Law Commons^™

Comment Letter To The U.S. Treasury Department Concerning The Regulatory Structure For Financial Institutions, Arthur E. Wilmarth Jr.

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This comment letter was submitted to the U.S. Treasury Department in connection with that Department's review of proposals for changes in the regulatory structure for financial institutions. The comment letter presents the following policy recommendations: (1) the thrift charter should be eliminated, existing thrifts should be required to convert into banks, and the Office of Thrift Supervision should be merged with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC); (2) the dual banking system should be preserved and strengthened in order to promote innovation in banking regulation and to support the community bank sector; (3) at least one federal …

Wal-Mart And The Separation Of Banking And Commerce, Arthur E. Wilmarth Jr.

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

During 2005-2006, Wal-Mart, Home Depot, and several other commercial firms applied to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) for permission to acquire FDIC-insured industrial loan companies (ILCs). Those applications were opposed by business groups, labor unions, community activists, and members of Congress. In January 2007, the FDIC imposed a one-year moratorium on all acquisitions of ILCs by commercial firms and asked Congress to determine whether such acquisitions should be prohibited.

As the FDIC noted, acquisitions of ILCs by commercial firms raise three important policy issues, which are addressed in this Article. First, commercial ownership of ILCs conflicts with the policy …

Towards A Right To Privacy In Transnational Intelligence Networks, Francesca Bignami

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Transnational intelligence networks have emerged as an essential tool for combating international terrorism and criminal activity. As with domestic intelligence-gathering, they raise a number of privacy concerns: the risk of false information, the danger that intelligence will be used for illegitimate purposes, and the burden placed on human dignity and individual autonomy by free-wheeling data gathering. Transnational networks, however, exacerbate these privacy problems due to the dispersed nature of government authority and the difficulty of ensuring compliance with privacy duties by each node in the network. This article illustrates the dangers of transnational intelligence sharing with the case of Maher …

Guide To International Environmental Law, Dinah L. Shelton, Alexandre Kiss

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This book aims to present the essential elements of international environmental law. The attached document includes a page memorializing the life of Alexandre Kiss (who passed away on March 22, 2007); a forward; a table of contents, author information, abbreviations, and Chapter 1, "An Introduction to International Law." The book provides a general overview of why and how the international system elaborates environmental obligations and monitors compliance with them. Second, it discusses the relationship between international obligations and national and local law, with particular reference to federal systems. It indicates another interrelationship, pointing out the influence national law has on …

Strict Liability In International Environmental Law, Dinah L. Shelton

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

The principle that a State is responsible for causing environmental harm outside its territory in breach of an international obligation has been slow to evolve to address the allocation of loss due to accidents. In settling the well-known dispute between the United States and Canada concerning the activities of the Canadian smelter located in Trail, British Columbia, the arbitral tribunal asserted a general duty on the part of the State to protect other States from injurious acts by individuals (both state and non-state actors) within its jurisdictions. The tribunal, however, noted the difficulty determining what constitutes an injurious act, but …

China: Creating A Legal System For A Market Economy, Donald C. Clarke

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Since the early 1990s, China has come a long way in legislating the foundational rules for its reformed economy. Virtually all of the important areas-contracts, business organizations, securities, bankruptcy, and secured transactions, to name a few - are now covered by national legislation as well as lower-level regulations. Yet an important feature of a legal structure suited to a market economy is missing: the ability of the system to generate from below solutions to problems not adequately dealt with by existing legislation. The top-down model that has dominated Chinese law reform efforts to date can only do so much. What …

Autonomy To Choose What Constitutes Family: Oxymoron Or Basic Right?, Naomi R. Cahn, June Carbone

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

Alasdair MacIntyre, Michael Sandel and other critics have argued that liberalism is living off the borrowed capital of Western civilization. That is, to the extent that liberalism requires neutrality among theories of the good, the state cannot ensure that the generation of values - of strong families, hard workers, honest people, engaged citizens, and devout church members - necessary to liberalism itself will occur. William Galston responded to this critique by arguing that liberalism does not require neutrality toward the creation of values central to liberalism itself. A liberal democratic state should be able to foster liberal virtues, and, indeed, …

The Future Of Reputation: Gossip, Rumor, And Privacy On The Internet, Daniel J. Solove

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

This is the complete text of Daniel J. Solove's book, THE FUTURE OF REPUTATION: GOSSIP, RUMOR, AND PRIVACY ON THE INTERNET (Full Text) (Yale University Press, October 2007).

Teeming with chatrooms, online discussion groups, and blogs, the Internet offers previously unimagined opportunities for personal expression and communication. But there's a dark side to the story. A trail of information fragments about us is forever preserved on the Internet, instantly available in a Google search. A permanent chronicle of our private lives - often of dubious reliability and sometimes totally false - will follow us wherever we go, accessible to friends, …

Reactions To Indefinite Preventive Detention: An Analysis Of How The Singapore, United Kingdom And American Judiciary Give Voice To The Law In The Face Of (Counter) Terrorism, Eunice Chua

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

[A] mid the clash of arms, the laws are not silent" - and it is up to judges to give voiceto the law. Acts of terrorism have not ceased since 11 September 2001 and news offresh attacks or foiled attempts continues to surface regularly. It is not surprising thatin order to preserve the nation state, governments have used legislative tools to deterand punish terrorism, including the tool of indefinite preventive detention. In thisarticle, I analyse the pieces of legislation providing for indefinite preventive detentionin Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as the judicial responseto them. Adopting …

Phishing With A Poisoned Bait, Warren B. Chik

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This article discusses the problem of dealing with electronic fraud and identity theft under the current Singapore criminal law.

