Law Commons^™

An Unstoppable Force And An Immoveable Object? Eu Data Protection Law And National Security, Fred H. Cate, Christopher Kuner, Orla Lynskey, Christopher Millard, Nora Ni Loideain, Dan Jerker B. Svantesson

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Wayfair: Substantial Nexus And Undue Burden, David Gamage, Darien Shanske, Adam Thimmesch

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This is the first of a series of essays wherein we analyze the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair. In this essay, we tackle some of the more immediate interpretive questions raised by the Wayfair opinion, such as how a state should approach substantial nexus. As part of our analysis, we offer advice to state governments. Specifically, we recommend that states take note of the features of South Dakota’s law that appealed to the Court and replicate or improve on these to the extent possible. We advise states to consider simplifying their sales tax systems (and potentially …

Autonomy In The Age Of Autonomous Vehicles, Michael Mattioli

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This essay describes intertwined policy challenges related to autonomous vehicle data. The policy goals of promoting privacy, safety, competition, and commerce are all so deeply intertwined, I conclude, that they must be understood and addressed together. This essay does not attempt to solve the problem. Instead, it presents a descriptive snapshot of the current state of play in the industry and closes by raising a set of questions. I hope these questions will prompt useful discussions among policy experts and the public.

The Application Of The United Nations Convention On Contracts For The International Sale Of Goods Uniformity Interpretation Principle In U.S., Yuqing Nie

Maurer Theses and Dissertations

The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (hereinafter: CISG) plays an increasingly important role in international sale of goods. However, the CISG is not always correctly applied, especially one of its basic principles – the uniform interpretation principle stated in its Article 7(1), which is usually ignored or incorrectly applied in its contracting States.

The CISG requires high-level uniformity, which requires the CISG to be applied autonomously if there involves parties from two CISG contracting States and the contract governing the transaction has no clause specifying other law as the governing law. Additionally, the CISG …

Exploring Banks' Duty Of Care Towards Non-Customers In U.C.C. Article 3 & 4, Anis A. Houssein

Maurer Theses and Dissertations

This Thesis analyzes the bank transaction regarding cashing or accepting for deposit instruments over forged or unauthorized indorsements. Also, it investigates the development of conversion of instruments through the years and the courts’ contribution to the development. It examines the U.C.C. former section 3-419 and the courts’ reaction to the defense afforded to banks against an allegation of conversion and examines as well the current 3-420 and the reasons that led to the amendment. Besides all that, this Thesis discusses the banks’ defenses regarding Impostors and Fictitious Payees under § 3-404, Employer’s responsibility for fraudulent indorsement by his employee under …

The Sufficiency Of Information Privacy Protection In Saudi Arabia, Abdulaziz Almebrad

Maurer Theses and Dissertations

Since the technology revolution, the rules of privacy law have rapidly changed in many countries to keep pace with new privacy challenges. Surprisingly, Saudi Arabia has no specific data protection legislation. This does not necessarily mean that people’s personal information is totally unprotected. In fact, the legal system in Saudi Arabia relies on both Islamic jurisprudence and written laws. Sharia law, the paramount body of law in Saudi Arabia, places a high value on an individual's privacy and prohibits any invasions therein, except in very limited circumstances. Moreover, other provisions relating to the sanctity and safety of individuals’ personal data …

Race And Representation Revisited: The New Racial Gerrymandering Cases And Section 2 Of The Vra, Luis Fuentes-Rohwer, Guy-Uriel E. Charles

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This article explores the Supreme Court's new racial gerrymandering cases and argue that those cases are on a collision course with Section 2 of the VRA. We revisit the Shaw line of cases and explain that the Shaw cases were more sympathetic to the representational rights of voters of color than are the new racial gerrymandering cases. This is primarily because the Shaw cases made room within the doctrine for the state to pursue descriptive representation for voters of color. We argue that new racial gerrymandering cases are inimical to descriptive representation. To the extent that voting rights scholars and …

