Law Commons^™

Why The Affordable Care Act's Individual Purchase Mandate Is Both Constitutional And Indispensable To The Public Welfare, Lawrence O. Gostin

O'Neill Institute Papers

Integral to the Affordable Care Act's (ACA’s) conceptual design is the individual purchase mandate, which requires most individuals to pay an annual tax penalty if they do not have health insurance by 2014. Despite the vociferous opposition, the mandate is the most “market-friendly” financing device because it relies on the private sector. Ironically, less market-oriented reforms such as a single-payer system clearly would have been constitutional.

It is common sense for everyone to purchase health insurance and thus gain security against the potentially catastrophic costs of treating a serious illness or injury. However, Congress’ method of ensuring that everyone has …

The Technological Trajectory Of The Automatic Identification Industry: The Application Of The Systems Of Innovation (Si) Framework For The Characterisation And Prediction Of The Auto-Id Industry, Katina Michael

Professor Katina Michael

Traditionally the approach used to analyse technological innovation focused on the application of the techno-economic paradigm with the production function as its foundation. This thesis explores the rise of the evolutionary paradigm as a more suitable conceptual approach to investigating complex innovations like automatic identification (auto-ID) devices. Collecting and analysing data for five auto-ID case studies, (bar codes, magnetic-stripe cards, smart cards, biometrics and RF/ID transponders), it became evident that a process of migration, integration and convergence is happening within the auto-ID technology system (TS). The evolution of auto-ID is characterised by a new cluster of innovations, primarily emerging through …

Integrating Value-Driven Feedback And Recommendation Mechanisms Into Business Intelligence Systems, Byron Keating, Tim Coltman, Michael Katina, Valeria Baker

Professor Katina Michael

Most leading organizations, in all sectors of industry, commerce and government are dependent upon

ERP for their organizational survival. Yet despite the importance of the decision to adopt ERP and its

impact on the entire firm’s performance the IT literature has been in the large part silent on the nature

of the ERP investment decision. This study is the first of its kind to determine the preference structure

of senior managers around the organizational benefits and risks of adopting ERP. We present the

results which provide interesting insights into how managers’ perceive the benefit and risk factors

salient to the …

The Alternative Forms Of Dispute Settlement And The Essential Difference Between These And Arbitration, Michael Diathesopoulos

Michael Diathesopoulos

The paper examines the characteristics of some common alternative forms of dispute settlement and their key differences from arbitration regarding their nature and scope. Its purpose is to explore each mechanism's suitability for specific types of disputes.

Data Note: State Intellectual And Developmental Disability Agencies’ Service Trends, Jean E. Winsor

Data Note Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

In FY2010, an estimated 566,188 individuals received day or employment supports from state intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) agencies. This number grew from 458,650 in FY1999, a 23.4 percent increase. The estimated number of individuals supported in integrated employment services increased from 108,296 in FY1999 to 113,937 in FY2010, a 5.2% increase. State investment in supports continues to emphasize facility-based and non-work services rather than integrated employment services.

Torch (March/April 2012), Brandon Baldwin, Civil Rights Team Project

Torch: The Civil Rights Team Project Newsletter

No abstract provided.

The Social Value Of Mortality Risk Reduction: Vsl Vs. The Social Welfare Function Approach, Matthew D. Adler, James K. Hammitt, Nicholas Treich

All Faculty Scholarship

We examine how different welfarist frameworks evaluate the social value of mortality risk-reduction. These frameworks include classical, distributively unweighted cost-benefit analysis—i.e., the “value per statistical life” (VSL) approach—and three benchmark social welfare functions (SWF): a utilitarian SWF, an ex ante prioritarian SWF, and an ex post prioritarian SWF. We examine the conditions on individual utility and on the SWF under which these frameworks display the following five properties: i) wealth sensitivity, ii) sensitivity to baseline risk, iii) equal value of risk reduction, iv) preference for risk equity, and v) catastrophe aversion. We show that the particular manner in which VSL …

Human Rights, Regulation, And National Security, Katina Michael, Simon Bronitt

Professor Katina Michael

Law disciplines technology, though it does so in a partial and incomplete way as reflected in the old adage that technology outstrips the capacity of law to regulate it. The rise of new technologies poses a significant threat to human rights – the pervasive use of CCTV (and now mobile CCTV), telecommunications interception, and low-cost audio-visual recording and tracking devices (some of these discreetly wearable), extend the power of the state and corporations significantly to intrude into the lives of citizens.

