Law Commons^™

The Supreme Court’S Assault On Litigation: Why (And How) It Could Be Good For Health Law, Abigail R. Moncrieff

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

In recent years, the Supreme Court has narrowed or eliminated private rights of action in many legal regimes, much to the chagrin of the legal academy. That trend, although certainly not limited to health law, has had a significant impact on the field; the Court's decisions have eliminated the private enforcement mechanism for at least three important healthcare regimes: Medicaid, employer-sponsored insurance, and medical devices. In a similar trend outside the courts, state legislatures have capped non-economic and punitive damages for medical malpractice litigation, weakening the tort system's deterrent capacity in those states. This Article suggests that the trend of …

The Supreme Court And The Pledge Of Allegiance: A Hollow Victory, Charles J. Russo, Ralph D. Mawdsley

CASAL Faculty Publications

In Elk Grove Unified School District v Newdow (Elk Grove)

the Supreme Court, in an 8–0 judgment, with three concurrences, upheld the words ‘under God’ in the Pledge of Allegiance. In light of the uproar caused by Elk Grove, this article is divided into three parts. After reviewing the history of the Pledge the second section examines the litigation involving the pledge, including Elk Grove in this regard. The article concludes with brief reflections on the meaning of Elk Grove.

Justice John Paul Stevens - His Take On Takings, Alan C. Weinstein

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

This commentary reviews and analyzes Justice John Paul Stevens's role in shaping the Court's views on the takings issue in land use regulation.

A Definite Claim On Claim Indefiniteness: An Empirical Study Of Definiteness Cases Of The Past Decade With A Focus On The Federal Circuit And The Insolubly Ambiguous Standard, Christa J. Laser

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

This empirical study of patent claim definiteness cases of the past decade makes several novel findings including: (1) slightly more than half of final Federal Circuit definiteness cases hold the asserted claims not indefinite; (2) the percentage of non-Federal Circuit definiteness cases holding claims not indefinite increased approximately 60 percentage points over the ten-year period focused on in this analysis;(3) the Federal Circuit more often held chemical claims not indefinite, but electrical claims indefinite; and (4) the Federal Circuit more often held claims with term clarity issues not indefinite, but claims with means-plus-function issues indefinite. These differences partially result from …

Cooperating Rivals: The Riparian Politics Of The Jordan River Basin, By J. Soslan, Neda A. Zawahri

Political Science Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Redesigning The American Law School, David R. Barnhizer

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

American law schools are an integral part of a vertically integrated system of production in which the end product is lawyers. Law schools are having rapidly increasing problems “selling” their “products” to potential employers/purchasers. Even if the law schools do not voluntarily cut back on the numbers of admitted students some states will decide there should be no public subsidy for educating students for employment areas such as law where there is no demand. Even though many private law schools will be affected negatively, publicly-funded law schools will also be dramatically affected due to declining state budgets and competition for …

The Somali Piracy Problem: A Global Puzzle Necessitating A Global Solution, Milena Sterio

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Over the past few years, piracy has exploded off the coast of Somalia. Somali pirates congregate on a "mother ship" and then divide into smaller groups that sail out on tiny skiffs. Using potent weapons such as AK-47s and hand-propelled grenades, Somali pirates attack civilian ships carrying cargo through the Gulf of Aden, a body of water between Yemen and Somalia. Once they have overtaken the victim vessel, the pirates typically hijack the vessel's cargo and kidnap the crewmembers. The cargo is often resold to willing buyers or held for ransom. The crew are kept hostage in Somalia until either …

Pitfalls Of Fmla And Collective Bargaining Agreements, Karin Mika

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Mika discusses union contracts and how employers must be aware of family and medical leave rights when applying contract provisions.

Acknowledging Our Roots: Setting The Stage For The Legal Writing Institute, Karin M. Mika

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

This article discusses the history and development of legal writing courses and the Legal Writing Institute.

Would You Say That To Your Children? Enhancing Learning Through Improved Communication, Karin M. Mika

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

This paper discusses how an aging professor must change how she teaches in relation to how her relationship with her student changes. Sometimes professors see themselves in one way and do not realize that they are not perceived the same way they were years ago. The paper sets out advice for appearing less intimidating to students as they grow younger while we grow older.

Book Review: For The Common Good: Principles Of American Academic Freedom, By Matthew W. Finkin And Robert C. Post, Lauren M. Collins

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

In For the Common Good: Principles of American Academic Freedom (2009), law professors Matthew W. Finkin (University of Illinois) and Robert C. Post (Yale) "articulate basic principles of American academic freedom" (p.6) as a means of grounding the ongoing debate over the concept. The authors succeed in providing an account that is both comprehensive and surprisingly concise. Though slow starting, their book aptly sets the scene for all who wish to participate in a continuing conversation about the state of academic freedom.

Understanding The Recurrent Crisis In Legal Romanticism: Two Criteria For Coherent Doubt, Chris Sagers

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Broadly skeptical or relativistic criticisms of law and legal discourse, of the kind prevalent in the last generation in American legal scholarship, pose an inherent logic problem: they tend to impugn normativity itself just as much as they do their intended target. What seems amiss is that the act of critique is itself normative. However it is stated, and notwithstanding efforts by the critic to say otherwise, it is hard to see how the normativity implied in the very act of critique—indeed, in the very act of having purposes at all—is not at odds with the criticism itself.