How Federal Tax Law Rewards Housing Segregation, Michelle D. Layser

Indiana Law Journal

INTRODUCTION

I. THE SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF TAX-BASED HOUSING SUBSIDIES

A.WHY THE SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF TAX-BASED HOUSING SUBSIDIES MATTERS

B. THE LOCATION OF TAX-SUBSIDIZED HOUSING IN AMERICA

1. THE SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF MORTGAGE INTEREST DEDUCTION BENEFITS

2. THE SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF LOW-INCOME HOUSING TAX CREDIT PROJECTS

II. VISUALIZING THE SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF TAX-BASED HOUSING SUBSIDIES

A. THE BIG PICTURE: MAPPING TAX-BASED HOUSING SUBSIDIES

B. A CLOSER LOOK: DESCRIBING TAX-SUBSIDIZED NEIGHBORHOODS

1. NEIGHBORHOODS WITH HIGH SHARES OF MORTGAGE INTEREST DEDUCTION BENEFITS AND FEW LIHTC PROPERTIES

2. NEIGHBORHOODS WITH HIGH NUMBERS OF LIHTC PROPERTIES AND LITTLE MORTGAGE INTEREST DEDUCTION BENEFIT

3. NEIGHBORHOODS IN …

The Next Reapportionment Revolution, Ashira Ostrow

Indiana Law Journal

In the 1960s, the Supreme Court famously imposed the one-person, one-vote requirement on federal, state, and local legislatures. The doctrine rapidly resolved the problem of malapportioned districts. Within just a few years, legislatures across the nation were reapportioned to equalize the population between districts. Sadly, however, the national commitment to equal-population districts has led directly to the current crisis of political gerrymandering. The boundaries of equal-population districts must be redrawn every ten years to maintain population equality. Even with rigid adherence to population requirements, district boundaries are easily manipulated to secure incumbent seats and advance partisan interests. Redistricting is rightly …

Cybersecurity And Tax Reform, Michael Hatfield

Indiana Law Journal

INTRODUCTION

I. THE PAST AND FUTURE OF THE IRS AS A CYBERATTACK TARGET

A. IRS AS A CYBERATTACK TARGET

B. THE FUTURE OF THE IRS AS A CYBERATTACK TARGET1. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

2. TAX INFORMATION

3. TYPES OF FUTURE ATTACKS

II. THE IRSWILL FAIL TO IMPLEMENT ADEQUATE CYBERSECURITY

A. VERY POOR HISTORY OF IMPROVING TECHNOLOGY

B. INADEQUATE FUNDING

C. INABILITY TO RECRUIT AND RETAIN EXPERTS

D. TOOMANY USERS

E. CYBERSECURITY IS DIFFICULT

III. BETTER DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY IS NOT THE GOAL

A. SLOWING THE USE OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY

B. CYBERSECURITY AND TAX REFORM

1. PAY-AS-YOU-EARN (PAYE)

2. SIMPLIFIED INCOME TAX

3. PURIFIED …

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Structural Integrity And A Call For Adaptive And Incremental Agency Design Policy, Hannah Clendening

Indiana Law Journal

INTRODUCTION

I. UNDERSTANDING AND RATIONALIZING COMPETING DESIGN OBJECTIVES

A. CONGRESSIONAL INTENT AND THE CFPB’S FORMATION

B. D.C. CIRCUIT’S REASONING IN PHH CORP. V. CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU

C. BASIC TENETS OF LEADING ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN THEORIES

D. ANOTHER LOOMING CONSIDERATION: AGENCY CAPTURE

II. A NEED FOR ADAPTIVE AND INCREMENTAL APPROACHES TO AGENCY DESIGN

CONCLUSION

Learning From Law Students: How Phds Might Seek Legal Remedy In The Face Of Widespread Unemployment, Emily Grothoff

Indiana Law Journal

This Note examines overproduction and underemployment problems facing the academic market and PhD graduates9 from a legal perspective. Part I will briefly review key legal takeaways from several distinctive cases that law school graduates brought against their almae matres regarding poor employability. Part II then describes the particularities of the “PhD problem” and how it compares and contrasts with the problem that J.D. holders recently faced. Finally, Part III will examine what legal remedies disenfranchised PhDs might pursue and whether such remedies could—and should—be sought in the courts.

Reciprocal Immunity, Colin Miller

Indiana Law Journal

This essay advances a reciprocal rights theory. It argues that the Constitution precludes statutes and rules from providing nonreciprocal benefits to the State when the lack of reciprocity interferes with the defendant’s ability to secure a fair trial, unless reciprocity would implicate a significant state interest. Therefore, unless a significant State interest is involved, a grant of immunity to a prosecution witness should trigger reciprocal immunity to a directly contradictory defense witness.

