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Full-Text Articles in Law
Mexico's Maquiladora Program: Challenges And Prospects., Matilde K. Stephenson
Mexico's Maquiladora Program: Challenges And Prospects., Matilde K. Stephenson
St. Mary's Law Journal
A Maquila is usually a one-hundred percent foreign-owned assembly or manufacturing operation located in Mexico. They manufacture, process or assemble an array of products under Mexican law. Both the United States and Mexico receive a great deal of economic benefits from employing the maquiladora system, but it can also have some political and social consequences that make the system economically volatile. The viewpoints of both the U.S. and Mexican governments are considered, as well as the U.S. and Mexican industry, in evaluating the system’s overall effect on U.S.-Mexico relations. The general conclusion is that maquiladoras are extremely desirable for labor …
Ethics And Due Diligence: A Lawyer's Perspective On Doing Business With Mexico., Rona R. Mears
Ethics And Due Diligence: A Lawyer's Perspective On Doing Business With Mexico., Rona R. Mears
St. Mary's Law Journal
The focus of this study is to survey ethical issues faced by legal practitioners in providing legal counsel for international business transactions, with special attention to lawyers counseling clients who are doing business with Mexico. This paper is intended for lawyers who practice in the United States (U.S.), involved in counseling clients outside the U.S. The purpose of this study is to highlight only those issues that raise special difficulties for such a practitioner, and then to provide practical advice on how to avoid ethical problems in U.S.-Mexico transactions. The Model Rules of Professional Conduct (MPRC), the International Code of …
First-To-Invent: A Superior System For The United States., Ned L. Conley
First-To-Invent: A Superior System For The United States., Ned L. Conley
St. Mary's Law Journal
The United States uses the first-to-invent patent system, which is a time-honored system not worth abandoning in pursuit of harmonization. First-to-invent and first-to-file patent systems incentivize different approaches to obtaining a patent. However, a first-to-invent approach is, in part, what has allowed the United States to lead the world in innovation and it should not abandon this approach. The United States patent system is unique when compared to most other patent systems used by democratic, capitalistic, developed nations. A first-to-invent system provides incentive to invent, particularly to inventors who are less well financed. The incentive to innovate is in the …
Alamo Lumber And Texas Usury Law: Playing With Fire In The Usury Forest., Terry W. Wright, W. Alan Wright, Scott G. Night
Alamo Lumber And Texas Usury Law: Playing With Fire In The Usury Forest., Terry W. Wright, W. Alan Wright, Scott G. Night
St. Mary's Law Journal
The effect of Alamo Lumber Co. v. Gold, and later cases interpreting third party assumption of debt as interest can be perilous to lenders. Lenders are in the business of offering loans to make money. Lenders achieve profit maximization by charging as much interest as possible in the market. Although economic and market factors are always considerations in a lender’s business, in Texas, lenders must also consider harsh usury laws that restrain the maximum amount of chargeable loan interest. Texas defines interest broadly. Statutes define interest as the receipt of compensation for the detention, forbearance or use of money. The …
Pyrrhic Victories And Glorious Defeats: Why Defendants Are Winning And Plaintiffs Are Losing The Struggle Over Actual Malice And Fictionalized Quotations., Richard A. Gonzales
Pyrrhic Victories And Glorious Defeats: Why Defendants Are Winning And Plaintiffs Are Losing The Struggle Over Actual Malice And Fictionalized Quotations., Richard A. Gonzales
St. Mary's Law Journal
This article reviews Masson v. New Yorker Magazine, a case of fabricated quotations. The article looks first at the legal background and Supreme Court's development of the actual malice standard. An analysis of the problem through journalistic ethics and investigation of the difficulties confronting libel plaintiffs will follow. Finally, the comment explores the misquotation problem from both a legal and a journalistic perspective.