An Unrecognized State In Foreign And International Courts: The Case Of The Republic Of China On Taiwan, Pasha L. Hsieh

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In the 1970s, Taiwan lost its United Nations seat, and most nations switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to the People's Republic of China (PRC). The loss of Taiwan's diplomatic recognition became a fundamental issue in judicial proceedings. Contrary to the PRC's claim, the article argues that, from the viewpoint of international law, Taiwan has never been succeeded by the PRC. The article explores the Taiwan question faced by foreign courts and finds that, albeit the lack of diplomatic recognition, the courts around the world have almost uniformly accorded Taiwan the status of state and this judicial recognition has risen to …

The Case For Sports Law Arbitration And Practice In Singapore, Kam Wai, Warren Bartholomew Chik

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

No abstract provided.

The Social Security Administration's New Disability Adjudication Rules: A Significant And Promising Reform, Frank S. Bloch, Jeffrey S. Lubbers, Paul R. Verkuil

Articles

The article evaluates the Social Security Administration's (SSA) new Disability Service Improvement (DSI) process, introduced in 2006, which aims to address inefficiencies and inconsistencies in disability adjudication. The reforms include key innovations such as Quick Disability Determinations (QDDs), the Medical and Vocational Expert System (MVES), and the replacement of the Appeals Council with the Decision Review Board (DRB). While the reforms represent a significant and promising step toward improving the disability determination process, the article identifies remaining concerns, particularly regarding the role of the Federal Reviewing Official (FRO) and rules for submitting evidence at administrative hearings.

Using Comparative Torts Materials To Teach First-Year Torts, Anthony J. Sebok

Articles

The article argues that incorporating comparative torts materials, particularly from European jurisdictions such as Germany and Italy, can effectively enhance the teaching of tort damages in first-year law courses. This approach is not about adopting a comparative curriculum but using these materials to provide deeper insights into American tort law.

Innocence, Race, And The Death Penalty, Barry Scheck

Articles

The article argues that the death penalty in the United States is deeply flawed due to systemic issues such as wrongful convictions, racial disparities, and procedural failures. It emphasizes the critical role of DNA exonerations in revealing these injustices and advocates for reforms to address the root causes of wrongful convictions, including inadequate legal representation and flawed forensic science. The article also highlights the moral and financial costs of capital punishment, urging its abolition.

The Equator Principles: The Private Financial Sector's Attempt At Environmental Responsibility, Andrew Hardenbrook

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The Equator Principles are a set of voluntary environmental guidelines created to manage environmental degradation that results from large-scale developmental projects in the Third World. On June 4, 2003, ten private financial institutions adopted these guidelines, and by the end of 2006 this number had grown to forty. Moreover, in June 2006 the Principles were revised, raising the level of scrutiny for companies that adhere to these guidelines.

At first blush, the adoption of the Equator Principles by private financial institutions appears to be a substantial step toward implementing environmental standards in developing countries that lack adequate regulations. However, three …

Attaining Optimal Deterrence At Sea: A Legal And Strategic Theory For Naval Anti-Piracy Operations, Michael Bahar

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

On January 21, 2006, a guided missile destroyer accomplished the U.S. Navy's first capture of suspected pirates in recent memory. As the Staff Judge Advocate for the NASSAU Strike Group, the Author advised the seizure, led the onboard investigation, oversaw the shipboard detentions, and testified at the trial in Kenya.

Drawing upon this experience, the Author constructs a comprehensive legal and strategic theory for piracy, defining the legal status of pirates and deriving the due process rights that should be afforded them.

The Article also analyzes the evolution of customary and positive international law to demonstrate that, contrary to conventional …

Judicial Interference: Redefining The Role Of The Judiciary Within The Context Of U.S. And E.U. Merger Clearance Coordination, Yasmine B. Carson

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

In December 2003, Sony and Bertelsmann AG (BMG)sought approval from the Federal Trade Commission and European Commission to effectuate a joint venture between the two companies. Remarkably, almost two years after both antitrust authorities had cleared the Sony-BMG joint venture, the Court of First Instance annulled the European Commission's decision to approve the transaction. This groundbreaking decision by the Court of First Instance has the potential to undermine coordination efforts between antitrust authorities in the United States and the European Union, as well as to frustrate the predictability and efficiency that businesses need in merger regulation. Using the regulatory review …

Foreword, Joel K. Goldstein

All Faculty Scholarship

Thomas F. Eagleton was an original. Many found him to be one of the most compelling and admirable people they had ever encountered. That was certainly my experience as I came to know him during the last few years of his life. And he certainly made a strong, favorable impression on the students we taught together at Saint Louis University School of Law in our seminar on the Presidency and the Constitution.

