Law Commons^™

Japanese Corporate Governance Reform: A Comparative Perspective, Bruce E. Aronson

UC Law Business Journal

Japan has been widely criticized as being slow to reform a corporate governance system that seemingly remains fixed on the interests of employees over shareholdersand unresponsive to recent global trends such as the spreadof fidependent directors.This article seeks to present a more nuancedand balanced view of the ongoing evolution of Japanese corporate governance.

This article discusses how analysis of Japanese corporate governance is hamperedby the lackofboth anagreed-uponstandard for evaluating change in Japan and data concerning important governancepractices,such as the actualrole of company auditors (kansayaku). The main focus, however, is on describing and evaluating experimentation at leading individual Japanese companies that …

The Long Tail And Demand Creation In The Legal Marketplace, Kristen E. Killian

UC Law Business Journal

This note examines new legal technology companies that are innovating transactional legal products, but not legal services. Legal Tech Innovation Companies (LTICs) represent an innovative leap in how companies that are not law firms provide legal products directly to a consumer. Although these companies are not yet disrupting the core of the legal marketplace, they are meaningfully lowering cost and increasing efficiency through both simplification and speed.

This note describes the type of legal consumers for whom LTICs are creating demand for their legal products and discusses several LTICs in greater detail. It further addresses policy considerations for the transactional …

A Software Patent War: The Effects Of Patent Trolls On Startup Companies, Innovation, And Entrepreneurship, Sonia Karakashian

UC Law Business Journal

This note analyzes the effects of patent trolls on startup companies and the issues that software patentability under 35 U.S.C. § 101 impose on this highly controversial area of intellectual property. This note elaborates on the current patent reforms as well as the common law struggles addressed in Supreme Court decisions. Further, it discusses the software patent war and the controversial issues raised in § 101 of the patent system followed by the issues of patentability and its effects on startup companies. Lastly, this note discusses short-term and long-term progress in the patent system, as well as address the current …

Goodwill And The Excesses Of Corporate Political Spending, David Rosenberg

UC Law Business Journal

This article argues that legislation that provide "special rules" is not necessary because the business judgment rule should not be interpreted to protect corporate directors' decisions to donate to political campaigns in the same way that it protects ordinary corporate charitable contributions or decisions based on CSR. The rule protects donations in the public interest even if they are profit- sacrificing because courts are not in a position to judge whether or not a particular act of giving is designed to maximize profits or is simply an acceptable act of charity with no obvious financial benefit to the corporation itself. …

Privacy: An Issue Of Priority, Stephanie Segovia

UC Law Business Journal

This note highlights the competing stakes in the online privacy debate. It provides an overview of the U.S. business model of companies that participate in data gathering and analysis, and why they do so (namely because of the emergence of Big Data technologies), and discusses examples of how online privacy has eroded in recent years, in turn highlighting the need for federal action. This note also discusses the current status quo of online privacy in America, and why current legislation is inadequate to address online privacy issues. It further includes a discussion of why the U.S. should let the new …

A Wander, Sebastian Milla

UC Law SF Journal on Gender and Justice

No abstract provided.

No Freedom In A Ship Of Fools: A Democratic Justification For The Common Core State Standards And Federal Involvement In K-12 Education, Neelam Takhar

UC Law SF Journal on Gender and Justice

One of the most important functions of the government is the provision of a free public education. While Brown v. Board of Education removed one obvious barrier to equal education opportunities—that of racially segregated education—it left in place another: the obstacle faced by poor school districts that wish to provide an education to their students on equal terms with the education offered by wealthier school districts. The disparities in the quality of education between districts and states are becoming more and more obvious as a growing obstacle to equity. The new Common Core State Standards, which are a single set …

After The Hurricane: The Legacy Of The Rubin Carter Case, Judith L. Ritter

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

Rubin "Hurricane" Carter died in the spring of 2014 at the age of seventy-six. He was a top middleweight boxing contender in the early 1960s, twice convicted of a triple homicide, but then freed by a federal court in 1985 after he served nineteen years in prison. This Article recalls his life, the homicide trials, and the constitutional issues that led to his release. The Article makes the point that had Rubin Carter's federal habeas corpus petition been adjudicated under current law, he would have remained behind bars. Congress enacted the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act in 1996. The …

Can Local Governments Provide Protection To Vulnerable Communities In California A State Which Has Legalized Predatory Payday Lending And Failed To Pass Reform, Krista R. Granen

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

The payday lending industry provides small dollar loans to persons across the United States. Although their product is marketed as temporary, the majority of borrowers cannot repay the underlying amount and exorbitant interest rates within the deceptively advertised time period. As a result, most borrowers remain indebted to payday lenders for approximately half of the year and must forgo basic necessities in order to extricate themselves from payday debt. This Note seeks to clarify the mechanics of payday lending, provide the surrounding historical and legal context, and explain the industry's especially negative impact on low-income and minority communities in California. …

Effectively Implementing Civilian Oversight Boards To Ensure Police Accountability And Strengthen Police-Community Relations, Kevin King

