Law Commons^™

Law’S Facilitating Role In The Field Of Social Enterprise., Evelyn Brody

Evelyn Brody

Limits On State Regulation Of Religious Organizations: Where We Are And Where We Are Going, Lloyd Hitashi Mayer

Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer

The breadth of activities and organizational forms among religious organizations rivals that of nonprofits generally, and religious organizations are vulnerable to the same types of problems that justify state regulation and oversight of nonprofits. Such problems include excessive compensation, improper benefits for board members and other insiders, misleading or fraudulent fundraising, employment discrimination, unsafe working conditions, consumer fraud, improper debt collection, and many others. Religious organizations are different, however, in that under federal and state law they enjoy unique protections from state regulation. This paper describes how such federal and state protections limit state regulation of religious organizations under current …

The Subterranean Counterrevolution: The Supreme Court, The Media, And Litigation Retrenchment, Stephen B. Burbank, Sean Farhang

Sean Farhang

This article is part of a larger project to study the counterrevolution against private enforcement of federal law from an institutional perspective. In a series of articles emerging from the project, we show how the Executive, Congress and the Supreme Court (wielding both judicial power under Article III of the Constitution and delegated legislative power under the Rules Enabling Act) fared in efforts to reverse or dull the effects of statutory and other incentives for private enforcement. An institutional perspective helps to explain the outcome we document: the long-term erosion of the infrastructure of private enforcement as a result of …

Litigation Reform: An Institutional Approach, Stephen B. Burbank, Sean Farhang

Sean Farhang

The program of regulation through private litigation that Democratic Congresses purposefully created starting in the late 1960s soon met opposition emanating primarily from the Republican party. In the long campaign for retrenchment that began in the Reagan administration, consequential reform proved difficult and ultimately failed in Congress. Litigation reformers turned to the courts and, in marked contrast to their legislative failure, were well-rewarded, achieving growing rates of voting support from an increasingly conservative Supreme Court on issues curtailing private enforcement under individual statutes. We also demonstrate that the judiciary’s control of procedure has been central to the campaign to retrench …

Class Actions And The Counterrevolution Against Federal Litigation, Stephen B. Burbank, Sean Farhang

Sean Farhang

In this article we situate consideration of class actions in a framework, and fortify it with data, that we have developed as part of a larger project, the goal of which is to assess the counterrevolution against private enforcement of federal law from an institutional perspective. In a series of articles emerging from the project, we have documented how the Executive, Congress and the Supreme Court (wielding both judicial power under Article III of the Constitution and delegated legislative power under the Rules Enabling Act) fared in efforts to reverse or dull the effects of statutory and other incentives for …

Extending The Fundamental Right Of Marriage To Same-Sex Couples: The United States Supreme Court Decision In Obergefell V. Hodges, Donald H. J. Hermann

Donald Hermann

No abstract provided.

Rating The Cities: Constructing A City Resilience Index For Assessing The Effect Of State And Local Laws On Long-Term Recovery From Crisis And Disaster, John Travis Marshall

John Travis Marshall

Superstorm Sandy, the 2008 Iowa floods, and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita all supply recent reminders that U.S. cities can no longer adopt an ad hoc approach to threats presented by climate change and natural hazards. The stories detailing long-term recovery from these disasters underscore that federal, state, and local governments are struggling to appreciate the legal tools and institutions necessary to implement the large-scale infrastructure, housing, and community development programs that climate change and more frequent natural disasters demand. This Article calls for development of a tool allowing succinct evaluation of the range of community capacities that will figure critically …

All Americans Not Equal: Mistrust And Discrimination Against Naturalized Citizens In The U.S., Alev Dudek

Alev Dudek

The Impact Of Disability: A Comparative Approach To Medical Resource Allocation In Public Health Emergencies, Katie Hanschke, Leslie E. Wolf, Wendy F. Hensel

Wendy F. Hensel

It is a matter of time before the next widespread pandemic or natural disaster hits the United States (U.S.). The international response to the 2009 H1N1 influenza stands as a cautionary tale about how prepared the world is for such an emergency. Although the pandemic fortunately proved to be less severe than initially anticipated, it nevertheless resulted in shortages of medical equipment, overburdened hospitals, and preventable patient deaths, particularly among young people.

A pandemic will inevitably lead to difficult decisions about the allocation of medical resources, such as who will have priority access to ventilators and critical care beds when …

The Impact Of Disability: A Comparative Approach To Medical Resource Allocation In Public Health Emergencies, Katie Hanschke, Leslie E. Wolf, Wendy F. Hensel

Leslie E. Wolf

It is a matter of time before the next widespread pandemic or natural disaster hits the United States (U.S.). The international response to the 2009 H1N1 influenza stands as a cautionary tale about how prepared the world is for such an emergency. Although the pandemic fortunately proved to be less severe than initially anticipated, it nevertheless resulted in shortages of medical equipment, overburdened hospitals, and preventable patient deaths, particularly among young people.

