Law Commons^™

Moving Toward A Competency Based Model For Fostering Law Students’ Relational Skills, Susan L. Brooks, Marjorie A. Silver, Sarah Fishel, Kellie Wiltsie

Scholarly Works

Legal education has long been criticized for failing to provide adequate professional training to prepare graduates for legal practice realities. Many sources have lamented the lack of sufficient attention to the range of competencies necessary for law graduates to be effective practitioners and develop a positive professional identity, including those that are intra-personal, such as self-awareness, critical self-reflection, and self-directedness; those that are interpersonal, such as deep and reflective listening, empathy, compassion, cross-cultural communication, and dialogue; and those that engage with the social/systemic dimension of lawyering, such as appreciating the role of multiple identities, implicit bias, privilege and power, and …

Safeguarding The Public: Why Workers’ Rights Education Should Be Required Learning For Nurses, Esperanza N. Sanchez

Touro Law Review

Nurses are integral to the delivery of quality health care in this country. They set aside their own needs and fears to provide care and other social services to people across a multitude of settings, taking on the burdens and stresses of others. However, our profit-driven health care system incentivizes employers to maximize productivity at reduced costs by asking nurses to do more with less. Nurses are expected to endure harsh working conditions, proven to be harmful to the nurses’ health and well-being, despite evidence showing that poor working conditions can lead to poor patient outcomes.

There are numerous worker …

Blurring The Line Between Student And Employee: Exploitation Of For-Profit College Students, Michele Abatangelo

Touro Law Review

For decades, for-profit colleges throughout the United States have exploited their students through a predatory business model. In February 2022, the Education Department approved $415 million in borrower defense claims for nearly 16,000 students who attended for-profit schools finding that these schools misrepresented post-graduation employment prospects. For-profit colleges also use manipulative recruitment tactics such as targeted advertising of low-income and minority students and providing false information to prospective students about loan repayment obligations post-graduation. Some for-profit institutions also rely on student labor in their facilities rather than hiring paid employees. This review discusses why it is imperative that courts scrutinize …

There’S No “Gender” In Team: Developing State Policies For The Inclusion Of The Transgender Interscholastic Athlete, Brianna Weppler

Touro Law Review

The transgender athlete is a relatively new concept challenging the norm of gender division in sports. Multiple states across the United States have yet to update their policies to include the transgender athlete in interscholastic athletics. State policies that do include transgender student athletes are currently being challenged on the grounds that they violate Title IX of the Educational Amendments to the 1964 Civil Rights Act. This review considers the different state policies dictating the inclusion of transgender student athletes in school sports. After evaluating the impact of omitting transgender students from participating on sports teams, this review maintains that …

Masthead

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Lawyers Justice Corps: A Licensing Pathway To Enhance Access To Justice, Eileen Kaufman

Scholarly Works

The idea for establishing a Lawyers Justice Corps emerged out of efforts to solve a problem: how to license lawyers at a time when COVID-19 had expanded the need for new lawyers while also making an in-person bar exam dangerous, if not impossible. We-the Collaboratory on Legal Education and Licensing for Practice'-proposed the Lawyers Justice Corps to provide a different and better way of certifying minimum competence for new attorneys while at the same time helping to create a new generation of lawyers equipped to address a wide range of social justice, racial justice, and criminal justice issues. When implemented, …

Land Costs And New Housing, Michael Lewyn

Scholarly Works

Restrictive zoning limits housing supply, which (according to the law of supply and demand) increases housing costs. But some commentators argue that more permissive zoning would actually increase housing costs by increasing land costs. This article points out that if the latter claim was true, land costs would have risen in places that allowed lots of new housing and fallen in more restrictive regions such as San Francisco. In fact, land costs increased in both types of metro areas. More importantly, overall housing costs increased more rapidly in more restrictive metros.

Masthead

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Americans With Disabilities Act Amendments Act: What About Reasonable Accommodation? Where Are We Now?, Teressa Elliott, Kathleen A. Carnes

Touro Law Review

The Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (“ADAAA”) was passed in 2008 and became effective on January 1, 2009. There are issues regarding reasonable accommodation that have arisen in connection with this Act. This article first explains what changes were made to the ADA’s employment-related provisions with the ADAAA and also explains the relevant U.S. Supreme Court cases that led to passage of the ADAAA. Reasonable accommodation under the Act and reasonable accommodation cases are then discussed as well as the U.S. Airways v. Barnett case. We then end with ways to interpret these cases for guidance and the conclusion …

Modification Requests In Community Associations: Do We Know What’S Reasonable?, Beth M. Gazes

Touro Law Review

The Fair Housing Act (“FHA”) as well as the New York State Human Rights Law (“HRL”) provide, inter alia, that qualifying individuals shall be granted reasonable modifications or accommodations to afford such individuals either full enjoyment of the premises or an equal opportunity to enjoy their dwelling, respectively. Both laws likely extend to common areas of the development but arrive at this protection in different ways. Namely, through the FHA’s implementing rules (“Rules”) and with guidance from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”), courts have easily interpreted the FHA to extend to common areas but stop short …

