Digital Commons Network^™

Can Public Servants Retire?: Analyzing The Illinois Supreme Court’S Decision In Kanerva V. Weems, 2014 Il 115811, 13 N.E.3d 1228, Adam M. Riley

Southern Illinois University Law Journal

In response to the State’s failure to consistently fund its pension systems, delegates to Illinois’ Sixth Constitutional Convention adopted the pension protection clause of the 1970 Illinois Constitution, which constitutionally protects the state employee pension benefits. In 2012, during a period of serious financial hardship, the General Assembly passed legislation eliminating the state’s requirement to pay health insurance subsidies to members of a state retirement system. Members of the retirement systems challenged the constitutionality of the Act, and in Kanerva v. Weems, the Illinois Supreme Court held that health insurance subsidies are “benefits” under the pension protection clause, and therefore …

Religious Liberty Vs. Discrimination: Striking A Balance When Business Owners Refuse Service To Same-Sex Couples Due To Religious Beliefs, Alex Riley

Southern Illinois University Law Journal

Same-sex marriage is now legal in all fifty states, which has created a same-sex wedding industry. Some business owners, who do not believe in discrimination based on sexual orientation, nevertheless have religious beliefs that forbid them from participating in same-sex marriage ceremonies and celebrations by providing goods and services for those ceremonies and celebrations. This comment argues for passage of a statute which adequately protects business owners who have religious objections to same-sex marriage, but does not provide for blanket discrimination against the LGBT community. The comment argues this goal is feasible if the statute is narrowly tailored to encompass …

Fifty Years Of Open Source Movement: An Analysis Through The Prism Of Copyright Law, V. K. Unni

Southern Illinois University Law Journal

The open source software development model, which concerns the manner in which software technology is held, developed, and distributed, is an important phase in the evolution of the software industry. Open source software has powered the infrastructure of the Internet, and programs like Linux, Apache, and BIND, which use open source software, are often used as tools to run various Internet and business applications. Under the open source model, users are given access to software’s source code, and all components of the software are made available to the market by use of a very liberal license with few restrictions. This …

The Constitutional Conventions Of Illinois; An Annotated Bibliography, Douglas W. Lind, Alicia G. Jones

Southern Illinois University Law Journal

Illinois has called six constitutional conventions, beginning with its statehood in 1818, resulting in four approved state constitutions, approved in 1818, 1847, 1870, and 1970, and two constitutions rejected by voters in 1862 and 1920–1922. Conventions have been called seeking constitutional remedies for various problems that arose as the state’s population grew. These included broad, general issues like the distribution of powers between government branches, the veto power of the governor, slavery, and suffrage, as well as more discrete issues, like improvement of rivers, the contracting out of convict labor, and the many concerns associated with the rapid growth of …

Why U.S. States Need Pension Waiver Credits, Randall Johnson

Southern Illinois University Law Journal

This article identifies a novel approach to public pension reform, which takes into account existing political and legal constraints. It does its work in at least four ways. First, the article encourages better use of public sector resources by calling for the elimination of public pension inefficiencies. Next, it explains how to limit public pension inefficiencies, at least on a prospective basis, by moving away from defined-benefit pension plans. Third, the article describes one way to move beyond defined-benefit pension plans through the creation of a new tax expenditure program, specifically, a Pension Waiver Credits Program. Finally, it explains how …

The Role Of Apologies In Labor Arbitration Outcomes, Michele Hoyman, Lamont Stallworth, David Kershaw

Southern Illinois University Law Journal

This article considers the extent to which apologies provided by grievants affect the rulings of labor arbitrators in discipline and discharge cases. We used an experimental survey design which asked respondents to render awards on hypothetical arbitration cases. Hypothetical cases varied across four variables of importance: (1) the (perceived) sincerity of an apology, (2) the timing of the apology, (3) the issue in the case—sexual harassment, insubordination due to refusal to work, and insubordination due to profanity, and (4) the seniority of the grievant. All members of the National Academy of Arbitrators were surveyed, which provided a total of 177 …