Editorial: "You Talkin' To Me?", Katina Michael

Professor Katina Michael

Advancing knowledge through robust research is an honourable aim- being scientific, finding the right methodology, executing project phases meticulously, and reporting on the outcomes as objectively and accurately as possible. But may I begin my inaugural editorial by saying that an even higher ideal to advancing knowledge is critiquing it as it happens. Reflective practice is not just something to be done by academics in their teaching- reflective practice is what we should all be doing as we go about undertaking our various day-to-day work tasks. For the engineer engaged in research and development, whether in industry or government, reflective …

Disclosure's Effects: Wikileaks And Transparency, Mark Fenster

Mark Fenster

Sousveillance And The Social Implications Of Point Of View Technologies In The Law Enforcement Sector, Katina Michael, M.G. Michael

Associate Professor Katina Michael

Policing today has become a high-tech affair; especially in the provision of incident event tracking and reporting systems increasingly being used to provide evidence in a court of law. These in-car video (ICV) and body worn recording systems are said to increase convictions and eliminate false claims made by defendants, providing documentary support to police officers and their associated actions in an incident. But today, new technologies such as smart phones equipped with cameras and global positioning system chipsets can also be found in the hands of the everyday citizen, used to capture everyday happenings and distributed to social networks …

Something Is Better Than Nothing Enhancing The Protection Of Indian Migrant Workers Through Bilateral Agreements And Memoranda Of Understanding, Piyasiri Wickramasekara

PIYASIRI WICKRAMASEKARA

India’s has had an impressive record recently in negotiating bilateral Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) and Memoranda of Agreement (MOAs) on emigration of Indian workers, and social security agreements for Indian workers with a number of destination countries. The study undertakes a review of MOUs and MOAs on migration of Indian workers entered into by the Government of India with destination countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, Jordan and Malaysia. The findings however, have broader relevance in the context of similar MOUs by other Asian origin countries.

The study fails to find any concrete evidence that the MOUs and …

Regulatory Takings Claims And Coastal Management Of Sea Level Rise: Remembering Governments Are More Than Regulators, Chad J. Mcguire

Chad J McGuire

Oportunidades De Desarrollo Productivo De La Población De Afectación Prioritaria En La Operación Estratégica Fontibón – Aeropuerto Eldorado – Engativá, Iván A. Rojas V

Iván Rojas V

The book analyzes the case of Operation Strategic Fontibón - Eldorado Airport - Engativa (OEFAE) and the implications on the urban economy of the city and potential opportunities for productive development for the population affected by the project in 2010 in Bogotá DC. El libro analiza el caso de la Operación Estrategica Fontibón - Aeropuerto ElDorado - Engativa (OEFAE) y las implicaciones sobre la economía urbana de la ciudad y las posibles oportunidades de desarrollo productivo para la población afectada por el proyecto en el 2010 en la ciudad de Bogotá DC.

Book Review: Security Risk Management: Building An Information Security Risk Management Program From The Ground Up, Katina Michael

Associate Professor Katina Michael

In an age of outsourcing tasks that are not considered to be a core competency of the business, organisations have often relied on external consultants for matters pertaining to security. In actual fact, most companies could have utilized existing skill-sets in-house to produce a security risk management program, if only they knew what steps to take, and how to go about it all. Evan Wheeler in his book on information security risk management does just that- he equips professionals tasked with security, with the thinking required to create a program that is more preoccupied with the complex strategic-level questions than …

Bankruptcy And Politics: A Framework For Bankruptcy Policymaking In The United States Congress And Courts, Kevin Mandell Ball

Wayne State University Dissertations

The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 was enacted amid much controversy and was considered by many observers to mark a major change in the direction of U.S. bankruptcy policy. The dissertation uses the law's passage as a vehicle to develop an explicit model of the integrated role of Congress, issue networks, and the courts in making policy. Following Baumgartner and Jones (1993), Sabatier (1988), and others, the dissertation tracks bankruptcy policymaking and implementation over a seventy-five year period to demonstrate that policy is made in three distinct venues: Congress; a policy community made up of lawyers, …

Brazil’S Upcoming “Mega-Events” Human Rights Legacy, Thomas Pegram

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Preparations for the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games are well underway in Brazil, with local government officials in Rio de Janeiro trumpeting the “major success” of initiatives intended to address notoriously high levels of violent crime.

