Law Commons^™

An Argument On The Record For More Federal Judgeships, William M. Richman

The Journal of Appellate Practice and Process

A case is made for increasing the number of federal judges. The author uses the loss of judge involvement in decisionmaking to begin his argument. The discussion then addresses the arguments against increasing federal judgeships.

As I Was Saying....A Selection Of Lectures And Informal Talks On Law And Universities And The Communities That Usually Tolerate And Sometimes Support Them, William Burnett Harvey

Historic Documents

A 349 page collection of talks and recollections compiled by former Indiana University School of Law Dean, William Burnett Harvey. The collection is broken down into four parts: Reflections on the Rule of Law, The African Experience, Reflections on Education, Universities and Law, and Miscellaneous Musings.

Two appendixes are included. The first is a bibliography, and the second is two narrative accounts of Harvey's time in Ghana and his final years at Indiana University during the turbulent 1960s.

In Praise Of The Efficiency Of Decentralized Traditions And Their Preconditions, John O. Mcginnis

Articles

No abstract provided.

Succession By Estoppel: Hong Kong's Succession To The Iccpr, Peter K. Yu

Articles

No abstract provided.

Three's A Crowd: A Feminist Critique Of Calabresi And Melamed's One View Of The Cathedral, Jeanne L. Schroeder

Articles

The article critiques Calabresi and Melamed's trichotomy of property rights, arguing that it oversimplifies property as a binary relationship between subject and object, neglecting the complexities of enjoyment and third-party interests. By employing a feminist and Lacanian psychoanalytic perspective, the analysis highlights how this framework fails to address the dynamic, relational, and intersubjective nature of property, particularly in environmental disputes. The author advocates for a more inclusive understanding of property that incorporates both masculine and feminine metaphors, emphasizing the need to move beyond possession and exchange to recognize the mutual constitution of entitlements and law.

The Constitution And Reconstitution Of The Standing Doctrine Comment., Laveta Casdorph

St. Mary's Law Journal

The most effective response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s construction of Article III standards will be to revise citizen suit statutes to reaffirm its important role in giving the injured citizen a voice against the administrative state. With the rise of the administrative state in the late 1930s and 40s, the Court developed a conservative doctrine of standing to protect New Deal legislation from court-based attacks. As individual constitutional rights expanded, standing rules were liberalized, allowing litigants to challenge the actions and decisions of administrative agencies more easily. Congress passed numerous environmental statutes containing “citizen suit” provisions in the 1960s …

Causes Of Inequality In The International Economic Order: Critical Race Theory And Postcolonial Development, Chantal Thomas

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Caution! Estoppel Ahead: Cleveland V. Policy Management Systems Corporation, Lawrence B. Solum

Faculty Scholarship

The aim of this Commentary is not to argue for a particular resolution of the dispute between Ms. Cleveland and her former employer. Rather, the goal is to address a more general question: Is the Cleveland case an appropriate vehicle for the Supreme Court to endorse the seldom invoked and controversial doctrine of judicial estoppel? That doctrine originated in the needs of a procedural system that was substantially different from the contemporary system, which is shaped by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Federal Rules of Evidence. Contemporary understandings of the respective role of judge and jury and …

America's Preoccupation With Ethics In Government Essay., Vincent R. Johnson

St. Mary's Law Journal

Many Americans today expect that the law can, should, and will be used to ensure a level playing field in public life. Americans expect the law to eliminate, insofar as possible, any unfair advantage that might be gained through the use of special connections to those who exercise the power of government. There are numerous rules applicable to judges, lawyers, and public officials that each seek to promote equal treatment for all persons by limiting the ability of persons to use special connections and privileged relationships to gain an advantage in public affairs. There were two threads of development in …

Resolving The Mult-Fractional Deed Dilemma - Conc.Ord Oil Co. V. Pennzoil Exploration & (And) Production Co. Recent Development, Noelle C. Letteri

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract Forthcoming.