To The Dictionary And Beyond! The Personification Of Corporations In Burwell V. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., 134 S. Ct. 2751 (2014), Alex Riley

Southern Illinois University Law Journal

In March of 2010, President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which provides that group health plans must provide coverage for certain forms of preventative care and screenings for women. Regulations promulgated pursuant to this provision, commonly known as the contraceptive mandate, required coverage for all FDA-approved contraceptive methods without cost sharing. Two closely held corporations sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). The suit was based on the owners’ opposition to abortion, which was rooted in their sincerely held religious beliefs. The plaintiffs sought to enjoin enforcement …

When Prohibition Is Not Regulation: Analyzing The Court's Decision In Wallach V. Town Of Dryden, 16 N.E.3d 1188 (N.Y. 2014), Adam J. Loos

Southern Illinois University Law Journal

The increased use of hydraulic fracturing has led to concerns about possible environmental harm. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a resource extraction technique that aims to improve well productivity by pumping fracturing fluids containing a mixture of water, other chemicals, and sand, into an oil or gas well under high pressure. Public opposition to hydraulic fracturing has led to bans and proposed bans on the practice in many American cities and towns. The Town of Dryden, New York, enacted an amendment to its zoning ordinance prohibiting all oil and gas exploration and production within its boundaries. New York state law …

Will The Real Foreign Official Please Stand Up: Determining Who Is A Foreign Official After United States V. Esquenazi, 752 F.3d 912 (11th Cir. 2014), Nicholas C. Martin

Southern Illinois University Law Journal

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), following extensive investigations by Congress into United States corporations and its passage in 1977, prohibits corporation or individual from giving “anything of value” to a “foreign official” for the purposes of “obtaining or retaining business.” “Foreign official” is defined as “any officer or employee of a foreign government or any department, agency, or instrumentality thereof”; however, “instrumentality” is not defined within the FCPA, and is the primary concern of this Note.

In United States v. Esquenazi, the Court of Appeal for the Eleventh Circuit, in a case of first impression, determined that an instrumentality …

Only [_] Can Judge: Analyzing Which Courts Have Jurisdiction Over Isis, Andrew Solis

Southern Illinois University Law Journal

While many world leaders are developing plans to defeat ISIS, some thought should be given to what structures will be in place to manage the aftermath. Defeating ISIS will likely require international cooperation and there will be a need for a judicial structure to try ISIS war criminals that is acceptable to the international community. In preparing for future judicial structures, leaders should consider cost, efficiency, legitimacy, and scope of the desired judicial structure. Past and present international courts provide important case studies for which type of court system would best try ISIS war criminals. Some courts, like the ICC …

Donate Your Art And Keep It Too: How The Government Subsidizes Art Collections For The Rich And What Congress Can Do About It, Steven Rodgers

Southern Illinois University Law Journal

Wealthy art collectors have long sought tax breaks for “donations” of their art without having to turn over possession of the artwork. Congress has previously recognized these efforts and taken measures to remedy the apparent unfairness of allowing collectors to obtain a tax deduction while never giving up their art. More recently, collectors are opening up private museums in the form of tax-exempt organizations. Private museums allow an art collector to donate art to an entity that the collector both created and controls. This practice has recently been called into question because it allows for major tax deductions while often …

Nsa Metadata Collection & Storage: An Internment Camp For Citizens' "Effects", David J. Robinson, Julia Kaye Wykoff

Southern Illinois University Law Journal

The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides the people the right to be “secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures,” which means the people have the right to freedom from warrantless government intrusion, or trespass, into their persons, houses, papers, and effects. Most people are familiar with persons, houses and papers, but the term “effects” is unfamiliar to many. The United States Supreme Court recently explained that personal property, such as one’s vehicle, constitutes an effect under the Fourth Amendment. The government of the United States has not always lived up to …