As an …

The Illusion Of Creative Scholarship In American Universities And Law Schools, David Barnhizer

David Barnhizer

The aim of this brief essay is to explore several of the dominant forms of scholarship in the university and in law schools. This is done by examining what are described as five sometimes incompatible ideals, those of development and pursuit of original knowledge for its own sake, preservation, refinement and transmission of the best forms of knowledge, objective social critique, individual activism and collective activism. Tenure track positions in American universities and in law schools particularly are comfortable sinecures. In far too many instances these privileged and lifetime positions serve mainly the personal interests and agendas of the purported …

Redesigning The American Law School, David Barnhizer

David Barnhizer

In other industries when there is a decline or severe curtailment of the demand for their product we see companies downsizing, layoffs and even bankruptcies. American law schools have to this point been able to operate largely without any required adaptation to the economic realities of demand for their product. The problem is created by the fact that law schools are part of a rigid and intractable business system in the same way that the large firms and solo practitioners are driven by their need for money. The economic downturn is not a simple cycle but a transformation. Law schools …

Expansion Of Private Activity In Space And Its Impact On The Development Of The International Law Of Outer Space, Mark J. Sundahl

Law Faculty Contributions to Books

Private companies are playing an ever-larger role in the use of outer space and their presence in space will continue to expand in the coming years. For example, increased private activity in space will likely be encouraged by the new U.S. space policy proposed by the Obama administration which would require the U.S. government to rely on private companies for the delivery of crew, cargo, and satellites into space. This paper examines the effect that this increased private activity will have on the future development of the international law of outer space. One question that emerges from increased private activity …

Tailoring The Narrow Tailoring Requirement In The Supreme Court's Affirmative Action Cases, Luiz Antonio Salazar Arroyo

Cleveland State Law Review

In his first and only affirmative action decision since becoming the controlling member of the Supreme Court, Justice Kennedy, in Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1, showed a possible willingness to go back to the looser, more contextualist view of the narrow tailoring requirement that the Court embraced when Justice Powell was the swing vote. This Article argues that regardless of whether Justice Kennedy actually was moving back toward a more contextualist approach to narrow tailoring, a shift away from the highly formalistic inquiry adopted by Justice O'Connor back to the looser contextual standard used …

What's All The Headache: Reform Needed To Cope With The Effects Of Concussions In Football, Erika A. Diehl

Journal of Law and Health

In order to effectively manage this public health concern, it is imperative to gain an understanding of the issues surrounding head injuries in sporting events. This Note will discuss the increasing frequency and dangers of concussions in amateur and professional football. It will suggest that athletes, schools, coaches, and doctors must become more educated on the causes and dangers of concussions in order to ensure the safety of participants. In order to do so, this Note introduces a medical overview of concussions, while briefly outlining the diagnosis, long-term effects, and management of concussions. Part III discusses the legal theories athletes …

Pleading In Ohio After Bell Atlantic V. Twombly And Ashcroft V. Iqbal: Why Ohio Shouldn't Notice A Change, Alana C. Jochum

Cleveland State Law Review

Ohio has only briefly addressed the entrance of Bell Atlantic onto the pleading stage, and, thus far, Ohio state courts have mostly retained the Conley standard for determining pleadings. However, multiple pleading standards are emerging, making the issue ripe for a determination by the Supreme Court of Ohio as to what the true pleading standard is for Ohio. This Note will explain why Ohio should preserve Conley, even if doing so diverges from the original intent of federal-state uniformity embodied by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

Foreword, Mark J. Sundahl

Global Business Law Review

No abstract provided.

Recurring Storms: Weathering The Future By Understanding The Past , Robert L. Brown Ph.D.

Global Business Law Review

In this article, I describe the major financial crises that evolved into economic crises during the past four hundred years in Europe, the United States, and Asia, before turning to the 2007-10 global financial and economic crisis. My focus will be Tulipmania of 1637, Mississippi Scheme of 1720, South Sea Bubble of 1720, Great Crash of 1929, Crash of 1987, Asian Financial Crisis of 1997, Dot-com Bubble of 2000, and Financial Crisis of 2007-10. I identify commonalities as well as distinguishing characteristics among the events. In the discussion and description that follows, I note that the tendency is for more …

China’S Response To The Global Financial Crisis: Implications For U.S. – China Economic Relations , Daniel C.K. Chow

Global Business Law Review

The consequences of the global financial crisis for United States-China economic relations are still unfolding, and it is still unclear whether trade tensions will escalate into trade sanctions. What seems clear, however, is that there is a rising tide of protectionism in both countries based upon what hardliners on each side perceive to be unfair practices and policies implemented by the other. Historically, mutual policies of protectionism between trading partners leads to trade sanctions, which would be an unfortunate result for United States-China economic relations. It remains to be seen whether hardliners in both countries will push the two trading …

