Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Law Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 17 of 17

Full-Text Articles in Law

Rage Against The Machine: Reducing Robocall Abuse To Protect At-Risk Consumers, Nicole Egan May 2022

Rage Against The Machine: Reducing Robocall Abuse To Protect At-Risk Consumers, Nicole Egan

University of Massachusetts Law Review

For most people, robocalls are nothing more than an annoying side-effect of owning a cell phone today. But a successful robocall scheme is still capable of wreaking financial and psychological havoc on its victims. Senior citizens and cognitively impaired individuals are often targeted by fraudulent phone calls or texts because they may have trouble understanding how to identify and protect themselves from robocall abuse. This Note proposes a collaborative solution to this problem by calling on the judiciary and legislatures to minimize the amount of robocalls received by American telephone consumers. By adopting a broader understanding of the law and …


Meat Wars: The Unsettled Intersection Of Federal And State Food Labeling Regulations For Plant-Based Meat Alternatives, Shareefah Taylor Oct 2020

Meat Wars: The Unsettled Intersection Of Federal And State Food Labeling Regulations For Plant-Based Meat Alternatives, Shareefah Taylor

University of Massachusetts Law Review

Due to technological advances and the rise in popularity of plant-based meat alternatives (i.e., Beyond Meat, the Impossible Burger, etc.), nearly thirty states have proposed or enacted legislation to limit which foods can be labeled with terms that have traditionally been used to describe products derived from animal carcasses (i.e., meat, burger, sausage, etc.). Fueled in many places by the cattle industry, the states’ legislation proposes stricter guidelines than the federal counterparts in an attempt to specifically prohibit plant-based, cell-based (lab-grown meat), and even insect-based products from being labeled in meat-associated terms. To date, lawsuits have been filed by opponents …


Too Clever By Half: Commanding The Nonuse Of State Authority To Regulate Health Benefits In The Aca, Michael F. Ryan Feb 2018

Too Clever By Half: Commanding The Nonuse Of State Authority To Regulate Health Benefits In The Aca, Michael F. Ryan

University of Massachusetts Law Review

Prior to the enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), state legislatures routinely passed laws requiring health insurance carriers to cover certain health care services or providers. At the behest of the insurance industry, Congress attempted to use the health reform law as a vehicle to reign in state-specific “mandated benefit” laws. That being said, the ACA does not prevent states from enacting mandated benefit laws; in fact, the statute expressly permits states to enact such laws. Instead, Congress created a significant barrier to continued state-specific regulation of health insurance benefits. Specifically, 42 U.S.C. § 18031(d)(3)(B)(ii) (Section …


Going To The Clerk’S Office And We’Re Not Going To Get Married, Alicia F. Blanchard Feb 2018

Going To The Clerk’S Office And We’Re Not Going To Get Married, Alicia F. Blanchard

University of Massachusetts Law Review

Same-sex marriage is a controversial topic subject to great debate. The Supreme Court in 2015 federally recognized the legality of same-sex marriages in Obergefell v. Hodges. Despite this ruling, some people looked for any reason to denounce the holding. Perhaps none were more vocal than those who rejected same-sex marriage on the basis of their religious tenets. Miller v. Davis provided people who were morally opposed to same-sex marriage a platform to support their concerns grounded in a First Amendment right to freedom of religion. The question is how far does one’s freedom of religion extend? Does freedom of religion …


Changing The First Lady’S Mystique: Defining The First Lady’S Legal Role And Upending Gender Norms, Ashlee A. Paxton-Turner Feb 2018

Changing The First Lady’S Mystique: Defining The First Lady’S Legal Role And Upending Gender Norms, Ashlee A. Paxton-Turner

University of Massachusetts Law Review

This Article explores the lack of formal guidelines governing the First Lady by first considering the history of the role and how the three branches of government have typically dealt with the role. Attention is also given to the possible intersection with the anti-nepotism statute when and if the First Lady acts as an advisor to the President. This Article then goes on to suggest that this lack of formality has allowed gender norms to govern the role. In an era where women’s rights have resurfaced as a central theme in political discourse, this Article concludes by suggesting some possible …


The Troubling Problem Of Income Inequality: A Few Thoughts, James F. Freeley Feb 2016

The Troubling Problem Of Income Inequality: A Few Thoughts, James F. Freeley

University of Massachusetts Law Review

Income inequality has become an important public policy issue in the United States. This Essay examines the issue in a political, economic, and legal context. It argues that the only policy responses that will work to address the underlying trends are ones that put a priority upon hiring people at a living wage and encouraging entrepreneurship and growth at all levels of the economy.


