Law Commons^™

18. Complex Questions Asked By Defense Lawyers But Not Prosecutors Predicts Convictions In Child Abuse Trials., Angela D. Evans, Kang Lee, Thomas D. Lyon

Thomas D. Lyon

17. Maltreated Children’S Understanding Of And Emotional Reactions To Dependency Court Involvement., Jodi A. Quas, Allison R. Wallin, Briana Horwitz, Thomas D. Lyon

Thomas D. Lyon

16. Coaching, Truth Induction, And Young Maltreated Children’S False Allegations And False Denials., Thomas D. Lyon, Lindsay C. Malloy, Jodi A. Quas, Victoria A. Talwar

Thomas D. Lyon

Happy Law Students, Happy Lawyers, Nancy Levit, Douglas Linder

Nancy Levit

This article draws on research into the science of happiness and asks a series of interrelated questions: Whether law schools can make law students happier? Whether making happier law students will translate into making them happier lawyers, and the accompanying question of whether making law students happier would create better lawyers? After covering the limitations of genetic determinants of happiness and happiness set-points, the article addresses those qualities that happiness research indicates are paramount in creating satisfaction: control, connections, creative challenge (or flow), and comparisons (preferably downward). Those qualities are then applied to legal education, while addressing the larger philosophical …

Situating Emotion: A Critical Realist View Of Emotion And Nonconscious Cognitive Processes For Law And Legal Theory, David J. Arkush

David J. Arkush

This Article attempts to clarify legal thinking about emotion in decision making. It surveys evidence from psychology and neuroscience on the extensive role that emotion and related nonconscious cognitive processes play in human behavior, then evaluates the treatment of emotion in three legal views of decision making: rational choice theory, behavioral economics, and cultural cognition theory. The Article concludes that each theory is mistaken to treat emotion mostly as a decision objective rather than a part of the decision-making process and, indeed, to treat it as a force that mostly compromises that process. The Article introduces the view that emotion …

Institutes Of Higher Education, Safety Swords, And Privacy Shields: Reconciling Ferpa And The Common Law, Stephanie D. Humphries

Stephanie D Humphries

In light of the Virginia Tech shootings, this Note argues that both FERPA and the common law contain internal tensions regarding safety and privacy that neither Congress nor the courts have adequately reconciled, and that important discrepancies regarding information sharing exist between IHEs' practices, the common law's demands, and FERPA's limitations.

Part I provides background on FERPA and argues that FERPA's emergency exception is too narrow and confusing, so that IHEs default to the nondisclosure option rather than disclosing information to third parties, such as parents, when students threaten to harm themselves or others. At the same time, FERPA's tax …

8. The Supreme Court, Hearsay, And Crawford: Implications For Child Interviewers., Thomas D. Lyon

Thomas D. Lyon

15. Truth Induction In Young Maltreated Children: The Effects Of Oath-Taking And Reassurance On True And False Disclosures., Thomas D. Lyon, Joyce R. Dorado

Thomas D. Lyon

The Soft Power And Persuasion Of Translations In The War On Terror: Words And Wisdom In The Transformation Of Legal Systems, Donald J. Kochan

Donald J. Kochan

The power of words is the power of persuasion. The exportation of the foundational legal principles that helped form the American republic can serve as instrumental "soft power" tools in the war on terror. Efforts promoting projects like the Arabic Book Program are important vehicles to cross-cultural and cross-lingual international relations. This Article argues that an arsenal of words can be as, or more, powerful than an arsenal of artillery. The West has much to offer, but the rest of the world needs to be able to read it without getting lost in translation. Providing linguistic access to the documents …

Mega-Cases, Diversity, And The Elusive Goal Of Workplace Reform, Nancy Levit

Nancy Levit

Employment discrimination class action suits are part of a new wave of structural reform litigation. Like their predecessors - the school desegregation cases in the 1950s, the housing and voting inequalities cases in the 1960s, prison conditions suits in the 1970s, and environmental lawsuits since then - these are systemic challenges to major institutions affecting large segments of the public. This article explores the effectiveness of various employment discrimination remedies in reforming workplace cultures, promoting corporate accountability, and implementing real diversity.

Reviewing the architecture and aftermath of consent decrees in five major employment discrimination cases - the cases against Shoney's, …

It's Really About Sex: Same-Sex Marriage, Lesbigay Parenting, And The Psychology Of Disgust, Richard E. Redding

Richard E. Redding

The effect of gay and lesbian parenting on children has been the touchstone issue in much of the recent state litigation on same sex marriage, with opponents of same sex marriage arguing that there is a rational basis for denying marriage rights to gays and lesbians because the central purpose of marriage is procreation and childrearing, but that children are harmed or disadvantaged when raised by gay or lesbian parents. To interrogate this claim, I critique the social science research that informs the concerns frequently expressed about the possible negative effects of lesbigay parenting on children's emotional, psychosocial, and sexual …