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Qui Tam Litigation Against Government Officials: Constitutional Implications Of A Neglected History, Randy Beck Jan 2018

Qui Tam Litigation Against Government Officials: Constitutional Implications Of A Neglected History, Randy Beck

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The Supreme Court concluded twenty-five years ago, in Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, that uninjured private plaintiffs may not litigate “generalized grievances” about the legality of executive branch conduct. According to the Lujan Court, Congress lacked power to authorize suit by a plaintiff who could not establish some “particularized” injury from the challenged conduct. The Court believed litigation to require executive branch legal compliance, brought by an uninjured private party, is not a “case” or “controversy” within the Article III judicial power and impermissibly reassigns the President’s Article II responsibility to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” The …


Remanding Multidistrict Litigation, Elizabeth Chamblee Burch Jan 2014

Remanding Multidistrict Litigation, Elizabeth Chamblee Burch

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Multidistrict litigation has frequently been described as a “black hole” because transfer is typically a one-way ticket. The numbers lend truth to this proposition. As of 2010, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation remanded only 3.425% of cases to their original districts. That number dwindled to 3.1% in 2012, and to a scant 2.9% in 2013. Retaining cases in hopes of forcing a global settlement can cause a constellation of complications. These concerns range from procedural justice issues over selecting a forum and correcting error, to substantive concerns about fidelity to state laws, to undermining democratic participation ideals fulfilled through …


Medellin, Delegation And Conflicts (Of Law), Peter B. Rutledge Oct 2009

Medellin, Delegation And Conflicts (Of Law), Peter B. Rutledge

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The case of Medellin v. Texas presented the Supreme Court with a recurring question that has bedeviled judges, legal scholars, and political scientists-what effect, if any, must a United States court give to the decision of an international tribunal, particularly where, during the relevant time, the United States was party to a treaty protocol that bound it to that tribunal's judgments. While the Supreme Court held that the International Court of Justice's ("ICJ") decision was not enforceable federal law, its decision reflected an important recognition that the issues presented in that case were not limited to the specific area of …


The Partially Prudential Doctrine Of Mootness, Matthew I. Hall Apr 2009

The Partially Prudential Doctrine Of Mootness, Matthew I. Hall

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The conventional understanding of mootness doctrine is that it operates as a mandatory bar to federal court jurisdiction, derived from the "cases or controversies" clause of the United States Constitution, Article III. In two crucial respects, however, this Constitutional model - which was first adopted by the Supreme Court less than 45 years ago - fails to account for the manner in which courts actually address contentions of mootness. First, the commonly-applied exceptions to the mootness bar are not derived from the "cases or controversies" clause and cannot be reconciled with the Constitutional account of mootness. Second, courts regularly consider …


Who's Afraid Of Henry Hart?, Michael Wells Apr 1997

Who's Afraid Of Henry Hart?, Michael Wells

Scholarly Works

No law book has enjoyed greater acclaim from distinguished commentators over a sustained period than has Hart & Wechsler's The Federal Courts and the Federal System. Indeed, the praise seems to escalate from one edition to the next. Reviewing the first edition, published forty-three years ago, Philip Kurland called it "the definitive text on the subject of federal jurisdiction." Paul Mishkin added that "the analysis is of an order difficult to match anywhere." In his review of the second edition, published in 1973, Henry Monaghan began by praising the first for having "deservedly achieved a reputation that is extraordinary among …


International Jurisdiction In Products Liability Cases (Analysis Of Asahi And Post-Asahi Cases), Tsutomu Kuribayashi Jan 1997

International Jurisdiction In Products Liability Cases (Analysis Of Asahi And Post-Asahi Cases), Tsutomu Kuribayashi

LLM Theses and Essays

With the increase of foreign trade, there has also been an increase in the number of foreign manufacturers and distributors involved in product liability litigation in the United States. In many cases, the products from these foreign manufacturers and distributors reach the forum states through the stream of commerce, and are distributed to the customers by regional distributors, wholesalers, and retailers. Therefore, in many product liability cases where defective products from these foreign manufacturers and distributors cause injuries to people in the United States, those foreign companies do not have a direct relationship with the forum states. In these cases, …


The Issue Of The Legal Validity Of Using Economic Sanctions To Enforce Human Rights, Thomas Hailu Jan 1997

The Issue Of The Legal Validity Of Using Economic Sanctions To Enforce Human Rights, Thomas Hailu

LLM Theses and Essays

The international legal regime as it pertains to human rights is neither as established nor as definitive as it appears. It suffers from many disadvantages, the first and most important of which is the fact that the international legal regime has never been capable of effectively enforcing its rules or instituting appropriate remedies for its breaches. Some states have attempted to make up for this inability on behalf of international law by undertaking an enforcement mechanism either unilaterally or multilaterally; economic sanctions are often regarded as valuable tools of enforcement to be used against countries which are allegedly engaged in …


