Law Commons^™

Ukrainians Are Fighting And Dying To Defend Their Homes. Could I Do The Same?, Bruce Ledewitz

Newspaper Columns

Collected biweekly contributions to the Pennsylvania Capital-Star, a nonpartisan, nonprofit news site.

What Does The Jan. 6 Committee Hope To Learn From Sen. Doug Mastriano?, Bruce Ledewitz

Newspaper Columns

Collected biweekly contributions to the Pennsylvania Capital-Star, a nonpartisan, nonprofit news site.

The Future Of Law And Neuroscience, Owen D. Jones

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

I was asked to speculate about where the field of Law and Neuroscience may be ten years from now. In that spirit (and while recognizing that the future rarely complies with our predictions) I attempt here some extrapolations. I first consider potential advances in the technologies for monitoring and manipulating brain states, the techniques for analyzing brain data, and the efforts to further integrate relevant fields. I then consider potential neurolaw developments relevant to: (1) detecting things law cares about; (2) individualizing developmental states and brain states; (3) evidence-based legal reforms; (4) legal decision-making; and (5) brain-brain interfaces.

Achieving Equality Without A Constitution: Lessons From Israel For Queer Family Law, Laura T. Kessler

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

How might the United States reconcile conflicts between equality and religious freedom in the realm of family law? To answer this question, this chapter considers recent developments in family (personal status) law in Israel. While Israel may at first blush appear to be the last place that feminists and queer theorists should look for solutions to modern conflicts between democratic and religious values, this chapter argues that the Israeli experience has much to offer critical family scholars working to develop pluralistic legal approaches to family regulation. Israel is a country with a diverse population and unique political and legal context …

Title Ix At 50: Exploring The Impact Of The Law On Cases Of Sexual Misconduct And Participation Equity In Athletics, Erica J. Zonder, Emily J. Houghton

Human Performance Department Publications

June 23, 2022 will mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX; during that time frame there has been a drastic increase in girl’s and women’s participation in sport. There has also been significant political debate and push back to Title IX which has threatened to undermine the impact of the law. Over the last 10 years, Title IX has been synonymous with litigation related to sexual harassment and transgender athlete participation in sport. Additionally, universities have continually sought to cut women’s sports under the guise of budgetary constraints. The purpose of this poster presentation is three-fold: 1) Review recent case …

A Simple Solution To Policing For Profit, Penny J. White, Glenn Harlan Reynolds

Tennessee Law in the News

No abstract provided.

Why Do Pa. Courts Have A Say On Mail-In Voting? They Probably Shouldn't, Bruce Ledewitz

Newspaper Columns

Collected biweekly contributions to the Pennsylvania Capital-Star, a nonpartisan, nonprofit news site.

Law School News: National Housing Advocate Named To Lead Rwu's New Real Estate Initiatives 02/08/2022, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

How The U.S. Supreme Court Is Inviting The Senate To Scrap The Filibuster, Bruce Ledewitz

Newspaper Columns

Collected biweekly contributions to the Pennsylvania Capital-Star, a nonpartisan, nonprofit news site.

The Ballad Of Hicks Carmichael: Law, Music, And Popular Justice In Urban Appalachia, William Davenport Mercer

Scholarly Works

This article examines a rare folk ballad to revisit an 1888 Tennessee trial that newspapers referred to as the fastest in the country in which the death penalty was involved. If we look at this event using court records and newspapers, it tells a regrettably common story of a court under pressure from the populace skirting the protections of law. However, if we consider the trial as a performative endeavor, we can rightly consider other performative events, like folk songs, not as reflective of official events but as equivalents that help provide insight into the larger motives behind the court’s …

A Proposal For Paid Family Leave In Utah, Erin Wong

Student Works

When a woman gives birth, the arrival of that child will have a statistically significant negative impact on that woman’s employment, earning potential, health, and overall wellbeing. The arrival of a child has no statistically significant impact on men’s employment, earning potential, or overall health and wellbeing. The labor force experiences a drain of talent and productivity when mothers leave the market in large numbers after having a child. Many mothers who wish to remain the workforce after childbirth are faced with the impossible choice of their child’s health or their own job and earning potential. Many fathers or partners …

The Supreme Court Needs Diversity In More Ways Than One, Benjamin H. Barton

Tennessee Law in the News

Professor Barton recently authored an op-ed, "The Supreme Court Needs Diversity in More Ways Than One," which ran in the January 30th edition of the The Wall Street Journal. The piece is based on his new book The Credentialed Court.

