Digital Commons Network^™

Illinois, Elizabeth Ford

Thin Blue Advantage: Police Exceptionalism and the Two-Tier System of Public Sector Collective Bargaining

As compared with other states, the Illinois Labor Relations Board (“ILRB” or “Board) is unusually protective of the right to bargain. The Board is more protective still of the ability of police unions to bargain over employer decisions. In the last several years in cases involving the Chicago Police Department, the Board has moderated somewhat by, in key cases, refusing to issue a decision but rather holding the matter “in abeyance.” A few highlights follow:

• Only Police Have the Right to Interest Arbitration. The Illinois Labor Relations Act requires police bargaining units to resolve contractual impasses through interest arbitration. …

Delaware, Elizabeth Ford

Thin Blue Advantage: Police Exceptionalism and the Two-Tier System of Public Sector Collective Bargaining

Delaware law governing police and non-police bargaining is separated into two largely identical statutory schemes. Both statutes provide for interest arbitration and adopt “baseball arbitration” to expedite the arbitration process. Keeping with the goal of expedient dispute resolution, the state’s ULP process seems designed to facilitate settlement.

As a result of this ULP structure, there are few cases from Delaware’s PERB compared to other states. This may have to do with the fact that the myriad preliminary stages of ULP proceedings serve as “off-ramps” to encourage settlement and that the agency’s Executive Director (E.D.) has more power than non-Delaware analogs. …

Discriminatory Censorship Laws, Jonathan Feingold, Joshua Weishart

Faculty Scholarship

The summer of 2020 ignited global protests for racial justice. Across the United States, millions marched with a modest plea: that America reckon with its racism. For K-12 schools, this moment pushed local communities and district leaders to create more inclusive classrooms and curricula. Yet before the summer had ended, America's antiracist turn provoked a backlash campaign that has proven far more impactful and enduring.

This campaign has featured the rise and spread of "discriminatory censorship laws"-a term we apply to government action designed to demean inclusionary values and to deny students access to critical knowledge, inquiry, and thinking. As …

Gig Work At What Cost? Exploring Privacy Risks Of Gig Work Platform Participation In The U.S., Amogh Pradeep, Johanna Gunawan, Álvaro Feal, Woodrow Hartzog, David Choffnes

Faculty Scholarship

In recent years, "gig work" platforms have gained popularity as a way for individuals to earn money; as of 2021, 16% of Americans have at some point earned money from such platforms. Despite their popularity and their history of unfair data collection practices and worker safety, little is known about the data collected from workers (and users) by gig platforms and about the privacy dark pattern designs present in their apps.

This paper presents an empirical measurement of 16 gig work platforms' data practices in the U.S. We analyze what data is collected by these platforms, and how it is …

Book Review: Biglaw's Race Problem, Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Anthony V. Alfieri

Faculty Scholarship

Ever since the 1970s when BigLaw firms began to hire Black lawyers into their associate ranks, these firms have wrestled with problems in both recruiting and retaining Black associates. During the ensuing decades, BigLaw firms have minimally increased the low numbers of Black attorneys who have become partners, particularly equity partners, within their organizations. Numerous scholars have explored how racial bias and discrimination, both within BigLaw firms and greater society, have contributed to such failures in the recruitment, retention, and promotion of Black lawyers. In his new book The Black Ceiling: How Race Still Matters in the Elite Workplace, …

Normalizing Facial Recognition Technology And The End Of Obscurity, Woodrow Hartzog, Evan Selinger, Judy Hyojoo Rhee

Faculty Scholarship

This article argues that facial recognition technology is the most dangerous surveillance tool ever invented. Given the unique threats this morally suspect tool poses to privacy, civil liberties, human flourishing, and democracy, the only appropriate response is a ban. To justify our position, we explain why facial recognition is distinctive among biometrics, clarify how even seemingly benign and positive uses of the technology can trigger dangerous normalization dynamics, and pinpoint why current United States laws (with reverberations in the EU’s AI Act) are designed to accelerate a slippery slope that makes mass surveillance nearly inevitable. Our most fundamental contribution lies …

Copyright Law And Property Law, Keith N. Hylton

Faculty Scholarship

Property is at the core of state law since it is the exclusive power of the individual state governments to define and protect property rights within their jurisdiction. In this paper I will discuss the general connection between copyright and property generally. I will argue that property law sheds important light on copyright law and can help us cut through modern controversies in copyright law. If I am correct in this view, any judge sufficiently familiar with property law doctrines could do better than the Supreme Court of the United States in resolving a new copyright controversy. Specifically, property law …

