Law Commons^™

The Public Trust Doctrine In The 21st Century, Nicholas A. Robinson

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

In this Symposium's initial lecture, I will (a) provide a glimpse into life in Medieval England to explain the context from which Magna Carta arose, (b) describe the evolution of environmental rights from Magna Carta to the Forest Carter, (c) explore in a case study how “liberties of the forest” functioned for 800 years in England's Royal Forest of Dean, ultimately sustaining the ecological systems of Dean, (d) discuss the “liberties of the forest” in light of Elinor Ostom's common pool analyses, and (e) offer some views on the question just posed. I shall start by describing the English environment …

The Most Fundamental Right, Nicholas A. Robinson

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The Magna Carta and successors recognize a right to the environment as central to human existence. Along with associated rule of law and due process, 193 national charters recognize such a right — but not the U.S. Constitution. This right does lie latent in America’s state constitutions, however, and can also be read into the federal document as well. Meanwhile, recognition of environmental rights is expanding globally.

The Birth Of A Nation: A Study Of Slavery In Seventeenth-Century Virginia, Randolph M. Mclaughlin

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Race based slavery in North America had its origins in seventeenth-century Virginia. Initially, the position of the African worker was similar to that of the indentured servants from England. During the early to mid-seventeenth century, both African and English indentured servants served for a period of years and received the protections to which a servant was entitled. However, during the 1640s there appeared examples of Africans also being held as slaves. Thus, during the seventeenth century there existed a dual system of servitude or bondage for the African worker. One basis for this duality was the common law practice that …

Address At The Lincoln Charter Of The Forest Conference, Bishop Grosseteste University: The Charter Of The Forest: Evolving Human Rights In Nature, Nicholas A. Robinson

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This conference is a singular event, long over due. It has been 258 years since William Blackstone celebrated “these two sacred charters,”1 Carta de Foresta and Magna Carta, with his celebrated publication of their authentic texts. In 2015, the Great Charter of Liberties enjoyed scholarly, political and popular focus. The companion Forest Charter was and is too much neglected.2 I salute the American Bar Association, and Dan Magraw, for the ABA’s educational focus of the Forest Charter, as well as Magna Carta. Today we restore some balance with this conference’s searching and insightful examination of the Forest Charter’s significance.

The Passage Of The Fair Housing Act Of 1968: Stories To Be Told, Shelby D. Green

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The enactment of the Fair Housing Act of 1968 ("FHA") is a story filled with intrigue - coercion, duplicity, and back-room deals. In The Secret History of the Fair Housing Act, Professor Jonathan Zasloff provides a riveting account of the maneuvers by the various protagonists in that story. Review of Jonathan Zasloff’s The Secret History of the Fair Housing Act, 53 Hary. J. on Legis. 247 (2016), http://property.jotwell.com/the-passage-of-the-fair-housing-act-of-1968-stories-to-be-told/.

The Charter Of The Forest: Evolving Human Rights In Nature, Nicholas A. Robinson

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Carta de Foresta, the Charter of the Forest of 1217, is among the first statutes in environmental law of any nation. Crafted to reform patently unjust governance of natural resources in 13th century England, the Charter of the Forest became a framework through which to reconcile competing environmental claims, then and into the future. The Charter confirmed the rights of “free men.” Kings resisted conceding these rights. When confronted with violation of the Charter, barons and royal councils obliged kings repeatedly to reissue the Forest Charter and pledge anew to obey its terms.

Happy Anniversary To The Cplr: A Joint Achievement Of The Practicing Bar And The Academy, Jay C. Carlisle

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This September, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Civil Practice Law and Rules of New York State. The CPLR was the handiwork of the Advisory Committee on Practice and Procedure, appointed in 1955 by the New York State Temporary Commission on the Courts. Under the leadership of the Committee's reporter, then Columbia Law School Professor Jack B. Weinstein, the Committee members, which included former New York State Bar Association presidents Jackson Dykman and S. Hazard Gillespie, spent five years overhauling, revising and reforming the Civil Practice Act of 1920. This remarkable joint venture between the practicing bar and the …

Lincoln At Pace Law School, Marie Stefanini Newman, Taryn L. Rucinski

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The authors recount the process of bringing the traveling exhibition Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War, to Pace Law Library. They discuss the application process, assembling (and dismantling) the exhibit, marketing efforts, and events and auxiliary exhibits centered around the Lincoln exhibit.

