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Environmental Law Updates

Journal of Environmental and Sustainability Law

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Journal of Environmental and Sustainability Law

No abstract provided.

Access To Justice? The View From The Street, Mary Stratton

Canadian Forum on Civil Justice

Once homeless, our odds for accessing any kind of justice are low. Whether we are chronically or just periodically homeless, we will be familiar with social injustice. The likelihood is high that we also have unresolved legal problems spanning multiple areas of law. Seventeen participants in the Alberta Legal Services Mapping Project (ALSMP) reported being currently homeless. Their experiences, joined with reports from legal and social service providers across Alberta, are the focus of this article.

Victims’ Right To Remedy: Awarding Meaningful Reparations At The Eccc, Mahdev Mohan Et Al

2008 Asian Business & Rule of Law initiative

No abstract provided.

Deepwater Drilling: Law, Policy, And Economics Of Firm Organization And Safety, Mark A. Cohen, Madeline Gottlieb, Joshua Linn, Nathan Richardson

Vanderbilt Law Review

Although the causes of the Deepwater Horizon spill are not yet conclusively identified, significant attention has focused on the safety-related policies and practices-often referred to as the safety culture-of BP and other firms involved in drilling the well. This Article defines and characterizes the economic and policy forces that affect safety culture and identifies reasons why those forces may or may not be adequate or effective from the public's perspective. Two potential justifications for policy intervention are that: (1) not all of the social costs of a spill may be internalized by a firm; and (2) there may be principal-agent …

Real-Time Economic Analysis And Policy Development During The Bp "Deepwater Horizon" Oil Spill, Joseph E. Aldy

Vanderbilt Law Review

The 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill posed near-term economic risks to the Gulf of Mexico region and raised questions about appropriate policies to mitigate catastrophic oil-spill risks. This Essay reviews the Obama Administration's assessment of the economic vulnerabilities to the spill, the Administration's May 12, 2010, legislative proposal focused on minimizing the adverse economic impacts to workers and small businesses in the Gulf of Mexico, and the effort to secure an agreement with BP to ensure that those harmed by the spill will receive full compensation. Then, the Essay discusses several of the policy reforms advanced by the Administration …

Coastal Wetland Restoration And The "Deepwater Horizon" Oil Spill, Edward B. Barbier

Vanderbilt Law Review

Both the 2005 Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the 2010 BP oil spill have focused attention on the need to restore coastal wetland habitats along the Gulf of Mexico of the United States. As restoration is required by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, restoring coastal wetlands will be required as part of BP's legal obligations. Although plans to restore the Mississippi River Delta are well on their way, the damages to the Gulf Coast wetlands caused by the Deepwater Horizon spill are still occurring and have yet to be fully assessed. At this critical time for wetland restoration in …

False Efficiency And Missed Opportunities In Law And Economics, Shawn J. Bayern

Scholarly Publications

This Article points out a simple flaw common to many law-and-economics analyses, ranging from fundamental models like the Hand Formula to narrower arguments like those that oppose the doctrine of unconscionability.

The flaw is straightforward: economic analyses of law often assume, either implicitly or explicitly that when it is more efficient for an activity to occur than for it not to occur it is efficient for legal rules to encourage the activity. Even on grounds of efficiency alone, however, knowing in isolation whether an activity produces more wealth than its absence is insufficient to conclude that the activity is efficient. …

Organizational Apologies: Bp As A Case Study, Erin O'Hara O'Connor

Scholarly Publications

On April 20, 2010, the Macondo oil well ruptured during the final phases of exploratory drilling. Methane gas and other substances spewed from the well onto the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform causing an explosion and fire that killed eleven crewmen and ultimately sank the platform. Over the next three months, the well, located approximately 250 miles southeast of Houston, Texas, spilled as much as 184 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. In the aftermath, the U.S. government banned deepwater drilling for several months while applicable regulations were toughened.

The well’s majority owner was BP PLC, formerly known …

On The Value Of Jurisprudence, Ian Farrell

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

As Scott Shapiro wryly observes in his excellent recent book, Legality, “one doesn't need especially acute powers of social observation to be aware that analytical jurisprudence is not everyone's cup of tea.” Shapiro's book challenges this common sentiment. Shapiro develops an original and ambitious theory of law, and does so with a clarity of expression that makes it engaging and accessible to readers not fluent in jurisprudential jargon. Along the way, Shapiro directly addresses the skeptical view of the value of analytical jurisprudence by arguing that the nature of law in general is of crucial importance to determining the content …

Association Between Mental Health Disorders And Juveniles' Detention For A Personal Crime, Patricia A. Stoddard Dare, Christopher A. Mallett, Craig Boitel

Social Work Faculty Publications

Background: Youth involved with juvenile courts often suffer from mental health difficulties and disorders, and these mental health disorders have often been a factor leading to the youth’s delinquent behaviours and activities.

Method: The present study of a sample population (N= 341), randomly drawn from one urban US county’s juvenile court delinquent population, investigated which specific mental health disorders predicted detention for committing a personal crime.