Anticompetitive Directors, Lane Miles, Mark A. Lemley, Rory Van Loo

Faculty Scholarship

Antitrust scholars have virtually ignored the question of who controls corporations by sitting on their boards of directors. We show that the problem of who sits on boards of directors is considerably greater than previously believed. Drawing on a new dataset spanning both public and private companies across multiple industries, we find evidence that individual board members sit simultaneously on boards of competitors throughout the economy, despite such “interlocking directorates” being illegal under antitrust law. Many of these individuals are senior directors at private equity, venture capital, and other firms investing in the competing firms on whose boards they sit. …

Ten Tips For Legal Empiricists, Jordana Goodman, Christa J. Laser, Mark A. Lemley, Lisa Larrimore Ouellette, Melissa F. Wasserman, Saurabh Vishnubhakat, Janet Freilich, Jessica Silbey, David L. Schwartz, Neel U. Sukhatme

Faculty Scholarship

This essay offers practical tips from leading legal empirical researchers to assist new scholars who are entering the field. Topics include developing meaningful research questions, designing robust survey methodologies, balancing qualitative and quantitative approaches, ensuring data transparency, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration, and navigating ethical considerations in empirical work. Drawing from their own unique challenges and successes, scholars Michael D. Frakes, Janet Freilich, Mark A. Lemley, Lisa Larrimore Ouellette, David L. Schwartz, Jessica Silbey, Neel U. Sukhatme, Saurabh Vishnubhakat, Melissa F. Wasserman, Jordana Goodman, and Christa Laser illuminate what they wished they would have known going into empirical research and the pitfalls …

The Major Questions Doctrine, Post-Chevron?: Skidmore, Loper-Bright, And A Good-Faith Emergency Question Doctrine, Jed Handelsman Shugerman

Faculty Scholarship

When my students and colleagues fretted about Chevron's fate, I have said, "Worry less. Skid-more." Just as old Skidmore "weight" or "respect" returns post-Chevron, the new (and newer) major questions doctrine(s) survive as a reason to give less weight to an agency interpretation. This symposium essay suggests a special role for the post-Chevron major questions doctrine: an Emergency Questions Doctrine. When the executive asserts an emergency power, when the statutory basis is open-ended (often for very good reasons), majorness means less deference to simple and fast textualism, and more time for courts to engage in deeper purposivism to …

Amicus In Wilcox V. Trump On Presidential Removal And Unitary Executive Theorists’ Errors, Jed Handelsman Shugerman

Faculty Scholarship

As courts ask whether Free Enterprise and Seila Law call into question Humphrey’s Executor and independent officers or agencies, the more immediate questions should be focused on new historical evidence and new fact-checking finding pervasive and repeated historical errors and misinterpretations at the foundation of the unitary executive theory of removal.

Since the Supreme Court decided Seila Law, a wave of new historical research has shown that the Founding generation did not understand Article II to grant the President an indefeasible removal power over executive officials. In response, pro-unitary executive scholars have tried to offer new historical support. That …

Brief Amicus Curiae Of Professor Jed Hanelsman Shugerman In Support Of Respondents, Jed Handelsman Shugerman

Faculty Scholarship

Amicus Curiae Jed Handelsman Shugerman is a Professor of Law at Boston University. He holds a JD and a PHD is History. Shugerman subscribes to the interpretation of the Constitution based on original public meaning (i.e. originalism). He has written extensively on the history of presidential power and the original public meaning of Article II.

Shugerman and Gary Lawson have co-written "Presidential Removal as Article I, not Article II," offering originalist alternatives to limit Congress's power to restrict presidential removal power, while allowing good-cause conditions in traditional exceptional cases. This amicus brief summarizes these alternatives and shows how they are …

Do Academic Researchers Care About Patent Infringement? A Pcr Case Study, Janet Freilich

Faculty Scholarship

Because much cutting-edge academic research involves building on other new technologies, university research often involves making or using a patented invention—an act of patent infringement. The problem of how patents affect academic researchers has attracted considerable attention, but legal scholars are divided on the magnitude of patents’ potential impact. Many scholars fear that patents will entirely hobble academic scientific research, while others find that academic researchers entirely ignore patents and thus that they have little impact. This Article adds a piece of empirical evidence to the debate by studying the example of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology. In the early …

