Law Commons^™

Unplanned Obsolescence: Interpreting The Automatic Telephone Dialing System After The Smartphone Epoch, Walter Allison

Michigan Law Review

Technology regulations succeed or fail based upon their ability to regulate an idea. Constant innovation forces legislators to draft statutes aimed at prohibiting the idea of a device, rather than a specific device itself, because new devices with new capacities emerge every day. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) is a federal statute that imposes liability based on the idea of an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS). But the statute’s definition of the device is ambiguous. The FCC struggles to coherently apply the definition to new technologies, and courts interpret the definition inconsistently. Federal circuit courts have split over these …

Imaginary Bottles, Jessica Litman

Articles

This essay, written for a symposium commemorating John Perry Barlow, who died on February 7, 2018, revisits Barlow's 1994 essay for WIRED magazine, "The Economy of Ideas: A Framework for patents and copyrights in the Digital Age (everything you know about intellectual property is wrong)." Barlow observed that networked digital technology posed massive and fundamental challenges for the markets for what Barlow termed “the work we do with our minds” and for the intellectual property laws designed to shape those markets. He predicted that those challenges would melt extant intellectual property systems into a smoking heap within a decade, and …

What Is "New"?: Defining "New Judgement" After Magwood, Patrick Cothern

Michigan Law Review

Habeas corpus petitioners must navigate the procedural barriers of the Anti-terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (“AEDPA”) before courts consider their petitions on the merits. Among the barriers imposed is a general prohibition on “second or successive” habeas petitions, meaning a petitioner who previously filed a habeas petition may not bring another, with limited exceptions. One such exception, recognized by the Supreme Court in Magwood v. Patterson, allows for a second habeas petition after the petitioner obtains a “new judgment.” Magwood and AEDPA, however, left the term “new judgment” undefined. This Note summarizes the history of habeas corpus in the …

A New Approach To Executory Contracts, John A.E. Pottow

Articles

This Article will proceed as follows. First, it will offer an abbreviated explanation of the treatment of executory contracts under the Code, chronicling the development of the concept of executoriness and the subsequent challenges of its effects. Second, it will explain a new approach that embraces and makes its peace with executoriness by focusing on the proper treatment of non-executory contracts. Third, it will address some of the anticipated counterarguments to the new approach. Finally, it will offer a quick road test to demonstrate how the new approach would have more easily resolved a major litigated precedent in this field.

Superfund Chaos Theory: What Happens When The Lower Federal Courts Don't Follow The Supreme Court, Steven Ferrey

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

There is legal chaos in the national Superfund. The Supreme Court reversed decisions of eleven federal circuit courts in United States v. Atlantic Research Corp. There is no instance in modern Supreme Court history where the Court reversed every federal circuit court in the country, as it did in Atlantic Research. The Supreme Court’s reversal was through a unanimous decision. This was extraordinary: It not only reversed the entire legal interpretation of one of America’s most critical statutes, but also re-allocated billions of dollars among private parties.

The Supreme Court, when it rendered its decision, seemed to be rectifying a …

Toward Greater Guidance: Reforming The Definitions Of The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Matthew W. Muma

Michigan Law Review

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 is the cornerstone of the United States’ efforts to combat the involvement of U.S. companies and individuals in corruption abroad. Enforced by both the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and the Department of Justice (“DOJ”), the Act targets companies and individuals that pay bribes to “foreign officials,” a nebulous category of persons that includes everyone from foreign cabinet members to janitors at companies only partially owned by a foreign state. After only sporadic enforcement in the early years of the Act’s existence, the SEC and DOJ now bring many cases annually. This increased …

Development And Dissemination Of Clean Cookstoves: A Model Law For Developed Countries, Scott Miller

Drafting Model Laws on Indoor Pollution for Developing and Developed Nations (July 12-13)

21 pages.

"This model law was developed at a legislative drafting workshop on July 12-13, 2012, entitled Drafting Model Laws on Indoor Pollution for Developing and Developed Nations, which was sponsored by the Center for Energy & Environmental Security and the Colorado Natural Resources, Energy & Environmental Law Review at the University of Colorado Law School in Boulder, Colorado."-- Excerpted from 24 Colo. Nat. Resources, Energy & Envtl. L. Rev. 355 (2013).

"Scott Miller ed."

Development And Dissemination Of Clean Cookstoves: A Model Law For Developing Countries, Lakshman Guruswamy Ed.

Drafting Model Laws on Indoor Pollution for Developing and Developed Nations (July 12-13)

24 pages.

"This model law was developed at a legislative drafting workshop on July 12-13, 2012, entitled Drafting Model Laws on Indoor Pollution for Developing and Developed Nations, which was sponsored by the Center for Energy & Environmental Security and the Colorado Natural Resources, Energy & Environmental Law Review at the University of Colorado Law School in Boulder, Colorado." Excerpted from 24 Colo. Nat. Resources, Energy & Envtl. L. Rev. 331 (2013).

