Law Commons^™

The Need For Speed And Judicial Notice: New York's Admissibility Of Lidar Technology In Law Enforcement, John D. Chillemi

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

Focusing at the state level, this Note proposes to establish uniformity within New York State by means of judicial notice or legislative action. Part I provides a history, background, and the development of LIDAR, commencing with its predecessor, radar. It discusses LIDAR’s technical workings and the importance of its current usage to law enforcement. Part I also compares LIDAR to radar, which is nationally accepted. Part II explores New York’s adherence to the admissibility standard set forth in Frye v. United States, and shows how New York’s lower courts have been approaching the issue by analyzing several court …

Protecting The Consumer: Ensuring Uniformity In The Federal Courts When Named Plaintiffs Assert Claims Against Unpurchased Products, Michael G. Lewis

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

This Note determines that whether a named plaintiff has standing to assert claims relating to unpurchased products is a question of class standing and is therefore a question for the Rule 23 class certification stage of litigation. However, in certain situations, a named plaintiff’s claims against unpurchased products should not survive a defendant’s motion to dismiss. Accordingly, this Note proposes a test to determine when the claim should survive. At the motion to dismiss stage of litigation, a named consumer protection class action plaintiff’s claims relating to products purchased by unnamed members of the putative class should survive defendant’s …

Bringing More Finality To Finality: Conditional Consent Judgments And Appellate Review, Thomas A. Engelhardt

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

Part I provides background on finality, including an overview of the final judgment rule and other statutory grants of appellate jurisdiction. Part I then discusses consent judgments, including conditional consent judgments. Part II examines the circuit splits with respect to issues of finality and the appealability of consent judgments that reserve a right to appeal. Part III presents arguments for and against strict interpretation and application of the finality requirement regarding consent judgments. Part IV argues for resolving the controversy by adopting a standard by which appellate courts uniformly recognize a consent judgment’s reservation of a right to appeal …

Can You Understand This Message? An Examination Of Hurley V. Irish-American Gay, Lesbian & Bisexual Group Of Boston's Impact On Spence V. Washington, Sandy Tomasik

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

This Note analyzes the effect that Hurley had on the Spence factors and suggests that the particularized requirement has been lowered. This is the best approach to encouraging speech while balancing other important interests. Part I discusses the development of the freedom of speech, from protecting the spoken and written word to protecting expressive conduct. Part II outlines the different approaches taken by the circuit courts in deciding whether conduct is protected as speech and, in particular, what effect Hurley had on Spence. Part III critically analyzes each of these approaches and concludes that the Eleventh Circuit’s approach …

Double Damages Or Nothing: Whether Medicare Advantage Organizations Have A Private Cause Of Action Under The Medicare Secondary Payer Act, Jennifer A. Prevete

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

Part I of this Note outlines the history and purpose of the Medicare statute, Medicare Advantage, and the MSP Act. The MSP Act dictates that insured individuals pursue coverage from “primary plans” while Medicare makes conditional payments with the agreement that the primary plans will reimburse the costs. Part II provides the MSP Act’s spectrum of interpretations and why the United States Circuit Courts of Appeals have read the private cause of action with varying expansiveness. Part III concludes that the private cause of action should not be extended to MAOs, asserting that the extension ultimately results in harm …

Breaking Bad Science: Due Process As A Vehicle For Postconviction Relief When Convictions Are Based On Unreliable Scientific Evidence, Vincent P. Iannece

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

This Note argues that due process requires a new trial when scientific evidence necessary to the conviction becomes so unreliable as to call the validity of the jury’s verdict into question. Part I of this Note discusses how scientific evidence is admitted, the procedure for a convicted defendant’s postconviction relief once that evidence is deemed unreliable, and the constitutional protections that a convicted defendant is afforded under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Part II of this Note examines the divide among appellate courts as to whether the Due Process Clause requires a new trial when a …

Culture Shifting At Warp Speed: How The Law, Public Engagement, And Will & Grace Led To Social Change For Lgbt People, Stacey L. Sobel

