboration, the Court stated that the ATS only encompasses claims that “touch and concern the territory of the United States...with sufficient force to displace the presumption.” As it did in Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain, the Kiobel Court purported to rest its decision on the original public meaning of the ATS when enacted in 1789. The Court, however, misperceived …

The European Procurement Directives And The Transatlantic Trade & Investment Partnership (T-Tip): Advancing U.S. - European Trade And Cooperation In Procurement, Christopher R. Yukins

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Regulatory efforts on both sides of the Atlantic, in anti-corruption and procurement, are become more interdependent, as the two systems, U.S. and European, evolve in parallel. That convergence continued as the European Union finalized its new directives on procurement, and the United States and Europe moved forward in negotiating a comprehensive free trade agreement, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP), which would (among other things) address barriers to trade in procurement. This piece reviews the T-TIP agreement’s potential impact on procurement, in the near and long term. The European T-TIP negotiators are likely to demand greater access to sub-central …

A Concise Guide To Using Dictionaries From The Founding Era To Determine The Original Meaning Of The Constitution, Gregory E. Maggs

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This Article explains how dictionaries published in the Founding Era may provide evidence of the original meaning of the Constitution. In addition, the Article identifies and discusses six potential problems with relying on definitions from these dictionaries, and cautions that these potential problems must be considered when using Founding Era dictionaries either to make claims about the Constitution’s original meaning or to evaluate claims about original meaning made by others. Finally, the Article includes an Appendix describing nine English language dictionaries and four legal dictionaries from the Founding Era that the Supreme Court has cited in constitutional cases, and indicates …

The People's Justice?, David Fontana

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Over the past few decades, the liberal Justices on the Supreme Court have made their most notable extrajudicial communications about the Constitution in academic venues discussing academic issues. This has limited their appeal to broader audiences. In this Essay -- written for a symposium at Yale Law School on Justice Sotomayor's first five years on the Court -- David Fontana explores the distinctive path that Justice Sotomayor has pursued. Justice Sotomayor has spoken to academic audiences, as past liberal Justices have. What is most notable about JusticeSotomayor, though, is that she has also appeared in locations and addressed issues that …

The Limitation On Exclusion Of Extrinsic Evidence, Stephen A. Saltzburg

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This article mainly examines United States v. Delgado-Marrero, 744 F.3d 167 (1st Cir. 2014), to illustrate the difficulty courts still have when considering Federal Rule of Evidence 608(b)'s ban on extrinsic evidence. The prosecutor's other arguments are also examined under Federal Rules of Evidence 403 and 404(b)(1).

Reading Transcripts, Stephen A. Saltzburg

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This article examines the reading of transcribed chat-room conversations to jurors in United States v. Tragas, 727 F.3d 610 (6th Cir. 2013), and whether some reading approaches utilized by the prosecutor were impermissible theatrical performance, improper summary, or improper vouching.

Proper And Improper Use Of Other Act Evidence, Stephen A. Saltzburg

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This article examines a case, United States v. Richards, 719 F.3d 746 (7th Cir. 2013), to illustrate how a prosecutor succeeded in having other act evidence admitted, obtained a conviction, and lost it on appeal. The appellate court ruled that the prosecutor erred in making a propensity argument in violation of Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b).

Court-Agency Dialogue: Article Iii's Dual Nature And The Boundaries Of Reviewability, Emily Hammond

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Courts reviewing agency actions frequently offer more than a positive analysis of the agencies decisions. They might engage in advice-giving, for example, or emper the remedy as a way of modulating the impact of review. These actions can be used in a dialogic way, to provide normative signals to agencies. Yet because courts must judge agency actions only on the grounds provided by the agency at the time of the agency’s decision — and must ordinarily remand actions that fail to meet substantive standards of review — these normative signals require a delicate touch so as to avoid judicially imposed …

Identifying Causes Of Variation Among Per Capita Incomes Of Sub-Saharan African States, Vinod Kannuthurai

Honors Theses

In this work, the author utilized a statistical analysis to assess variations in per capita incomes among sub-Saharan African states. The factors tested include education and healthcare investment, mineral and oil dependence, agricultural dependence, landmass size, population size, level of instability, economic freedom, and political freedom. Although the author found mineral and oil dependence to be the most statistically significant factor in determining variations in per capita income, there was still a great deal of variation among sub-Saharan African countries with mineral and oil dependence. Thus, the author employed a case-study involving Botswana and Zambia, two commodity dependent states with …

Characterization Of Metal Transport By The Streptococcus Sanguinis Endocarditis Virulence Factor Ssab, Sarah Brusko

UROP Posters

Streptococcus sanguinis, present in the biofilm colonizing human tooth surfaces, may be beneficial in the oral cavity, though it also serves as a causative agent of an extra-oral disease, infective endocarditis. Previous mutagenesis of lipoprotein genes from S. sanguinis strain SK36 identified the SsaB gene as necessary for virulence in a rabbit model of endocarditis. Based on homology, we suspected that SsaB was a metal transporter. A procedure utilizing inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry was optimized and implemented for determination of the concentrations (μg metal per mg of cellular protein) of 17 metals in SK36 and ssaB mutant cell …

