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Articles 2581 - 2610 of 8035

Full-Text Articles in Law

Head Of State Immunity As Sole Executive Lawmaking, Lewis S. Yelin Jan 2011

Head Of State Immunity As Sole Executive Lawmaking, Lewis S. Yelin

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

At the request of the Executive Branch, courts routinely dismiss private suits against sitting heads of foreign states. Congress has never delegated authority to the Executive Branch to identify principles governing head of state immunity. The courts' practice thus appears inconsistent with the conventional view that the Executive Branch lacks authority to affect private rights unless authorized by Congress to do so. This Article argues that the Executive Branch's practice of determining head of state immunity is an example of sole executive lawmaking, deriving from the President's constitutional responsibility as the only authorized representative of the United States in its …


Foreign Official Immunity After Samantar, Chimene I. Keitner Jan 2011

Foreign Official Immunity After Samantar, Chimene I. Keitner

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

In Samantar v. Yousuf, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSLA) does not govern the immunity of foreign officials from legal proceedings in U.S. courts. Part I of this symposium contribution seeks to put in sharper focus exactly what is, and what is not, in dispute following Samantar. Part II presents three challenges to common assumptions about conduct-based immunity, which I consider under the headings of personal responsibility, penalties, and presence. Under the heading of personal responsibility, I emphasize that state responsibility and individual responsibility are not mutually exclusive. Under penalties, I argue that …


The Dog That Caught The Car: Observations On The Past, Present, And Future Approaches Of The Office Of The Legal Adviser To Official Acts Immnunities, John B. Bellinger Iii Jan 2011

The Dog That Caught The Car: Observations On The Past, Present, And Future Approaches Of The Office Of The Legal Adviser To Official Acts Immnunities, John B. Bellinger Iii

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The Supreme Court's decision in Samantar v. Yousuf vindicated the position of the State Department's Office of the Legal Adviser, which had long argued that the immunities of current and former foreign government officials in U.S. courts are defined by common law and customary international law as articulated by the Executive Branch, rather than by the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976. But the decision will place a burden on the Office of the Legal Adviser, which will now be asked to submit its views on the potential immunity of every foreign government official sued in the United States. The …


Samantar And Executive Power, Peter B. Rutledge Jan 2011

Samantar And Executive Power, Peter B. Rutledge

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This essay examines Samantar v. Yousuf in the context of broader debate about the relationship between federal common law and executive power. Samantar represents simply the latest effort by the Executive Branch to literally shape the meaning of law through a process referred to in the literature as "executive lawmaking." While traditional accounts of executive lawmaking typically have treated the idea as a singular concept, Samantar demonstrates the need to bifurcate the concept into at least two different categories: acts of executive lawmaking decoupled from pending litigation and acts of executive lawmaking taken expressly in response to litigation. As Samantar …


State Immunity And Human Rights: Heads And Walls, Hearts And Minds, Roger O'Keefe Jan 2011

State Immunity And Human Rights: Heads And Walls, Hearts And Minds, Roger O'Keefe

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article suggests that arguments against the availability of state immunity as a bar to civil actions alleging internationally wrongful ill-treatment abroad are not only destined to fall by and large on deaf ears but are also misdirected as a matter both of fairness and of the ultimate policy objectives of human rights advocates. It would make more sense for victims' interest groups to target the failure of allegedly responsible states to afford victims the opportunity of a remedy and the failure of victims' states of nationality to do enough to defend their nationals' interests.


The Immunity Of State Officials Under The Un Convention On Jurisdictional Immunities Of States And Their Property, David P. Stewart Jan 2011

The Immunity Of State Officials Under The Un Convention On Jurisdictional Immunities Of States And Their Property, David P. Stewart

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The U.S. Supreme Court decided in Samantar v. Yousuf that claims of immunity by individual foreign officials in U.S. courts will be determined not under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act but instead under the common law, drawing on principles of international law. The 2004 UN Convention on the Jurisdictional Immunities of States and Their Properties represents the most recent and comprehensive international thinking on the question of jurisdictional immunities of foreign states and their officials in foreign courts. Under the Convention, individual representatives of a state acting in that capacity are entitled to the same immunities as the state itself. …


Changing The International Law Of Sovereign Immunity Through National Decisions, Lori F. Damrosch Jan 2011

