Law Commons^™

Fintech: A Field Day Of Arbitrage Gone Awry, Grace Fraser

Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

White V. Hesse: Challenging An Oklahoma County's Bail Practices Under The Americans With Disabilities Act And The Rehabilitation Act, Andrew Hamm

Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

When Your Colonizers Are Hypocrites: Federal Poverty "Solutions" And Indigenous Survival Of Sex Trafficking In Indian Country, Alix Bruce

Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

"Enough's Enough": Protest Law And The Tradition Of Chilling Indigenous Free Speech, Alix H. Bruce

Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Indigenous peoples in the United States were not granted the full scope of their rights as citizens under the Constitution until the enactment of the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924. Before that—and after—several state and federal campaigns worked to stifle the civil rights of Indigenous peoples. Many of those unjust and unconstitutional policies were upheld by the Supreme Court. In the current era, the anti-pipeline protests on the edge of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota sparked a new recognition of Indigenous resistance under the First Amendment—and vicious state and federal backlash against Indigenous free speech via the …

Visa Denied: Why Courts Should Review A Consular Officer’S Denial Of A U.S. Citizen Family Member’S Visa, Gabriela Baca

Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Before entering the United States for permanent or temporary residence, most noncitizens must complete a series of administrative procedures and background checks. The final step in the process is an interview with a consular officer in the noncitizen’s home country. That step, in most cases, determines whether a spouse can permanently rejoin her U.S.-citizen husband or wife in the United States or whether another immediate family member can permanently reside in the same home as her U.S.-citizen family member. After a consular officer decides to admit or deny entry to a noncitizen family member, there are limited opportunities for administrative …

How Students Became Criminals: The Similarities Between “Stop And Frisk” And School Searches And The Effect On Delinquency Rates, Rachel N. Johnson

Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

The China Syndrome: The International Trade Commission’S Rising Importance For Enforcing International Trade Secret Violations, Jonathan R. K. Stroud

Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Reprinted with permission of FDLI

The Tragedy Of The Commons: A Hybrid Approach To Trade Secret Legal Theory, Jonathan R. K. Stroud

Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

Draconian Discrimination: One Man's Battle With U.S. Immigration Law For Fairness, Justice, And American Citizenship, Rachel Zoghlin

Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

Cows, Congress, And Climate Change: Authority And Responsibility For Federal Agencies To End Grazing On Public Lands, Marya Torrez

Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

Politicizing Patents - Patenting Biotechnology In The Wake Of Section 33, Prometheus, And Cls Bank, Jonathan R. K. Stroud

Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Tucked into the America Invents Act is the first statutory exemption for any patentable subject matter. Section 33 renders unpatentable all claims “encompassing a human being.” By recognizing a vague subject matter – exception for human beings despite the fact that internal policies had long militated against such patent claims, Congress has politicized the patent law to an unheard-of degree. While textually consistent with internal USPTO policy, the passage of § 33 should not be seen as an invitation to litigators to expand § 101 unpatentable-subject-matter challenges to validity by including arguments that medical methods, genetic tests, biological chimeras, or …

A Thousand Tiny Pieces: The Federal Circuit's Fractured 'Myriad' Ruling, Lessons To Be Learned, And The Way Forward, Jonathan Stroud

Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

The Supreme Court granted, vacated, and remanded the infamous Myriad gene isolation patentability case to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) in light of the recent Prometheus decision, which held 9-0 that a certain diagnostic method was invalid subject matter because it was an abstract idea merely modified by other obvious steps. This Essay argues that Myriad should be affirmed again by the Federal Circuit, particularly in light of Prometheus, in order to inject certainty, clarity, and consistency into the § 101 patentable subject matter jurisprudence

An Idea Of American Indian Land Justice: Examining Native Land Liberation In The New Progressive Era, Richael Faithful

Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

This article is inspired by Professor Robert Odawi Porter’s remarks during the 2009 D.C. Federal Indian Bar conference in which he outlined a seemingly radical proposal for “land liberation” for American Indian tribes – the abandonment of United States trusteeship over tribal land, and return of title and associated rights to numerous tribes who have lost their land due to nefarious governmental policies and bad deals. In an effort to bridge Porter’s visionary legal viewpoint with renowned economist and philosopher, Amartya Sen’s recent visionary contribution on justice, An Idea of American Indian Land Justice, helps revive an Indian law, critical …

Reaching Beyond The State: Judicial Independence, The Inter-American Court Of Human Rights And Accountability In Guatemala, Edward H. Warner, Davis Jeffery

Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

The authors examine the role of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in its efforts to impose accountability for human rights violations in Latin America. They suggest that because domestic enforcement mechanisms are irreconcilably deficient in this task, accountability must emanate from beyond the state. They test this contention by examining one of the most challenging nations in the region – Guatemala.

Religious Exemption Or Exceptionalism? Exploring The Tension Of First Amendment Religion Protections & Civil Rights Progress Within The Employment Non-Discrimination Act, Richael Faithful

Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

The District of Columbia (D.C.) marked a landmark civil rights achievement in December 2009 when the city passed the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Equality Amendment Act. The law’s enactment allowed D.C. to become the sixth jurisdiction to sanction same-sex marriage in the United States. Supporters hailed the law as a victory for lesbian and gay equality, while detractors vowed that their efforts to traditionally define marriage would continue.

Among the most public opponents of the law was the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, which operates Catholic Charities, a leading service provider to low-income residents in the metropolitan area. The Catholic …

Expanding The Scope Of The Good-Faith Exception To The Exclusionary Rule To Include A Law Enforcement Officer's Reasonable Reliance On Well-Settled Case Law That Is Subsequently Overruled, Ross Oklewicz

Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

In 2009, the Supreme Court handed down several important decisions on criminal procedure. Perhaps unanticipated at the time, two of those decisions have been read together by lower courts to reach dramatically different results. The emerging split has been sharp, bringing with it urgent calls for the Court to intervene.

Laying the foundation for the conflicting decisions was New York v. Belton, in which the Supreme Court held that “when a policeman has made a lawful custodial arrest of the occupant of an automobile, he may, as a contemporaneous incident of that arrest, search the passenger compartment of the automobile” …

Stepping Out Of The Vehicle: The Potential Of Arizona V. Gant To End Automatic Searches Incident To Arrest Beyond The Vehicular Context, Angad Singh

Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

“Because the law says we can do it” was the response Officer Griffith offered when asked why officers searched Rodney Gant’s car when he was arrested for driving with a suspended license. Officer Griffith’s honest answer exemplifies the effect of prior Supreme Court decisions on search incident to arrest power in the vehicle context: that a vehicle search incident to arrest is a police entitlement divorced from any rationale whatsoever. Concerns for officer safety and preservation of evidence -- legal justifications that generally permit warrantless searches incident to arrest generally -- had been utterly abandoned by the Court in the …

At&T V. Hulteen: The Ghost Of The Supreme Court On Pregnancy Discrimination And Pay Equality For Women’S Pension Benefits In America, Walakewon Blegay

Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Historically, discrimination against women concerning childbirth and pregnancy was legally sanctioned and resulted in fewer advantages for women in the workforce. Most employers discharged a woman as soon as she became noticeably pregnant, and if she returned, she was considered a new, rather than a returning employee. Before 1978, many employers would give female employees a maximum of thirty days of credited pregnancy-related disability leave, while non-pregnant employees would receive unlimited credit for disability leave. In 1978, Congress enacted the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA), requiring that employers treat pregnant employees the same as employees who were not pregnant.

