Law Commons^™

Courts Without Court, Andrew G. Ferguson

Vanderbilt Law Review

What role does the physical courthouse play in the administration of criminal justice? This Article uses recent experiments with virtual courts to reimagine a future without criminal courthouses at the center. The key insight of this Article is to reveal how integral physical courts are to carceral control and how the rise of virtual courts helps to decenter power away from judges. This Article examines the effects of online courts on defendants, lawyers, judges, witnesses, victims, and courthouse officials and offers a framework for a better and less court-centered future. By studying post-COVID-19 disruptions around traditional conceptions of place, time, …

The Overreach Of Limits On 'Legal Advice', Lauren Sudeall

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Nonlawyers, including court personnel, are typically prohibited from providing legal advice. But definitions of “legal advice” are unnecessarily broad, creating confusion, disadvantaging self-represented litigants, and possibly raising due process concerns. This Essay argues for a narrower, more explicit definition of legal advice that advances, rather than undercuts, access to justice.

Treating Juveniles Like Juveniles: Getting Rid Of Transfer And Expanded Adult Court Jurisdiction, Christopher Slobogin

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

The number of juveniles transferred to adult court has skyrocketed in the past two decades and has only recently begun to level off. This symposium article argues that, because it wastes resources, damages juveniles, and decreases public safety, transfer should be abolished. It also argues that the diminished culpability rationale that has had much-deserved success at eliminating the juvenile death penalty and mandatory life without parole for juveniles is not likely to have a major impact on the much more prevalent practices of transferring mid- and older-adolescents to adult court and expanding adult court jurisdiction to adolescents; neither the law …

The Role Of Courts In "Making" Law In Japan: The Communitarian Conservatism Of Japanese Judges, John O. Haley

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Professor Haley is an outstanding international and comparative law scholars, widely credited with having popularized Japanese legal studies in the United States. In 1969, Haley received a fellowship from the University of Washington and was in one of the first classes to graduate from the Asian Law Program, now, the Asian Law Center. After working for several years in law firms in Japan, he joined the law faculty at the University of Washington, where he remained for nearly twenty-six years during which time he directed the Asian and Comparative Law Program. In June 2012, Professor Haley was awarded The Order …

The New Old Legal Realsim, Tracey E. George, Mitu Gulati, Ann C. Mcginley

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Judges produce opinions for numerous purposes. A judicial opinion decides a case and informs the parties whether they won or lost. But in a common law system, the most important purpose of the opinion, particularly the appellate opinion, is to educate prospective litigants, lawyers, and lower court judges about the law: what it is and how it applies to a specific set of facts. Without this purpose, courts could more quickly and efficiently issue one-sentence rulings rather than set forth reasons. By issuing opinions, courts give actors a means of evaluating whether their actions are within the bounds of law. …

Drug Treatment Courts And Emergent Experimentalist Government, Michael C. Dorf, Charles F. Sabel

Vanderbilt Law Review

Despite the continuing "war on drugs," the last decade has witnessed the creation and nationwide spread of a remarkable set of institutions, drug treatment courts. In drug treatment court, a criminal defendant pleads guilty or otherwise accepts responsibility for a charged offense and accepts placement in a court-mandated program of drug treatment. The judge and court personnel closely monitor the defendant's performance in the program and the program's capacity to serve the mandated client. The federal government and national associations in turn monitor the local drug treatment courts and disseminate successful practices. The ensemble of institutions, monitoring, and pooling exemplifies …

Kalanke V. Freie Hansestadt Bremen: The Significance Of The Kalanke Decision On Future Positive Action Programs In The European Union, Rebecca Means

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

In the landmark case Kalanke v. Freie Hansestadt Bremen, the European Court of Justice held that a German state law giving women an "absolute and unconditional priority" in the labor market was inconsistent with the European Equal Treatment Directive. Although many Europeans vehemently criticized the Kalanke decision initially, the furor now appears to have subsided. As a result of this decision, however, the European Union is currently re-examining equal treatment policies and will likely provide further guidance to Member States attempting to formulate positive action programs.