The Fortification Of Inequality: Constitutional Doctrine And The Political Economy, Kate Andrias

Indiana Law Journal

As Parts I and II of this Essay elaborate, the examination yields three observations of relevance to constitutional law more generally: First, judge-made constitutional doctrine, though by no means the primary cause of rising inequality, has played an important role in reinforcing and exacerbating it. Judges have acquiesced to legislatively structured economic inequality, while also restricting the ability of legislatures to remedy it. Second, while economic inequality has become a cause célèbre only in the last few years, much of the constitutional doctrine that has contributed to its flourishing is longstanding. Moreover, for several decades, even the Court’s more liberal …

Ordinariness As Equality, Elise C. Boddie

Indiana Law Journal

This Essay argues for an equality norm of racial ordinariness. Ordinariness here refers to the state of being treated as a full, complex person and a rightful recipient of human concern. As a norm, its purpose is to focus constitutional attention on common, everyday interactions as sources of racial indignity. It also seeks to sensitize courts and other constitutional actors to the infinite varieties and grittier dimensions of discrimination through the “understandings of everyday folk.”

Part I explains why ordinariness matters and the importance of everyday interactions to achieving ordinariness. It discusses these points through the lens of a true …

The Limits On Congress's Power To Do Nothing: A Preliminary Inquiry, William P. Marshall

Indiana Law Journal

As Part I of this Essay will show, arguments for limiting Congress’s authority to do nothing are not readily found in history, text, or constitutional structure. Part I concludes, however, that the need for establishing some constitutional limits on congressional inaction is nevertheless compelling because of the seriousness of the dangers involved. Accordingly, Part II goes on to advance an approach that would limit Congress’s power to do nothing in certain circumstances. Specifically, Part II proposes an approach that would limit Congress’s power to do nothing based on the type of power that Congress is (or is not) exercising. Congress …

Political Norms, Constitutional Conventions, And President Donald Trump, Neil S. Siegel

Indiana Law Journal

I will argue that what is most troubling about the conduct of President Trump during and since the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign is not any potential violations of the U.S. Constitution or federal law. There likely have been some such violations, and there may be more. But what is most troubling about President Trump is his disregard of political norms that had previously constrained presidential candidates and Presidents, and his flouting of nonlegal but obligatory “constitutional conventions” that had previously guided and disciplined occupants of the White House. These norms and conventions, although not “in” the Constitution, play a pivotal …

Utopian Thinking For Progressive Constitutionalists, Mark Tushnet

Indiana Law Journal

The opening pages of Rousseau’s Social Contract have two striking phrases. The more celebrated is, “[m]an was born free, and everywhere he is in chains.” That, though, is preceded by this: “I want to inquire whether, taking men as they are and laws as they can be made to be, it is possible to establish some just and reliable rule of administration in civil affairs.” I take this second sentence as my guide: Taking the textual Constitution as it is and with the interpreted Constitution as it could be, can there be a constitutionalism that progressives could wholeheartedly endorse?

I …

January 2018 Newsletter

Ergo

No abstract provided.

A Comparative Study Of The Law Of Dismissal In The U.S. And China, Zhenxing Ke

Maurer Theses and Dissertations

The Labor Law in China, enacted in 1994, was the first statute in China to stipulate dismissal protections. The Employment Contract Law, a more recent law that went into effect in January 2008, strengthened Chinese dismissal protections. For example, in the summary termination about the misconduct, this law only allows six instances for termination, and if a misconduct committed by an employee is not covered in these six instances, it is hard for an employer to discharge this employee legally.

In contrast, America has a more flexible employment law. In America, the doctrine of dismissal is dominated by the …

2018 Academy Of Law Alumni Fellows Dinner And Induction Ceremony Invitation

Academy of Law Alumni Fellows

No abstract provided.

