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Selected Works

Selected Works

2015

Comparative law

Articles 1 - 8 of 8

Full-Text Articles in Law

Bankruptcy For The Poor?, Stephanie Ben-Ishai, Saul Schwartz Sep 2015

Bankruptcy For The Poor?, Stephanie Ben-Ishai, Saul Schwartz

Stephanie Ben-Ishai

The conventional wisdom is that the poor are not heavy users of the insolvency system, because creditors are unwilling to take risks on the poor and because many of the poor are judgment-proof. However, credit is now widely available across the spectrum of income groups. In addition, poverty is often a temporary state for many Canadians; therefore, being judgment-proof is likewise temporary. Some of those who are poor at any point in time are in fact in need of bankruptcy protection. They have debts that they are unable to pay and little likelihood of being able to repay in the …

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All Things In Proportion - American Rights Review And The Problem Of Balancing, Jud Mathews, Alec Stone Sweet Aug 2015

All Things In Proportion - American Rights Review And The Problem Of Balancing, Jud Mathews, Alec Stone Sweet

Jud Mathews

This paper describes and evaluates the evolution of rights doctrines in the United States, focusing on the problem of balancing as a mode of rights adjudication. In the current Supreme Court, deep conflict over whether, when, and how courts balance is omnipresent. Elsewhere, we find that the world’s most powerful constitutional courts have embraced a stable, analytical procedure for balancing, known as proportionality. Today, proportionality analysis (PA) constitutes the defining doctrinal core of a transnational, rights-based constitutionalism. This Article critically examines alleged American exceptionalism, from the standpoint of comparative constitutional law and practice. Part II provides an overview of how …

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Foreign Precedent In State Const Interpretation, Jonathan L. Marshfield Apr 2015

Foreign Precedent In State Const Interpretation, Jonathan L. Marshfield

Jonathan Marshfield

Americans are rightly proud that they created the first successful written constitutions. But constitutionalism is now an international phenomenon. Since the United States Constitution was ratified, there have been an estimated 879 constitutional systems adopted around the world. Some failed quickly, but others have endured and helped to stabilize volatile societies. Constitutionalism now has a rich international history, and the United States is one of many countries with a proud and meaningful constitutional tradition. It is not surprising, therefore, that American courts are sometimes caught “peeking abroad” to see what they might glean from other constitutional systems

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Ending Female Genital Mutilation And Child Marriage In Tanzania, Lisa Avalos, Naima Farrell, Rebecca Stellato, Marc Werner Mar 2015

Ending Female Genital Mutilation And Child Marriage In Tanzania, Lisa Avalos, Naima Farrell, Rebecca Stellato, Marc Werner

Lisa Avalos

This article analyzes the intertwined practices of female genital mutilation, child marriage, domestic violence, and bride price in Tanzania. It argues that these different types of violence reinforce one another. Interventions must therefore address the problems together, as multiple manifestations of gender-based violence. The article makes recommendations for reform.

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Removing The Distraction Of Delay, Jill E. Family Mar 2015

Removing The Distraction Of Delay, Jill E. Family

Jill E. Family

Immigration adjudication is in an awkward position. There is an intricate system to adjudicate immigration removal (deportation) cases, but that system is hindered by restrictions, and the constant threat of further restrictions, that reflect distaste for providing process to foreign nationals facing removal. There is a push and pull phenomenon, with immigration adjudication stretched uncomfortably in between two forces. On the one side, there is a push to apply common notions of due process to immigration removal cases, to push that the same concepts of procedural justice should apply in immigration cases as they would in any other context. On …

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Insuring Floods: The Most Common And Devastating Natural Catastrophies In America, Christopher French Feb 2015

Insuring Floods: The Most Common And Devastating Natural Catastrophies In America, Christopher French

Christopher C. French

Flooding is the most common natural catastrophe Americans face, accounting for 90% of all damage caused by natural catastrophes. Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, for example, collectively caused over $160 billion in damage, but only approximately 10% of the Hurricane Katrina victims and 50% of the Hurricane Sandy victims had insurance to cover their flood losses. Consequently, both their homes and lives were left in ruins in the wake of the storms. Nationwide, only approximately 7% of homeowners have insurance that covers flood losses even though the risk of flooding is only increasing as coastal areas continue to be developed and …

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Law In Regression? Impacts Of Quantitative Research On Law And Regulation, David C. Donald Dec 2014

Law In Regression? Impacts Of Quantitative Research On Law And Regulation, David C. Donald

David C. Donald

Quantitative research (QR) has undeniably improved the quality of law- and rulemaking, but it can also present risks for these activities. On the one hand, replacing anecdotal assertions regarding behavior or the effects of rules in an area to be regulated with objective, statistical evidence has advanced the quality of regulatory discourse. On the other hand, because the construction of such evidence often depends on bringing the complex realities of both human behavior and rules designed to govern it into simple, quantified variables, QR findings can at times camouflage complexity, masking real problems. Deceptively objective findings can in this way …

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Decentralizing The Amendment Power, Jonathan L. Marshfield Dec 2014

Decentralizing The Amendment Power, Jonathan L. Marshfield

Jonathan Marshfield

The United States Constitution could soon be re-written by the states. Article V of the Constitution authorizes two-thirds of the state legislatures to bypass Congress and demand a convention to initiate federal constitutional amendments addressing any number of issues. States have adopted resolutions calling for a convention to consider amendments that would, among other things, require a balanced federal budget, eliminate life tenure for Supreme Court Justices, constitutionalize universal healthcare, and even invalidate bulwark rulings such as Roe v. Wade. In April 2014, Michigan arguably became the thirty-fourth state to adopt such a resolution, and convention supporters believe that a …

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