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Introductory Remarks: Is The Issue Welfare Or Poverty?, Matthew Diller Jan 1995

Introductory Remarks: Is The Issue Welfare Or Poverty?, Matthew Diller

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This article introduces the Urban Welfare Reform symposium materials, giving a broad overview of areas of discussion and conflict. It focuses particularly on the disparity between the problem of welfare dependency debated in congress and the general problem of poverty noted by legal scholars. It concludes that the focus on welfare as a problem in and of itself is misdirected. It urges that focus be shifted to poverty in general, with welfare discussed as a solution rather than a problem in its own right.


The Price Of Landlord's "Free" Exercise Of Religion: Tenant's Rights To Discrimination-Free Housing And Privacy, Maureen E. Markey Jan 1995

The Price Of Landlord's "Free" Exercise Of Religion: Tenant's Rights To Discrimination-Free Housing And Privacy, Maureen E. Markey

Fordham Urban Law Journal

No precedent from the United States Supreme Court or other jurisprudence supports an individual, court-ordered free exerciseexemption for a landlord who violates the antidiscrimination laws while engaged in the business of rental housing. The fair housing laws are designed specifically to protect tenants from discrimination based on a landlord's personal biases. Although neither courts nor legislatures can dictate the morals of the marketplace, neither should they condone discriminatory acts that are clothed in the respectable shroud of the free exercise of religion. An exemption based not upon the landlord's own conduct, but on the landlord's disapproval of the presumed conduct …


Undertaking The Task Of Reforming The American Character Evidence Prohibition: The Importance Of Getting The Experiment Off On The Right Foot, Edward J. Imwinkelried Jan 1995

Undertaking The Task Of Reforming The American Character Evidence Prohibition: The Importance Of Getting The Experiment Off On The Right Foot, Edward J. Imwinkelried

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The United States Congress and the State Legislatures of Indiana and Missouri have chosen illogical starting points in their experiments to reform the prohibition against introducing character evidence in criminal cases. Rather than start by allowing the introduction of past crimes with high recidivism rates such as burglary, these legislatures have chosen crimes with minimal probative value as predictors of the accused's conduct. By allowing the the introduction of criminal history in regard to criminal sexual conduct and child molestation, these legislatures increase the risk of wrongful conviction due to the disdain with which the average citizen views these types …


Federal Rules Of Evidence And The Political Process, David P. Leonard Jan 1995

Federal Rules Of Evidence And The Political Process, David P. Leonard

Fordham Urban Law Journal

An important tenet of American evidence law is the strict regulation on the introduction of character evidence. This principal has begun to be chipped away at through the adoption of amendments that allow character evidence to be introduced in certain types of cases. The Federal Rules of Evidence were subject to very little amendment during their first 20 years of use, and have always represented a blend of conservatism about evidence law and political compromise. This tension has been kept in check until the proposal of Rules 413-415, which represents a concession to the politicization of the rules. Before imposing …


Some Thoughts On The Sexual Misconduct Amendments To The Federal Rules Of Evidence, Norman M. Garland Jan 1995

Some Thoughts On The Sexual Misconduct Amendments To The Federal Rules Of Evidence, Norman M. Garland

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Although the adoption of the Federal Rules of Evidence 413-15 may have a positive result, Congress rushed their drafting which has led to several problems and ambiguities in the proposed rules. One of these major ambiguities is the issue of what standard of proof might be applied to decide the admissibility of such other, uncharged sex crimes offered against the accused.


American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section Report To The House Of Delegates, Myrna S. Raeder Jan 1995

American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section Report To The House Of Delegates, Myrna S. Raeder

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The proposed amendments to the Federal Rules of Evidence, Rules 413-15 regarding the admission of character testimony in cases of sexual abuse and child molestation, have been roundly criticized by the legal community on both substantive and procedural grounds. The ABA has resolved to oppose the substance of these rules, and fear that in addition to the direct concerns regarding the result of the rules, they raise troubling policy issues going forward.


