Law Commons^™

Torture, Impunity, And The Need For Independent Prosecutorial Oversight, Fran Quigley

Fran Quigley

When executive branch misconduct is alleged, an inherent conflict of interest is presented by investing prosecutorial discretion in a U.S. Attorney General appointed by, and serving at the pleasure of, the President.

Various commentators, including Justice Antonin Scalia, Professor Stephen Carter, and the many critics of the former independent counsel statute, have posited that this conflict will be overcome by checks on executive power provided by the legislative branch, the judiciary, and political pressure.

That sanguine view of adequate executive branch oversight was put to the test when acts of torture were authorized by high-level members of the George W. …

India And Asean : An Enduring Partnership, Brajesh Rajak

Brajesh rajak

This paper analyses the enduring partnership between India and ASEAN and the reasons for the proximity between the two. It details why India has adopted a “Look-East” policy, what the policy is, its necessity and whether it is a success or failure. The article also scrutinises the steps taken by the Indian government to improve relations with ASEAN countries, the obstructions in the way and finally looks at the ASEAN–India free trade agreement.

The True Cost Of Economic Rights Jurisprudence, Max Mccann

Max McCann

This Article discusses the distinction between economic and individual rights in contemporary political and legal discourse. As discussed herein, the phrase economic rights typically invokes notions of the ability to spend, save, and transfer wealth freely, as well as other related issues, such as the deregulation of industry and tax reform. In contrast, individual rights conjures ideas of being free in one’s person, including reproductive rights, free speech, and freedom of assembly.

With both historic and recent examples, this Article argues that the distinction between economic and individual rights is problematic at best. Rights spring forth from human interests, and …

Protecting The Playground: Options For Confronting The Iranian Regime, Christopher C. Donaldson, Dr. Bryan P. Schwartz

Christopher C Donaldson

The Iranian regime is threatening Israel and the West. Governments are growing increasingly frustrated with this regime. There are six options to approach this regime – diplomatically, economically and militarily, each in a positive and negative way. This article reviews these six options with regard to the Iranian regime and recommends a course of action that is likely to bring an end to the confrontation.

Consumer Assent To Standard Form Contracts And The Voting Analogy, Wayne Barnes

Wayne Barnes

Standard form contract are ubiquitous, whether signed in the real world or clicked in the online world. Consumers are constantly entering into standard form contracts with the merchants they transact with in order to buy goods or services. Consumers, however, are usually aware of only the basic terms in the form like price, subject matter, and quantity. Consumers otherwise rarely read the form contracts that they sign. However, traditional contract law and the duty to read provide that the consumer is bound to all the terms contained in the form contract, both the known terms and the unread and unknown …

No Reparations Without Taxation, Carlton Waterhouse, Andre Smith

Carlton Waterhouse

ABSTRACT In the article, Professors Andre Smith and Carlton Waterhouse explore the interesting and rich relationship between reparations and the tax law scholarship. Employing a rich dialogical style, the authors move fluidly between the theoretical and practical aspects of both reparations and tax law in a way that brings both areas of research together. Beyond the slavery reparations tax scams of the earlier part of the decade, the authors reveal an intriguing and important relationship between reparations and the United States tax code previously unexplored. The authors accomplish this in two distinct ways. They begin with an examination of reparations …

Rules And Tools Of Nonprofit Lobbying, Sharon Wilson

Sharon Wilson

Abstract: This article focuses primarily on the federal tax law restrictions on lobbying and political campaign activities of 501( c)(3) organizations. A brief history of the restrictions on lobbying is followed by an instructional guide for nonprofit organizations and attorneys seeking to advise nonprofits about permissible conduct in this arena. Opportunities for greater political involvement through use of sec 501(h), sec 501©(4) and other strategies that have been deemed permissible by the Internal Revenue Service are explored. An examination of the IRS’s questionable annual examination process for nonprofits is explored.

Impeach Brent Benjamin Now!? Giving Adequate Attention To Failings Of Judicial Impartiality, Jeffrey W. Stempel

Jeffrey W Stempel

In Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Co., Inc., 129 S. Ct. 2252 (2009), the Supreme Court by a 5-4 vote vacated and remanded a decision of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals in which Justice Brent Benjamin cast the deciding vote in favor of Massey, a company run by Don Blankenship, who had provided $3 million in support to Benjamin during his 2004 election campaign.

