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Full-Text Articles in Law

Section 2259 Restitution Claims And Child Pornography Possession, Dina Mcleod Jan 2011

Section 2259 Restitution Claims And Child Pornography Possession, Dina Mcleod

Michigan Law Review

In 2009, a child pornography victim brought a criminal restitution claim against a defendant who possessed images of her abuse. The statutory provision authorizing restitution, 18 U.S.C. § 2259, had never before been used to bring a claim against a defendant who had only possessed, rather than produced or distributed, child pornography ("child pornography possession defendants"). The federal courts have not developed a consistent approach to resolving Section 2259 claims involving such defendants. This Note argues that two conceptions of traditional proximate cause doctrine can provide a framework for analyzing such claims. It examines Section 2259 claims using both a …


To Err Is Human, Keith A. Rowley May 2006

To Err Is Human, Keith A. Rowley

Michigan Law Review

There are many kinds of mistakes. One kind-a rational, well-intended act or decision resulting in unanticipated, negative consequences-was the focus of Allan Farnsworth's previous foray into the realm of legal angst. Another kind-an act or decision prompted by an inaccurate, incomplete, or uninformed mental state and resulting in unanticipated, negative consequences- is the subject of the present book. Like its predecessor, Alleviating Mistakes does not confine itself to contract law, Farnsworth's home turf; it explores criminal, tort, restitution, and other areas of substantive law as well. As such, it paints on too large a canvas to capture its entirety in …


Uncertainty And Informed Choice: Unmasking Daubert, Margaret A. Berger, Aaron D. Twerski Nov 2005

Uncertainty And Informed Choice: Unmasking Daubert, Margaret A. Berger, Aaron D. Twerski

Michigan Law Review

This Article will first examine why it is that plaintiffs have been unable to prove causation under the Daubert guidelines in toxic tort litigation. Second, it will look at the two existing models for informed choice litigation medical malpractice and products liability-and demonstrate why neither of these models gives toxic tort plaintiffs a fair opportunity to recover for the deprivation of patient autonomy against drug manufacturers who have breached their duty to warn of known or knowable risks. Finally, this Article will explore the elements of a causation-free informed choice cause of action. It will suggest the appropriate standard for …


Conjunction And Aggregation, Saul Levmore Feb 2001

Conjunction And Aggregation, Saul Levmore

Michigan Law Review

This Article begins with the puzzle of why the law avoids the issue of conjunctive probability. Mathematically inclined observers might, for example, employ the "product rule," multiplying the probabilities associated with several events or requirements in order to assess a combined likelihood, but judges and lawyers seem otherwise inclined. Courts and statutes might be explicit about the manner in which multiple requirements should be combined, but they are not. Thus, it is often unclear whether a factfinder should assess if condition A was more likely than not to be present - and then go on to see whether condition B …


Identifying And Valuing The Injury In Lost Chance Cases, Todd S. Aagaard Mar 1998

Identifying And Valuing The Injury In Lost Chance Cases, Todd S. Aagaard

Michigan Law Review

Any plaintiff seeking to recover in tort must prove that the defendant has breached the duty of care. Even after the plaintiff has established the defendant's breach of duty, however, issues of causation and damages remain. These two issues are frequently vexing, both conceptually and in terms of evidentiary demonstration. For example, if a plaintiff proves that a defendant acted negligently, it still may be unclear whether the plaintiff would have been injured even ip the absence of the defendant's negligence. Similarly, in assessing damages, factfinders often :find it difficult to attach a monetary value to a plaintiff's nonpecuniary losses …


Outrageous Fortune And The Criminalization Of Mass Torts, Richard A. Nagareda Mar 1998

Outrageous Fortune And The Criminalization Of Mass Torts, Richard A. Nagareda

Michigan Law Review

The case of the blameworthy-but-fortunate defendant has emerged as one of the most perplexing scenarios in mass tort litigation today. One need look no further than the front page of the newspaper to find examples of mass tort defendants said to have engaged in irresponsible conduct - even conduct that one might regard as morally outrageous in character - but that nonetheless advance eminently plausible contentions that they have not caused harm to others. This issue is not merely a matter for abstract speculation. A now-familiar mass tort scenario involves a defendant that markets a product without informing consumers about …


The Negative Constitution: A Critique, Susan Bandes Aug 1990

The Negative Constitution: A Critique, Susan Bandes

Michigan Law Review

Part I describes the current approach, which demands adherence to the notion of a negative constitution. Part II critiques the assumptions underlying the current approach and demonstrates its undesirable consequences in decisional law. Part III explores the tenacious barriers to recognition of affirmative governmental duties: the constitutional, philosophical, and common law roots of the notion of a negative constitution, as well as the belief that recognizing affirmative duties would be an invitation to chaos. Finally, Part IV proposes discarding the rhetoric of negative rights and suggests an approach for constructing a theory better designed to effectuate constitutional goals.


Natural Law And Justice, Heidi Li Feldman May 1988

Natural Law And Justice, Heidi Li Feldman

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Natural Law and Justice by Lloyd L. Weinreb


Products Liability--The Expansion Of Fraud, Negligence, And Strict Tort Liability, John A. Sebert Jr. May 1966

Products Liability--The Expansion Of Fraud, Negligence, And Strict Tort Liability, John A. Sebert Jr.