Roles And Regulations For Pharmacists In State-Level Disaster Relief Efforts, Rachel Lowe

Honors Theses

Objective: The purpose of this study is to determine what expanded roles have been identified for pharmacists by the states in disaster relief efforts, what regulations currently exist for pharmacists in disaster relief efforts in each state, and whether or not disaster relief and public health training should be added to the pharmacy school curriculum. Methods: A cross-sectional, descriptive design was used to survey fifty-three boards of pharmacy via email and Qualtrics Survey Software. Results: Analysis of the survey results showed that most states lack a disaster preparedness plan and expanded roles for pharmacists in disaster relief efforts, and most …

The Effectiveness Of Basel Ii, Rachel Shaw

Honors Theses

The New Capital Accord, Basel II, was published in 2004. It features updated capital requirements and new ways to measure bank risk; however, the validity of these new standards was called into question during the financial crisis that began in 2008. The measures that intend to stabilize our banking system did not appear sufficient. Doubt was cast upon capital requirements, and the advantages of another system, such as contingent liability, can be seen. This thesis aims to test the effectiveness of Basel II, specifically its capital requirements, in reducing bank risk. After running a fixed effects model, one can clearly …

A Nonrigid Registration Method For Correcting Brain Deformation Induced By Tumor Resection, Yixun Liu, Chengjun Yao, Fotis Drakopoulos, Jinsong Wu, Liangfu Zhou, Nikos Chrisochoides

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Purpose: This paper presents a nonrigid registration method to align preoperative MRI with intraoperative MRI to compensate for brain deformation during tumor resection. This method extends traditional point-based nonrigid registration in two aspects: (1) allow the input data to be incomplete and (2) simulate the underlying deformation with a heterogeneous biomechanical model.

Methods: The method formulates the registration as a three-variable (point correspondence, deformation field, and resection region) functional minimization problem, in which point correspondence is represented by a fuzzy assign matrix; Deformation field is represented by a piecewise linear function regularized by the strain energy of a heterogeneous biomechanical …

The Termination Of Government Programs: A Case Study Of The Recovery Audit Contracting Program, Ryan Henry

Honors Theses

One common view is that a majority of government programs persist beyond their useful lifespans giving the impression that once installed, government programs are 'immortal'. However, termination of government programs is an essential element in the policy making process. Several factors determine the projected lifespan of a program, and a program may be effectively terminated using several mechanisms. An analysis of the Recovery Audit Contracting program, a program designed to prevent fraud, waste, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid systems, shows that watchdog programs are inherently more prone to termination than other types of government programs.

Synergy Of Bosutinib And Chk-1 Inhibitor (Pf) In Chemotherapy, Akhil Kolluri

UROP Posters

Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is a cancer described by uncontrolled proliferation of bone marrow cells that develop into the cells of the blood (Chen, 2014). In this study, the synergy of two drugs, bosutinib and a PF were tested for their efficacy in chemotherapy. Bosutinib is a kinase inhibitor that blocks phosphorylation of key proteins in the cell cycle of CML cells that allow them to proliferate (Boschelli et al., 2010). PF is an inhibitor of the Chk-1 protein that regulates many of the cell cycle checkpoints (Zhang et al., 2009). Two cell lines from CML were used in this …

Cultural Factors Associated With Utilization Of Antenatal Care Services In Rural India, Anjali Om

UROP Posters

Despite vast economic growth in developing countries in the past few years, infant mortality continues to plague underdeveloped regions, particularly rural regions of India. Many of these deaths are caused by a lack of education and motivation in regard to utilization of antenatal and neonatal care services to prevent and treat consequences of unhygienic umbilical cord care.

For years, high incidences of neonatal tetanus have plagued rural areas of India as a result of cultural practices that encourage topical applications of cow dung to cut umbilical stumps either directly or by using ghee heated with cow dung to warm umbilical …

French Ideology Of English As A World Language And American Second Language Speakers, Sarah Price Wright

Honors Theses

French Ideology of English as a World Language and American Second Language Speakers compares French ideology of American English and French ideology of the American accent in French to investigate if the two correlate. The study seeks to answer the question: Is ideology linked to the speech community represented or is it linked to the language forms themselves? The study includes a literature review of previously published studies on the subjects of French ideology of English as a World Language, the competition between French and English as a lingua franca, French perceptions of second language speakers, and the American accent …

Mercury In Fish In North Mississippi Reservoirs: Statistical Analysis And Risk Assessment, Stacy Wolff

Honors Theses

Mercury (Hg) is a pollutant of particular concern because it is wide-spread, persistent, and poses a serious risk to human health. Once released into the atmosphere, it cycles through the environment by a series of complex biogeochemical processes. Upon deposition to aquatic ecosystems, inorganic mercury can be transformed to methylmercury by microorganisms. Methylmercury is a known human neurotoxin that can bioacculmulate in fish tissue and biomagnify up aquatic food chains. Consumption of contaminated fish is the primary route of human exposure to methylmercury. The Mississippi Department of Health has issued fish consumption advisories for Grenada and Enid Lakes in the …

