Law Commons^™

Child Obesity, School Food Environments And The Best Interests Of The Child, Benedetta Faedi Duramy

Publications

This article is about child obesity, school food, and the key role schools can play in creating environments that can enhance children’s eating patterns and lifestyle behaviours and, thus, can support the realization of children’s best interest in relation to food and health. In contrast to the traditional approach that frames the obesity problem as a personal issue or as a matter of parental responsibility, this article argues that the prevention of child obesity should be interpreted as a State obligation under both international and domestic laws. Analysis turns to the example of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, adopted in …

Childhood Obesity And Positive Obligations: A Child Rights-Based Approach, Benedetta Faedi Duramy

Publications

Childhood obesity is one of the most serious current public health challenges. Its prevalence has increased at an alarming rate. The World Health Organization estimated that in 2016 the global number of overweight children under the age of five was over 41 million. Although there is widespread concern about the rising rates of childhood obesity, there is not as much consensus on how to address the problem. Obesity has been mostly considered either a matter of personal responsibility or of parental responsibility when it concerns children. Inadequate attention has been given instead to the obligations borne by States to prevent …

Paging Dr. Derrida: A Deconstructionist Approach To Understanding The Affordable Care Act Litigation, Laura A. Cisneros

Publications

Sovereignty federalism and cooperative federalism represent the two dominant federalism narratives among Supreme Court justices and scholars. The Court consistently invokes formal protections to safeguard the states' right to preside over their own empires.' Sovereignty scholars tend to embrace this dualistic vision of federalism that locates federalism's success in the state's ability to exercise supreme policymaking authority within its own sphere of influence without federal interference. By contrast, academics that lean toward cooperative federalism locate the states' power in their position as federal servants, not separate sovereigns. Scholars have commented that even though these academics tend to resist the rigid …

Is There A Doctor In The House? Using Failure-To-Warn Liability To Enhance The Safety Of Online Prescribing, Chester S. Chuang

Publications

This Note argues that manufacturers can satisfy the duty to warn that is owed to consumers who purchase prescription medications from Internet prescribing sites by contractually obligating the websites to implement comprehensive patient information systems. Analyzing these systems under a traditional failure-to-warn liability framework will allow reputable sites to mature into reliable sources of prescription medications for consumers, while cutting off the supply of drugs to fraudulent sites without resorting to increased government regulation. Ideally, this framework wiIl force manufacturers to weigh patients' health and safety with the commercial and practical advantages of Internet prescribing.

Part I of this Note …

Science Fact Or Science Fiction? The Implications Of Court-Ordered Genetic Testing Under Rule 35, Anthony S. Niedwiecki

Publications

This article proposes an analysis for courts to follow when faced with a Rule 35 motion to compel a party to undergo genetic testing or any other procedure that tests for a specific medical condition.

Part I explains the analysis courts generally conduct for a Rule 35 motion. Generally, courts make a factual inquiry into whether there is a need for the procedure and whether the examinee has placed his or her physical or mental condition in controversy. Rarely have courts examined the risks associated with ordering an examination. When courts do examine the risks, they continue to show a …

Criminal Penalties For Creating A Toxic Environment: Mens Rea, Environmental Criminal Liability Standards, And The Neurotoxicity Hypothesis, Colin Crawford

Publications

Recent research in brain biochemistry examining the likely neurological effects of exposure to toxic contaminants continues to demand legal consideration. In this Article, Professor Crawford evaluates the possible consequences of recent neurobiological studies-labeled "The Neurotoxicity Hypothesis" by researchers-for lawyers and the legal system. After summarizing the research, Professor Crawford suggests that as this (or similar) neurobiological research gains increased scientific acceptance, it will be necessary to reduce dramatically the acceptable levels of these toxic elements that can be discharged into the environment. He then examines the implications of such a result for establishing criminal liability under federal environmental statutes, focusing …

An Argument For Universal Pediatric Hiv Testing, Counseling And Treatment, Colin Crawford

Publications

This symposium was called to address constitutional concerns raised by the controversy over the issue of mandatory pediatric testing, counseling and treatment for the human immuno-deficiency virus (HIV). In due course, I will turn to those concerns,' and explain my view that the need to test and treat newborns for HIV constitutes a medical emergency that overrides the most serious constitutional concerns. However, before doing so, it is helpful to put the debate in perspective, to explain what, in ABC's view, the controversy is really all about, and to indicate why our organization has so strenuously advocated mandatory pediatric HIV …

Changing Positions And Entrenched Polemics: A Brief History Of The Association To Benefit Children's Views On Pediatric Hiv Testing, Counseling, And Care, Colin Crawford

Publications

In my remarks today, I intend to do three things. First, I want to document the trajectory of the Association to Benefit Children's (ABC) approach to this issue, which was considerably more layered and nuanced than often characterized by the press and, certainly, by our most virulent opponents. Second, I aim to offer some reflections as to why the debate became as acrimonious as it did, and how that impeded resolution of this issue satisfactory to the widest possible number of people. Third, I hope that these reflections will provide a basis for some suggestions as to how future debate …