The Crime Bill Of 1994 And The Law Of Character Evidence: Congress Was Right About Consent Defense Cases, Roger C. Park Jan 1995

The Crime Bill Of 1994 And The Law Of Character Evidence: Congress Was Right About Consent Defense Cases, Roger C. Park

Fordham Urban Law Journal

There is considerable debate as to whether to admit evidence of past sexual assaults in cases where the accused presents a defense of consent to a current sexual assault charge. The consent defense presents a unique situation where, due to the probative value of evidence that suggests propensity to rape, a strong justification can be made to admit this information as evidence. However, critics of this opinion have argued that admitting propensity evidence about the accused in a rape case is inconsistent with the rape shield rule which excludes propensity evidence about the victim. This argument is flawed in the …


Municipal Solid Waste Flow Control In The Post-Carbone World, Eric S. Peterson, David N. Abramowitz Jan 1995

Municipal Solid Waste Flow Control In The Post-Carbone World, Eric S. Peterson, David N. Abramowitz

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Garbage will always ultimately be the government's problem. Evolving environmental standards and state and federal policies will continue to require reasoned responses from local governments and municipal solid waste flow control is a vital cog in many jurisdictions' solid waste management solutions. Without flow control of some form, governments' ability to plan and provide for the most environmentally sound and economically acceptable solutions will wane, leaving the public vulnerable to the vagaries of a private market that does not have a duty to protect the public health and safety. The Carbone decision has blunted one of the local governments chief …


Shots Across No Man's Land: A Response To Handgun Control, Inc.'S, Richard Aborn, Nicholas J. Johnson Jan 1995

Shots Across No Man's Land: A Response To Handgun Control, Inc.'S, Richard Aborn, Nicholas J. Johnson

Fordham Urban Law Journal

In response to Richard Aborn's article "The Battle Over the Brady Bill and the Future of Gun Control Advocacy, Johnson argues that Aborn's "bad gun formula" trivializes the Second Amendment, ignores issues vital to the gun control debate, and obfuscates what should ultimately need to be a choice between an armed citizenry or a disarmed one. Aborn's article suggests no real changes and does not effectively advance the debate.


The Battle Over The Brady Bill And The Future Of Gun Control Advocacy, Richard M. Aborn Jan 1995

The Battle Over The Brady Bill And The Future Of Gun Control Advocacy, Richard M. Aborn

Fordham Urban Law Journal

No matter how effective a legislative scheme is, legislation alone will not eradicate the deeply rooted culture of gun violence that exists in this country. Accordingly, Handgun Control divides its efforts between legislative and non-legislative efforts. In this regard, the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence carries out the non-legislative interventions of Handgun Control. These efforts include working with elementary, secondary and high schools to promote a gun violence reduction curriculum; litigating on behalf of gun victims; defending gun control legislation in the courts; working with the entertainment industry concerning the messages in popular entertainment about gun violence; and working with …


Representation Of Parties In Arbitration By Non-Attorneys, Constantine N. Katsoris Jan 1995

Representation Of Parties In Arbitration By Non-Attorneys, Constantine N. Katsoris

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The issue of the representation of clients in legal or quasi legal proceedings by non-attorneys has been a troubling one. Not only are such services being offered by non-attorneys in the form of transactional services, i.e., advising, drafting deeds and documents, etc., but has spread to actual representation of parties before administrative agencies. Moreover, as more and more disputes are being resolved through alternative dispute mechanisms, such as arbitration, non-attorneys are also representing clients in such proceedings in civil litigation-often involving complex issues and significant sums of money-against other litigants who are usually represented by skilled attorneys. The ABA recently …


Charging Parties Left Out: Intervention In Section 10(J) National Labor Relations Act Injunction Proceedings, John D. Doyle, Jr. Jan 1995

Charging Parties Left Out: Intervention In Section 10(J) National Labor Relations Act Injunction Proceedings, John D. Doyle, Jr.

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 24(a)(2) entitles charging parties to intervene as of right in Section 10(j) proceedings for preliminary injunctive relief. The Scottex court's analysis and its determination that the charging party's Rule 24(a)(2) motion to intervene was due to be granted, were correct. The Scottex analysis comports with the federal labor law scheme and is the only analysis that takes proper account of the Supreme Court's decision in Trbovich. Moreover, it is the only analysis that is consistent with the text and purposes of both Rule 24(a)(2) and Section 100.


