Law Commons^™

Grave Secrets: Ethical And Legal Analysis Of Postmortem Confidentiality, Jessica Wilen Berg

Faculty Publications

*A young man finds a letter from his recently deceased's mother's therapist and calls the psychologist to get information about whether his mother sought counseling because of difficulties in their relationship. The therapist reassures the son that his mother came for help in dealing with her terminal illness.

*A now-adult child sues her deceased father's physician for failing to warn her that her father's death when she was 10 years old was due to colon cancer, a potentially inheritable disease.

*Following the death of Linda McCartney, a number of newspapers reporters, suspecting physician-assisted suicide, demanded access to her death certificate …

Reinforcing The Myth Of The Crazed Rapist: A Feminist Critique Of Recent Rape Legislation, Christina E. Wells, Erin Elliott

Faculty Publications

Part I of this article reviews these new legislative provisions, discussing their requirements as well as the general impetus behind their enactment. Part II discusses both the history of rape prosecution and feminist efforts in the 1970s and 1980s to eliminate barriers to successful rape prosecutions. This part also elaborates upon the myth of the crazed rapist and its relationship to feminist reform efforts. Part III explains how the current legislation is rooted in and reinforces that myth by encouraging unsupportable distinctions among rape defendants. Finally, Part IV discusses the feminist response to such laws and argues for a more …

State Constitutional Restrictions On Legislative Procedure: Rethinking Analysis Of Original Purpose, Single Subject, And Clear Title Challenges, Martha Dragich

Faculty Publications

Recognizing that state courts are beginning to review procedural challenges more rigorously, this Article attempts to provide guidance for the resolution of such cases. Part I examines the history, purposes, and standards of original purpose, single subject, and clear title restrictions, using Missouri's provisions as examples. Part I also identifies paradigmatic cases of each of the procedural violations with the hope of more sharply differentiating the three claims. Parts II through V present a case study of ten Missouri cases decided since 1994, supplemented with notable cases from other states. Part II begins with a brief description of the Missouri …

Safeguarding Juror Privacy: A New Framework For Court Policies And Procedures, Paula Hannaford-Agor

Faculty Publications

This article briefly discusses the difficulty courts face in balancing the privacy of citizens summoned for jury service with the rights of litigants and the public to information about those individuals. I propose that focusing on the content of the information re­quested of prospective jurors and the purposes for which juror infor­mation is used by courts provides a more helpful analysis than the legal framework traditionally employed in case law. Specifically, I argue that distinguishing between information that is relevant and information that is not relevant to the fairness or im­partiality of prospective jurors should be the primary analytical framework …

Allocution For Victims Of Economic Crimes, Jayne W. Barnard

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Renewable Bar Admission: A Template For Making "Professionalism" Real, Jayne W. Barnard

Faculty Publications

The citizens of this country should expect no less than the highest degree of professionalism when they have entrusted administration of the rule of law-one of the fundamental tenets upon which our society is based-to the legal profession. Re-examination was not originally required of medical specialists, but [the American Board of Medical Specialties] quickly recognized that a lifetime certification, even with required continuing education provided little incentive for doctors to keep up with new medical knowledge and techniques. Similarly, continuing [legal] education requirements alone are not sufficient to assure the integration of new law and procedure into a lawyer's practice. …

Settlements And Waivers Affecting Pension Benefits Under Erisa, Eric D. Chason

Faculty Publications

Waivers affecting pension benefits may be entered into as part of a controversy (for example, a settlement agreement) or in isolation (for example, a disclaimer). Under current law, however, it is unclear how these waivers fit within the protections of ERISA, particularly the antialienation rule. Courts have generally honored settlement agreements so long as they are procedurally fair to participants. However, the antialienation rule looms in the background. The IRS and Treasury, in contrast, have focused on waivers outside the settlement context, prohibiting participants from making them but allowing beneficiaries to do so if the waiver satisfies gift-tax rules for …

Falling Out Of Love With America: The Clinton Impeachment And The Madisonian Constitution, Frank O. Bowman Iii

Faculty Publications

First, were the Nixon and Clinton affairs truly as different as my memory makes them? Were the villains of Watergate as villainous and the heroes as heroic as I remember them? Were nearly all the players on both sides of l'affaire Lewinsky as shallow and fatuous as they seemed? Or to put the question in broader historical context, was the impeachment of Bill Clinton truly distinct, not only from Watergate, but from all of the other (fortunately few) occasions on which a president was seriously threatened with removal from office? Second, if the Clinton impeachment really was as bizarre, unprecedented, …

The 2001 Federal Economic Crime Sentencing Reforms: An Analysis And Legislative History, Frank O. Bowman Iii

Faculty Publications

This Article has four parts. First, it describes the general structure of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines and the approach to sentencing economic crimes in effect between 1987 and 2001. Second, it outlines the defects in the former economic crime guidelines that led to the call for reform. Third, it describes the process undertaken by the Sentencing Commission that led to the passage of the 2001 economic crime amendments and, in so doing, provides a roadmap to sources of legislative history. Fourth, it explains and analyzes the new guidelines in light of their legislative history, with primary emphasis on the consolidated …

Chinese Mortgage Law: An American Perspective, Dale A. Whitman

Faculty Publications

My objective in this paper is to compare and to evaluate some of the features of the American and Chinese systems. I do so without any preconception that the American system provides better answers, but with the recognition that it is far more mature and provides more answers. Hence it provides a reference point from which the Chinese system can be considered. Perhaps each system has something to teach the other.

