Law Commons^™

Law, Literature, And Social Change: Foreword, Sharon A. Mattingly

Vanderbilt Law Review

FOREWORD: Interpreting the meaning of words, whether those words compose a precedent-setting case or a newly enacted statute, is an integral part of the law. Furthermore, the impact of legal texts clearly extends beyond the legal discipline and permeates all layers of society. But from where do we derive the meaning of words and texts? Is the text itself the source of meaning, or is the text an embodiment of a meaning, the source of which is society? What determines textual interpretations-the historical roots of the text itself, the historical gloss of prior interpretations, the private experiences that each new …

Words And The Door To The Land Of Change: Law, Language, And Family Violence, Martha Minow

Vanderbilt Law Review

Can words stem violence? More specifically, can anything anyone says halt the physical devastation inflicted daily behind the closed doors of family dwellings? Some people strike, beat, or burn their children. Some people assault their lovers, some their spouses; usually, men batter women.' Can words, uttered by anyone else, stop this violence?

Words of journalists expose family violence to public view. Words of legislatures and judges forbid and punish family abuse. Words of historians, novelists, television scriptwriters, social workers, feminist theorists, and songwriters depict and decry domestic violence against a backdrop of societal silence about it. But are there words …

Caplin & Drysdale, Chartered V. United States: Seizing Attorney Fees-Frozen Assets Or Frozen Justice? The Sixth Amendment Right To Counsel Of Choice Is Given The Cold Shoulder, Anthony G. Vella

Northern Illinois University Law Review

This note examines the United States Supreme Court decision that found confiscation of criminal defense attorney fees under RICO and the continuing criminal enterprise statutes is permissible under the sixth amendment. The Court's reasoning is presented in this note. The note analyzes the Court's decision through the eyes of the dissenters and other commentators opposed to the result. The author concludes that this decision has rendered the sixth amendment right to counsel of choice an insubstantial right and damaged the integrity of the adversary system in our courts.

Clayton V. Place: Dancing Around The Establishment Clause -- Religion In The Public Schools, Paul T. Donahue

Northern Illinois University Law Review

This note examines the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeal's decision refusing to strike down a public school board rule which prohibited social dancing inside the public schools of Purdy, Missouri. The issue facing the court was how far local religious groups could go in influencing public school policy. The court of appeals reversed the ruling of the trial court which found that the prohibition on social dancing was a result of local religious pressure and thus in violation of the Establishment Clause of the Federal Constitution. The author concludes that the decision of the court of appeals ignored the power …

Settlement Week: Measuring The Promise, James G. Woodward

Northern Illinois University Law Review

Consistent with a growing trend in urban trial courts, the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois has experimented with an alternative dispute resolution technique known as Settlement Week. This article examines the experience courts around the nation have had with Settlement Week and reports the findings of an empirical assessment designed to measure Settlement Week's performance as an alternative dispute resolution program in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois.

Waiver Of Constitutional Issues In Criminal Cases: Confusion In The Illinois Supreme Court, Timothy P. O'Neill

Northern Illinois University Law Review

For years, a serious problem has faced an Illinois criminal defendant who challenged the constitutionality of the statute supporting his conviction for the first time on appeal. Two contradictory lines of Illinois Supreme Court authority came to opposite conclusions on whether the issue had been waived. This article examines the failure of the Illinois Supreme Court squarely to confront this issue.

When Self Abuse Becomes Child Abuse: The Need For Coercive Prenatal Government Action In Response To The Cocaine Baby Problem, Kevin Drendel

Northern Illinois University Law Review

This Commentary identifies prenatal drug exposure of infants as a problem with which our society must come to terms. The judicial system is capable of providing solutions, but a void of appropriate legislation hampers that ability. Among the legal vehicles available are criminal laws, child abuse and neglect laws, civil and criminal injunctions, and involuntary commitment laws. A balancing of the maternal, societal, and fetal interests involved can be accomplished on a case by case basis in the absence of enabling and guiding legislation. However, legislation in this highly sensitive area is a better way. This commentary explores the problem, …

Afterword: Voices And Violence--A Dialogue, Ellen W. Clayton, Jay Clayton

Vanderbilt Law Review

WE: When organizing this Symposium on the topic of "Law, Literature,and Social Change," we asked whether current trends in literature and in literary, social, and legal theory actually could play a role in bringing about social change. The authors gathered at this Symposium responded to this question in very different ways. As we read their articles and comments, however, and as we talked about their various approaches, some common themes began to emerge. Narrative seemed important. The way people split public life off from private experience came up frequently. But violence seemed to be on everyone's mind.