The Response To The Financial Meltdown In The U.K., Bruce J.L. Lowe

Global Business Law Review

It is now over two years since the September 15, 2008 bankruptcy filing by Lehman Brothers sent shockwaves through an already tremulous and jittery financial and political world. In the dark days of the ensuing months, in the United States (U.S.), in Britain and Europe, and in many other parts of the world, markets crashed or severely slumped, commercial and investment banks failed, credit froze, trade and commerce slowed dramatically, profits evaporated, businesses tightened belts, and unemployment figures skyrocketed. In most major economic zones, including the U.S. and Europe, governments and central banks, often in consultation with each other over …

Book Review, Laura Ray

Journal of Law and Health

Reviewing Real Collaboration: What it Takes for Global Health to Succeed, Mark L. Rosenberg, Elisabeth S. Hayes, Margaret H. McIntyre, and Nancy Neill, California/ Milbank Books on Health and the Public; no. 20. Berkeley: University of California Press; New York: Milbank Memorial Fund, c2010.

Not Of Woman Born: How Ectogenesis Will Change The Way We View Viability, Birth, And The Status Of The Unborn, Eric Steiger

Journal of Law and Health

Over seventy-five years ago, Aldous Huxley envisioned a future in which the creation of human individuals is not left to chance and sweaty biology, but is a feat of engineering individuals to established specifications. Huxley described a process by which human ova are fertilized in-vitro, then "budded" through an imaginary technique into multiple copies, and finally into identical twins in incubators, entirely absent of a mother's womb. While many of Huxley's predictions about the future have come to pass, such as helicopters, the assembly line, and indeed, in-vitro fertilization, the prospect of ectogenesis, of gestating a child completely outside of …

Whom Would Jesus Cover - A Biblical, Ethical Lens For The Contemporary American Health Care Debate, Jeffrey R. Baker

Journal of Law and Health

This paper attempts a view of the contemporary health care debate in America through the prism of Biblical scripture and proposes that people of faith should recognize the current state of the American health care system as a moral crisis of justice and charity. First, I provide a survey of the current state of American health care for the uninsured, describing the demographic and economic circumstances of the uninsured and the resources available to them when they need medical care. Second, I ask whether, in light of scripture, this state of affairs presents a moral question that should drive our …

Lines Of Communication: Advances In Stem Cell Policy, Dena Davis, Debra Grega

Journal of Law and Health

This is a transcription of the Journal of Law and Health's Speaker Series event held on November 17, 2009 at the Joseph W. Bartunek III Moot Court Room, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. The speakers discussed stem cell policy, ethics, oversight, funding restrictions and research restrictions.

Pushing Back: Protecting Maternal Autonomy From The Living Room To The Delivery Room, Benjamin Grant Chojnacki

Journal of Law and Health

As mothers are given more freedom to make their delivery choices, problems with the current maternity care system and the legal protections afforded fetus have the potential to diminish maternal independence. At one end of the spectrum, the home birth movement and reactions against "medicalized" birth have the potential to create physician distrust and a greater resistance to medical treatment. This resistance, when coupled with an expansive view of fetal rights may result in compelled medical treatment, injury, or the loss of parental rights. At the other end of the spectrum, elective C-sections and inductions will diminish the likelihood that …

Form & Reform: The Economic Realities Of The United States Healthcare System, Mark Votruba

Journal of Law and Health

Good afternoon, everybody. My name is Eric Steiger, I'm one of the editors-in-chief from the Journal of Law and Health. And I'm happy to welcome all of you to the second speaker event in the 2009/2010 Journal of Law and Health Speaker Series. Thank you all for coming. Now, I know that the news last week was dominated by the story of Sandra Bullock's breakup; however, some of you might have noticed that a small piece of minor legislation also got passed through Congress last week. And you also might have noticed that it wasn't quite as full of bipartisan …

Equal Standing With States: Tribal Sovereignty And Standing After Massachusetts V. Epa, Joseph Mead, Nicholas Fromherz

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

In Massachusetts v. EPA, 549 U.S. 497 (2007), the Supreme Court held that Massachusetts was entitled to "special solicitude" in the standing analysis because it was sovereign. As a result, Massachusetts passed the standing threshold in a global warming case where an ordinary litigant may have been stymied. The Supreme Court’s analysis raises an interesting question: Are Indian tribes—which have been considered sovereign entities since before the founding, and which hold lands facing heavy environmental pressure—entitled to "special solicitude" as well? We think they should be.

To make this argument, we begin by discussing standing basics; dissecting Massachusetts v. …

Healthcare Reform & The Missing Voice Of Complementary And Alternative Medicine, Gwendolyn R. Majette

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Given the high prevalence of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use by Americans, coupled with the emphasis placed on prevention in many of the healthcare reform proposals, this article argues that CAM should play a role in the healthcare reform conversation. Part I provides the background information on CAM including its definition, CAM use, and its cost. This section also broadly outlines the contours of the early healthcare reform proposals, those in existence as of January 2009. Part II describes how CAM would ideally be integrated into the United States healthcare system. Part III outlines the reasons CAM has been …