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Full-Text Articles in Law
Cercla's Mistakes, John C. Nagle
Cercla's Mistakes, John C. Nagle
John Copeland Nagle
The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) confounds every theory of statutory interpretation. Congress hurriedly enacted CERCLA during the lame-duck period following the election of President Reagan and a Republican Senate majority in November 1980 but before they took office in January 1981. The resulting statute has been criticized for its apparently textual mistakes, sparse legislative history, conflicting purposes, and questionable public policy. Courts routinely complain about the difficulty of interpreting CERCLA under those circumstances. This article reviews several of the interpretive challenges presented by CERCLA, and suggests some broader implications for statutory interpretation more generally. CERCLA, hazardous …
A Twentieth Amendment Parable, John C. Nagle
A Twentieth Amendment Parable, John C. Nagle
John Copeland Nagle
The twentieth amendment receives virtually no attention in modern American constitutional law. Adopted in 1933, the primary purpose of the amendment was to eliminate lame-duck Congresses. The proponents of the amendment argued that lame-ducks were subject to nefarious influences and that allowing lame-duck legislation contradicted the voice of the people in the most recent election. But the text of the twentieth amendment simply moved the date on which the newly elected President and Congress took office from March to January, and does not expressly prohibit lame-duck legislation. The framers of the amendment could not conceive of Congress meeting during the …
Cercla, Causation, And Responsibility, John C. Nagle
Cercla, Causation, And Responsibility, John C. Nagle
John Copeland Nagle
No abstract provided.