Law Commons^™

Vol. 4 No. 1, Fall 2012; Illinois's Drug-Induced Homicide Statute: Injecting Some Sense Into A Misinterpreted Law, Seth Mcclure

Northern Illinois Law Review Supplement

In 1988, Illinois went on the offensive in the War on Drugs by creating the Drug-Induced Homicide Statute. In essence, this statute creates increased punishment beyond normal drug trafficking penalties when a person delivers drugs to another person and, as a result of that delivery, somebody dies. For twenty years, the law remained mostly dormant, only being charged and prosecuted in a handful of cases. In a new push to fight drug-related deaths across Illinois over the last few years, prosecutors have dusted off the old law and vastly increased the number of drug-induced homicide charges. As these charges become …

An Incompetent's Right To Withdraw From Treatment: Cruzan V. Missouri Department Of Health , Mary A. Watson

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Corporations As Ships: An Inquiry Into Personal Accountability And Institutional Legitimacy , Art Wolfe

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Assisted Suicide: A Tough Pill To Swallow, Mary Margaret Penrose

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

In Memoriam: Anne Louise Hasselback, Ann Hodges, Kym Osterbind

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Wills, Trusts, And Estates, J. William Gray Jr., Katherine E. Ramsey

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Editorial Views: Choosing And Death, Alison Mcchrystal Barnes

Marquette Elder's Advisor

This article examines whether death can be handled with dignity. By looking at various world views surrounding questions about ending one's life, the author discusses when the benefits may be diminished or futile.

Make Sure Your Estate Plan Includes The Finale!, Patricia A. Elder

Marquette Elder's Advisor

This article explores the need to plan and prepare for the costs and arrangements associated with a funeral. Preplanning and pre-funding a funeral relieves an individual's survivors of a number of responsibilities during a difficult time period. Preparing for one's own funeral can also relieve an individual's concerns by allowing the individual to feel that everything is taken care of

A Natural Right To Die: Twenty-Three Centuries Of Debate, Beth Eisendrath

Marquette Elder's Advisor

No abstract provided.

Post-Mortem Ira Planning For The Surviving Spouse, Greg Reymann

Marquette Elder's Advisor

In 2002, the IRS issued simplified regulations governing required minimum distributions (RMDs) for IRAs. The new rules make elections at the time of one's required beginning date obsolete, and shift the deadline for many of the planning options to a specified date following the IRA owner's death. This article discusses those planning options faced by the surviving spouse.

Guardianship Actions Against Individuals Who Have Selected An Agent As Power Of Attorney: When Should The Court Say "No?", Linda S. Ershow-Levenberg

Marquette Elder's Advisor

This article discusses the need for guardianship for presumably incapacitated individuals who already have designated someone to have their power of attorney or to be their healthcare representative. Noting that the privacy and liberty of an individual will be affected by appointing a guardian, the author proposes that guardians not be unnecessarily appointed when currently in-place representatives already fulfill needed services.

Basis In Inheritance After Egtrra, Sharon Kovacs Gruer

Marquette Elder's Advisor

This final section elaborates on establishing carryover basis in situations involving inheritances, focusing on changes established under EGTRRA (the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001). Included are discussions of operating loss carryover, unused built-in losses, qualified spousal property, and property transferred prior to or after death. Marital planning, including QTIP trusts and allocation of basis issues, are explored.

St. Ritas And Lost Causes: Improving Nursing Home Emergency Preparedness , Robert A. Mead

Marquette Elder's Advisor

This timely article explores the legally required emergency preparedness (or lack of it) at St. Rita's Nursing Home in Louisiana during Hurricane Katrina in 2005 when residents were not evacuated as was mandated. The operators were charged with thirty-four counts of negligent homicide. Issues studied include the dangers of evacuating versus not evacuating, varying emergency preparedness regulations and their enforcement, and the failure of legislatures to strengthen such regulations

The Death Of The State Death Tax Credit: Can It Be Resuscitated?, Patrick R. Thiessen