In an attempt to head off widespread concerns, which preceded South Africa’s hosting of the 2010 World Cup, the apparent success of initiatives such as the Police Pacification Units (PPUs) cracking down on insecurity in Rio’s shantytowns (many, such as Rocinha, close to popular tourist areas and venues for Olympic events) has been loudly hailed by local politicians and duly reported by …

Location Privacy Under Dire Threat As Uberveillance Stalks The Streets, Katina Michael, Roger Clarke

Associate Professor Katina Michael

Location tracking and monitoring applications have proliferated with the arrival of smart phones that are equipped with onboard global positioning system (GPS) chipsets. It is now possible to locate a smart phone user down to 10 metres of accuracy on average. Innovators have been quick to capitalise on this emerging market by introducing novel pedestrian tracking technologies which can denote the geographic path of a mobile user. At the same time there is contention by law enforcement personnel over the need for a warrant process to track an individual in a public space. This paper considers the future of location …

Mixed Immigration Status Households In The Context Of Arizona’S Anti-Immigrant Policies, Anna O. Oleary, Azucena Sanchez

Anna Ochoa OLeary

Although the seeds of legislated restrictions for immigrants can be traced to 1986 with California’s unsuccessful Prop 187, more recent trends epitomized by Arizona’s proposed Senate Bill 1070, signed by that state’s governor in April, 2010, have renewed concerns about the effects that such measures will have on the life and livelihood of communities that include immigrants present in the country without official authorization (“undocumented immigrants”). In this paper we use some of the results of a binational study of reproductive health care strategies to show how emerging anti-immigrant policies neglect how such policies impact mixed immigration status households, a …

Factores Que Determinan La Participación De Las Mujeres Inmigrantes En Actividades Por Cuenta Propia. Una Revisión Bibliográfica, Erika C. Montoya, Blas Valenzuela, Anna O. Oleary

Anna Ochoa OLeary

En este trabajo analizamos perspectivas teóricas que no ayudan a entender la participación de las mujeres inmigrantes en la creación de autoempleo, con el fin de lograr dos objetivos: primero, determinar los factores que llevan a las mujeres inmigrantes indocumentadas a convertirse en trabajadoras por cuenta propia, y Segundo, puntualizar las condiciones específicas de género que coadyuvan a enfocarse en estas actividades.

Reducing The Drug War's Damage To Government Budgets, David B. Kopel, Trevor Burrus

David B Kopel

This Article examines ways that governments can mitigate the economic damage caused by the drug war. Part I details four specific legal reforms enacted in Colorado, which aim to reduce the problems of over-criminalization: Requiring a fiscal note for the creation of new statutory crimes; reducing drug possession from a felony to a misdemeanor; narrowing the scope of 'three strikes' laws, and; adjusting old sentences in light of new laws.

Part II explores the fiscal benefits of ending prohibition, such as reduced law enforcement costs and substantially increased tax revenues.

Part III analyzes the conflict between congressionally-imposed prohibition, and state …

How The British Gun Control Program Precipitated The American Revolution, David B. Kopel

David B Kopel

Abstract: This Article chronologically reviews the British gun control which precipitated the American Revolution: the 1774 import ban on firearms and gun powder; the 1774-75 confiscations of firearms and gun powder, from individuals and from local governments; and the use of violence to effectuate the confiscations. It was these events which changed a situation of rising political tension into a shooting war. Each of these British abuses provides insights into the scope of the modern Second Amendment.

