Law Commons^™

The Unsolvable Dilemma Of A Paretian Policymaker, Giuseppe Dari-Mattiacci, Nuno Garoupa

George Mason University School of Law Working Papers Series

In this paper, we argue that social decisionmaking is subject to a fundamental conflict between consistency and completeness. We show that a consistent welfarist method of policy assessment, that is, one that never violates the Pareto principle, may be incomplete in the sense of being incapable of providing a solution to important social welfare problems.

Crossed Signals In A Wireless World: The Seventh Circuit’S Misapplication Of The Complete Preemption Doctrine, Matthew J. Kleiman

Duke Law & Technology Review

As the number of wireless telephone users continues to proliferate, so does the number of lawsuits against wireless service providers. While consumers seek to utilize various consumer-friendly state law causes of action, the wireless industry continues to push for a uniform federal regulatory regime. Ambiguous language in the Federal Communications Act of 1934 ("FCA") and disagreement among the federal circuits has led to much confusion over whether state law claims affecting wireless rates and market entry are removable to federal court by way of "complete preemption." This iBrief argues that FCA's preemption power is limited by its savings clause, failure …

Thinking Outside The Pandora's Box: Why The Dmca Is Unconstitutional Under Article I §8 Of The U.S. Constitution, Joshua L. Schwartz

ExpressO

No abstract provided.

Cityland – Vol. 1, No. 2, Center For New York City Law

CityLand - 2004

The second issue of CityLand continues its coverage of land use, zoning, and development decisions across New York City. It features updates on major projects including the withdrawal of the DUMBO tower proposal, the Harlem Park Hotel height modification, and the approval of the Red Hook Ikea development. The issue also includes decisions on affordable housing initiatives, landmark designations such as the Hamilton-Holly House and Bronx Zoo Lion House, and court rulings on zoning and land use disputes. Charts and summaries of ULURP certifications, BSA applications, and agency actions provide a comprehensive snapshot of citywide planning activity.

Vol. 27, No. 11 (November 15, 2004)

Indiana Law Annotated

No abstract provided.

Judicial Power & Civil Rights Reconsidered, David E. Bernstein, Ilya Somin

George Mason University School of Law Working Papers Series

Michael Klarman's "From Jim Crow to Civil Rights: The Supreme Court and the Struggle for Racial Equality" is an important contribution to the scholarly literature on both the history of the civil rights struggle and judicial power more generally. Klarman argues that for much of the twentieth century, the Supreme Court was very reluctant to rule in favor of African American civil rights claimants, and had little impact when it did.

Klarman is right to reject traditional accounts that greatly exaggerated the Supreme Court's willingness and ability to protect minorities. However, he overstates his case. The Court's views on the …

True Believers Or Moral Absolutists, Seow Hon Tan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The recent American presidential elections brought to the fore the question of what place moral values have in public decision-making when traditional moral values are not espoused by all in a pluralist society. Even if traditional values - seen as absolutist - are imposed on others through a democratic electoral process, that imposition, particularly in hot button issues like abortion and same-sex marriage, remains difficult to accept.

The Bright Future Of Gay Marriage, Bruce Ledewitz

Ledewitz Papers

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

Contract Law And Decisions On Costs, Marco Stacher

Cornell Law School J.D. Student Research Papers

The national statutes on international commercial arbitration, the leges arbitri, do, as a rule, not contain provisions on costs. In the final award, an arbitrator has to determine the costs of the arbitration (the fees of the arbitral tribunals, of expert witnesses mandated by the arbitral tribunal etc.), which cost incurred by the parties during the arbitration are recoverable and which party has to bear what share of the costs. A decision on these issues forms part of the ordinary course of an arbitration. Further cost-related issues may arise due to the peculiarities of the case, such as a refusal …

Brief On Rehearing En Banc For Senator Patrick J. Leahy As Amicus Curiae Supporting The United States And Urging Reversal, Patricia L. Bellia, Peter P. Swire

Court Briefs

No. 03-1383
United States v. Bradford C. Councilman

On appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts

From the Summary of Argument

Congress passed ECPA to update the existing surveillance law framework for new technologies. Recognizing the threat to privacy posed by the continuous, systematic acquisition of electronic communications during their transmission, Congress extended existing prohibitions against the unauthorized “intercept[ion]” of wire and oral communications, enacted in Title III of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, Pub. L. No. 90-351, tit. III, §§ 801–804, 82 Stat. 211 (codified as amended at 18 …

National Post, James Stribopoulos

Editorials and Commentaries

No abstract provided.

Balancing Representation: Special Representation Mechanisms Addressing The Imbalance Of Marginalized Voices In African Legislatures, Stephanie L. Kodish

ExpressO

This report focuses on four different mechanisms designed to provide marginalized groups in Africa with improved legislative representation at the national level. These special representation mechanisms include: proportional representation, guaranteed minority seating, advisory bodies and affirmative gerrymandering . These tools appear a beneficial means through which nations may eliminate discrimination, better safeguard the interests of marginalized people, boost opportunity for political expression and place each member of society on equal footing.