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

This Article concludes that in order for culture shifting to occur, there has to be active engagement in advocacy on multiple fronts. The pace of cultural change would have been significantly slower if advocates had not pursued litigation, legislation, and public engagement strategies. Rule shifting and culture shifting would also have occurred more slowly but for the vigorous efforts of LGBT equality opponents. The competing advocacy efforts on both sides of LGBT issues have resulted in lawsuits and laws limiting the rights of the LGBT community in some instances and granting rights in others. These advocacy efforts created a …

Exclusionary Conduct In Antitrust, Elyse Dorsey, Jonathan M. Jacobson

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

American society has a long history of encouraging competition and a long history of abhorring monopoly. Often those two goals are complementary, but not always. What happens if a company competes so aggressively that it wipes out its competitors and gets a monopoly? Is that good or bad? The easy answer is that normal competition is fine, but unfair or predatory competition is not. But that easy answer is not particularly helpful. It is often very hard to distinguish the good from the bad. Low prices are good, right? But what if they are below cost so that rivals …

The Justice Element Of Promissory Estoppel, Orit Gan

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

The contribution of this Article is threefold. First, it critiques the current case law for ignoring and neglecting the justice element of promissory estoppel. This goes against the specific wording of section 90 of the Restatement (Second) of Contracts and also against promissory estoppel’s rationale and purpose. Contrary to this approach, this Article suggests a robust justice element based on a theory of distributive justice.

Second, a more robust justice element will make the doctrine of promissory estoppel more meaningful. This will result in better protecting reliance, furthering trust and cooperation among parties, empowering disadvantaged parties, and making the …

Grounding Land Reform: Toward A Market-Compatible Approach To Land Reform, Shelley Cavalieri

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

This Article begins the project of constructing a unified account of land reform. This model consists of two central aspects. First, it articulates a set of goals, both practical and expressive, that redistributive land reform efforts can forward. Second, it offers a pragmatic theory of land reform, one that simultaneously achieves the progressive, poverty-eradication goals of land reform proponents and satisfies neoliberal demand for stable land markets. In this regard, the project offers a fresh way of thinking of the intractable conflict in land reform policy: how to redistribute land without destabilizing the nation. In addressing this problem, the …

Dispute Resolution Lessons Gleaned From The Arrest Of Professor Gates And "The Beer Summit", Elayne E. Greenberg

Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development

No abstract provided.

Might Houses Of Worship Enable Currently Uninsured, Economically Disadvantaged Individuals To Obtain Affordable Health Care Insurance?, Nina J. Crimm

Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development

No abstract provided.

Cutting Out The Middleman: Why "Look And Feel" Should Be Ignored In Trade Dress Law, Nicholas Dimarino

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

Part I of this Note discusses the background and elements of general trade dress law. Part II discusses the narrower issue of "look and feel" in the context of websites and outlines how courts have currently addressed the "look and feel" issue. Part III proposes that courts ignore the artificial "look and feel" distinction and instead apply normal trade dress analyses and elements. This solution, which requires that courts adhere to a workable standard that serves the underlying purpose of trade dress law, allows recognition of the distinctive characteristics of website trade dress claims, while reducing the risk of …

Marrying Up: The Unsettled Law Of Immigration Marriage Fraud And The Need For Uniform Statutory Guidelines, Michael Virga

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

This Note argues that courts should interpret § 1325(c) as applicable to anyone who enters a marriage with any intent of evading immigration laws, regardless of any other underlying motivations. Part I examines the motivations for and prevalence of immigration marriage fraud, as well as the historical context in which the statute in question was drafted. Part II analyzes the unsettled landscape of § 1325(c)'s interpretation and application, in addition to the competing arguments for the respective tests. Part III argues for the universal adoption of the Evade the Law standard, premised on the need for plain meaning statutory …

Homosexuality In High School: Recognizing A Student's Right To Privacy, Bari Nadworny

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

This Note argues that high school officials disclosing information about a student's sexual orientation without the student's permission is a violation of the student's constitutional right to informational privacy. Part I examines the Supreme Court's informational privacy jurisprudence. This Part also examines the circuit court opinions that have contributed to the law in this area regarding personal sexual matters. Part II examines the current split of authority between the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, which has held that such a privacy right exists, and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which has held that it does not. Part III …

Willful Ignorance, Culpability, And The Criminal Law, Alexander F. Sarch

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

The overriding aim of this Article is to shore up the normative basis for the willful ignorance doctrine and to clarify what is needed to arrive at a version of this doctrine that adequately respects its normative foundations.