The Probate Definition Of Family: A Proposal For Guided Discretion In Intestacy, Susan N. Gary

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Intestacy statutes may not match the wishes of many people who die intestate. Changes to the Uniform Probate Code (UPC) include or exclude potential takers, as the drafters attempt to bring the UPC provisions closer to the intent of more intestate decedents. As the UPC tries to fine-tune the intestacy statutes, however, family circumstances continue to get more and more complicated. Families headed by unmarried couples, blended families with children from multiple marriages, and families in which adults raise children who are not legally theirs, have become commonplace. For some decedents, non-family friends and caregivers may be more important than …

Collateral Review Of Career Offender Sentences: The Case For Coram Nobis, Douglas J. Bench Jr.

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Occasionally, criminals correctly interpret the law while courts err. Litigation pursuant to the federal Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA) includes numerous examples. The ACCA imposes harsher sentences upon felons in possession of firearms with prior "violent felony" convictions. Over time, courts defined "violent" so contrary to its common meaning that it eventually came to encompass driving under the influence, unwanted touching, and the failure to report to correctional facilities. However, in a series of recent decisions, the Supreme Court has attempted to clarify the meaning of violent in the context of the ACCA and, in the process, excluded such offenses. …

Bankruptcy Law, Richard C. Maxwell, B. Webb King

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Against Dictionaries: Using Analogical Reasoning To Achieve A More Restrained Textualism, Jason Weinstein

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Note argues that new textualists should abandon dictionaries as a source for legal interpretation. Textualists believe in restricting judges to the intent discernible from the words of a statute and contend that legislative history is unacceptable as a source of this intention. Both of these sentiments lead textualists to dictionaries as the intuitively correct solution for ambiguities in a text. The author argues, however, that dictionaries by their very nature cannot help discern between reasonable definitions at the margins of meaning. The use of dictionaries in these situations allows for a sham formalism, unrestrictive in result and unrevealing of …

Sex Determination For Federal Purposes: Is Transsexual Immigration Via Marriage Permissible Under The Defense Of Marriage Act?, John A. Fisher

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

Part I describes the federal immigration benefits available to spouses of most U.S. citizens and presents the historical and contemporary obstacles that prohibit these benefits from being extended to gays and lesbians. It then addresses DOMA's failure to define "opposite sex," and hence DOMA's failure to indicate whether post-operative transsexuals, or their partners, should be given "spousal status" under current U.S. immigration law. Part II examines traditional and modern notions of sex. It traces state legal approaches to transsexual marriage and ultimately disentangles the formalistic rhetoric that obfuscates the reasoning in those cases. In particular, Part II focuses on a …

From Presumed Fathers To Lesbian Mothers: Sex Discrimination And The Legal Construction Of Parenthood, Susan E. Dalton

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

In Part I of this article, Dalton briefly reviews the way legal scholars commonly define sex-based discrimination, particularly as it pertains to issues of reproduction. Part II is a brief historical review of legal constructions of parenthood. In Part III, Dalton examines two legal concepts: retroactive legitimation and presumed fatherhood. Both concepts were introduced in 1872 and each independently encouraged judges to think of fatherhood as consisting of two distinct spheres, the biological and the social. She then traces the legal development of these concepts through a series of presumed father, retroactive legitimation, and putative father cases. In Part IV …

Is Marriage Obsolete?, Lynn D. Wardle

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

Is legal marriage obsolete? Wardle thinks not. In order to understand why not, it is necessary first to grasp the significance of the focus of the discussion on the legal status of marriage. As this Introduction suggests, lack of legal marriage status does not prevent families and communities from treating couples as married nor does the law forbid couples from voluntarily providing each other "marital benefits." Nevertheless, whether marriage is obsolete at the beginning of the twenty-first century is an important question. This article analyzes four dimensions of that question.

Best Mode: A Plea To Repair Or Sacrifice This Broken Requirement Of United States Patent Law, Steven B. Walmsley

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

An inventor's obligation to disclose the best mode of her invention is strong consideration in the U.S. patent bargain, but the courts paradoxically define the scope of that obligation, thus rendering the enforcement of U.S. patents unreasonably unpredictable. If an inventor cannot reasonably foresee the scope of her obligation to disclose invention details, then she is subjected to the costs and risks of either overcompliance or undercompliance with the best mode requirement. The scope of the best mode requirement should either be reliably defined by an en banc ruling of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, or the …

Who Is An Indian? Searching For An Answer To The Question At The Core Of Federal Indian Law, Margo S. Brownell