To situate this discussion in its proper context, this paper explores relevant international law, the case for and against special representation and the myriad problems that arise in attempting …

Summary Of State Farm Mutual Automobile Ins. Co. V. Fitts, 120 Nev. Adv. Op. 80, Ira David

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

United States District Court submitted a certified question to the Nevada Supreme Court to determine whether automobile insurers may contractually reduce the time frame allowable for an insured motorist to file for uninsured or underinsured motorist benefits.

Summary Of Horne V. City Of Mesquite, 120 Nev. Adv. Op. 79, Ira David

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

City of Mesquite Mayor Charles Horne appealed a Declaratory Judgment of the Eighth Judicial District Court, holding City of Mesquite initiative ordinance MQ1 to be invalid as conflicting with state statutes, but that the severability clause of the ordinance evaded total invalidity. Furthermore, that same declaratory judgment held City of Mesquite initiative ordinance MQ3 to be totally invalid as conflicting with state statutes.

Summary Of U. And Community C. Sys. Of Nev. V. Nevadans For Sound Gov't., 120 Nev. Adv. Op. 81, Clarke Walton

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Respondent, Nevadans for Sound Government (NSG) is a political organization that gathers signatures on government owned property. NSG filed an action in district court alleging actions taken by Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County (RTC) and University and Community College System of Nevada (UCCSN) unlawfully restricted access to RTC and UCCSN properties for signature collecting purposes. The district court concluded that certain actions by appellants unlawfully violated respondent's constitutional and statutory rights. The supreme court reversed the decision that respondent's constitutional rights were violated, and partially affirmed the decision that its statutory rights were violated.

Vol. 55, No. 7, November 9, 2004, University Of Michigan Law School

Res Gestae

•Election Provokes Passionate Responses •Editorial: School Should Save Students Seats •Career Services Grows, Gives 1L Job Advice •Take it Back on America Recycles Day •Orange Alert •On Barack Obama: The Colors and Layers of Blackness •All Things Considered: An Interview with Professor Primus •Seeing Red, Feeling Blue •On the Mortality of Minority Morality •Grade Curves •Halloween Party Photos •Date Auction Photos •Win or Lose, Happy or Sad, Home is Where You Make It •Ford's Freestyle is Not a Wack Jam •Why a Nation Divided?

On Kamisar, Killing, And The Future Of Physician-Assisted Death, Norman L. Cantor

Rutgers Law School (Newark) Faculty Papers

In a famous 1958 article, Yale Kamisar brilliantly examined the hazards of abuse and of slippery slope extensions that subsequently, for 46 years, served to thwart legalization of physician-assisted death (PAD). This paper shows that during the same period law and culture have effectively accepted a variety of ways for stricken people to hasten death, with physicians involved in diverse roles. Those ways include rejection of nutrition and hydration, terminal sedation, administration of risky analgesics, and withholding or withdrawal of medical life support.

If these existing lawful modes of hastening death were widely acknowledged, the pressure to legalize voluntary active …

Legal Images Of Fatherhood: Welfare Reform, Child Support Enforcement, And Fatherless Children, Jane C. Murphy

ExpressO

This Article analyzes the issue of paternity disestablishment, an issue courts and legislatures have been struggling with over the last several years. For a variety of reasons explored in this Article, an increasing number of fathers have filed requests to set aside paternity orders seeking to be relieved of the legal obligations of fatherhood. As a result families have been destabilized and children are becoming fatherless. The implications for the future of the family are profound. Although some scholars have examined this phenomenon, none have addressed the link between paternity disestablishment and welfare reform.

This Article explores the law's evolving …

Vol. 27, No. 10 (November 8, 2004)

Indiana Law Annotated

No abstract provided.

Mgm V. Grokster, Brief Amici Curiae Of The Computer & Communications Industry Association And Internet Archive, In Opposition To The Writ Of Certiorari, To The United States Supreme Court, Laura Quilter, Peter Jaszi

Amicus Briefs & Court Filings

Amicus on behalf of the Internet Archive and the CCIA, requesting the Supreme Court of the United States to deny the petition for certiorari in the MGM v. Grokster case.

The Iceberg Of Religious Freedom: Subsurface Levels Of Nonestablishment Discourse, Steven Douglas Smith

University of San Diego Public Law and Legal Theory Research Paper Series

This article discusses three levels of disagreement in establishment clause discourse– or what may be called the “lawyerly,” the “constitutive” (or “culture wars”), and the “philosophical” (or perhaps the “theological”) levels. Disagreement at the first of these levels is everywhere apparent in the way lawyers and justices and scholars write and argue; disagreement at the second level is somewhat less obtrusive but still easily discernible; disagreement at the third level is almost wholly beneath the surface. The manifest indeterminacy of lawyerly arguments suggests that in this area, premises are more likely to be derived from favored conclusions, not the other …

The Trade Of Cross-Border Gambling And Betting: The Wto Dispute Between Antigua And The United States, James D. Thayer

