Law Commons^™

Use Of Public Record Databases In Newspaper And Television Newsrooms, Brooke Barnett

Federal Communications Law Journal

After almost fifty years of unprecedented freedom, access to public records is under threat today at the state and federal level. Survey research and in-depth interviews of newspaper and television journalists show that public records are being obtained through several mechanisms, including databases. This Comment, together with its underlying study, illustrates that these databases are essential to developing certain stories, including some covering the most critical subjects: investigative reports, crime, and political stories. Therefore, this Comment argues, restricting access to public records has the potential to halt or substantially hinder the media’s ability to serve as a check on business …

The Fcc’S Main Studio Rule: Achieving Little For Localism At A Great Cost To Broadcasters, David M. Silverman, David N. Tobenkin

Federal Communications Law Journal

Localism, the communications law policy that requires spectrum licensees to serve the needs of local communities, represents a bedrock concept in the Communications Act and the Federal Communications Commission’s jurisprudence. The Commission’s sixty-year-old main studio rule provides a vivid example of this principle. Broadcasters often find compliance with this rule difficult and an exercise in form over substance, raising legitimate questions about the continued need and rationale for the rule. This Article examines the rule’s evolution and its current problematic state, and analyzes whether its modification or elimination would better conserve the resources of both broadcasters and the Commission, without …

The Best Laid Plans: How Unrestrained Arbitration Decisions Have Corrupted The Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy, Ian L. Stewart

Federal Communications Law Journal

In the rapidly changing Internet age, a sound dispute resolution policy is needed to address conflict where traditional rights intersect emerging technologies. This Note examines how unfettered arbitration decisions, even those made with the best of intentions, can corrupt a good dispute resolution policy, as is the case with the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy. The Note provides background information on ICANN, domain disputes regarding cybersquatting and reverse domain hijacking, and the Policy. It then explains how ICANN’s dispute resolution providers’ expansive decisions have weakened the Policy by removing the internal limitations that made it strong and effective. Finally, …

Masthead Vol.53 No.3 (2001)

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Legal Issues In Hiv/Aids Prevention And Treatment In The Russian Federation – Summary And Conclusions Of The Boston University Hiv/Aids Project, Wendy K. Mariner

Faculty Scholarship

The Russia Federation faces an urgent need to control the spread of HIV. Although infection has been concentrated primarily among high risk groups so far, the risk that it will spread rapidly throughout the general population is growing daily. Controlling the HIV epidemic requires leadership and strategies that are somewhat different from traditional infectious disease control models because there is no vaccine yet available to prevent disease and people spread infection by engaging in activities that are hidden from public view and not susceptible to simple prohibitions.

Boston University conducted several studies as part of USAID’s HIV/AIDS Strategy to assist …

Research To Practice: Effective Customer Service Delivery In Employment Support: Finding A Common Ground Between Guided And Self-Directed Service Delivery, Institute For Community Inclusion, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Research to Practice Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

An ICI study analyzed the experiences of individuals who successfully found jobs through agencies and discovered five characteristics of effective employment services. This brief describes guided and self-directed approaches and provides recommendations for agency staff.

Paved With Good Intentions: How Interlata Data Relief Undermines The Competitive Provisions Of The 1996 Act, Jean F. Walker

Federal Communications Law Journal

In the past few decades, the competitive climate has transformed for telecommunications companies from unification to fragmentation and back again. Rapidly changing technologies have created a “digital divide”—a technological gap between the “haves” and the “have nots.” H.R. 1542 attempts to solve the problem of the digital divide by providing Bell operating companies with expansive interLATA relief for data services. Although this bill has been a long time in the making, its sponsor, Representative Tauzin, recently reintroduced it in committee. This Note examines the problem of the digital divide, and provides the context in which H.R. 1542 developed. It also …

Session One: Limits On Misleading Conduct

Mercer Law Review

A transcript featuring The Honorable Thomas Zlaket, Wm. Reece Smith, Jr., Esq., Professor Nathan Crystal, and Professor Amy Mashburn, Moderator