Changing The International Law Of Sovereign Immunity Through National Decisions, Lori F. Damrosch

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The international law of sovereign immunity derives from state practice embodied in national judicial decisions and legislation. Although some U.S. Supreme Court decisions refer to this body of law using terms like "grace and comity," the customary international law of sovereign immunity is law, which national courts should consider when arriving at immunity decisions. While it would be possible for a widely followed international treaty to work changes in customary international law, the UN Convention on Jurisdictional Immunities of States and Their Property has not done so yet. National legislation such as the U.S. Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act can precipitate …


Epilog: Foreign Sovereign Immunity At Home And Abroad, Ingrid Wuerth Jan 2011

Epilog: Foreign Sovereign Immunity At Home And Abroad, Ingrid Wuerth

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Every author writing on U.S. law for this symposium notes that the extent to which the Executive Branch can make binding immunity determinations is an important issue going forward. In addition to Legal Adviser Koh, two other authors address this issue directly. Professor Peter Rutledge provides a typology of the various roles that the Executive Branch might play in immunity (and other) cases, distinguishing in particular between views articulated by the Executive Branch independently of ongoing litigation, and those expressed with respect to particular pending cases. And Lewis Yelin of the Department of Justice has contributed a major, comprehensive article …


Abusing The Authority Of The State: Denying Foreign Official Immunity For Egregious Human Rights Abuses, Beth Stephens Jan 2011

Abusing The Authority Of The State: Denying Foreign Official Immunity For Egregious Human Rights Abuses, Beth Stephens

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Government officials accused of human rights abuses often claim that they are protected by state immunity because only the state can be held responsible for acts committed by its officials. This claim to immunity is founded on two interrelated errors. First, the post-World War II human rights transformation of international law has rendered obsolete the view that a state can protect its own officials from accountability for human rights violations. Second, officials can be held individually responsible for their own actions even when international law also holds the states liable for those acts. This Article begins with an analysis of …


The Origins And Limits Of Originalism: A Comparative Study, Ozan O. Varol Jan 2011

The Origins And Limits Of Originalism: A Comparative Study, Ozan O. Varol

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

In the debate about originalism in the United States, scholars have devoted scant attention to the question whether the United States stands alone in its fascination with originalism. According to the prevailing view, originalism is distinctively American and the study of comparative originalism is an oxymoron. This Article challenges that conventional view. Drawing on neglected Turkish-language sources, the Article analyzes, as a comparative case study, the use of originalism by the Turkish Constitutional Court (Anayasa Mahkemesi) to interpret the secularism provisions in the Turkish Constitution. Comparing the Turkish version of originalism to American originalism, the Article sheds light on broader …


The Islamic Rule Of Lenity: Judicial Discretion And Legal Canons, Intisar A. Rabb Jan 2011

The Islamic Rule Of Lenity: Judicial Discretion And Legal Canons, Intisar A. Rabb

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article explores an area of close parallel between legal doctrines in the contexts of Islamic law and American legal theory. In criminal law, both traditions espouse a type of "rule of lenity" that curious common law rule that instructs judges not to impose criminal sanctions in cases of doubt. The rule is curious because criminal law is a peremptory expression of legislative will. However, the rule of lenity would seem to encourage courts to disregard one of the most fundamental principles of Islamic and American legislation and adjudication: judicial deference to legislative supremacy. In the Islamic context, such a …


Life After Morrison: Extraterritoriality And Rico, R. D. Mello Jan 2011

Life After Morrison: Extraterritoriality And Rico, R. D. Mello

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

For years, the federal courts of appeals have borrowed heavily from securities law jurisprudence in developing a framework for analyzing claims under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). Last year, in the case of Morrison v. National Australia Bank, the Supreme Court issued a ground-breaking opinion that rejected decades of lower court precedent related to the extraterritorial application of U.S. securities laws and reemphasized the vitality of the presumption against extraterritoriality. Because of the parallel development of securities law and RICO jurisprudence, Morrison will have significant consequences for the application of RICO in cases involving foreign defendants and …


Managing Forced Displacement By Law In Africa: The Role Of The New African Union Idps Convention, Won Kidane Jan 2011

Managing Forced Displacement By Law In Africa: The Role Of The New African Union Idps Convention, Won Kidane