Report Of The Securities Industry Conference On Arbitration On Representation Of Parties In Arbitration By Non-Attorneys Jan 1995

Report Of The Securities Industry Conference On Arbitration On Representation Of Parties In Arbitration By Non-Attorneys

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The following is a Report prepared by the Securities Industry Conference on Arbitration ("SICA" or "Conference") concerning non-attorney representation in arbitration. The report is the result of a study, conducted by SICA over the past two years, on the practices and activities of individuals and organizations ("Non-Attorney Representatives" or "NARs") that provide public customers an alternative to representation by attorneys in disputes between customers and broker/dealers. The study was prompted by complaints concerning the quality of such representation; and, raised questions as to whether the activities of NARs constituted the unauthorized practice of law, and whether the interests of investors …


Are Executions In New York Inevitable?, Ronald J. Tabak Jan 1995

Are Executions In New York Inevitable?, Ronald J. Tabak

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This article is an edited trascription of a program considering whether executions in New York State are inevitable. Shortly after the program a law was enacted to this effect, however, Mr. Tabak argues that the law is so badly flawed that it may not survive judicial scrutiny. Present on the panel were Barbara Paul Robinson, John Cardinal O'Connor, Dean John Feerick, Archibald Murray, Thomas McDermott, Lee Grant, Cessie Alfonso and George Kendall.


The Myth Of The Superspade: The Persistence Of Racism In College Athletics, Timothy Davis Jan 1995

The Myth Of The Superspade: The Persistence Of Racism In College Athletics, Timothy Davis

Fordham Urban Law Journal

As is true of society in general, untrue stereotypes underlie the subtle forms of racism prevalent in college sport. Despite its covert nature, persistent racism in college athletics inflicts real injury on its African-American participants. Their academic needs suffer as a result of misconceptions propelled by myths concerning their intellectual and athletic abilities. Long-term solutions to the harm inflicted upon student- athletes and other African-American participants in college sport will require honest and creative approaches that may transcend traditional doctrinal boundaries. In the short term, this Article identifies potential approaches for providing some modicum of relief for the harm caused …


Trying To Fit Square Pegs Into Round Holes: The Need For A New Funding Scheme For Kinship Caregivers, Randi Mandelbaum Jan 1995

Trying To Fit Square Pegs Into Round Holes: The Need For A New Funding Scheme For Kinship Caregivers, Randi Mandelbaum

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This article discusses the inadequacy of the current welfare system in meeting the needs of so-called "kinship caregivers." It summarizes the provisions of the two major programs for these individuals - the Aid to Families with Dependent Children fund, and the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act. It explains the difficulty for kinship caregivers under these systems, and outlines a proposed legislative solution whereby individuals in nontraditional family structures could more easily qualify for welfare.


The Administration Of Public Assistance, James A. Krauskopf Jan 1995

The Administration Of Public Assistance, James A. Krauskopf

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Essay discusses the problems of implementation and administration of proposed welfare reforms. It gives a brief historical background on such reforms, describes the nature of their administration, discusses current and proposed reforms and the public perceptions of them, and compares welfare to other government expenditures. It concludes by recommending that social services be integrated at the local rather than federal level.


Urban Welfare Reform: A Community-Based Perspective, Margo D. Butts Jan 1995

Urban Welfare Reform: A Community-Based Perspective, Margo D. Butts

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Essay advocates for community-based efforts to redeem the welfare system. It first discusses the causes of welfare dependency, and the adverse effects of current reform proposals. It then outlines goals for effective welfare reform, and describes the welfare reform program being implemented by the Bedford-Stuyvesant community. It concludes that effective welfare reform requires community initiated programs that focus on remedying factors leading to poverty, best identified and dealt with on a local level.