Results: Youth with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and conduct disorder diagnoses were significantly less likely to commit personal crimes and experience subsequent detention, while youth with bipolar diagnoses were significantly more likely.

Conclusion: Co-ordinated youth …

Organizational Apologies: Bp As A Case Study, Erin O'Hara O'Connor

Vanderbilt Law Review

This Article examines the conduct of BP executives in the weeks following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill to illuminate the use of apology by organizations. After briefly describing the value of apology and its nuances from an evolutionary perspective, the Article describes how apology and other responsibility-accepting behaviors can be mobilized by organizations to avoid the costs of its apparently careless conduct. In particular, organizations can designate particular agents as spokespersons who possess the ability to portray a sense of sincerity and regret. Moreover, reconciliation by ingroup members appears to be more common than is reconciliation by outgroup members, likely …

Should Bp Be Liable For Economic Losses Due To The Moratorium On Oil Drilling Imposed After The "Deepwater Horizon" Accident?, Steven Shavell

Vanderbilt Law Review

In the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon accident and the BP oil spill, the government imposed a moratorium on deepwater oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. The issue addressed here is whether, on grounds of policy, BP should be held responsible for moratorium- related economic losses. The answer that is developed is no. The reason, in essence, is that, although the spill caused the moratorium, the moratorium might be viewed as a socially beneficial event on net because its purpose was to avert a significant danger.

Deepwater Drilling: Law, Policy, And Economics Of Firm Organization And Safety, Mark A. Cohen

Vanderbilt Law Review

Nathan Richardson 64 Vand. L. Rev. 1853 (2011) Although the causes of the Deepwater Horizon spill are not yet conclusively identified, significant attention has focused on the safety-related policies and practices-often referred to as the safety culture-of BP and other firms involved in drilling the well. This Article defines and characterizes the economic and policy forces that affect safety culture and identifies reasons why those forces may or may not be adequate or effective from the public's perspective. Two potential justifications for policy intervention are that: (1) not all of the social costs of a spill may be internalized by …

Conflict In The Statutory Elicitation Of Aboriginal Culture In Australia, James F. Weiner

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

In order for Aboriginal rights and interests to be recognised under the Native Title Act (1993), such rights and interests must arise from laws and customs that can be shown to have continuity with the particular set of laws and customs that existed at the time of sovereignty, or, at least, at the time of first European contact. This interpretation of continuity has been applied in Australian native title cases since the High Court’s Yorta Yorta decision (Yorta Yorta v the State of Victoria [2002] HCA 58). Yet today’s Aboriginal native title claim groups are also required to participate in …

Cost Effective Legal Research, Mike Martinez Jr, Katy Stein

Law Librarian Scholarship

This article discusses free and low-cost legal research resources that can help reduce the cost of litigation. A lawyer using such resources must appreciate not only the advantages of such resources, but also the disadvantages.

Re-Appraising The Appraisers: Expanding Liability To Buyers And Borrowers In The Story Of The 2008 Financing Industry Crisis, Shelby D. Green

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

On the surface, suing in negligence seems the most promising avenue for recovery against appraisers, because liability depends on an examination of defendant's conduct alone and does not require an examination or defendant's mental state to show intent or agreement. But historically insuperable hurdles have operated to prevent recovery under this seemingly simple cause of action. One hurdle is lack of privity. The appraiser's legal relationship is with the hiring party--the lender--to assess the risks of the loan transaction and not with the purchaser, who may rely on the appraisal in making the decision to purchase. Because of the lack …

Developing The Duffy Defect: Identifying Which Government Workers Are Constitutionally Required To Be Appointed, Stacy M. Lindstedt

Missouri Law Review

In 2007, Professor John Duffy wrote a brief article questioning whether administrative patent judges are constitutional officers and therefore subject to the Appointments Clause. A litigant latched onto the argument and challenged the validity of eight years of Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences determinations. Congress enacted a patch to provide for the appointment of patent judges, but the "Duffy Defect" did not stop there. Other scholars have questioned the constitutionality of various government actors from Bankruptcy Judges to the Pay Czar. The United States Tax Court dealt with a recent Appointments Clause challenge when a taxpayer questioned whether Internal …

Mavericks, Moderates, Or Drifters - Supreme Court Voting Alignments, 1838-2009, Christine Kexel Chabot, Benjamin Remy Chabot

Missouri Law Review

We introduce a new data set recording the vote of every Justice in 18,812 Supreme Court cases decided between 1838 and 1949. When combined with existing data sets, our new data allow us to examine votes in all cases through 2009. We use this data to address previously unanswerable questions about the president's ability to appoint Supreme Court Justices of similar ideology. Surprisingly, history shows that the president's odds of appointing a Justice who sides with appointees of his party have been no better than a coin flip. We find no evidence that divided government at the time of nomination …

Leveraging Tribal Sovereignty For Economic Opportunity: A Strategic Negotiations Perspective, Gavin Clarkson, Jim Sebenius

