Law Commons^™

Environmental Law, Brooks Meredith Smith, Andrea West Wortzel

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Family And Juvenile Law, Lynne Marie Kohn

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Taxation, Craig D. Bell

University of Richmond Law Review

This article reviews significant developments in the law affect-ing Virginia taxation. Each section covers recent legislative changes, judicial decisions, and selected opinions or pronouncements from the Virginia Department of Taxation and the Attorney General of Virginia over the past year. The overall purpose ofthis article is to provide Virginia tax and general practitioners with a concise overview of the recent developments in Virginia taxation most likely to have an impact on their practices. This article will not, however, discuss many of the numerous technical legislative changes to the State Taxation Code of Title 58.1.

Labor And Employment Law, W. David Paxton, Gregory R. Hunt

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Economic Costs Of Inequality, Richard H. Mcadams

Public Law and Legal Theory Working Papers

This brief chapter surveys some of the economic literature concerning the instrumental costs of material inequality. Economic theory predicts, and econometric evidence finds, that inequality increases crime and political corruption and, in certain circumstances, constrains growth.

Reputation Nation: Law In An Era Of Ubiquitous Personal Information, Lior Strahilevitz

Coase-Sandor Institute for Law & Economics Research Paper Series

No abstract provided.

The Real World Of Arbitrariness Review, Cass R. Sunstein, Thomas J. Miles

Coase-Sandor Institute for Law & Economics Research Paper Series

The Administrative Procedure Act instructs federal courts to invalidate agency decisions that are "arbitrary" or "capricious." In its 1983 decision in the State Farm case, the Supreme Court firmly endorsed the idea that arbitrariness review requires courts to take a "hard look" at agency decisions. The hard look doctrine has been defended as a second-best substitute for insistence on the original constitutional safeguards; close judicial scrutiny is said to discipline agency decisions and to constrain the illegitimate exercise of discretion. In the last two decades, however, hard look review has been challenged on the plausible but admittedly speculative ground that …

Controlling Avian Influenza In Chickens, Maciej Boni, Anup Malani, Abraham Wickelgren, Ramanan Laxminarayan

Coase-Sandor Institute for Law & Economics Research Paper Series

No abstract provided.

Decency, Dignity, And Desert: Restoring Ideals Of Humane Punishment To Constitutional Discourse, Eva Nilsen

Faculty Scholarship

American punishment today is degrading, indecent, and harsher than deserved despite a Constitution designed to protect people from cruel and unusual punishment. Unfortunately, the U.S. Supreme Court’s response to the increasing inhumanity of contemporary punishment has been to reduce its Eighth Amendment jurisprudence to tidy categories, legal fictions, and hollow phrases. Absent from the discourse is any acknowledgement of the actual day-to-day experience facing the convicted person, or any suggestion that, although punishments can be degrading, they need not be. The case for treating a convicted person with respect for his human dignity, and for constitutional scrutiny of punishment as …

Rodrigo's Corrido: Race, Postcolonial Theory, And U.S. Civil Rights, Richard Delgado

Vanderbilt Law Review

Richard Delgado enlists his alter ego, Rodrigo, to analyze Latino legal history and civil rights. Encountering "the Professor" after testifying at a hearing on an immigration bill, Rodrigo excitedly tells his old friend and mentor about a new body of writing he has come across. Postcolonial theory, which deals with issues such as cultural survival, resistance, and collaboration, can help move American civil rights scholarship beyond its current impasse. Over dinner, Rodrigo demonstrates how insights from these writers can enrich U.S. civil rights theory and practice. He also posits a new theory of Latinos' sociolegal construction, based on a triple …

Special Project: Current Issues In Immigration, Anna Byrne

Vanderbilt Law Review

These words, so famously engraved upon a plaque inside the Statue of Liberty, have become an anachronism in modern American politics. In recent years our society has witnessed a maelstrom arise concerning immigration law and enforcement, with vocal factions spouting angry vitriol about the need to tighten borders and crack down on illegal immigration. Intense debate was sparked 2006 after the House of Representatives passed a restrictive bill that called for a wall to be built along 700 miles of the U.S.-Mexican border, criminalized the aiding or encouraging of illegal immigrants to remain in the country, and imposed new penalties …

The Origins Of Shared Intuitions Of Justice, Owen D. Jones, Paul H. Robinson, Robert Kurzban

Vanderbilt Law Review

The role of justice in assigning criminal liability and punishment has been a matter of long-standing debate. A standard argument against a desert distributive principle-that is, against distributing punishment according to an offender's blameworthiness- has been that such a concept of "desert" is simply too vague and the subject of too much disagreement to operationalize. There may be some truth to these complaints when applied to a philosophical notion of desert, which has been the traditional basis of the desert school.

