Law Commons^™

The Constitutional Meaning Of Financial Terms, Tomer S. Stein, Shelby Ponton

Scholarly Works

The Constitution has sixty-three financial terms. These financial terms include, for instance, “compensation,” “expenditures,” “debt,” “coin,” “revenue,” “securities,” and “bankruptcies”—all of which determine the elementary building blocks of our governmental makeup. When the Supreme Court interprets the meaning of these financial terms, it does so in isolation and without a consistent framework. This Article proposes a unified framework for the interpretation of financial terms in the Constitution, comprising of two fundamental canons of construction.

First, this Article proposes that all financial terms in the Constitution should be interpreted with fiscal and monetary neutrality—interpreting financial terms in a way that does …

Judicial Review In Public And Private Governance, Tomer S. Stein

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In Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, the Supreme Court limited judicial deference to universities. In West Virginia v. EPA, the Court reduced deference to administrative agencies. In Coster v. UIP Cos., Inc., the Delaware Supreme Court narrowed deference to boards of directors, proclaimed a new standard of judicial review, and then seemingly retracted it. Common to these constitutional, administrative, and corporate law cases is unpredictability, uncertainty, and incoherence in the use and application of substantive standards of review. The resulting disarray is explicitly acknowledged by the very judges that formulate these standards of …

The Futures Of Law, Lawyers, And Law Schools: A Dialogue, Benjamin H. Barton, Sameer M. Ashar, Michael J. Madison, Rachel F. Moran

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On April 19 and 20, 2023, Professors Bernard Hibbitts and Richard Weisberg convened a conference at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law titled “Disarmed, Distracted, Disconnected, and Distressed: Modern Legal Education and the Unmaking of American Lawyers.” Four speakers concluded the event with a spirited conversation about themes expressed during the proceedings. Distilling a lively two days, they asked: what are the most critical challenges now facing US legal education and, by extension, lawyers and the communities they serve? Their agreements and disagreements were striking, so much so that Professors Hibbitts and Weisberg invited those four to extend their …

Review Of Teri Mcmurtry-Chubb, Race Unequals: Overseer Contracts, White Masculinities, And The Formation Of Managerial Identity In The Plantation Economy (Lexington Books, 2021), Lucille A. Jewel

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In academic studies of the southern plantation, the overseer is often portrayed in simple terms as a lower-class white male who did not himself own land or enslaved persons. Departing from these one-dimensional descriptions, McMurtry-Chubb illustrates the plantation overseer in a much more granular way. In this lucid and engaging monograph, she shows how public and private law helped construct the overseer’s masculine identity in a way that both elevated the social status of elite planter males, and lowered the status of the enslaved people the overseer managed. The overseer’s performance of masculinity was assigned a value (lower than the …

The Case For (And Against) Aba Regulation Of Non-J.D. Programs, Benjamin H. Barton

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American law schools have pulled out of what looked like a death spiral. From 2008-18 job placement and bar passage cratered and applications and JD enrolment followed. Some law schools found themselves trapped between Scylla and Charybdis – if they did not loosen admissions, they would not have the funds to keep the doors open. But if they loosened admissions too much bar passage and placement suffered, prompting a possible closure via disaccreditation by the ABA (or the DOE).

There are (broadly speaking) two models of profitable higher education in the United States. The first is the old school, classic …

What The Roys Should Learn From The Demoulas Family (But Probably Won’T), Joan Macleod Heminway

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This essay offers a comparison of the actions taken by members of two families: the Demoulas family, best known as owner-operators of northeastern regional supermarkets, and the Roy family featured in HBO's series "Succession." The comparative appraisal focuses principally on the selfish pursuit of individualized financial, social, and familial status by key members of both the Demoulas and Roy families as they relate to the law of business associations (principally corporate law). At the heart of the matter is the legal concept of fiduciary duty. A comparison of the two families’ exploits reveals that lessons earlier learned by the Demoulas …

Patients Versus Profits, Isaac ("Zack") D. Buck

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Private equity (PE) has come to health care. With it: layoffs, cuts, and new pressures for providers, higher prices for payers, and questions from patients about quality and excessive care. PE firms, driven solely by a profit motive, take over health care entities, “lean” them down, load them with debt, and hope to extract a profit for their investors when they sell the hospital, physician group, or nursing home. Their entry into health care has been stealthy but dramatic: upwards of a third of all for-profit hospitals in the United States, and 40 percent of America’s emergency rooms, are now …

Brief Of Law And Business Professors As Amici Curiae In Support Of Respondents, Macquarie Infrastructure V. Moab Partners, No. 22-1165, Dec. 20, 2023, Joan Macleod Heminway, J. Robert Brown, James D. Cox, Sarah C. Haan, Faith Stevelman

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Omissions of disclosure required by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or Commission) in Item 303 of Regulation S-K can be a basis for an action under Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act). Disclosures mandated by the SEC in periodic reports are not optional. That these obligations can create a “duty” to disclose under Rule 10b-5(b) is consistent with congressional intent, state court opinions, the common law, and with the longstanding understanding of the federal securities laws (including those of legal scholars and the SEC). This case does not, therefore, seek to “impermissibly expand” the …

