Law Commons^™

Cooperative Interbranch Federalism: Certification Of State-Law Questions By Federal Agencies, Verity Winship

Verity Winship

When an unresolved state-law question arises in federal court, the court may certify it to the relevant state court. The practice of certification from one court to another has been widely adopted and has been touted as “help[ing] build a cooperative judicial federalism.” This article proposes that states promote cooperative interbranch federalism by allowing federal agencies to certify unresolved state-law questions to state courts. It draws on Delaware’s recent expansion of potential certifying entities to the Securities and Exchange Commission to argue that this innovation should be extended to other states and other federal agencies. Certification from federal agencies to …

Ad Law Incarcerated, Giovanna Shay

Giovanna Shay

Prison and jail regulation is the administrative law of mass incarceration. Although the United States imprisons more people than any other nation, our corrections policies are a legal “no man’s land.” Scholars ignore them. Courts defer to them. States routinely exempt them from their administrative procedure act requirements. This Article focuses on the largely unexamined area of corrections regulation and makes the case for subjecting corrections policies to notice-and-comment rulemaking, or according them less deference. Corrections rules became increasingly important when the first wave of prison reform efforts produced bureaucratization of prison systems in the 1970s and early 1980s. Subsequently, …

New Governance In The Teeth Of Human Frailty: Lessons From Financial Regulation, Cristie L. Ford

Cristie L. Ford

New Governance scholarship has made important theoretical and practical contributions to a broad range of regulatory arenas, including securities and financial markets regulation. In the wake of the global financial crisis, question about the scope of possibilities for this scholarship are more pressing than ever. Is new governance a full-blown alternative to existing legal structures, or is it a useful complement? Are there essential preconditions to making it work, or can a new governance strategy improve any decision making structure? If there are essential preconditions, what are they? Is new governance “modular” – that is, does it still confer benefits …

Principles-Based Securities Regulation In The Wake Of The Global Financial Crisis, Cristie L. Ford

Cristie L. Ford

This paper seeks to re-examine, and ultimately to restate the case for, principles-based securities regulation in light of the global financial crisis and related developments. Prior to the onset of the crisis, the concept of more principles-based financial regulation was gaining traction in regulatory practice and policy circles, particularly in the United Kingdom and Canada. The crisis of course cast financial regulatory systems internationally, including more principles-based approaches, into severe doubt. This paper argues that principles-based securities regulation as properly understood remains a viable and even necessary policy option, which offers solutions to the real-life and theoretical challenge that the …

An Environmental Role For Energy Regulators, Jeremy Knee

Jeremy Knee

No abstract provided.

The Unconstitutionality Of Current Legal Barriers To Telemedicine In The United States: Analysis And Future Directions Of Its Relationship To National And International Health Care Reform, Deth Sao, Amar Gupta

Deth Sao

The current health care crisis in the United States compels a consideration of the crucial role that telemedicine could play towards deploying a pragmatic solution. The nation faces rising costs and difficulties in access to and quality of medical services. Telemedicine can potentially help to overcome these challenges, as it can provide new cost-effective and efficient methods of delivering health care across geographic distances. The full benefits and future potential of telemedicine, however, are constrained by overlapping and often inconsistent and inadequate regulatory frameworks, as well as the repertoire of standards imposed by state governments and professional organizations. Proponents of …

Classification Of Participants In Suicide Attacks And The Implications Of This Classification For The Severity Of The Sentence: The Israeli Experience In The Military Courts In Judea And Samaria, Chagai D. Vinizky, Amit Preiss

Chagai D Vinizky

*** A revised version of this article is forthcoming in 30 Pace Law Review (Winter2010) *** The twenty-first century witnessed a considerable rise in the number of suicide attacks. The largest suicide attacks were carried out by Al-Qaeda in the United States on 11.9.2001 when that organization crashed four passenger planes (two into the Twin Towers and one into the Pentagon building) killing 2,973 civilians. Between the 11th September and the present time, suicide attacks have taken place throughout the world, including in Turkey, Great Britain, Egypt, India, Jordan, Spain and Iraq leading to thousands of deaths. A large proportion …

Regulatory Reform In The States: Lessons From New Jersey, Stuart Shapiro, Deborah Borie-Holtz

Stuart Shapiro

While numerous examinations of the rulemaking process have occurred at the federal level, there is a dearth of studies about the effects of the proceduralization of the rulemaking process on state regulations. Our examination focuses on regulations promulgated in New Jersey, both prior to and following, major procedural changes enacted in the state in 2001. By choosing distinct leadership periods, one governed by Democrats and one by Republicans, we attempt to control for differences in political preferences for regulation. During the study years, we collected data on 1,707 regulations on a wide array of variables from the type of rulemaking, …

Abolishing The Missing-Claim Rule For Judicial Cancellations, Ryan G. Vacca

Ryan G. Vacca

This article questions why some courts that have already found a federally registered trademark invalid refuse to cancel the registration despite having the authority to do so under § 37 of the Lanham Act. Examination of cases involving judicial cancellations reveals that a failure to assert cancellation as a claim, as opposed to a variety of other methods of requesting cancellation, is the reason courts refuse to exercise their power under § 37 - referred to as the missing-claim rule. This article criticizes the missing-claim rule as illogical and frustrating trademark law's purpose and proposes the missing-claim rule be abolished, …

Barbara Lindemann & Paul Grossman, Employment Discrimination Law (Supp. 2009-10), Richard Gonzalez

Richard J. Gonzalez

No abstract provided.