From the events of 1774-75, we can discern that import restrictions or bans on firearms or ammunition are constitutionally suspect — at least …

Is An International Treaty Needed To Fight Corruption And The Narco-Insurgency In Mexico?, Stuart S. Yeh

Stuart S Yeh

Mexican government corruption prevents effective law enforcement against drug traffickers and the violence associated with drug trafficking. This article reviews the nature and scope of government corruption, including a first-hand account by a Mexican state police commander, then suggests how and why an international treaty establishing United Nation (UN) inspectors who are empowered to investigate corruption at all levels of government could be effective in deterring corruption and restoring the rule of law in the U.S.–Mexico border region. The article suggests that the Rome Statute provides a model for establishing this type of treaty and a precedent for all of …

Torch (January/February 2012), Brandon Baldwin, Civil Rights Team Project

Torch: The Civil Rights Team Project Newsletter

No abstract provided.

An Analysis Of Regularizations Of Undocumented Residents In Spain And The Underground Economy: Insight For United States Policy Makers, Jon R. Davis

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

There were an estimated 11 million undocumented residents in the United States in 2010. The issue of undocumented migration and how it should be addressed is a contentious topic in the United States. However, the discussions about how to address illegal migration into the United States rarely include any comparisons to other measures that have been taken in other countries. There are many countries, such as Spain, that have large undocumented resident populations.

This analysis looks at policies that have been enacted in Spain since 1985 to enable undocumented residents to receive legal resident status, referred to as regularizations and …

Does The Privatization Of Publicly Owned Infrastructure Implicate The Public Trust Doctrine? Illinois Central And The Chicago Parking Meter Concession Agreement, Ivan Kaplan

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

During the nineteenth century, legislatures proved “excessively generous” in granting railroad corporations property rights in publicly owned, commercially vital municipal streets and harbors. Jacksonian jurists, suspicious of corporate influence, invoked the public trust doctrine to rescind grants of privilege inconsistent with the public interest. In Illinois Central Railroad Co. v. Illinois, the “lodestar” of the modern doctrine, the Supreme Court refused to recognize the Illinois legislature’s authority to convey the submerged lands of the Chicago Harbor to a railroad corporation, a conveyance that empowered a private enterprise to “practically control . . . for its own profit” a publicly …

Elder Economic Security Initiative™: The Elder Economic Security Standard™ Index For South Dakota, Gerontology Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston, Wider Opportunities For Women

Gerontology Institute Publications

This report addresses income adequacy for South Dakota’s older adults using the national WOW-GI National Elder Economic Security Standard Index (Elder Index) methodology. The Elder Index benchmarks basic costs of living for elder households and illustrates how costs of living vary geographically and are based on the characteristics of elder households, including household size, home ownership or renter status and health status. The costs are based on market costs for basic needs of elder households and do not assume any public or private supports.

Elder Economic Security Initiative™: The Elder Economic Security Standard™ Index For North Carolina, Gerontology Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston, Wider Opportunities For Women

Gerontology Institute Publications

This report addresses income adequacy for North Carolina’s older adults using the national WOW-GI National Elder Economic Security Standard Index (Elder Index) methodology. The Elder Index benchmarks basic costs of living for elder households and illustrates how costs of living vary geographically and are based on the characteristics of elder households, including household size, home ownership or renter status and health status. The costs are based on market costs for basic needs of elder households and do not assume any public or private supports.

Open Textbooks And Provincial Government Policy: A Look At The Issues, Lisa Di Valentino

FIMS Publications

In 2012, the British Columbia government announced a plan to fund a program that will result in the creation of open access textbooks for 40 lower-year university courses — the first such program in any of the provinces. This paper will argue that Ontario should follow British Columbia’s lead and invest in the development of a project to create and promote the use of open textbooks. The introduction will discuss the concept of open textbooks and the various initiatives and legislation that have been introduced in the United States, and British Columbia’s plan will be described in more detail. The …

The Massachusetts Elder Economic Security Index (2011), Gerontology Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Gerontology Institute Publications

The Elder Economic Security Standard^TM Index measures the income that Massachusetts’ seniors need to maintain independence and meet their basic living expenses in the community. The Elder Index uses an income measure that reflects the actual expenses for basic needs of older adults, and includes cost estimates for housing, food, medical care, transportation, and household essentials. Elder Index values are calculated for each state, on a county-by-county basis, providing policy makers and individuals a benchmark for determining what income or governmental supports are needed in their communities.