Law Commons^™

Somerset’S Case And Its Antecedents In Imperial Perspective, George Van Cleve

Faculty Articles

The article offers a look on the Somerset's Case that served as a milestone in the campaign to abolish slavery in Great Britain. The case become famous in the Anglo-American law of slavery, with its proceedings widely circulated in periodicals. However, historians have argued about what the ruling was and its effects. It has been known in English slavery law that courts prior to the case generally agreed that English law governed status, but also limited slavery, for slaves who came to England.

Markets, Monocultures, And Malnutrition: Agricultural Trade Policy Through An Environmental Justice Lens, Carmen Gonzalez

Faculty Articles

Much of the literature on environmental justice struggles in the United States and in the Global South has highlighted the disproportionate concentration of environmental hazards in poor communities and communities of color. However, it is equally important to evaluate how human societies distribute access to environmental necessities, such as food and water. Food is a quintessential environmental necessity that is critical human survival, and the right to food is recognized under a variety of international human rights law instruments. This article examines the complex ways in which the rules governing international trade in agricultural products affect the fundamental human right …

My Father, John Locke, And Assisted Suicide: The Real Constitutional Right, John B. Mitchell

Faculty Articles

This article discusses the right to assisted suicide, a right not derived from anything explicit or implied in any textual provision of the Constitution. It is a right derived from the two underlying political philosophies, which form the basis of the entire U.S. Constitutional enterprise: John Locke's Social Contract and Civic Republicanism. In Part I, this article discusses Glucksberg's fundamental rights analysis. So much has been written about this case that this article will limit comments to briefly adding thoughts as to why, given the combination of the Court's motivation, both institutional and pragmatic, in approaching this case, and its …

Latinos And American Law: Landmark Supreme Court Cases, Steven W. Bender

Faculty Articles

In this review, the author advocates for a work which provides much needed attention to Latinos in the context of American Law. Specifically, the review outlines key elements of Soltero’s work, which highlights Latino Supreme Court cases.

The Right To Die: The Broken Road From Quinlan To Schiavo, Annette E. Clark

Faculty Articles

This article discusses the controversial right-to-die law, and the prominent cases surrounding it. It critically outlines various case outcomes with respect to the law, and discusses seminal development the law has seen.

Chinese Law And Legal Research (Book Review), Chenglin Liu

Faculty Articles

Mr. Wei Luo has taken up the enormous challenge of establishing a subject-arrangement codification system and a uniform legal citation standard for China. Mr. Luo’s unique exposure to the Chinese legal system and law making process has made him the ideal scholar to address Chinese legal research. As a result of a five-year-long endeavor to direct these codification and legal citation projects, Mr. Luo has published his outstanding volume Chinese Law and Chinese Legal Research.

As the title of the book indicates, Mr. Luo’s work has gone far beyond the scope of an ordinary research guide or annotated bibliography. He …

Engaged Surrender In The Void: Post-Secularist "Human" Rights Discourse And Muslim Feminists [Sic], Emily A. Hartigan

Faculty Articles

Human rights discourse is inherently multicultural, and multicultural discourse is messy. The reality of discourse on the post-secular manifests in various books and websites. This manifestation has led to religion resurfacing in the public realm. At some level, the academy that poses as secular is a small and politically inconsequential voice in the national and international arena. Among the restrictions that secular discourse would attempt to dictate are those suggested in projects to re-enchant a world that has become spiritually, epistemically, politically, and perhaps humanly desiccated by the relegation of talk of the sacred to the private realm.

The purely …

The Limits Of Limiting Liability In The Battle Of The Forms: U.C.C. Section 2-207 And The “Material Alteration” Inquiry, Colin P. Marks

Faculty Articles

The “surprise or hardship” approach to UCC section 2-207 is the approach courts should use to determine the applicability of liability clauses in the battle of the forms. However, courts use varying approaches to decide whether clauses limiting liability materially alter the contract under UCC section 2-207. Courts have adopted three different approaches: (1) the per se material alternation approach; (2) the per se not material alternation approach; and (3) the “surprise or hardship” approach.

The per se material alteration approach focuses on the surprise or hardship factors found in comment 4 of section 2-207; however, that approach is flawed …

Eastern Visions, Western Voices: A Sermon On Love In The Valley Of Law, John W. Teeter Jr

Faculty Articles

The transition from law student to seasoned attorney can be prolonged and stressful. The evolution can be painfully dispiriting, but there are ways to transform a potentially grueling struggle for sustenance into a genuine labor of love. The sources stem from divergent roots, both Eastern—Buddhist with pinches of Hindu—and Western—ranging from Platonic to perhaps the moronic. Eastern visions and Western voices may be a catalyst in spawning ideas on creating joy and fulfillment in the valley of law.

