Law Commons^™

Martii Koskenniemi On Human Rights: An Empirical Perspective, Eric A. Posner

Public Law and Legal Theory Working Papers

Martii Koskenniemi argues that human rights law is indeterminate, and that arguments based on human rights unavoidably reflect the policy preferences of the speaker. I connect this argument to empirical evidence of the failure of international human rights treaties to improve human rights in countries that have ratified them. I argue that many features of the human rights regime that are celebrated by lawyers—the large number of treaties, the vast number of rights, the large amount of institutionalization, and the involvement of NGOs—actually reflect the failure of the regime. Governments tolerate these developments because they add to the indeterminacy of …

Deference Mistakes, Jonathan Masur, Lisa Larrimore Ouellette

Coase-Sandor Institute for Law & Economics Research Paper Series

This Article begins with what should seem a relatively straightforward proposition: it is impossible to fully understand the holding of a case without understanding its “deference regime”—the standard of review or burden of proof that governs the case. If a court holds in the context of a habeas petition that a constitutional right was not “clearly established,” that does not mean that the court would hold that the right does not exist were it writing on a blank slate. If a court refuses to invalidate a granted patent, which is presumed valid and can only be held invalid upon a …

The Fannie And Freddie Bailouts Through The Corporate Lens, Adam Badawi, Anthony Casey

Coase-Sandor Institute for Law & Economics Research Paper Series

In August of 2012, the Department of Treasury redirected the profits of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac away from common shareholders and into the Treasury. Those shareholders have filed multiple lawsuits challenging this action. The complaints allege, among other claims, that the decision to wipe out equity violated the principles of corporate law. In this Essay — prepared for a symposium on the Future of Fannie and Freddie — we analyze that argument. We ask whether the shareholders of an ordinary public company could assert a similar claim under these circumstances. Those circumstances involve a lender of last resort converting …

The Futility Of Cost Benefit Analysis In Financial Disclosure Regulation, Omri Ben-Shahar, Carl E. Schneider

Coase-Sandor Institute for Law & Economics Research Paper Series

No abstract provided.

Does The Logic Of Collective Action Explain Federalism Doctrine?, Aziz Huq

Articles

No abstract provided.

Reconceptualizing Corporate Boards, M. Todd Henderson, Stephen Bainbridge

Articles

No abstract provided.

Why Do Countries Adopt Constitutional Review?, Tom Ginsburg, Mila Versteeg

Articles

No abstract provided.

Addressing Minority Vote Dilution Through State Voting Rights Acts, Paige A. Epstein

Public Law and Legal Theory Working Papers

No abstract provided.

Terrible Tools For Prosecutors: Notes On Senator Leahy's Proposal To 'Fix' Skilling V. United States, Albert W. Alschuler

Public Law and Legal Theory Working Papers

This article examines a proposed legislative response to Skilling v. United States, a response approved by the Senate but never voted on by the House. It argues that federal mail fraud prosecutions disgrace American criminal justice and that amending the

Libertarian Separation Of Powers, Aziz Huq

Public Law and Legal Theory Working Papers

The Constitution’s distribution of power among three branches of the federal government is valued because it aims to produce some bundle of valuable social or public goods such as democracy, rights, or welfare. This essay examines the interaction between constitutional structure and those goods a libertarian might pursue. Analyzing the options for both a constitutional designer and a constitutional interpreter, it suggests that first-order preferences over liberty fail to translate into structural design maxims in any mechanical or predictable way.

Preface To The Paperback Edition Of Why Tolerate Religion?, Brian Leiter

Public Law and Legal Theory Working Papers

No abstract provided.

Offsetting Benefits, Eric A. Posner, Ariel Porat

Coase-Sandor Institute for Law & Economics Research Paper Series

There are numerous areas of the law in which the victim of a wrongdoing has the right to obtain damages that compensate her for harm. When the wrongdoing also creates a benefit—either for the same victim or for a third party—a question arises as to whethe

Sub-Regulating Elections, Jennifer Nou

Public Law and Legal Theory Working Papers

No abstract provided.

Voting Squared: Quadratic Voting In Democratic Politics, Eric A. Posner, E. Glen Weyl

Coase-Sandor Institute for Law & Economics Research Paper Series

Conventional democratic institutions aggregate preferences poorly. The norm of one-person-one-vote with majority rule treats people fairly by giving everyone an equal chance to influence outcomes, but fails to give proportional weight to people whose inte

Nietzsche, Naturalism And Normativity (Reviewing Christopher Janaway And Simon Robertson (Eds.), Nietzsche, Naturalism And Normativity (2012)), Brian Leiter

Articles

No abstract provided.

Coasean Bargaining In Consumer Bankruptcy, Edward Morrison

Kreisman Working Paper Series in Housing Law and Policy

No abstract provided.