A pandemic will inevitably lead to difficult decisions about the allocation of medical resources, such as who will have priority access to ventilators and critical care beds when …

The Smart Cities Movement And Advancing The International Battle To Eliminate Homelessness - Barcelona As Test Case, John Travis Marshall, Jessica Venegas

John Travis Marshall

Barcelona is a leader in the smart cities movement, a movement that aims to help cities deliver services to citizens more efficiently and economically as a way of making the city a more inviting and inclusive place to live and work. As with any city committed to forward-looking economic, social, and urban development initiatives, it is important to consider whether ambitious goals to reinvent the city include an agenda to solve the persistent problems that have faced major cities for decades, including affordable housing and caring for roofless or homeless men and women. This article ties together the challenges Barcelona …

Affordable Housing For Sustainable Cities: A North American Perspective, Detroit Metropolitan Area And Montreal (Quebec), Courtney Lauren Anderson, Maryse Grandbois

Courtney L Anderson

Housing is an integral part to elevating and maintaining a quality of life to ensure a healthy and productive citizenship. The overwhelming number of citizens in Montreal and the United States who are unable to find housing that is less than 33% of their income stifles that economic progression of individuals and the society in which these individuals live. The ability for cities to dictate their own plans for creating and maintaining affordable housing without mandates from the federal vacillates among the various levels of government with each level having certain positive and negative elements. Although city autonomy can provide …

Integration Of And The Potential For Islamic Radicalization Among Ethnic Turks In Germany, Alev Dudek

Alev Dudek

In spite of ongoing improvements, integration of ethnic Turks in Germany remains a challenge from the dominant culture perspective, whereas a deeply ingrained institutional and everyday racism and the lack of legal protection against discrimination pose a challenge to full participation of ethnic Turks from another perspective. In an increasingly xenophobic Europe, particularly Germany, an increase in potential for religious and nationalist radicalization in different groups including ethnic Turks is becoming more and more evident. This increase in radical attitudes is not necessarily caused by a lack of integration, as evidenced among well-integrated individuals.

In view of recent developments toward …

War Against Muslims Post 9/11?, Alev Dudek

Alev Dudek

Total Recall: A Demand For Accountability From Elected Officials., Chiehwen Ed Hsu

Chiehwen Ed Hsu

Efforts by the public to unseat an underperforming legislator on February 14 are the first steps in a campaign seeking to make all politicians more accountable.

Controlling An Invasive Plant At The Edge Of Its Range: Towards A Broader Understanding Of Management Feasibility, Zdravka Tzankova

Zdravka Tzankova

Invasion biologists often think about feasibility of weed control in purely ecological terms, while land managers’ feasibility definitions are further informed by social, policy, and institutional considerations. We use the case of cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) in the Eastern Sierra Nevada in California to examine the origins and practical significance of differences between scientific and managerial definitions of feasibility. A serious invasive weed and a major ecological threat to the region, cheatgrass in the Eastern Sierra still exists in the kinds of low-density patches that are technically amenable to containment through active management. Yet land managers in this region dominated by …

The Leadership Leap: A New Approach For Homeland Security, R. Jeffery Maxfield, Rodger Broome, John R. Fisher

R. Jeffery Maxfield

The world is in chaos, and unfortunately, this most likely will continue. Recent news reports are replete with stories of crises. These events demonstrate the implicit and explicit need for leadership. We believe these crises and their accompanying uncertainty are the reasons people have sought strong leaders – to bring order and sanity to an otherwise uncontrollable world. This is particularly true in homeland security and the emergency services.

Economics-Based Environmentalism In The Fourth Generation Of Environmental Law, Donald J. Kochan

Donald J. Kochan

Environmental protection and economic concerns are not mutually exclusive. This article explores some of the issues of economic analysis that might arise as we approach the fourth generation of environmental law. It explains ways that economic analysis can be employed to generate the best environmental rules, including measures under what this article terms as "economics-based environmentalism." Economics-based environmentalism contends that the advantages of using economic principles within a “polycentric toolbox” of environmental law come from the benefits available in private ordering, markets, property rights, liability regimes and incentives structures that will better protect the environment than alternatives like state-based interventionist, …

A Framework For Understanding Property Regulation And Land Use Control From A Dynamic Perspective, Donald J. Kochan

Donald J. Kochan

Sewer Syndicalism: Worker Self-Management In Public Services, Eric M. Fink

Eric M Fink

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, municipal governments in various US cities assumed responsibility for utilities and other services that previously had been privately operated. In the late twentieth century, prompted by fiscal crisis and encouraged by neo-liberal ideology, governments embraced the concept of “privatization,” shifting management and control over public services to private entities.