Denial Of Housing To African Americans: Post-Slavery Reflections From A Civil Rights Advocate, Elaine Gross

Touro Law Review

In this article, I draw on two decades of experience as a civil rights advocate to reflect on the denial of housing to African Americans in post-slavery America. I do so as Founder and President of the civil rights organization, ERASE Racism. I undertake historical research and share insights from my own experience to create and reflect upon six lessons related to understanding the systematic discrimination and segregation of African Americans. The lessons encompass: (1) the role of the federal government, (2) the role of municipal governments, (3) White supremacy ideation and actions, (4) legislative advocacy and legal actions, (5) …

Recent Case Law, Disparate Impact, And Restrictive Zoning, Michael Lewyn

Touro Law Review

The Fair Housing Act (“FHA”) prohibits housing discrimination, including the refusal to sell or rent housing based on race, color, religion, sex, familial status or national origin,and any policy or conduct that “otherwise make[s] unavailable or den[ies], a dwelling [based on these impermissible factors].”In 2015, the Supreme Court interpreted the “otherwise make unavailable” language of the Act to mean that the FHA includes not only claims for intentional discrimination, but also claims for disparate impact. Under the disparate impact doctrine, a defendant may be liable for facially neutral rules or policies that disproportionately favor one racial group over another.

Zoning …

Monasky’S Totality Of Circumstances Is Vague – The Child’S Perspective Should Be The Main Test, Sabrina Salvi

Touro Law Review

After decades of confusion, the Supreme Court ruled on child custody in an international setting in Monasky v. Taglieri, by attempting to establish the definition of a child’s “habitual residence.” The Court held that a child’s “residence in a particular country can be deemed ‘habitual, however, only when her residence there is more than transitory.’” Further, the Court stated that, ‘“[h]abitual’ implies customary, usual, of the nature of a habit.”’ However, the Supreme Court’s ruling remains unclear. The 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (“HCCAICA” or “The Hague Convention”), which is adopted in ninety-eight …

Banning Abortions Based On A Prenatal Diagnosis Of Down Syndrome: The Future Of Abortion Regulation, Alexandra Russo

Touro Law Review

Since the infamous Supreme Court decision, Roe v. Wade, the United States has remained divided, each side unyielding to the other regarding the legal and moral issues surrounding abortion. The issues surrounding abortion have become progressively more politicized, thus threatening a woman’s right to a safe and healthy termination of her pregnancy. Restrictions on a woman’s ability to terminate a child with a genetic disorder, such as Down syndrome, highlight this concern. State restrictions on abortion that prohibit abortions based on a diagnosis of Down syndrome seek to prevent the stigmatization of the Down syndrome community. Regulations, such as …

Robert Cover And International Law—Narrative Nudges And Nomadic Nomos, Larry Catá Backer

Touro Law Review

What was once understood as a unified field of international law, emerging from the state system and centered on the rationalization of the relations among public authorities has fractured. What had been the expression of a unified narrative of the organization of human society around the allocation of political authority now searches for new bases for authority as states become market actors, market actors assume governmental authority, markets define the territories within which law is made and applied, and the normative proscriptions of traditional law are quantified and data driven. This essay considers the way that Robert Cover’s insights on …

When Interpretive Communities Clash On Immigration Law: The Courts’ Mediating Role In Noncitizens’ Rights And Remedies, Peter Margulies

Touro Law Review

Immigration law gains clarity through the lens of Robert Cover's compelling work on law as a "system of meaning." Cover's vision inspires us to consider immigration law as a contest between two interpretive communities: acolytes of the protective approach, which sees law as a haven for noncitizens fleeing harm in their home countries, and followers of the regulatory approach, which stresses sovereignty and strict adherence to legal categories. Immigration law's contest between contending camps need not be a zero-sum game. As Cover and Alex Aleinikoff observed in their classic article on habeas corpus, a legal remedy can also be a …

Masthead

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Aging, Health, Equity, And The Law: Foreword, Joan C. Foley

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Fat Rights, Public Health Oppression And Prejudice, And The “Obesity Epidemic”, Nicholas D. Lawson

Touro Law Review

The pervasiveness, frequency, and intensity of fat shaming, bullying, and harassment experienced by fat people is well-documented, and three quarters of the American public support antidiscrimination protections for fat people. Yet fat people generally remain unprotected from discrimination under federal and state law in all but two jurisdictions. This Article traces these problems to the agendas of public health leaders, organizations (the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization), and associated industries, which are fighting an “obesity epidemic.” It describes some of their fat-shaming strategies and persistent public-health-crisis framings, as well as sensationalized presentations of research …

End Of Life, Elder Abuse, And Guardianship: An Exploration Of New York’S Surrogate Decision-Making Framework, Tristan Sullivan-Wilson, Esq., Deirdre Lok, Esq., Joy Solomon, Esq.