Missouri Law Review

Part II of this Article discusses the sovereign nature of tribal governments and reviews the history of tribal sovereignty, concluding with an examination of tribal-state compacting outside of the gaming context. Part III examines the origins of Indian gaming, focusing on the development of the legal framework which governs tribal gaming activities and necessitates the negotiation of tribal-state gaming compacts. Given the need for tribal-state negotiations, Part IV presents a framework for structuring and analyzing negotiations. Part V applies that framework in the retelling of the first part of the Foxwoods story, the negotiations regarding the original gaming compact. The …

Cost Of A Tax Agenda: The Passage Of Proposition A And Its Effect On Kansas City And St. Louis City, The, Missy Mccoy

Missouri Law Review

This Law Summary begins with a discussion of the history of the earnings tax in Kansas City and St. Louis City starting with both cities' designations as home rule cities.10 Being home rule cities allowed them independence in governing their populace and the eventual implementation of an earnings tax through city charters and state enabling statutes. Next, this Law Summary discusses Proposition A's repeal of the previous enabling statutes, the institution of new statutes, and the prohibition of any other city from passing an earnings tax. This Law Summary takes the position that Proposition A, funded largely by St. Louis-area …

Picking Fights In Missouri: Baldwin's Non-Rule Embraces The Minority Approach To Internet Libel Jurisdiction, Allison Marie Isaak

Missouri Law Review

The competing standards of Internet libel jurisdiction reflect the tensions between the forum state's interest in providing convenient recovery for its injured residents and the defendant's constitutional right to foresee where he might be subject to jurisdiction. In an effort to pursue these two goals as well as integrate modem Internet-related concerns, lower courts have derived numerous divergent tests for Internet libel jurisdiction, leaving the issue in a state of disorder and ambiguity. To analyze this problem, this Note will first survey the historical background of traditional personal jurisdiction principles, with particular emphasis on the U.S. Supreme Court's Calder "effects" …

Do I Own This Car - The Supreme Court Creates A Standard For Bapcpa Car Ownership, Anne Benton Hucker

Missouri Law Review

The case was Ransom v. FIA Card Services, N.A., and the dispute was whether, under the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA), Appellant Jason Ransom should be able to claim a vehicle ownership expense for purposes of Chapter 13 bankruptcy for the unencumbered car that he owned. Practitioners in the bankruptcy field had been watching the progression of this case and were eager to learn the Court's resolution of the issue. The interest was due to two reasons. First, the outcome of the case would affect approximately 250,000 Chapter 13 petitioners. Second, the case would resolve …

Presidential Power And Constitutional Responsibility, Thomas P. Crocker

Faculty Publications

Some constitutional theorists defend unbounded executive power to respond to emergencies or expansive discretionary powers to complete statutory directives. Against these anti-Madisonian approaches, this Article examines how the textual assignment of republican virtues helps to constitute and constrain the president's power. The Madisonian solution for constitutional constraint both creates institutions for unenlightened statesmen and relies on virtue to make governing possible. Constitutional responsibility is a consistent textual theme found in the command to "take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed," the responsibility to remain faithful to the office of president, and the obligation to preserve the Constitution itself. Although …

Children At War: The Criminal Responsibility Of Child Soldiers, Megan Nobert

Pace International Law Review Online Companion

The problem of child soldiers is not going to go away. While it may not be a popular solution, child soldiers need to be prosecuted for the actions they commit during conflicts in addition to the prosecution of child soldier recruiters. Without legal ramifications, there is no incentive for the child soldier recruiters to stop their actions. This article explores how both child soldiers and their recruiters can be prosecuted for actions committed during conflict.

The Balanced Budget Amendment: A Threat To The Constitutional Order, Neil J. Kinkopf

Faculty Publications By Year

No abstract provided.

Law Library Newsletter, Volume 3, Issue 4 - November/December 2011, Kresge Law Library

Law Library Newsletter

Learn helpful info about exam time, Explore some recent rare ac-quisitions to the library collection, Hear an account about the late Stanley Kresge, for whom the library is named, See photos from the annual law school trick-or-treat, Rare books, STANLEY KRESGE: A BRIEF REFLECTION

The Age Of Impunity: Using The Duty To Extradite Or Prosecute And Universal Jurisdiction To End Impunity For Acts Of Terrorism Once And For All, Sarah Mazzochi

Northern Illinois University Law Review

Impunity remains one of the greatest challenges facing international peace and security today. This article seeks to lay out possible changes to current international law that are necessary to combat impunity, particularly regarding the international crime of terrorism. Part II will lay out what terrorism is and the obstacles the international community faces in achieving a singular definition for the word. Part II will also discuss the different approaches various conventions have taken in defining terrorism and will propose a concise definition the international community may want to adopt. Part II will end with calling for terrorism to be included …

Vol. 32, No. 1, Fall 2011: Table Of Contents And Masthead, Northern Illinois University Law Review

Northern Illinois University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Teaching Comparative Perspectives In The Domestic Constitutional Law Class: A Step-By-Step Primer, Mark S. Kende

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.