The People's Agents And The Battle To Protect The American Public, Rena Steinzor, Sidney Shapiro

Rena I. Steinzor

Reasonable people disagree about the reach of the federal government, but there is near-universal consensus that it should protect us from such dangers as bacteria-infested food, harmful drugs, toxic pollution, crumbling bridges, and unsafe toys. And yet, the agencies that shoulder these responsibilities are in shambles; if they continue to decline, lives will be lost and natural resources will be squandered. In this timely book, Rena Steinzor and Sidney Shapiro take a hard look at the tangled web of problems that have led to this dire state of affairs.

It turns out that the agencies are not primarily to blame …

The Development Of Gender Within The Particular Social Group Definition Under The United Nations Refugee Convention And United States Immigration Law: Case Studies Of Female Asylum Seekers From Cameroon, Eritrea, Iraq And Somalia, T S. Twibell

Ty Twibell

The Veterans’ Judicial Review Act Twenty Years Later: Confronting The New Complexities Of Va Adjudication, James D. Ridgway

James D. Ridgway

When judicial review was introduced to the veterans benefits system twenty years ago, there was great concern that it would push the informal, “claimant friendly” process towards a much more adversarial model. Although judicial review has improved the system in many ways, the system continues to suffer from serious problems. Much of the discussion about the current problems facing the VA adjudication system accept the false premise that the system is struggling to find balance between a paternalistic charitable model and an adversarial entitlement model. This has obscured the true conflict within the system. In reality, the VA system has …

Seeing The State: Transparency As Metaphor, Mark Fenster

Mark Fenster

Account Me In: Agencies In Quest Of Accountability, Dorit R. Reiss

Dorit R. Reiss

This articles adds to the literature about accountability by examining the little-studied phenomenon of agencies making efforts—sometimes substantial efforts - to be accountable. It briefly describes how three agencies—the EPA, the FDA and especially the IRS—worked to increase their accountability. It demonstrates that agencies are often not the enemy in the “accountability game”. In today’s world agencies, contrary to the stereotype, often buy into the language and practice of accountability. It addresses three arguments for this behavior: a rational choice argument based on comparison of the costs of non-accountability with the benefits of accountability; a power of ideas argument showing …

The Bounds Of Consent: Consent Decrees, Settlements And Federal Environmental Policy Making, Robert V. Percival

Robert Percival

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Attorney Fee Shifting In Public Interest Litigation, Robert V. Percival, Geoffrey P. Miller

Robert Percival

No abstract provided.

The Role Of The Council On Competitiveness In Regulatory Review, Robert V. Percival

Robert Percival

No abstract provided.

Restoring Regulatory Policy To Serve The Public Interest, Robert V. Percival

Robert Percival

No abstract provided.

Brave New World: The Use And Potential Misuse Of Dna Technology In Immigration Law, Janice D. Villiers

Janice D. Villiers

Deoxyribononucleic acid (“DNA”) technology revolutionized criminal law, family law and trust and estates practice. It is now revolutionizing immigration law. Currently DNA tests are not required, but may be recommended by the Department of Homeland Security when primary documentation such as marriage licenses, birth certificates and adoption papers are not available to prove the relationship between the U.S. citizen petitioner and the beneficiary who is seeking permanent resident status in the United States. DNA tests are attractive to the government as a means of countering fraud and because of administrative convenience, but adoption of a wholesale policy of DNA testing …

The Supreme Court's Assault On Litigation: Why (And How) It Might Be A Good Thing For Health Law, Abigail R. Moncrieff

Abigail R. Moncrieff

In recent years, the Supreme Court has narrowed or eliminated private rights of action in many legal regimes, much to the chagrin of the legal academy. That trend has had a significant impact on health law; the Court’s decisions have eliminated the private enforcement mechanism for at least three important healthcare regimes: Medicaid, employer-sponsored insurance, and medical devices. In a similar trend outside the courts, state legislatures have capped noneconomic and punitive damages for medical malpractice litigation, weakening the tort system’s deterrent capacity in those states. This Article points out that the trend of eliminating private rights of action in …

Interim Report On The Administrative Law, Process And Procedure Project For The 21st Century, Rena I. Steinzor

Rena I. Steinzor

No abstract provided.

