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Full-Text Articles in Law
"A Change Is Gonna Come": The Implications Of The United Nations Convention On The Rights Of Persons With Disabilities For The Domestic Practice Of Constitutional Mental Disability Law, Michael L. Perlin
Northern Illinois University Law Review
As recently as fifteen years ago, disability was not broadly acknowledged as a human rights issue. Although there were prior cases decided in the United States and in Europe that, retrospectively, had been litigated from a human rights perspective, the characterization of "disability rights" (especially the rights of persons with mental disabilities) was not discussed in a global public, political, or legal debate until the early 1990s. Instead, disability was seen only as a medical problem of the individual requiring a treatment or cure. By contrast, viewing disability as a human rights issue requires us to recognize the inherent equality …
The Federalization Of Punitive Damages And The Effect On Illinois Law, Frank A. Perrecone, Lisa R. Fabiano
The Federalization Of Punitive Damages And The Effect On Illinois Law, Frank A. Perrecone, Lisa R. Fabiano
Northern Illinois University Law Review
Punitive damages have traditionally been a matter of state law, left to state courts and legislatures to review and regulate. But in the midst of the tort reform movement of the 1990s, the United States Supreme Court took sides in the policy debate, fashioning a novel substantive due process right limiting punitive damage awards and suppressing the power of juries to punish and deter egregious conduct. This article traces the evolution of the federalization of punitive damages based on questionable authority, criticizes the Supreme Court's intrusion into an area of state law, demonstrates how Supreme Court precedent has been misapplied …
The 1851 Shipowners' Limitation Of Liability Act: Should The Courts Deliver The Final Blow?, Mark A. White
The 1851 Shipowners' Limitation Of Liability Act: Should The Courts Deliver The Final Blow?, Mark A. White
Northern Illinois University Law Review
This comment identifies the 1851 Shipowners' Limitation of Liability Act as an enduring problem within federal maritime law and suggests that the courts may be able to exercise their powers of judicial review to strike it down. The Act was initially adopted at a time when American shipowners were in dire need of protection from potentially ruinous lawsuits. The Act, although hastily drawn, was imperative to the growth of the fledgling American shipping industry. By the end of the nineteenth century, however, numerous forms of liability insurance had been created and America saw the advent of the corporate form. These …
The 2002 Supreme Court Decisions: Did They Leave Enough Of Apprendi To Effectively Protect Criminal Defendants?, Charlotte Leclercq
The 2002 Supreme Court Decisions: Did They Leave Enough Of Apprendi To Effectively Protect Criminal Defendants?, Charlotte Leclercq
Northern Illinois University Law Review
This comment explores the true impact of the 2000 landmark decision, Apprendi v. New Jersey, in which the United States Supreme Court determined that any fact that increases a criminal defendant's sentence beyond the statutory maximum has to be submitted to a jury and proven beyond a reasonable doubt. At the time, the decision appeared to be a triumph for the procedural due process rights of defendants. However the opinion of the majority, as well as those of the concurrence and dissents, left the actual effect of the decision subject to considerable debate among courts and commentators. In 2002 the …
The Right To Representation By Counsel In University Disciplinary Proceedings: A Denial Of Due Process Of Law, Robert B. Groholski
The Right To Representation By Counsel In University Disciplinary Proceedings: A Denial Of Due Process Of Law, Robert B. Groholski
Northern Illinois University Law Review
This comment argues that university students who face suspension or expulsion for disciplinary reasons, as opposed to academic dismissal, are entitled to have retained legal counsel represent them as an element of procedural due process. The article begins with a general discussion of the jurisprudence that has developed concerning the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause. Utilizing both federal and state court decisions, the comment then demonstrates that university students hold protected liberty and property interests in their collegiate educations or degrees such that the procedural protections of the Due Process Clause are triggered when students face disciplinary suspension or expulsion. …