This Note first discusses the institutions of the European Union as they relate to …

Book Review, Graham Hughes

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Decades of conflict with Soviet Russia compelled the West to come up with soothing explanations of the German Nazi past. If Germany was our gallant ally, standing fast in NATO against the menace of Communism, it somehow must be cleansed of any stain of original sin. This has been accomplished by portraying the Nazi years as a monstrous aberration--a characterization naturally fostered and promoted by the Germans themselves. Germany had struggled in the years of the Weimar Republic toward a democratic system and a just society. Under this view of things, a handful of evil maniacs, who incomprehensibly had succeeded …

Aliens' Right To Seek Asylum: The Attorney General's Power To Exclude "Security Threats" And The Role Of The Courts, Mary S. Miller

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit is the only circuit court to analyze the relationship between section 235(c) and section 243(h), as amended by the Refugee Act. In "Azzouka v. Sava," the court resolved the apparent conflict between the two acts by holding that if the Attorney General determines that an alien is a security threat, that alien may be excluded without a hearing before an immigration judge despite the fact that the alien has requested political asylum."

This Note examines the interrelationship between sections 235(c) and 243(h) by analyzing the legislative, judicial, and administrative interpretations …

Books Received, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Books Received

Consensus and Confrontation: The United States and the Law of the Sea Convention

By Jon M. Van Dyke.

Honolulu: The Law of the Sea Institute, University of Hawaii, 1985. Pp. x, 576. $29.50

Free Flow of Information; A New Paradigm. By Achal Mehra

Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1986. Pp. xiii, 225. $32.95

The Fund Agreement in the Courts, Volume III. By Joseph Gold Washington, D.C.: International Monetary Fund, 1986. Pp. xvi, 841.$45.00

A Standard for Justice; A Critical Commentary on the Proposed Bill of Rights for New Zealand

By Jerome B. Elkind and Antony Shaw

New York: Oxford …

Case Digest, Journal Staff

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Case Digest--

Spouse of Injured Seaman May Recover Damages for Loss of Society under Maritime Common Law

Federal District Court Lacks Jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1350 over Fraud Action Brought by Alien when Claim Fails to Implicate a Treaty or Body of Rules Governing Relations between Foreign States

Jurisdiction under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act Requires at Least a Finding of International Shoe "Minimum Contacts"

Appellate Court will not Review the Post-Settlement Appeal of a Pre-Settlement Provisional Remedy without District Court Consideration of the Intervening Events

Foreign States are Subject to Liability for Non-Commercial Torts arising from the Commercial …

Books Received, Journal Staff

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

AIR CHARTER REGULATION

By Jaap Kamp

New York: Praeger Publishers, 1976. Pp. 162. $16.50.

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ANATOMY OF INTERNATIONAL LAW

By J.G. Merrills

London: Sweet& Maxwell, 1976. Pp. 106. $7.55.

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AUSTRALIAN LAWYERS AND SOCIAL CHANGE

Edited by David Hambly & John Golding

Sydney: Law Book Company, Ltd., 1976. Pp. 392.$17.50.

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COLONIAL EMANCIPATION IN THE PACIFIC AND THE CARIBBEAN

By Arnold Leibowitz

New York: Praeger Publishers, 1976. Pp. 221.$20.00.

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THE DEVELOPING COMMON MARKET

By John Paxton

Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1976. 3rd edition. Pp. 240. $25.00.

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ERSKINE MAY'S PARLIAMENTARY PRACTICE

Edited by Sir David Lidderdale

London: Butterworths, 1976. …

The French Conseil D' Etat: A Case Study In Boundary Maintenance, Robert Carp, Harrell Rodgers

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Very little is known about the role that courts play in the total political system of a nation. In two recent works Professors Walter Murphy and Joseph Tanenhaus have centered attention on this question and have isolated some of the major functions of courts and developed several working hypotheses concerning these functions. They suggest that one of the major functions of constitutional courts consists of "defining the rules of the political game and determining the boundaries of authority between competing public officials as well as the boundaries between governmental authority and individual liberty." In approving or disapproving the acts of …

Legislation, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Admission to the Bar--Legal Profession--Residence Requirements for Student Applicants to the Bar

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Corporations--Bylaws--Allocation of Power Between Shareholders and Directors

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Courts--Administration of Justice--Restricting the Appellate Jurisdiction of Courts of Last Resort