La Méthode Comparative En Droit Public, Elisabeth Zoller

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

"A Few Bad Apples": How The Narrative Of Isolated Misconduct Distorts Civil Rights Doctrine, Chiraag Bains

Indiana Law Journal

In Parts I and II, I examine precedents involving the two broad topics with which this Essay began: policing and race, respectively. The narrative is perhaps more familiar in the policing context. Attorney General Jeff Sessions articulated it succinctly in a March 2017 memo ordering the reevaluation of all consent decrees the Justice Department had entered with police departments because “[t]he misdeeds of individual bad actors should not impugn or undermine the legitimate and honorable work that law enforcement officers and agencies perform in keeping American communities safe.”4 The narrative applies with respect to race, as well, although it comes …

Trump, The Court, And Constitutional Law, Erwin Chemerinsky

Indiana Law Journal

In this Essay, I want to offer initial thoughts on what the Trump presidency is likely to mean for constitutional law. First, I want to focus on the lost opportunity: what might have happened had Hillary Clinton replaced Scalia and filled other vacancies on the Court. Second, I want to focus on the reality of what we are likely to see as a result of Neil Gorsuch replacing Antonin Scalia and of other possible vacancies being filled by President Trump. Finally, I want to discuss how progressives should react to this and to the foreseeable future of constitutional law. These, …

The "Lower" Federal Courts: Judging In A Time Of Trump, Nancy Gertner

Indiana Law Journal

To be sure, I offer only preliminary thoughts in this Essay. The Trump presidency is young. There are multiple challenges to multiple executive decisions and orders in courts across the country. A full treatment would take the reader into the robust literature on judicial decision making about context and pragmatism, with historical comparisons to other epochs where the challenges were comparable, even to empirical analyses of judging at different periods of time. I start with judging in “ordinary” times, the period during which I served. I then describe the challenges of judging in a time of Trump, and I conclude …

Trump As Constitutional Failure, Jamal Greene

Indiana Law Journal

As Part I explains, the American constitutional system assumes a certain sort of democratic culture. That assumption is encapsulated in Chief Justice John Marshall’s dictum, in M’Culloch v. Maryland, that the Constitution is “intended to endure for ages to come, and, consequently, to be adapted to the various crises of human affairs.” The U.S. Constitution indeed lacks “the prolixity of a legal code,” but subsequent history confirms that its relative sparseness is not, as Marshall maintained, because it is “a constitution we are expounding.” The U.S. Constitution is among the world’s least prolix and most difficult to amend. These attributes …

The Constitutionality Of A National Wealth Tax, Dawn Johnsen, Walter Dellinger

Indiana Law Journal

The United States needs innovative approaches to help rebuild foundational, shared understandings of American democracy, the American Dream, and opportunity and fairness. Tax policy provides one central context in which collective judgments about fundamental values help form national identity. We believe that a national wealth tax (that is, a tax on individuals’ net worth) should be among the policy options under consideration to support vital infrastructure, social service, and other governmental functions. Although not a new concept, a wealth tax may be an idea whose time has come, as inequality soars toward record highs.

Our aim in this Essay is …

Undue Burdens And Potential Opportunities In Voting Rights And Abortion Law, Pamela S. Karlan

Indiana Law Journal

One of the problems with the way we have tried to build a more just constitutional law is our failure to see, and then to make the most of, doctrinal connections across constitutional subfields—that is, to build constitutional bridges. This Essay seeks to build one such bridge between two areas of legal doctrine that might seem relatively disconnected from one another: voting rights and reproductive justice.

Many years ago, I joked about one aspect of that connection: “Redistricting, like reproduction, combines lofty goals, deep passions about identity and instincts for self-preservation, increasing reliance on technology, and often a need to …

Prochoicelife: Asking Who Protects Life And How -- And Why It Matters In Law And Politics, Reva Siegel

Indiana Law Journal

In this Essay I reason from a “prochoicelife” perspective that asks whether government protects new life by means that respect women’s reproductive decisions. I develop a framework that allows us to compare the policies for protecting new life that governments choose and the values they demonstrate. This Essay’s critical framework connects policies on sexual education, contraception, abortion, health care, income assistance, and the accommodation of pregnancy and parenting in the workplace. It shows that some jurisdictions protect new life selectively, favoring policies for protecting new life that restrict women’s reproductive decisions over policies that respect women’s reproductive decisions.

This Essay …

Is The Second Amendment Becoming Irrelevant?, A Winkler

Indiana Law Journal

Why might the Second Amendment cease to serve this vital constitutional function? The explanation begins with the difference between how the Second Amendment is invoked in political debates and how the amendment is invoked in court. There are, it seems, two Second Amendments. There is a Judicial Second Amendment comprised of court decisions interpreting the provision, and there is an Aspirational Second Amendment that is used in political dialogue. These two versions of the Second Amendment are different; the aspirational one is far more hostile to gun laws than the judicial one.

Moreover, the Aspirational Second Amendment is overtaking the …