Despite the unsavory taste of the entire episode, the Court was excessively careful not to criticize Justice Benjamin. Overlooked because of this undue judicial civility and controversy about the constitutional aspects of the decision …

Legalizing Marijuana: California's Pot Of Gold?, Michael Vitiello

Michael Vitiello

Legalizing Marijuana: California’s Post of Gold? Abstract: In early 2009, a member of the California Assembly put a bill in the hopper that would have legalized marijuana in an effort to raise tax revenue and to reduce prison costs. While the bill’s proponent withdrew the bill, he vowed to renew his efforts in the next term. Other prominent California officials, including Governor Schwarzenegger, have indicated their willingness to study legalization in light of California’s budget shortfall. For the first time in over thirty years, politicians are giving serious consideration to a proposal to legalize marijuana. But already, the public debate …

Beyond I-Got-Mine-Jack Health Care, Erin Ryan

Erin Ryan

This op-ed urges those who warn that health care reform will lead to rationing not to forsake the victims of the rationing we already have, with a personal story.

The Illegal Actions Of The Federal Reserve: An Analysis Of How The Nation’S Central Bank Has Acted Outside The Law In Responding To The Current Financial Crisis, Chad Emerson

Chad Emerson

Abstract

The Illegal Actions of the Federal Reserve:

An Analysis of How the Nation’s Central Bank Has Acted Outside the Law in Responding to the Current Financial Crisis

In the Spring of 2008, the United States Federal Reserve Bank, under the Chairmanship of Ben Bernanke, took emergency measures in an attempt to forestall a national, if not international, economic meltdown. The actual effectiveness of these unprecedented measures has been hotly-debated. Unfortunately, regardless of their efficacy, the Federal Reserve acted outside the scope of its legal authority in taking several of these actions.

This essay will analyze how the Federal Reserve …

Dissecting The Anatomy Of Fraudulent Elections In Africa: Proposals For Reforming Nigeria's Electoral Process, Okechukwu Oko

Okechukwu Oko

Abstract Africans, like their counter parts in established democracies, have long recognized elections as the means for citizens to elect their leaders. They also recognize that conducting credible, free and fair elections remains Africa’s direct, perhaps only route to democratic consolidation. The problem, however, is that the utility of elections in a constitutional democracy rests on several pillars, all of which are shaky in Africa. This paper examines the conundrum of conducting elections amid chaos and uncertainty resulting from environmental factors and the attitude of political elites toward the electoral process. Elections in Nigeria will continue to be conducted under …

Improvement On The Commission?: The Un Human Rights Council’S Inaction On Darfur, Rosa A. Freedman

Rosa A Freedman

The UN Human Rights Council was established in 2006 to overcome the perceived politicisation of its predecessor, the UN Human Rights Commission. This article provides initial observations of its work, based on heretofore unpublished accounts of its proceedings. Using the example of Council inaction on Darfur, evidence is examined to confirm initial fears that the Council would fail to avoid the politicisation that had undermined the Commission. A major cause of the Council’s inaction on Darfur was the collective determination of politically allied states to shift attention away from Sudan and to weaken any resolution that might be passed. This …

The United States And The Un Human Rights Council: An Early Assessment., Rosa A. Freedman

Rosa A Freedman

The United States assumed membership of the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2009. That move reversed its decision, taken only a few months earlier under George W. Bush, to withdraw America’s official observer mission. President Obama’s new openness may suggest a fresh start to American foreign policy, but the US has not altered its basic objections to the Council’s procedures and decisions. Failures of the Council’s predecessor, the Human Rights Commission, had been attributed to politicisation and bias. Since the Commission’s dissolution, the US had warned against a repeat of the Commission’s failures. Disgruntled that those warnings were ignored, …

A Civic Critique Of Democracy: Civic Organizing As The Generating Force Of A Civic Concept Of Law, Palma Joy Strand

palma joy strand

A Civic Critique of Democracy: Civic Organizing as the Generating Force of a Civic Concept of Law Palma Joy Strand ABSTRACT Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s controversial “wise Latina” comment embodies the view that law is socially constructed—that “we” make it and that it thus may vary according to who “we” are. Current theories of “popular constitutionalism,” “democratic constitutionalism,” and “demosprudence” take this several steps further and begin to explore the idea that the “we” that makes constitutional law is not just judges but society more broadly. These theories matter because they envision an active role for citizens in law creation, but …

Bottom-Up: An Alternative Approach For Investigating Corporate Malfeasance, Susan B. Schwab