Changing Residency For Illinois Tax Purposes, Ronald Z. Domsky

Southern Illinois University Law Journal

The State of Illinois assesses a tax on every individual who has the “privilege of earning or receiving income in or as a resident of this State.” Three categories of people are subject to the taxing statute: those who are live in another state but receive income from specified sources in Illinois, those who become or cease to be a resident during a taxable year, and those who are considered residents of Illinois. The term resident includes people who are in the state during a taxable year for a purpose that is not temporary or transitory and those who are …

Expanded Stepparent And Grandparent Third Party Childcare In Illinois, Jeffrey A. Parness

Southern Illinois University Law Journal

Recognizing the need for reforms involving, inter alia, parental and third-party childcare interests, the Illinois General Assembly created a study committee, resulting in several proposed amendments to the Illinois Parentage Act and to the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act. After several years of debate and amendment, parentage and marriage dissolution law reforms were enacted in 2015. Unfortunately, the recent changes, and the earlier proposals arising from the study, insufficiently address the inadequacies of the current regimes on third-party childcare, especially childcare opportunities for stepparents and grandparents. This is especially problematic since there are few, if any, opportunities for …

Identification Of False Positives Within Social Media Integrity Enforcement

Defensive Publications Series

The subject disclosure provides computer-implemented methods comprising training, using a holdout dataset, a false positive prediction model to generate a false positive score, the false positive score comprising a probability that an enforcement score generated by an enforcement model is a false positive; generating, from user action data of a first user, using the enforcement model, a first enforcement score; generating, from the user action data of a first user and the trained false positive prediction model, a first false positive score; and suppressing, using the first enforcement score and the first false positive score, an enforcement action on the …

Polish Energy Sector’S Dependence On Lignite Mining: The Process Of Transition, Marek Widera, Wojciech Naworyta, Paweł Urbański

Journal of Sustainable Mining

This opinion study is devoted to the role of lignite in the Polish energy sector in recent decades, i.e., after the collapse of communism in 1989. Lignite is the primary source of electricity in Poland, second only to hard coal. More than 25–35% of Polish electricity was generated by lignite-fired power plants in 1990–2022. To meet the needs of the energy industry, 46–70 Mt of lignite was mined annually in that period. Hence, Poland was, and still is, one of the world leaders in lignite production. Despite the ongoing transition of the Polish energy sector, changes occur very slowly due …

Salem Timmonsville History, Salem United Methodist Church, Timmonsville

Methodist Local Church Records

No abstract provided.

As-981-24 Resolution On The Proposed Integration Of California State University (Csu) Maritime Academy And California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, Executive Committee

Academic Senate Resolutions

Resolves that the Academic Senate of Cal Poly encourages the California State University’s Chancellor’s Office, the CSU Board of Trustees, and the administrations of both Cal Poly and Cal Maritime to engage in transparent and frequent consultation with the senates, faculty, staff, and student governments at each campus, and it further resolves that the CSU Chancellor’s Office, the CSU Board of Trustees, and the administrations of both Cal Poly and Cal Maritime recognize the respective expertise of each campuses’ senates, faculty, staff, and student governments regarding curriculum, academic calendar planning, resource allocation and planning, policy implementation, facilities use and management, …

Evan Brown V. Vito Perugino

2024 Decisions

USDC for the Middle District of Pennsylvania

Networked Authoritarianism And Economic Resilience In Syria, Karam Shaar, Steven Heydemann

Middle East Studies: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

University Of New Hampshire 2024-2025 Faculty Senate Xxix - August 26, 2024 Minutes Summary, Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Agendas & Minutes

No abstract provided.

August 26 Elections, Census & Redistricting Update, Jeffrey M. Wice

Elections, Census & Redistricting Updates

No abstract provided.