Bmw Of North America V. Gore: A Misplaced Guide For Punitive Damage Awards, Michelle J. Carey
Bmw Of North America V. Gore: A Misplaced Guide For Punitive Damage Awards, Michelle J. Carey
Northern Illinois University Law Review
This casenote examines the Supreme Court's landmark ruling in BMW v. Gore, in which the Court struck down a jury award of punitive damages as being unreasonably large in violation of substantive due process. This Note traces the history of challenges to punitive damage awards through Supreme Court cases, including BMW v. Gore. It then analyzes BMW v. Gore, particularly the Court's misguided attempt at providing a guide for punitive damage awards and the dismal implications from the Court's actions. It concludes that the better approach for the Court to have taken would have been to focus on procedural due …
Entrapment And Jacobson V. United States: "Doesn't The Government Realize That They Can Destroy A Man's Life?", Leslie G. Bleifus
Entrapment And Jacobson V. United States: "Doesn't The Government Realize That They Can Destroy A Man's Life?", Leslie G. Bleifus
Northern Illinois University Law Review
This note examines the United States Supreme Court decision finding that the criminal defendant had been entrapped by the government as a matter of law. The author contends that the Court's disposition of this case was not consistent with precedent and concludes that the decision was an implicit application of the due process defense.
Harmful Error: Arizona V. Fulminante And The Expansion Of The Harmless-Error Rule, Shawn O. Miller
Harmful Error: Arizona V. Fulminante And The Expansion Of The Harmless-Error Rule, Shawn O. Miller
Northern Illinois University Law Review
In Arizona v. Fulminante, the United States Supreme Court held that coerced confessions that are erroneously admitted at trial are now subject to the harmless-error rule. The Court's holding is a radical departure from precedent. Consequently, this note examines this precedent and the Fulminante decision. The author concludes that Fulminante has created inconsistency within the area of law dealing with coerced confessions, increased the possibility of unfair trials, and narrowed defendants' due process rights.
Student Vandalism And Public Schools: The Scope Of The Illinois Educators' Directive To Discipline, Donald Shawler
Student Vandalism And Public Schools: The Scope Of The Illinois Educators' Directive To Discipline, Donald Shawler
Northern Illinois University Law Review
Following a brief review of the costs that student vandalism imposes upon society, and the history of discipline in public education, this Article turns to a discussion of the part due process considerations must play in Illinois school officials' decisions to suspend or expel pupils. Despite both procedural and substantive guarantees for students, the power to decisively act against vandals threatening to impede the educational process remains broad. An appendix to the Article sets forth a proposed regulation to assist educators in dealing with student vandals.
Rethinking Regulatory Takings: A View Towards A Comprehensive Analysis, Steven I. Brody
Rethinking Regulatory Takings: A View Towards A Comprehensive Analysis, Steven I. Brody
Northern Illinois University Law Review
This Comment explores the modern development of the "regulatory takings" doctrine, and the analytical confusion which has resulted from the United States Supreme Court's current fifth amendment taking clause analysis. This Comment concludes that the analytical framework within which all the relevant inquiries can best be incorporated mandates the development of a modified substantive due process police power analysis for regulatory takings cases.
Commentary: The Imprisonment Decision--Why Not Try Something Old?, Joel H. Swift
Commentary: The Imprisonment Decision--Why Not Try Something Old?, Joel H. Swift
Northern Illinois University Law Review
A response to Professor Zimring discussing the procedures used in the sentencing process, focusing on the imprisonment decision. A more extensive use of "due process" type procedures at the sentencing stage is proposed.
Commentary: The Due Process Considerations In The Imposition Of Corporate Liability, Mark Crane
Commentary: The Due Process Considerations In The Imposition Of Corporate Liability, Mark Crane
Northern Illinois University Law Review
An analysis that criticizes Professor Coffee's suggestions for corporate sanctions as being violative of fundamental notions of due process. Mr. Crane also observes that the threat of individual liability may be the most effective method of corporate deterrence.