Law Commons^™

How High Do Cartels Raise Prices? Implications For Optimal Cartel Fines, John M. Connor, Robert H. Lande

All Faculty Scholarship

This Article examines whether the current penalties in the United States Sentencing Guidelines are set at the appropriate levels to deter cartels optimally The authors analyze two data sets to determine how high on average cartels raise prices. The first consists of every published scholarly economic study of the effects of cartels on prices in individual cases. The second consists of every final verdict in a US. antitrust case in which a neutral finder of fact reported collusive overcharges. They report average overcharges of 49% and 31% for the two data sets, and median overcharges of 25% and 22%. They …

Incitement In The Mosques: Testing The Limits Of Free Speech And Religious Liberty, Kenneth Lasson

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In times of terror and tension, civil liberties are at their greatest peril. Nowadays, no individual rights are more in jeopardy than the freedoms of speech and religion. This is true particularly for followers of Islam, whose leaders have become increasingly radical in both their preaching and practice. "Kill the Jews!" and "Kill the Americans!" are chants heard regularly in many Middle Eastern mosques, as frightful echoes of the fatwa are issued by today's quintessential terrorist, Osama bin Laden. The incitement continues unabated to this day. In April of 2004, for example, a Muslim preacher at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in …

Economic Efficiency And The Parameters Of Fairness: A Marriage Of Marketplace Morals And The Ethic Of Care, Barbara Ann White

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This article provides resolutions to a number of conundrums that have vexed policy-makers and scholars for some decades. The most significant conclusion is that efficiency and fairness concerns do not conflict but rather mutually support each other in the goal of maximizing social welfare. This is contrary to the more widely-held view by both advocates of law and economic reasoning and those favoring deontological concerns that a trade-off between fairness and efficiency is inevitable. This article demonstrates how the coalescence of the two frameworks, the cultivation of fairness with law and economics' efficiency maximization, yields greater enhancements of social welfare …

Does The Constitution Apply To The Actions Of The United States Anti-Doping Agency?, Dionne L. Koller

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Since its formation in 2000, the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has aggressively pursued athletes who are believed to have used performance-enhancing substances and has aggressively prosecuted those who ultimately test positive. To many, this is a long overdue response to the growing problem of doping in sports. But to others, USADA's actions, and the federal government's support of these efforts, has sparked enormous controversy. This article examines USADA and its relationship to the federal government to determine whether USADA's actions could be constrained by the Constitution. While it is clear that USADA has very close ties to the federal …

Post-Crawford: Time To Liberalize The Substantive Admissibility Of A Testifying Witness's Prior Consistent Statements, Lynn Mclain

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The United States Supreme Court's 1995 decision in Tome v. United States has read Federal Rule of Evidence 801(d)(1)(B) to prevent the prosecution's offering a child abuse victim's prior consistent statements as substantive evidence. As a result of that decision, the statements will also be inadmissible even for the limited purpose of helping to evaluate the credibility of a child, if there is a serious risk that the out-of-court statements would be used on the issue of guilt or innocence.

Moreover, after the Court's March 2004 decision in Crawford v. Washington, which redesigned the landscape of Confrontation Clause analysis, other …

Sounds Of Silence, Kenneth Lasson

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No abstract provided.

Two Rules For Better Writing, Amy E. Sloan

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No abstract provided.

Universal Human Rights: Moral Order In A Divided World, David Reidy, Mortimer N.S. Sellers

Books

Universal Human Rights brings new clarity to the important and highly contested concept universal human rights. The Charter of the United Nations commits nearly all nations of the world to promote, to realize and take action to achieve human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, yet this formal consensus masks an underlying confusion about the philosophical basis and practical implications of rights in a world made up of radically different national communities. This collection of essays explores the foundations of universal human rights in four sections devoted to their nature, application, enforcement and limits, concluding that shared rights help to …

Poverty And Communitarianism: Toward A Community Based Welfare System, Michele E. Gilman

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This Article analyzes how communitarian political theory addresses poverty and impacts American social welfare programs. For several decades, communitarian and liberal philosophers have debated how best to achieve justice through their competing notions of personhood. Whereas liberal theorists stress the values of individual autonomy and state neutrality, communitarians assert that people are socially constituted and that liberalism therefore pays too little attention to the value of community. Yet despite their attempts to articulate a superior form of justice, communitarian theorists either ignore or misunderstand issues related to poverty, as this Article explains. Nevertheless, their insights are helpful in thinking about …

