Law Commons^™

Strict Products Liability At 50: Four Histories, Kyle Graham

Marquette Law Review

This Article offers four different perspectives on the strict products- liability “revolution” of a half-century ago. One of these narratives relates the predominant assessment of how this movement coalesced and spread across the states. The three alternative histories introduced by this Article view the shift toward strict products liability through populist, practical, and contingent lenses, respectively. The first of these narratives considers the contributions that plaintiffs and their counsel made toward this change in the law. The second focuses upon how a formerly common, but now moribund, type of products-liability lawsuit framed the argument for strict liability as a superior …

Volume 97, Fall 2013 Masthead, Marquette Law Review

Marquette Law Review

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Volume 97, Fall 2013 Table Of Contents, Marquette Law Review

Marquette Law Review

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The Wisconsin Consumer Act: Consumer Credit Sales, Consumer Leases, Open-End Credit Plans, And Exclusions, Ralph C. Anzivino

Marquette Law Review

The Wisconsin Consumer Act (WCA) is a complex statute with very significant sanctions for creditors that fail to comply with its requirements. Debtors’ attorneys seek to claim that a transaction is subject to the WCA’s mandates, and of course, creditors’ attorneys seek to deny coverage. This Article addresses the coverage issue by focusing on the three consumer credit transactions that are expressly subject to WCA coverage, and on the two most common transactions excluded from WCA coverage. The three transactions expressly subject to WCA coverage are consumer sales, consumer leases, and open-ended credit plans. Each distinct transaction has its own …

Interpreting The Wisconsin Constitution, Daniel R. Suhr

Marquette Law Review

The Wisconsin Constitution is the state’s fundamental law and is often the final authority over important issues of public moment. When interpreting a provision in the state constitution, the Wisconsin Supreme Court relies on three primary sources: the plain meaning of the text, the legislative and ratification history surrounding the clause, and construction by the legislature. The second and third sources that the Court uses to resolve constitutional cases are significantly flawed for both practical and jurisprudential reasons.

By contrast, the Wisconsin Supreme Court focuses first and foremost on the text when interpreting statutes. The Court only turns to history …

Flirting With The Law: An Analysis Of The Ellerth/Faragher Circuit Split And A Prediction Of The Seventh Circuit’S Stance, Natalie S. Neals

Marquette Law Review

This Comment critically analyzes the split in the circuits over the second prong of the Ellerth/Faragher defense. Further, this Comment predicts how the Seventh Circuit will rule on this split. The Ellerth/Faragher defense is an affirmative defense available to employers who would otherwise be held liable for their supervisors’ harassing acts in hostile work environment situations. There are two prongs to the defense: (1) “the employer exercised reasonable care to prevent and correct promptly any sexually harassing behavior” and (2) “the plaintiff employee unreasonably failed to take advantage of any preventative or corrective opportunities provided by the employer or to …

The Psychology And Law Of Hazing Consent, Gregory S. Parks, Tiffany F. Southerland

Marquette Law Review

For years, the law has grappled with the extent to which an individual can consent to harmful physical contact. This has never been more evident than in the area of hazing. Courts have fallen on both sides of this divide, often enough speculating about the mental state of the alleged hazing victim. The question is often whether the individual had the psychological wherewithal to resist situational or contextual demands placed on him or her. In this Article, the authors provide clarity to how the law has thought about this issue and how it should think about it in light of …

Stop Hammering Fourth Amendment Rights: Reshaping The Community Caretaking Exception With The Physical Intrusion Standard, Gregory T. Helding

Marquette Law Review

In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized the community caretaking exception to the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures. As its name suggests, the exception acknowledges that police officers act not merely as law enforcers, but also as community caretakers, rendering aid to those in need, and acting to protect both people and property from harm. As originally conceived, the community caretaking exception was limited to situations involving automobiles where police were performing functions totally divorced from law enforcement. Over the years, courts have expanded the exception considerably. Police officers who suspect a crime has taken place may …

Getting Out Of The Funk: How Wisconsin Courts Can Protect Against The Threat To Impartial Jury Trials, Kurt F. Ellison

Marquette Law Review

This Comment critically examines the development of Wisconsin’s juror bias case law and the challenges that this body of law has created for judges and practitioners across the State of Wisconsin. Further, this Comment analyzes whether attempts by the Wisconsin Supreme Court to clear up the body of juror bias law have been successful or, as this Comment suggests, have left juror bias law grappling with the same set of issues. Wisconsin has long recognized the crucial role of the jury to its legal system and to ensuring the just administration of its laws. To preserve the integrity of the …

