Law Commons^™

Tears In Heaven: Religiously And Culturally Sensitive Laws For Preventing The Next Pandemic, Eloisa C. Rodriguez-Dod, Aileen Maria Marty, Elena Maria Marty-Nelson

Eloisa C Rodríguez-Dod

This Article argues that laws created to curtail the spread of deadly contagious diseases need to be drafted and implemented in ways that maximize acceptance of an affected communities’ cultural and religious beliefs. When laws are put in place that are inconsistent with community mores, the overall goal of stopping an epidemic is threatened. Communities often distrust government and other relief organizations who mandate rules and regulations that impinge their religious and cultural beliefs; thus, these regulations geared at helping communities can paradoxically undermine the goal of preventing the spread of infectious disease. This Article focuses on the need for …

No Free Lunch, But Dinner And A Movie (And Contraceptives For Dessert)?, John C. Eastman

John C. Eastman

Does The Right To Elective Abortion Include The Right To Ensure The Death Of The Fetus?, Stephen G. Gilles

Stephen G Gilles

Is the right to an elective abortion limited to terminating the woman’s pregnancy, or does it also include the right to ensure the death of the fetus? Important as this question is in principle, in today’s world the conduct that would squarely raise it cannot occur in practice. The right to elective abortion applies only to fetuses that are not viable, which by definition means that they have been determined to have no realistic chance of surviving outside the uterus. Even if abortion providers used fetus-sparing methods rather than the fetus-killing methods they currently prefer, pre-viable fetuses would die within …

Taxation Without Limitation: The Prohibited Pretext Doctrine V. The Sebelius Theory, Brett W. Hastings

Brett W Hastings

The Article posits that the Supreme Court erred in its ruling regarding the Affordable Care Act by overlooking a well established constitutional principle, dubbed the Prohibited Pretext Doctrine. This doctrine, which prohibits the exercise of a prohibited power through the pretextual use of a power granted, faded from memory due to the post Lochner era expansion of the Commerce Clause. Nevertheless, the doctrine remains valid law. In overlooking the Prohibited Pretext Doctrine, the Supreme Court established a new and contradictory doctrine, dubbed the Sebelius Theory. The Sebelius Theory turns the Prohibited Pretext Doctrine on its head by explicitly allowing the …

Lawmakers Increasingly Undermining Roe V. Wade, Erin Daly, John G. Culhane

John G. Culhane

No abstract provided.

Lawmakers Increasingly Undermining Roe V. Wade, Erin Daly, John G. Culhane

Erin Daly

No abstract provided.

The Constitutionality Of The Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act In The Courts Of Appeals, Mel Cousins

Mel Cousins

Having undergone an extensive process of political discussion and debate, the ACA (properly the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act) is now under intensive legal challenge with over 20 different cases from both states and organizations and individuals having been initiated. The challengers argue that the Act lacks a constitutional basis and/or infringes on their constitutional rights. These cases involve a fascinating intersection of legal, political and policy issues and, regardless of the outcome, will have important implications for the future direction of US health care policy. There have now been four decisions of the courts of appeal on the …

Perfectly Legal To Mandate The Purchase Of Insurance, Alan E. Garfield

Alan E Garfield

No abstract provided.

Judging Genes: Implications Of The Second Generation Of Genetic Tests In The Courtroom, Diane E. Hoffmann, Karen H. Rothenberg

Diane Hoffmann

The use of DNA tests for identification has revolutionized court proceedings in criminal and paternity cases. Now, requests by litigants to admit or compel a second generation of genetic tests – tests to confirm or predict genetic diseases and conditions – threaten to affect judicial decision-making in many more contexts. Unlike DNA tests for identification, these second generation tests may provide highly personal health and behavioral information about individuals and their relatives and will pose new challenges for trial court judges. This article reports on an original empirical study of how judges analyze these requests and uses the study results …

A Submission To The Senate Legal And Constitutional Committee On The Trade Marks Amendment (Tobacco Plain Packaging) Bill 2011 (Cth), Matthew Rimmer

Matthew Rimmer

As an intellectual property expert, I am of the view that the much threatened litigation by the Tobacco Industry against the proposed plain packaging for tobacco products is somewhat vexatious.Both the Tobacco Plain Packaging Bill 2011 (Cth) and the Trade Marks Amendment (Tobacco Plain Packaging) Bill 2011 (Cth) are clearly within the Commonwealth's legislative power and capacity; and represent an effective means of implementing some of Australia's obligations under the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.At the outset, it is worth recalling that internal documents from British American Tobacco emphasized that 'current conventions & treaties afford little protection' for tobacco …

Judging Genes: Implications Of The Second Generation Of Genetic Tests In The Courtroom, Diane E. Hoffmann, Karen H. Rothenberg

Karen H. Rothenberg

The use of DNA tests for identification has revolutionized court proceedings in criminal and paternity cases. Now, requests by litigants to admit or compel a second generation of genetic tests – tests to confirm or predict genetic diseases and conditions – threaten to affect judicial decision-making in many more contexts. Unlike DNA tests for identification, these second generation tests may provide highly personal health and behavioral information about individuals and their relatives and will pose new challenges for trial court judges. This article reports on an original empirical study of how judges analyze these requests and uses the study results …

The Irrational Woman: Informed Consent And Abortion Decision-Making, Maya Manian

Maya Manian

In Gonzales v. Carhart, the Supreme Court upheld a federal ban on a type of second-trimester abortion that many physicians believe is safer for their patients. Carhart presented a watershed moment in abortion law, because it marks the Supreme Court’s first use of the anti-abortion movement’s “woman-protective” rationale to uphold a ban on abortion and the first time since Roe v. Wade that the Court denied women a health exception to an abortion restriction. The woman-protective rationale asserts that banning abortion promotes women’s mental health. According to Carhart, the State should make the final decisions about pregnant women’s healthcare, because …