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

The recent killings of Michael Brown and Eric Garner have reignited the debate over curbing police misconduct. Due to United States Supreme Court jurisprudence and the quality of internal affairs investigations there continues to be a void in police oversight. Local governments are often reactive, instead of proactive, when implementing strategies for overseeing police misconduct. On several occasions civilian oversight boards have only formed in reaction to tragic death. When implemented effectively, civilian oversight boards can both help create just police practices and better the civilian complaint process. Unfortunately, some of these boards fail to develop into more than symbols …

Ferguson To Geneva: Using The Human Rights Framework To Push Forward A Vision For Racial Justice In The United States After Ferguson, Justin Hansford, Meena Jagannath

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

As demonstrations under the banner of #BlackLivesMatter continue to erupt around the United States against state-sponsored violence, and as state, local, and federal officials continue to eschew fundamental social change, families and protesters have begun to explore alternative international forums in the search for justice. The Ferguson to Geneva delegation represents a significant event in this internationalist turn. The delegation, consisting of the parents of Mike Brown, Jr. and young Black leaders from Ferguson, chose to air their grievances before the United Nations Committee Against Torture in the fall of 2014. This article reproduces the delegation's "shadow report," which laid …

Talking Israel And Palestine On Campus: How The U.S. Department Of Education Can Uphold The Civil Rights Act And The First Amendment, Yaman Salahi, Nasrina Bargzie

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

A rise in scholarly discussion and campus activism about Israel and Palestine has prompted a wave of civil rights complaints that raise important legal questions under the First Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This Article reviews the U.S. Department of Education's handling of such complaints focused on traditional forms of constitutionally-protected expression, like nonviolent protest, academic panels, film screenings, pamphlets, and flyers. The Article rejects the central premise of these complaints: that students suffer from a hostile educational environment in violation of their civil rights when a particular country or government with which they …

How Police Brutality Harms Mothers: Linking Police Violence To The Reproductive Justice Movement, Arneta Rogers

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

The recent and highly publicized killing of Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old African American and the subsequent grand jury decision not to indict Darren Wilson, the Ferguson, Missouri police officer who killed him, evoked mass social protest, and highly emotional and politically charged social commentary on the racialized effects of police brutality. While the crisis of systemic police violence has historically centered on the harm inflicted on victims of police brutality and, more generally, on the communities where they are from, an agitated group of feminist scholars and reproductive justice advocates have offered a more nuanced appraisal of the harm …

Exonerated, But Not Free: The Prolonged Struggle For A Second Chance At A Stolen Life, Newton N. Knowles

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

It is impossible to imagine being accused of a crime you did not commit. Worse, it is even harder to imagine a jury sentencing you to death or to life in prison when you know you are innocent. Since the rise of DNA evidence, the criminal justice system has been stunned by the newly exposed cases of wrongful conviction. Sadly, in most cases innocent exonerees are released with nothing more than an apology, if even that. Postexoneration compensation varies drastically among the several states and reentry resources are even more scarce or unavailable. Each compensation scheme on its own, however, …

Equal Protection: Immigrants' Access To Healthcare And Welfare Benefits, Mel Cousins

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

The introduction of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 has led to considerable litigation on the rights of immigrants to healthcare and welfare benefits. There is significant divergence between the approaches adopted by different courts (both federal and state). This divergence is based, in part, on the different statutory schemes involved, as well as different approaches to Equal Protection. However, none of the cases have reached the United States Supreme Court, so the "correct" approach remains unclear. Following the fiscal crisis of 2008, several states moved for increased exclusion of certain immigrants, residing in the country …

Supporting Social Movements: A Brief Guide For Lawyers And Law Students, Jim Freeman

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

In recent years, there has been a surge in grassroots organizing and activism, creating new possibilities for advancing social, racial, gender, and economic justice. As a result, lawyers now have a rare opportunity to help create powerful and sustainable social movements by supporting, strengthening, and amplifying these on-the-ground efforts. However, there is a long history of would-be "movement lawyers" who have inadvertently undermined many promising grassroots-led initiatives. This article summarizes, from a practitioner's perspective, the essential elements of effective movement lawyering and how they can help to avoid the mistakes of the past and promote transformative social change.

Exporting The Hearsay Provisions Of The Federal Rules Of Evidence,, Roger C. Park

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Class Counsel As Litigation Funders, Morris A. Ratner

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Introduction: Changing Law For A Changing Climate, David Takacs

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Toward A More Perfect Union?: The Dangers Of Conflating Progress And Equality, Leo P. Martinez

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Hidden Life Of Andrew Taslitz, Frank H. Wu

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Merit-Based Sentencing Reductions: Moving Forward On Specifics, And Some Critique Of The New Model Penal Code, Rory Little

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Dynamic Surveillance: Evolving Procedures In Metadata And Foreign Content Collection After Snowden, Peter Margulies