Touro Law Review

The best end of life care is always that which aligns with the wishes and values of the incapacitated person. For individuals with the capacity to execute advance directives, these documents and conversations with appointed surrogates are the clearest way to make care values known. However, the time, access, and ability to engage in advance planning is not an opportunity equally afforded.For those without advance directives and now involved in a guardianship proceeding, the party petitioning or otherwise involved in the case should consider addressing end of life decision-making directly in the guardianship hearing when major medical decision-making power may …

Balancing Clashing Scholars’ Academic Freedoms, Sharona Aharoni-Goldenberg, Gerry Leisman

Touro Law Review

The paper analyzes the scope of scholars’ academic freedom and maintains that it is composed of two pillars. First, inclusion, which is subject to capacity, equality, and the provision of a pro-educational academic environment. Second, academic expression, which refers to teaching and research, freedom of opinion, political participation outside academia and freedom to receive academic materials. Scholars’ academic freedom is limited by professional standards and is subject to the respect of the rights of fellow scholars.

The paper argues that scholars’ academic freedom is not confined to a scholar-state relation but is also relevant to scholar-scholar relations. Hence, scholars’ academic …

Is Extraterritoriality The Golden Ticket Out Of Corporate Liability? How The Modern-Day Willy Wonka’S Chocolate Factory Evaded Liability Under The Alien Tort Statute In Nestlé V. Doe, Alyaa Chace

Touro Law Review

The Alien Tort Statute (“ATS”) was drafted as part of the Judiciary Act of 1789. It was intended to provide federal courts with the jurisdiction to hear civil actions brought by foreign plaintiffs for torts committed in violation of the law of nations or other United States treaty. After a two-hundred-year dormancy period, the Statute has since been revived and become a vehicle by which foreign plaintiffs seek redress for environmental and human rights offenses carried out on foreign soil, often at the hands of United States corporations. However, the Supreme Court continues to limit the reach of the Statute, …

Roadmap To Reconciliation: An Institutional And Conceptual Framework For Jewish-Muslim Engagement, J. R. Rothstein, Esq., Shlomo Pill, Ariel J. Liberman, Esq.

Touro Law Review

This paper calls for the establishment of a comprehensive academic and theological center to be created and located at a prestigious secular university in the United States. As the first of its kind in North America, it should be affiliated with both American Muslim and Jewish institutions. Modeled on similar Jewish-Christian centers, its mission will be to foster both a neutral ground for dialogue and the development of a theology of Jewish-Muslim coexistence.

Baby, We Were Born This Way: The Case For Making Sexual Orientation A Suspect Classification Under The Equal Protection Clause Of The Fourteenth Amendment, Jennifer R. Covais

Touro Law Review

Currently, the Equal Protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution provides minimal constitutional safeguards against discrimination based on sexual orientation. Laws that treat queer Americans differently than their straight counterparts are presumptively constitutional if those laws bear a rational relationship to any legitimate government interest. Consequently, states may limit same-goods and services of certain businesses, and qualify for government programs. The Supreme Court established enhanced equal protection guarantees for classifications based on race, ethnicity, and national origin which are deemed suspect classifications. These classifications will only survive judicial review if the government proves the law is necessary …

How Covid-19 Put The Spotlight On The Emtala, Ikra Kafayat

Touro Law Review

There was a time when those that were unable to afford medical care risked being denied treatment in emergency situations. Before Congress passed Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA), patients were being transferred to different hospitals, without being screened, because they did not have insurance and could not afford the treatment. Hospitals are no longer allowed to transport patients without properly screening and stabilizing them. Patients can bring a suit against a hospital if they believe the hospital violated EMTALA, however, in certain circuits the patient will need to prove that hospital had an “improper motive” for failing to …

This Is Your Captain Speaking, Please Remain Physically Restrained While The Robbery Is In Progress, Conner J. Purcell

Touro Law Review

This note analyzes the current circuit split over the application of the “Physical Restraint” sentence enhancement as applied to the crime of robbery. In the first camp, the circuit courts apply a broad or constructive meaning of physical restraint: allowing words or demands with the use of a firearm to trigger the enhancement. In many cases, the courts focus on the victim’s reaction to the perpetrator rather than the perpetrator’s actual conduct, suggesting psychological restraint rather than physical restraint. In the second camp, the circuit courts apply a plain meaning interpretation of physical restraint. These cases routinely find that the …

Theft, Extortion, And The Constitution: Land Use Practice Needs An Ethical Infusion, Michael M. Berger

Touro Law Review

There are many ways in which property owners/developers interact with regulators. To the extent that texts and articles deal with the ethical duties of the regulators, they tend to focus on things like conflicts of interest. But there is more. This article will examine numerous other ways in which regulators may run afoul of ethical practice in dealing with those whom they regulate

Multiple Choice: How Instant Runoff Voting Improves Redistricting Under The Voting Rights Act, Aviel Menter, C.D. Alexander Evans

Touro Law Review

As currently interpreted, Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (“VRA”) can be a double-edged sword for minority representation. Although it gives protected minority groups their own majority/minority districts, this can dilute minority influence in other districts. Recently, however, many jurisdictions have begun to adopt Instant Runoff Voting (“IRV”), a ranked-choice voting system where voters rank multiple candidates in order of preference. By letting voters express support for multiple candidates, IRV provides useful information about the behavior of minority groups that courts can use when enforcing the VRA. Specifically, ranked-choice voting systems can better show when a winning candidate supported …