Law Commons^™

The Permissible Scope Of Texas Automobile Inventory Searches In The Aftermath Of Colorado V. Bertine: A Talisman Is Created, Gerald S. Reamey, Michael H. Bassett, John A. Molchan

Faculty Articles

The fourth amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. The warrant and probable cause requirements advance this constitutionally implied privacy right. However, with respect to automobile searches, strict adherence to these safeguards has been eschewed in favor of more flexible, and arguably less protective, versions of reasonableness.

In 1981, in Gill v. State, the Texas court addressed the permissible scope of inventory searches, holding that the police may not search the locked trunk of an automobile while conducting an inventory search. Despite the simplicity of the Gill rule, a number of recent cases, while …

Revocation Of Academic Degrees By Colleges And Universities, Bernard D. Reams Jr.

Faculty Articles

Recently, courts have decided that private and public colleges and universities can revoke degrees due to academic dishonesty. A university's authority to revoke degrees is supported by a logical extension of its conferral power, "black letter" contract law, and the precedential authority of Crook v. Baker, Waliga v. Board of Trustees of Kent State University, and Abalkhail v. Claremont University Center.

Although colleges enjoy great discretion in deciding whether to confer degrees, once the college grants a degree, its discretion to revoke that degree is governed by due process guidelines. In Crook, the university involved was public, triggering the applicability …

Do We Need A Parent-Child Privilege, David A. Schlueter

Faculty Articles

This article addresses proposals to adopt a parent-child privilege, and notes that currently incriminating statements made between parents and children are admissible as evidence. However, there is a popular move to urge codification of a parent-child privilege that would protect any statements made or actions observed within the parent-child relationship. Evidentiary privileges are generally disfavored because they potentially block otherwise relevant evidence, but some relationships, such as the parent-child relationship, deserve assurance that shared confidences will be protected.

To overcome the reluctance to adopt yet another privilege, proponents of the parent-child privilege typically offer a number of justifications. These include …

Antitrust Implications Of Municipal Land Use Planning, Victoria M. Mather

Faculty Articles

Congress enacted the Local Government Antitrust Act of 1984 in response to outcomes in many well-publicized cases and from widespread criticism of the state action doctrine as applied by the courts. The state action exemption as used by the courts today is riddled with analytical and practical problems. The Local Government Antitrust Act of 1984 shields municipal governments from monetary damage awards for violations of antitrust laws, but the act did not go far enough.

A few state legislatures have either considered or enacted statutes protecting municipalities from state or federal antitrust liability. However, preemption analysis is problematic because it …

The Infield Fly Rule And The Internal Revenue Code: An Even Further Aside, Mark W. Cochran

Faculty Articles

Baseball’s infield fly rule and certain provisions of the Internal Revenue Code are similar. The purpose of the infield fly rule is to prevent the defense from making a double play by subterfuge, at a time when the offense is helpless to prevent it.

In baseball, as in life, fairness is an elusive concept that defies precise definition. Considering the infield fly rule, the “unfairness” derives from the infielder’s ability to manipulate a situation without incurring any risk. Federal tax law, like the rules of baseball, recognizes and responds to the “manipulation without risk” phenomenon. Section 267 of the Internal …

Should Personal Injury Damage Awards Be Taxed?, Mark W. Cochran

Faculty Articles

The exclusion of personal injury damage awards from gross income is inconsistent with established principles of taxation. Section 104(a)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code excludes from gross income “the amount of any damages received . . . on account of personal injury or sickness.” While the existence of Section 104(a)(2) traditionally has been justified as a humanitarian gesture, more logical explanations have been offered.

Damage awards cannot accurately be characterized as a return of capital. Nor does the involuntary nature of the transaction justify the exclusion. While so-called imputed income is not taxed, the reasons supporting its non-taxability do not …

Counsel For The Accused: Metamorphosis In Spanish Constitutional Rights, Henry Mcgee

Faculty Articles

The article begins with a discussion of the social and political background that influenced the emergence of the constitutionally guaranteed right to counsel in Spanish law. Next, it traces the constitutional development and legislative refinements of the right to counsel. It then considers judicial refinements of that right. The article concludes with a comparison of the Spanish process of articulating the right to counsel with the parallel process in the United States and what such differences bode for U.S. scholars.

Determining Customary International Law Relative To The Conduct Of Hostilities In Non-International Armed Conflicts, James E. Bond, William J. Fenrick, Hans-Peter Gasser, Waldemar A. Solf

Faculty Articles

In 1987, the 6th annual American Red Cross-Washington College of Law Conference on International Humanitarian Law convened to discuss the 1977 Protocols Additional to the 1949 Geneva Conventions. This article outlines the proceedings of the various workshops, serving as a richly detailed scholarly source for a significant historical event.

“Oil, Gas, And Other Minerals” Clauses In Texas: Who’S On First?, Laura H. Burney

Faculty Articles

Stability and certainty of land titles encourages development of mineral resources and means individuals need not resort to judiciary for interpretation. Unfortunately, uncertainty prevails because Texas courts complicate the interpretive process and frequently need the assistance of nonlegal sources for comparison, explanation, and enlightenment. Clarity demands that courts adopt a definition of the “ordinary and natural meaning” test similar to that proposed by Dean Eugene Kuntz; burying the surface destruction test by retroactively applying the former.

The surface destruction test produced a title examiner’s nightmare. Despite the Texas Supreme Court’s determination to rectify this in Moser v. United Steel Corp. …

The Parent-Child Privilege: A Response To Calls For Adoption, David A. Schlueter

Faculty Articles

A popular move to recognize and codify a parent-child privilege has surfaced, despite rejection by a majority of the courts that have considered the issue. Reminded of the horrors accompanying totalitarian systems that require children to testify against their parents, some commentators have asserted that adoption of such a privilege will promote the success of the family relationship in this country and avoid the trauma of family members testifying against each other at trial.

The momentum for adopting a parent-child privilege seems to have been generated by a few courts and a number of commentators who see the privilege as …

Audiovisual Enhancement Of Classroom Teaching: A Primer For Law Professors, Vincent R. Johnson

Faculty Articles

It is increasingly hard to avoid the idea that audiovisual techniques are appropriate—if not essential—to the contemporary law school classroom. Audiovisual aids are already widely employed in the practice of law, continuing legal education, and in most fields of higher and professional education. Yet, what little empirical evidence exists suggests that modern media techniques have had little impact on the traditional law school classroom. Thus it is relevant to ask whether and how audiovisual media can effectively augment the teaching of standard substantive law courses.