The Big Lie Is Undermining Our Democracy. Both Parties Need To Defeat It, Bruce Ledewitz

Newspaper Columns

Collected biweekly contributions to the Pennsylvania Capital-Star, a nonpartisan, nonprofit news site.

Sure, Things Seem Bad. But There Are Some Reasons To Be Cheerful In 2022, Bruce Ledewitz

Newspaper Columns

Collected biweekly contributions to the Pennsylvania Capital-Star, a nonpartisan, nonprofit news site.

On Controlling The Supreme Court: Is There A Future For American Law?, Bruce Ledewitz

Ledewitz Papers

Published scholarship collected from academic journals, law reviews, newspaper publications & online periodicals

Remembering Isaiah: I.H. Spears And The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, Robert M. Jarvis

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Sometimes, The House Loses: Caesars In Chapter 11, Mitchell Gladstein, Christian Wilkinson

Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Case Studies

No abstract provided.

Who Is A Parent? Intrastate And Interstate Differences, Jeffrey A. Parness

College of Law Faculty Publications

When the parental status of one or more people involved in a civil action is contested in a court in the United States, the need for a legal parentage determination arises. In these contests, legal parentage can differ from personally and/or publicly perceived parentage. Legal parentage can also differ by context, as between child custody and child support settings. Legal parentage most often varies by context in a single American state where the purposes behind varying parentage laws differ, as where biology is key in one setting and parental like acts are key in another setting.

Parental status laws are …

Cannibalizing The Constitution: On Terrorism, The Second Amendment, And The Threat To Civil Liberties, Francesca Laguardia

Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

This article explores the links between internet radicalization, access to weapons, and the current threat from terrorists who have been radicalized online. The prevalence of domestic terrorism, domestic hate groups, and online incitement and radicalization have led to considerable focus on the tension between counterterror efforts and the First Amendment. Many scholars recommend rethinking the extent of First Amendment protection, as well as Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendment protections, and some judges appear to be listening. Yet the Second Amendment has avoided this consideration, despite the fact that easy access to weapons is a necessary ingredient for the level of …

Getting Out Of The Woods: Boy Scouts Bankruptcy, Dalton Maddox, Savannah Mcmillan

Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Case Studies

No abstract provided.

Abortion And Safe Haven Laws, Jeffrey A. Parness

College of Law Faculty Publications

Notwithstanding the assertions of the State of Mississippi, of one amicus, and of Justice Amy Coney Barrett in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, abortion laws and safe haven laws are oil and vinegar. Not only do they not mix, but safe haven laws in some ways support the continuing validity of the balance on individual privacy interests and legitimate governmental interests struck in the Roe v. Wade decision on abortion. Both abortion availability laws and safe haven laws advance the interests of women who choose not to parent children within their existing family structures. But safe haven laws, …

Choosing Parentage Laws In Multistate Conduct Cases, Jeffrey A. Parness

College of Law Faculty Publications

This paper explores choosing parentage laws in multistate conduct cases in varying contexts, including cases involving parentage for childcare purpose and for such nonchildcare purposes as tort, probate and child support. Choice of law may be compelled by Full Faith and Credit. Where there is no compulsion, the forum choice of law rules typically apply. These rules, of course, can vary in a single state between contexts, as with parenthood in childcare and in probate settings. These rules can also vary between states in a single context, as with parentage in tort settings. The paper seeks to provide guidance to …

Section Ii: Gender-Based Violence And The Law, Gavin Patrick Gray, Nidhi Shrivastava, Deepesh Nirmaldas Dayal

English Faculty Publications

This chapter is a transcript of an open-ended discussion that occurred between the authors when they met to discuss the subject matter of the second section of the book, which focuses on the effectiveness of legal responses to gendered violence. As with the previous introductory dialogue, the discussion takes place after preliminary drafts had been completed, and the authors share their thoughts on the subjects they will each discuss in more detail in the following chapters. These include the impact of cultural and gender bias within the Indian legal system, the insufficient impact of long-overdue reforms in Japan's sexual violence …

