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Selected Works

2014

Public Law and Legal Theory

Articles 61 - 66 of 66

Full-Text Articles in Law

Opening The Machinery Of Private Order: Public International Law As A Form Of Private Ordering, Bryan H. Druzin Dec 2013

Opening The Machinery Of Private Order: Public International Law As A Form Of Private Ordering, Bryan H. Druzin

Bryan H. Druzin

Does legal order always need the enforcement power of the State? The concept of private order says no. Private ordering is traditionally defined as the coming together of non-governmental parties in voluntary, self-enforcing arrangements. This Article radically expands the concept of private order to include not only individuals, but also governments themselves, arguing that the ingredients for private ordering exist in both spheres. State actors, perhaps even more so than individuals, are producers of private order in that they regularly establish sophisticated legal order in the absence of centralized enforcement. The Article constructs a theory of private order which focuses …


State Constitutions And The Basic Structure Doctrine, Manoj Mate Dec 2013

State Constitutions And The Basic Structure Doctrine, Manoj Mate

Manoj S. Mate

cross the United States, voters in many states have enacted initiative constitutional amendments that abrogate protections for equality and fundamental rights. In most cases, state supreme courts have upheld the validity of these amendments, undermining protections for fundamental rights at the state level. This Article proposes a novel solution to this problem: it argues for the application of the basic structure doctrine in the review of constitutional amendments by state supreme courts. Under this doctrine, the Supreme Court of India (like constitutional courts in other nations) asserted the power to invalidate amendments that abrogate "basic features" of the Indian Constitution …


Planting Seeds Of Order: How The State Can Create, Shape, And Use Customary Law, Bryan H. Druzin Dec 2013

Planting Seeds Of Order: How The State Can Create, Shape, And Use Customary Law, Bryan H. Druzin

Bryan H. Druzin

This paper argues that government can strategically trigger the emergence of customary law in order to achieve specific policy ends. While much has been written on customary law, the idea that the State can stimulate its emergence is a radical notion with clear policy implications. Harnessed correctly, such an approach could be a powerful legislative weapon to create, sustain, and even redirect social order. Building upon basic insights from game theory, the paper posits a way to do this: policymakers can deliberately recreate the social conditions that foster the emergence of customary order. The paper, however, draws a sharp divide …


The First Thing We Do, Jorge R. Roig Dec 2013

The First Thing We Do, Jorge R. Roig

Jorge R Roig

There is currently a concerted effort to dumb down America. In the midst of this, the American Bar Association’s Council of the Section on Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar recently agreed to propose that tenure for law professors be eliminated as a requirement for accreditation of law schools. This article analyzes the arguments for and against tenure in legal academia, and concludes that the main proposed justifications for eliminating tenure are highly questionable, at best. A lawyer is more than a legal technocrat. Lawyers are policy makers and public defenders. They are prosecutors and activists. And the development …


The Aftermath Of Catastrophes: Valuing Business Interruption Insurance Losses, Chris French Dec 2013

The Aftermath Of Catastrophes: Valuing Business Interruption Insurance Losses, Chris French

Christopher C. French

With the onslaught of tornadoes, hurricanes, and floods in recent years, business interruption losses have been staggering. Many businesses do not survive such catastrophes. Even business owners that purchased business interruption insurance, which is intended to ensure that a business’s revenue stream continues during an interruption in its operations, often find that their insurers have dramatically different views regarding the amount of the losses that should be reimbursed. The reason for this disparity in views is that the loss valuation provisions in business interruption insurance policies provide very little guidance regarding how business interruption losses should be calculated. Thus, disputes …


¿Con La Misma Vara? Los Altibajos De La Igual Protección De Las Leyes En Las Opiniones Del Juez Federico Hernández Denton, Jorge R. Roig Dec 2013

¿Con La Misma Vara? Los Altibajos De La Igual Protección De Las Leyes En Las Opiniones Del Juez Federico Hernández Denton, Jorge R. Roig

Jorge R Roig

La carrera del juez presidente Federico Hernández Denton como juez del Tribunal Supremo de Puerto Rico abarca cuatro distintas décadas durante las cuales la sociedad puertorriqueña ha experimentado dramáticos cambios. Desde los intentos por eliminar el hostigamiento sexual y la violencia doméstica hasta el desarrollo de los derechos civiles de los individuos y las parejas homosexuales; desde el cierre de las urbanizaciones adineradas y el enclaustre de la clase media hasta los despidos masivos en el gobierno y la constitucionalización de las escoltas de los ex gobernadores; los cambios experimentados por los puertorriqueños no nos han tocado a todos por …