In Sharp Contrast To The Past: The Demise Of The Per Se Rule Against Vertical Price Fixing., Christopher J. Pettit
In Sharp Contrast To The Past: The Demise Of The Per Se Rule Against Vertical Price Fixing., Christopher J. Pettit
St. Mary's Law Journal
Actions by the Department of Justice and the Supreme Court lessening vertical pricing protections under the Sherman Antitrust Act require Congressional intervention. By enacting the Sherman Antitrust Act, Congress intended agreements fixing vertical prices or having the ultimate effect of fixing vertical prices at any level be illegal per se. Vertical pricing agreements set, maintain, stabilize, raise, or depress prices of goods or services among the different levels of the product distribution chain. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has taken positive steps in limiting the per se rule of illegality by failing to pursue allegations of vertical price fixing and …
Reformers' Regress: The 1991 Texas Workers' Compensation Act., Jill Williford
Reformers' Regress: The 1991 Texas Workers' Compensation Act., Jill Williford
St. Mary's Law Journal
The revision of the Texas Workers’ Compensation Act will affect most Texas taxpayers and workers. The Act, entering into force January 1, 1991, significantly restructures the preexisting seventy-six-year-old system. Before the advent of workers’ compensation systems employees relied on the court and common-law causes of action as the sole means of recovery. In 1913, Texas enacted one of the first versions of workers’ compensation in the United States. The original act created a system to compensate workers for injuries sustained during employment without regard to fault. Initially the act was elective for employers and mandatory for employees but was later …
Educational Choice Legislation After Edgewood V. Kirby: A Proposal For Clearing The Sectarian Hurdle., C. Lee Cusenbary Jr.
Educational Choice Legislation After Edgewood V. Kirby: A Proposal For Clearing The Sectarian Hurdle., C. Lee Cusenbary Jr.
St. Mary's Law Journal
States can reform the ineffective educational system by adopting a free educational choice system. A free educational choice system would reimburse parents of educational expenditures through a voucher or tax deduction and will give parents the freedom to select the school their child attends. While free choice may present a viable solution for educational reform, one major obstacle is the possibility free choice would violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment by providing aid to sectarian schools. A free educational choice legislation will be subject to review under the Lemon v. Kurtzman test to determine if the financial aid …
Preserving Error On Appeal In Texas Civil Cases: A Practical Guide For Civil Appeals In Texas., John Hill Cayce Jr.
Preserving Error On Appeal In Texas Civil Cases: A Practical Guide For Civil Appeals In Texas., John Hill Cayce Jr.
St. Mary's Law Journal
Fatal procedural errors can prevent appellees from preserving judgements and appellants from seeking review of court decisions on appeal. This article is a practical guide identifying critical concepts necessary to preserve the various rights of appeal. By examining the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure, the author identifies procedural pitfalls attorneys may face when attempting to preserve appeals to the Texas Supreme Court or the appellate courts of Texas. Although the Texas Supreme Court has endeavored to eliminate procedural traps from civil appeals, a significant number of requests for appeal fail because lawyers do not follow the requirements necessary to preserve …
Oil In The Persian Gulf War: Legal Appraisal Of An Environmental Warfare., Margaret T. Okorodudu-Fubara
Oil In The Persian Gulf War: Legal Appraisal Of An Environmental Warfare., Margaret T. Okorodudu-Fubara
St. Mary's Law Journal
Oil, modern history’s most “powerful” natural economic resource stood at the epicenter of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and became the latest unconventional weapon of warfare. The objective of this Article is to assess the legal implications of this recent environmental warfare involving the “oil weapon,” the first of its kind in recorded history. The experiences from national and international wars demonstrate one sure victim of wars, even barring human losses, is the environment. The delicacy of mankind’s planetary ecosystem necessitates urgency addressed to protecting the environment in the international struggle for arms control and disarmament agreement. This Article indicates …
Television Advertising: Professionalism's Dilemma., Laura R. Champion, William M. Champion
Television Advertising: Professionalism's Dilemma., Laura R. Champion, William M. Champion
St. Mary's Law Journal
Lawyers are concerned about tactics and antics of advertising attorneys because of possible harm to the reputation of the legal profession due to tasteless, crass ads circulated among the non-legal public. This controversial issue of what is good taste includes the question of how far ads can go before crossing the line of prohibited solicitation. Lawyers advertise through direct mail, television, radio, telephone yellow pages, billboards, newspapers, and magazines. This Article traces the background of legal advertising, focusing on the particular issue of television ads. Some courts purposefully avoid this aspect of legal communication with the public and leave many …