The Recognition And Enforcement Of Foreign Equitable Remedies And Other Types Of Non-Money Judgments In United States And French Courts: A Comparative Analysis, Noele Sophie Rigot Jan 1996

The Recognition And Enforcement Of Foreign Equitable Remedies And Other Types Of Non-Money Judgments In United States And French Courts: A Comparative Analysis, Noele Sophie Rigot

LLM Theses and Essays

Courts of industrialized nations are often faced with adjudication of cases which involve foreign components. It is common for those courts to be asked by individuals or legal entities from a transnational environment to adjudicate with regard to some elements already adjudged in a different legal system as if it were a local judgment. The question that arises is how effects should be given when dealing with prior adjudications. Most countries agree to recognize some effects determined by foreign jurisdictions, as long as those determinations meet standards that guarantee proper integration of the foreign decision into the domestic setting. These …


Choice Of The Applicable Law In United States Maritime Law And The Venezuelan System, Daniel Eric Vielleville Jan 1996

Choice Of The Applicable Law In United States Maritime Law And The Venezuelan System, Daniel Eric Vielleville

LLM Theses and Essays

International maritime transport is an important means of transport in international trade. The vessels used in international maritime transport face unique dangers which necessitate maritime law that addresses the perils associated with maritime transport. Maritime law concerns many jurisdictions, which creates a special interest for the study of conflict of laws. There are private international maritime laws in addition to multilateral treaties. This paper analyzes the international approach that the United States takes in maritime conflict of laws, and compares it with the Venezuelan system of private international law. Venezuela is a civil law country with old maritime legislation which …


Original Intent And Article Iii, Michael L. Wells, Edward J. Larson Nov 1995

Original Intent And Article Iii, Michael L. Wells, Edward J. Larson

Scholarly Works

Article III of the United States Constitution sets limits on the ability of the legislature to expand or contract the jurisdiction of the federal courts. The Supreme Court has generally held that Article III's restraints on the power of the legislature to restrict the jurisdiction of the federal courts are few and extremely permissive. Many scholars, however, argue that Article III imposes some strong limitations on the legislature's ability to define federal jurisdiction. Strangely, both sides of the debate rely on originalist arguments. This Article argues that reliance on the Framers' intent to resolve issues of federal courts law is …


Behind The Parity Debate: The Decline Of The Legal Process Tradition In The Law Of Federal Courts, Michael L. Wells Jul 1991

Behind The Parity Debate: The Decline Of The Legal Process Tradition In The Law Of Federal Courts, Michael L. Wells

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Whether there is parity between federal and state courts has become a central question in the law of federal courts, dividing judges and commentators into two well-defined camps. Although the issue rarely arose thirty years ago, it now enters into virtually every discussion of the rules concerning access to federal court for constitutional claims. On one side of the debate, advocates of broad federal jurisdiction over constitutional challenges to state action claim that federal courts are better than state courts at adjudicating these controversies. On the other side, advocates of state court jurisdiction insist that state courts are fully adequate …


The Impact Of Substantive Interests On The Law Of Federal Courts, Michael L. Wells Apr 1989

The Impact Of Substantive Interests On The Law Of Federal Courts, Michael L. Wells

Scholarly Works

The thesis of this Article is that substantive factors exert a powerful and often unrecognized influence over the resolution of jurisdictional issues, and have done so throughout our history. The chief substantive factors at issue are the government's interest iin regulating behavior on the one hand, and the individual's interest in enforcing constitutional restraints upon government on the other. Part I of this Article examines the relationship between jurisdictional rules and substantive consequences, Part II describes the Court's conventional account of federal courts doctrine in terms of jurisdictional policy and institutional roles, and Part III shows that the reasons set …


Transnational Discovery In The Extraterritorial Application Of U.S. Antitrust Laws, Maria Eugenia Gimenez Jan 1989

Transnational Discovery In The Extraterritorial Application Of U.S. Antitrust Laws, Maria Eugenia Gimenez

LLM Theses and Essays

After World War II, there was a push for economic integration to promote growth and prevent conflict. Multinational corporations became key players, but their mobility and links to different countries created legal challenges, with nations seeking to assert their laws and policies over foreign entities. U.S. courts’ efforts to compel compliance with antitrust laws abroad can lead to conflicts with foreign jurisdictions, especially concerning the disclosure of evidence held by foreign entities. The “effects doctrine” allows U.S. antitrust laws to be applied to foreign conduct if they have intended economic effects in the U.S. Subsequent cases refined this doctrine, considering …


International Concurrent Jurisdiction: Dealing With The Possibility Of Parallel Proceedings In The Courts Of More Than One Country, Bernd U. Graf Jan 1988

International Concurrent Jurisdiction: Dealing With The Possibility Of Parallel Proceedings In The Courts Of More Than One Country, Bernd U. Graf

LLM Theses and Essays

This thesis will examine how legal systems deal with the phenomenon of multiple assumptions of jurisdiction over the same dispute. We will first look at public international law rules on jurisdiction, regulating (or not regulating) conflicting states' interests, which will give only modest guidance. In view of those rules, the subsequent chapters will deal with various national laws relating to the possibility of parallel proceedings in the courts of more than one country, and thus the possibility of the emergence of conflicting orders or judgments.