The People's Agent: Executive Branch Secrecy And Accountability In An Age Of Terrorism, Sidney A. Shapiro, Rena I. Steinzor

Rena I. Steinzor

The increase in government secrecy is an important and troubling policy trend. Although the trend predates the 2000 presidential election, the movement towards government secrecy has accelerated dramatically in the Bush Administration. The case for open government is usually based on political principles embraced by the Framers of the U.S. Constitution. This article seeks to bolster these arguments by applying “agency theory” to the question of how much secrecy is too much. While agency theory is most often used to analyze private sector economic relationships, commentators have also applied it to the analysis of methods for holding legislators and Executive …

Fulfilling Government 2.0'S Promise With Robust Privacy Protections, Danielle Citron

Danielle Keats Citron

The public can now “friend” the White House and scores of agencies on social networks, virtual worlds, and video-sharing sites. The Obama Administration sees this trend as crucial to enhancing governmental transparency, public participation, and collaboration. As the President has underscored, government needs to tap into the public’s expertise because it doesn’t have all of the answers. To be sure, Government 2.0 might improve civic engagement. But it also might produce privacy vulnerabilities because agencies often gain access to individuals’ social network profiles, photographs, videos, and contact lists when interacting with individuals online. Little would prevent agencies from using and …

Needles And Notebooks: The Limits Of Requiring Immunization For School Attendance, Allan J. Jacobs

Allan J. Jacobs

The constitutional requirements for compulsory vaccination are analyzed in the context of the release of a vaccine against human papillomavirus, a virus associated with development of various kinds of cancer, requiring many years after infection for cancer to develop. Examination of the requirements of Jacobson v. Massachusetts suggests that proposed vaccination programs be subjected to a balancing test that considers the severity of the disease, the risks of the vaccine, the amount of overall clinical experience with the vaccine, and alternate methods of prevention. It is argued that there are further constraints if vaccination is to be a requirement for …

The Changing Of The Cattle Guard: Blm's New Approach To Grazing Qualifications, Hillary M. Hoffmann

Hillary M Hoffmann

This article traces the history of the four qualifications requirements for applicants seeking grazing permits on public domain lands under Bureau of Land Management jurisdiction: (1) citizenship/residency, (2) livestock ownership, (3) base property and (4) grazing preference. The article discusses the origins of these four requirements in the common grazing practices on the federal range in the early twentieth century, when grazing was unregulated, then discusses the extent to which they are explicitly or impliedly incorporated into the Taylor Grazing Act, and finally, explains the regulatory history of each requirement from 1934 to the present. The article concludes that BLM’s …

Childhood Immunizations: Paralysis On Parental Rights, Demand On Taxpayer Dollars, Rena L. Holmes Jones

Rena L Holmes Jones

The rise in the incidence of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is one of the most serious public health issues in recent years. The current statistics suggests that roughly one child out of every 150 has autism or an autistic-like disorder, compared to earlier estimates placing the rate at four or five children out of every 10,000. Autism is a condition that typically reveals itself within the first 0-4 years of life. The wide continuum of associated cognitive and neurobehavioral disorders have three core-defining features: impairments in socialization, impairments in verbal and nonverbal communication, and restricted and repetitive patterns of behaviors. …

Administrative Law In The Roberts Court: The First Four Years, Robin K. Craig

Robin K. Craig

Given Justice David Souter’s retirement in the summer of 2009, the four U.S. Supreme Court terms that began in October 2005 and ended in June 2009 constitute a first distinct phase of the Roberts Court. During those first four terms, moreover, the Court decided a number of cases relevant to the practice and structure of administrative law.

This Article provides a comprehensive survey and summary of the Supreme Court’s administrative-law-related decisions issued during this first phase of the Roberts Court. It organizes those decisions into three categories. Part I of this Article discusses the Supreme Court decisions that affect access …

The Incentives Matrix: The Comparative Effectiveness Of Rewards, Liabilities, Duties And Protections For Reporting Illegality, Yuval Feldman

Yuval Feldman

Social enforcement is becoming a key feature of regulatory policy. Increasingly, statutes rely on individuals to report misconduct, yet the incentives they provide to encourage such enforcement vary significantly. Despite the clear policy benefits that flow from understanding the factors that facilitates social enforcement, i.e., the act of individual reporting of illegal behavior, the field remains largely understudied. Using a series of experimental surveys of a representative panel of over 2000 employees, this article compares the effect of different regulatory mechanisms - monetary rewards, protective rights, positive obligations, and liabilities - on individual motivation and behavior. By exploring the interplay …

Limiting Judges: Placing Limits On Judges' Power In Hard Look Review, Tobias R. Coleman

Tobias R Coleman

The “hard look” standard of review in administrative law has long provided judges broad discretion to strike down agency actions. The virtually unlimited nature of hard look review creates the danger that judges will craft decisions to achieve their desired policy outcomes. Though judges have acknowledged that this potential for outcome-oriented decisionmaking exists, they have consistently downplayed the danger of outcome-oriented decisionmaking—despite empirical evidence showing otherwise. One practical way to reduce the danger of outcome-oriented decisionmaking in hard look review is to place limit on judges’ powers. In FCC v. Fox Television Stations, Inc., the Supreme Court began to explore …