The Court Of Criminal Appeals Versus The Constitution: The Conclusivity Question., Susan Bleil, Charles Bleil
The Court Of Criminal Appeals Versus The Constitution: The Conclusivity Question., Susan Bleil, Charles Bleil
St. Mary's Law Journal
This Article examines the Texas Constitution’s grant of authority to appellate courts to review questions of fact and the Texas Supreme Court’s treatment of that authority. It then contrasts that treatment with the contrary position taken by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals since 1981. It also examines the sentiments of the courts of appeals themselves. The analysis of the decisions demonstrates the highest courts of Texas do not uniformly view the constitutional provision in question. It also shows resulting confusion and dissatisfaction. The Court of Criminal Appeals needs a better, more logical approach in interpreting the Texas constitution. Also …
The Texas Tax Relief Act After Twelve Years: Adoption, Implementation &(And) Enforcement., Michael Weiss
The Texas Tax Relief Act After Twelve Years: Adoption, Implementation &(And) Enforcement., Michael Weiss
St. Mary's Law Journal
The Texas Tax Reform Act, an amendment to the Texas constitution, undertook to create and enforce spending limits. The Texas Government first followed the spending limits in the 1982-1983 biennium. The threat of veto from Governor Clemments forced the legislature to adopt a budget below the limit. Unfortunately, Texas taxpayers did not see the savings of 1982 repeated in subsequent years. Meaning, the amendment, which passed by an eighty-four percent majority, failed in its purpose for limiting the government growth and spending. The noncompliance of the LBB is in contravention of the people’s will and the laws established to set …
The Scope Of The Eighth Amendment Does Not Include A Per Se Bar To The Use Of Victim Impact Evidence In The Sentencing Phase Of A Capital Trial., Jimmie O. Clements Jr.
The Scope Of The Eighth Amendment Does Not Include A Per Se Bar To The Use Of Victim Impact Evidence In The Sentencing Phase Of A Capital Trial., Jimmie O. Clements Jr.
St. Mary's Law Journal
In Payne v. Tennessee, the United States Supreme Court held the scope of the Eighth Amendment does not include a per se bar to the use of victim impact evidence in the sentencing phase of a capital trial. As a result of Payne, the realm of information admissible during the sentencing phase of a capital trial now includes victim impact evidence. The use of victim impact evidence improperly diverts the sentencer’s attention away from the defendant’s moral blameworthiness to the victim’s character and reputation. Although advocates of victim’s rights may see this decision as a victory, the reasoning of the …
A Trial Court's Refusal To Question Prospective Jurors About The Specific Contents Of Pretrial Publicity Which They Had Read Or Heard Did Not Violate A Defendant's Sixth Amendment Right To An Impartial Jury, Or Fourteenth Amendment Right To Due Process., Karen A. Cusenbary
St. Mary's Law Journal
In Mu'Min v. Virginia, the United States Supreme Court held a defendant has no right to ask jurors about the potential influence of prejudicial pretrial publicity. A defendant may ask only if the jurors can remain impartial. The Court mandates that overturning a trial court’s jury selection is allowable only if manifest error renders the trial fundamentally unfair. The Court did not find that the case involved sufficient public passion to necessitate a more extensive jury examination by the trial court to include inquiries involving the effect of pretrial publicity. The ruling in Mu'Min leaves too much discretion to the …
An Independent And Adequate Procedural Rule Bars A State Prisoner, Who Has Defaulted His Entire Appeal, From Asserting A Federal Claim Unless The Prisoner Demonstrates Cause For, And Actual Prejudice Resulting From, The Procedural Default, Or In The Alternative, Proves A Fundamental Miscarriage Of Justice Will Result If The Federal Habeas Court Fails To Hear The Claim., Jared R. V. Woodfill
St. Mary's Law Journal
The current jurisprudential regime accepts a blanket procedural default policy which denies the federal habeas court its proper constitutional role. An ideological coup d’etat is needed which reappraises the modern procedural default doctrine and supplants it with a rule in the spirit of Fay v. Noia. Such a revolution would emphasize the federal habeas court’s role as a defender of constitutional rights. In an era of multifarious litigation and sociological jurisprudence, a habeas prisoner should not lose his life because a negligent public defender failed to preserve the right in procedural formaldehyde. On April 23, 1982, a court convicted Roger …
Child Support For Adult Disabled Children: New Texas Legislation., Dan R. Price
Child Support For Adult Disabled Children: New Texas Legislation., Dan R. Price