Moving from law student to practitioner is an odyssey, both perplexing and potentially fatal. Becoming a lawyer in fact as well as …

Criminal Procedure Rules Pending Public Comment, David A. Schlueter

Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.

The Misuse Of Religion In The Global War On Terrorism, Jeffrey F. Addicott

Faculty Articles

A brief review of human history reveals that various individuals, groups and nations have used religious dogma as a pretext to engage in aggression against others. As such, it is no surprise that the Islamic radicalism that fuels the Global War on Terrorism employs what it calls the “true” Moslem religion in order to cloak a lust for domination through despicable expressions of unlawful violence, primarily targeting innocent civilians.

On the other hand, when it comes to confronting the forces of al-Qa’eda-styled aggression, it is not surprising that democracies like the United States also employ religious ideology and symbolism to …

Contractors On The “Battlefield”: Providing Adequate Protection, Anti-Terrorism Training, And Personnel Recovery For Civilian Contractors Accompanying The Military In Combat And Contingency Operations, Jeffrey F. Addicott

Faculty Articles

American civilian employees serving overseas in hostile environments are dying because their parent companies and the U.S. military are failing to provide adequate protection, antiterrorism (“AT”) training, or both. Contractors must be properly informed, trained, and equipped not only to understand their own rights and obligations, but also to understand those of the U.S. military and the parent contractor company because of the physical dangers inherent in such asymmetrical conflicts. Specified AT training is not a mandatory component of contractor deployment, leaving many contract personnel ill-prepared and under-equipped to operate in locations plagued by the threat of car bombs, suicide …

Addressing The Scourge Of Human Trafficking: The Challenge Ahead, Roza Pati

Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.

Comparative Study Of The Formation Of Electronic Contracts In American Law With References To International Law, Roberto Rosas

Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.

Regulating Lobbyists: Law, Ethics, And Public Policy, Vincent R. Johnson

Faculty Articles

Though lobbyists have an ancient lineage and constitutional pedigree arising out of the constitutional right to petition government and to hire surrogates to do so, some types of lobbying can have detrimental effects on the performance of public duties, diminishing public confidence in government and weakening our democracy. However, in remediating these problems, we can look to tools already in existence and employed across the nation, rather than developing radically innovative solutions. The debate over how to regulate lobbyists is politically charged and bewildering; however, by augmenting present rules, the goal of greater lobbyist regulation can be achieved without reinventing …

The Tort Duty Of Parents To Protect Minor Children, Vincent R. Johnson, Claire G. Hargrove

Faculty Articles

American tort law should recognize the parent-minor child relationship as a “special relationship.” Imposing an affirmative duty on parents to act to prevent serious harm from occurring to their minor children, despite the Restatement (Third) of Tort’s refusal to impose such a duty, keeps with public expectations and public policy. The drafters of the Restatement do not recognize such a duty because there is little precedent to support the imposition of affirmative duties on family members. However, despite this dearth of reported cases, American courts should recognize an affirmative duty on the part of parents to aid their minor children …

Tribute, Rehnquist, Innsbruck, And St. Mary’S University, Vincent R. Johnson

Faculty Articles

William H. Rehnquist served as the seventeenth Chief Justice of the United States. During this time, the Chief Justice taught for St. Mary’s University School of Law over four summers, two weeks each July in 1991, 1994, 1998, and 2000. Chief Justice Rehnquist lectured on the Supreme Court in United States History as part of the law school’s Institute on World Legal Problems in Innsbruck, Austria. Chief Justice Rehnquist felt welcome in Innsbruck, and had earned the St. Mary’s faculty’s fond regard and the students’ admiration.

The memories of the summers spent in Innsbruck with Chief Justice Rehnquist are shared …

The Court Of Appeals For The Fifth Circuit 2004-2005 Disposition Of Insurance Decisions: A Survey And Statistical Review, Willy E. Rice

Faculty Articles

he Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit decided twenty-four insurance-related cases between June 2004 and April 2005. Those cases originated in nine federal district courts. Unlike its 2002-2004 rulings, the Court of Appeals did not decide any exceptionally novel or complex substantive or procedural questions. In fact, the Fifth Circuit issued four extremely short per curiam decisions, and in two other cases, presented brief analyses and dispositions of statutes-of-limitations and exhaustion-of-administrative-remedies questions under Louisiana’s law. Although the remaining eighteen cases present a diverse body of law and legal issues, only the more novel and highly questionable Fifth Circuit insurance …

Comparative Study Of The Formation Of Electronic Contracts In American Law With References To International Law, Roberto Rosas

Faculty Articles

An understanding of the basic principles that regulate contract formation is of great importance when deciphering the most appropriate ways of fom1ing a new contract or when assessing the legality of an already existing contract. While the basic rules of contract formation are generally applicable to all types of contracts regardless of the method utilized in their creation, there are some juridical rules that apply specifically to electronically created contracts.