IT: Why violence? …

Translation As Argument, Mark V. Tushnet

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Nova Lawyer, Fall 1990, Volume 4, Number 2, Nova University Shepard Broad Law Center

Nova Lawyer

No abstract provided.

Sanctions And Rewards In The Legal System: A Multidisciplinary Approach, A Wr Carrothers

Dalhousie Law Journal

This book consists of ten essays on the general theme of effective techniques for controlling and regulating social behaviour. The authors draw on the disciplines of management studies, history and criminology, public policy studies and economics, psychology, anthropology, law, sociology, and political science. They are, collectively, a modern manifestation of Roscoe Pound's concept of law in action as "social engineering".

Problem-Based Learning: An Alternative Approach To Legal Education, Suzanne Kurtz, Michael Wylie, Neil Gold

Dalhousie Law Journal

This paper is intended to provide legal educators with an introduction to problem-based learning. Problem-based learning has several variations and each of them will be briefly reviewed with a view to providing insights as to how the method might be used. We will underscore the pedagogical rationale for the method and place it in the context of developments in legal education generally. In addition we will describe what a teacher actually does when using a particular variation of the method.

Quotations And Actual Malice: Bridging The Gap Between Fact And Fiction, Mark A. Byrd

Northern Illinois University Law Review

An overview of libel law is presented as a backdrop for an examination of how the law of libel is applied to purported quotations which are inaccurate. The author discusses the approach which was taken by the Ninth Circuit in Masson v. New Yorker Magazine, and concludes that the court applied an inappropriate test. The comment concludes with a recommendation for an appropriate test for libel when the allegedly libelous material is a purported quotation.

Hedonic Damages: Emerging Issue In Personal Injury And Wrongful Death Claims, Gretchen L. Valentine

Northern Illinois University Law Review

This comment provides an overview of hedonic damages by reviewing how they have been measured, when they have been awarded, and what objections have been raised to their recovery. The relationship between hedonic damages and more traditional tort damages is considered. This comment concludes that hedonic damages are a distinct form of injury that may be adequately represented and argued to a jury within the categories of disability or pain and suffering in personal injury claims. In addition, this comment urges that limited hedonic damages be awarded to the victim who is deceased or comatose.

How Privacy Got Its Gender, Anita L. Allen, Erin Mack

Northern Illinois University Law Review

This article suggests that the right to privacy, as it was originally described by Warren and Brandeis, reflects their era's gender bias. The authors describe the social, economic and legal background for the original, gender-biased pronouncement of the right, as well as its subsequent development, and how this bias affects legal scholarship in the area today. The authors suggest that legal scholars need to be more sensitive to the gender bias that exists in privacy law, and that alternative analyses which recognize this bias already exist.

Legacy Of The Warren And Brandeis Article: The Emerging Unencumbered Constitutional Right To Informational Privacy, Richard C. Turkington

Northern Illinois University Law Review

The development of the right to privacy into a constitutional right independent of the fourth amendment is examined from its philosophical and jurisprudential bases. The article also explores the application of the constitutional right to dissemination by the government of intimate or personal information.

Privacy And The Other Miss M, Dorothy Glancy

Northern Illinois University Law Review

By contrasting the lawsuits of Marion Manola and Bette Midler, this article demonstrates that the property right, often called the right of publicity, is theoretically based in the right to privacy, as extolled by Warren and Brandeis. The author concludes that it is important to understand the theoretical framework of these rights, and how they fit together, in order to appreciate the reasons for the law's protection of these particular interests.

Protecting Informational Privacy In The Information Society, George B. Trubow

Northern Illinois University Law Review

The ways in which technology has affected the right to privacy, through the mass compilation of personal information in public and private databases, are discussed in this article. Further, it suggests ways in which courts and legislatures should respond to the problems created by such compilations, in order both to protect the right to privacy and to promote the beneficial use of technology.

The "Inviolate Personality"--Warren And Brandeis After One Hundred Years: Introduction To A Symposium On The Right Of Privacy, Sheldon W. Halpern

Northern Illinois University Law Review

An analytical groundwork for a discussion of the right to privacy, is provided by this introduction. It presents an overview of the other articles which follow, and it provides commentary on the positions of the other authors who have contributed to this symposium.

