Law Commons^™

Minimizing The Harm Of State Fiscal Volatility, David Gamage, Jeremy Bearer-Friend

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This report’s primary concern is how U.S. state governments should respond to the fiscal volatility created by their balanced budget constraints. Applying the principles of risk allocation theory to this recurring problem, we conclude that states should primarily adjust the rates of broad-based taxes as their economies cycle, rather than fluctuating public spending.

Observations From An American Conflict Resolution Professional In Serbia On The Effects Of The Accessibility Of International Media, Lynn M. Malley

Marquette Law Review

In this Essay, I will address media coverage of four incidents that occurred while I was living and teaching in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia and Montenegro, during 2003 to 2005: the March 2004 violence in Kosovo; a visit to Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in January 2005; the International Competition for Online Dispute Resolution (ICODR) during the winter of 2005; and a remembrance of the tenth anniversary of the Srebrenica Massacre in May 2005.

It is the business of conflict resolution professionals to look beyond the contours of the conflict situations in which they work. Filling in …

A Deadly Response: Unconscious Racism And California's Provocative Act Doctrine, Katherine N. Hallinan

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

In rural Northern California, two young black men are shot multiple times from behind. Their friend, who is also black, is charged with their murders, while the gunman, who is white, walks free. During an alleged gang brawl between teenagers, a young Latino man is stabbed and killed. His friends, and not the actual perpetrator, are charged and convicted of the crime. The defendants are Latino, the gunman is white. California's little-known provocative act doctrine, which holds felons liable for killings that are provoked by a felon's provocative act, is the vehicle prosecutors used to charge each of these young …

Dangerousness, Risk, And Release, Hadar Aviram, Valerie Kraml, Nicole Schmidt

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

No abstract provided.

Changing The Topography Of Sentencing, Kate E. Bloch

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

No abstract provided.

An Overview Of Special Populations In California Prisons, Eumi K. Lee

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

No abstract provided.

The Centerpiece To Real Reform - Political, Legal, And Social Barriers To Reentry In California, Eumi K. Lee

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

No abstract provided.

Litigation Over Prison Medical Services, Aaron Rappaport

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

No abstract provided.

Sentencing Reform In California, Aaron Rappaport

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

No abstract provided.

Decent Work, Human Rights, And The Millennium Development Goals, Gillian Macnaughton, Diane F. Frey

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

The Millennium Development Goals ("MDGs") have provided the global framework for international development and poverty elimination policy for almost a decade. This framework includes time-bound targets and indicators to monitor progress toward the Goals. Initially, full employment and decent work for all was not part of the MDG framework. In 2007, however, the UN General Assembly approved four new MDG targets, including the achievement of "full and productive employment and decent work for all." This article discusses this new MDG target and its indicators from social justice and human rights perspectives. It argues that uniting the overlapping agendas of the …

Can These Bones Live - A Look At The Impacts Of The War On Drugs On Poor African-American Children And Families, Nekima Levy-Pounds

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

The war on drugs has resulted in sharp increases in prison sentences for many drug-related crimes. Due to the structure of the federal sentencing guidelines and the disparity in sentences relating to power cocaine and crack, the primary burden of these increased sentences has disproportionately affected poor African Americans. The war on drugs legislation has also had a marked impact on another population - the families and children of the incarcerated. This article discusses the rationales behind the war on drugs legislation, addressing both the initial enactments and subsequent statutes and cases that have changed the landscape of drug-related sentencing. …

Harming Vulnerable Children: The Injustice Of California's Kinship Foster Care Policy, Meredith L. Alexander

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

California denies state foster care benefits to nonfederally eligible foster children when they are placed with relative caregivers (a placement known as "kinship foster care"). This note explores the unique benefits and needs of kinship foster care, and analyzes the current legal framework regarding kinship foster care, including the justifications for California's policy. The author argues that this California policy fails to embrace the unique benefits and needs of kinship foster care. Furthermore, the policy is contradictory to the state mandated placement priority with relatives. By not properly supporting kinship foster care, California is harming the state's most vulnerable children …