Corporate Investigations, Attorney-Client Privilege, And Selective Waiver: Is A Half-Privilege Worth Having At All?, Colin P. Marks

Faculty Articles

As the title suggests, this article is an analysis of the selective waiver doctrine, which allows a party to disclose materials protected by the attorney-client and work product privileges to the government during investigations without waiving the privilege as to third-party litigants. Specifically, the article analyzes the development of the selective waiver doctrine and why recent policies adopted by governmental agencies, specifically the Department of Justice and SEC, have made this doctrine a forefront of conversation amongst litigators, legislators and academics. But is a blanket adoption of the selective waiver doctrine wise?

Courts have taken a variety of approaches to …

Federal Rules Update: How Rules Are Made: A Brief Review, David A. Schlueter

Faculty Articles

A number of Federal Rules of Procedure and Evidence are scheduled for amendment on December 1, 2006, unless Congress amends them further or disapproves of the changes. The amendment to Rule 5 would remove a conflict between Rule 58 and Rule 5.1(a) concerning when a defendant is entitled to a preliminary hearing. Rule 6 would undergo purely technical changes making the rule conform to the writing conventions used in the restyling of the Criminal Rules. Rule 32.1 is being amended to permit the government to produce certified copies of the judgment, warrant, or warrant application by “reliable electronic means.” Under …

Chinese Law On Sars By Chenglin Liu (Book Review), Vincent R. Johnson

Faculty Articles

Chinese Law on SARS, by Chenglin Liu, is a marvelous example of fresh scholarship about a new and important feature of the Chinese legal system. The book analyzes the Chinese response to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (“SARS”) epidemic in 2003. Most notably, it examines the government’s passing of two new laws and the implementation of other legal steps to bolster the nation’s public health system.

Liu’s scholarly examination of the SARS legislation is instructive, not merely because it explains the current laws in China relating to SARS, but also because it offers insight into what a country should (and …

Too Broke To Hire An Attorney - How To Conduct Basic Legal Research In A Law Library, Mike Martinez Jr, Michael P. Forrest

Faculty Articles

This article targets as its audience pro se patrons - individuals who cannot afford counsel and need to conduct their own legal research. The poor and disenfranchised have historically had difficulty getting equal access to justice. The cause is often the fact that they cannot afford legal representation. This could lead to exclusion from the legal process. A solution might be self-representation, which presents its own difficulties, as the pro se litigant will likely need to access resources in a law library.

The Abu Ghraib Story, Jeffrey F. Addicott

Faculty Articles

The purpose of this Article is to examine the facts associated with the prison abuse at Abu Ghraib and to discuss the applicable legal and policy lessons learned as a result of the scandal. Was the prison abuse a reflection of a systemic policy—either de jure or de facto—on the part of the United States to illegally extract information from detainees or was the abuse simply isolated acts of criminal behavior on the part of a handful of soldiers amplified by an incompetent tactical chain of command at the prison facility?

The Practice Of Rendition In The War On Terror, Jeffrey F. Addicott

Faculty Articles

It is imperative that discussion of emotionally charged issues such as torture or illegal rendition focus on the governing legal standards. The dilemma that confronts the United States and its allies is al-Qa'eda--not a nation-state but a virtual state. Therefore, the rules for fighting the War on Terror face challenges not yet fully appreciated or anticipated by international law, let alone domestic law. The primary international instrument dealing with illegal rendition is the 1984 United Nations Convention Against Torture, and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Torture Convention).

It is necessary to first define the terms "torture" and …

The Law Of Mediation In Texas, L. Wayne Scott

Faculty Articles

State law concerning mediation is continuing to develop in Texas. The Texas Alternative Dispute Resolution Act (“the Act”), passed in 1987 and codified in the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code, attempted to resolve Texas judicial opinions on mediation. Since the passage of the Act, a number of judicial opinions have sought to interpret and apply the Act. As such, it became public policy to encourage the peaceable resolution of disputes. Mediation is a method to accomplish that public policy. Both published and unpublished judicial opinions serve to illustrate the application of the Act and provide the only guidance that …