The Wisconsin Consumer Act: Territorial Considerations, Ralph C. Anzivino

Marquette Law Review

This Article primarily analyzes the impact of the territorial specifications of the Wisconsin Consumer Act on a consumer transaction. The Wisconsin Consumer Act specifies six territorial circumstances, and this Article analyzes each separately. The six territorial circumstances are as follows: (1) Was the transaction “made in Wisconsin”?; (2) Is there collection activity in Wisconsin?; (3) Is there collection activity in a foreign jurisdiction?; (4) Did the transaction involve an open-end credit sale?; (5) Did the parties’ contract contain a Wisconsin or foreign choice- of-law clause?; and (6) How do the WCA venue rules apply? Depending on which of the territorial …

Roadblock To Recovery: How Fema's Liability Insurance Mandate Denies Low-Income Disaster Survivors Essential Transportation Benefits, Anne Sikes Hornsby

Marquette Law Review

For better or worse, we live in a society dominated by the automobile; Americans are notoriously dependent on automobiles for access to goods and services, for social and economic development, and for sustenance. In disaster situations, transportation can be critical to individual and household recovery efforts, particularly for those in areas with no public transportation or where public transportation has been disrupted. FEMA’s statutory mandate charges the agency with “alleviat[ing] the suffering and damage,” and unsurprisingly, this mandate encompasses disruptions to local transportation systems; the agency’s statutes and regulations authorize FEMA to provide financial aid for transportation needs, including repair …

Racial Bias In American Foster Care: The National Debate, Tanya A. Cooper

Marquette Law Review

In disproportionately high numbers, Native American and African American children find themselves in the American foster care system. Empirical data establish that these children are removed from their families at greater rates than other races and stay in foster care longer, where they are often abused, neglected, and then severed from their families forever. For the past few decades, a vigorous debate has raged regarding whether these children are actually at greater risk for maltreatment if left at home or are just targets of discrimination in a hegemonic institution. Although the research previously showed no racial differences in child maltreatment …

A Snitch In Time: An Historical Sketch Of Black Informing During Slavery, Andrea L. Dennis

Marquette Law Review

Although potentially offering the benefits of crime control and sentence reduction, some Blacks are convinced that cooperation with criminal investigations and prosecutions should be avoided. One factor contributing to this perspective is America’s reliance on Black informants to police and socially control Blacks during slavery, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Wars on Drugs, Crime, and Gangs. Notwithstanding this historical justification for non-cooperation, only a few informant law and policy scholars have examined closely the Black community’s relationship with informing. Furthermore, even among this small group, noticeably absent are historical explorations of Black America’s experience with informing during slavery. Drawn …

Diy Urbanism: Property And Process In Grassroots City Building, Celeste Pagano

Marquette Law Review

In recent years, a range of grassroots interventions have claimed and shaped the use of urban space. Community gardens, unsanctioned public art, temporary crosswalks, miniature lending libraries—these projects and more have been termed “guerrilla urbanism,” “tactical urbanism,” or “insurgent uses of public space.” I choose the term “DIY” or “Do-It- Yourself” urbanism to describe these phenomena in order to emphasize their bottom-up and often ad hoc nature. Accomplishing a variety of aims and existing on a fluid spectrum of legality, DIY urbanist interventions share in common an orientation toward community engagement in changing the use of common urban space.

This …

Just Punch My Bankruptcy Ticket: A Qualitative Study Of Mandatory Debtor Financial Education, Michael Sousa

Marquette Law Review

When Congress amended the Bankruptcy Code in 2005 through the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (BAPCPA), it mandated that individual consumer debtors undergo two debtor education courses, one as a condition precedent to filing for bankruptcy relief, and a second for later receiving a discharge of indebtedness. As for the pre-filing credit counseling course, Congressional aim was to have prospective debtors understand the potential alternatives to filing for bankruptcy relief with the goal of having some percentage of debtors settle their debt obligations outside of the bankruptcy system. Regarding the post-filing financial management course, Congress wanted debtors who …

Making The Right Call: Why Fairness Requires Independent Appeals In U.S. Professional Sports Leagues, Jeremy R. Abrams

Marquette Law Review

Historically, the commissioners of the U.S. professional sports league have had a duty to preserve the integrity of the leagues. Developing from this concept through collective bargaining between the leagues and players’ associations, the disciplinary systems of the leagues are designed to keep conflicts out of the U.S. courts. Recently, these systems have come under considerable public scrutiny questioning their fairness and effectiveness and, in some cases, the integrity of the commissioners and sports. Specifically, there have been issues with conflict of interest of the commissioners and arbitrary decision-making in disciplining players. This Comment explores the disciplinary systems of the …