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article provides a critical appraisal of the newly adopted African IDPs Convention. In particular, it offers a detailed analysis of the Convention's transformation of the UN Guiding Principles into legally binding rules for the management of the phenomenon of internal displacement in Africa. By definition, internally displaced persons (IDPs) are persons who have not crossed international frontiers and are citizens of the state within which they find themselves. Although their conditions may be similar to refugees, who are necessarily aliens to the host community, their legal status is not analogous. At the most basic level, there is no doctrinal …


Green Jackets In Men's Sizes Only: Gender Discrimination At Private Country Clubs, Thaddeus M. Lenkiewicz Jan 2011

Green Jackets In Men's Sizes Only: Gender Discrimination At Private Country Clubs, Thaddeus M. Lenkiewicz

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

On November 3, 2009, the Supreme Court of Ireland held that the Portmarnock Golf Club could maintain its rule prohibiting female membership free from the sanctions of Ireland's antidiscrimination laws. Portmarnock is representative of the numerous private golf clubs that continue to promote discrimination against women. Despite significant advances in gender equality, private country clubs in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Ireland remain bastions of codified gender discrimination. Many of the most prominent golf clubs hold firmly to discriminatory policies established generations ago. Opposition to these policies has come in various forms of protest and litigation, with mixed …


Italian Judges' Point Of View On Foreign States' Immunity, Elena Sciso Jan 2011

Italian Judges' Point Of View On Foreign States' Immunity, Elena Sciso

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The Article gives an account of the most recent Italian practice as regarding foreign states' immunity from the jurisdiction of the forum state. In the absence of domestic laws regulating the matter, Italian courts thus far have been directly applying international customary law, making recourse to a progressive interpretation of international rules. In the past, Italian judicial practice together with the Belgian one gave a great contribution to the consolidation of the restrictive immunity theory. In the last few years, Italian courts have lifted immunity with respect to acts of a foreign state qualified as "acta iure imperii" in civil …


Foreign Official Immunity After Samantar: A United States Government Perspective, Harold H. Koh Jan 2011

Foreign Official Immunity After Samantar: A United States Government Perspective, Harold H. Koh

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

I am delighted to speak here at Vanderbilt regarding the U.S. Government's perspective on Foreign Official Immunity after Samantar v. Yousuf.' In the Samantar case, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that the immunity of foreign government officials sued in their personal capacity in U.S. courts, including for alleged human rights violations, is not controlled by the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976, but rather, by immunity determinations made by the Executive Branch. Let me break my topic today into three parts: first, the world of foreign official immunity as it existed before the Samantar case; second, the Supreme Court's …


Due Process Rights And The Targeted Killing Of Suspected Terrorists, Benjamin Mckelvey Jan 2011

Due Process Rights And The Targeted Killing Of Suspected Terrorists, Benjamin Mckelvey

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), with the approval of the Obama Administration, conducts targeted killings of individual suspected terrorists. These killings have significantly increased since the Iraq war and are now a central component of U.S. counterterrorism strategy. The targeted killing program consists mainly of missile strikes from Predator drones, which are unmanned aerial vehicles operated by the CIA. In May 2010, President Obama's National Security Council approved the targeted killing of Anwar al-Aulaqi, a U.S. citizen and suspected al-Qaeda senior leader believed to be hiding in Yemen. As the first American targeted for extrajudicial lethal force, Aulaqi's situation quickly …


There Will Be Blood ... Testing: The Intersection Of Professional Sports And The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act Of 2008, Jesse A. Bland Jan 2011

There Will Be Blood ... Testing: The Intersection Of Professional Sports And The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act Of 2008, Jesse A. Bland

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Genetic testing, professional baseball, and employment discrimination seldom intersect. This Note changes that. Thanks to scientific breakthroughs in genetic research over the past half-century, genetic testing is a powerful tool for producing rich, individualized information. Progress comes at a price, however. As genetic testing has advanced and become more prevalent, so too has the potential misuse of genetic information. A recently enacted federal law--the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA)--seeks to eliminate one such threat by prohibiting the improper use of genetic information in employment decisions. While the law gained congressional momentum after tales of abuse in blue-collar industries, …


The Anti-Bootlegging Provisions: Congressional Power And Constitutional Limitations, Craig W. Dallon Jan 2011

The Anti-Bootlegging Provisions: Congressional Power And Constitutional Limitations, Craig W. Dallon