State Spoliation Claims In Federal District Courts, Jeffrey A. Parness

College of Law Faculty Publications

The increasing amounts of electronically stored information (ESI) relevant to civil litigation, and the ease of their loss, caused federal lawmakers explicitly to address the possible consequences of certain pre-suit or post-suit ESI losses. These lawmakers acted in both 2006 and 2015 through Federal Civil Procedure (FRCP) 37(e). But they acted only on certain ESI. Their actions have prompted increasing attention to the significant risks of pre-suit and post-suit losses of all ESI, and of non-ESI, otherwise discoverable in civil actions. In addition, their actions have spurred increasing attention to the availability of substantive law claims involving spoliation of information …

The Roberts Court And Lost Esi, Jeffrey A. Parness

College of Law Faculty Publications

John G. Roberts, Jr. was confirmed as Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court in September 2005. Since then, there have been two major changes in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) involving losses of discoverable electronically stored information (ESI). These changes address the duties of preserving some ESI for federal civil litigation and the sanctions available for preservation failures. The changes were embodied in FRCP 37, once in 2006 and once in 2015. The current Rule 37(e) provisions have always been accompanied by other FRCP discovery provisions on ESI, with some predating any version of Rule 37(e). To …

American Constitutions And Artificial Insemination Births, Jeffrey A. Parness

College of Law Faculty Publications

Childcare parentage issues arising from assisted reproduction births are subject to constitutional guidance, including due process, equal protection, and privacy dictates. Constitutional rights, however, sometimes go unrecognized in assisted reproduction laws, particularly for same sex couples, wed and unwed, as well as for single women. Upon a brief review of contemporary American state assisted reproduction laws, current and future constitutional precedents are explored. This analysis shows that constitutional, as well as public policy, reforms are particularly needed for same-sex female couples and single women employing assisted reproduction as intended parents.

Diy Artificial Insemination: The Not-So-Great Gatsby, Jeffrey A. Parness

College of Law Faculty Publications

Increasingly, intended parentage by female couples, married and unmarried, and by single women, is pursued via do-it-yourself (DIY) artificial insemination (AI) that utilizes sperm donors (who may be unknown). A recent ruling illustrates the difficulties arising from incomplete AI statutes. In Gatsby v. Gatsby in 2021, the Idaho Supreme Court determined legal parentage for a child born via AI to a married female couple who later divorced. The Gatsby ruling is troublesome on several fronts. Its problems highlight the difficulties facing intended childcare parents employing AI in the United States, especially for those without significant financial resources and women, coupled …

Expanding State Parent Registry Laws, Jeffrey A. Parness

College of Law Faculty Publications

As with state recognized voluntary acknowledgements of parentage (VAPs) and state recognized assisted reproduction pacts (SRARPs) on childcare parentage for future or current children, state parent registries (PRs), often labeled putative paternity registries or putative father registries, embody declarations of expecting or current legal parenthood. Yet declarations on children in PRs often involve unilateral assertions, unlike dual parenthood declarations in VAPs. Actual parenthood under law for many PR declarants is never recognized because there are no simultaneous assertions by a second expecting or existing legal parent on the declarant’s parenthood, as with an assertion by an expecting or existing birth …

Civil Procedure And The New Bar Exam, Jeffrey A. Parness

College of Law Faculty Publications

In 2022 the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) issued its “Content Scope Outlines” for public comment, soliciting input on “significant oversights. The outlines were designed to inform the public “of the scope of the topics to be assessed in the eight Foundational Concepts and Principles (FCP) and the scope of the lawyering tasks to be assessed in the seven Foundational Skills (FS) on the next generation of the bar exam.” One of the eight FCP was “Civil Procedure” (including constitutional protections and proceedings before administrative agencies).

This comment addresses some “significant oversights” (solicited by the NCBE) on the topic …

The Right To Access Legal Information: Progress And Evolving Norms In A Digital Age, Heidi L. Frostestad

College of Law Faculty Publications

The right to access information is a historically fundamental right according to international legal norms. During an era of increasingly complex innovation and burgeoning digital legal information, the tension between access and barriers to easily accessible legal information like encryption and privacy have changed the landscape of open access. This article addresses the traditional international law facilitation of open access to legal information and current legislative efforts for protection of these norms. It also offers a matrix of international and national initiatives as model regimes for this important right to access information and, especially, preserving open access to legal information.