Justifying Aggression: Russia's 2020 Constitutional Amendments And The Invasion Of Ukraine, Robert C. Blitt

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Beyond the alluring promise of an enhanced social safety net for Russian citizens, President Vladimir Putin's constitutional amendments of 2020 betrayed a distinct preoccupation with fortifying Russia's international standing and crafting a new national identity. By Putin's own account, these amendments were necessary to steel the country against the malevolent action of international conspirators committed to Russia's downfall. As this Article posits, these specific constitutional changes systematically entrenched an exceptionalist vision of Russian sovereignty and a civilizational identity that left the country constitutionally untethered from international norms and institutions, saturated in religious fervor and visions of imperial glory, and poised …

Child Sacrifices: The Precarity Of Minors’ Autonomy And Bodily Integrity After Dobbs, Teri Dobbins Baxter

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In Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Supreme Court held that there is no constitutional right to abortion. The decision has had a devastating impact on people seeking abortions in many states, and it will have an even more profound effect on the rights and lives of minors. Pregnant minors face greater risks than pregnant adults when they are forced to continue a pregnancy that can harm their physical and mental health and their educational and financial futures. Very young minors are incapable of consenting to the sexual acts that result in pregnancy, but many states require even these …

Innovation Misunderstood, Maurice E. Stucke, Ariel Ezrachi

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Innovation is transformative and key to future prosperity. It is therefore of no surprise that antitrust laws seek to promote it. What is surprising, however, is that despite the central role that innovation occupies in competition cases, its actual treatment by the courts is far from nuanced.

In this paper, we reflect on the D.C. Circuit’s 2023 ruling in N.Y. v Meta to illustrate the prevailing monocular vision adopted by the court in its treatment of innovation. That vision, we argue, reflects simplistic assumptions as to innovation dynamics and mistaken beliefs about the digital economy. It is further compounded by …

Aba Standard 303(C) And Divisive Concepts Legislation And Policies: Challenges And Opportunities, Sherley Cruz, Becky L. Jacobs, Karen L. Tokarz, Kendall Kerew, Andrew King-Ries, Carwina Weng

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This article by six clinicians discusses the challenges and opportunities of new ABA Standard 303 (c), including the implications of and interactions between Standard 303(c) and “divisive concepts” laws and other threats to representation, academic freedom, and free speech in legal education. The article also highlights the intersection of Standard 303(c) and Standard 303(b)(3), which addresses professional identity formation; discusses opportunities to adapt current curriculum and teaching and create new curricular responses to meet the new accreditation standards and interpretations; and explores ways to resist increasing limitations and find a supportive academic community to sustain hope and resilience.

An Upward Trend In Jailhouse Cooperation With Ice: A Report On Detainers Issued By Ice And 287(G) Agreements In Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, And Tennessee From 2016 To 2020., Eric Franklin Amarante, Project South

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This report analyzes information received in response to Freedom of Information Act requests to ICE about 287(g) agreements and detainer requests issued between fiscal year 2016 to 2020 in those states. This report concludes with specific recommendations for local, state, and federal governments to end LLE-ICE collaboration and repeal anti-immigrant policies.

Retconning Heller: Five Takes On New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. V. Bruen, Glenn Harlan Reynolds, Brannon P. Denning

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New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen was the first significant Second Amendment case that the Supreme Court had heard in nearly fifteen years since its decision in District of Columbia v. Heller. This Article offers some preliminary observations about the opinion itself, as well as its likely effects, some of which are starting to manifest

Our first take concerns the question of opinion assignment. Why did Chief Justice Roberts-whose support for the Second Amendment has been suspect-assign the opinion to Justice Thomas?

Takes Two and Three concern Justice Thomas's substitution of text, history, and tradition for …

Four Ways To Update Personnel Handbooks That Need To Become Part Of Your Annual Reviews, Sherley Cruz

Tennessee Law in the News

No abstract provided.

A Theory Of Substantive Standards Of Review: The Case Of Corporate Law, Tomer S. Stein

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In Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, the Supreme Court limited deference to universities. In West Virginia v. EPA, the Court reduced its deference to administrative agencies. In Coster v. UIP Cos., Inc., the Delaware Supreme Court limited deference to boards of directors, proclaimed a new standard of review, and then retracted the new standard of review (maybe). Common to these constitutional, administrative, and corporate law cases is unpredictability, uncertainty, and inconsistency in the use and application of substantive standards of review. This doctrinal chaos is explicitly acknowledged by the very judges that formulate …

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly Of Us Antitrust, Maurice E. Stucke

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This article examines the bad and ugly as the US federal agencies seek to rejuvenate competition. The bad is legislative hiatus to update the antitrust laws for the digital economy. The ugly is when courts push their own economic beliefs, without regard for the congressional intent and aims of the antitrust laws. Regardless of who wins, the rule of law (and those most dependent on the antitrust law) suffer. To correct America’s market power problem, the article proposes restoring the constitutional balance, where the courts adjudicate, the legislature legislates, and enforcers enforce.

