Law Commons^™

Automating Defeasible Reasoning In Law With Answer Set Programming, How Khang Lim, Avishkar Mahajar, Martin Strecker, Meng Weng Wong

Centre for Computational Law

The paper studies defeasible reasoning in rule-based systems, in particular about legal norms and contracts. We identify rule modifiers that specify how rules interact and how they can be overridden. We then define rule transformations that eliminate these modifiers, leading in the end to a translation of rules to formulas. For reasoning with and about rules, we contrast two approaches, one in a classical logic with SMT solvers, which is only briefly sketched, and one using non-monotonic logic with Answer Set Programming solvers, described in more detail.

Towards Cnl-Based Verbalization Of Computational Contracts, Inari Listenmaa, Maryam Hanafiah, Regina Cheong, Andreas Kallberg

Centre for Computational Law

We present a CNL, which is a component of L4, a domain-specific programming language for drafting laws and contracts. Along with formal verification, L4’s core functionalities include natural language generation. We present the NLG pipeline and an interactive process for ambiguity resolution.

Neither “Post-War” Nor Post-Pregnancy Paranoia: How America’S War On Drugs Continues To Perpetuate Disparate Incarceration Outcomes For Pregnant, Substance-Involved Offenders, Becca S. Zimmerman

Pitzer Senior Theses

This thesis investigates the unique interactions between pregnancy, substance involvement, and race as they relate to the War on Drugs and the hyper-incarceration of women. Using ordinary least square regression analyses and data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ 2016 Survey of Prison Inmates, I examine if (and how) pregnancy status, drug use, race, and their interactions influence two length of incarceration outcomes: sentence length and amount of time spent in jail between arrest and imprisonment. The results collectively indicate that pregnancy decreases length of incarceration outcomes for those offenders who are not substance-involved but not evenhandedly -- benefitting white …

A Gender And Race Theoretical And Probabilistic Analysis Of The Recent Title Ix Policy Changes, Jordan Wellington

Scripps Senior Theses

On May 6th, 2020, after extensive public comment and review, the Department of Education published the final rule for the new Title IX regulations, which took effect in schools on August 14th. Title IX is the nearly fifty year old piece of the Education Amendments that prohibits sexual discrimination in federally funded schools. Several of these changes, such as the inclusion of live hearings and cross examination of witnesses, have been widely criticized by victims’ rights advocates for potentially retraumatizing victims of sexual assault and discouraging students from pursuing a Title IX claim. While the impact of the new regulations …

Stationary Distribution Of Recombination On 4x4 Grid Graph As It Relates To Gerrymandering, Camryn Hollarsmith

Scripps Senior Theses

A gerrymandered political districting plan is used to benefit a group seeking to elect more of their own officials into office. This practice happens at the city, county and state level. A gerrymandered plan can be strategically designed based on partisanship, race, and other factors. Gerrymandering poses a contradiction to the idea of “one person, one vote” ruled by the United States Supreme Court case Reynolds v. Sims (1964) because it values one demographic’s votes more than another’s, thus creating an unfair advantage and compromising American democracy. To prevent the practice of gerrymandering, we must know how to detect a …

The Laws Of Complexity & The Complexity Of Laws: The Implications Of Computational Complexity Theory For The Law, Eric Kades

Eric A. Kades

No abstract provided.

Yelp’S Review Filtering Algorithm, Yao Yao, Ivelin Angelov, Jack Rasmus-Vorrath, Mooyoung Lee, Daniel W. Engels

SMU Data Science Review

In this paper, we present an analysis of features influencing Yelp's proprietary review filtering algorithm. Classifying or misclassifying reviews as recommended or non-recommended affects average ratings, consumer decisions, and ultimately, business revenue. Our analysis involves systematically sampling and scraping Yelp restaurant reviews. Features are extracted from review metadata and engineered from metrics and scores generated using text classifiers and sentiment analysis. The coefficients of a multivariate logistic regression model were interpreted as quantifications of the relative importance of features in classifying reviews as recommended or non-recommended. The model classified review recommendations with an accuracy of 78%. We found that reviews …

An Analysis Of The Estimate At Complete For Department Of Defense Contracts, Deborah B. Kim

Theses and Dissertations

When contractors provide timely and reliable information on the status of a contract, both contractors and government program offices can provide an accurate estimate of a contract’s completion costs. This research shows that the cumulative cost performance indices provided by contractors and program offices are high and less accurate than those of previous years and/or that a significant amount of ACWP is being documented in the final portion of a contract. The high performance indices resulted in EACs that were low-balled during the majority of a contract’s life which shows a need to improve the use of EVM metrics for …

Inventing Around Edison’S Lamp Patent: The Role Of Patents In Stimulating Downstream Development And Competition, Ron D. Katznelson, John Howells

Ron D. Katznelson

We provide the first detailed empirical study of inventing around patent claims. The enforcement of Edison’s incandescent lamp patent in 1891-1894 stimulated a surge of patenting. Most of these later patents disclosed inventions around the Edison patent. Some of these patents introduced important new technology in their own right and became prior art for new fields, indicating that invention around patents contributes to dynamic efficiency. Contrary to widespread contemporary understanding, the Edison lamp patent did not suppress technological advance in electric lighting. The market position of General Electric (“GE”), the Edison patent-owner, weakened through the period of this patent’s enforcement.

