Law Commons^™

A Look Back In Time: Analyzing The Success And Value Of The 2014 Amendments To Rule 2a-7 And Reporting On Form N-Cr In Light Of The March 2020 Market Events, Jocelyn Near

Catholic University Law Review

Money market funds have frequently been a target of regulation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Perhaps the most expansive regulation came as a response to the 2008 financial crisis, in which the Reserve Primary Fund “broke the buck.” The SEC’s misguided 2014 reforms exacerbated the inherent risks of money market funds, including the risk of runs and first mover advantage, particularly with the implementation of Form N-CR. Form N-CR requires a money market fund to publicly report when various events occur, including when a retail or government money market fund’s current net asset value per share deviates downward …

Coded Social Control: China’S Normalization Of Biometric Surveillance In The Post Covid-19 Era, Michelle Miao

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

This article investigates the longevity of health QR codes, a digital instrument of pandemic surveillance, in post-COVID China. From 2020 to 2022, China widely used this tri-color tool to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. A commonly held assumption is that health QR codes have become obsolete in post-pandemic China. This study challenges such an assumption. It reveals their persistence and integration - through mobile apps and online platforms - beyond the COVID-19 public health emergency. A prolonged, expanded and normalized use of tools which were originally intended for contact tracing and pandemic surveillance raises critical legal and ethical concerns. Moreover, their …

Is Jacobson V. Massachusetts Viable After A Century Of Dormancy? A Review In The Face Of Covid-19, Sawan Talwar

Touro Law Review

The COVID-19 pandemic has stretched us into the vast unknowns, emotionally, logically, politically, and legally. Relying on their police power, governments inched into the darkness of the powers’ fullest extent, leaving many to wonder whether the exercise of this power was constitutional. This Article examines the extent of the police power that both the federal and state governments have, and how Jacobson v. Massachusetts1 was the “silver bullet” for governments across the United States. Further, this Article provides an overview of police power, and the status of COVID-19 mandates. This Article additionally examines quarantine case law and provides an analysis …

Markham’S Opus Remembering The Past—Watching It Repeat From The Great Recession To The Covid-19 Pandemic: A Financial History Of The United States 2010–2020 (By Jerry W. Markham 2022), Christian A. Johnson

FIU Law Review

This article discusses the impact and significance of Professor Jerry Markham's financial history entitled "From the Great Recession to Covid-19 Pandemic: A Financial History of the United States 2010-2020. The article describes how this volume 7 to his series on the financial history of the United States captures the significance of the financial events and tumult that occurred between 2010 and 2020.

Are We Atoning For Our Past Or Creating More Problems: How Covid-19 Legislative Relief Laws Are Shaping The Identities Of Indigenous Populations In North America, Samuel Kramer

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

This student’s note will attempt to answer three questions: 1) How Canadian and American legal precedent affects the modern identity of Indigenous Populations? 2) How COVID-19 legislative relief continues to shape indigenous identities? and 3) Can a comparative study teach legislators about enacting legislation that withstands shifts in political climates?

Telehealth Fraud And Abuse Before And “After” The Pandemic: Are Things Going To Get Better?, Natalia Shamuel

DePaul Journal of Health Care Law

Telehealth and telemedicine have become increasingly useful to both patients and health care providers. The ease and comfort of attending a doctor’s appointment in the comfort of one’s own home made telehealth and telemedicine convenient, safe, and effective options for seeing a doctor during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, with increased usage of telehealth and telemedicine came increased health care fraud and abuse. With increased health care fraud and abuse came increased regulations, both on the federal and state levels. This Note provides a brief analysis of health care fraud and abuse in the telehealth and telemedicine space. …

Cyberattacks: An Underlying Condition Exacerbated By The Covid-19 Pandemic, Kaitlyn Palmeter

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

COVID-19 continues to change the world in unforeseen ways triggering a new era of corporate data breaches. This article will illustrate how cyberattacks have increased in severity during the pandemic, how current laws and government officials are trying to evolve with the current threats and technology, how victims of cyberattacks risk sanctions and potential lawsuits, and concludes by suggesting solutions throughout to increase Cybersecurity.