UC Law Journal

This Article outlines a dynamic conception of national security surveillance that justifies programs disclosed by Edward Snowden but calls for greater transparency and accountability in the wake of Snowden’s revelations. The dynamic conception supports the legality of section 215 of the USA Patriot Act and section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (“FISA”), programs that received informed input from all three branches of government. Each program is part of a long democratic experiment in the integration of secrecy, deliberation, and strategic advantage that dates to the Constitution’s framing. Both programs reflect Congress’s concern that intelligence collection be sufficiently agile …

Thou Shalt Not Take The Name Of The Lord Thy God In Vain: Use And Abuse Of Religious Exemptions From School Immunization Requirements, Dorit Rubinstein Reiss

UC Law Journal

School immunization requirements are one way that states protect school age children against vaccine-preventable diseases. At present, forty-eight states allow parents to exempt their students from immunization requirements based on religious reasons, philosophical reasons, or either. This Article focuses on the religious exemption and makes three points. First, people lie to get a religious exemption. Second, U.S. jurisprudence makes preventing such abuse very hard. And third, because the religious exemption is so prone to abuse, we should remove it. The first part of the Article discusses the jurisprudence, and why our courts limit state officials’ ability to police abuse of …

Note – Rico’S Extraterritoriality After Morrison: Where Should We Go From Here?, Anneka Huntley

UC Law Journal

In 2010 the Supreme Court addressed the extraterritorial application of U.S. securities law in Morrison v. National Australia Bank Ltd., and held that U.S. laws could not be applied to stocks bought and sold on foreign markets. The holding also invalidated the “conduct and effects” test that lower courts had used to assess the extraterritoriality of securities laws, and mandated that courts look to a statute’s focus to determine if Congress intended the law to apply abroad. Prior to Morrison, courts had also used the conduct and effects test to assess the extraterritorial application of the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt …

Guns Don’T Kill People, 3d Printing Does? Why The Technology Is A Distraction From Effective Gun Controls, Rory K. Little

UC Law Journal

3D printing is technology that allows three-dimensional physical objects to be created by using a relatively small and inexpensive machine that looks much like a desktop paper printer. 3D printers have already been used to create guns and shotgun cartridges (but not ammunition), and the prospect that criminals will be able to “print” operational weapons at home has regulators in a tizzy. Some argue that 3D printing should be highly regulated to avoid such dangers. In this Essay invoking Bewitched as the theoretical example of instantaneous 3D printing, Professor Little argues that gun control advocates should focus primarily on regulating …

Fostering Transparency: A Preliminary Review Of “Policy” Governing Psychotropic Medications In Foster Care, Kathleen Noonan, Dorothy Miller

UC Law Journal

In light of increasing national attention on the high rates of prescribing psychotropic medication for children in foster care, and related new federal requirements for state reporting to the federal government, we analyzed child welfare agency laws, policies, and regulations in sixteen states. Our analysis revealed that states with monitoring policies in place tend to use informal guidance or underdeveloped policy statements that were likely not subject to public notice or comment, and afforded little, if any, opportunity for redress. This Article argues that, given the new federal requirements related to psychotropic medications and children in foster care, the state …

Paying For Water In California: The Legal Framework, Brian Gray, Dean Misczynski, Ellen Hanak, Andrew Fahlund, Jay Fahlund, David Mitchell, James Nachbaur

UC Law Journal

Over the past four decades, California voters passed a series of initiatives that amended the California Constitution to limit the power of the state legislature and local governments to enact taxes and restrict their authority to adopt fees and other charges to fund government programs. Three of these initiatives—Proposition 13 (enacted in 1978), Proposition 218 (passed in 1996), and Proposition 26 (approved in 2010)—have placed significant constraints on the funding of water resources projects. Although each of these laws has enhanced the transparency and accountability of the decision-making process, the funding constraints now jeopardize an array of vital water supply, …

Note – Return To “Reasonable” In Section 1983 Police Pursuit Excessive Force Litigation, Benjamin Buchwalter

UC Law Journal

Scott v. Harris set the standard that a police officer’s use of deadly force to terminate a high-speed chase is presumptively reasonable, even if it is likely to kill or seriously injure the suspect. The implications of this are troubling: twenty-eight percent of people killed in police pursuits each year are innocent bystanders, and vehicle accidents are the most common cause of police deaths. Scott was wrongly decided because it departed from the case-by-case reasonableness standard upon which the Supreme Court previously relied for excessive force cases, failed to consider the potential risk that these chases added to the public, …

Intellectual Property Infringements & 3d Printing: Decentralized Piracy, Ben Depoorter

UC Law Journal

By drastically reducing the role of intermediaries in manufacturing, 3D printing is likely to set about the next wave of decentralized, non-commercial infringements of intellectual property rights. Drawing upon the lessons from the entertainment industry’s litigation campaign against illegal file sharing, this paper describes some of the common characteristics of decentralized piracy. I show that, like copyright enforcement on file-sharing networks, intellectual property enforcement of 3D printing faces economic and social norm complications that make traditional, litigation based enforcement ineffective and possibly counterproductive.