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Full-Text Articles in Law

Foreword, Leslie A. Robinson Nov 2005

Foreword, Leslie A. Robinson

San Diego International Law Journal

The articles appearing in Volume 7 of San Diego International Law Journal span the globe and cover the breadth of international law. The concept of globalization offers a prism through which to view the articles in this issue. The first three articles are focused on Africa. Nsongurua Udombana eloquently addresses the need for both debt relief and the full integration of Africa into the global trading system. Karol Boudreaux analyzes the conflict over land rights in Nigeria's Plateau State under the Land Use Act of 1978, which nationalized all land in Nigeria. Edward Fluet discusses the impact of the trade …


The Summer Has Ended And We Are Not Saved! Towards A Transformative Agenda For Africa's Development, Nsongurua J. Udombana Nov 2005

The Summer Has Ended And We Are Not Saved! Towards A Transformative Agenda For Africa's Development, Nsongurua J. Udombana

San Diego International Law Journal

This Article examines the promised debt relief and commends the G8 for taking the initiative to assist a continent in crisis. The Article, however, argues that debt relief is far from a complete cure, and that Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) needs more than handouts from the G8 to overcome poverty. Debt relief is merely the end of the beginning; it is, at best, a gesture of support to Africa's effort at meeting human security, which the African Union (A.U.) defines as "the security of the individual in terms of satisfaction of his/her basic needs." Africa's problems are conspicuous, though their solutions …


The Human Face Of Resource Conflict: Property And Power In Nigeria, Karol C. Boudreaux Nov 2005

The Human Face Of Resource Conflict: Property And Power In Nigeria, Karol C. Boudreaux

San Diego International Law Journal

This paper considers possible answers to these difficult questions by focusing on two issues: the evolution of legal norms in response to both endogenous and exogenous changes, and the role that African customary law and indigenous dispute resolution has played in promoting coordination and cooperation among group members, thereby reducing violent conflict. This paper explores legislative actions taken by the Nigerian government that impede the continued evolution of these relatively elastic customary legal norms. Property norms under customary Nigerian law were flexible enough to provide a wide variety of property rights and allow for the peaceful trading and reasonable protection …


Legislative And Policy Responses To Terrorism, A Global Perspective, Amos N. Guiora Nov 2005

Legislative And Policy Responses To Terrorism, A Global Perspective, Amos N. Guiora

San Diego International Law Journal

While Tuesday morning, September 11, 2001, would strike most Americans as the starting date for terrorism- at least as understood by a recently attacked America- the truth is very different both from the American and international perspective. The scope and intensity of the attack that Tuesday morning dramatically changed the American response to terrorism in the short-term and long-term. The change in America's response has impacted the American political debate, its way of life, and its legal and policy perspectives regarding terrorism and counter-terrorism alike. September 11 also had a global impact from an operational, intelligence-gathering, policy and legal perspective. …


Conflicts Diamonds: U.S. Responsibility And Response, Edward R. Fluet Nov 2005

Conflicts Diamonds: U.S. Responsibility And Response, Edward R. Fluet

San Diego International Law Journal

This Article will examine U.S. and international efforts to combat the trade in conflict diamonds. Specifically, this article will detail their failures and examine the need for U.S. backed legislation to prevent the conflict diamond trade more effectively. This article proceeds as follows: Part I will examine the effect of the conflict diamond trade on those caught in the grip of civil war and terrorism. Part II will analyze international efforts to curtail conflict diamonds trade, specifically examining international support of the Kimberley Process. Part III and IV will examine the United States'efforts to regulate conflict diamonds and the inherent …


Saving Salvage: Avoiding Misguided Changes To Salvage And Finds Law, Christopher Z. Bordelon Nov 2005

Saving Salvage: Avoiding Misguided Changes To Salvage And Finds Law, Christopher Z. Bordelon

San Diego International Law Journal

In recent years, as technology permitting previously impossible underwater salvage operations has become available, ancient principles of the laws of salvage and of finds as applied to sunken ships have come under attack. Those who would limit or preclude the application of salvage and finds principles and the conduct of salvage operations in the context of shipwrecks have advocated changes in both the common law of admiralty and in related statutory law. They have also supported an international convention on the subject. Academic commentary favoring heightened preservation praises these developments and promotes further initiatives to protect the "underwater cultural heritage" …