These laws …

Money, Meet Mouth: The Era Of Regulation And Prescription Drug Importation/Reimportation, Aaron Wong

Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

The author explores why our country has failed to devote the necessary resources to health care, and in particular prescription drug importation and reimportation, in an economic and legal context. He analyzes the unique market characteristics of the pharmaceutical industry, the framework of pharmaceutical drug regulation including prescription drug importation, and the regulatory structure of importation in general. Part II provides background on the health care industry and prescription drug markets in the U.S. and abroad. Part III examines legislative proposals for drug importation and reimportation and the controversial congressional reaction to rising prescription drug prices in the U.S. Part …

Regulating Secondhand Tobacco Smoke In The Americas: A Comparison Of The Top Down And Bottom Up Approaches In Brazil And The United States, Leigh Warren

Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

The author presents a comparative analysis of the legal approaches to regulate Second Hand Smoke (SHS) in Brazil and the United States. Part II reviews the FCTC, its objective to achieve smoke-free public places, and the legal framework supporting freedom from SHS as a human right. Parts III and IV examine Brazil’s top down and the United States’ bottom up approaches to regulating SHS through legislative and judicial measures. Part V presents a comparative analysis of the two approaches and offers recommendations based on lessons learned from each approach. Because neither approach is perfect, Part V also discusses the role …

Reexamining Models Of Disability And Applying Rationality, Morality, And Ethics To Support Disability Rights In Context Of Genetics, Gary C. Norman

Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

The author discusses genetic and assistive reproduction science and technology in light of their impact on people with disabilities. Specifically, he focuses on the prism of the models through which disability is recognized. If applied in a manner such that the best facets of both models of disability can bear forth, then the position of the author, a person with a vision disability, is that his colleagues in the disability civil rights movement should not reflexively excoriate genetic and assisted reproduction science and technology. However, safeguarding people with disabilities, who are a discrete and insular minority across the globe, against …

The Post-Medellin Case For Legislative Standing, James A. Turner

Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

After the terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001, the balance of power between the executive and legislative branches of government in this country shifted. President Bush expanded the executive’s unilateral authority in international affairs and war powers. Both President Bush and President Obama have extended executive power, and then staunchly protected their expansion of authority from limitation by the legislative and judicial branches. Further, Bush’s use of presidential signing statements to undermine legislative intent suggests that the executive’s power to avoid legislative input may be virtually limitless.

The Supreme Court’s 2008 Medellín v. Texas decision appeared …

Trips And Human Rights: The Case Of India, Subramanya Sirish Tamvada

Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

The twenty-first century has seen a rapid growth of two regimes: the intellectual property rights regime and the human rights regime. On one hand, growth of multinational corporations has led to a stronger and stricter intellectual property rights regime. On the other hand, human rights have gained primacy in public as well as political debates. Developing countries have argued that intellectual property rights and Human Rights often come into conflict, particularly when implementing their international obligations under TRIPS. Nevertheless, developing countries are forced to provide better intellectual property protection. There is a need to give heed to the voices of …

Protecting The Family Pet: The New Face Of Maryland: Domestic Violence Protective Orders, Gary C. Norman

Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Domestic violence is on the rise, and pets are increasingly becoming the victims of marital disputes. There is a demonstrated link between acts and offenses of domestic violence and animal abuse. Domestic abusers often do not think twice about beating or otherwise harming pets that have bonded with the other spouse in order to control, coerce, intimidate, or cause emotional harm to that spouse.

There is an emerging awareness that animals are more than just property. Several states have recognized, through the enactment of legislation fortifying their family law systems, that animals play an integral role in the lives of …

Breathing New Life Into Old Technological Infrastructure: Broadband Internet As A Means Of Jump-Starting The Economy And Connecting The Country, Elizabeth Chernow

Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

This paper examines the current structure of universal service and the FCC’s Universal Service Fund, recent pushes to expand the definition of and funding for universal service to include broadband access, and how broadband internet can contribute to saving the ailing economy. The paper concludes by calling for the inclusion of broadband internet in the Universal Service Fund.

Current financial support for the Universal Service Fund is problematic in that only telecommunications carriers providing interstate services are required to contribute to the fund. The author maintains that the contribution base should be expanded to include companies providing broadband internet access. …