Foreword, Joel K. Goldstein

All Faculty Scholarship

Few cases in American history have engendered such controversy as has the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade.1 Since its issuance in January 1973, scholars in various disciplines, as well as lay people, have subjected the decision to vigorous debate. That discussion continues in a host of fora, but not in the pages which follow in this volume.

Using An Online Auction To Sell Article 9 Collateral, Michael Korybut

All Faculty Scholarship

This short article discusses selected issues under Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code with respect to a secured party using an online auction like eBay to sell repossessed collateral. In particular, the article analyzes certain potential limitations imposed by Article 9's commercial reasonableness standard and its notice of sale requirement.

Article 9'S Incorporation Strategy And Novel, New Markets For Collateral: A Theory Of Non-Adoption, Michael Korybut

All Faculty Scholarship

Online auctions like eBay are heralded widely as efficient, robust markets through which millions of businesses and people have sold billions of dollars of all types of property. Yet U.C.C. Article 9 secured parties apparently are only slowly and anemically adopting eBay or other online auctions to sell repossessed property (collateral) and are sticking instead to conventional, traditional sale methods. The apparent slow and anemic adoption of eBay and other online auctions by Article 9 secured creditors suggests a failure of the commercial reasonableness standard's incorporation strategy of new, efficient markets and its price-maximization goal. The Article proposes a non-adoption …

The Good, The Bad, Or The Indifferent: '12 Angry Men' In Russia, Part Of Symposium: The 50th Anniversary Of '12 Angry Men', Stephen C. Thaman

All Faculty Scholarship

Sidney Lumet’s 1957 film, 12 Angry Men, based on the screenplay by Reginald Rose, has become the emblem of the American jury trial as an anti-authoritarian institution based on democratic consensus building. This essay discusses the interplay of literature and criminal justice in pre-Revolution Russia, for this is the cultural soil upon which the film 12 Angry Men was received in Soviet Russia, when it was first screened in 1961. It discusses the reception of 12 Angry Men in Soviet Russia in 1961 and the impact it had on Soviet-era citizens in their understanding of American and Soviet criminal justice, …

Legality And Discretion, Stephen C. Thaman

All Faculty Scholarship

Volume II: This is an encyclopedia entry on legality and discretion.

The Nullification Of The Russian Jury: Lessons For Jury-Inspired Reform In Eurasia And Beyond, Stephen C. Thaman

All Faculty Scholarship

This article explores the extent to which the Russian jury system has achieved goals crucial to the reformation of inquisitorial Soviet practices.

Consensual Penal Resolution, Stephen C. Thaman

All Faculty Scholarship

Volume I: This is an encyclopedia entry on consensual penal resolution.

Using Innovative Technologies To Analyze For Similarity Between Musical Works In Copyright Infringement Disputes, Yvette Joy Liebesman

All Faculty Scholarship

Courts continue to struggle with discerning the level of substantial similarity between musical compositions in infringement analyses, which is related to their difficulty in determining the portion that is available for the public to use, and where that permission stops. This paper argues that, under the current policies regarding copyright protection and unauthorized copying, the current test is inadequate and a new infringement test should be considered. Two alternatives are proposed. The first test uses objective mapping of a song’s artistic elements. The second considers the link between wave motion theory of physics and music and proposes comparing the mathematical …

Guilty Bystanders, Chad Flanders

All Faculty Scholarship

There is a part o f Martin Luther King, Jr. 's Letter from Birmingham Jail that always catches me up short, and which I now think o f as at the heart o f the essay: not King's civil disobedience, not his claim that an unjust law is not a law, but his anger at the character he termed the "white moderate." 1 It was bad, King said, when the public called him and his allies "niggers" and when the police hosed them down in the street. But what really pained King was that so many well-meaning whites stood by …

Gender Dimensions Of Biotechnology Policy And Trade, Constance Z. Wagner

All Faculty Scholarship

Gender issues in biotechnology policy and trade are rapidly emerging as some of the most interesting and challenging within these fields. Gender issues have been identified in three important areas impacted by biotechnology, namely agriculture, traditional knowledge, and health. The policy discussion on these matters is still in its early stages and more research will be needed in order to formulate approaches that adequately incorporate a gender perspective. Gendered aspects of biotechnology also raise concerns in international trade law, which have not yet been addressed in the current legal framework at any level, including the World Trade Organization (“WTO”) regime. …

Striving For Equality, But Settling For The Status Quo: Is Title Vi More Illusory Than Real?, Ruqaiijah Yearby

All Faculty Scholarship

A plethora of empirical studies, such as the Institute of Medicine’s Unequal Treatment report, have shown that racial inequities in health care continue at the same level as in the Jim Crow Era. Innumerable reasons have been offered to explain the continuation of these health inequities, including racial discrimination. Congress enacted Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to put an end to racial discrimination in health care, but it still persists. Given the regulation and enforcement mechanisms established under Title VI explicitly aimed at remedying racial discrimination such as that directed at elderly African-Americans it is unbelievable …