The Emerging Presence Of Mexican Law In California Courts, Jorge A. Vargas Nov 2005

The Emerging Presence Of Mexican Law In California Courts, Jorge A. Vargas

San Diego International Law Journal

In a quick search for cases involving foreign law that have been decided by California courts over the last two years, the results were not surprising: 100 cases were governed by Mexican law, 57 by Canadian law, 29 by Japanese law, 28 by German law, and 12 by Chinese law. I would like to pose two ideas before this learned audience: first, that becoming familiar with foreign law is a practical, intriguing and beneficial exercise for California judges and for American judges at large. And second, that Mexican law represents an emerging and a very large component of foreign law …


Mara Salvatrucha (Ms-13) And Ley Anti Mara: El Salvador's Struggle To Reclaim Social Order, Juan J. Fogelbach Nov 2005

Mara Salvatrucha (Ms-13) And Ley Anti Mara: El Salvador's Struggle To Reclaim Social Order, Juan J. Fogelbach

San Diego International Law Journal

MS-13 poses a threat to both Salvadorians and Americans. It is a gang that must be cooperatively contained; it will not be controlled by a simplistic burden-shifting policy that leaves El Salvador, a developing country, to unilaterally deal with the problem. This paper will argue that: (1) the deportation of gang members, which results in the arbitrary deaths of thousands of innocent Salvadorians who have no legal recourse amounts to a grave violation of human rights; (2) deportation of gang members to a society where they are likely to be killed by vigilante death squads, or in prison fires and …


Crawford And The Forfeiture By Wrongdoing Exception, Joan Comparet-Cassani Nov 2005

Crawford And The Forfeiture By Wrongdoing Exception, Joan Comparet-Cassani

San Diego Law Review

The doctrine of forfeiture by wrongdoing was carved out as an exception to the standard for the admissibility of testimonial hearsay evidence laid down in Crawford v. Washingtom . Since Crawford , the California Supreme Court granted review in two cases, People v. Giles and People v. Jiles , which applied the doctrine of forfeiture by wrongdoing. The forfeiture doctrine was originally formulated to require the accused commit an intentional act to prevent a witness from testifying, thus proving that the doctrine's nature is based on the equitable principle that no person shall profit from wrongful conduct. By examining the …


Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (Ms4) Regulation Under The Federal Clean Water Act: The Role Of Water Quality Standards?, John H. Minan Nov 2005

Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (Ms4) Regulation Under The Federal Clean Water Act: The Role Of Water Quality Standards?, John H. Minan

San Diego Law Review

The Clean Water Act, the primary federal statute regulating water pollution, requires municipal storm water discharge permits, under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System program, to include provisions controlling discharges from municipal separate storm sewer systems. This article questions whether the Clean Water Act's maximum extent practicable standard is the only statutory standard given the current trend toward compliance with state water quality standards independent of the maximum extent practicable standard, and whether the Clean Water Act superseded the state water quality standards. State water quality standards act as a water quality threshold, which are reviewed often by the states …


V.42-4, 2005 Masthead Nov 2005

V.42-4, 2005 Masthead

San Diego Law Review

No abstract provided.


After Roper V. Simmons: Keeping Kids Out Of Adult Criminal Court, Ellen Marrus, Irene Merkel Rosenberg Nov 2005

After Roper V. Simmons: Keeping Kids Out Of Adult Criminal Court, Ellen Marrus, Irene Merkel Rosenberg

San Diego Law Review

When children kill, as they always have and probably always will, the state must juggle two distinct and oftentimes conflicting concerns: its police power and its parens patriae interest. These concerns are not, however, mutually exclusive. There is a delicate balance that must be maintained. Clearly, the state must incapacitate and punish children who commit serious criminal acts, but, as Simmons says, that does not mean that minors can be executed, nor, as the Authors maintain, be consigned to living death behind bars without any hope of respite. The legal system must somehow be adjusted for children.