On Abstraction And Equivalence In Software Patent Doctrine: A Response To Bessen, Meurer And Klemens, Andrew Chin

Andrew Chin

No abstract provided.

On Abstraction And Equivalence In Software Patent Doctrine: A Response To Bessen, Meurer And Klemens, Andrew Chin

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 57 Number 3, Summer 2016, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

26 - CAN’T THREAD A MOVING NEEDLE To tackle sexual assault on college campuses, a playwriting project comes to the screen. By Danae Stahlnecker ’15.

28 - MISSION CRITICAL When three students fell ill from meningitis-causing bacteria—which can be fatal—it meant the clock was ticking. And to get through this, it would take everybody’s help. By Harold Gutmann.

36 - “WHERE ARE THEY TAKING US?” A journal from the front lines of the Syrian refugee crisis in Greece. By Colleen Sinsky ’10.

40 - NO STRANGERS HERE Refugees, home, and work by Ameera Naguib ’16 from Jordan to Silicon Valley. …

Law And The Art Of Modeling: Are Models Facts?, Rebecca Haw Allensworth

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

In 2013, the Supreme Court made the offhand comment that empirical models and their estimations or predictions are not 'findings of fact" deserving of deference on appeal. The four Justices writing in dissent disagreed, insisting that an assessment of how a model works and its ability to measure what it claims to measure are precisely the kinds of factual findings that the Court, absent clear error cannot disturb. Neither side elaborated on the controversy or defended its position doctrinally or normatively. That the highest Court could split 5-4 on such a crucial issue without even mentioning the stakes or the …

Juxtaposing Nasa’S Aeronet Aod With Carb Pm Data Over The San Joaquin Valley To Facilitate Multi-Angle Imaging Spectroradiometer (Misr) Pm Pollution Research, John Kanemoto

STAR Program Research Presentations

Airborne particulate matter (PM) has been shown to increase the risk for asthma, chronic bronchitis, cardiopulmonary complications, and respiratory cell membrane damage/infection/leakage. PM levels are currently analyzed from two perspectives: stationary land-based monitoring (LBM) sites and total Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) atmospheric column measurements. Both perspectives often leave miles of space between measuring locations and will have a continually increasing cost from introducing/maintaining sites. The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) satellite team hopes to begin investigating/archiving PM levels comprehensively via inputting MISR AOD measurements into a function/model which predicts the amount of ground level PM.

In the future, multivariable spatial correlations …

On High-Performance Parallel Decimal Fixed-Point Multiplier Designs, Ming Zhu

College of Engineering: Graduate Celebration

Decimal computations are required in finance, and etc.

• Precise representation for decimals (E.g. 0.2, 0.7… )
• Performance Requirements (Software simulations are very slow)

The Overhaul Of U.S. Patent Law, Ron D. Katznelson

Ron D. Katznelson

No abstract provided.

Brief Of Amicus Curiae In Support Of Affirmance, Ron D. Katznelson

Ron D. Katznelson

No abstract provided.

Statistics In Law: Bad Inferences & Uncommon Sense, Curtis E.A. Karnow

Curtis E.A. Karnow

A review of classic fallacies in statistics and probability in the courts. The article briefly, and in plain English, provides an introduction to probability theory, and randomness.

Comments Submitted To The Us Patent Office On Enhancing The Quality Of Examination, Ron D. Katznelson

Ron D. Katznelson

No abstract provided.

Patent Examination Policy And The Social Costs Of Examiner Allowance And Rejection Errors, Ron D. Katznelson

Ron D. Katznelson

No abstract provided.

Cascading Infrastructure Failures: Avoidance And Response, George H. Baker, Cheryl J. Elliott

George H Baker

No critical infrastructure is self-sufficient. The complexity inherent in the interdependent nature of infrastructure systems complicates planning and preparedness for system failures. Recent wide-scale disruption of infrastructure on the Gulf Coast due to weather, and in the Northeast due to electric power network failures, dramatically illustrate the problems associated with mitigating cascading effects and responding to cascading infrastructure failures once they have occurred.

The major challenge associated with preparedness for cascading failures is that they transcend system, corporate, and political boundaries and necessitate coordination among multiple, disparate experts and authorities. This symposium brought together concerned communities including government and industry …

Trends In Uspto Office Actions, Ron D. Katznelson

Ron D. Katznelson

No abstract provided.

The Laws Of Complexity & The Complexity Of Laws: The Implications Of Computational Complexity Theory For The Law, Eric Kades

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.