From Little Acorns Great Oaks Grow: The Constitutionality Of Protecting Minors From Harmful Internet Material In Public Libraries Comment., Kimberly S. Keller

St. Mary's Law Journal

Congress should focus on the receiver's end of Internet transmissions to overcome the anonymity and transmogrification elements of the Internet to protect minors from harmful material. Throughout the years, librarians have struggled with monitoring minors’ access to the accumulating number of controversial texts in the library. The Internet’s unique infrastructure affords librarians virtually no opportunity for the pre-shelf review available with books and videos. Congress enacted the Communications Decency Act (CDA) in 1996 in an attempt to protect minors from the underbelly of the internet. The United States Supreme Court, in Reno v. ACLU, struck down the CDA ruling that …

Keeping The Promise: Establishing Nontransferable Election Systems In Jurisdictions Covered By Section Four Of The Voting Rights Act., Adam J. Cohen

St. Mary's Law Journal

Jurisdictions covered by the Voting Rights Act (VRA or the Act) need to impose multimember districting and non-transferable election systems. The VRA was enacted in 1965 to enforce the promise of the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution: the right to vote shall not be abridged on the basis of race. The Act requires any change in election procedures to be approved in advance so that states are not able to continuously disenfranchise voters based on race by simply changing election procedures. Either the District Court for the District of Columbia or the Attorney General of the United States …

Airing The Dirty Laundry: The Application Of The United States Sentencing Guidelines To White Collar Money Laundering Offenses, Jonathan H. Hecht

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Women In The New Millennium: The Promises Of The Past Are Now The Problems For The Millennium, Lundy R. Langston

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The article argues that the equality principle, while intended to promote gender equality, has failed to address the unique challenges and needs of women, particularly in legal and workplace contexts. Despite advancements in women's rights, structural disparities persist, with women bearing disproportionate burdens in caregiving, employment, and legal proceedings. The analysis critiques how courts and policies often ignore the biological and societal differences between men and women, leading to outcomes that perpetuate gender inequality. The article emphasizes the need for a more nuanced approach to equality that accounts for these differences and addresses systemic power imbalances.

Buckley V. Valeo: A Landmark Of Political Freedom, Joel Gora

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Vertical Separation Of Powers, Victoria Nourse

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Standard understandings of the separation of powers begin with the concept of function. The author argues that function alone cannot predict important changes in structural incentives and thus serves as a poor proxy for assessing real risks to governmental structure. To illustrate this point, the article returns to proposals considered at the Constitutional Convention and considers difficult contemporary cases such as Morrison v. Olson, Clinton v. Jones, and the Supreme Court's more recent federalism decisions. In each instance, function appears to steer us wrong because it fails to understand separation of powers questions as ones of structural incentive …

Jerry-Building The Road To The Future: An Evaluation Of The White Commission Report On Structural Alternatives For The Federal Courts Of Appeals, Joseph N. Akrotirianakis, Paul Garo Arshagouni, Zareh A. Jalotorssian

San Diego Law Review

For years, critics have argued that the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit should be divided because it has grown too large to manage its caseload effectively.' They blame the Ninth Circuit's size for alleged increases in intra-circuit conflicts, inefficiency, delay, and a lack of collegiality among its judges.! In recent years, conservative

congressmen in the Pacific Northwest have criticized the San Francisco- based circuit for its "liberal" rulings on everything from the environment

to the death penalty?

Texas Rule Of Evidence 503: Defining Scope Of Employment For Corporations Comment., Craig W. Saunders

St. Mary's Law Journal

The attorney-corporate client privilege should be regarded as encompassing only communications made to the corporation’s counsel by employees in the scope of their employment. The Supreme Court of Texas and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ordered the merger of the Civil and Criminal Rules of Evidence. The merger became effective on March 1, 1998 and is now known as the Texas Rules of Evidence. Although the civil and criminal rules often mirror each other, one monumental change is in the new version of Rule 503. This new version significantly alters the analysis used in a corporate context and determines …

The Defense Of Traditional Marriage, George W. Dent

Faculty Publications

This article reviews the possible justifications for legal recognition of marriage and finds some, such as encouraging stable, loving relationships, unpersuasive. However, other rationales-including protecting children, socializing adults, and promoting individual happiness-are valid, and these rationales apply only to traditional marriages. Accordingly, society has strong reasons to favor traditional marriage and to deny such treatment to the unmarried and to homosexual, endogamous and bestial relationships.