Human Rights Risks In Clean Energy Supply Chains: Racial Capitalism, Critical Minerals, And Corporate Responsibility, Erika George

Faculty Scholarship

This paper argues that decarbonization will fail to deliver climate justice unless the transition to clean energy confronts the racialized political economy that has historically structured extractive activity and shaped international economic law. Grounding its analysis in racial capitalism, the paper contends that the growing demand for critical minerals risks reproducing patterns of exploitation, expropriation, and expulsion. Using lithium extraction in Chile as a case study, it shows how colonial legacies, dictator-era neoliberal reforms, and present-day regulatory architectures governing foreign investment and natural resource extraction have prioritized investors over human rights and the environment. Recent decisions of the International Court …

Predicting Federal Third-Party Funding Regulation, Victoria Sahani

Faculty Scholarship

Third-party funding is a global phenomenon, although regulatory enforcement is local. Regulatory approaches vary widely from country to country and within countries, especially in federal legal systems, such as Canada, Australia, and the United States. The United States federal government is learning about third-party funding with an eye toward potential future regulation. Congress has been investigating funding, as evidenced by testimony in congressional hearings, proposed federal legislation, and a nonpartisan study on third-party funding by the Government Accountability Office. In addition, after more than a decade of observation, the United States Federal Civil Rules Advisory Committee recently formed a committee …

Response: Work And Home, Katharine B. Silbaugh

Faculty Scholarship

The idea of work, as it pertains to a place called home, as distinct from the market, has engaged and perplexed scholars for generations. Work in the home raises complicated issues that have accordingly drawn the focus of generations of scholars, from Charlotte Perkins Gilman and the material feminists of the late nineteenth century¹ to historians of labor such as Eileen Boris² and of law like Reva Siegel,³ from legal scholars like Fran Olson, Dorothy Roberts, and Robert Ellickson⁴ to social theorists like Friedrick Engels⁵ and architectural historians like Dolores Hayden,⁶ to name just …

Under What Circumstances Is "Caste" Likely To Be Useful As An Analytic Concept (And Should We Care)?, Sanford V. Levinson, Robert L. Tsai

Faculty Scholarship

This Essay is the product of the 2025 “Constitutional Law Schmooze,” where academics from a variety of disciplines and from all over the country meet to discuss a common topic of constitutional law chosen by the moderator. This year’s topic was “caste.” The two of us, having written independent “tickets” of admission for the schmooze—i.e., short essays setting out our tentative thoughts about “caste”—turned out to be relative skeptics about the value of the term for lawyers. We are certainly not hostile to those who differ with us. This should be regarded as a “friendly dissent,” as distinguished, say, from …

Capacity Building In Research Data Management Services: A Case Of Malaysian Research-Intensive Universities, Mohd Ikhwan Ismail

Student Works (2020-2029)

The increasing volume of research data has led to the emergence of research data management (RDM). Researchers generate substantial amounts of data that require efficient management throughout various stages of the research lifecycle. Dissemination and sharing of research data are key components of open science and RDM, driven by the requirements of funders, publishers, and institutions. Consequently, libraries have become vital in supporting researchers and adapting to the rapid growth of research data. The academic librarians providing RDM services need the capacity to fulfil roles and responsibilities for the research community. In the Malaysian context, RDM is still in its …

Characteristics And Clinical Outcomes Of Young Patients With St-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction A Retrospective Study, Cheung Pak Nung Rocco, Chi Yan Raymond Fung

Journal of the Hong Kong College of Cardiology

Background ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) carries high mortality and poor outcomes without timely treatment. Its occurrence in young patients is especially concerning due to social impact. Objectives This study examined the characteristics and outcomes of young STEMI patients in Hong Kong to identify areas for public health improvement. Methods We retrospectively reviewed STEMI patients admitted to Princess Margaret Hospital from January 2019 to January 2023 who underwent coronary angiography and reperfusion therapy. Patients were grouped as young (years) or older (≥50 years). Results Out of 818 patients treated with PCI, 102 (12.5%) were under 50 years old. Compared to …

Academic Stress, Performance, And Satisfaction Among Undergraduate Nursing Students Under The Semester System, Kalyani Sinha, Sangeetha Priyadarshini, Baby S Nayak, Meghna Pandit