The Unitary Waters Apprach: The Government's Misguided Attempt To Limit The Reach Of The Clean Water Act, Brad W. Blank Nov 2005

The Unitary Waters Apprach: The Government's Misguided Attempt To Limit The Reach Of The Clean Water Act, Brad W. Blank

San Diego Law Review

This Comment will, first, determine whether the government's unitary waters approach is a viable interpretation of the SWA. Second, it will explore what characteristics should be considered to determine whether two water bodies are"meaningfully distinct." Finally, this Comment will explore the possible consequences of applying the NPDES program to water transfers between two water bodies.


The Comparative Catalyst: Reforming Graham V. Daimlerchrysler, Kevin Logan Nov 2005

The Comparative Catalyst: Reforming Graham V. Daimlerchrysler, Kevin Logan

San Diego Law Review

This Casenote examines the California Supreme Court's decision in Graham v. DaimlerChrysler concluding that the adoption of a stricter definition of "public interest" litigation and a comparative catalyst rule will serve to stem the flood of unproductive lawsuits in the high court's ill-conceived decision will otherwise unleash.


Evaluating Marriage: Does Marriage Matter To The Nurturing Of Children?, Robin Fretwell Wilson Aug 2005

Evaluating Marriage: Does Marriage Matter To The Nurturing Of Children?, Robin Fretwell Wilson

San Diego Law Review

The state offers marriage legal and financial support. This article questions whether the state is justified in supporting and promoting marriage by looking at recent studies that found that marriage produces differences in investment and well-being for children in marital households compared to other children. These studies isolated the value of marriage and identified the connection, if any, between supporting marriage and supporting children. The Manning and Lamb study evaluated outcomes for children in non-marital households, whereas, the Hoefferth and Anderson study examined different investments in marital and non-marital children by biological fathers. The two studies found a marriage advantage, …


The Meaning Of Marriage: State Efforts To Facilitate Friendship, Love, And Childrearing, Richard Arneson Aug 2005

The Meaning Of Marriage: State Efforts To Facilitate Friendship, Love, And Childrearing, Richard Arneson

San Diego Law Review

The Prioritarian Consequentialist approaches state regulation of marriage from a standpoint opposed to the Lockean Libertarian natural rights tradition. The prioritarian approach favors state regulation of marriage that induces people to make positive cost-benefit arrangements, whereas the lockean avers any coercive restriction of people's liberty. Taking a prioritarian consequentialist perspective, this article discusses the appropriate state policy regarding private relationships involving love, sex, and childrearing, and assesses the meaning of marriage and possible alterations to marriage that would lead to consequences on the quality of human life. The prioritarian consequentialist supports state policies that produce the best outcome for people's …


A Response To Professor Bix, Robert F. Nagel Aug 2005

A Response To Professor Bix, Robert F. Nagel

San Diego Law Review

Legal academics study the legal process to understand how lawyers think and act. This article builds on Professor Bix by focusing on the influence lawyers and legal academics can have on the marriage debates. Lawyers and legal academics influence the marriage debates using their vocabulary, which allows them to craft solutions in a language alien to the general public, and render the marriage debate less understandable. Lawyers and legal academics influence the marriage debates through adversarial argumentation, which causes them to destabilize and shift settled understandings, and render the marriage debate distorted and impoverished. Although Professor Bix advocates deference on …


What Is The "Meaning" Of "Marriage"?, Connie S. Rosati Aug 2005

What Is The "Meaning" Of "Marriage"?, Connie S. Rosati

San Diego Law Review

There is legitimacy to the conservative approach that goes beyond looking at the impact on people's welfare. This article responds to Professor Arneson by offering a different framework to investigate the underlying theoretical values behind appropriate state policies regarding private relationships. Neither the prioritarian consequentialist, nor the lockean libertarian captures the other side of the marriage debate, that is, the traditional ideal. The state’s interest in fostering the conservative, traditional marriage relationships begins to emerge through the author's assumptions that Kantian ethics is correct, that social stability depends on others—inviolate value, and that through love one can apprehend the value …


