Law Commons^™

September 15, 2009: Religion Dispatches Magazine Continues Church/State Debate, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, ““ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

Cityland – Vol. 6, No. 8, Center For New York City Law

CityLand - 2009

The September 2009 issue of CityLand highlights key land use and preservation developments in New York City. The City Council approved a special permit for a residential project in Carnegie Hill and denied a sidewalk café permit for Spitzer’s Corner on the Lower East Side. The City Planning Commission held hearings on the FRESH grocery store incentive program, the Carroll Gardens/Columbia Street rezoning, and a City Island development seeking a height waiver. The Commission also approved the Sunset Park rezoning plan. BSA decisions included variances for residential use in Mott Haven and a rear yard waiver in Crown Heights. Landmark …

The Stockley Verdict: An Explainer, Chad Flanders

All Faculty Scholarship

The purpose o f this document is to help explain some o f the existing Missouri law that Judge Wilson used in his opinion. It does not take a side on the opinion itself. At the end o f the day, the decision Judge Wilson made was based on his call on various disputed factual questions. The law was not, for the most part, at issue. I attempt only to describe the legal framework within with Judge Wilson decided the case; not to support or to criticize his verdict. Each person will ultimately have to make his or her own …

Vol. 37, No. 03 (September 14, 2009)

Indiana Law Annotated

No abstract provided.

September 12, 2009: More Pope Benedict On Religious Certainty In Politics, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “More Pope Benedict on Religious Certainty in Politics“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

September 11, 2009: Political Certainty And Religion, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Political Certainty and Religion“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

Oep Welcomes New Commissioner: Tom Kimbrell, Nathan C. Jensen, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

The Office for Education Policy is excited to welcome the new Arkansas Education Commissioner – Dr. Tom Kimbrell.

Recognizing The Accomplishments Of Ade Commissioner Ken James, Nathan C. Jensen, Gary W. Ritter

Policy Briefs

This summer, Dr. Ken James announced his resignation as Education Commissioner at the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE). Dr. James’ last day was June 30, 2009 and Diana Julian stepped in as interim commissioner. Today, Governor Mike Beebe announced Tom Kimbrell as his choice for the next commissioner. As we await the official appointment of the new commissioner, the OEP felt it was appropriate to highlight Dr. James’ contributions to Arkansas education.

Vol. Vi, Tab 38 - Ex. 28 - Email From Christopher Klipple, Christopher Klipple

Rosetta Stone v. Google (Joint Appendix)

Exhibits from the un-sealed joint appendix for Rosetta Stone Ltd., v. Google Inc., No. 10-2007, on appeal to the 4th Circuit. Issue presented: Under the Lanham Act, does the use of trademarked terms in keyword advertising result in infringement when there is evidence of actual confusion?

Michigan Law Sesquicentennial Celebration, University Of Michigan Law School

Event Materials

Schedule of events for the Michigan Law Sesquicentennial Celebration.

Summary Of Bower V. Harrah’S Laughlin, Inc., 125 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 37, John Ward

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

No abstract provided.

Brief Of Amici Curiae Fred T. Korematsu Center For Law And Equality, Asian Bar Association Of Washington, South Asian Bar Association Of Washington, And Washington Women Lawyers, Lorraine K. Bannai, Counsel For Amici Curiae

Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality

Civil Rights Amicus Brief Project

Summary Of Dobron V. Bunch, 125 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 36, Kathleen Wilde

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

An appeal from an Eighth Judicial District Court award of attorney fees stemming from a guaranty agreement.

Summary Of Sonia F. Ex Rel. J.M. V. Dist. Ct., 125 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 38, Jason Vanmeetren

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Nevada’s rape shield law2 applies only to criminal proceedings and not civil cases. However, the district court may limit the discovery of an alleged victim’s sexual history to protect the victim’s privacy.