The Legal Status Of Charter Schools In State Statutory Law, Preston C. Green Iii, Bruce D. Baker, Joseph O. Oluwole Jun 2015

The Legal Status Of Charter Schools In State Statutory Law, Preston C. Green Iii, Bruce D. Baker, Joseph O. Oluwole

University of Massachusetts Law Review

Given the recent increase in charter schools as an alternative to the traditional public education system, this Article explores the legal status and position of charter schools. Charter schools exhibit many characteristics of private schools, particularly in terms of management, but also retain many public school features. Thus, this Article explores areas of the law where charter schools were either classified as public or private in terms of state statutes or regulations, discussing recent and some pending litigation. First, this Article discusses whether charter schools, charter school boards and officials, or educational management organizations which manage charter schools are entitled …


Remedies For Detainees: The Impact Of The Ninth Circuit's Decision On Medical Negligence Cases, Arzoo Rajani Mar 2015

Remedies For Detainees: The Impact Of The Ninth Circuit's Decision On Medical Negligence Cases, Arzoo Rajani

University of Massachusetts Law Review

This comment examines the impact of the Ninth Circuit‘s holding in medical neglect cases and whether the Second Circuit made an error. To examine this issue, it must first be understood what the factual and legal background is concerning each case, the detainee‘s medical rights and the types of actions they can bring against government employees. After examining the law, the Second Circuit‘s holding is then compared with the Ninth Circuit‘s holding. Finally, this comment argues why the Supreme Court should affirm the Ninth Circuit‘s holding.


The Efficacy Of Indefinite Detention: Assessment Of Immigration Case Law In Kiyemba V. Obama, Hansdeep Singh Mar 2015

The Efficacy Of Indefinite Detention: Assessment Of Immigration Case Law In Kiyemba V. Obama, Hansdeep Singh

University of Massachusetts Law Review

This note discusses the potential indefinite detention, also called preventative detention, of the Uighur detainees. Until early 2010, the U.S. Government had been unable to resettle seventeen Uighurs for over 5 years. In 2009, the Supreme Court, granted certiorari on the issue of whether federal courts have the authority to ―order the release of prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay 'where the Executive detention is indefinite and without authorization in law, and release into the continental United States is the only possible effective remedy.‘ However, on March 1, 2010, the Supreme Court vacated and remanded the case to the United States …


Detention Status Review Process In Transnational Armed Conflict: Al Maquleh V. Gates, And The Parwan Detention Facility, Jody M. Prescott Mar 2015

Detention Status Review Process In Transnational Armed Conflict: Al Maquleh V. Gates, And The Parwan Detention Facility, Jody M. Prescott

University of Massachusetts Law Review

This article will first set out a brief history and description of the airfield at Bagram and the detention facilities there. Second, it will explore the standards under international law and the implement ation of national regulations by which the detention status of individuals detained by U.S. military forces is determined, when such individuals may be released from detention, and the significance of the evolving concept of transnational armed conflict to these determinations. Third, it will review the U.S. Supreme Court‘s decision in Boumediene, explore the Court‘s analysis in reaching its decision, and identify what the Court found to be …


A Critique Of The Second Circuit’S Analysis In Nicholas V. Goord, John Dorsett Niles Dec 2014

A Critique Of The Second Circuit’S Analysis In Nicholas V. Goord, John Dorsett Niles

University of Massachusetts Law Review

The Case Note proceeds as follows. Part I traces the historical and procedural facts underlying Nicholas. Part II describes the legal backdrop against which the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit decided the case. Part III steps through the Second Circuit’s majority opinion, and Part IV critiques the opinion. Part V concludes the Case Note by discussing the ramifications of Nicholas for future DNA-indexing cases.


2007 National Lawyer’S Convention The Federalist Society And Its Federalism And Separation Of Powers Practice Groups Present A Panel Debate On Federalism: Religion, Early America And The Fourteenth Amendment, John Eastman, Marci Hamilton, William H. Pryor Jr. Dec 2014

2007 National Lawyer’S Convention The Federalist Society And Its Federalism And Separation Of Powers Practice Groups Present A Panel Debate On Federalism: Religion, Early America And The Fourteenth Amendment, John Eastman, Marci Hamilton, William H. Pryor Jr.

University of Massachusetts Law Review

Transcript of the Federalist Society and its Federalism and Separation of Powers Practice Groups panel debate at the 2007 National Lawyers Convention including panelists Dean John Eastman of Chapman University School of Law, Professor Marci Hamilton of the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, and moderated by Hon. William H. Pryor Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit.