Apparently Substantial, Oddly Hollow: The Enigmatic Practice Of Justice, Heidi Li Feldman

Michigan Law Review

The Practice of Justice: A Theory of Lawyers' Ethics, by William H. Simon, is one of the most thoughtful and important books in legal theory - not just legal ethics - published in the past ten years. Like David Luban's seminal contribution to legal ethics, Lawyers and Justice: An Ethical Study, published a decade ago, Simon's book is a deliberate rival to accounts of lawyers' professional responsibility that begin with a command to zealous advocacy, end with a prohibition on outright illegal conduct, and offer nothing in between. Authors and commentators have grown increasingly dissatisfied with this as the basic …

The Voyeurism Value In First Amendment Jurisprudence, Clay Calvert

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Treating Kids Right, Christopher Slobogin

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

The concept of amenability to treatment is, in theory, at the core of juvenile delinquency jurisprudence. From its inception as an entity separate from the adult criminal court, the juvenile court was meant to focus on the rehabilitative potential of children. On this premise, the central inquiry in a juvenile delinquency proceeding should be whether the child found delinquent is amenable to treatment. Disposition should depend upon the rehabilitative potential and needs of the juvenile, and only if no treatment is available in the juvenile system should transfer to adult court be considered. In practice, amenability to treatment may never …

Victims' Rights, Rule Of Law, And The Threat To Liberal Jurisprudence, Ahmed A. White

Publications

No abstract provided.

Narrative And Client-Centered Representation: What Is A True Believer To Do When His Two Favorite Theories Collide?, John B. Mitchell

Faculty Articles

Professor Mitchell illustrates that Client-centered Representation does not simplistically reduce to a single admonition: Tell the client's story. The concept is far more nuanced than that. It incorporates a constellation of ideas. Listen to the client's story. Hear what they want. Try to be creative about ways to tell the story. Look for opportunities to bring their story into the legal process. At the same time, the attorney must join together to discuss any risks and problems which may result from various strategic choices, including the risks in even telling the story and whether those risks are worth it to …

Beyond Black And White: Selected Writings By Asian Americans Within The Critical Race Theory Movement Perspective., Harvey Gee

St. Mary's Law Journal

A new generation of progressive intellectuals has evolved, attempting to transform the manner in which law, race, and racial power are understood and discussed in America. The latter half of the twentieth century proved to be a time of profound demographic changes. Racial and political reform policies of the post-modern Civil Rights Movement failed to fully respond to these dramatic social changes. A theory was created to address social racism because the “color-blind” model posited by the Supreme Court of the United States perpetuated racism by supporting the existing hierarchy. Critical Race Theory attempts to tackle these dramatic social changes …

Splitting The Atom Or Splitting Hairs - The Hate Crimes Prevention Act Of 1999 Note., Andrew M. Gilbert, Eric D. Marchand

St. Mary's Law Journal

Problems of bias-motivated violence plague our nation and threaten to erase the progress made during the civil rights era. Recent statistical surveys conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) indicate the number of hate crimes has generally increased over the past few years. In 1996, over 11,000 individuals were victims of hate crimes—five percent more than reported the previous year. Hate crimes are not only injurious to the individual victim, but also fracture surrounding communities and create disharmony among citizens. As a result, some states implemented legislation in the 1980s to deter hate-motived crimes and a few states have …

How To Do Things With Hegel, David G. Carlson

Articles

The article argues that contract is not merely a tool for pre-existing personalities but is instead constitutive of personality itself. It challenges the conventional view that personality exists prior to law, instead positing that contract is necessary for the emergence and recognition of personality. The author contends that contract is foundational to legal and personal identity, as it establishes mutual recognition and rights between individuals.

Precedential Cascades: An Appraisal, Eric Talley

Faculty Scholarship

About a half century ago, a handful of social scientists began to formalize what was to become the analytical heart of neoclassical economics. Under the broad rubric of "general equilibrium theory," these scholars demonstrated (in varying degrees of mathematical sophistication) the longstanding intuition behind the so-called "invisible hand": that is, that competitive markets could convert apparent disarray and fragmentation into order and harmony. More explicitly, general equilibrium theory demonstrated how a decentralized collection of self-interested individuals could, through competitive market transactions, allocate scarce goods and services in a socially efficient manner. An equally powerful corollary attended this central insight: that …

Systems Of Belief In Modern American Law: A View From Century's End, Gerald B. Wetlaufer

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Democracy Schmemocracy, Dan M. Kahan

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.