Whether Insurers Must Defend Prp Notifications: An Expensive Issue Complicated By Conflicting Court Decisions, Joanna L. Johnson

Northern Illinois University Law Review

This comment examines conflicting court interpretations of CGL policy language in the context of Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) Potentially Responsible Party notification defense litigation. The author concludes that the lack of uniformity combined with excessive litigation costs indicate the need for channeling defense conflicts into negotiation.

Beyond Skepticism Foundationalism And The New Fuzziness: The Role Of Wide Reflective Equilibrium In Legal Theory , Robert Justin Lipkin

Cornell Law Review

No abstract provided.

Jurisprudence And Judicial Treatment Of The Comments To The Uniform Commercial Code , Sean Michael Hannaway

Cornell Law Review

No abstract provided.

Doorkeepers: Legal Education In The Territories And Alberta, 1885-1928, Peter M. Sibenik

Dalhousie Law Journal

Legal education has been subjected to greater scrutiny in common law jurisdictions since the publication of Lawyers and the Courts in 1967.2 Most of the recent literature has addressed the issue of who received a legal education and became entitled to practise law. It has also examined how a conservative-minded profession regenerated itself, and whether it equipped new recruits with the proper tools to meet the challenges of a changing society.

Constitutional Cultures: The Mentality And Consequences Of Judicial Review, Leonard P. Strickman

Northern Illinois University Law Review

In this book review, Professor Strickman concludes that, overall, Robert Nagel has produced a thought-provoking book that endorses judicial self-restraint by the United States Supreme Court. Although this review challenges some of Nagel's assertions, Strickman maintains this book should be a valuable addition to the libraries of constitutional law scholars.

Hearsay In Illinois: A New Look At Some Old Problems, John E. Corkery

Northern Illinois University Law Review

Based on the premise that the hearsay rule is both fundamental and insufficiently understood, this article discusses the basic principles of this rule of evidence with special emphasis on its application under Illinois law. Both recent and older cases are examined in an attempt to provide guidance to lawyers and judges who deal with these questions.

Judicial Procedures In Misdemeanor Domestic Assault Cases--A Model Policy, Beverly Balos, Isabel Gomez

Northern Illinois University Law Review

Professor Balos and Judge Gomez combine to produce this model policy dealing with domestic assault cases. The foundation of this policy is the result of research comparing jurisdictions requiring varying degrees of police intervention and court involvement in such cases. The authors conclude that a policy, such as the one proposed here, which mandates arrest of the perpetrator in addition to requiring various police and court procedures is most effective in protecting the rights of the victim as well as the defendant.

Law And Information--A Review Of The Electronic Media And The Transformation Of Law, Stephen M. Barkan

Northern Illinois University Law Review

Professor Barkan critiques the recent work of M. Ethan Katsh and concludes it is a worthy comment and analysis of the often ignored topic of law and information. Professor Barkan takes issue with some of the basic theses in the book but overall finds it to provide some intriguing insights and arguments.

Patterson V. Mclean Credit Union: Preventing Backdoor Discrimination Actions Or Closing The Door?, Elsa R. Miller

Northern Illinois University Law Review

This recent United States Supreme Court decision interprets 42 U.S.C. § 1981 as not allowing an action for racial harassment during employment. This note examines the antecedent cases to Patterson along with Congressional actions which appear to indicate a lack of tolerance of racial discrimination in the public and private sectors. The author concludes that Patterson is a step in the wrong direction and calls into question the commitment of the United States Supreme Court to move in the direction of eliminating workplace distinctions based on the race of the worker.

The Bankruptcy Code Requirement Of Compliance With Lease Obligations--Does "All" Mean Everything?, Glenn F. Schmitt

Northern Illinois University Law Review

This article considers the intent of Congress in Bankruptcy Code section 365(d)(3) as it affects the rights of shopping center lessors vis-d-vis their tenants who seek bankruptcy protection. The author concludes the Section should be broadly applied to require such tenants to fully comply with the terms of their leases.

The Scope Of The Public Duty/Special Duty Doctrine In Illinois: Municipal Liability For Failure To Provide Police Protection, David A. Aaby

Northern Illinois University Law Review

This comment examines the development of the public duty doctrine and its special duty exception. It focuses on Illinois' treatment of the special duty exception and its application in cases involving an alleged failure of a municipality to provide police protection. The author concludes that the "control" element of Illinois' special duty test is overly restrictive, and advocates a balancing approach in its place.