Commentary On Trading In The Clouds, Gary Pulsinelli

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No abstract provided.

Comment On The Fiduciary-Ness Of Business Associations, Brian Krumm

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No abstract provided.

A Rejoinder To Professor Padfield: Lobbying The States For Anti-Esg Legislation, Dwight Aarons

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No abstract provided.

Promoting Technological Competency Through Microlearning And Incentivization, Eliza Boles

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No abstract provided.

Hipaa V. Dobbs, Wendy A. Bach, Nicolas Terry

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A few days after the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, the Biden administration issued guidance seeking to reassure doctors and patients that the federal HIPAA Privacy Rule would allow women to feel confident that they could still seek reproductive healthcare without worrying that the information in their medical records would end up in the hands of police. As scholars focused respectively on the criminalization of poverty and reproductive conduct (Wendy Bach) and health policy and privacy (Nicolas Terry), we were less than reassured. We write this essay to emphasize how, rather than revealing the strength of …

The Absurdity Of Criminalizing Encouraging Words, Eric Franklin Amarante

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This article discusses the Supreme Court’s holding in Hansen v. U.S., which upheld a statute that makes it a felony to encourage an undocumented person to remain in the United States.

The Role Of Secondary Algorithmic Tacit Collusion In Achieving Market Alignment, Maurice E. Stucke, Ariel Ezrachi

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The antitrust risks associated with the use of the same hub’s pricing algorithm by many sellers are now well-accepted. But what if many rivals use several different hubs for dynamic pricing? The common assumption is that in such instances, competition among the pricing hubs would support competition among the sellers. However, in this paper we argue differently and introduce the concept of secondary algorithmic tacit collusion, which leads to anticompetitive effects, independent of the conditions on the primary market. This phenomenon may lead to the evils of price-fixing but on far a wider scale. Contrary to traditional tacit collusion, this …

Time Is A Flat Circle: Lessons From Past And Present Conspiracy Theories, Lucy Jewel

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This essay analyzes how conspiracy theories were viewed in the 1990s, particularly in the context of the then-existing debate over racial differences in perception, and how they are dealt with today, where prevalent conspiracy theory adherents are White and conservative (QAnon, Pizzagate, and widespread voter fraud) in the 2020 election). In the 1990s, conflict over conspiracy theories was part of a larger culture war involving critical race theory, conspiracy thinking, truth, reason, and post-modern theory. These cultural flashpoints are obviously still with us today. But now, high-profile persons holding false, unreasonable beliefs often hail from the right and are assailed …

Suffering In Search Of A Methodological Frame: Interdisciplinarity In The Context Of The Gendered Impact Of Climate Migration, Becky L. Jacobs

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In this essay, the author places the gendered impact of climate migration within the methodological frame of scholars such as geographers Sylvia Winters and Doreen Massey, historian Achille Mbembe, philosopher Gilles Deleuze, philosopher and psychoanalyst Félix Guattari, and anthropologist Tim Ingold. The author discusses the importance of interdisciplinarity and describes the gender-specific risks related to climate displacement before delving into theory.

Addressing Personal Data Collection As Unfair Methods Of Competition, Maurice E. Stucke

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Enforcers, policymakers, scholars, and the public are concerned about Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, and recently Microsoft and their influence. That influence comes in part from personal data. These companies are “data-opolies,” in that they are powerful firms that control our data. The data comes from their vital ecosystems of interlocking online platforms and services, which attract users; sellers; advertisers; website publishers; and software, app, and accessory developers.

The public sentiment is that a few companies, in possessing so much data, possess too much power. Something is amiss. Cutting across political lines, many Americans think Big Tech’s economic power is a …

Ethical Implications Of Law Practice Technology, Eliza Boles

Scholarly Works

The following CLE materials were prepared by Eliza Boles for presentation on December 6, 2022. Materials were approved by the Tennessee Commission on Continuing Legal Education for two hours of mandated ethics credit.

Don't Get Lost In Translation!, Sherley Cruz

Tennessee Law in the News

This piece highlights the importance of creating a language access plan and knowing how to work with interpreters.

Lgbtq Youth And The Promise Of The Kennedy Quartet, Michael J. Higdon

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The Supreme Court has only issued four opinions endorsing the constitutional rights of sexual minorities, each of them authored by Justice Anthony Kennedy. These four cases, which this article refers to collectively as “the Kennedy Quartet,” have done much to advance the equality of LGBTQ adults in the United States. The question remains, however, as to what extent those cases likewise protect LGBTQ children. Far from simply being an academic question, this issue has taken on increased urgency as legislators in a number of states—thwarted by the Kennedy Quartet in their ability to target LGBTQ adults—have turned their attentions to …