What Covid-19 Retail Bankruptcies Can Teach Us About Intellectual Property In A Post-Pandemic World, Brenna Arbuckle

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

Both IP and bankruptcy laws are quite complex. With that in mind, this comment will narrowly focus on what retail bankruptcies amid COVID-19 can teach us about the value of IP, particularly trademarks and trade secrets, post-pandemic. Part II of this comment explores the relevant legal background, in particular IP and bankruptcy laws. Part III provides context regarding the retail industry and delves into relevant pre-pandemic trends. Further, Part IV discusses the impact of COVID-19 on the retail industry, particularly on consumer behaviors and bankruptcy bids. Part IV details lessons from such bankruptcies and the possible impacts on the industry …

Compassion Fatigue In An Infodemic: A Physician’S Duty To Treat In The Age Of Misinformation, Alessandra Perez

University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review

This Note considers how misinformation has exacerbated the COVID-19 pandemic and the inevitable burden it has placed on the healthcare industry. It explores the intersection between a doctor’s oath of ethics and their right to refuse care by uncovering the obligations that guide their decisions. Justice dictates that physicians provide care to all who seek it, and it is unconstitutional for a physician to refuse to treat patients based on race, ethnicity, gender, religion, or sexual orientation. Even if a patient’s request is antithetical to a physician’s personal beliefs, the unwavering duty to treat generally mandates that physicians treat any …

Shifting Into “Neutral”: Evaluating Mediation As A Peaceful Alternative To The Forceful Resolution Of The 2022 Canada–Freedom Convoy Dispute, Teresa (Tessa) Griego

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

In early 2022, the Canadian government found itself confronted by a group of truck drivers—in what came to be known as the “Freedom Convoy”—protesting government-imposed restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. This article evaluates how mediation could—and should—have been used as an effective means for the government and protestors to resolve their dispute. It begins by defining the government health and safety measures that prompted the protests and describing the ensuing protest movement by the Freedom Convoy. The article then discusses the protest’s implications on commerce and on the communities where it was located. Next, the article describes the unilateral …

Climate Security Insights From The Covid-19 Response, Mark Nevitt

Indiana Law Journal

The climate change crisis and COVID-19 crisis are both complex collective action problems. Neither the coronavirus nor greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions respect political borders. Both impose an opportunity cost that penalizes inaction. They are also increasingly understood as nontraditional, novel security threats. Indeed, COVID-19’s human cost is staggering, with American lives lost vastly exceeding those lost in recent armed conflicts. And climate change is both a threat accelerant and a catalyst for conflict—a characterization reinforced in several climate-security reports. To counter COVID-19, the President embraced martial language, stating that he will employ a “wartime footing” to “defeat the virus.” Perhaps …

Texas Disaster Act And The Covid-19 Pandemic: The Validity Of School Mask Mandates And How The Texas Supreme Court Engaged In A Legal And Ethical Disaster, Ron Beal

St. Mary's Law Journal

No abstract provided.

God, Guns, And Hair Salons: Public Perceptions Of Rights And Liberties During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Jessica R. Graham, Kyle J. Morgan

West Virginia Law Review

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, elected officials across the United States took efforts to slow the spread of the virus. Some of these efforts raised constitutional questions about the ability of the government to curtail rights during a crisis. This project makes use of an original dataset—letters to the editor submitted to 33 of the nation’s largest newspapers during the early months of the pandemic—to analyze public attitudes about these restrictions. Like much of the previous work regarding attitudes towards rights and liberties during a crisis, we find that these concerns are not front of mind to the public. …

Pemenuhan Hak Atas Kesehatan Bagi Fakir Miskin Saat Pandemi Covid-19 Di Indonesia, Bonita Cinintya Putri

"Dharmasisya” Jurnal Program Magister Hukum FHUI

Economy and Social Welfare should not be read and understood as two separate concepts separately. Human rights are rights that humans have solely because they are human. Humanity has it not because it was given to it by society or based on positive law, but solely based on its dignity as a human being. The state's obligation to the right to health is stated in Article 34 Paragraph (3) of the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia. The state as the holder of the obligation to fulfil human rights has the responsibility to comply with these aspects when talking …

Is There A Fundamental Right To Privacy When An Educational Institution Requires A Student To Disclose Proof Of His Or Her Vaccination Status?, Mary D. Fatscher

Touro Law Review

In 2020, the coronavirus disease (“COVID-19”) dominated the world. Although the public has progressively become more informed about the disease and how to safeguard itself, challenges persist as there is still much unknown. Aside from wearing masks, social distancing, and despite its undetermined consequences, the COVID-19 vaccination has emerged as a primary solution to substantially reducing the incidence and severity of the virus in our country. Many COVID-19 vaccine mandates were initiated once three pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies including Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson received Emergency Use Authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”).