Duke Law & Technology Review

The first ecommerce dispute to come before the World Trade Organization ("WTO") was billed to be one of David and Goliath proportion. The tiny twin-island nation-state of Antigua and Barbuda challenged the United States' ban on cross-border Internet gambling and betting. As a result of the dispute, the WTO issued a private final report against the United States finding that the ban violates the United States' commitments under the WTO. Shortly before the public release of the final report, both parties petitioned the WTO to indefinitely postpone its release so that the parties could engage in private negotiations. The final …

Screening, Plea Bargains And The Innocent Problem, Oren Gazal

Law & Economics Working Papers Archive: 2003-2009

Courts in common law countries reject plea-agreements only when the agreed upon sentence is seen as exceedingly lenient. This judicial intervention is designed to ensure that plea-bargaining does not undermine deterrence. Many legal scholars argue against this policy, claiming that courts should prohibit plea-bargaining all together. They argue that the plea-bargaining system increases the risk of wrongful convictions. Economists often criticize this judicial intervention as well, but for a different reason. Rather than advocating the abolition of plea-bargaining, many economists argue that the courts should accept all plea-agreements without review. They claim that plea-bargaining can help ensure an efficient use …

Nov. 4, 2004, Treasury's Crosscutting Issues To Cso Before Meeting With Ifc Re Safeguard Review, Ifc

IFC E&S Performance Standards

No abstract provided.

Nov. 4, 2004, Cso Table Critiquing Ifc Performance Standards 1-9, Ifc

IFC E&S Performance Standards

No abstract provided.

Does Soft Dollar Brokerage Benefit Portfolio Investors: Agency Problem Or Solution?, Stephen M. Horan, D. Bruce Johnsen

George Mason University School of Law Working Papers Series

With soft dollar brokerage, institutional portfolio managers pay brokers “premium” commission rates in exchange for rebates they use to buy third-party research. One hypothesis views this practice as a reflection of the agency problem in delegated portfolio management; another views it as a contractual solution to the agency problem that aligns the incentives of investors, managers, and brokers where direct monitoring mechanisms are inadequate. Using a database of institutional money managers, we find that premium commission payments are positively related to risk-adjusted performance, suggesting that soft dollar brokerage is a solution to agency problems. Moreover, premium commissions are positively related …

The New Neurobiology Of Severe Psychiatric Disorders And Its Implications For Laws Governing Involuntary Commitment And Treatment, E Fuller Torrey, Kenneth Kress

ExpressO

Medical advances have led to statutory changes and common law overrulings. This paper argues that such changes are now needed for laws governing the involuntary commitment and treatment of individuals with severe psychiatric disorders. Recent advances in the understanding of the neurobiology of these disorders have rendered obsolete many assumptions underlying past statutes and legal decisions. This is illustrated by using schizophrenia as an example and examining two influential cases: California’s Lanterman-Petris-Short Act (1969) and Wisconsin’s Lessard decision (1972). It is concluded that laws governing involuntary commitment and treatment need to be updated to incorporate the current neurobiological understanding of …

The Effects Of Copayments On The Use Of Medical Services And Prescription Drugs In Utah's Medicaid Program, Leighton Ku, Elaine Deschamps, Judi Hilman

Health Policy and Management Faculty Publications

In recent years, a number of states have increased cost-sharing for low-income Medicaid beneficiaries as one approach to Medicaid cost-containment. While copayments have been most commonly applied to prescription drugs, they also have been assessed for other services, such as physician visits, hospital admission, or outpatient clinic use.

Prior research has found that when low-income patients are required to pay more for health care services or for prescription drugs, they use fewer services or medications.[2] In some cases, their health could deteriorate, with the result that they may subsequently require more expensive emergency room or inpatient hospital care. While …

Declaration On Issues Of The Laws Of War, Corporate Liability And Other Issues Of International Law In Agent Orange Ats Litigation, Kenneth Anderson

Legislative Testimony & Comments

This 2004 expert declaration was offered on behalf of defendant corporations in Agent Orange litigation heard before Judge Jack Weinstein in 2005 as part of an Alien Tort Statute action by Vietnamese individuals and associations. I have posted it to SSRN because of the numerous requests I have had for it, and as it has been cited in scholarship. The Declaration starts by offering a basic discussion of the sources of international and in particular customary international law and the meaning and role of opinio juris, and their relation to ATS cases following the Sosa case. It then addresses laws …

A Culturally Correct Proposal To Privatize The British Columbia Salmon Fishery, D. Bruce Johnsen

George Mason University School of Law Working Papers Series

Canada now faces two looming policy crises that have come to a head in British Columbia. The first is long-term depletion of the Pacific salmon fishery by mobile commercial ocean fishermen racing to intercept salmon under the rule of capture. The second results from Canadian Supreme Court case law recognizing and affirming “the existing aboriginal and treaty rights of the aboriginal peoples of Canada” under Section 35(1) of the Constitution Act, 1982. This essay shows that the economics of property rights provides a joint solution to these crises that would promote the Canadian commonwealth by way of a privatization auction …