Digital Commons Network^™

We Are All Jews Now. To Fight Anti-Semitism, It’S Time To Don A Kippah, Bruce Ledewitz

Newspaper Columns

Collected biweekly contributions to the Pennsylvania Capital-Star, a nonpartisan, nonprofit news site.

Legal Construction Of Nationalism And National Identity In The Hashemite Kingdom Of Jordan, Zaina Siyam

Theses and Dissertations

Nationalism is an ideology that is not unique to one nation or one area, but it is a concept unique in the way it is defined. How it is defined and what it really is depends on where the definition is coming from. It is most important to post-colonial nations that relied and still rely on the creation of national identity and construction of an imagined community, in order to reach their liberation. Nations are imagined communities constructed through shared history, beliefs, traditions, and experiences that happen over different periods in time, between individuals that do not necessarily know each …

Reducing Prejudice Through Law: Evidence From Experimental Psychology, Roseanna Sommers, Sara Burke

Law & Economics Working Papers

Can antidiscrimination law effect changes in public attitudes toward minority groups? Could learning, for instance, that employment discrimination against people with clinical depression is illegal cause members of the public to be more accepting toward people with mental health conditions? In this Article, we report the results of a series of experiments that test the effect of inducing the belief that discrimination against a given group is legal (vs. illegal) on interpersonal attitudes toward members of that group. We find that learning that discrimination is unlawful does not simply lead people to believe that an employer is more likely to …

June 9, 2021: We Need A Nov. 3 National Commission, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “We Need a Nov. 3 National Commission“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

We Never Needed A Jan. 6 Commission. We Need A Nov. 3 Commission. This Is Why, Bruce Ledewitz

Newspaper Columns

Collected biweekly contributions to the Pennsylvania Capital-Star, a nonpartisan, nonprofit news site.

Replacement Of The Transfer Act: The Impact Of Connecticut's Effort To Expedite Contaminated Site Remediation, Avery Bikerman

Honors Scholar Theses

The scope of this thesis is to analyze the legal framework established by House Bill 7001 and Public Act 20-9, which revise provisions of the CT Transfer Act, and establish a release-based reporting program which will be administered upon the sunset of the original act. While any release that occurred prior to the Release Based Remediation Program adoption (regardless of discovery date) is still regulated by the original Transfer Act, any release that occurs subsequent to the adoption of the new program will be regulated by the Release Based Remediation Program. This study investigates the scope of the new release-reporting …

Plea Bargaining For The People, Daniel S. Mcconkie Jr.

College of Law Faculty Publications

Our criminal justice system must be democratic enough to allow for significant citizen participation. Unfortunately, our current system cuts the people out. Instead of juries, plea bargaining professionals like prosecutors, defense attorneys, and judges decide most cases. Plea bargaining does efficiently process cases but, in addition to its well-known coercive aspects that warp case outcomes, ignores what I call “criminal justice citizenship.” This refers to the people’s privilege to participate on an equal basis in the criminal justice system. That participation strengthens our democracy, shores up the legitimacy of the system, and helps to ensure that the system, within constitutional …

No Consensus: Patchwork Remedies And The Health Crisis Linked To Ethylene Oxide Medical Sterilization Facilities, Staci L. Vazquez

Northern Illinois University Law Review

This article strives to provide an overview of the environmental health crisis surrounding medical sterilization facilities and examine the variety or “patchwork” of legal solutions involved. Part II of the article will discuss the dangers of ethylene oxide (EtO), how it is used for sterilization of medical equipment, and the health impacts that occur when emissions of the chemical are released into communities. Part III will explain how ethylene oxide is regulated, as well as the framework of federal, state, and local regulations. Part IV will demonstrate what happens when these mechanisms fail by discussing a recent environmental health crisis …

Litigating The Limits Of Religion: Minority And Majority Concerns About Institutional Religious Liberty In India, Chad Bauman

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Western religious liberty advocates tend to focus on restrictions placed on minority religious communities, particularly when advocating abroad, that is, outside of the country in which they reside. In all contemporary democracies, however, adherents of religious majorities also express concerns about religious liberty. For this reason, the article considers both minority and majority concerns about institutional religious freedom in India. This essay provides an overview of religious freedom issues, with a particular focus on institutions, though, as I acknowledge, it is not always simple to distinguish individual from institutional matters of religious freedom. After describing various minority and majority concerns …

Those Constitutional Amendments Were Aimed At The Pa. Supreme Court As Much As They Were At Wolf, Bruce Ledewitz

Newspaper Columns

Collected biweekly contributions to the Pennsylvania Capital-Star, a nonpartisan, nonprofit news site.

