Law Commons^™

New Legal Rights In The Legal System Of The United States Of America, Roberto Rosas, Bill Piatt

Faculty Articles

What new rights does the American legal system offer at the start of the 21st century? This article takes a snapshot of some of the most controversial topics in American society today and the juridical response to these topics by individual states, the United States Congress, and the United States Supreme Court. Although there are numerous legal topics that deserve mention and analysis, this article is limited to the discussion of 7 new rights created by state and federal laws. The new legal rights in the United States legal system discussed in this article include the following: 1) The right …

Judge Wayne Justice: A Life Of Human Dignity And Refractory Mules, Albert H. Kauffman

Faculty Articles

Judge Wayne Justice had a deep impact on the lives of many people and was an unyielding advocate who protected the rights of all U.S. citizens. Many of the Judge’s orders and consent decrees forced Texas to comply with more stringent federal requirements in education and health care and had a far reaching effect across the nation. Judge Justice presided over Doe v. Plyler that ensured the benefit of public education for the children of undocumented immigrants. In United States v. Texas, Judge Justice required that the Texas Education Agency monitor school district actions and policies to assure that they …

Federal Rules Update: Amendments To The Federal Rules Of Procedure And Evidence, David A. Schlueter

Faculty Articles

In a very unusual step, Congress enacted Federal Rule of Evidence 502. This rule deals with the attorney-client and work product privileges. The proposal for this rule was driven primarily by the concern over rising litigation costs associated with discovery, especially electronic discovery. Experience had demonstrated that in complex litigation cases lawyers spend considerable time and effort to preserve privileged documents. If a privileged document is mistakenly produced, there is a risk that a court would find subject matter waiver, not only in the case at bar, but in other cases as well.

The new rule became effective on September …