Law Commons^™

Changing The Subject Of Sati, Deepa Das Acevedo

Faculty Articles

Charan Shah's 1999 death was widely considered to be the first sati, or widow immolation, to have occurred in India in over twenty years. Media coverage of the event focused on procedural minutiae-her sari, her demeanor-and ultimately, several progressive commentators came to the counterintuitive conclusion that the ritually anomalous nature of Charan's death confirmed its voluntary, secular, and noncriminal nature. This article argues that the "unlabeling" of Charan's death, like those of other women between 1999 and 2006, reflects a tension between the nonindividuated, impervious model of personhood exemplified by sati and the particularized citizen-subject of liberal-democratic politics in India.

The Government Contractor Defense: Breaking The Boyle Barrier, Charles E. Cantú, Randy W. Young

Faculty Articles

The government contract defense, known as the Boyle defense, shields those successfully invoking it from liability for injuries caused by defective products they manufactured. The contract specification defense is afforded to both private and government contractors when they follow the directions and specifications of a third party, usually the employer.

The first element of the Boyle defense requires that the government approve reasonably precise specifications for the equipment’s design. The contractor must show that a team-like effort existed in all communications between the contractor and the government, with the government providing general specifications and approval at various stages of project …