Law Commons^™

An Opinion For The Ages, Bruce Ledewitz

Ledewitz Papers

Published scholarship collected from academic journals, law reviews, newspaper publications & online periodicals

Notification Of Data Security Breaches, Paul M. Schwartz, Edward J. Janger

Paul M. Schwartz

The law increasingly requires private companies to disclose information for the benefit of consumers. The latest examples of such regulation are state and federal laws that require companies to notify individuals of data security incidents involving their personal information. These laws, proposed in the wake of highly publicized data spills, seek to punish the breached entity and to protect consumers by requiring the entity to notify its customers about the security breach. There are competing approaches, however, to how the law is to mandate release of information about data leaks. This article finds that the current statutes' focus on reputational …

The Protection Of Privacy In Health Care Reform, Paul M. Schwartz

Paul M. Schwartz

No abstract provided.

Preemption And Privacy, Paul M. Schwartz

Paul M. Schwartz

A broad coalition, including companies formerly opposed to the enactment of privacy statutes, has now formed behind the idea of a national information privacy law. Among the benefits that proponents attribute to such a law is that it would harmonize the U.S. regulatory approach with that of the European Union and possibly minimize international regulatory conflicts about privacy. This Essay argues, however, that it would be a mistake for the United States to enact a comprehensive or omnibus federal privacy law for the private sector that preempts sectoral privacy law. In a sectoral approach, a privacy statute regulates only a …

Privacy Inalienability And The Regulation Of Spyware, Paul M. Schwartz

Paul M. Schwartz

No abstract provided.

Privacy And The Economics Of Personal Health Care Information, Paul M. Schwartz

Paul M. Schwartz

No abstract provided.

Escaping Entity-Centrism In Financial Services Regulation, Anita Krug

All Faculty Scholarship

In the ongoing discussions about financial services regulation, one critically important topic has not been recognized, let alone addressed. That topic is what this Article calls the “entity-centrism” of financial services regulation. Laws and rules are entity-centric when they assume that a financial services firm is a stand-alone entity, operating separately from and independently of any other entity. They are entitycentric, therefore, when the specific requirements and obligations they comprise are addressed only to an abstract and solitary “firm,” with little or no contemplation of affiliates, parent companies, subsidiaries, or multi-entity enterprises. Regulatory entity-centrism is not an isolated phenomenon, as …

December 4, 2013: God Again, Or, Am I An Atheist?, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “God Again, Or, Am I an Atheist?“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

El Estado Y Los Derechos Fundamentales. Una Guía Mínima Para El Alumno De Derecho, Teresa M. G. Da Cunha Lopes

Teresa M. G. Da Cunha Lopes

Mining Contracts: How To Read And Understand Them, International Senior Lawyers Project, Openoil, Revenue Watch Institute-Natural Resource Governance Institue, Vale Columbia Center On Sustainable International Investment

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Books

In December 2013, a diverse group of 14 experts from Africa, Asia, North and South America, and Europe worked together for five days to produce a user-friendly guide in English and in French on "Mining Contracts: How to Read and Understand Them," to help policy makers, civil society, citizens, and the media understand the often complex and opaque terms of mining contracts. With increasing calls for contract transparency – and the growing recognition of the importance of the terms of contracts for resource-rich countries – this book explains in layman’s terms the principal features of a contract, compares different approaches …

Rationalizing Entity Law: Corporate Law And Alternative Entities (Part Ii), Joan Macleod Heminway

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Legal History Seminar: Leading Maryland Cases, Edward C. Papenfuse, Garrett Power

Garrett Power

For the past decade, we have collaborated in presenting "Legal History Seminar: Leading Maryland Cases" at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law. In recent years, the seminar has paid particular attention to legal cases and controversies arising in Baltimore, Maryland - a city rich with historic tumult and beset with urban problems. The 2010 offering considered the city's environmental controversies; the 2011 offering addressed the administration of justice in Baltimore during the Civil War; and the 2012 offering looked at Baltimore in the War of 1812. While the focus of the seminar has changed from year …

Stretching Religious Liberty, Bruce Ledewitz

Ledewitz Papers

Published scholarship collected from academic journals, law reviews, newspaper publications & online periodicals

Gaps, Issues And Prospects: International Law And The Protection Of Underwater Cultural Heritage, Lowell Bautista

Lowell Bautista

The protection and preservation of underwater cultural heritage is becoming an increasingly important issue as technologies develop which allow for its exploitation. The UNESCO Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage ("UCH Convention") is an important step in the international regulation of this resource. This paper examines the theoretical and historical antecedents of the UCH Convention, and outlines the Convention's most significant provisions. Specifically, this paper examines how the UCH Convention protects underwater cultural heritage in six areas: internal waters, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, the continental shelf, and the Area. This paper then …

The Gift Of Milner Ball, Thomas L. Shaffer

Thomas L. Shaffer

No abstract provided.

