Law Commons^™

Foreword, James L. Olmsted

Law and Contemporary Problems

The land trust community and governments at all levels have become married to conservation easements as their land conservation tool of choice. The numbers speak for themselves: as of the date of this writing, there were reportedly 1,700 land trusts that have protected twelve million acres of land by use of conservation easements. The bulk of this growth both in conservation easements and the land trusts that deploy them has occurred since the 1980s when federal income tax incentives became more fully utilized by conservation easement donors. But the parties to this marriage have become complacent and inattentive in the …

Conservation Easements And Perpetuity: Till Legislation Do Us Part, Richard Brewer

Law and Contemporary Problems

Brewer talks about conservation easements and perpetuity. Although conservation easements have many appealing features, their drawbacks have caused some observers to see the heavy reliance on them by land trusts as a weakness with possibly serious consequences. The protection provided may be fragile or, at least, of unproven dependability.

The Invisible Forest: Conservation Easement Databases And The End Of The Clandestine Conservation Of Natural Lands , James L. Olmsted

Law and Contemporary Problems

Olmsted talks about "invisible forest" refers to forest lands -- and, for that matter, any other land types -- protected by a perpetual conservation easement, the existence and location of which are concealed from the public, whether deliberately or because of the opaque nature of the easement process. Because easements, like other forms of deeds, must be recorded at the local land registry or recorder's office, they can never be made undiscoverable. But, despite the efforts of some states and conservation organizations to compile conservation easement data for public consumption, there are few functional systems that comprehensively track and provide …

Evaluating Conservation Effectiveness And Adaptation In Dynamic Landscapes, Adena R. Rissman

Law and Contemporary Problems

Rissman talks about evaluating conservation easement effectiveness requires interdisciplinary research that reaches beyond legal analysis to examine how easements influence human behaviors, which subsequently influence environmental conditions. Conservation easement effectiveness is not a fixed target, but is influenced over time by social and ecological landscape change. The promise of perpetuity is central to the appeal of conservation easements within the conservation movement.

Conservation Easements And The Doctrine Of Merger, Nancy A. Mclaughlin

Law and Contemporary Problems

McLaughlin talks about conservation easements and the doctrine of merger. This article explains that merger generally should not occur in such cases because the unity of ownership that is required for the doctrine to apply typically will not be present. For merger to occur, the two estates must be in the same person at the same time and in the same right.

Corporate Criminal Liability For Homicide: A Statutory Framework, James W. Harlow

Duke Law Journal

Since the nineteenth century, judges, legislators, prosecutors, and academics have grappled with how best to accommodate within the criminal law corporations whose conduct causes the death of others. The result of this debate was a gradual legal evolution towards acceptance of corporate criminal liability for homicide. But, as this Note argues, the underlying legal framework for such liability is ill fitting and largely ineffective. Given the public benefit that would accrue from a clearly defined and potent liability scheme, this Note proposes a model criminal statute that would hold corporations directly liable for homicide. The proposed statute draws upon basic …

Conservation Easements As Tools To Achieve Regulatory Environmental Goals, Laurie A. Wayburn

Law and Contemporary Problems

Wayburn talks about conservation easements as tools to achieve regulatory environmental goals. The traditional approach to protecting public-trust resources, such as wildlife found on private lands, is predominantly regulatory and proscriptive. Environmental regulation -- such as the Endangered Species Act, Clean Water Act, or Clean Air Act -- has focused on restricting or prohibiting resource management by landowners.

Do We Value Our Cars More Than Our Kids? The Conundrum Of Care For Children , Palma Joy Strand

Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy

Formal child care workers in the United States earn about $21,110 per year. Parking lot attendants, in contrast, make $21,250. These relative wages are telling: the market values the people who look after our cars more than the people who look after our kids.

This article delves below the surface of these numbers to explore the systemic disadvantages of those who care for children—and children themselves. The article first illuminates the precarious economic position of U.S. children, a disproportionate number of whom live in poverty. The article then shows both that substantial care for children is provided on an unpaid …

Alimony: What Social Science And Popular Culture Tell Us About Women, Guilt, And Spousal Support After Divorce , Judith G. Mcmullen

Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy

Over the past few decades, fewer divorcing women have received alimony, and when alimony awards are made, they are in declining amounts and for shorter periods of time. Conventional explanations of this trend focus on legal changes that have made divorces easier to obtain, as well as social changes that have led to larger numbers of married women in the paid workforce, and to greater social tolerance of divorce. Certainly these changes partly explain the downward trend in alimony, but they do not fully explain why alimony awards continue to decline, even among women who do not have viable job …