But more recently, a utilitarian-based theory of desert has urged reliance on an empirical notion of desert, drawn from …

Expedited Injustice: The Problems Regarding The Current Law Of Expedited Removal Of Aggravated Felons, Andrew D. Kennedy

Vanderbilt Law Review

Following the attacks of September 11, 2001, he and his family, like many Americans of the Islamic faith, felt persecuted by their neighbors, despite having had nothing to do with the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.' Mr. Rashid felt intimidated by people following him and calling his home to accuse him of complicity in the September 11 attacks. After weeks of harassment, Mr. Rashid's family contacted the police. Unfortunately for Mr. Rashid, however, he shared a name with a suspected terrorist. Thus, instead of addressing Rashid's concerns, the U.S. government began to suspect him as …

Judging Plaintiffs, Jason M. Solomon

Vanderbilt Law Review

With its powerful account of the normative principles embodied in the structure and practice of the law of torts, corrective justice is considered the leading moral theory of tort law. It has a significant advantage over instrumental and other moral theories in that it is more consistent with what judges say when they analyze tort law concepts. And with criticism of instrumental accounts, like law and economics, on a number of fronts, it is the leading descriptive theory of tort law.

In this Article, I take up a question that has never been answered adequately by corrective-justice or other moral …

Table Of Contents - Cardozo Law Review, Volume 29, Issue 2

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Securities Class Action Abuse: Protecting Small Plaintiffs' Big Money, Russell Kamerman

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Pro Se Litigation: Best Practices From A Judge's Perspective, Hon. Beverly W. Snukals, Glen H. Sturtevant Jr.

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Corporate And Business Law, Gregory R. Bishop, Laurence V. Parker

University of Richmond Law Review

In 2005, the Virginia Stock Corporation Act (the "Virginia Act") was extensively revised and updated for the first time since 1985. Having just undertaken such a major revision to the Virginia Act,

the General Assembly further amended the Act in a more targeted fashion in 2006 and 2007. Section II of this article addresses some of the changes that have taken place since the 2005 amendments and gives a brief overview of some conforming changes that have been incorporated in the Virginia Nonstock Corporation Act (the "Nonstock Act").

There has also been a concerted effort to conform the language and …

Civil Practice And Procedure, John C. Lynch, Jon S. Hubbard, M. Elizabeth Woodard

University of Richmond Law Review

This article summarizes the major developments in Virginia civil practice and procedure over the past two years, specifically covering significant decisions by the Supreme Court of Virginiaand changes to the Rules of the Supreme Court of Virginia dating from April 22, 2005, to April 20, 2007. The article also addresses legislative enactments by the General Assembly in its 2005 and 2006 sessions.

Ohio Trust Code: The Joint Committee's Proposal For Its First Amendment, Alan Newman

Akron Law Faculty Publications

This article discusses the changes included in the proposed amendment. Generally, the Joint Committee decided to include in the amendment straightforward changes as to which there was a broad consensus. The discussion below addresses the proposals included in the amendment in the order of the sections of the Revised Code that are affected.

Copyright Acknowledgment: This material is reprinted from the Probate Law Journal of Ohio with permission of Thomson Reuters. Copyright permission is on file.

The Price Of Misdemeanor Representation, Erica J. Hashimoto

Scholarly Works

Nobody disputes either the reality of excessive caseloads in indigent defense systems or their negative effects. More than forth years after Gideon v. Wainwright, however, few seem willing to accept that additional resources will not magically appear to solve the problem. Rather, concerned observers demand more funds while state and local legislators resist those entreaties in the face of political resistance and pressures to balance government budgets. Recognizing that indigent defense systems must operate in a world of limited resources, states should reduce the number of cases streaming into those systems by significantly curtailing the appointment of counsel in low-level …

Journal Staff

Duke Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Price Of Misdemeanor Representation, Erica J. Hashimoto