Susan B. Heyman

At least since the Enron scandal, the government has focused intensive efforts on developing a strategy to investigate and prosecute corporate malfeasance. The prevailing method has been a “top-down” approach: government agents provide companies with incentives to conduct internal investigations, coerce employee cooperation, and disclose privileged information. Although many have expressed concern about violations of constitutional rights and erosions of privilege, the current system faces another critical problem: the top-down strategy will become less effective at unraveling corporate fraud as employees learn that it is not in their interest to cooperate. Further, the approach aims deterrence at the wrong people …

Judging In Bad Faith, Eric J. Miller

Eric J. Miller

Must judges apply the law “sincerely” or “in good faith?” H.L.A Hart famously argued that, if legal officials are to require conformity to the law from its subjects, they must accept the law as valid. Hart, however, stopped short of demanding that the personal motivations of legal officials match their public utterances.

In this article, I argue that a judge may be motivated to decide cases for reasons that have nothing to do with the law. Accordingly, the law is systematically de-centered from her calculation of how to decide. Legal norms operate only to constrain or justify her independently motivated …

Lessons For Social Scientists And Politicians: An Analysis Of Welfare Reform, Jasmin Sethi

Jasmin Sethi

Despite soaring unemployment and the worst economic crisis in decades, 18 states cut their welfare rolls last year, and nationally the number of people receiving cash assistance remained at or near the lowest in more than 40 years. Escalating unemployment coupled with the impending expiration of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) in 2010, will bring renewed attention to welfare reform. This Article examines the effects of President Clinton’s Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 and in particular, evaluates how social science interacted with politics to culminate in the enactment of the PRWORA. It explicates several …

Lessons For Social Scientists And Politicians: An Analysis Of Welfare Reform, Jasmin Sethi

Jasmin Sethi

Despite soaring unemployment and the worst economic crisis in decades, 18 states cut their welfare rolls last year, and nationally the number of people receiving cash assistance remained at or near the lowest in more than 40 years. Escalating unemployment coupled with the impending expiration of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) in 2010, will bring renewed attention to welfare reform. This Article examines the effects of President Clinton’s Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 and in particular, evaluates how social science interacted with politics to culminate in the enactment of the PRWORA. It explicates several …

Bentham & Ballots: Tradeoffs Between Secrecy And Accountability In How We Vote, Allison Hayward

Allison Hayward

The way a group, jurisdiction, or nation votes, and makes decisions binding on their members and citizens, is fundamental and deceptively prosaic. Why do some groups (faculties, Congress, caucuses, HOAs) take public votes in most contexts, accompanied by debate, sometimes heated. Why do others (electorates, labor unions) take private votes (often by ballot cast in a secure setting where “heated debate” is not allowed) in most contexts? Moreover, what should we make of the exceptions to these general forms? This Article will demonstrate that the hybrid mode of voting – non-debated yet non-secret voting such as in contemporary absentee balloting, …

The History Of Wisconsin’S Alcohol Laws: A Drunk Culture Or Lobbyists Drunk With Power?, Mark Gaber

Mark Gaber

Wisconsin leads the nation in a bevy of alcohol consumption statistics—from binge drinking to admitted drunk drivers to liquor licenses—and has among the most lenient alcohol laws in the nation as well. It is the only state that does not criminalize the first offense of drunk driving, one of a handful that does not permit drunk driving checkpoints, and the only state where children can be served alcohol at bars with the consent of their parents. Many point to the state’s German heritage to explain its affinity for alcohol. While this might explain the genesis of the state’s drinking culture, …

Prioritizing Justice: Combating Corporate Crime From Task Force To Top Priority, Mary K. Ramirez

mary k ramirez

Inadequate law enforcement against corporate criminals appears to have created perverse incentives leading to an economic crisis – this time in the context of the subprime mortgage crisis. Prioritizing Justice proposes institutional reform at the Department of Justice in pursuing corporate crime. Presently, corporate crime is pursued nationally primarily through the DOJ Corporate Fraud Task Force and other task forces, the DOJ Criminal Division Fraud Section, and the individual U.S. Attorney’s Offices. Rather than a collection of ad hoc task forces that seek to coordinate policy among a vast array of offices and agencies, the relentless waves of corporate criminality …