Implementing Grutter’S Diversity Rationale: Diversity And Empathy In Leadership , Rebecca K. Lee

Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy

This Article examines the role of leadership in implementing the diversity rationale affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court in Grutter v. Bollinger and argues that greater diversity and empathy are needed for effective leadership in diverse settings. In Grutter, the Court held that the University of Michigan Law School's use of race in selecting students for admission did not violate the Constitution's Equal Protection Clause. In so doing, the Court affirmed Justice Powell's diversity rationale as expressed in an earlier case, Regents of University of California v. Bakke, in which he noted that "'the nation's future depends upon leaders …

With All My Worldly Goods I Thee Endow, Or Maybe Not: A Reevaluation Of The Uniform Premarital Agreement Act After Three Decades, J. Thomas Oldham

Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Social Science In Judicial Decision Making: How Gay Rights Advocates Can Learn From Integration And Capital Punishment Case Law , Amy Rublin

Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy

This Article explores the intersection of social science and judicial decision making. It examines to what extent, and in what contexts, judges utilize social science in reaching and bolstering their rulings. The Article delves into three areas of law that are typically not grouped together—integration, gay rights, and capital punishment—to see the similarities and differences in the use of empirical findings. Analyzing the language in judicial opinions from family courts, district courts, circuit courts, and the United States Supreme Court enabled the emergence of trends. The opinions revealed that inconsistency in the use of social science may stem from how …

Looking A Gift Horse In The Mouth—The Underutilization Of Crime Victim Compensation Funds By Domestic Violence Victims , Njeri Mathis Rutledge

Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Journal Staff

Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Journal Staff

Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum

No abstract provided.

An Ecosystem-Based Approach To Slowing The Synergistic Effects Of Invasive Species And Climate Change, David A. Strifling

Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum

No abstract provided.

A Comparative Analysis Of The Right To Appeal, Peter D. Marshall

Duke Journal of Comparative & International Law

No abstract provided.

Rights And Remedies Under The Constitution: Extraterritorial Application Of The Writ Of Habeas Corpus, Christopher S. Ford

Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy

No abstract provided.

The Content Of Confrontation, Lisa Kern Griffin

Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy

No abstract provided.

International Arbitration And The Republic Of Colombia: Commercial, Comparative And Constitutional Concerns From A U.S. Perspective, S. I. Strong

Duke Journal of Comparative & International Law

No abstract provided.

Whose Crime Is It Anyway? The International Criminal Court And The Crime Of Aggression, Drew Kostic

Duke Journal of Comparative & International Law

No abstract provided.

Customary International Law: What It Is And What It Is Not, José A. Cabranes

Duke Journal of Comparative & International Law

No abstract provided.

Journal Staff

Duke Journal of Comparative & International Law

No abstract provided.

The Adversarial Myth: Appellate Court Extra-Record Factfinding, Brianne J. Gorod

Duke Law Journal

The United States' commitment to adversarial justice is a defining feature of its legal system. Standing doctrine, for example, is supposed to ensure that courts can rely on adverse parties to present the facts courts need to resolve disputes. Although the U.S. legal system generally lives up to this adversarial ideal, it sometimes does not. Appellate courts often look outside the record the parties developed before the trial court, turning instead to their own independent research and to factual claims in amicus briefs. This deviation from the adversarial process is an important respect in which the nation's adversarial commitment is …

Exploring Net Benefit Maximization: Conservation Easements And The Public-Private Interface, Julie Ann Gustanski, John B. Wright

Law and Contemporary Problems

Gustanski and Wright talk about conservation easements and the public-private interface. The ease of application across varied lands coupled with the financial and tax-associated benefits of conservation easements have driven the popularity of their use in conserving private lands across the US. Conservation easements typically require sizeable public funding resources, which are provided through either direct public expenditures via diverse public programs established to promote the conservation of land or through tax benefits.

Conservation Easement Reform: As Maine Goes Should The Nation Follow? , Jeff Pidot

Law and Contemporary Problems

No abstract provided.

Journal Staff

Law and Contemporary Problems

No abstract provided.

Conservation Easements At The Climate Change Crossroads, Jessica Owley

Law and Contemporary Problems

Owley discusses the conundrum that occurs when climate change leads to a landscape that conflicts with conservation easement terms. A conservation easement that is too changeable endangers the perpetual protection that is the cornerstone of conservation easements. But, forcing the landscape to fit a conservation easement requires active management, something more often associated with fee-simple ownership.

Free Will Paradigms, Kent Greenfield

Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy

No abstract provided.

The Failing Faith In Class Actions: Wal-Mart V. Dukes And At&T Mobility V. Concepcion, Catherine Fisk, Erwin Chemerinsky

Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy

No abstract provided.