In Impartiality We Trust: A Commentary On Government Aid And Involvement With Religion, Thomas J. Cleary Dec 2014

In Impartiality We Trust: A Commentary On Government Aid And Involvement With Religion, Thomas J. Cleary

University of Massachusetts Law Review

Ultimately, because true neutrality is not possible, nearly all government interaction with religion is to some degree friendly or hostile. One could argue, therefore, that government interaction with religion is inherently friendly or hostile in nature. As a consequence, establishing neutrality as the ideal misses the mark and has produced a swinging pendulum in the Supreme Court’s jurisprudence. At one end of its arc the pendulum produces hostility towards religion and at the other end of the arc it produces friendliness towards religion. This is reflected in case law and in both early and modern government practices. Ultimately, the pendulum …


Federalist Society’S Intellectual Property Practice Group And Its Stanford Law School Present A Debate On Open Source And Intellectual Property Rights, Lawrence Lessig, F. Scott Kieff, G. Marcus Cole Dec 2014

Federalist Society’S Intellectual Property Practice Group And Its Stanford Law School Present A Debate On Open Source And Intellectual Property Rights, Lawrence Lessig, F. Scott Kieff, G. Marcus Cole

University of Massachusetts Law Review

Transcript of the Federalist Society’s Intellectual Property Practice Group and its Stanford Law School Chapter debate on Open Source and Intellectual Property Rights with panelists Professor Lawrence Lessig from Stanford University and Professor F. Scott Kieff from Stanford University and moderated by Professor G. Marcus Cole from Stanford Law School. This debate took place on Wednesday, March 30, 2005 in Palo Alto, California.


Back To Blood: The Sociopolitics And Law Of Compulsory Dna Testing Of Refugees, Edward S. Dove Apr 2014

Back To Blood: The Sociopolitics And Law Of Compulsory Dna Testing Of Refugees, Edward S. Dove

University of Massachusetts Law Review

Since October 2012, certain family members of refugees seeking reunification through the United States Refugee Admissions Priority Three program must undergo DNA testing to prove they are genetically related. The putative purposes of the policy include fraud prevention, enhanced national security, and greater efficiency in refugee claims processing. Upon close inspection, however, the new policy generates significant sociopolitical and legal concerns. The notion of what constitutes a family is significantly narrowed. Required DNA testing may violate domestic laws and international human rights instruments regarding voluntary informed consent, privacy, and anti-discrimination. Traditional legal solutions insufficiently remedy these concerns and cannot prevent …


Securitization Of Student Loans: A Proposal To Reform Federal Accounting, Reduce Government Risk, And Introduce Market Mechanisms As Indicators Of Quality Education, Robert Proudfoot Apr 2014

Securitization Of Student Loans: A Proposal To Reform Federal Accounting, Reduce Government Risk, And Introduce Market Mechanisms As Indicators Of Quality Education, Robert Proudfoot

University of Massachusetts Law Review

This Article outlines looming budgetary and accounting issues with federal student loans and proposes securitization as an innovative mechanism to reform federal accounting, reduce federal balance sheet risk, and provide a new education quality indicator. The current federal loan program is unsustainable because it overestimates the repayment rates and underestimates the cost of certain loan programs. Securitization will reduce that federal risk. Additionally, by forcing academic institutions to bear some of the risk, securitization will create a neutral pricing mechanism outside the direct control of federal regulators to show whether academic institutions provide a quality education. While complicated, this proposal …


The Waters Are Rising! Why Isn't My Tax Basis Sinking? Why Coastal Land Should Be A Depreciable Asset In Light Of Global Warming And The Rise In Sea Level, Jason P. Oppenheim Mar 2014

The Waters Are Rising! Why Isn't My Tax Basis Sinking? Why Coastal Land Should Be A Depreciable Asset In Light Of Global Warming And The Rise In Sea Level, Jason P. Oppenheim

University of Massachusetts Law Review

Depreciation deductions are the Internal Revenue Code's method of allowing taxpayers to take deductions on long-term investments. Unlike normal deductions, depreciation requires the taxpayer to apportion the expense over the life of the asset. While most assets used for the production of income may be depreciated, the Internal Revenue Service and courts have never allowed land to be depreciated. The treatment of land as a non-depreciable asset is deeply rooted in the idea that it does not have a useful life -- it lasts forever. However, global temperature has risen rapidly over the past fifty years and is expected to …