September 9, 2009: How Did Corporations Get Constitutional Rights?, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “How Did Corporations Get Constitutional Rights?“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

On Cross-Petition For A Writ Of Certiorari To The United States Court Of Appeals For The Ninth Circuit, Holder V. Humanitarian Law Project, No. 09-89 (U.S. Sept. 8, 2009), David Cole

U.S. Supreme Court Briefs

No abstract provided.

Supreme Court Of The United States, October Term 2009 Preview, Georgetown University Law Center, Supreme Court Institute, Amanda M. Boote

Supreme Court Overviews

No abstract provided.

The Sixth Amendment And Expert Witnesses In Criminal Tax Cases, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

Recently, in the Baxter case, a federal district court vacated the sentence imposed as a result of a guilty plea in a criminal tax case. The court held that the failure of defense counsel to retain the services of an expert in tax crimes sentencing violated the defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to effective representation.

This installment of the Tax Crimes column explores Baxter. Part A briefly notes the civil and criminal tax contexts in which tax experts are used. Part B describes Baxter and its holding. Part C asks whether defense counsel in criminal tax cases should always retain a …

Community, Property, And Human Rights: The Failure Of Property-As-Respect, Sarah E. Hamill

Journal of Law and Social Policy

The question of whether private property rights can be human rights is longstanding. In this article, I unpack Hanoch Dagan and Avihay Dorfman’s recent attempt to render private property rights as capable of being human rights. Their account of private property forms part of a larger project to re-read private law and argues that the idea of substantive equality is at the heart of private law properly understood. In this article, I critique their focus on the horizontal aspects of property as ignoring the ways in which property always invokes a sense of community. I also argue that Dagan and …

Flexible Work Arrangements: Improving Job Quality And Workforce Stability For Low-Wage Workers And Their Employers, Jessica Glenn, Liz Watson

Published Reports

In 2009, workers and their families across the country felt the impact of serious economic downturn, with unemployment reaching a 26-year high. While recent news suggests things may be improving, we cannot forget that for many low-wage and hourly workers -- who now represent over a quarter of the U.S. workforce -- the recession only exacerbated their ongoing struggle to hold down quality jobs while caring for their families.

Low-wage workers face many of the same challenges that the rest of us face in reconciling our work, family and personal lives, but for many of these workers, it's simply a …

Shared Path: Bridging Indigenous And Settler Notions Of Urban Planning: An Annotated Interview With Carolyn King, Sarah Weinberger

Journal of Law and Social Policy

When Carolyn King was the Chief, the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation were in the middle of an almost twenty-five year negotiation of what would be one of the largest specific land claim settlements in Canada’s history. In 1986, the Mississaugas launched a land claim, alleging that the Crown did not comply with the original terms of the Toronto Purchase, taking more land and paying less money than had been agreed upon 200 years earlier. In 2010, Canada agreed to settle for $145 million, deeming lands covering much of Toronto, Burlington Bay, and the Toronto Islands as “traditional …

Making A Music City: The Commodification Of Culture In Toronto’S Urban Redevelopment, Tensions Between Use-Value And Exchange-Value, And The Counterproductive Treatment Of Alternative Cultures Within Municipal Legal Frameworks, Sara Ross

Journal of Law and Social Policy

Meaningful diversity and inclusion within today’s cities requires attention on many fronts, including that of city redevelopment strategies and policies. To that end, this article focuses on culture-led regeneration strategies—specifically, those of Toronto’s “Music City” initiative and “Creative City” strategy—and unpacks the mechanics of using culture and heritage as tools for redevelopment where their commodification can reveal the clash between divergent value interests that exist within spaces of culture in the city. Sustainable urban development must carefully account for these divergences to avoid the displacement and lack of equitable accounting of relationally vulnerable individuals, groups, (sub)cultures, and space. Counterproductive effects …

Revitalizing Land Use Law: Introductory Notes, Ronit Levine-Schnur

Journal of Law and Social Policy

As a way of celebrating its centenary, I sketch out a vision of how to revitalize land use and zoning law. Such a vision is called for not merely because of the marking of 100 years since zoning was first introduced in New York City. Due to the immense impact land use laws have on human lives and their surroundings, it is crucial to re-imagine the land use law system, and in particular judicial review of land use law, and to ground it within an ethical foundation. A land use law system should be based on an ethical commitment to …

Vol. 37, No. 02 (September 7, 2009)

Indiana Law Annotated

No abstract provided.