Is There A Doctrine In The House? Welfare Reform And The Unconstitutional Conditions Doctrine, Jonathan Romberg Jan 1995

Is There A Doctrine In The House? Welfare Reform And The Unconstitutional Conditions Doctrine, Jonathan Romberg

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Article proposes that courts should subject unconstitutional conditions cases to intermediate scrutiny rather than presuming that a conditioned benefit is either valid or invalid based on its formal attributes. In conducting intermediate scrutiny, courts should consider: (i) the degree of equality or neutrality demanded by the underlying constitutional right; (ii) the importance of the benefit to the recipient; (iii) the germaneness of the condition to the reason the government may legitimately deny the benefit in the absence of the condition, and thus whether the government is attempting to use its economic and regulatory powers to gain leverage over a …


Replace Welfare For Contingent Workers With Unemployment Compensation, Stephen Bingham Jan 1995

Replace Welfare For Contingent Workers With Unemployment Compensation, Stephen Bingham

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This essay examines the manner in which the current unemployment insurance system maintains poverty and increases dependence on public assistance programs. It examines the plight of the working poor, the inadequacy of unemployment compensation, and the failure of welfare to compensate for the weaknesses of the unemployment system. It then proposes reforms to the unemployment compensation system, and a new system for employable individuals without ties to the workforce, explaining why this proposal makes sense in light of the current unemployment situation.


Disability And Welfare Reform: Keep The Supplemental Security Income Program But Reengineer The Disability Determination Process, Gay Gellhorn Jan 1995

Disability And Welfare Reform: Keep The Supplemental Security Income Program But Reengineer The Disability Determination Process, Gay Gellhorn

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The thesis of this Article is that reform of the Supplemental Security Income disability program is properly on the welfare reform agenda, but not in the terms cast by proposed legislation. Procedural reform targeting identified problems should be the first step, rather than the termination of the federal entitlement program or the re-writing of the eligibility criteria. Substantive reform should follow such procedural reform. Therefore, this Article will focus particularly on procedural reform, although it will place that discussion in the context of the current legislative climate. Part II of this Article describes the current disability determination process and why …


The Worst Of Times . . . And The Best Of Times: Lawyering For Poor Clients Today, Louise G. Trubek Jan 1995

The Worst Of Times . . . And The Best Of Times: Lawyering For Poor Clients Today, Louise G. Trubek

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Essay describes three areas in which advocates have developed new models of practice and new forms of advocacy. It examines ways that lawyers and clients are collaborating to create more effective advocacy for battered women, low-income entrepreneurs and nonprofit community-based organizations that serve the poor. It describes how, why and where the new practices operate and analyzes the roots of the new approaches, showing that they can be traced to changes in lawyering theory and new visions of the lawyer-client relationship. The Essay assesses whether these models can be sustained and generalized, concluding that although the new approaches are …


Protecting Women's Welfare In The Face Of Violence, Martha F. Davis, Susan J. Kraham Jan 1995

Protecting Women's Welfare In The Face Of Violence, Martha F. Davis, Susan J. Kraham

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This article argues that the Aid to Families With Dependent Children program provides a valuable means of continuing support for impoverished women. It points out that such women are at an increased risk of domestic violence, and that they are often unable to escape from abusive relationships because they and their children are economically dependent on their partners. The article criticizes proposed reforms to AFDC from this context, arguing that without the safety net provided by public assistance, many women and children would be trapped by financial constraints in dangerous or life threatening relationships. Thus, an adequate level of public …


Race, Rat Bites And Unfit Mothers: How Media Discourse Informs Welfare Legislation Debate, Lucy A. Williams Jan 1995

Race, Rat Bites And Unfit Mothers: How Media Discourse Informs Welfare Legislation Debate, Lucy A. Williams

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The goal of this article is to expose and critique the media images of poor women that drive legislative debate in AFDC public policy issues. Part II discusses the media image and its centrality in shaping social perceptions of welfare. Part III explores the impact of media images on law-making by focusing on three statutory time periods: 1935, when the AFDC program was initially enacted as part of the Social Security Act; 1967, when the first mandatory work requirements were, added to the AFDC statute; and the present, when states are implementing widely divergent categorical eligibility requirements that restrict AFDC …


The Threat Of The Wandering Poor: Welfare Parochialism And Its Impact On The Use Of Housing Mobility As An Anti-Poverty Strategy, Susan Bennett Jan 1995

The Threat Of The Wandering Poor: Welfare Parochialism And Its Impact On The Use Of Housing Mobility As An Anti-Poverty Strategy, Susan Bennett

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Essay discusses how, if one accepts the premises of mobility-based anti-poverty strategies, the geographical parochialism and structural rigidity of the welfare system undermine mobility goals. The Essay also examines the possibility that current trends in housing policy will undercut anti-poverty goals.