Polypharmacy And Symptoms Of Pain In Women With Fibromyalgia, Anna Young, Victoria S. Menzies

UROP Posters

Fibromyalgia (FMS), a syndrome characterized by chronic widespread pain (CWP), has no known etiology, and coincides with other life-altering symptoms including fatigue, mood disturbances and non-restorative sleep. Despite the multiple medication classes that are typically used for the treatment of FMS, there are no known studies assessing the efficacy of polypharmacy on symptoms of pain in this patient population. While analgesic medications, including opioid or opioid-like medications, are commonly prescribed, the use of these medications for FMS has not been fully described, including potential incidence of analgesic overuse. The primary purpose of this secondary analysis was to examine how many …

The Beginning Of The End Of Internet Freedom, Dawn C. Nunziato

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Although the Internet was initially viewed as a medium for expression in which censorship would be impossible to implement, recent developments suggest exactly the opposite. Countries around the world--democracies as well as dictatorships--have implemented nationwide filtering systems that are changing the shape of Internet freedom. In addition to usual suspects like China, liberal democracies such as the United Kingdom and Australia have taken steps to implement nationwide Internet filtering regimes. In 2013, United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron announced a plan to require mandatory “family friendly” default filtering of all Internet access by the end of 2014. While such Internet …

I’M Still Dancing: The Continued Efficacy Of First Amendment Precedent And Values For New-School Regulation, Dawn C. Nunziato

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This response essay reflects on the meaning of two foundational First Amendment decisions: New York Times Co. v. Sullivan — characterized by Harry Kalven, Jr., as “an occasion for dancing in the streets”— which imposed limits on public officials’ recovery for defamation, and New York Times Co. v. United States, which reaffirmed the central First Amendment principle against prior restraints. Professor Jack Balkin characterizes these decisions as responses to “old-school speech regulation . . . [in which] the state had used penalties and injunctions directed at speakers and publishers in order to control and discipline their speech.” But, Balkin observes, …

Keeping The Internet Free In The Americas, Dawn C. Nunziato

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

To preserve and protect the Internet as a forum for the uninhibited, robust, and wide-open exchange of ideas and information in the Americas, governments must take active steps to facilitate such free speech values. The relationship between governments and Internet service providers is of pre-eminent importance in this regard, as ISPs are in the position to be the facilitators of the free flow of information and ideas. On the one hand, ISPs should not be shackled with intermediary liability for hosting harmful content. On the other hand, ISPs should not be granted the discretion to restrict communications flowing through their …

Denying The Significance Of Race, Cynthia Lee

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

In this book chapter, published in TRAYVON MARTIN, RACE, AND AMERICAN JUSTICE: WRITING WRONG (Sense Publishers 2014), Cynthia Lee analyzes the George Zimmerman trial from a critical race perspective. She analyzes why all the major legal decision makers associated with the Trayvon Martin case (judge, prosecution and defense team) were so eager to deny the significance of race. She posits that they either sincerely believed the case had nothing to do with race or thought it improper or strategically disadvantageous to acknowledge that race was relevant. The judge wanted to run a colorblind trial. The defense did not want the …

Table Of Contents, Depaul College Of Law

DePaul Business & Commercial Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Door Is Still Ajar: Analysis And Shortcomings Of The Cftc's Final Rule On The Mandated Clearing Of Certain Derivatives, Todd Barnet

DePaul Business & Commercial Law Journal

No abstract provided.

A Fork In The Stream: The Unjustified Failure Of The Concurrence In J. Mcintyre Machinery Ltd. V. Nicastro To Clarify The Stream Of Commerce Doctrine, Cody Jacobs

DePaul Business & Commercial Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Mlsmk Investment Co.: Civil Rico Liability After The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act And Central Bank, Matthew P. Thomas

DePaul Business & Commercial Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of The Jobs Act On Independent Film Finance, Sahil Chaudry

DePaul Business & Commercial Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Explaining The Decline In Fertility Rates In Post-War Italy, Susanna Rychlak

Honors Theses

The aim of this thesis is to examine the decline in fertility rate in post-war Italy and identify its causes. Fertility rate in Italy dropped dramatically across 1970-2010 in a stark departure from the nation's previous reproductive patterns. This has led to an increasingly aging population, and holds important implications for Italy's future. This study demonstrates that there has been a meaningful shift in cultural values that has led to fertility decline in Italy since 1970. In order to provide historical context for the importance of this cultural shift, the thesis first presents the Italian culture and familial structure of …

The Tutte Polynomial Formula For The Class Of Twisted Wheel Graphs, Amanda Hall

Honors Theses

The 20th century work of William T. Tutte developed a graph polynomial that is modernly known as the Tutte polynomial. Graph polynomials, such as the Tutte polynomial, the chromatic polynomial, and the Jones polynomial, are at the heart of combinatorical and algebraic graph theory and can be used as tools with which to study graph invariants. Graph invariants, such as order, degree, size, and connectivity which are defined in Section 2, are graph properties preserved under all isomorphisms of a graph. Thus any graph polynomial is not dependent upon a particular labeling or drawing but presents relevant information about the …