Law Commons^™

Foreword, Stephen Wermiel

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It is an honor and a pleasure to help the American UniversityLegislationandPolicy Brief carry on its fine tradition of scholarly inquiry into important issues facing the nation, the legislatures and the public policy arena. AULPB is an important forum within WCL for student authors to examine cutting edge, timely issues. It is also a focal point, beyond the bounds of the WCL campus, for authors to consider a broad range of pressing issues that combine law and policy questions.

Foreword, Fernando R. Laguarda

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It was an honor to be asked to write this introduction to the American UniversityLegislation & PolicyBriefannual publication. AULPB was launched in 2008 with help from then-Professor Jamie Raskin as the Legislation and Policy Roundtable, becoming a fully-fledged publication in 2011. Today, the AULPB plays a vital role in the intellectual life of the Washington College of Law, serving as the central forum for scholarship on topics at the intersection of law and public policy. In the past three years, AULPB has also organized symposia focusing on cutting edge topics elevated by bipartisan dialogue. I was privileged to work closely …

Challenges To The Independence Of Inspectors General In Robust Congressional Oversight, Fernando R. Laguarda

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Congressional oversight of the Executive is among the chief responsibilities of the legislative branch. Inspectors General ("IGs") are among the most important tools available to Congress because they are "hard-wired" into the Executive itself. The value of IGs to Congress depends on their expertise in the workings of their host agencies and their "independence" from those agencies. But "independence" is not a statutorily defined term. As the agencies, and sometimes Congress itself, expand the role of IGs to engage in activities that parallel the regulatory programs of their host agencies, IG independence is compromised and the value IGs provide to …

Acting Differently: How Science On The Social Brain Can Inform Antidiscrimination Law, Susan Carle

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Legal scholars are becoming increasingly interested in how the literature on implicit bias helps explain illegal discrimination. However, these scholars have not yet mined all of the insights that science on the social brain can offer antidiscrimination law. That science, which researchers refer to as social neuroscience, involves a broadly interdisciplinary approach anchored in experimental natural science methodologies. Social neuroscience shows that the brain tends to evaluate others by distinguishing between "us" versus "them" on the basis of often insignificant characteristics, such as how people dress, sing, joke, or otherwise behave. Subtle behavioral markers signal social identity and group membership, …

Using The Ada's 'Integration Mandate' To Disrupt Mass Incarceration, Robert Dinerstein

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As a result of the disability rights movement's fight for the development of community-based services, the percentage of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) and mental illness living in institutions has significantly decreased over the last few decades. However, in part because of government failure to invest properly in community-based services required for a successful transition from institutions, individuals with disabilities are now dramatically overrepresented in jails and prisons. The Americans with Disabilities Act's (ADA) "integration mandate" -- a principle strengthened by the Supreme Court's 1999 Olmstead v. L.C. decision, entitling individuals with disabilities to receive services in the …

Reclaiming The Navajo Range: Resolving The Conflict Between Grazing Rights And Development, Ezra Rosser

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Grazing is fundamental to Navajo identity, yet management of the Navajo range remains highly problematic. This Essay connects the federal government's devastating livestock reduction effort of the 1930s with the inability of the Navajo Nation to place meaningful limits on grazing and the power of grazing permittees. It argues that the Navajo Nation should consider reasserting the tribe's traditional understanding that property rights depend on use as a way to create space for reservation development.

Reining In A 'Renegade' Court: Tc Heartland And The Eastern District Of Texas, Jonas Anderson

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In TC Heartland v. Kraft Foods Group Brands, the Supreme Court tightened the venue requirement for patent cases, making it more difficult for a plaintiff to demonstrate that a district court has venue over a defendant. Many commentators, however, view TC Heartland as merely a “reshuffling” of the district courts that receive patent cases. Whereas before the case, a large percentage of patent cases were filed in the Eastern District of Texas, now, after TC Heartland, various other U.S. district courts (principally, the District of Delaware) have experienced an increase in patent infringement filings. Some commentators are unconvinced that this …

Human Rights Hero: Abner J. Mikva, Stephen Wermiel

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No abstract provided.

Congress As A Catalyst Of Patent Reform At The Federal Circuit, Jonas Anderson

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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is the dominant institution in patent law. The court’s control over patent law and policy has led to a host of academic proposals to shift power away from the court and towards other institutions, including the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and federal district courts. Surprisingly, however, academics have largely dismissed Congress as a potential institutional check on the Federal Circuit. Congress, it is felt, is too slow, too divided, and too beholden to special interests to effectively monitor changes in innovation and respond with appropriate reforms. …

What Marriage Equality Arguments Portend For Domestic Partner Employee Benefits, Nancy Polikoff

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No abstract provided.

Secret Inventions, Jonas Anderson

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Patent law - and innovation policy more generally - has traditionally been conceptualized as antithetical to secrecy. Not only does the patent system require inventors to publicly disclose their inventions in order to receive a patent, but various patent doctrines are designed to encourage inventors to forego trade secrecy. This Article offers a critique of the law’s preference for patents. In particular, this Article examines whether and under what circumstances the law should prefer patents over secrets, and vice versa.

As an initial step towards a theoretically-supported system of inventor incentives, this Article constructs a framework that attempts to balance …

Writer's Block: Why Punctuation Matters, Part Two, David Spratt

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No abstract provided.

Misplaced Modifiers - Say What, David Spratt

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No abstract provided.

Writer's Block - Resolve To Become A Better Writer, David Spratt

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No abstract provided.

Enhanced Protections For Geographical Indications Under Trips: Potential Conflicts Under The U.S. Constitutional And Statutory Regimes, David Snyder

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No abstract provided.

The Social Security Administration's New Disability Adjudication Rules: A Significant And Promising Reform, Jeffrey Lubbers

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No abstract provided.

Law And Terror, Kenneth Anderson

Popular Media

This short policy article argues that both the Bush administration, in its final two years in office, and Congress have an obligation and interest in taking US counterterrorism policy beyond the current "war on terror" operated on the basis of executive power and discretion, to comprehensively institutionalize it for the long term through Congressional legislation. It argues that the Military Commissions Act of 2006 is mistakenly aimed merely at satisfying the narrow requirements of the Hamdan decision, and is far from the comprehensive legislation that institutionalizing counterterrorism policy requires in order both to have democratic legitimacy with the American people …

The Americans With Disabilities Act Of 1990 - Progeny Of The Civil Rights Act Of 1964, Robert Dinerstein

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No abstract provided.

Continuous Regulatory Reform At The Federal Trade Commission, Jonathan Baker

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No abstract provided.

Bankruptcy In Russia: The Evolution Of A Comprehensive Russian Bankruptcy Code, Paul Williams, Paul Wade

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This article traces the development of the current bankruptcy code, with it origins in the early economic laws of perestroika; explains key provisions of the current law; and comments on the prospects for its effective implementation. The intent of this article is to provide a balanced understanding of the Russian bankruptcy code useful both to the study of the emergence of a market-based economy in Russia and as a bankruptcy primer for individuals or corporations conducting business in Russia.

Grammarians At The Gate: The Rehnquist Court's Evolving Plain Meaning Approach To Bankruptcy Jurisprudence, Walter Effross

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No abstract provided.

Turning Back The Tide Of Director And Officer Liability, Walter Effross

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No abstract provided.

Point, Andrew Popper

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No abstract provided.

Environmental Reforms In Post-Communist Central Europe: From High Hopes To Hard Reality, David Hunter, Margaret Bowman

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No abstract provided.

Expropriation In The Energy Industry: Canada's Crown Share Provision As A Violation Of International Law, Diane Orentlicher

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No abstract provided.