The Implications Of Current Welfare Reform Proposals For The Housing Assistance System, Sandra J. Newman Jan 1995

The Implications Of Current Welfare Reform Proposals For The Housing Assistance System, Sandra J. Newman

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Essay assesses proposals to reform welfare from the perspective of effects on housing assistance. The focus is on the two welfare reform proposals that have received the most attention during late 1994 and early 1995: the Clinton Administration's Work and Responsibility Act (WRA and the Republican Party's Personal Responsibility Act (PRA). This analysis is limited to the provisions in each bill regarding time limits, eligibility restrictions, and work requirements for AFDC recipients, and estimates how the housing assistance system would be affected if these provisions were in effect today. This analysis focuses on two types of impacts: effects on …


Note: A Procedural Approach To Limited Public Forum Cases, Lee Rudy Jan 1995

Note: A Procedural Approach To Limited Public Forum Cases, Lee Rudy

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Note argues that the Supreme Court, beginning with Perry, has defined the limited public forum in a manner that offends the underlying policies of the First Amendment.9 Part II of this Note explains the significance of the limited public forum doctrine within First Amendment jurisprudence. Part III provides an historical overview of limited public forum cases, demonstrating that Perry relaxed limited public forum analysis by making it easier for government selectively to restrict access to public property, and that subsequent cases have had to struggle to apply Perry. Part IV criticizes Perry's reformulation of the limited public forum as …


Note: Diamond Is The Rtc's Best Friend: Federal Preemption And The Balance Of The Term Of Rent Regulated Leases In Resolution Trust Corporation V. Diamond, Daniel N. Zinman Jan 1995

Note: Diamond Is The Rtc's Best Friend: Federal Preemption And The Balance Of The Term Of Rent Regulated Leases In Resolution Trust Corporation V. Diamond, Daniel N. Zinman

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Note provides an overview of the New York City rent regulations and FIRREA and discusses their relevance to the Diamond decisions. Part III of this Note describes the reasons the RTC should be allowed to repudiate the tenancies, based on express and conflict preemption analyses. Part IV addresses the length of the balance of the term of a rent regulated lease. Part V concludes that the rent regulated leases may be repudiated by the RTC, that the balance of the term of a rent stabilized lease is theremaining time in the renewal period, and that more statutory guidance is …


Municipal Home Rule And The Conditions Of Justifiable Secession, Joseph P. Viteritti Jan 1995

Municipal Home Rule And The Conditions Of Justifiable Secession, Joseph P. Viteritti

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Article suggests a uniform standard by which domestic legislatures may decide current and future secession cases. Part I discusses the philosophical and legal foundations of the Home Rule principle and its relationship to secession. Part II considers secession as a political and legal concept, its underpinnings and the moral arguments on both sides of secession debates. Part III suggests a unified standard by which legislatures may consider secession attempts; and Part IV applies this standard to our prototypical Staten Island case. The article concludes that if the New York State legislature were to apply these uniform criteria to review …


The Warning From Pittsburgh's Golden Triangle: Home Of The Steelers, The Pirates And The Amorphous Favoured Nation Clause In The Commercial Lease, Ronald J. Offenkrantz Jan 1995

The Warning From Pittsburgh's Golden Triangle: Home Of The Steelers, The Pirates And The Amorphous Favoured Nation Clause In The Commercial Lease, Ronald J. Offenkrantz

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Part I of this Article gives a brief outline of the more obvious concerns posed by the introduction of a favored nation concept in a commercial lease. Part II discusses cases involving favored nation clauses in various types of commercial contracts and illustrates the difficulty courts have had in assessing whether one contract is, in fact, more favorable than another. Part III introduces the reader to the trilogy of cases in Pittsburgh's Golden Triangle starting with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Pittsburgh Pirates litigation with the Pittsburgh Stadium Authority. This litigation gives focus to the problems posed by a favored nation …