Despite disagreements over the merits of privatization, both proponents and opponents accept the premise of a fundamental distinction between the “public” and “private” sectors, and between “state” and “market” institutions. A more skeptical view questions the analytical soundness and practical significance of these …

A Fact Book On Proposition 2 1/2, Padraig O'Malley

Padraig O'Malley

In this age of inflation many tax reduction plans have been proposed throughout the nation. This November Massachusetts voters will vote on Proposition 2 1/2 - a tax reduction proposal sponsored by a coalition of citizens. This booklet describes the costs and benefits of Proposition 2 1/2 in an objective way, so that you can make an informed decision when you cast your vote. The University of Massachusetts' Center for Studies in Policy and the Public Interest and the Massachusetts Cooperative Extension Service believe that when you have access to unbiased information you will make better decisions and participate more …

The Massachusetts Fiscal System: Structure And Performance, Padraig O'Malley, Raymond G. Torto

Padraig O'Malley

On November 4, 1980 the citizens of Massachusetts, by a vote of 59% to 41%, resoundingly endorsed a tax reduction plan known as Proposition 2 1/2. All communities in the Commonwealth were faced with an immediate reduction in their local revenues due to the immediate cut in the excise tax that Proposition 2 1/2 called for, and up to 130 communities will have to implement a 15% reduction in their tax levies for FY 1982. Already there are protestations from many local officials that they cannot make the required tax cuts without severely reducing the level of local services. The …

Climate Change Adaptation Chapter: Marshfield, Massachusetts, Joshua H. Chase, Jonathan G. Cooper, Rory Elizabeth Fitzgerald, Filipe Antunes Lima, Sally R. Miller, Toni Marie Pignatelli

Sally Miller

Climate change, understood as a statistically significant variation in the mean state of the climate or its variability, is the greatest environmental challenge of this generation (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2001). Marshfield is already being affected by changes in the climate that will have a profound effect on the town’s economy, public health, coastal resources, natural features, water systems, and public and private infrastructure. Adaptation strategies have been widely recognized as playing an important role in improving a community’s ability to respond to climate stressors by resisting damage and recovering quickly. Based on review of climate projections for the …

An Estate Dilemma - Inaccessible Assets Hiding Behind Passwords And Encryption, Douglas J. Henderson

DOUGLAS J HENDERSON

Every person living in the modern world holds valuable assets, data, or information in digital mediums. Digital mediums include not only digital hardware storage mediums in personal possession (like external hard drives and internal hard drives within laptop and desktop computers, personal digital assistants, cell phones, and the like), but also those only accessible through a network. Because so much is held in digital mediums, when an individual dies or becomes incapacitated, another person must know how to access the incapacitated person’s digital assets and other important information (this person is known herein as the ‘Responsible Party’). There are potential …

Altruism Trumping Privacy Hipaa, Privacy, Big Data Set Benefits, Douglas J. Henderson

DOUGLAS J HENDERSON

The United States Government must administer a publicly held cloud networked Big Data Set of Private Health Information (PHI) in order to utilize Big Data Analytics and allow free data mining of such PHI so that the health care industry can operate most cost effectively while also meeting the health care needs of the aging United States populace with the highest quality of care.

The Role Tax Preparers Play In Taxpayer Compliance - An Empirical Investigation With Policy Implications, Sagit Leviner Dr.

Sagit Leviner Dr.

In January 2010, the IRS published its Return Preparer Review Final Report, recommending extensive increases in oversight of the tax return preparer industry. The IRS suggests achieving these increases in oversight through numerous measures, including preparer registration, competency testing, continuing professional education, ethical standards, and enforcement. Effective August, 2011, new paid preparer regulation requires all tax return preparers who offer their services for a fee to register and obtain a unique Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) that must be used to sign all returns they prepare. Given that additional preparer regulation is expected to come into effect within the next …

Altruism Trumping Privacy Hipaa, Privacy, Big Data Set Benefits, Douglas J. Henderson

DOUGLAS J HENDERSON

The United States Government must administer a publicly held cloud networked Big Data Set of Private Health Information (PHI) in order to utilize Big Data Analytics and allow free data mining of such PHI so that the health care industry can operate most cost effectively while also meeting the health care needs of the aging United States populace with the highest quality of care.

A Case Study Of Sharia Law And Federalism In Nigeria, Andrew Ewoh, Chinelo Okekeocha

Andrew I.E. Ewoh

No abstract provided.

In Third Parties We Trust? The Growing Antitrust Impact Of Third-Party Green Building Certification Systems For State And Local Governments, Darren Prum, Robert Aalberts, Stephen Del Percio

Darren A. Prum

According to the American Institute of Architects, there has been a 50 percent increase in the number of municipalities with a green building program in place since 2007. And 24 of the country's 25 largest metropolitan areas are built around a city with green building legislation on its books. Reducing buildings' environmental impact is a noble - and critical - goal. But governments' reliance on private, third-party standard-setting organizations - and the rating systems that they promulgate - as the basis for that legislation may be legally problematic.

This Article reviews one of those potentially problematic bases: antitrust. In order …

Implementing Environmental Justice In Appalachia: The Social And Cultural Context Of Mountaintop Removal Mining As Seen Through The Lenses Of Law And Documentaries, Evan Barret Smith

Evan Barret Smith

Mountaintop removal is a form of mining that has major effects on the ecology and people of central Appalachia. The practice has been gaining increasing attention from the EPA and popular cultural sources as an environmental justice issue. Recent decisions by the EPA incorporate an environmental justice analysis as contextualization, but the perspective provided is problematic. This Article compares the way that the social and cultural context of mountaintop removal has been framed in judicial opinions and EPA documents to understand how legal documents understand and perpetuate the conflicts related to mountaintop removal. To further widen the lens, seven documentary …