Law Commons^™

The Voting Rights Act Of 1965: A Selected Annotated Bibliography, Terrye Conroy

Faculty Publications

Several remedial or "special" provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which were enacted as temporary measures and were set to expire in August 2007 if not reauthorized by Congress, were recently extended for another twenty-five years. Ms. Conroy offers a selected bibliography of resources to introduce researchers to the issues involved in the debate over the Act's reauthorization and its future implementation.

The Professionalization Of Law Firm In-House Counsel, Elizabeth Chambliss

Faculty Publications

This Article examines the structural evolution of the "firm counsel" position from a volunteer, part-time position filled by an existing partner to a specialized, often full-time position increasingly filled by career in-house counsel. Based on focus groups and interviews with firm counsel, as well as participant observation at meetings and conferences aimed at firm counsel, I examine how the professionalization of the firm counsel position affects: (1) the definition of the firm as the client; (2) the authority of firm counsel with partners; and (3) firm counsels' professional commitments and attitudes about ethical rules. I find that, from a regulatory …

The Prohibition Hangover: Why We Are Still Feeling The Effects Of Prohibition, Marcia A. Yablon-Zug

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Regional Ocean Governance: The Perils Of Multiple-Use Management And The Promise Of Agency Diversity, Josh Eagle

Faculty Publications

Two high-level committees - the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy and the Pew Oceans Commission - have recently issued reports expressing grave concerns about the condition of America's oceans. In these reports, the commissions suggest that institutional flaws underlie current problems. Specifically, the commissions' views are that state and federal agencies with marine jurisdiction lack the mechanisms, and the incentives, to coordinate their management activities. Accordingly, both commissions recommend the creation of regional ocean governance bodies. Although the commissions' designs differ, their goal is the same: management that operates on a larger scale and incorporates more ocean interests. This article …

Killing, Cheating, Legislating, And Lying: A History Of Voting Rights In South Carolina After The Civil War, W. Lewis Burke

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Best Offense Is A Good Defense: Why Defendants' Nolo Contendere Pleas Should Be Inadmissible Against Them When They Become Civil Plaintiffs, Colin Miller

Faculty Publications

All federal courts (and most state courts) agree that when a criminal defendant pleads nolo contendere and subsequently becomes a civil defendant, his plea is inadmissible against him pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 410 and Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11(f). Conversely, courts are sharply divided over whether this same criminal defendant would be entitled to the protection of the Federal Rules (and corresponding state codes) if he became the plaintiff in a subsequent civil proceeding.

This article argues that courts holding that Federal Rule of Evidence 410, Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11(f), and corresponding state codes do …

The Professionalization Of Law Firm In-House Counsel, Elizabeth Chambliss

Faculty Publications

This Article examines the structural evolution of the "firm counsel" position from a volunteer, part-time position filled by an existing partner to a specialized, often full-time position increasingly filled by career in-house counsel. Based on focus groups and interviews with firm counsel, as well as participant observation at meetings and conferences aimed at firm counsel, I examine how the professionalization of the firm counsel position affects: (1) the definition of the firm as the client; (2) the authority of firm counsel with partners; and (3) firm counsels' professional commitments and attitudes about ethical rules.

I find that, from a regulatory …

Accessing The Internet Through The Neighbor's Wireless Internet Connection: Physical Trespass In Virtual Reality, Ned Snow

Faculty Publications

As wireless computer networks are becoming commonplace, so also is the practice of accessing the Internet through another's wireless network. The practice raises a simple question of law: Does accessing a wireless network, without express authorization, violate the property rights of the network operator? This Article argues that it does. A neighbor who intentionally accesses the Internet through a network operator's connection appears to trespass on physical property of the operator - the operator's router. Recent Internet jurisprudence suggests that the electronic signals that the neighbor sends through the router are sufficient to find trespassory physical contact. The same jurisprudence …

Cognitive Biases And Heuristics In Tort Litigation: A Proposal To Limit Their Effects Without Changing The World, John E. Montgomery

Faculty Publications

Behavioral studies indicate that individuals do not always make objective decisions about risk. Various cognitive biases and heuristics-- mental shortcuts everyone uses consciously or subconsciously to make decisions under conditions of uncertainty--introduce error and subjectivity. At one level, these studies merely confirm the obvious: individuals make decisions based on both reason and emotions. At another level, they may introduce serious complications into some types of legal analysis, which are based on the assumption that individuals are rational actors. The potential effects of erroneous decisions about risk are of particular concern in the area of tort law. Laboratory studies establish that …

Child Marriage And Guardianship In Tanzania: Robbing Girls Of Their Childhood And Infantilizing Women, Aparna Polavarapu

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Understanding The Unrest Of France’S Younger Workers: The Price Of American Ambivalence, Joseph Seiner

Faculty Publications

The youth of France refer to themselves as the “throwaway generation,” in part because they perceive that their value to the labor market is simply disregarded by the government. Against this backdrop, young French workers recently took to the streets in riot to protest a newly enacted employment law that stripped employees under the age of twenty-six of many of their employment protections. The protests persisted after the French Constitutional Council held that the law did not violate France's constitution. The continued violent opposition ultimately forced French President Jacques Chirac to abandon the law, resulting in an embarrassing defeat for …

Using Fact-Finding To Combat Violence Against Women In Ghana, Uganda, And The United States: Lessons Learned As A Clinic Student, Clinic Supervisor, And Practitioner, Lisa V. Martin

Faculty Publications

Gender-based violence threatens the lives and livelihood of women throughout the world. Despite this reality, the laws and policies of many states fail to offer women effective relief and protection from violence. To develop policy reforms effective to combat gender-based violence in a particular community, advocates must first obtain a clear understanding of the nature of the problem in that community. Fact-finding is a critical tool that can enable women’s rights advocates to gain a clear understanding of women’s experience of violence in a particular community by facilitating the documentation of individual human rights abuses and the identification of patterns …

The Contradiction Between Equal Protection's Meaning And Its Legal Substance: How Deliberate Indifference Can Cure It, Derek W. Black

Faculty Publications

This Article highlights the inherent ambiguities of racial antidiscrimination’s core legal language: “equal protection under the law” and “discrimination based on race.” It then analyzes how and why the Court has never answered fundamental questions regarding the meaning of these terms. Thus, this Article answers these fundamental questions itself by exploring the original intent behind the Equal Protection Clause. Against this backdrop, this Article reveals how the Court’s standard for assessing discrimination claims, the intent doctrine, assumes a meaning for equal protection that is inconsistent with its original meaning. Rather than reflecting equal protection’s meaning, the standard lacks any basis …