Systemic Inequality | Not Just Any Pretext: The 2020 Census And The Voting Rights Act, Unsigned Flro

Fordham Law Review Online

No abstract provided.

Systemic Inequality | Not Secure In Their Persons: Bridging Garner And Graham, Eric Szkarlat

Fordham Law Review Online

No abstract provided.

Systemic Inequality | Systemic Racism In Child Neglect Laws, Kendra Kumor

Fordham Law Review Online

The American child protection and support system was founded in the Reconstruction era. After the Civil War, many Southern states passed so-called Black Codes, which included apprenticeship statutes. These apprenticeship statutes allowed children to be removed from their parents’ care for any number of reasons, including poor moral character or financial instability. Although these statutes have long since been repealed, the residual institutional effects still linger in today’s child neglect and custody battles. Black children are disproportionately represented in child protective services investigations, in part because Black families constitute a disproportionate part of the homeless and impoverished population in the …

Systemic Inequality | Racial Gerrymandering, The For The People Act, And Brnovich: Systemic Racism And Voting Rights In 2021, Joseph Palandrani, Danika Watson

Fordham Law Review Online

No abstract provided.

Systemic Inequality | Recasting The Exclusionary Rule’S Net, Zach Huffman

Fordham Law Review Online

No abstract provided.

Systemic Inequality | Ballot Access Behind Bars, Robin Fisher

Fordham Law Review Online

No abstract provided.

Systemic Inequality | Race, Place, And Pollution: The Deep Roots Of Environmental Racism, Robert L. Bentlyewski, Mina Juhn

Fordham Law Review Online

No abstract provided.

When Half The Neighborhood Is Missing: How To Overcome Systemic Poverty And Gentrification Following The Models Of Dudley Street And Mission Waco, Kevin A. Brown, Kevin A. Brown, Kevin A. Brown

Doctor of Ministry Projects and Theses

Abstract

By following the examples of Mission Waco and The Dudley Street Initiative, it is possible to renew a sense of beloved community by changing the narrative of poverty and gentrification by rebuilding the village through empowering the poor and marginalized.

Mission Waco and The Dudley Street Initiative are comprehensive sustainable communities because they combine numerous social and economic interventions under developed strategic plans. The principal question that this dissertation seeks to answer is whether these models can be implemented in local communities to help overcome gentrification and poverty. Implementation can be successful if we can identify the problem, rethink …

A Closer Look At Pa.’S Fraught 2021 Ballot Questions, Bruce Ledewitz

Newspaper Columns

Collected biweekly contributions to the Pennsylvania Capital-Star, a nonpartisan, nonprofit news site.

Ifis Contribution To Egypt’S Underdevelopment: The Rule Of Law And The Laws Of Poverty, Kareem Younes

Theses and Dissertations

In 2019 CAPMAS released a report estimating the percentage of extreme poverty amongst the Egyptian public at 32.5%; one in every three Egyptian lives on 1.45$ a day. In 2017 a United Nations report highlighted that on average 40,000 Egyptian died because of pollution. Those figures represent the consequences of a cumulative “development” process that encompassed the economic, political and legal fields. In particular, the thesis focuses on the role of the New Commercial Law in disadvantaging vulnerable segments of the population and leading them to prison. I argue that the use of law as a tool of development in …

Tax Reform Throughout U.S. History And The Economic Impact, Jacob Christopher Michel

Honors Thesis

The three largest tax reforms in recent years, The 1986 Tax Reform Act (TRA of 1986), The Bush Tax Cuts Act, and The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), differed in the treatment of taxable income through capital gains tax rate, depreciation treatment, limitation of losses, standard deduction, and the marginal rates in general. These provisions were studied to provide insight into how they affected various stakeholders. The TRA of 1986 and the Bush Tax Cuts Act have data determining whether they benefitted high-income taxpayers to the highest extent. The low-income taxpayers were also given tax breaks, however, not to …

America Won’T Find God. But We Might Find Something Else, Bruce Ledewitz

Newspaper Columns

Collected biweekly contributions to the Pennsylvania Capital-Star, a nonpartisan, nonprofit news site.