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Courts and scholars have considered the constitutional validity of 17 U.S.C. § 1101 (civil), and 18 U.S.C. § 2319A (criminal), known together as "the anti-bootlegging provisions." These provisions prohibit unauthorized recording, copying, and distribution of live musical performances. The provisions have been challenged in three cases, resulting in five published opinions. Two district court opinions held the provisions unconstitutional, but subsequent opinions vacated those decisions. Notwithstanding a sharp division among copyright scholars, the courts have upheld these provisions. The discussion surrounding them is part of a continuing struggle to ascertain limits on congressional power to regulate copying and distribution of …


The Kindle Controversy: An Economic Analysis Of How The Amazon Kindle's Text-To-Speech Feature Violates Copyright Law, Jeremy B. Francis Jan 2011

The Kindle Controversy: An Economic Analysis Of How The Amazon Kindle's Text-To-Speech Feature Violates Copyright Law, Jeremy B. Francis

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

In 2009, Amazon released the Kindle 2 with a text-to-speech feature. This feature allows users of the Kindle 2 to download software to the device that will read e-books aloud. Authors and publishers of e-books immediately objected to the feature, arguing that it essentially created an unauthorized audiobook. Amazon maintained the legality of the text-to-speech feature, arguing that it does not copy, perform, or create a derivative work. Amazon decided to avoid a legal battle by allowing rightsholders to decide whether to enable the text-to-speech feature for each individual title. The copyright community, however, responded swiftly and nearly unanimously, siding …


Copyright In Memoriam, Julie C. Young Jan 2011

Copyright In Memoriam, Julie C. Young

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Can a government infringe upon a work dedicated to the memory of its people? The February 2010 Federal Circuit decision "Gaylord v. United States" addresses that question, but any satisfaction from the decision presupposes that the government should be held liable for such an infringement. Consistent with the 1976 Copyright Act, the Gaylord decision preserves the author's rights, paying no regard to the identity of the audience or the infringer. From a policy perspective, however, the result is dubious. Arguably, if a work is a public memorial, and paid for with public funds, it should immediately enter the public domain. …


Hacking Into Federal Court: Employee "Authorization" Under The Computer Fraud And Abuse Act, Thomas E. Booms Jan 2011

Hacking Into Federal Court: Employee "Authorization" Under The Computer Fraud And Abuse Act, Thomas E. Booms

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Few would disagree that computers play an important role in modern United States society. However, many would be surprised to discover the modest amount of legislation governing computer use. Congress began addressing computer crime in 1984 by enacting the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). The CFAA represented the first piece of federal legislation governing computer crimes and has undergone eight amendments to date, making it one of the most expansive criminal laws in the United States. In 1994, Congress added a civil provision opening the door for application of the statute in novel situations. Initially enacted to target crimes …


Cloudy Privacy Protections: Why The Stored Communications Act Fails To Protect The Privacy Of Communications Stored In The Cloud, Ilana R. Kattan Jan 2011

Cloudy Privacy Protections: Why The Stored Communications Act Fails To Protect The Privacy Of Communications Stored In The Cloud, Ilana R. Kattan

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

The advent of new communications technologies has generated debate over the applicability of the Fourth Amendment's warrant requirement to communications sent through, and stored in, technologies not anticipated by the Framers. In 1986, Congress responded to perceived gaps in the protections of the warrant requirement as applied to newer technologies, such as email, by passing the Stored Communications Act (SCA). As originally enacted, the SCA attempted to balance the interests of law enforcement against individual privacy rights by dictating the mechanisms by which the government could compel a particular service provider to disclose communications stored on behalf of its customers. …


Rebuilding The Prevent Defense: Why Unethical Agents Continue To Score And What Can Be Done To Change The Game, R. Alexander Payne Jan 2011

Rebuilding The Prevent Defense: Why Unethical Agents Continue To Score And What Can Be Done To Change The Game, R. Alexander Payne

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Despite decades of regulation, college athletics continues to face problems stemming from agents' unethical and illegal tactics in recruiting student-athletes. The NCAA, Congress, state legislatures, and professional players unions have all sought to regulate the interaction between athletes and agents in various ways, often leading to conflicts and gaps within existing laws, which some agents readily exploit. Agents frequently slip through the law's porous prevent defense while the brunt of enforcement and public opprobrium falls on unsophisticated student-athletes and their schools--who are frequently outsiders to the saga. This Note explores the causes resulting in an atmosphere of noncompliance, including the …