Who's Afraid Of Polygamous Marriage? Lessons For Same-Sex Marriage Advocacy From The History Of Polygamy, Cheshire Calhoun Aug 2005

Who's Afraid Of Polygamous Marriage? Lessons For Same-Sex Marriage Advocacy From The History Of Polygamy, Cheshire Calhoun

San Diego Law Review

Attention to polygamy can strengthen the case for same-sex marriage. Both the historical debate on polygamy and the current debate on same-sex marriage concentrate on finding the best social response for the failure of conventional marriage to serve its purpose. The argument for traditional marriage conflicts with the Judeo-Christian tradition and a liberal democracy. Contrary to traditionalist arguments, polygamy and pluralistic relationships are a part of the Judeo-Christian tradition. Additionally, a liberal democracy is designed to protect an individual?s right to pursue a pluralistic way of life. Under a liberal theory, the state should remain neutral and allow individuals to …


Why The Federal Marriage Amendment Is Necessary, Christopher Wolfe Aug 2005

Why The Federal Marriage Amendment Is Necessary, Christopher Wolfe

San Diego Law Review

The Federal Marriage Amendment seeks to confine marriage to one man and one woman. This article supports the Federal Marriage Amendment because the Amendment reinforces the original design of the Constitution in the face of unchecked judicial review power and the expansion of sexual autonomy. The Federal Marriage Amendment reinforces the idea that the people of the states, not the judiciary, resolve social policy. Also, the Amendment supports a presumption in favor of state legislation on marriage. Although conservatives, such as Yoo and Vulchev, state that the Federal Marriage Amendment opposes federalism, this author contends that the Amendment would preserve …


V.42-3, 2005 Masthead Aug 2005

V.42-3, 2005 Masthead

San Diego Law Review

No abstract provided.


Introduction To The 2005 Editors’ Symposium: The Meaning Of Marriage, Larry Alexander Aug 2005

Introduction To The 2005 Editors’ Symposium: The Meaning Of Marriage, Larry Alexander

San Diego Law Review

Professor Alexander provides a brief introduction to the 2005 Editors' Symposium titled "The Meaning of Marriage."


Everything I Know About Marriage I Learned From Law Professors, Brian H. Bix Aug 2005

Everything I Know About Marriage I Learned From Law Professors, Brian H. Bix

San Diego Law Review

Lawyers and legal academics routinely offer their views on social and political issues. This article considers whether legal academics add any special expertise to the current marriage debates, or whether legal academics should defer to others better suited to answer the questions raised in the marriage debates. The marriage debates involve questions concerning the regulation and definition of marriage, the legal requirements for marriage, and the presence of children. Because of their familiarity with legal analysis, family law doctrine and practice, legal academics and lawyers offer answers and views not available in the rhetoric of the political and media debates …


Who Knows?, Michael B. Kelly Aug 2005

Who Knows?, Michael B. Kelly

San Diego Law Review

Even though other academic disciplines may provide better research and analysis for the discussion of marriage law, lawyers and legal academics can play a role in the marriage debates. This article responds to Professor Bix by discussing the roles lawyers and legal academics can play in the current marriage debates. The roles of lawyers vary from overcoming parochialism and broadening the inquiry outside specific academic disciplines to recognizing the areas that need investigating and synthesizing the results. The roles of legal academics stretch from helping “set the agenda” for research, that is, raising the issues and asking the important questions …


Privileging The Privileged? Child Well-Being As A Justification For State Support Of Marriage, Laura S. Adams Aug 2005

Privileging The Privileged? Child Well-Being As A Justification For State Support Of Marriage, Laura S. Adams

San Diego Law Review

State support of marriage should rest on more than the transformative power of marriage. This article responds to Professor Wilson by questioning whether marriage best promotes child well-being and whether child well-being alone is a sufficient justification to rest state support of marriage. Children of marital households are usually whiter, wealthier, and better educated. Thus, state support of marriage maximizes the welfare of already privileged children at the detriment of less privileged children. Without state support of marriage, social welfare policy can be redirected toward the direct support of children. While Wilson advocates the connection between supporting marriage and supporting …