"Covid-19 Was The Publicist For Homeschooling" And States Need To Finally Take Homeschooling Regulations Seriously Post-Pandemic, Kristia Hoffman

FIU Law Review

Homeschooling was rapidly growing in the U.S. even before COVID-19. The pandemic accelerated this growth by quickly exposing nearly every American family to homeschooling in some form. The pandemic has ushered in a new age of homeschooling characterized by flexibility, technology, collaboration, and alternative forms of schooling beyond the traditional parent-teaching-child framework. Although the Supreme Court has never recognized a fundamental right of parents to homeschool their children, it has repeatedly recognized that parents have the right to direct their children’s education and to choose to educate them in the way they deem fit. There is debate as to what …

Without Accommodation, Jennifer Bennett Shinall

Indiana Law Journal

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), workers with disabilities have the legal right to reasonable workplace accommodations provided by employers. Because this legal right is unique to disabled workers, these workers could, in theory, enjoy greater access to the types of accommodations that are desirable to all workers—including the ability to work from home, to work flexible hours, and to take leave. This Article compares access to these accommodations, which have become increasingly desirable during the COVID-19 pandemic, between disabled workers and nondisabled workers. Using 2017–2018 data from the American Time Use Survey’s Leave and Job Flexibilities Module, I …

The Case For A Global Excess Profits Tax: A Response To Dr. Tarcísio Diniz Magalhães & Professor Allison Christians, Paige Powers

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

In striving to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments across the globe acted quickly to implement various "stayat- home" orders and bans on all "non-essential activities." While these actions were likely effective in slowing the spread of the virus, the economic impacts were felt almost immediately. The US deficit rose to $3.1 trillion following massive spending to aid individuals and small businesses. Internationally, governments have been increasing their debt loads to combat both the health and financial impacts of the pandemic. Indeed, by the end of 2020, the international debt load increased to a record-breaking $281 trillion. Almost …

Sidelined Again: How The Government Abandoned Working Women Amidst A Global Pandemic, Jessica Fink

Utah Law Review

Among the weaknesses within American society exposed by the COVID pandemic, almost none has emerged more starkly than the government’s failure to provide meaningful and affordable childcare to working families—and, in particular, to working women. As the pandemic unfolded in the spring of 2020, state and local governments shuttered schools and daycare facilities and directed nannies and other babysitters to “stay at home.” Women quickly found themselves filling this domestic void, providing the overwhelming majority of childcare, educational support for their children, and management of household duties, often to the detriment of their careers. As of March 2021, more than …

Patents And The Pandemic: Intellectual Property, Social Contracts, And Access To Vaccines, Peter Lee

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

Through enormous public support and private initiative, biopharmaceutical firms developed safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines in record time. These remarkable vaccines represent humanity’s best chance to end the devastating pandemic. However, difficult questions about ownership and access have arisen alongside the development and deployment of these vaccines. Biopharmaceutical companies have patented many of the technologies underlying these vaccines, thus seeming to pit intellectual property rights against the objective of wide and rapid dissemination of these critical resources. While prevailing debates have been framed in the language of intellectual property, this Article suggests that contract principles can help break the impasse …

Changes To Material Adverse Effect Clauses Following Major Events: Evidence From Covid-19, Vincent Scala

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

In November 2019, LVMH Moët Hennessey Louis Vuitton, the world’s leading luxury goods company, announced plans to acquire Tiffany & Company, the prominent American jeweler. The transaction was reported to be worth more than $16 billion, which would have been the largest deal ever in the luxury goods industry. Following the announcement, LVMH’s chief executive officer stated that Tiffany would “thrive for centuries to come.” Nearly ten months later, the acquisition was in shambles as the parties squared off in a legal battle in the Delaware Court of Chancery. The companies were driven to litigation over anxieties about the …

Categorically Caged: The Case For Extending Early Release Eligibility To Inmates With Violent Offense Convictions, Jenna M. Codignotto

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

Susan Farrell faced both physical and sexual abuse from her husband before he was killed in 1989. Although Ms. Farrell maintained her innocence and urged that it was her son who killed her husband, she was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy charges, resulting in a life sentence without parole. After serving thirty years of her sentence at the Michigan Department of Corrections, Ms. Farrell’s tragic life met a no less tragic end. In April 2020, one month after COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, Ms. Farrell seized in her cell for forty-five minutes before dying from the virus. She …

The Pandemic And Privacy: The Global Culture Of Intrusion, Jon L. Mills, Lucca Viana, Danielle Black

Legislation and Policy Brief

No abstract provided.