Shonda Brown-Stewart V. Hackensack University Medical Center

2024 Decisions

USDC for the District of New Jersey

In Re: Paul Pavulak

2024 Decisions

USDC for the District of Delaware

Executive Committee - Agenda, 8/26/2024, Academic Senate

Academic Senate Agendas

No abstract provided.

Future Prospects Of Metabolic And Bariatric Surgery: A Comprehensive Review, Karl Hage, Gerardo Perrotta, Richard S. Betancourt, Jamil Danaf, Aryan Gajjar, Daniel Tomey, Katie Marrero, Omar M. Ghanem

Student Publications

Background: The field of metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS) is currently an expanding surgical field with constant refinements in techniques, outcomes, indications, and objectives. MBS has been effectively applied across diverse patient demographics, including varying ages, genders, body mass indexes, and comorbidity statuses.

Methods: We performed a comprehensive literature review of published retrospective cohort studies, meta-analyses, systematic reviews, and literature reviews from inception to 2024, reporting outcomes of MBS using databases such as PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Springer Link.

Results: MBS is a safe and efficient therapeutic option for patients with obesity and associated medical conditions (mortality rate 0.03-0.2%; complication rates …

Mapping Competency Profiles Of Schools Of Public Health: Implications For Public Health Workforce Education And Training In Israel, Yehuda Neumark, Jordan Hannink Attal, Naham Shapiro, Fiona Macleod, Janas Harrington, Paul Barach, Jascha De Nooijer, Keren Dopelt, Mariusz Duplaga, Lore Leighton, Hagai Levine, Zohar Mor, Robert Otok, Stephanie Paillard-Borg, Ted Tulchinsky, Shira Zelber-Sagi, Maureen Malowany

College of Population Health Faculty Papers

AIM: Competency frameworks are essential for analyzing capabilities of Schools of Public Health to adequately prepare public health (PH) professionals to address contemporary challenges. This study maps the competency profiles of PH training programs in Israel using a novel curriculum mapping tool.

METHODS: This study assessed all five Israeli Health Education Institutions (HEIs) offering MPH or Bachelors in Public Health (BPH) degrees across 57 competencies in six domains to determine the extent to which competencies were addressed in the curriculum. The competencies list was based on the Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region (ASPHER) List of …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Zoledronic Acid Prodrugs: A Potential Therapeutic For Enhanced Drug Delivery And Targeted Treatment, Shweta Wani

Theses & Dissertations

Bisphosphonates, particularly zoledronic acid (ZA), are crucial in managing bone resorption and treating skeletal disorders like multiple myeloma (MM). While ZA has demonstrated significant anti-myeloma activity in-vitro, its clinical use is limited by poor systemic exposure and potential off-target effects. This thesis investigates two strategies to conjugate polyethylene glycol (PEG) and hyaluronic acid (HA) to ZA to overcome these limitations. The first strategy, targeting the tertiary alcohol group of ZA, faced significant challenges due to the difficulty in conjugation. The second strategy, focusing on the hydroxyl group of the phosphonate moiety in ZA, successfully yielded a ZA-PEG conjugate, enhancing …

The Impact Of Social Emotional Learning And Trauma Informed Care On Teacher Well-Being And Capacity In The Classroom., Kathleen Kelley Michalowski

Theses and Dissertations

Educators and students have encountered significant challenges, including illness and loss within their families due to events such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Traumatic events, like disasters, can greatly disrupt a community's functioning, resulting in widespread losses that surpass the community's ability to cope. Trauma-informed care (TIC) acknowledges that individuals are likely to have a history of trauma and aims to respond appropriately to minimize the likelihood of further trauma. By implementing trauma-sensitive routines and promoting social-emotional learning (SEL) for both students and educators, we can offer them more opportunities for success and emotional growth. It's important to recognize that educators' …

University Of Northern Iowa Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes, August 26, 2024, University Of Northern Iowa. Faculty Senate.

Documents - Faculty Senate

Meeting minutes from the Faculty Senate of the University of Northern Iowa.