The Past, Present, And Future Of Critical Tax Theory: A Conversation, Bridget J. Crawford

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The publication of Taxing America in 1997 is a key milestone in the development of critical tax theory as an intellectual discipline. By identifying and bringing together lawyers and scholars with an interest in the political and discriminatory aspects of tax law, Professor Karen B. Brown and Professor Mary Louise Fellows created one of the first—if not the first—working group of critical tax theorists. The significance of Taxing America is underappreciated both by self-identified critical tax scholars and by others. A published history of the “Critical Tax Conference” notes its antecedents in conferences held in 1995 and 1997, but makes …

The Third Wave's Break From Feminism, Bridget J. Crawford

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Janet Halley proves that third-wave feminism is wrong - wrongly described, that is. Young feminists in the United States tout a "third wave" of feminism that is hip, ironic and playful - the supposed opposite of the dour and strident "second wave" of 1970's feminism. Goodbye frumpy sandals; hello sexy fishnets, according to third-wave feminism. Initially young women themselves (and now writers and scholars) embraced a pervasive wave metaphor to convey the belief that differences within feminism are generational. Youth crashes against (and ultimately overtakes) its elders. But rifts within feminism cannot be so neatly explained. The story is more …

The Political Use Of Private Benevolence: The Statute Of Charitable Uses, James J. Fishman

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This article examines the circumstances that led to the passage of the Statute of Charitable Uses of 1601, whose preamble unintentionally created a definition charity that resonates in the law today. The Statute was part of a legislative package of poor laws passed by Parliament to deal with an economic and political crisis that threatened the Tudor regime. The Statute’s primary purpose was to provide a mechanism to make trustees accountable for the appropriate administration of charitable assets, which in turn would encourage increased private charity for the relief of poverty, lessoning the tax burden of poor relief. Certain charitable …

The Enduring Legacy Of Wood V. Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon, James J. Fishman

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

To mark the ninetieth anniversary of the decision, Pace University School of Law sponsored a Symposium, The Enduring Legacy of Wood v. Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon, to reconsider the case and to appreciate the accomplishments of Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon, who as Lucile, became one of the twentieth century's most innovative fashion designers. The Symposium brought together leading contracts scholars from as far away as Australia and England as well as experts on Lucile from the worlds of fashion, museums and fashion scholarship.

The Symposium examined legal issues raised by the decision through panels that focused upon: implication, interpretation and default terms; …

Regulating The Poor And Encouraging Charity In Times Of Crisis: The Poor Laws And The Statute Of Charitable Uses, James J. Fishman

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

National crises such as September 11th and Hurricane Katrina resulted in an unprecedented outpouring of charitable generosity by Americans, which was encouraged by the government through tax incentives. This paper examines an earlier period of crisis, Tudor England (1485-1603), where the state encouraged philanthropy as a tool of social and political policy. Certain charitable activities were favored and others disadvantaged to spur private sector resources to resolve public problems.

The article discusses the evolution of the laws regulating the poor, which culminated in the Poor Law Legislation of 1601, a process that developed attitudes toward the poor and concepts of …

Taking Victims Seriously: A Dworkinian Theory Of Punishment, Luis E. Chiesa

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The History Of The Pace Law Library, Margaret R. Moreland

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The Pace University School of Law Library is a gateway to information. As an essential component of legal education, the Library collects and organizes information to support the curriculum and programs of the Pace University School of Law, makes effective use of all available resources to promote student and faculty scholarship, and teaches Pace University School of Law students, faculty, and staff how to retrieve, evaluate, and manage information in an efficient, professional, and ethical manner.

Charity Scandals As A Catalyst Of Legal Change And Literary Imagination In Nineteenth Century England, James J. Fishman

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Nineteenth century England, often called the age of reform, was a period of enormous political, social, and economic change. In the first two decades came an increase in the rate of transformation of the economy, the polity and society and a greater stir and movement in all spheres of public activity caused by more “rational and purposeful” control based upon measuring, counting and observing. Political, economic and governmental institutions developed modern structures and approaches. Charitable regulation reflected these trends. As part of a broader movement of inquiry, supervision and statutory reform, and in an effort to remedy the social evils …

Joseph Baxendale, James J. Fishman

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The defendant in the great case of Hadley v. Baxendale is Joseph Baxendale, managing partner of Pickford and Co., the common carrier that delayed the delivery of the Hadley's shaft. Baxendale was named the defendant, because Pickfords was a partnership and did not incorporate until 1901. Joseph Baxendale was born in 1785, the son of a Lancastershire surgeon. In 1806, he moved to London, where he worked for a wholesale linen draper. Later, he became a partner in that firm, and developed the managerial and accounting skills that would serve him so well at Pickfords.