Death Of A Salesman: The Rise & Unfortunate Potential Demise Of The Full-Time Life Insurance Salesman, Robert M. Rosh

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

This Article traces the economic and regulatory rise and potential future regulatory demise of the full-time life insurance salesman. It outlines why these salesmen and many of the products that they offer are beneficial to American society, and why public policies should promote both the profession and the products sold by full-time life insurance salesmen. Finally, it suggests some modest regulatory reforms that would promote life insurance sales and the salesmen who make them.

Professional Responsibility And Liability Aspects Of Vereins, The Swiss Army Knife Of Global Law Firm Combinations, Douglas R. Richmond, Matthew K. Corbin

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

Looking ahead, Part II of this Article provides a general overview of the verein model and its governing charter. Part III highlights a variety of ethical considerations for lawyers in verein member firms that are subject to ethics rules based on the Model Rules of Professional Conduct. These include lawyers' obligation to communicate to clients the relationships between the verein and its member firms, the imputation of conflicts of interest between member firms, and fee-splitting among member firms. Part IV discusses previous efforts to hold vereins and their member firms vicariously liable for the misconduct of another member firm. …

The Constitutionality Of Lengthy Term-Of-Years Sentences For Juvenile Non-Homicide Offenders, Rebecca Lowry

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

Part I discusses the development of the Court's ' kids are different" decisions. Part II argues that the rationale behind Graham applies not only to life-without-parole sentences but also to lengthy term-of-years sentences for juvenile non-homicide offenders. Part III suggests a constitutional mandate as to when states must provide a meaningful opportunity for release and explores other legislative action states can employ to comply with Graham.

Suspicious Suspect Classes - Are Nonimmigrants Entitled To Strict Scrutiny Review Under The Equal Protection Clause?: An Analysis Of Dandamudi And Leclerc, John Harras

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

Part I of this Note provides the background necessary to understand the different alienage classifications, equal protection jurisprudence, and the confusion in the Supreme Court's alienage equal protection precedent. Part II describes the differences of opinion among the circuit courts on the application of the Equal Protection Clause to nonimmigrants. Part III argues, in greater detail, that nonimmigrants are not a suspect class for the reasons stated above.

Why Title Vii's Participation Clause Needs To Be Broadly Interpreted To Protect Those Involved In Internal Investigations, May M. Mansour

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

This Note argues that this narrow interpretation of the statute is contrary to the intention and aim of Title VII and, in turn, should be interpreted more broadly. Part I of this Note gives a brief explanation of the meaning and purpose of Title VII's anti-retaliation provision. Part II focuses on some of the cases that have limited the application of the participation clause to employees who are involved in formal EEOC proceedings. In particular, it focuses on the most recent Second Circuit case, Townsend v. Benjamin Enterprises, Inc., to examine the dangers presented by such a limited …

A Picture Says A Thousand Words: Applying Foia's Exemption 7(C) To Mug Shots, Rebecca Rosedale

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

This Note argues that Exemption 7(C) of the Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA"), which exempts from disclosure information compiled for law enforcement purposes that "could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy," should be categorically applied to mug shots. Part I of this Note explores the recognition of a privacy right and the regulation of public records in the United States, with a focus on FOIA. Part II discusses the conflicting viewpoints held by the circuit courts that have decided whether or not Exemption 7(C) applies to mug shots. Each court analyzed whether a personal …

Let Ghosts Be Ghosts, Toni L. Mincieli

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

Part I of this Note discusses the rise of pro se status in civil matters, specifically in immigration proceedings, and how courts and the legal community have responded with limited scope representation, including ghostwriting. Part II discusses in detail the controversy surrounding ghostwriting. It also illustrates how ghostwriting is, fortunately, beginning to gain acceptance. Lastly, Part III urges the acceptance of ghostwriting in immigration proceedings. It explains why ghostwriting is essential to immigrants and how the arguments put forth against the practice are not applicable to immigration proceedings.