'The Question Is Which Is To Be Master - That's All': Cunningham, Claiborne, Rita And The Sixth Amendment Muddle, Frank O. Bowman Iii

Faculty Publications

Three things are clear from the Supreme Court's opinion in Cunningham v. California, in which the Court struck down California's sentencing law as violative of the Sixth Amendment, and from the briefs in the pending cases involving post-Booker federal sentencing, Claiborne v. United States and Rita v. United States. First, the Supreme Court has plunged Sixth Amendment sentencing law deep down the rabbit hole. Second, both the government and petitioners in Claiborne and Rita have adopted indefensible positions. Third, neither the parties nor the amici in Rita and Claiborne have offered the Court any real help in crafting a sensible …

Introduction: The Difficult First Amendment, Christina E. Wells

Faculty Publications

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for redress of grievances.

Beyond Campaign Finance: The First Amendment Implications Of Nixon V. Shrink Missouri Pac, Christina E. Wells

Faculty Publications

This essay, however, is less concerned with the campaign finance aspects of Shrink than with the decision's broader implications. In the course of its decision, the Shrink Court not only obfuscated the standard of scrutiny applicable to contribution regulations, it effectively ignored the government's lack of factual support for the law, instead accepting the state's assertions at face-value. Consequently, Shrink is far more than a simple application of Buckley. Rather, it reflects fundamental problems with the Court's standards of review in First Amendment cases generally. The more global nature of Shrink's problems suggest that, despite scholarly focus on the Buckley …

Cybergossip Or Securities Fraud? Some First Amendment Guidance In Drawing The Line., Lyrissa Lidsky, Michael Pike

Faculty Publications

Fifteen-year-old Jonathan Lebed, the youngest person ever pursued by the SEC in an enforcement action, made over $800,000 in six months by promoting stocks on Internet message boards. Using several fictitious screen names, Jonathan posted hundreds of messages on Yahoo! Finance, hyping selected over-the-counter stocks and then promptly selling his pre-purchased shares as soon as the stock prices rose.

Publicly, the SEC painted a picture-perfect case of securities fraud. Yet, the SEC forced disgorgement of only $285,000 of Jonathan's profits, leaving many observers to wonder why the resolution of this supposedly clear-cut case left its teenaged perpetrator with over $500,000. …

Does Technology Require New Law?, David D. Friedman

Faculty Publications

Technological change affects the law in at least three ways: (1) by altering the cost of violating and enforcing existing legal rules; (2) by altering the underlying facts that justify legal rules; and (3) by changing the underlying facts implicitly assumed by the law, making existing legal concepts and categories obsolete, even meaningless. The legal system can choose to ignore such changes. Alternatively, it may selectively alter its rules legislatively or via judicial interpretation. In this essay I first discuss, as an interesting historical example, past technological changes relevant to copyright law and the law's response. I then go on …

Ending Male Privilege: Beyond The Reasonable Woman, Stephanie M. Wildman

Faculty Publications

In her review essay Ending Male Privilege: Beyond the Reasonable Woman, Professor Wildman examines A Law of Her Own: The Reasonable Woman as a Measure of Man by Caroline A. Forell and Donna M. Matthews. Forell and Matthews explain the need for a reasonable woman standard, particularly in cases of sexual harassment, stalking, domestic homicide, and rape. Wildman, while agreeing that those areas exemplify areas of law in which the "spectrum of violence and disregard of women is most evident and problematic," urges that litigants seeking equality must go beyond the reasonable woman and articulate the systemic nature of male …

Domestic Violence Torts, Jennifer Wriggins

Faculty Publications

The Article systematically looks at domestic violence as a torts issue and also critiques how tort theory prioritizes accidents over intentional torts. After showing how domestic violence fits within the categories of intentional torts including battery, assault, false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress, the article highlights the disjunction between the prevalence of domestic violence and the virtual absence of tort suits seeking compensation for domestic violence injuries. The article analyzes the reasons for that absence and finds a range of explanations. Some of the explanations are practical, such as the ‘intentional acts exclusion’ in liability insurance and short …

Revised Article 9, Securitization Transactions And The Bankruptcy Dynamic, Lois R. Lupica

Faculty Publications

Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code ("U.C.C.")1 is the law governing the creation, perfection, and enforcement of security interests in personal property. Originally enacted in 1960,2 Article 9 was substantially revised in 1972 in response to changes in commercial financing markets and practices. Since this last revision, there have been further changes, including technological advances, affecting commercial practice and custom. These changes have led the Permanent Editorial Board for the U.C.C. ("PEB") to recommend to the American Law Institute ("ALI") and the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws ("NCCUSL") that Article 9, once again, be significantly revised. …