Manipal Journal of Nursing and Health Sciences

Introduction: Stress is a key indicator of psychological well being. Various factors contribute to the psychological disturbances among undergraduate students. These issues can affect academic satisfaction and increase stress. Examination-related stress negatively impacts students’ academic performance. Each course determines its assessment methods, content, learning strategies and instructional approaches. Objectives: This study assessed academic stress, performance, and satisfaction among undergraduate nursing students in the semester system at selected nursing colleges in Udupi District, Karnataka and find it’s relationship. Method: A descriptive study was conducted among 210 undergraduate students selected from the second and fourth semesters using a purposive sampling …

Effects Of Insect Meals On Fish Digestibility, Blood Parameters, And Economic Performance: A Meta-Analysis, M. A. Aaqillah-Amr, A. Hidir, M. Ikhwanuddin, N. A. Fatan, R. Muhammad-Rahimi, S. Ning-Shahira, R. G.N. Siankhe, G. W. Vandenberg, C. M. Tanga, R. Yossa

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

This review examines the use of insect meal (IM) as a substitute for fishmeal (FM) in fish feeds within the past decade. While global interest in this alternative is growing, research on its effects on fish digestibility, blood parameters, and economic performance has been limited. Meta-analysis on the apparent digestibility coefficient revealed a negative effect summary on dry matter (0.92) and crude lipid (0.51), although the difference between the two groups was relatively minor. However, a positive effect summary was reported in the apparent digestibility of crude protein (0.12), suggesting a potential advantage in the utilization of protein by fish …

Challenges And Opportunities Of Universal Health Coverage In Africa: A Scoping Review, Evaline Chepchirchir Langat, Paul Ward, Hailay Gesesew, Lillian Mwanri

Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health

Background: Universal health coverage (UHC) is a global priority, with the goal of ensuring that everyone has access to high-quality healthcare without suffering financial hardship. In Africa, most governments have prioritized UHC over the last two decades. Despite this, the transition to UHC in Africa is seen to be sluggish, with certain countries facing inertia. This study sought to examine the progress of UHC-focused health reform implementation in Africa, investigating the approaches utilized, the challenges faced, and potential solutions.

Method: Using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews guidelines, we scoped the literature …

Cultural Coordinates Of Credibility And Sticky Scripts: Womaning Versus Lawyering In The Indian Legal System, Bhumika Billa

Socio-Legal Review

Based on a multimodal and empirical analysis, the article presents Indian women (identifying) lawyers’ lived experiences of epistemic injustice at the sites of legal work in Delhi. The analysis brings a painting, a short film, and 15 semi-structured interviews in conversation with each other to understand women lawyers’ shared experiences of being perceived as “less credible,” and the strategies they have been adopting to assert credibility. The theoretical contribution can be captured by three key arguments. First, using Arpita Singh’s painting, ‘My Lollipop City: Gemini Rising, 2005,’ I argue that the Indian legal system has a “sense of” Delhi. …

Advancing Multivariate Time Series Similarity Assessment: An Integrated Computational Approach, Franck B.N. Tonle, Henri E.Z. Tonnang, Milliam M.Z. Ndadji, Maurice Tchoupe Tchendji, Armand Nzeukou, Kennedy Senagi, Saliou Niassy

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Data mining, particularly multivariate time series data analysis, is crucial in extracting insights from complex systems and supporting informed decision-making across diverse domains. However, assessing the similarity of multivariate time series data presents several challenges, including dealing with large datasets, addressing temporal misalignments, and necessitating efficient and comprehensive analytical frameworks. A novel integrated computational approach, Multivariate Time series Alignment and Similarity Assessment (MTASA) is proposed to address these challenges. MTASA is built upon a hybrid methodology designed to optimise time series alignment, complemented by a multiprocessing engine that enhances the utilisation of computational resources. This integrated approach comprises four key …

Nematology Knowledge Transfer: Creating Awareness And Understanding, Danny Coyne, James Kisaakye, Solveig Haukeland

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Typical above-ground symptoms of nematode infection are mostly non-specific and are often attributed to other problems and/or crop malaise. Farmer awareness of nematode problems therefore needs to be raised by utilising knowledge transfer techniques so that symptoms of nematode damage can be recognised in the field. The chapter addresses this need by discussing various approaches such as demonstration and/or hands on workshops of nematode control methods suitable for Farmer Field Schools (FFS) and farmer participatory research, the planning, implementing and long-term benefits of Integrated season-long Pest Management-FFS, nematology capacity building initiatives, nematology networks, societies and platforms. Creating successful knowledge transfer …