Volume 96, Fall 2012 Masthead, Marquette University Law Review

Marquette Law Review

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Volume 96, Fall 2012 Table Of Contents, Marquette University Law Review

Marquette Law Review

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Hallows Lecture: Barnette, Frankfurter, And Judicial Review, Jeffrey S. Sutton

Marquette Law Review

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Assessing The Impact Of The Ultimate Penal Sanction On Homicide Survivors: A Two State Comparison, Marilyn Peterson Armour, Mark S. Umbreit

Marquette Law Review

Numerous studies have examined the psychological sequelae that result from the murder of a loved one. Except for the death penalty, however, sparse attention has been paid to the impact of the murderer’s sentence on homicide survivors’ well-being. Given the steadfastness of the public’s opinion that the death penalty brings satisfaction and closure to survivors, it is surprising that there has been no systematic inquiry directly with survivors about whether obtaining the ultimate punishment affects their healing. This Study used in-person interviews with a randomly selected sample of survivors from four time periods to examine the totality of the ultimate …

Separate But Equal: Miranda's Right To Silence And Counsel, Steven P. Grossman

Marquette Law Review

Three decades ago, the Supreme Court created a dubious distinction between the rights accorded to suspects in custody who invoke their right to silence and who invoke their right to counsel. This distinction significantly disadvantages those who do not have the good sense or good fortune to specify they want an attorney when they invoke their right to remain silent. This article argues that this distinction was flawed at its genesis and that it has led to judicial decisions that are inconsistent, make little sense, and permit police behavior that substantially diminishes the right to silence as described in Miranda …

The Wisconsin Consumer Act: When Is A Transaction A Consumer Credit Transaction?, Ralph C. Anzivino

Marquette Law Review

The Wisconsin Consumer Act applies to all consumer credit transactions. A consumer credit transaction is a defined term under the Wisconsin Consumer Act. It has six essential elements that have been carefully interpreted by Wisconsin courts. First, the transaction must be a consumer transaction that can be a cash or credit transaction. Second, the transaction must involve a consumer that is contracting for property, services, or credit for personal, family, or household purposes. Third, the transaction must be between a customer and a merchant. The Wisconsin Consumer Act definition of a merchant is significantly different than the UCC definition of …

Fitting An Old Tiger With New Teeth: Protecting Public Employee Funds Investing In Complex Financial Instruments, Richard E. Mendales

Marquette Law Review

State employee benefit funds invested heavily in complex financial instruments before the crash of 2008. These investments were tempting to the funds because the instruments carried higher yields than those offered by traditional securities in the low interest climate created largely by Federal Reserve policies after the turn of the century. The risks of the unconventional securities were concealed by investment-grade ratings issued by credit rating agencies and by deceptive marketing practices. With the crash, funds incurred major losses, which, unlike losses by private funds, are not insured by the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

This Article deals both with …

Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes? Limits On Widespread Surveillance And Intelligence Gathering By Local Law Enforcement After 9/11, Craig Roush

Marquette Law Review

In the decade since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, local law enforcement has become the front line in the nation’s counterterrorism strategy. This involvement has not come without controversy. As part of these counterterrorism efforts, police departments have begun to establish widespread surveillance and intelligence-gathering networks to monitor Muslim and other ethnic neighborhoods in the hopes of stopping the next terrorist attack at its source. Such surveillance does not necessarily run afoul of the Constitution, and both our political environment—in which voters demand that the government stop terrorism at all costs—as well as unprecedented levels of federal funding …

Volume 95, Summer 2012 Table Of Contents, Marquette University Law School

Marquette Law Review

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The Troubled Beginning Of The Interstate Commerce Act, James W. Ely Jr.

Marquette Law Review

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The Interstate Commerce Act And The Sherman Act: Playing Railroad Tycoon, Randal C. Picker

Marquette Law Review

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The Rise And Fall Of The Interstate Commerce Commission: The Tortuous Path From Regulation To Deregulation Of America's Infrastructure, Paul Stephen Dempsey

Marquette Law Review

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The Interstate Commerce Act As A Model Of Regulation, Richard D. Cudahy

Marquette Law Review

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Barrock Lecture: Reality-Challenged Philosophies Of Punishment, Robert Weisberg

Marquette Law Review

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