To Lend Or Not To Lend: What The Cra Ought To Say About Sub-Prime And Predatory Lending, Cassandra Jones Havard

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Policies that support the expansion of affordable housing for low- and moderate-income persons must be reconciled with those policies that undercut the sustainability of home ownership. The sub-prime market represents a much needed expansion of credit markets to those who have been denied access to credit though they are creditworthy. The high failure rate of the sub-prime market indicates that market forces are ineffective in halting this economic abuse. This article argues that the public policy choices and justifications for certain practices have marginalized the concerns of particular consumer classes. It challenges the premise that the free market can and …

The Lessons Of People V. Moscat: Confronting Judicial Bias In Domestic Violence Cases Interpreting Crawford V. Washington, David Jaros

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Crawford v. Washington was a groundbreaking decision that radically redefined the scope of the Confrontation Clause. Nowhere has the impact of Crawford and the debate over its meaning been stronger than in the context of domestic violence prosecutions. The particular circumstances that surround domestic violence cases 911 calls that record cries for help and accusations, excited utterances made to responding police officers, and the persistent reluctance of complaining witnesses to cooperate with prosecutors -- combine to make the introduction of "out-of-comment statements" a critical component of many domestic violence prosecutions. Because domestic violence cases are subject to a unique set …

Preserving The Exceptional Republic: Political Economy, Race, And The Federalization Of American Immigration Law, Matthew Lindsay

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Between 1882 and 1891, the U.S. Congress enacted a spate of immigration laws though which the federal government assumed virtually exclusive control over a regulatory sphere that historically had been the province of the states. This Article argues that this federalization of immigration regulation represented an attempt to reconcile the nation’s most cherished ideological commitment - the notion that the U.S. would forever remain an exceptional, “free labor” republic - with the unprecedented social and economic convulsions of the 1870s and 1880s.

The meaning of both immigrants and immigration was fundamentally transformed during the Gilded Age due to two successive …

An Honest Approach To Plea Bargaining, Steven P. Grossman

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In this Article, the author argues that differential sentencing of criminal defendants who plead guilty and those who go to trial is, primarily, a punishment for the defendant exercising the right to trial. The proposed solution requires an analysis of the differential sentencing motivation in light of the benefit to society and the drawbacks inherent in the plea bargaining system.

Adoption With Contact Law Awaits Governor's Signature, Elizabeth Samuels

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No abstract provided.

'"You Have Been In Afghanistan": A Discourse On The Van Alstyne Method, Garrett Epps

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This essay pays tribute to William Van Alstyne, one of our foremost constitutional scholars, by applying the methods of textual interpretation he laid out in a classic essay, "Interpreting This Constitution: On the Unhelpful Contribution of Special Theories of Judicial Review." I make use of the graphical methods Van Alstyne has applied to the general study of the First Amendment to examine the Supreme Court's recent decisions in the context of the Free Exercise Clause, in particular the landmark case of "Employment Division v. Smith". The application of Van Alstyne's use of the burden of proof as an interpretive tool …

The Game Of Pleasant Diversion: Can We Level The Playing Field For The Disabled Athlete And Maintain The National Pastime, In The Aftermath Of Pga Tour, Inc. V. Martin: An Empirical Study Of The Disabled Athlete, Donald H. Stone

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Kenny Walker, a deaf football player; Jim Abbott, a one-handed professional baseball player; Tom Dempsey, a physically disabled professional football kicker; Brad Doty, a paralyzed auto racer; and Nick Ackerman, a wrestler with amputated legs, have all competed at the highest level of sports. Persons with mental illness, individuals who are blind, and students with hearing impairments are seeking an opportunity to compete in fair competition with their non-disabled competitors. Can this occur in a fair, open, and just manner between competing athletes?

Does the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 ("ADA"), the landmark civil rights act protecting an individual …

The Innocence Protection Act Of 2004: A Small Step Forward And A Framework For Larger Reforms, Ronald Weich

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Passage of the Innocence Protection Act in the closing days of the 108th Congress was a watershed moment. To be sure, the bill that finally became law was a shadow of the more ambitious criminal justice reforms first championed five years earlier by Senator Pat Leahy, Congressman Bill Delahunt and others. But the enactment of legislation designed to strengthen — not weaken — procedural protections for death row inmates was rich in symbolic importance and promise.