Michigan Law Review

While judicial acceptance of this concept of strict tort liability has been proceeding apace, far less dramatic but equally significant developments have been occurring with respect to both negligence and fraud liability. The possibility of recovering for a seller's misrepresentations concerning his product has been enhanced by a plaintiff-oriented judicial redefinition of two elements of a cause of action for fraud: defendant's knowledge of the falsity of his representation and plaintiff's reliance upon the deception. At the same time, negligence liability has often come to resemble liability without fault as courts continue to deemphasize, as a prerequisite to the application …


The Unborn Plaintiff, David A. Gordon Feb 1965

The Unborn Plaintiff, David A. Gordon

Michigan Law Review

It is almost twenty-five years since Professor Winfield's article "The Unborn Child" was published. The development of this area of the law during the past quarter century is probably summed up in the distinction between that title and the one to this article.


The Casual Relation Issue In Negligence Law, Leon Green Mar 1962

The Casual Relation Issue In Negligence Law, Leon Green

Michigan Law Review

Two significant legal studies of "Causation"-one English, one American-have been recently published. The English book brings to the subject more scholarly learning and a more comprehensive examination of its literature than any other book that has been written. The authors are devoted disciples of causation principles and make a stout defense of the causation concept as the structural core of negligence law. They examine the philosophical, common sense and semantic backgrounds of causal concepts as the basis of legal liability, find that they have merit, and launch extended, and sometimes devastating, attack upon theories that question their adequacy, though in …


Criminal Law-Involuntary Manslaughter- Presence As A Pre-Requisite To Liablity For Permitting An Incompetent To Drive An Automobile, Peter D. Byrnes S. Ed Nov 1961

Criminal Law-Involuntary Manslaughter- Presence As A Pre-Requisite To Liablity For Permitting An Incompetent To Drive An Automobile, Peter D. Byrnes S. Ed

Michigan Law Review

Defendant gave his car keys to an intoxicated friend and permitted him to operate the vehicle while the defendant was at home in bed. As he was driving on the wrong side of the highway, the friend was involved in a head-on collision which resulted in the death of the drivers of both vehicles. Defendant was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and of the misdemeanor of allowing an intoxicated person to operate his automobile. On appeal, held, conviction of manslaughter reversed. Although one who permits an intoxicated person to drive his car is guilty of a misdemeanor, he cannot be …


Hart & Honoré: Causation In The Law, Luke K. Cooperrider Apr 1960

Hart & Honoré: Causation In The Law, Luke K. Cooperrider

Michigan Law Review

A Review of CAUSATION IN THE LAW. By H. L. A. Hart and A. M. Honore.


Workmen's Compensation - Requirement Of Causal Connection Between Employment And Injury, Thomas S. Erickson S.Ed. Jan 1957

Workmen's Compensation - Requirement Of Causal Connection Between Employment And Injury, Thomas S. Erickson S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff-employee was compensated for injuries received when she slipped on a patch of ice and fell on defendant-employer's premises while going from her work to eat lunch in defendant's cafeteria. On appeal, held, reversed. At the time of the injury plaintiff was not rendering any service to her employer. There was no causal connection between employment and injury, and the injury did not arise out of and in the course of her employment as required by statute. Mack v. Reo Motors, Inc., 345 Mich. 268, 76 N.W. (2d) 35 (1956).


Negligence - Duty Of Care - Effect Of Public Carrier's Financial Capacity On Liability, John E. Riecker S.Ed. Dec 1954

Negligence - Duty Of Care - Effect Of Public Carrier's Financial Capacity On Liability, John E. Riecker S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff sustained injuries when she fell between defendant's subway car and a platform directly opposite the car door. The cause assigned was the pressure from the closely packed crowd of subway passengers during a rush hour which resulted in plaintiff's being "carried by the crowd" into a position of danger. Defendant had shifted extra guards to the overcrowded area. No evidence of disorderliness or gang action appeared. In an action for damages due to defendant's negligence in failing to control the crowd, held, for defendant. Callaghan v. New York City Transit System, 204 Misc. 236, 125 N.Y.S. (2d) …


Negligence-Liability Of Manufacturer Or Vendor To An Allergic Consumer, Zolman Cavitch S.Ed. Dec 1950

Negligence-Liability Of Manufacturer Or Vendor To An Allergic Consumer, Zolman Cavitch S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The study of allergies is relatively new to the medical profession. It is not surprising, therefore, that only a few courts have dealt with the problem of the liability of the manufacturer or vendor to the consumer who is allergic to an ingredient in the defendant's product. Many dyes, cosmetics, drugs and health and beauty aids in universal use, however, contain known allergenic ingredients. Medical authorities estimate the incidence of well-defined allergies at between five to ten per cent of the total population and one authority suggests that allergies are actually increasing in frequency. When we add to this parade …


Discovery-Disclosure Of Trade Secrets In Tort Action, Cleaveland J. Rice S.Ed. Nov 1950

Discovery-Disclosure Of Trade Secrets In Tort Action, Cleaveland J. Rice S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Prior to trial of suit to recover damages for hand infection alleged to have been caused by the use of defendant's washing compound, plaintiff filed interrogatories requesting the ingredients and proportions used in the compound. Defendant's offer to divulge its secret formula to the court in confidence until the plaintiff should make a prima facie case was ruled upon adversely by the court. Defendant thereupon suffered the statutory penalty of default rather than disclose the secret. Held, default judgment affirmed. In this instance trade secrets were not privileged, and there was no abuse of discretion in the trial court's …


Negligence-Proximate Cause Jun 1931

Negligence-Proximate Cause

Michigan Law Review

Defendant automobile driver, stopping his car between a line of parked motor cars and some street car tracks, opened the door on the left side of the automobile, with the result that the handle bar of plaintiff's bicycle struck the edge of the car door and plaintiff was thrown to the ground and injured. In the supreme court of Wisconsin, in an opinion containing, among other interesting features, model instructions for juries in the trial courts, it was held that liability for consequences of negligent acts is not limited to probable consequences but may attach to unforeseeable and improbable consequences. …