The Voice Of Reason—Why Recent Judicial Interpretations Of The Antiterrorism And Effective Death Penalty Act’S Restrictions On Habeas Corpus Are Wrong, Judith L. Ritter

Judith L Ritter

By filing a petition for a federal writ of habeas corpus, a prisoner initiates a legal proceeding collateral to the direct appeals process. Federal statutes set forth the procedure and parameters of habeas corpus review. The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) first signed into law by President Clinton in 1996, included significant cut-backs in the availability of federal writs of habeas corpus. This was by congressional design. Yet, despite the dire predictions, for most of the first decade of AEDPA’s reign, the door to habeas relief remained open. More recently, however, the Supreme Court reinterpreted a key portion …

Ensuring The Preservation Of Submerged Treasures For The Next Generation: The Protection Of Underwater Cultural Heritage In International Law, Lowell Bautista

Lowell Bautista

In a historic moment that culminated almost a decade of negotiations, the Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage (UCH Convention) was adopted on 2 November 2001.2 The UCH Convention is the fourth international instrument dealing with cultural heritage adopted under the aegis of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the first one specifically addressing the protection of underwater cultural heritage (UCH) in international law.3 The UCH Convention is the first universal instrument that exclusively deals with the preservation of UCH in international waters. The UCH Convention builds upon and addresses the gaps of …

The Legal Status Of The Philippine Treaty Limits In International Law, Lowell Bautista

Lowell Bautista

The fundamental position of the Philippines is that the limits of its national territory are the boundaries laid down in the 1898 Treaty of Paris which ceded the Philippines from Spain to the United States. The position of the Philippine Government is contested in the international community and runs against rules in the Law of the Sea Convention, which the Philippines signed and ratified. The issue of the legal status of the Philippine Treaty Limits in international law has been subject of much academic debate and serious criticisms. This paper will analyse the legal status of the Philippine Treaty Limits …

The Philippine Treaty Limits And Territorial Water Claim In International Law, Lowell Bautista

Lowell Bautista

The fundamental position of the Philippines regarding the extent of its territorial and maritime boundaries is based on two contentious premises: first, that the limits of its national territory are the boundaries laid down in the 1898 Treaty of Paris which ceded the Philippines from Spain to the UnitedStates; and second, that all the waters embraced within these imaginary lines are its territorial waters. The position of the Philippine Government is contested in the international community and runs against rules in the Law of the SeaConvention, which the Philippines signed and ratified. This situation poses two fundamental unresolved issues of …

Thinking Outside The Box: The South China Sea Issue And The United Nations Convention On The Law Of The Sea (Options, Limitations And Prospects), Lowell Bautista

Lowell Bautista

The South China Sea issue is a geopolitical tinder box waiting to explode.2 It is clear that the primary reason for the claims is based on its strategic location and its hydrocarbon potential,3 However, this is more than a simple conflict over resources.4 The issue goes beyond the question of territorial sovereignty and natural resource jurisdiction.s This 1S more than a legalquestion of ownership.

A Deal Is A Deal: Plea Bargains And Double Jeopardy After Ohio V. Johnson, Philip Chinn

Seattle University Law Review

The Double Jeopardy Clause provides that no person will “be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb.” On March 10, 2004, Pedro Cabrera made a statement that cost him fourteen years of his life: he proclaimed his innocence. The court accepted this plea and ordered a finding of guilty with a recommended sentence of six years. However, during an exchange that followed, Mr. Cabrera asserted that he was actually innocent but that he preferred “to take the time” instead of proceeding to trial. The judge then refused to accept Mr. Cabrera’s guilty …

The American Dream: Daca, Dreamers, And Comprehensive Immigration Reform, Heather Fathali

Seattle University Law Review

On June 15, 2012, President Obama made an announcement that changed the lives of millions. Effective immediately, the Obama administration would implement a new program—what would come to be known as Deferred Action for Child-hood Arrivals (DACA)—offering eligible undocumented young people both a two-year respite from the haunting possibility of deportation as well as the eligibility to apply for employment authorization. While millions were elated by the President’s announcement, he also faced harsh criticism. Many claimed that his action exceeded federal statutory limits, exceeded his Executive powers, and usurped congressional authority. Still others, anxious to see comprehensive immigration reform implemented, …