Does Marriage Make People Good Or Do Good People Marry?, Kimberly A. Yuracko Aug 2005

Does Marriage Make People Good Or Do Good People Marry?, Kimberly A. Yuracko

San Diego Law Review

Social norms, not marriage, are transformative. This article considers whether marital norms like stability, commitment, and sexual fidelity are responsible for positive parenting effects and child well-being, or whether the institution of marriage is responsible. Marriage does not transform people into good spouses and good parents. Instead, people must be transformed before entering the institution of marriage. While Wilson believes that state supported marriage can spread social norms and values that benefit children, this author concludes that state supported marriage should not benefit the most advantaged, but should reinforce social norms and values and provide state benefits to all parents, …


Why The Federal Marriage Amendment Is Not Only Not Necessary, But A Bad Idea: A Response To Christopher Wolfe, Michael Perry Aug 2005

Why The Federal Marriage Amendment Is Not Only Not Necessary, But A Bad Idea: A Response To Christopher Wolfe, Michael Perry

San Diego Law Review

The Federal Marriage Amendment does more than prevent same-sex couples from having marital status. In response to Professor Wolfe, this article contends that the Federal Marriage Amendment prevents state courts and state legislatures from choosing to grant marital status to same-sex couples. Gender complimentarity, the heart of Professor Wolfe's argument and the Federal Marriage Amendment's basis, is too controversial and problematic to bind future generations from allowing same-sex marriage. Even if society is currently opposed to same-sex marriage, this author concludes that the U.S. Constitution should not be amended in a way that prevents future generations from deciding whether to …


Three Tensions And One Omission, In The Case For The Federal Marriage Amendment, Donald A. Dripps Aug 2005

Three Tensions And One Omission, In The Case For The Federal Marriage Amendment, Donald A. Dripps

San Diego Law Review

Sam-sex marriage is a hotly contested social issue. This Article responds to Professor Wolfe by analyzing three tensions that premise the case for the Federal Marriage Amendment. The first tension portrays marriage as both fragile and fundamental. However, the long-standing institution of marriage faces more serious challenges than same-sex marriage. Therefore, if social changes, violence, and disease have not weakened marriage, same-sex marriage likely will not do the institution any grave damage. The second tension claims that activist judges threaten traditional marriage, thus necessitating its definition in Federal Constitutional law. However, the new Federal Marriage Amendment will be left to …


Liberals And Libertines: The Marriage Question In The Liberal Political Imagination, Nomi Maya Stolzenberg Aug 2005

Liberals And Libertines: The Marriage Question In The Liberal Political Imagination, Nomi Maya Stolzenberg

San Diego Law Review

Liberalism and marriage are not easily separated from anti-libertine and libertine ideas. This article frames the meaning of marriage question by comparing Tolstoy’s anti-libertine novella, The Kreutzer Sonata with Roth?s libertine novella, The Dying Animal. Both novellas impale marriage and liberalism to reveal the strains of ambivalence toward freedom of love, sex, and personal attachments. In Tolstoy’s novella, Pozdnyshev reviles marriage because it is nothing more than licensed prostitution. In Roth’s novella, Kepesh despises marriage because it dampens sex and subjects the individual to constraints. The author offers two readings of these novellas, one that emphasizes the boundaries between liberal, …


Sexuality And The "System Of Liberty": Comment On Stolzenberg, William A. Galston Aug 2005

Sexuality And The "System Of Liberty": Comment On Stolzenberg, William A. Galston

San Diego Law Review

Marriage and liberal democracy are forms of ordered liberty, one standing between sexual license and ascetics, and the other standing between anarchy and oppression. The relationship between liberal democracy and sexual liberty can be framed using four strategies devised by the liberal democratic project to limit the scope of personal freedom. This article places Stolzenberg's theory of love and liberty within the fourth strategy, which places limits on individual conduct through personal development and perfection. The author concludes that Stolzenberg is too bold for resting ordered sexual liberty on love, and suggests that the ultimate test for any form of …