Sin Taxes: When The State Becomes The Sinner, Andrew J. Haile

Andrew J. Haile

SIN TAXES: WHEN THE STATE BECOMES THE SINNER

ANDREW J. HAILE

To fill budget gaps, several state legislatures have proposed increasing existing taxes on tobacco and alcohol products. In addition, some states (as well as the federal government) are considering the enactment of new “sin taxes,” for example taxes on high-sugar drinks and internet pornography. This Article examines many of the traditional arguments for and against sin taxes. It then focuses on an argument that has previously received little attention – the conflict of interest created by a state’s dependence on sin tax revenues. When states become dependent on sin …

Case Studies In Abandoned Empiricism And The Lack Of Peer Review, Rob M. Frieden

Rob Frieden

In far too many instances, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) engages in results-driven decision making that accrues political dividends at the expense of the public interest. Remarkably, the Commission has used questionable and unverifiable statistics to confirm both the need for greater regulation, but also its abandonment. In the former, a former Chairman of the FCC insisted that data, not even compiled by Commission staff, proved that the cable television market had become so concentrated as to meet a Congressionally legislated trigger for heightened regulatory scrutiny. But in the latter, the FCC has used its statistics to support the conclusion …

The Rights Question, Bruce A. Antkowiak

Bruce A Antkowiak

The problem this article addresses will be well known to anyone who has taught or taken a course in Constitutional Law in the last three decades. When the subject turns to the related issues of selective incorporation, substantive due process and the proper interpretation of the Ninth Amendment, teachers of Constitutional Law cringe at the prospect of trying to explain sensibly what the Supreme Court itself has come to acknowledge is a most baffling conundrum: what are “rights,” where do they come from, are there more to be identified in the Constitutional universe, who is equipped to find them, and …

The Upside Of Intellectual Property's Downside, James Gibson

James Gibson

Intellectual property law exists because exclusive private rights provide an incentive to innovate. This is the traditional upside of intellectual property: the production of valuable information goods that society would otherwise never see. In turn, too much intellectual property protection is typically viewed as counterproductive, as too much control in the hands of private rightsholders creates more artificial scarcity and imposes more costs on future innovators than the incentive effect warrants. This is the traditional downside of intellectual property: reduced production and impeded innovation. This article turns the traditional discussion on its head and shows that intellectual property's putative costs …

The Upside Of Intellectual Property's Downside, James Gibson

James Gibson

Intellectual property law exists because exclusive private rights provide an incentive to innovate. This is the traditional upside of intellectual property: the production of valuable information goods that society would otherwise never see. In turn, too much intellectual property protection is typically viewed as counterproductive, as too much control in the hands of private rightsholders creates more artificial scarcity and imposes more costs on future innovators than the incentive effect warrants. This is the traditional downside of intellectual property: reduced production and impeded innovation. This article turns the traditional discussion on its head and shows that intellectual property's putative costs …

The Upside Of Intellectual Property's Downside, James Gibson

James Gibson

Intellectual property law exists because exclusive private rights provide an incentive to innovate. This is the traditional upside of intellectual property: the production of valuable information goods that society would otherwise never see. In turn, too much intellectual property protection is typically viewed as counterproductive, as too much control in the hands of private rightsholders creates more artificial scarcity and imposes more costs on future innovators than the incentive effect warrants. This is the traditional downside of intellectual property: reduced production and impeded innovation. This article turns the traditional discussion on its head and shows that intellectual property's putative costs …

The Upside Of Intellectual Property's Downside, James Gibson

James Gibson

Intellectual property law exists because exclusive private rights provide an incentive to innovate. This is the traditional upside of intellectual property: the production of valuable information goods that society would otherwise never see. In turn, too much intellectual property protection is typically viewed as counterproductive, as too much control in the hands of private rightsholders creates more artificial scarcity and imposes more costs on future innovators than the incentive effect warrants. This is the traditional downside of intellectual property: reduced production and impeded innovation. This article turns the traditional discussion on its head and shows that intellectual property's putative costs …

The Upside Of Intellectual Property's Downside, James Gibson

James Gibson

Intellectual property law exists because exclusive private rights provide an incentive to innovate. This is the traditional upside of intellectual property: the production of valuable information goods that society would otherwise never see. In turn, too much intellectual property protection is typically viewed as counterproductive, as too much control in the hands of private rightsholders creates more artificial scarcity and imposes more costs on future innovators than the incentive effect warrants. This is the traditional downside of intellectual property: reduced production and impeded innovation. This article turns the traditional discussion on its head and shows that intellectual property's putative costs …