Beyond The Squabble: Putting The Tenderloin Community Justice Center In Context, Michael Cobden, Ron Albers

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

The Tenderloin Community Justice Center ("CJC") began operation in May 2009 amid a tense political and economic climate. Although it employs an innovative approach to alleviating crime, the CJC is not a novel concept, but rather modeled after successful community courts already in existence. As a product of community efforts, the CJC aims to address the shortcomings of the traditional court system, which has been ineffective in reducing crime and recidivism rates, by offering alternatives to incarceration. By coordinating service providers intimately with the court, the CJC provides a centralized system that allows it to comprehensively examine an offender's problems …

Interrogation Is Not Ethnography: The Irrational Admission Of Gang Cops As Experts In The Field Of Sociology, Christopher Mcginnis, Sarah Eisenhart

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

Courts regularly qualify police officers as "gang experts" in prosecutions under California's Street Terrorism Enforcement and Prevention Act. This note argues that absent independent, scientifically-verifiable expertise, the use of police officers as gang experts violates even California courts' low standard for admitting expert evidence. The note begins by analyzing the language and the legislative intent of the Act, including its substantive offense components, sentence enhancement and alternative penalty sections. The note next discusses the evidentiary power of police officers when testifying as gang experts, focusing on the substantial risk of prejudice resulting from such testimony and the officers' ability to …

Reconceptualizing Restorative Justice, Kate E. Bloch

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

No abstract provided.

We've Been Waiting A Long Time - The Struggle To Pass The Filipino Veterans Equity Act And A Bittersweet Ending To A Sixty-Three-Year Battle, Paul Daniel Rivera

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

On February 17, 2009, President Barack Obama signed into effect the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Buried amidst the hundreds of pages and the billions of dollars given out by the bill was Title X, Section 1002, a diminutive two pages of text authorizing the federal government to give "Payments to Eligible Persons Who Served in the United States Armed Forces in the Far East During World War II." However, Section 1002 was neither designed nor included to create jobs or stimulate the economy. In reality, Section 1002 was included to authorize a long-deserved $198 million payout to …

An Insurrection Act For The 21st Century, Thaddeus A. Hoffmeister

School of Law Faculty Publications

As the Hurricane Katrina relief effort illustrates, both Governor Blanco and President Bush, like previous elected officials before them, struggled to properly and promptly deploy federal troops during a domestic emergency. This shortcoming was due to problems associated with: (1) interpreting the Insurrection Act; (2) federalism; and (3) public opinion. This article, divided into four parts, attempts to resolve those problems, or at least decrease the likelihood of their recurrence, by offering suggestive changes to the Insurrection Act. Part II provides a general overview of the Insurrection Act. It begins with a brief discussion of two early episodes of civil …

Eliminationist Discourse In A Conflicted Society: Lessons For America From Africa?, Phyllis E. Bernard

Marquette Law Review

For generations, Western society has taken pride in welcoming all types of discourse in the press, radio, or television; the livelier, the better. Outrage often awaits individuals or institutions suggesting that some passionate rhetoric in the public square invites danger that outweighs the theoretical value of free expression. This Article proceeds from the assumption that—from a less lofty, more grassroots perspective—modern, organized, formal, one-time venues for extremist political speech do not present the most potent threat to physical safety and a stable democracy. The greater danger emanates from pervasive right-wing extremist themes on radio, television, and some online news sources …

Racial Hate Speech: A Comparative Analysis Of The Impact Of International Human Rights Law Upon The Law Of The United Kingdom And The United States, Stanley Halpin

Marquette Law Review

Hate speech poses a unique problem in the realm of rights protection. Principles of freedom of expression promote its protection, whereas principles of equality favor its restriction. International human rights law, the constitutional law of the United States, and the domestic and constitutional law of Great Britain present different and frequently contradictory doctrines on the resolution of this issue, in spite of their shared common law history and theory of rights protection. The United States Supreme Court’s opposition to absorption of international standards has been strong and exceptionally so when confronted with international rules proscribing hate speech. This experience contrasts …