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The definition of Indian is the measure of eligibility for a variety of benefits and programs provided to Indians under federal law. There is confusion, however, at the core of efforts to define "Indian." This confusion raises many concerns about the role that government plays in defining "Indian." This Note surveys the most common definitions of "Indian" found in federal statutes, BIA regulations, and state laws. The author argues that the racial basis of many of these laws and regulations are unconstitutional and tread on the sovereignty of Indian tribes. She evaluates efforts of the federal government to avoid these …

Moving Toward A Clearer Definition Of Insider Trading: Why Adoption Of The Possession Standard Protects Investors, Lacey S. Calhoun

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

In recent years, insider trading has become a publicized focus of securities law enforcement. The definition of insider trading has emerged slowly through case law, and the term has been clarified by new theories of liability. The use and possession tests are two standards of liability used to judge the treatment of inside information. The use standard offers a defense to insider trading liability while the possession standard premises liability on mere possession of inside information. This Note argues that courts should adopt the possession standard because this standard better protects investors, a primary goal of the Securities Exchange Act …

Defining "Disability": The Approach To Follow, Theodore J. St. Antoine

Articles

The definition of "disability" has once again become a central issue in workers' compensation law. I am partly responsible. A decade ago I served as the Governor's Special Counselor on Workers' Compensation. In my Reportto the Cabinet Council on Jobs and Economic Development, I stated: "If I could write on a clean slate, I would prefer to see the Michigan definition brought even closer into the mainstream of American law by declaring that 'disability' means a 'limitation of an employee's wage earning capacity in work suitable to his or her qualifications and training resulting from a personal injury or work …

Natural Resources Damage Litigation [Appendix], Michael Donovan

Getting a Handle on Hazardous Waste Control (Summer Conference, June 9-10)

80 pages (includes illustrations).

Contains references and historical notes.

Appendix contains 3 attachments:

1) Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, ("CERCLA"), 42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq. (1980)

2) National Contingency Plan, 40 C.F.R. Part 440, 50 Fed. Reg. No. 224, Part III (November 20, 1985)

3) Natural Resource Damage Assessments - Proposed Rule, Department of Interior, 43 C.F.R. Part 11, 50 Fed. Reg. No. 245, Part IV (December 20, 1985)

Agenda: Public Lands Mineral Leasing: Issues And Directions, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Public Lands Mineral Leasing: Issues and Directions (Summer Conference, June 10-11)

University of Colorado School of Law professor Lawrence J. MacDonnell served as the conference organizer and as a member of the faculty.

Federal leasing programs, especially for oil and gas and coal, have been undergoing important changes in recent years. This conference will provide an overview and an update for those involved in public lands mineral development. Significant new issues also will be addressed.

Clean Water Act & Company: Impact On Mining, George W. Pring

Federal Lands, Laws and Policies and the Development of Natural Resources: A Short Course (Summer Conference, July 28-August 1)

8 pages.

Direct Judicial Review And The Doctrine Of Ripeness In Administrative Law, Joseph Vining

Articles

There has been recent interest in rationalizing and codifying the opportunities for judicial review of federal administrative determinations outside an enforcement context or special proceedings designated by statute. Abbott Laboratories v. Gardner culminated the development of a strong judicial presumption in favor of such review, founded in general considerations and justified by the broad language of the Administrative Procedure Act (AP A or Act). Since the petitioners in Abbott had theoretical rights to later review of the agency position in enforcement proceedings, the Court called the procedure "pre-enforcement" review. But similar opportunities for immediate and direct review of agency positions …

Military Law--"In Time Of War" Under The Uniform Code Of Military Justice: An Elusive Standard, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This Note will present such an analysis, investigate the deficiencies of the current language in the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and suggest an alternative to the elusive standard that presently exists.

Administrative Terminology And The Administrative Procedure Act, Bernard Schwartz

Michigan Law Review

The confusion of terminology in our administrative law is a natural result of the manner in which that branch of law has developed. "The use of terms in administrative law exemplifies its most characteristic element-that it did not spring from a single source but has its roots in many places." The administrative process has not evolved according to a fixed plan; "thus far our Administrative Law has largely 'growed' like Topsy." With the haphazard habit characteristic of our political life, individual administrative agencies have been created as and when the need for them arose, without any logical system. The form …

Combination Among Physicians To Fix Prices For Professional Services, Harry B. Hutchins

Articles

The case of Rohlf v. Kasemeer et al., decided by the Supreme Court of Iowa, November 18, 1908, and reported in 118 N. W. Rep., p. 276, although primarily upon the construction of a local statute, involves a question of general interest. The plaintiff therein, who is a physician, together with thirteen others of the same profession, all residing and practicing in the same county, entered into an agreement, combination or understanding, the terms of which are not given, but the object of which was to fix and maintain the fees and charges to be exacted for medical and surgical …