State Session Freeze Laws—Potential Solution Or Unconstitutional Restriction?, Dru Swaim

Seattle University Law Review

Since the Citizens United decision in 2010 reduced Congress’s ability to constitutionally regulate money in elections, proponents of campaign finance reform have looked for alternative ways to achieve the goals of greater transparency and reduce the amount of money spent in federal elections. In the three years since Citizens United, the amount of money spent in federal campaigns has increased exponentially. In fact, the total amount of money spent in federal elections has nearly doubled since 2000. Citizens United represents a serious blow to the traditional methods used to restrict the amount of money in politics: limitations on the amounts …

A Mild Winter: The Status Of Environmental Preliminary Injunctions, Sarah J. Morath

Seattle University Law Review

Since the enactment of environmental legislation in the 1970s, the preliminary injunction standard articulated by the Supreme Court for environmental claims has evolved from general principles to enumerated factors. In Winter v. Natural Resource Defense Council, Inc., the Court’s most recent refinement, the Court endorsed but failed to explain the application of a common four-factor test when it held that the alleged injury to marine mammals was outweighed by the public interest of a well-trained and prepared Navy. While a number of commentators have speculated about Winter’s impact on future environmental preliminary injunctions, this article seeks to more precisely determine …

Character, Liberalism, And The Protean Culture Of Evidence Law, Daniel D. Blinka

Seattle University Law Review

It is time to rethink character evidence. Long notorious as the most frequently litigated evidence issue, character doctrine plagues courts, trial lawyers, and law students with its infamously “grotesque” array of nonsensical rules, whimsical distinctions, and arcane procedures. Character is a calculation of social worth and value; it is the sum total of what others think of us, whether expressed as their own opinion or the collective opinions of many (reputation). Once we grasp that character is a social construct, we are in a better position to address some of the problems that plague evidence law. To provide needed clarity …

The Voice Of Reason—Why Recent Judicial Interpretations Of The Antiterrorism And Effective Death Penalty Act’S Restrictions On Habeas Corpus Are Wrong, Judith L. Ritter

Seattle University Law Review

By filing a petition for a federal writ of habeas corpus, a prisoner initiates a legal proceeding collateral to the direct appeals process. Federal statutes set forth the procedure and parameters of habeas corpus review. The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) first signed into law by President Clinton in 1996, included significant cut-backs in the availability of federal writs of habeas corpus. This was by congressional design. Yet, despite the dire predictions, for most of the first decade of AEDPA’s reign, the door to habeas relief remained open. More recently, however, the Supreme Court reinterpreted a key portion …

Academic Freedom And Professorial Speech In The Post-Garcetti World, Oren R. Griffin

Seattle University Law Review

Academic freedom, a coveted feature of higher education, is the concept that faculty should be free to perform their essential functions as professors and scholars without the threat of retaliation or undue administrative influence. The central mission of an academic institution, teach-ing and research, is well served by academic freedom that allows the faculty to conduct its work in the absence of censorship or coercion. In support of this proposition, courts have long held that academic freedom is a special concern of the First Amendment, granting professors and faculty members cherished protections regarding academic speech. In Garcetti v. Ceballos, the …

Mania: The Lives, Literature, And Law Of The Beats, Ronald K.L. Collins, David M. Skover

Seattle University Law Review

The Beats introduced the counter-culture to twentieth century America. They were the first to break away from Eisenhower conformity, from the era of the Man in the Grey Flannel Suit. With them came an infusion of rebel spirit—a spirit that hearkened back to Walt Whitman—in their lives, literature, and law. Their literature spawned a remarkable chapter in American obscenity law. The prosecution of Allen Ginsberg’s epic poem, Howl, was the last of its kind in this nation; and the prosecution of William Burroughs’s Naked Lunch is one of the last times that a novel was charged as obscene. The First …

November 8, 2013: Legislative Prayer, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Legislative Prayer“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

Postsecondary Athletics And The Law: A Selected Bibliography, Edmund P. Edmonds

Edmund P. Edmonds

Although sports have for many years been an integral part of American higher education, it was not until recent years that athletics in colleges and universities became enmeshed in legal problems. The heightened interest in the legal aspects of sports is apparent to even the most casual reader of the daily sports pages, and it is increasingly becoming a major concern of administrators in American colleges. Because of this interest one finds a number of articles appearing in law reviews in recent times, when in the past they were almost non-existent. In fact, the existence of this symposium issue is …