(Unfair) Advantage: Damocles’ Sword And The Coercive Use Of Immigration Status In A Civil Society, David P. Weber

Marquette Law Review

This article argues that the coercive use of immigration status or “status coercion” in civil proceedings and negotiations is fundamentally unethical and potentially illegal. For attorneys attempting to take advantage of unauthorized immigration status, such conduct very likely violates an attorney's ethical obligations under the Rules of Professional Responsibility and wrongfully takes advantage of an overly vulnerable population. For the judiciary, the article argues for a more proactive approach in maintaining the perception of fairness and justice in civil proceedings for all parties, regardless of immigration status. Additionally, for both legal and lay persons, status coercion may constitute the crime …

Mediation As An Effective Method To Transform Relationships And Resolve Conflict, Julie R. Kneip

Graduate Research Papers

Mediation has become a well-respected method of conflict resolution. It is currently utilized in a variety of areas including family situations such as divorce and custody concerns, employer and employee disputes, and individual conflicts. Mediation occurs on a global level as well, including intervention with countries engaged in conflict with one another and countries with governments at odds with their constituents. In the United States, mediation is often seen as a way to lower the burden on the courts by having parties resolve issues with the help of a mediator rather than further clogging the judicial system. While this is …

Wine Wars: How We Have Painted Ourselves Into A Regulatory Corner, Rachel M. Perkins

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

A private citizen can violate the Constitution in two ways. The first is by enslaving another person, an atrocious act that should be proscribed by the highest law in the land. The second is by transporting alcohol across a state line in violation of the laws of that state. The two actions are hardly of the same magnitude.

The history of alcohol regulation has been a litany of failed attempts--on both the state and federal levels. Each new layer of legislation created additional problems. Most are familiar with the infamy of Prohibition, the federal ban on the manufacture or sale …

Nineteen Years And Counting: Resolving The Deep Circuit Split Over Whether Failure To Attach A Properly Incorporated Supporting Document To A Search Warrant Violates The Fourth Amendment's Warrant Clause, M. Jackson Jones

MC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Putting The World Back Together - Recovering Faithful Citizenship In A Postmodern Age, Harry G. Hutchison

MC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research And Surplus Embryos: A Moral Argument, Malosack Berjis

MC Law Review

Symposium

The Architecture Of Contemporary Healthcare Reform And Effective Marginal Tax Rates, Seth J. Chandler

MC Law Review

Symposium

The Elder Economic Security Initiative™ Program: The Elder Economic Security Standard™ Index For West Virginia, Gerontology Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston, Wider Opportunities For Women

Gerontology Institute Publications

This report addresses income adequacy for West Virginia’s older adults using the WOW-GI national Elder Economic Security Standard Index (Elder Index) methodology. The Elder Index benchmarks basic costs of living for elder households and illustrates how costs of living vary geographically and are based on the characteristics of elder households, including household size, home ownership or renter status, and health status. The costs are based on market costs for basic needs of elder households and do not assume any public or private supports.

The Elder Economic Security Initiative™ Program: The Elder Economic Security Standard™ Index For New Mexico, Gerontology Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston, Wider Opportunities For Women

Gerontology Institute Publications

This report addresses income adequacy for New Mexico’s older adults using the WOW-GI National Elder Economic Security Standard Index (Elder Index) methodology. The Elder Index benchmarks basic costs of living for elder households and illustrates how costs of living vary geographically and are based on the characteristics of elder households, including household size, home ownership or renter status and health status. The costs are based on market costs for basic needs of elder households and do not assume any public or private supports.

Table Of Contents - Issue 2

South Carolina Journal of International Law and Business

No abstract provided.

H-1b Visa Legislation: Legal Deficiencies And The Need For Reform, Alaina M. Beach

South Carolina Journal of International Law and Business

No abstract provided.