Easterday And The Erosion Of The Financial Inability Defense, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

Several tax crimes in the code involve failure to pay known or assessed tax liabilities. For generations, there has been controversy over whether a taxpayer’s lack of funds from which to make payment should preclude conviction for those crimes. The potency of the financial inability defense1 has waned over the years. The recent decision of a divided Ninth Circuit panel in Easterday continues that trend, but the defense should still have life in some situations and some courts.

Part I of this report describes the tax crimes to which a financial inability defense may be relevant. Part II discusses Easterday. …

Reimagining Toronto’S Community Councils, Alexandra Flynn

Journal of Law and Social Policy

This article examines Toronto’s community councils, a post-amalgamation creation meant to buffer the effects of a much larger city. Using a mixed methodology approach to understand their role and function, this paper finds that community councils largely focus on local planning and land use issues. However, under applicable law, Toronto’s community councils have the capacity to increase their delegated and decision-making power to serve a greater stewardship role in matters of concern to the city’s neighbourhoods, such as the “local” effects of “city-wide” issues, and to include non-councillor members as decision-makers. This paper argues that the City of Toronto should …

From Paradox To Subsidiarity: The United States And Human Rights Treaty Bodies, Tara J. Melish

Contributions to Books

Published as Chapter 8 in The Sword and the Scales: The United States and International Courts and Tribunals, Cesare P.R. Romano, ed.

It is frequently said that the United States has a paradoxical human rights policy. This Article takes a closer look at this vision from the perspective of U.S. engagement with international human rights treaty bodies, the quasi-adjudicatory expert committees or commissions that exercise supervisory jurisdiction over the U.S. human rights record. Contrary to popular perception that the U.S. thumbs its nose at these bodies, the U.S. in fact engages quite actively with their human rights procedures.

To untangle …

The Properties Of Planning: An Evolving Landscape, Alexandra Flynn, Donald Leffers

Journal of Law and Social Policy

The theme of this special volume is “Challenging Traditional Notions of Property in Land Use Planning.” Property in the common law tradition is conceived as a right to something, whether physical or not, that is disconnected from the object or idea itself. Property interests are almost always hierarchical and exclusionary. An emerging body of property law scholarship is challenging the basic tenets of the discipline. For example, Nicole Graham argues that property law must be rooted in a time and place, and Sarah Keenan suggests that property law is a form of spatial and temporal order that can function as …

The Complications Of Colonialism For Gentrification Theory And Marxist Geography, Liza Kim Jackson

Journal of Law and Social Policy

Gentrification is often described metaphorically as a form of ‘colonization,’ however in this paper I argue that gentrification comprises one strategy in the continued historical colonization of Indigenous peoples in the Canadian context, and more specifically in the settler city of Toronto. I propose that the colonial relationalities, both symbolic and material that give rise to the settler city, persist as a discipline on poor and Indigenous bodies, spaces and lands, through the capitalist way of life. Colonial relationalities are again heightened through gentrifications role in Toronto’s strivings for global city status in a neo-imperialist global economy. Gentrification is based …

Developers, The State, And The Politics Of Private Property Rights, Donald Leffers

Journal of Law and Social Policy

This article uses a new institutionalist approach to investigate major land use conflicts and regional land use policy changes in the Toronto region that affected the property relations of land developers. Institutionalist approaches focus on the role of key actors, ideas, and strategies in influencing the trajectories of political institutions, and the confrontation of political and strategic maneuvering in the face of existing institutions and structures. Through comparison of the processes driving enactment of two major regional land use statutes—the Oak Ridge Moraine Conservation Act and the Greenbelt Act—this article pays close attention to the relationships between political actors and …