Session Two: Conditional Settlement Agreements

Mercer Law Review

A transcript featuring The Honorable Marvin Aspen, Evett Simmons, Esq., Professor Ronald Ellington, and Professor Bruce Green, Moderator

Albany Urology Clinic, P.C. V. Cleveland: Why You Should Always Ask Your Urologiest If He Is A Cocaine Addict, Kate Sievert Cook

Mercer Law Review

In Albany Urology Clinic, P.C. v. Cleveland,'the Georgia Supreme Court ruled that neither state common law nor Georgia's informed consent statutes require physicians affirmatively to disclose negative personal life factors, such as illegal drug use, before treating patients. Consequently, patients injured during certain surgical or diagnostic procedures are severely impeded from pursuing an action of fraud or battery against physicians who fail to divulge their illegal drug use during the course of their patients' medical treatment.

Resolving The Mdp Issue: Deciding If The Status Quo Is What's Best For The Client, Julia J. Hall

Mercer Law Review

On the forefront of the current debate surrounding legal ethics is the heated question of whether the legal profession should permit its members to participate in multidisciplinary practices or partnerships ("MDPs") and thereby share fees with nonlawyers. Currently, this conduct is prohibited by the Model Rules of Professional Conduct. This issue clearly has global implications for various professions desiring to partner with attorneys, and those persons with interest in this area have followed the debate closely as viewpoints are researched and expressed in support of one position over another. Nonetheless, the American Bar Association ("ABA") has effectively closed the door …

Rewriting Near V. Minnesota: Creating A Complete Definition Of Prior Restraint, Michael I. Meyerson

Mercer Law Review

The Supreme Court's opinion in Near v. Minnesota was both a major step on the road to free expression and a missed opportunity. It represented the first time a law was struck down as violating the First Amendment's guarantee of free expression. Moreover, it placed the concept of "prior restraint" at the forefront of the theory of free expression. As one scholar noted: "Since the 1931 release of the Supreme Court's opinion in Near v. Minnesota, the doctrine of prior restraint has been an essential element of first amendment jurisprudence."

Unfortunately, the Court neither defined prior restraint, nor explained precisely …

Religious Freedom, Separation Of Powers, And The Reversal Of Roles, Michael W. Mcconnell

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Freedom Of Or Freedom From Religion? An Overview Of Issues Pertinent To The Constitutional Protection Of Religious Rights And Freedom In "The New South Africa", Lourens Du Plessis

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Inside The Judicial Mind, Chris Guthrie, Jeffrey J. Rachlinski, Andrew J. Wistrich

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

The quality of the judicial system depends upon the quality of decisions that judges make. Even the most talented and dedicated judges surely commit occasional mistakes, but the public understandably expects judges to avoid systematic errors. This expectation, however, might be unrealistic. Psychologists who study human judgment and choice have learned that people frequently fall prey to cognitive illusions that produce systematic errors in judgment. Even though judges are experienced, well-trained, and highly motivated decision makers, they might be vulnerable to cognitive illusions. We report the results of an empirical study designed to determine whether five common cognitive illusions (anchoring, …

"Whodunit" Versus "What Was Done": When To Admit Character Evidence In Criminal Cases, Sherry F. Colb

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

In virtually every jurisdiction in the United States, the law of evidence prohibits parties from offering proof of an individual's general character traits to suggest that, on a specific occasion, the individual behaved in a manner consistent with those traits. In a criminal trial in particular, the law prohibits a prosecutor's introduction of evidence about the defendant's character as proof of his guilt. In this Article, Professor Colb proposes that the exclusion of defendant character evidence is appropriate in one category of cases but inappropriate in another. In the first category, which Professor Colb calls "whodunit" cases, the parties agree …

Hate And The Bar: Is The Hale Case Mccarthyism Redux Or A Victory For Racial Equality?, W. Bradley Wendel