The South Won't Rise Again But It's Time To Study The Defunct Confederacy's Constitution, Ralph Michael Stein

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The premise of this essay is not to espouse that the Southern ideological and constitutional theorists were correct. I propose, however, that an understanding of the historical basis of constitutional law, and a recognition of evolving doctrinal issues of Federalism, will enhance law school curriculum. Presentation of these topics dictates the introduction of the Confederate Constitution into the curriculum of required courses and electives. This effort, I propose, would be a prudent step, to be amply repaid in terms of higher understanding and scholarly benefit.

Ladies In Red: Learning From America's First Female Bankrupts, Marie Stefanini Newman

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Several years ago, the Honorable Joyce Bihary, a bankruptcy judge in Atlanta, Georgia, asked me3 why our country's first bankruptcy law specifically referred to debtors using “he” or “she” rather than a gender-neutral noun (such as “bankrupts”) or the male possessive pronoun “he.” Implicitly, she was also asking whether there were any women debtors under our early bankruptcy laws. Although I had read the Bankruptcy Act of 1800 more than once, I did not recollect its use of these gender-inclusive pronouns. Nor did I know why the Act employed them. Despite having given considerable thought to contemporary women in debt, …

Eras Of The First Amendment, David S. Yassky

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Part I will begin the story with the Founders' understanding of the structural role of the First Amendment. In this understanding, the First Amendment served as a bulwark of state independence. Along with the rest of the Bill of Rights, the First Amendment had as its primary purpose maintenance of the federal system--or, more precisely, protection of the states against federal government overreaching. The Founders' plan left the individual states entirely free to regulate speech, while strictly prohibiting the federal government from displacing the states' various speech regimes.

When the Civil War dramatically reshaped the federal-state relationship, the structural purpose …

A Two-Tiered Theory Of Consolidation And Separation Of Powers, David S. Yassky

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This Note explores the jurisprudential implications of the New Deal watershed and elaborates a post-New Deal theory of allocation of governmental power. Part I begins with a discussion of the Federalist theory of separation of powers. For the Federalists, two conditions ensured an effective separation. First, governmental branches must be institutionally independent; each must be free from control by the others. Second, the branches must be functionally specialized; each must wield a distinct component of governmental power, so that the assent of all three is required for government action.

Until the New Deal, the Supreme Court incorporated this theory into …

The Family Court: An Historical Survey, Merril Sobie

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The New York Family Court this year celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary. Hailed as an "experimental" tribunal, designed to resolve society's most intractable problems, including family dissolution, delinquency and child neglect, the court has been perceived as a radical development which altered the then existing legal rules governing family affairs. The Family Court Act indeed incorporates several creative provisions. But the court's foundations were built upon solid jurisprudential underpinnings, principles which had evolved over the course of the preceding century. Establishment of the court was neither radical nor experimental; in reality, Family Court represents the latest increment in the development of …

Benjamin N. Cardozo: Sixty Years After His Appointment As New York's Chief Judge, Jay C. Carlisle

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Sixty years after his appointment as Chief Judge of the New York State Court of Appeals, Benjamin N. Cardozo’s place in history as one of the country's most outstanding jurists and preeminent legal philosophers is secure. He is· widely acclaimed for being a successful practitioner, a brilliant legal scholar and a man who is ranked among the preeminent American judges, along with Marshall, Kent, Story and Holmes. He was a giant of his era who, while spending all but six years of his professional life in New York, exerted a powerful national influence upon his own times.

A Sect Apart: A History Of The Legal Troubles Of The Shakers, Ralph Michael Stein

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This article explores the Shaker experience in nineteenth century America, particularly their relationship to legislative bodies and courts and analyzes the reasons underlying the persistent, selective, official persecution of this group.

The Path Of Legal Education From Edward I To Langdell: A History Of Insular Reaction, Ralph Michael Stein

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This article presents an analytic overview of key aspects in the history of legal education in England and the United States from the time of Edward I to the end of the last century. The response of lawyers and legal educators to the perceived need to protect the profession from a variety of ills and plagues is explored. The development of a sense of professionalism by those engaged in the teaching of law, a sense of professionalism that was reactive to public perception about lawyers as well as to academic dismay at the roles played by lawyers, will be explored …