Feeling And Thinking Like A Lawyer: Cognition, Emotion, And The Practice And Progress Of Law, Susan A. Bandes

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Guide On Incentives For Responsible Investment In Agriculture And Food Systems, Anna Bulman, Kaitlin Y. Cordes, Ladan Mehranvar, Ella Merrill, Yannick Fiedler

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

To support implementation of the Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems (CFS RAI), CCSI has developed resources for governments and other stakeholders in partnership with the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO).

This work includes an online course on creating an enabling environment for responsible investment in agriculture and food systems. The course is freely available, accessible online and available for download. Part I highlights the features and key players of an enabling environment that promotes responsible investment in agriculture and food security. Part II addresses multi-stakeholder engagement in the design of legal and …

Sanctuary Cities And Counties For The Unborn: The Use Of Resolution And Ordinances To Restrict Abortion Access, Jennifer L. Brinkley

Northern Illinois University Law Review

Santa Rosa County in Florida is the first county in Florida to be designated as a pro-life sanctuary. Florida joins other states--including Illinois, New Mexico, Texas, North Carolina, and Utah--in passing resolutions and ordinances declaring localities as sanctuaries for the unborn. Some localities declare life begins at conception, ban abortion services (including access to emergency contraception), classify abortion as murder with malice aforethought, label pro-choice organizations as criminal enterprises, and create civil causes of action against abortion providers and those who assist women in obtaining an abortion. Most of the localities that have enacted the ordinances and resolutions have small …

From Video Gaming To Underage Gambling: Illinois’S Options In Addressing The New Loot Box Monetization Model, Katlin D. Kiefer

Northern Illinois University Law Review

This Comment proposes that loot boxes should be regulated as gambling within the United States, particularly in Illinois. Part I provides a factual background and history on the practice of loot boxes. Part II sets forth the legal precedent of gambling in the United States overall and then in Illinois specifically. Part III covers the current case law that exists around loot box adjacent mechanics and summarizes the general court perspective on the matter. Part IV proposes that courts interpret the contents of loot boxes to be “things of value” within the meaning of most gambling statutes as a means …

A History Of Elector Discretion – Part Two, Michael L. Rosin

Northern Illinois University Law Review

In its opinion in Chiafalo v. Washington, the Supreme Court disposes of the actual history of elector discretion as too inconsequential to merit its serious analysis. A history of elector discretion not only includes a history of the electors who exercised discretion when casting electoral votes, it also includes a history of commentary on the role of electors as the Constitution was created and, more importantly, as Congress was attempting to amend it. The Court almost completely ignores this history. When Congress crafted the Twelfth Amendment in 1803 it recognized that “the right of choice [of president] […] devolve[s] upon” …

Stepping Towards Justice: The Case For The Illinois Constitution Requiring More Protection Than Not Falling Below “Cruel And Unusual” Punishment, Andrea D. Lyon, Hannah J. Brooks

Northern Illinois University Law Review

In these tumultuous times, when our nation is trying to not only navigate a global pandemic, but also actually reckon with its long history of institutional racism, mass incarceration, and devastation of poor communities and communities of color, the cry for criminal justice reform is loud and getting louder, particularly regarding sentencing, and it is time for Illinois to require its courts to commit to doing more in accordance with our constitution. In this article, the authors examine the legislative and constitutional history of Illinois, the effects of a series of recent decisions made in the context of the sentencing …

Understanding The Social And Cognitive Process In Law School That Creates Unhealthy Lawyers, Kathryne M. Young

Fordham Law Review

Previous work on law student wellness and mental health strongly suggests that the seeds of professional unhappiness are sown in law school. Law students suffer from anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and other mental health problems at alarmingly high rates. They also leave law school with different concerns, commitments, and cognitive patterns than when they entered, emerging less hopeful, less intrinsically motivated, and more concerned with prestige than they were at the outset. So what, exactly, happens to people in law school? Although a rich body of quantitative and survey-based research on law students documents these empirical trends, surprisingly little qualitative …

Taking A Stand: Climate Change Litigants And The Viability Of Constitutional Claims, Mina Juhn

Fordham Law Review

In response to the accelerating effects of global warming, individuals and citizen groups in the United States have brought suit against the federal government to challenge the adequacy of existing climate change policies. Though statutory and tort claims comprise the bulk of these actions, plaintiffs have begun alleging that government inaction on climate change violates constitutional and fundamental rights. In these matters, the federal judiciary generally applies threshold justiciability doctrines, such as standing and the political question doctrine, to deny judicial review. This Note examines the reasoning behind the judiciary’s application of these doctrines and evaluates the appropriate scope of …