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Nonprofit Corporations--Definition

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Constitutional Law--Due Process of Law--Constitutionality of the Federal Youth Corrections Act in Its Application to Youthful Criminal Offenders

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Constitutional Law--Legislative Power--Infringement of Constitutional Guaranties by Demands of Legislative Investigating Committees for the Production of Membership Lists

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Courts--Process--Immunity of Nonresident Defendants in Federal Criminal Actions from Service of State Civil Process

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Damages--Installment Verdict in Tort Action

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Domestic Relations--Separation--Suit by Mentally Incompetent Wife

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Interstate Commerce--Hobbs Act--"Robbery" Provision Construed as Requiring Proof of Common Law Elements of Offense

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Taxation--Income--Determination of "Useful Life" of a Business Asset for Purposes of Depreciation

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Taxation--Income--Full Payment of Tax Deficiency as …

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

RECENT CASES

AGENCY--INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR--"ONE WAY LEASE" EFFECTIVE TO TERMINATE RELATIONSHIP

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COURTS--CIVIL RIGHTS ACT--IMMUNITY OF JUDGE FOR ACTS COMMITTED IN THE EXERCISE OF A JUDICIAL FUNCTION

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COURTS--CONTEMPT--VIOLATION OF COURT RULE BANNING PHOTOGRAPHY

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CRIMINAL LAW--ENTRAPMENT BY STATE OFFICIAL AS A DEFENSE TO FEDERAL PROSECUTION

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DAMAGES--BREACH OF WARRANTY--RECOVERY FOR LOSS OF PROFITS

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FEDERAL COURTS--CHOICE OF LAW--APPLICATION OF ERIE DOCTRINE TO DIVERSITY CASES INVOLVING FEDERAL COMMERCIAL PAPER

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TORTS--BATTERY--CONSENT OF MINOR TO SIMPLE OPERATION AS A DEFENSE

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TORTS--DUTY TO ACT--EMPLOYER'S ASSUMPTION OF A DUTY BY GIVING MEDICAL EXAMINATIONS TO EMPLOYEES

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Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Conflict of Laws--Governmental Activities--Recognition in Forum of Sister State's Original Revenue Claim

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Constitutional Law--State Taxation of Interstate Commerce--Sales Tax on Shipboard Sales to Passengers

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Courts--Certiorari from United States Supreme Court--Loss of Importance Ground for Dismissal

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Domestic Relations--Adoption--Revocation of Consent by Natural Parents

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Evidence--Admissibility--Exclusion of Evidence Obtained by Unreasonable Search and Seizure

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Federal Procedure--Illegal Search--Injunction Against Agent's Testifying in State Court

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Income Taxation--Claim of Right Income--Time of Deduction when Restoration Required

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Malicious Prosecution--Privilege--Filing of Complaint with Bar Ethics and Grievance Committee

Federal Right Jurisdiction And The Declaratory Remedy, Herman L. Trautman

Vanderbilt Law Review

Why should we have federal district courts? What should be their primary function? These questions are fundamental to the formulation of a rational basis for the distribution of judicial power between state courts and the trial courts of the federal government.

Our American federal system seeks as a constant objective an appropriate division of governmental power between a national unit, which deals with problems requiring uniform treatment, and state units, which have responsibility for problems depending more upon local conditions. Applying the principle to the federal district courts, it seems clear that their primary function should be to adjudicate federal …

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Recent Cases

Agency--Liability of Master for Servant's Acts--State Permit to Operate

Agency--Possession as Indicia of Ownership

Constitutional Law--Aliens--Detention Where Deportations is Impossible

Courts--Contempt--Delay in Summary Punishment

Criminal Law--Habitual Criminal Statutes--Meaning of Previous Conviction Requirement

Domestic Relations--Liability of Husband for Necessaries of Wife Rightfully Living Apart

Income Taxation--Excludibility from Gross Income of Payment over Ceiling Price

Income Taxation--Taxable Income--Claim of Right

Procedure--Grand Jury--Motion to Expunge Defamatory Remarks in Report

Procedure--Statute of Limitations--Retroactive Operation

Statutes--Holding of Unconstitutionality Overruled--Necessity for Re-Enactment

Wills--Contest--Interest of Legatee's Representative