Writing in the April 2001 issue of THE CHAMPION (Innocence Protection Act: Death Penalty Reform on the Horizon), I said optimistically: "The criminal justice …

What Do Exit Polls And Flu Vaccine Shortages Have In Common?, Albert A. Foer, Robert H. Lande, F.M. Scherer

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What do exit polls and flu vaccine shortages have in common? Both involve situations where society has come to rely excessively on too few entities. When even one company makes a mistake society can suffer significantly. This short piece advocates that we abandon our almost laissez faire tolerence towards high concentration, and rely upon competition, rather than on monopoly or a small number of producers.

Recent Developments: Arundel Corp. V. Marie: A Right Of First Refusal Is Void Under The Traditional Common Law Rule Against Perpetuities As Well As The Legislative Modification Of That Rule, Emily J. King

University of Baltimore Law Forum

No abstract provided.

Recent Developments: Davis V. Slater: Maryland Statutory Law Does Not Divest Parties In Civil Cases Of Their Common Law Entitlement To Jury Trial Where The Amount In Controversy Fails To Exceed Ten Thousand Dollars, Nathaniel Kenneth Risch

University of Baltimore Law Forum

No abstract provided.

Recent Developments: In Re Ariel G.: When Compelled Statements Fall Within The Central Scope Of The Fifth Amendment, The Operation Of A Civil Regulatory Regime Cannot Trump The Assertion Of The Fifth Amendment Right, Kristine H. Rea

University of Baltimore Law Forum

No abstract provided.

Recent Developments: Serio V. Baltimore County: Felons Retain A Property Interest In Seized Firearms Even Though They Are Not Allowed To Possess Them, Patricia Mitchell

University of Baltimore Law Forum

No abstract provided.

Recent Developments: Attorney Grievance Comm'n V. Pennington: An Attorney's Reliance On Advice Of Counsel Is Not A Defense To A Violation Of The Maryland Rules Of Professional Conduct, Ian Bartman

University of Baltimore Law Forum

No abstract provided.

Recent Developments: Rhaney V. University Of Maryland Eastern Shore: A Landlord Does Not Owe His Tenant A Duty To Control The Tortious Acts Of A Third Person Provided The Acts Are Not Foreseeable, Jennifer Lewandowski

University of Baltimore Law Forum

No abstract provided.

Recent Developments: Smith V. State: Defense Counsel Is Entitled To Comment On The Challenges Of Cross-Racial Identification At Closing Argument When The Sole Basis For Conviction Is Eyewitness Testimony, Bryan Davis

University of Baltimore Law Forum

No abstract provided.

Recent Developments: Taylor V. State: Reliance On An Officer's Statement That Investigatory Cooperation Will Result In Special Treatment From The Prosecution Renders That Statement Involuntary And Inadmissible As Evidence, Peter Mcternan

University of Baltimore Law Forum

No abstract provided.

Results Of A Judicial Survey On The Maryland Department Of Juvenile Services, Gloria Danziger, Barbara A. Babb

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

International Legal Personality, Mortimer N.S. Sellers

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Yours For Keeps: Mgm V. Grokster, Max Oppenheimer

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In MGM v. Grokster, now pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, all parties have made the assumption that most P2P file transfers infringe copyrights. Two theories contradict that assumption: a significant number of individuals who transfer files over P2P networks may have a license to do so, and the Copyright Act itself may exempt the transfer of certain categories of entertainment files over P2P networks from the definition of infringement.

Legal Writing And Academic Support: Timing Is Everything, Dionne L. Koller

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The conventional wisdom is that legal writing and academic support go hand-in-hand. Most law schools assume that struggling students can be reliably identified for academic support through their first-year legal writing course, and that first-year legal writing instructors can fairly easily and effectively provide this support. Indeed, this is the prevailing view in current academic support and legal writing scholarship. Professor Koller's article challenges the conventional wisdom and instead points out several issues that should be considered if a law school relies on the first-year legal writing course as a component of, or in lieu of, an academic support program. …