St. Mary's Law Journal
In 1989, the Texas legislature modified the Texas Family Code by relaxing the criteria necessary to allow awards of support to adult disabled children. Texas has historically recognized, through both state and case law, that parents have both a moral and legal obligation to support minor unemancipated children, but only until the age of majority. An exception to the limitation of parental support only until the age of majority is the “disability exception.” Many jurisdictions recognize that when a minor child suffers from a disability and is incapable or unable to take care of themselves, parental support may extend past …
Tdhs V. E.B., The Coup De Grace For Special Issues., John J. Sampson
Tdhs V. E.B., The Coup De Grace For Special Issues., John J. Sampson
St. Mary's Law Journal
Although the bench and bar have been recalcitrant in recognition, the Texas Supreme Court has declared the special interest experiment a failure. For nearly eighty years Texas has engaged in an experiment requiring juries answer specific, factually detailed inquiries in various circumstances. The theoretical justifications of special issue inquiries were to ease appeals processes and add clarity to jury decisions. Although the goals were meritorious, the actual result was jury confusion, inefficiency, complexity, and too many retrials. The Texas Supreme Court’s ruling in TDHS v. EB signals the end of special issues and mandates the use of broad form submissions. …
Texas Fetal Rights: Is There A Future For The Rights Of Future Texans., S. Jeffrey Gately
Texas Fetal Rights: Is There A Future For The Rights Of Future Texans., S. Jeffrey Gately
St. Mary's Law Journal
In Texas, contrary interpretations, whether a fetus is a person or non-person, create unpredictable and irreconcilable outcomes. The author contrasts the differences found in Texas law regarding the rights of unborn children in the areas of property, family, criminal, and tort law. At conception, a fetus enjoys property rights. However, under the auspices of family law, a mother may not collect child support until birth but may seek contribution for prenatal care prior to birth. Criminal protection of a fetus is unavailable in Texas unless the fetus is born alive. If criminal activity results in still birth or fetal destruction, …
Entering The Thicket - Mandamus Review Of Texas District Court Witness Disclosure Orders., David W. Holman, Byron C. Keeling
Entering The Thicket - Mandamus Review Of Texas District Court Witness Disclosure Orders., David W. Holman, Byron C. Keeling
St. Mary's Law Journal
In the absence of statutory authorization of interlocutory appeal, the writ of mandamus usually is the sole convenient remedy for an egregious trial court decision prior to judgment. The increasing number of mandamus petitions which annually invade the Texas appellate courts reflects the importance of the writ of mandamus. While once described as the “extraordinary” remedy, it is not uncommon for proceedings in a trial court to cease while a party seeks mandamus review of a controversial discovery ruling. One type of discovery rule which has not escaped mandamus review is the admission or exclusion of the testimony of witnesses …
The Carryforward Of Net Operating Losses And Other Tax Attributes After Bankruptcy Reorganizations., Martin M. Van Brauman
The Carryforward Of Net Operating Losses And Other Tax Attributes After Bankruptcy Reorganizations., Martin M. Van Brauman
St. Mary's Law Journal
When stock is exchanged for debt in a bankruptcy reorganization, potentially abusive tax situations can result if the reorganization occurs strictly for the carryforward of tax attributes to the acquiring corporation. The basic question is to what extent the discharge of indebtedness provisions, the application of the various statutory and judicial requirements, and the consolidated return regulations prohibit or restrict the carryforward of the tax history of the debtor corporation. Bankruptcy reorganization for a corporation under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code can take the form of either a recapitalization or a reorganization. Because a “G” reorganization involves a discharge …
Nude Dancing Conveying A Message Or Eroticism And Sexuality Is Protected By The First Amendment But Can Be Limited Under State Police Powers Provided The Government Establishes A Substantial, Content-Neutral Purpose., Fred S. Wilson
St. Mary's Law Journal
In Barnes v. Glen Theatre, Inc., the Supreme Court held the First Amendment protects nude dancing as conveying an expressive message, but state police powers may limit protection if the government establishes a substantial, content-neutral purpose. It is a principal of constitutional law where an actor intends to convey a message by expressive conduct, the First Amendment protection extends to that expression. Traditionally, time, place, and manner regulations restricting expressive conduct based on either the subject-matter of the message or the viewpoint of the actor receive content-based classification. However, content-based regulation of expressive conduct is constitutional only when narrowly drawn …