Constitutional Remedies: Reconciling Official Immunity With The Vindication Of Rights, Michael L. Wells

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

Part I makes the crucial point that compensation is a tool and not a distinct goal of tort liability. With civil recourse theory as a guidepost, Part II argues that one of the aims of constitutional tort law is vindication of the plaintiffs rights. Civil recourse principles teach that vindication may be at least partly achieved even when immunity blocks compensation. Part III shows how the Court's failure to distinguish vindication from compensation has unnecessarily impeded the vindication of rights. Two important official immunity cases-Camreta v. Greene and Pearson v. Callahan -illustrate the missed opportunities and show how …

Reasonable Precaution For The Individual, Dov Waisman

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

This Article has four parts. In Part I, I introduce the question to be explored and describe Barbara Fried's challenge to any attempt to answer that question without summing costs and benefits across persons. Part II responds directly to Fried's challenge, presenting the individualized feasibility principle as a viable, nonaggregative interpretation of reasonable precaution. In Part III, I explore the theoretical underpinnings of the IFP, drawing on a theory of normative ethics known as ex ante contractualism. Part IV concludes.

Decoupling The Law Of Will-Execution, Mark Glover

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

This Article proceeds in four parts. Part I explains the context of reform, including the traditional law of will-execution, the criticism of strict compliance, and the reform movement. Next, by explaining the purpose of testamentary formality, Part II serves as the foundation for decoupling the analysis of will formalities from the analysis of strict compliance. Part III completes the process of decoupling the law of will-execution by examining the purpose of strict compliance. Finally, Part IV explores the implications that the recognition of the independent purposes of will formalities and strict compliance has for the law of wills. Specifically, …

Ensuring Protection Of Juveniles' Rights: A Better Way Of Obtaining A Voluntary Miranda Waiver, Yekaterina Berkovich

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

Part I provides background information about the evolution of judicial treatment of juveniles and the admissibility of confessions. Part II analyzes the different approaches applied by federal and state courts to determine whether a juvenile's waiver of rights was voluntary and examines the flaws in those approaches. Part III proposes a new approach to remedy the problems courts have faced with the existing approaches and to provide consistent outcomes at the federal level.

"Membership In A Particular Social Group": Why United States Courts Should Adopt The Disjunctive Approach Of The United Nations High Commissioner For Refugees, Hannah Mccuiston

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

This Note calls for the adoption of the Guidelines on International Protection of the UNHCR in defining "membership in a particular social group" under the Refugee Act of 1980. Part I discusses the United States' obligations under the Convention and Protocol, and the process by which these obligations were incorporated into domestic law with the enactment of the Refugee Act of 1980. Part I also demonstrates how deviation from the United States' international obligations led to the circuit split. Part II outlines the views adopted by circuits on both sides of the split. Part III asserts that circuit courts …

Autism And The Criminal Defendant, Christine N. Cea

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

Part I discusses autism spectrum disorders, including the diagnosis and characteristics of autism, and whether autism is linked to criminal behavior. Part II examines whether autism should be an affirmative defense to a crime, and concludes that it should not. However, Part II does propose that autism should be an affirmative defense to specific minor crimes. Part III analyzes potential prejudicial demeanor evidence that might occur when autistic defendants testify in their own defense at a trial. This Part argues that evidence of autism should be admitted in a trial to explain to the jury why an autistic individual …

Rule 55: Why Broadly Interpreting "Otherwise Defend" Protects A Diligent Party's Rights And Encourages An Orderly And Efficient Judicial System, Jessica Ruoff

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

This Note argues that a uniform interpretation of "otherwise defend" is needed. Part I of this Note discusses the history and purpose of Rule 55, the procedure for entries of default and default judgment, and other alternatives to Rule 55 default judgments. Part II of this Note examines how the language "otherwise defend" has been interpreted differently by the federal circuit courts. Part III of this Note argues that the majority's broad interpretation of "otherwise defend" should be adopted as the uniform interpretation because it is supported by statutory interpretation and the underlying purpose of Rule 55.