Foreclosures, House Prices, And The Real Economy, Atif Mian, Amir Sufi, Francesco Trebbi

Kreisman Working Paper Series in Housing Law and Policy

States without a judicial requirement for foreclosures are twice as likely to foreclose on delinquent homeowners. Comparing zip codes close to state borders with differing foreclosure laws, we show that foreclosure propensity and housing inventory jump discretely as one enters non-judicial states. There is no jump in other homeowner attributes such as credit scores, income, or education levels. The increase in foreclosure rates in non-judicial states persists for at least five years. Using the judicial / non-judicial law as an instrument for foreclosures, we show that foreclosures lead to a large decline in house prices, residential investment, and consumer demand.

Mortgage Modification And Strategic Behavior: Evidence From A Legal Settlement With Countrywide, Christopher Mayer, Edward Morrison, Tomasz Piskorski, Arpit Gupta

Kreisman Working Paper Series in Housing Law and Policy

We investigate whether homeowners respond strategically to news of mortgage modification programs by defaulting on their mortgages. We exploit plausibly exogenous variation in modification policy induced by U.S. state government lawsuits against Countrywide Financial Corporation, which agreed to offer modifications to seriously delinquent borrowers with mortgages throughout the country. Using a difference-in-difference framework, we find that Countrywide's relative delinquency rate increased more than ten percent per month immediately after the program's announcement. The borrowers whose estimated default rates increased the most in response to the program were those who appear to have been the least likely to default otherwise, including …

Interest Rates And Equity Extraction During The Housing Boom, Neil Bhutta, Benjamin J. Keys

Kreisman Working Paper Series in Housing Law and Policy

Monetary policy is perhaps the most important tool the government has to quickly affect the trajectory of the economy. This paper estimates the impact of policy- driven short-term mortgage rates on home equity based borrowing. Using credit record panel data from 1999{2010, we show that the likelihood of equity extraction peaked in 2003 when mortgage rates hit historic lows, and estimate that a 100 basis point rate decline leads to a 25 percent rise in extraction. Exploiting geographic variation in house price fluctuations, we find this rate effect is half the magnitude of the house price effect. Additionally, differential responses …

The Shackling Of Incarcerated Pregnant Women: A Human Rights Violation Committed Regularly In The United States, University Of Chicago Law School - Global Human Rights Clinic, Chicago Legal Advocacy For Incarcerated Mothers, Aclu National Prison Project

Global Human Rights Clinic

The international human rights community has repeatedly expressed concern about the shackling of pregnant women deprived of their liberty in the United States. The federal government has adopted an anti-shackling policy and some states have passed laws or policies restricting shackling. Despite these positive developments, shackling of women prisoners continues to occur in violation of U.S. and international law.

Shackling pregnant women increases the substantial medical risks of childbirth. Shackling of pregnant women is a harmful, painful, and demeaning practice that is rarely necessary to preserve safety. Most female prisoners are non-violent offenders, and women who are pregnant, in labor, …

Replacing Myths With Facts: Sex-Selective Abortion Laws In The United States, University Of Chicago Law School - Global Human Rights Clinic, National Asian Pacific American Women’S Forum, Advancing New Standards In Reproductive Health

Global Human Rights Clinic

Sex selection is the practice of attempting to control the sex of one’s offspring in order to achieve a desired sex. One method of sex selection is sex-selective abortion. Laws banning sex-selective abortion are proliferating in the United States. Eight states have enacted laws prohibiting sexselective abortion. Twenty-one states and the federal government have considered such laws since 2009. Those laws prohibit the performance of an abortion if sought based on the sex of the fetus and provide for both criminal and civil penalties in most cases.

A great deal of misinformation exists regarding sex selection in the United States. …

Beyond Textualism: Why Originalist Theory Must Apply General Principles Of Interpretation To Constitutional Law, Richard A. Epstein

Articles

No abstract provided.

Extraterritoriality And Comparative Institutional Analysis: A Response To Professor Meyer, Zachary D. Clopton, Paul Bartholomew Quintans

Articles

No abstract provided.

Regarding Re's Revisionism: Notes On 'The Due Process Exclusionary Rule', Albert W. Alschuler

Articles

No abstract provided.

The Use And Limits Of Self-Valuation Systems, Richard A. Epstein

Articles

No abstract provided.

Renegotiation Design By Contract, Anup Malani, Richard T. Holden

Articles

No abstract provided.

Replacing The Presumption Against Extraterritoriality, Zachary D. Clopton

Articles

No abstract provided.

Audits As Signals, David A. Weisbach

Articles

No abstract provided.

Chaining The Dog Of War: Comparative Data, Tom Ginsburg

Articles

No abstract provided.

Attributes Of Ownership, Reid Thompson, David A. Weisbach

Articles

No abstract provided.