Why Professor Redish Is Wrong About Abstention, Michael Wells Jul 1985

Why Professor Redish Is Wrong About Abstention, Michael Wells

Scholarly Works

Most critics of the Supreme Court's abstention doctrines have attacked the substantive merits of rules that channel constitutional litigation away from federal courts and into state courts instead. In a recent article, Martin Redish raises an interesting objection to abstention from a different perspective. He addresses the institutional legitimacy of the rules and contends that whatever their merits, rules like these should be made only by Congress and not the Supreme Court, for they contravene Congress' intent to grant federal courts jurisdiction over constitutional claims against state actors. Part I of this article describes the context in which the choice …


The Abortion Controversey: A Study In Law And Politics, Albert M. Pearson, Paul M. Kurtz Apr 1985

The Abortion Controversey: A Study In Law And Politics, Albert M. Pearson, Paul M. Kurtz

Scholarly Works

The Supreme Court's 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, which held that women have a federal constitutional right to an abortion, has generated considerable controversy. The abortion issue became politically significant in the 1960's, when, emboldened by the Supreme court's recognition of a constitutionally based right of privacy, activists initiated a series of legal challenges to the validity of state abortion laws. Their efforts finally succeeded in 1973 when the Supreme Court in Roe and Doe v. Bolton struck down as unconstitutional the Texas and Georgia abortion laws. For those who objected to the result in Roe, however, …


Litispendence Between The International Court And The Security Council, Theodoor Jh Elsen Jan 1985

Litispendence Between The International Court And The Security Council, Theodoor Jh Elsen

LLM Theses and Essays

The exception of lis pendens is an objection against the admissibility of the claim. The general power of the tribunal to hear the claim is not contested, but the special situation that a claim on the same cause of action is pending before another forum is alleged to preclude the tribunal from asserting jurisdiction. This essay focuses on the exception of lis pendens raised before the International Court of Justice or the United Nations Security Council when both organs are simultaneously engaged in the settlement of the same dispute.


The Role Of Comity In The Law Of Federal Courts, Michael L. Wells Jan 1981

The Role Of Comity In The Law Of Federal Courts, Michael L. Wells

Scholarly Works

Considerations of comity often require federal courts to defer to state courts when federal issues could be raised in state proceedings. Contexts in which such deference is required include Younger abstention, habeus corpus exhaustion and procedural default, and Pullman and Burford abstention. In this Article, Professor Wells demonstrates that the Supreme Court's opinions fail to make a distinction between cases where comity requires restraint and those where it does not. The Court's motive in invoking comity is not to decrease access to federal courts, but instead to strike a compromise between the individual's interest in a federal forum and the …


Current Problems With Venue In Georgia, C. Ronald Ellington Oct 1975

Current Problems With Venue In Georgia, C. Ronald Ellington

Popular Media

Georgia's first constitution, the Constitution of 1777, contained a section providing that "all matters in dispute between contending parties, residing in different counties, shall be tried in the county where the defendant resides, except in cases of real estate, which shall be tried in the county where such real estate lies." The practice of specifying rules of venue in the constitution thus dates from the very beginning of our state and has been repeated and expanded in subsequent constitutional revisions. The Constitution of 1798, for example, added the rule that joint obligors, residing in different counties, may be sued in …


Federal Courts Intervention In Military Courts--Interrelationship Of Defenses And Comity, Wayne Mccormack Apr 1972

Federal Courts Intervention In Military Courts--Interrelationship Of Defenses And Comity, Wayne Mccormack

Scholarly Works

In the case of Parisi v. Davidson the Supreme Court granted habeas corpus relief to a serviceman who was being court-martialed for disobedience to orders issued after he had been denied administrative discharge on a conscientious objector claim. Professor McCormack analyzes Parisi and uses it as a vehicle to examine the Court's present notions of comity and abstention.


The Federal Anti-Injunction Statute In The Aftermath Of Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, John Daniel Reaves, David S. Golden Jan 1971

The Federal Anti-Injunction Statute In The Aftermath Of Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, John Daniel Reaves, David S. Golden

Scholarly Works

Last Term the Supreme Court rendered its decision in Atlantic Coast Line Railroad v. Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. This case involved the present anti-injunction statute, section 2283 of Title 28, which forbids federal court injunction of state court proceedings. Mr. Justice Black, writing for the majority, traced the roots of the statute's predecessor into the "fundamental constitutional independence of the states and their courts." He hinted that the act grew out of concern for constitutional inviolability of a state court's adjudicative process. Mr. Justice Black went on to announce that the anti-injunction statute is absolute; no judicially created exceptions …