Online Legal Help-Seeking For Victims Of Intimate Partner Violence During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Christina S. Walker

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Legal, court, and criminal justice professionals regularly navigate court procedures and processes through online portals. They know where to locate applicable court rules, such as a specific section on a court website or a departmental contact. However, these tasks can be extremely daunting for laypersons seeking court assistance, especially for victims of violence who have limited time away from the abuser. To determine how state judicial branches make information available about protective order procedures and general information to a layperson, especially to victims of intimate partner violence, this study assessed court websites of five states where intimate partner violence (IPV) …

Parens Patriae, Punishment, And Pandemics: The State’S Responsibility For Incarcerated Persons During A Public Health Emergency, Meredith Harrell

Journal of Law and Health

This article looks at the nation’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic since March 2020 and explores the commonalities and differences of states’ actions to protect their citizens, especially the most vulnerable populations. The article discusses the government’s obligations to jailees and prisoners during the COVID-19 pandemic and how incarcerated persons have been consistently failed by the institutions that are required to protect them. The article examines possible remedies for these governmental and institutional failings under the Eighth Amendment and § 1983 civil rights claims. Ultimately the article proposes that monetary damages would provide relief to incarcerated individuals and their families …

A Pandemic Of Separation Of Powers Violations In Texas: The Interrelationship Of The Texas Disaster Act And Texas Gov’T Code Section 22.0035, Ron Beal

St. Mary's Law Journal

This Article is on the interrelationship of the Texas Disaster Act and Texas Government Code Section 22.0035. The author demonstrates that the Governor of Texas and the Texas Supreme Court have grossly violated the separation of powers on a continuing basis since March 29, 2020 by Governor Abbott issuing Executive Order 13, which prohibits the granting of bail to anyone awaiting trial, and the Texas Supreme Court’s unwillingness to invalidate that order administratively or judicially. Finally, the Article addresses the nearly one thousand district and county court judges who are constantly violating the separations of powers by failing to invalidate …

If The Government Says So, It Must Be Right: An Analysis On The Impact Of Government Issued Force Majeure Certificates, Verónica Orantes

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

In March 2020, the world came to a halt with the beginning of the Covid–19 pandemic. The pandemic’s worldwide im-pact resulted in endless business transactions becoming im-possible or impracticable to perform. The China Council for the Promotion of International Trade issued force majeure certificates for its national business parties to excuse their performance under cross–border transactions. This note explores how the excuses for the performance of a contract work under Common Law and Civil Law systems and how each system would react to the parties invoking force majeure under a force majeure certificate issued by a government agency.

Immunization And Indemnification: Rethinking The Us Approach To Liability Protections For Vaccine Manufacturers During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Samantha Topper Berns

University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review

This note analyzes the legal mechanisms in the United States that provide compensation for vaccine injuries sustained as a result of inoculation against pandemic viruses when a public health emergency has been declared. While the United States has an every-day compensation scheme that deters litigation by providing just compensation yet upholds the right of injured parties to seek damages in court, it has a special compensation scheme applicable to vaccines developed to address public health emergencies that bars litigation by effectively providing vaccine manufactures with complete indemnification and severely restricts the ability of injured parties to receive compensation. Meanwhile, in …

Comparative Laws In Public Health Unmasked, Christine Chasse

University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review

The COVID-19 pandemic lay bare the vulnerabilities of some countries’ public health responses and praise for others. Comparative law review in public health responses may glean lessons for the United States. For example, the United States had not had a pandemic of this magnitude in over a century and was reluctant to institute early masking policies. Meanwhile, the world raced for a COVID-19 vaccine. This begs the question of who will take the vaccine. Will—or can—governments force their citizens to be inoculated? Global comparisons in personal liberty, freedom, bodily autonomy, and how to parent intersect at the right to (or …

The Duty To Protect Survivors Of Gender-Based Violence In The Age Of Covid-19: An Expanded Human Rights Framework, Caroline Bettinger-Lopez, R. Denisse Córdova Montes, Max Zoberman

University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review

Many commentators have referred to domestic violence and other forms of gender-based violence (GBV) in the age of COVID-19 as a “double pandemic.” Based on results of a mixed-methods study on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on GBV in South Florida, conducted by the Human Rights Clinic of the University of Miami School of Law, in close collaboration with community-based organizations,1 this article offers a proposal for an expanded normative human rights framework to address domestic violence and other forms of GBV. The local study sought to elucidate the pathways that link pandemics such as COVID-19 and GBV, highlight …