Marquette Elder's Advisor

This article provides an overview of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001's (EGTRRA's) estate tax reforms and how they have impacted the states. Additionally, this article examines the lessons that might be learned from the history of the state death tax credit, how the states developed their state estate taxation schemes based on the state death tax credit, the congressional decision to repeal the state death tax credit and the states' limited responses, two states' differing responses to EGTRRA, and the study of the possible impact of the evolving state estate taxation landscape on wealthy retirees …

"Death With Dignity": A Recipe For Elder Abuse And Homicide (Albeit Not By Name), Margaret K. Dore

Marquette Elder's Advisor

Death with Dignity Acts in Oregon and Washington authorize physicians to write life-ending prescriptions for their patients. This article addresses various problems with the Acts, including the wording about who may administer the lethal drug and the fact that both Acts lack a consent requirement when the lethal dose is administered. This article also addresses counter arguments offered by proponents of the Acts.

On Constructively Realizing Constructive Realization: Building The Case For Death And Taxes, Dan Subotnik

Dan Subotnik

No abstract provided.

Managing Workplace Grief--Vision And Necessity , Jan Jung-Min Sunoo, Brenda Paik Sunoo

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

In the course of offering workplace expertise, the FMCS has also presented its workshop "Managing Grief in the Workplace." The trainings have been given at local, regional, national and international labor relations and mediation conferences, and in college settings. We have found great receptivity to this cutting edge topic. Support in this area can greatly help unions and companies work through the conflicting expectations of a bereaved employee's job performance. Workshops in "Managing Grief in the Workplace" can initiate needed discussions and helping the partners to set up compassionate and realistic bereavement policies in the workplace. Finally, many participants expressed …

Bride-Burning: The "Elephant In The Room" Is Out Of Control , Avnita Lakhani

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

This article is an attempt to answer the question of why the practice of bride-burning continues and propose alternative ways to not only look at the problem, but also to define workable solutions. It is only via a thorough conflict analysis of this complex issue that the world might rein in a problem that is clearly out of control in this day and age. Section II examines the origins of bride-burning, its continued practice, and societal ramifications. Section III analyzes some of the current and proposed efforts in place for banning bride-burning and punishing those who illegally engage in this …

When You Pass On, Don't Leave The Passwords Behind: Planning For Digital Assets, Naomi R. Cahn, Gerry W. Beyer

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

The universe of digital assets is vast, including email accounts, picture and video storage sites, social networking sites, domain names, games and related sites; professional sites and backups; as well as online banking and business accounts. Moreover, digital assets go beyond online accounts to include your own personal or work computers, their hardware and software. If your clients are smart about their digital life, then they have numerous usernames, passwords, and security questions for their accounts. Trust and estates lawyers are increasingly helping to plan for the care of digital assets upon their client’s incapacity or death, providing advice concerning …

"The Birth Of Death": Stillborn Birth Certificates And The Problem For Law, Carol Sanger

Faculty Scholarship

Stillbirth is a confounding event, a reproductive moment that at once combines birth and death. This Essay discusses the complications of this simultaneity as a social experience and as a matter of law. While traditionally, stillbirth didn't count for much on either score, this is no longer the case. Familiarity with fetal life through obstetric ultrasound has transformed stillborn children into participating members of their families long before birth, and this in turn has led to a novel demand on law.

Dissatisfied with the issuance of a stillborn death certificate, bereaved parents of stillborn babies have successfully lobbied state legislatures …

Death In Our Life, Joseph Raz

Faculty Scholarship

This is the text of the Annual Lecture of the Society for Applied Philosophy, delivered in Oxford on 22-5-12. I kept the talk style of the paper. It examines a central aspect of the relations between duration and quality of life by considering the moral right to voluntary euthanasia, and some aspects of the moral case for a legal right to euthanasia. Would widespread acceptance of a right to voluntary euthanasia lead to widespread changes in attitude to life and death? Many of its advocates deny that seeing it as a narrow right enabling people to avoid ending their life …