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

The application of the constitutional free expression guarantee to the activities of the organized bar is one of the most important unexplored areas of legal ethics. In this essay I will consider in particular the question of whether an applicant may be denied admission to the bar for involvement with hateful or discriminatory activities. This question reveals the tension between the first amendment principle, established after the agonizing struggles of the McCarthy era, that no one may be denied membership in the bar because of his or her beliefs alone, and the plenary authority of bar associations to make predictive …

Quiet Rebellion? Explaining Nearly A Decade Of Declining Federal Drug Sentences, Frank O. Bowman Iii, Michael Heise

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

This is the first of two articles, the second of which will appear in January 2002 edition of the Iowa Law Review, in which we seek an explanation for the little-noticed and hitherto unexamined fact that the average length of prison sentences imposed in federal court for narcotics violations has been declining steadily since 1991-92.

According to figures maintained by the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, in the eight years between 1991 and 1999, the average federal drug sentence decreased from 95.7 months to 75.2 months, a drop of 22%, or nearly two years, per defendant. United States …

Case Note: The Office Of The Independent Counsel And Grand Jury Secrecy, Melissa N. Henke

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

In In re Sealed Case No. 99-3091, the D.C. Circuit ruled on a motion for summary reversal of an order entered by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ("District Court"), where such order required the Office of Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr ("OIC") to provide evidence as to why the OIC should not be held in contempt for violating the grand jury secrecy rule, Rule 6(e). The alleged violation of grand jury secrecy concerned a New York Times article that contained information about the grand jury investigation of President William J. Clinton, and which named the OIC as …

Grantor Trusts And Income Tax Reporting Requirements: A Primer, Bridget J. Crawford

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

In the last decade, grantor trusts have become a cornerstone of many sophisticated estate plans. Although clients and their advisors employ grantor trusts with great frequency and success, few taxpayers and not all estate planning professionals are fully conversant with the income tax reporting requirements for grantor trusts. Some erroneously assume that because grantor trusts are "ignored" for purposes of calculating taxable income, they are also ignored for purposes of reporting taxable income. this is not always the case, however. This article explains the complex rules with which taxpayers and their advisors must comply for reporting income of grantor trusts. …

Whodunit Versus What Was Done: When To Admit Character Evidence In Criminal Cases, Sherry F. Colb

North Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

Meritocratic Values And Racial Outcomes: Defending Class-Based College Admissions, R. Richard Banks

North Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

U.C.C. Revised Article 9: Can Domain Names Provide Security For New Economy Businesses, Jonathan C. Krisko

North Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Risks To Equal Protection In The Criminal Justice System, Edward K. Cheng

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This Note has examined the consequences of a shift in the equal protection context - a move from a traditional particularized harm perspective to a constitutional risk perspective focused on systemic harms. It has also acknowledged the significant remedial difficulties associated with constitutional risk, but by focusing on discretion as the source of most equal protection risks, this Note has proposed a moderate doctrinal change: discretionary safeguards. To be sure, this Note leaves the project substantially incomplete. Constitutional risk's focus on statistical evidence requires careful discussion of the pitfalls judges face in this area and of how they can develop …

Introduction, John Valery White, Gregory Vincent

Louisiana Law Review

No abstract provided.

Whose Motive Matters?: Discrimination In Multi-Actor Employment Decision Making, Rebecca Hanner White, Linda Hamilton Krieger

Louisiana Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Religious Freedom And Legal Status Of Churches, Religious Organizations, And New Religious Movements In The Slovak Republic, Martin Dojcar

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Perspectives On Freedom Of Conscience And Religion In The Jurisprudence Of Constitutional Courts, Leszek Lech Garlicki

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Icon And The Tracts: A Restrained Renaissance Of Religious Liberty In Ukraine, John Moroz Smith

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Racial Purity Laws In The United States And Nazi Germany: The Targeting Process, Judy Scales-Trent

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.