William & Mary Law Review

Nobody disputes either the reality of excessive caseloads in indigent defense systems or their negative effects. More than forty years after Gideon v. Wainwright, however, few seem willing to accept that additional resources will not magically appear to solve the problem. Rather, concerned observers demand more funds while state and local legislators resist those entreaties in the face of political resistance and pressures to balance government budgets. Recognizing that indigent defense systems must operate in a world of limited resources, states should reduce the number of cases streaming into those systems by significantly curtailing the appointment of counsel in low-level …

Keep Out Of Myspace!: Protecting Students From Unconstitutional Suspensions And Expulsions, Christi Cassel

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Preemployment Ethical Role Of Lawyers: Are Lawyers Really Fiduciaries?, Fred C. Zacharias

William & Mary Law Review

This Article considers the nature and extent of lawyers' obligations to prospective clients. Most jurisdictions have rules forbidding certain kinds of representation, requiring that particular information be given clients in writing, and regulating fees. Professional code drafters, courts, and commentators, however, have never addressed the broader issue of the lawyer's role at the retainer stage of representation, including whether lawyers have responsibility for providing prospective clients with candid advice regarding the course they should pursue.

The issue is important to clients. A lawyer's action may determine whether a client obtains any representation, competent representation, or a lawyer well suited to …

The Curious Complications With Back-End Opt-Out Rights, Rhonda Wasserman

William & Mary Law Review

In recent years, class members have been afforded delayed, or "back-end," opportunities to opt out of a class action once the terms of the settlement are disclosed. These back-end opt-out rights may afford only limited rights to sue outside the confines of the class action. For example, opt-out plaintiffs may be permitted to seek compensatory, but not punitive damages. Does the federal court that approved the settlement have authority to enjoin back-end opt-out plaintiffs from seeking relief in state court that exceeds the limits built into the back-end opt-out right?

Three sets of curious complications may arise if the federal …

Antitrust Process And Vertical Deference: Judicial Review Of State Regulatory Inaction, Jim A. Rossi

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Courts struggle with the tension between national competition laws, on the one hand, and state and local regulation, on the other--especially as traditional governmental functions are privatized and as economic regulation advances beyond its traditional role to address market monitoring. This Article defends a process-based account of the antitrust state-action exception against alternative interpretations, such as the substantive efficiency-preemption approach that Richard Squire recently advanced, and it elaborates on what such a process-based account would entail for courts addressing the role of state economic regulation as a defense in antitrust cases. It recasts the debate as focused around delegation issues …

Blinking On The Bench: How Judges Decide Cases, Chris Guthrie, Jeffrey J. Rachlinski

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

How do judges judge? Do they apply law to facts in a mechanical and deliberative way, as the formalists suggest they do, or do they rely on hunches and gut feelings, as the realists maintain? Debate has raged for decades, but researchers have offered little hard evidence in support of either model. Relying on empirical studies of judicial reasoning and decision making, we propose an entirely new model of judging that provides a more accurate explanation of judicial behavior. Our model accounts for the tendency of the human brain to make automatic, snap judgments, which are surprisingly accurate, but which …

The Origins Of Shared Intuitions Of Justice, Owen D. Jones, Paul H. Robinson, Robert Kurzban

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Contrary to the common wisdom among criminal law scholars, empirical evidence reveals that people's intuitions of justice are often specific, nuanced, and widely shared. Indeed, with regard to the core harms and evils to which criminal law addresses itself-physical aggression, takings without consent, and deception in transactions-the shared intuitions are stunningly consistent across cultures as well as demographics. It is puzzling that judgments of moral blameworthiness, which seem so complex and subjective, reflect such a remarkable consensus. What could explain this striking result?

The authors theorize that one explanation may be an evolved predisposition toward these shared intuitions of justice, …

Do Citizens Care About Federalism? An Experimental Test, Robert A. Mikos, Cindy D. Kam

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

The ongoing debate over the political safeguards of federalism has essentially ignored the role that citizens might play in restraining federal power. Scholars have assumed that citizens care only about policy outcomes and will invariably support congressional legislation that satisfies their substantive policy preferences, no matter the cost to state powers. Scholars thus typically turn to institutions-the courts or institutional features of the political process-to cabin congressional authority. We argue that ignoring citizens is a mistake. We propose a new theory of the political safeguards of federalism in which citizens help to safeguard state authority. We also test our theory …