In Defense Of Civil Redress: The Domestic Enforcement Of Human Rights Norms In The Context Of The Proposed Hague Judgments Convention, Beth Van Schaack

Faculty Publications

At the time this Article was written, delegations from forty-five countries were in the process of drafting the Convention on Jurisdiction and Foreign Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters ("the Hague Convention") under the auspices of the Hague Conference on Private International Law. [Since the writing of this Article, the drafters significantly scaled back the project, which now addresses only commercial disputes. Prior to this change of emphasis, drafters adopted draft text similar to that advocated in this Article.] The Hague Convention sought to establish a foundation for a worldwide regime for the free enforcement of civil judgments in exchange …

Bridging The Divide: An Alternative Approach To International Labor Rights After The Battle Of Seattle, Stephen F. Diamond

Faculty Publications

The massive protest by labor, human rights, and environmental activists at the Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization in Seattle in late 1999 was a singular event in global trade politics. It represented a major setback for the proponents of free trade and for the "globalization" process itself. It reflected, and has now influenced, the contours of American domestic politics as well. At the heart of the Seattle events was a new coalition between trade unions, led by the American AFL-CIO, and a wide range of protest groups and non-governmental organizations. This new coalition represents a potent force but …

Race And Races: Constructing A New Legal Actor, Margalynne J. Armstrong

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Estates & Trusts: 2001 Survey Of Florida Law, Eloisa Rodriguez-Dod

Faculty Publications

This article discusses relevant changes in Florida probate and trust statutes and regulations through mid-2001, updating a prior survey published in 1998. The article highlights and summarizes, some aspects of the elective share provisions and other legislative changes to the Florida Probate Code and Trust Administration Statutes. Amendments to the Florida Probate Rules are also highlighted. Lastly, the article highlights some significant cases decided during mid-2001 that affected this area of the law.

The Craft Of Due Process, Kevin C. Mcmunigal

Faculty Publications

Response to Professor Israel's presentation "On the Costs of Uniformity and the Prospects of Dualism in Constitutional Criminal Procedure."

Internationalizing The Study Of Law, Michael P. Scharf

Faculty Publications

Michael P. Scharf gives a talk about efforts to internationalize the curriculum that have been employed at the New England Law School on a fairly modest budget.

Norm Theory And The Future Of The Federal Appointments Process, Michael J. Gerhardt

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Congressional Factfinding And The Scope Of Judicial Review: A Preliminary Analysis, Neal Devins

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Fulfilling The Bargain: How The Science Of Ergonomics Can Inform The Laws Of Workers’ Compensation, Jason M. Solomon

Faculty Publications

In the last decade, cumulative trauma disorders have become a significant percentage of reported workplace injuries and litigated workers'compensation claims. Arising from the accumulated impact of daily work activities on the body, these injuries do not fall neatly within "disease" categories which comprise workers' compensation laws. As a result, courts and legislatures have struggled to properly evaluate workers' compensation claims for these injuries. This Note looks at the legal treatment of cumulative trauma injuries in light of the "original bargain" of workers' compensation, where workers give up a tort remedy against their employers in exchange for guaranteed, but limited, compensation …

Exploring Feminism Globally To Achieve Global Feminism, Anna M. Han

Faculty Publications

Edited Speech delivered on October 6, 2000 at the University of San Diego Journal of Contemporary Legal Issues Conference on Intersectionality and Critical Race Feminism.

In writing this article, I kept thinking of the various stories that I heard during the workshops in Beijing and again I was struck by the commonality of the underlying issues facing women from around the world. While there may be dramatic political, cultural, linguistic and economic differences, I posit that there were more similarities than there were differences.

Holding-Up More Than Half The Sky: Marketization And The Status Of Women In China, Anna M. Han

Faculty Publications

The purpose of this article is to examine generally how Chinese women fared under communism and more specifically, delve into how marketization has adversely impacted the status of women in China. It is this author's contention that despite the overall improvements in the standard of living, Chinese women are increasingly being marginalized economically. The long-term effects of subjugating the advancement of women for the immediate benefits of China's experimentation with a market economy hold vast implications for the future of the country. As China progresses economically, politically and socially, it cannot afford to leave half of its population behind as …

Bibliography On Secession And International Law, Mary D. Hood

Faculty Publications

The purpose of this bibliography is to bring together a variety of sources as a resource for the attendees of America's Regional Conference on Secession and International Law, sponsored by the International and Comparative Law Institute of Santa Clara University School of Law in cooperation with the Consortium on International Disputes Resolution (CIDIR). Issues discussed at this conference include:

• Secession in the history of international relations;
• Right of secession in comparative constitutional law;
• Secession in present international law:
• Rules and principles of international law with regard to secession;
• Self-determination and secession;
• Minorities, "peoples" and the right to self-determination at the …