Law Commons^™

To Outgrow A Mockingbird: Confronting Our History—As Well As Our Fictions—About Indigent Defense In The Deep South, Sarah Gerwig-Moore

Articles

To Kill a Mockingbird occupies a beloved space in law school classrooms and curricula, especially in its portrayal of Atticus Finch. Frequently held up as the model or “hero-lawyer,” Atticus’s character is powerful in fiction, but problematic in practice. His work is lauded, rather than scrutinized, despite his questionable ability to represent his client in life-or-death circumstances—specifically, a racially charged sexual assault case in the Deep South. Through considering examples of historical lawyers and texts which explore similar themes without the lens of fiction, those engaged in legal education and legal practice can and should look to others to study …

Fraying The Knot: Marital Property, Probate, And Practical Problems With Tribal Bans, Suzianne D. Painter-Thorne

Articles

In the summer of 2015, marriage equality advocates celebrated the Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which struck down state prohibitions on same-sex marriage.The Court found that “[t]he right of same-sex couples to marry . . . is part of the liberty promised by the Fourteenth Amendment.” Two years earlier, the Court had struck down parts of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), finding that the federal government could not discriminate against same-sex married partners. With these two decisions, the Court ensured that the marriages of same-sex couples would be recognized by the federal government and in …

Who’S Afraid Of Uber?, Jeremy Kidd

Articles

Ride-sharing has disrupted the transportation-for-hire industry, breaking down barriers to entry that have protected entrenched incumbents for decades. The disruption has led to calls for increased regulation, along with criticisms about the effect of innovation on consumer safety, market stability, rule of law, and other areas. That disruption, however, has also led to tremendous benefits to consumers as they are freed from a regulatory regime that limited their transportation choices and forced them to pay higher prices for lower quality service. The same type of disruptive innovation is upon us in almost every area of our economy. How we deal …

An Unusual Suspect? Unreliable Narrators In Fiction And Law, Cathren Page

Articles

This article discusses the common traits of unreliable narrators and provides solutions for those seeking to defeat unreliable narrators in legal battles. Since the unreliable narrator concept first developed and evolved in literary analysis, the article explores and compares unreliable narrators in both fiction and law.

When the audience cannot depend on the accuracy or reliable character of a narrator’s account, literary criticism deems these storytellers “unreliable narrators.” Unreliable narrators exhibit certain “tells,” which disclose to savvy or intuitive audience members that some aspect of the narrators’ tale is dubious. These unreliable narrators can be divided into two broad categories, …

Teaching With Feminist Judgments: A Global Conversation, Pamela A. Wilkins

Articles

The very idea of re-imagining and rewriting judicial opinions from a feminist perspective arises from the sense that the original judicial opinions did not "do justice" in either process or outcome. Nearly a dozen feminist judgments projects around the world have addressed this sense of injustice by demonstrating how a judgment's reasoning or result (or both) would have been different if the decision makers had applied feminist perspectives, theories,and methods. Using the resulting re-imagined feminist judgments in the classroom can help students in a myriad of ways, but especially in developing their own roles in addressing what they perceive to …

Madison V. Alabama: An Analysis And Future Considerations, Kaleb Byars

Articles

In 1985, Vernon Madison killed a police officer in Alabama. At trial, an Alabama jury convicted Madison of capital murder, and the trial court sentenced him to death. While awaiting his execution, Madison suffered strokes and was diagnosed with several mental disorders, including vascular dementia. Madison averred these disorders, particularly vascular dementia, rendered him unable to remember committing his crime. Accordingly, Madison petitioned to stay his execution, arguing his disorders rendered him mentally incompetent. Particularly, Madison argued the inability to remember committing the murder prevented him from understanding his conviction. ...

Part I of this Article has introduced the facts …