Is Online Copyright Enforcement Scalable?, Annemarie Bridy Jan 2011

Is Online Copyright Enforcement Scalable?, Annemarie Bridy

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

This Article examines P2P file sharing and the copyright enforcement problem it has created through the lens of scalability. Part I traces the evolution of peer-to-peer (P2P) networks from Napster to BitTorrent, with a focus on the relative scalability of successive architectures. Part II takes up the difficult question of the scale of P2P infringement and its harms, examining the strategic number-crunching that underlies industry data on piracy, the government's credulous acceptance of that data, and the risk of letting industry hyperbole drive copyright policy and law enforcement priorities. Part III evaluates the efficacy of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act …


Cyberspace, Exceptionalism, And Innocent Copyright Infringement, Jacqueline D. Lipton Jan 2011

Cyberspace, Exceptionalism, And Innocent Copyright Infringement, Jacqueline D. Lipton

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Direct copyright infringement attracts strict liability. However, as a theoretical matter, it is not necessarily clear why. Legislatures and courts have typically imposed strict liability where: (a) a defendant has notice of a plaintiff's rights, particularly where those rights involve a property interest; (b) a mens rea requirement on the part of the defendant would create an untenable burden on the plaintiff; (c) it is easier for the defendant to avoid harming the plaintiff than it is for the plaintiff to avoid the harm; or, (d) it is more administratively or economically efficient for the defendant to bear the risk …


What's Wrong With U.S.?: Why The United States Should Have A Public Performance Right For Sound Recordings, William Henslee Jan 2011

What's Wrong With U.S.?: Why The United States Should Have A Public Performance Right For Sound Recordings, William Henslee

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

This Article discusses the need for the United States to implement a public performance royalty for sound recordings. Under the current system, song writers are compensated for the use of their musical works, but performers on sound recordings do not receive any compensation. Radio and television stations currently pay the performing rights societies a royalty for playing the sound recordings, but they do not pay a performance royalty to the artists who perform the music and record companies that promote and release the sound recordings. Proposed legislation will add a performance royalty for artists and record companies to the current …


Information Wars And The Challenges Of Content Protection In Digital Contexts, Raymond T. Nimmer Jan 2011

Information Wars And The Challenges Of Content Protection In Digital Contexts, Raymond T. Nimmer

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

We are in the midst of a fundamental conflict in law and policy between those who favor maintaining and expanding copyright and related rights in the digital context ("rights enhancers"), and those who favor letting rights atrophy ("rights restrictors'). This Article argues that strong intellectual property rights are essential. At minimum, they are important to support creativity in contexts where the creation, collection, or distribution of the content requires substantial investment of time and resources. The case for allowing creators' rights to weaken is both untested and structurally suspect. Copyright law must construct a balance that fully supports creative activity …


Digital Copyright And Confuzzling Rhetoric, Peter K. Yu Jan 2011

Digital Copyright And Confuzzling Rhetoric, Peter K. Yu

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

For more than a decade, policymakers, industry representatives, consumer advocates, civil libertarians, academic commentators, and user communities have advanced a wide array of arguments for or against online file sharing and restrictive copyright standards. This Article begins by introducing two short stories to illustrate the rhetorical and analytical challenges in the digital copyright debate. It then examines eight unpersuasive arguments advanced by both sides of the debate--four from the industry and four from its opponents. The Article concludes by outlining six different strategies to help the industry develop more convincing proposals for digital copyright reform.


Cut In Tiny Pieces: Ensuring That Fragmented Ownership Does Not Chill Creativity, Henry H. Perritt Jr. Jan 2011

Cut In Tiny Pieces: Ensuring That Fragmented Ownership Does Not Chill Creativity, Henry H. Perritt Jr.

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

The market for video entertainment is growing and becoming more diverse as technology reduces barriers to entry for small, independent moviemakers and distributors and increases consumers' ability to access the media of their choice. The growing complexity of the market, however, increases transaction costs for new entrants who must obtain licenses to copyrighted music, characters, storylines, or scenes that they incorporate into their movies. The entertainment bonanza offered by new technologies may not be realized in practice because of market failure. The purposes of the Copyright and Patents Clause are frustrated because creators of new works wishing to use new …