Law Commons^™

Wage Theft Criminalization, Benjamin Levin

Publications

Over the past decade, workers’ rights activists and legal scholars have embraced the language of “wage theft” in describing the abuses of the contemporary workplace. The phrase invokes a certain moral clarity: theft is wrong. The phrase is not merely a rhetorical flourish. Increasingly, it has a specific content for activists, politicians, advocates, and academics: wage theft speaks the language of criminal law, and wage theft is a crime that should be punished. Harshly. Self-proclaimed “progressive prosecutors” have made wage theft cases a priority, and left-leaning politicians in the United States and abroad have begun to propose more criminal statutes …

What's Wrong With Police Unions?, Benjamin Levin

Publications

In an era of declining labor power, police unions stand as a rare success story for worker organizing—they exert political clout and negotiate favorable terms for their members. Yet, despite broad support for unionization on the political left, police unions have become public enemy number one for academics and activists concerned about race and police violence. Much criticism of police unions focuses on their obstructionist nature and how they prioritize the interests of their members over the interests of the communities they police. These critiques are compelling—police unions shield officers and block oversight. But, taken seriously, they often sound like …

The Compliance Process, Veronica Root Martinez

Veronica Root

Even as regulators and prosecutors proclaim the importance of effective compliance programs, failures persist. Organizations fail to ensure that they and their agents comply with legal and regulatory requirements, industry practices, and their own internal policies and norms. From the companies that provide our news, to the financial institutions that serve as our bankers, to the corporations that make our cars, compliance programs fail to prevent misconduct each and every day. The causes of these compliance failures are multifaceted and include general enforcement deficiencies, difficulties associated with overseeing compliance programs within complex organizations, and failures to establish a culture of …

Bias In, Bias Out, Sandra G. Mason

AI-DR Collection

Police, prosecutors, judges, and other criminal justice actors increasingly use algorithmic risk assessment to estimate the likelihood that a person will commit future crime. As many scholars have noted, these algorithms tend to have disparate racial impact. In response, critics advocate three strategies of resistance: (1) the exclusion of input factors that correlate closely with race, (2) adjustments to algorithmic design to equalize predictions across racial lines, and (3) rejection of algorithmic methods altogether.

This Article’s central claim is that these strategies are at best superficial and at worst counterproductive, because the source of racial inequality in risk assessment lies …

The Compliance Process, Veronica Root Martinez

Journal Articles

Even as regulators and prosecutors proclaim the importance of effective compliance programs, failures persist. Organizations fail to ensure that they and their agents comply with legal and regulatory requirements, industry practices, and their own internal policies and norms. From the companies that provide our news, to the financial institutions that serve as our bankers, to the corporations that make our cars, compliance programs fail to prevent misconduct each and every day. The causes of these compliance failures are multifaceted and include general enforcement deficiencies, difficulties associated with overseeing compliance programs within complex organizations, and failures to establish a culture of …

Employment Discrimination On The Basis Of Criminal History: Why An Anti-Discrimination Statute Is A Necessary Remedy, Elizabeth Westrope

Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology

The harms of mass incarceration do not end when an individual is released from prison. Instead, criminal records haunt approximately 70 million people throughout the United States today. Criminal histories follow persons convicted of crimes for the rest of their lives, creating collateral consequences that make it difficult for these individuals to get back on their feet and re-integrate into society. Gaining employment is one of the most crucial steps for returning citizens to take in order to regain stability in their lives. Yet, it remains one of the biggest obstacles. Employers are often wary of hiring persons with criminal …

Criminal Employment Law, Benjamin Levin

Publications

This Article diagnoses a phenomenon, “criminal employment law,” which exists at the nexus of employment law and the criminal justice system. Courts and legislatures discourage employers from hiring workers with criminal records and encourage employers to discipline workers for non-work-related criminal misconduct. In analyzing this phenomenon, my goals are threefold: (1) to examine how criminal employment law works; (2) to hypothesize why criminal employment law has proliferated; and (3) to assess what is wrong with criminal employment law. This Article examines the ways in which the laws that govern the workplace create incentives for employers not to hire individuals with …

Unmarked? Criminal Record Clearing And Employment Outcomes, Jeffrey Selbin, Justin Mccrary, Joshua Epstein

Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology

An estimated one in three American adults has a criminal record. While some records are for serious offenses, most are for arrests or relatively lowlevel misdemeanors. In an era of heightened security concerns, easily available data, and increased criminal background checks, these records act as a substantial barrier to gainful employment and other opportunities. Harvard sociologist Devah Pager describes people with criminal records as “marked” with a negative job credential. In response to this problem, lawyers have launched unmarking programs to help people take advantage of legal record clearing remedies. We studied a random sample of participants in one such …

Criminal Labor Law, Benjamin Levin

Publications

This Article examines a recent rise in civil suits brought against unions under criminal statutes. By looking at the long history of criminal regulation of labor, the Article argues that these suits represent an attack on the theoretical underpinnings of post-New Deal U.S. labor law and an attempt to revive a nineteenth century conception of unions as extortionate criminal conspiracies. The Article further argues that this criminal turn is reflective of a broader contemporary preference for finding criminal solutions to social and economic problems. In a moment of political gridlock, parties seeking regulation increasingly do so via criminal statute. In …

Inmates For Rent, Sovereignty For Sale: The Global Prison Market, Benjamin Levin

Publications

In 2009, Belgium and the Netherlands announced a deal to send approximately 500 Belgian inmates to Dutch prisons, in exchange for an annual payment of £26 million. The arrangement was unprecedented, but justified as beneficial to both nations: Belgium had too many prisoners and not enough prisons, whereas the Netherlands had too many prisons and not enough prisoners. The deal has yet to be replicated, nor has it triggered sustained criticism or received significant scholarly treatment. This Article aims to fill this void by examining the exchange and its possible implications for a global market in prisoners and prison space. …

American Gangsters: Rico, Criminal Syndicates, And Conspiracy Law As Market Control, Benjamin Levin

Publications

In an effort to reexamine legal and political decisions about criminalization and the role of the criminal law in shaping American markets and social institutions, this Article explores the ways in which criminal conspiracy laws in the United States have historically been used to subdue nonstate actors and informal markets that threatened the hegemony of the state and formal market. To this end, the Article focuses primarily on the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) as illustrative of broader trends in twentieth-century criminal policy. Enacted in 1970, RICO provides criminal sanctions for individuals engaged in unacceptable organized activities and …

A Different Kind Of Labor Law: Vagrancy Law And The Regulation Of Harvest Labor, 1913-1924, Ahmed A. White

Publications

No abstract provided.

Current Federal And State Conflicts In The Independent Contractor Versus Employee Classification Controversy, Jack E. Karns

Campbell Law Review

Part II of this Article outlines the development of the federal IRS worker classification status and attendant issues. Part III introduces some initiatives taken by the IRS in an effort to settle cases with taxpayers. Part IV discusses the federal criminal sanctions that can be imposed on an individual or entity which fails to collect or pay over to the United States Treasury these employment trust fund taxes. In Part V, the status of worker classification in North Carolina is considered relative to cases filed primarily with the Employment Security Commission. Finally, in Part VI, some observations are offered regarding …

Workplace Sexual Harassment In Singapore: The Legal Challenge, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee

Jack Tsen-Ta LEE

This article examines the nature and prevalence of sexual harassment in the work environment, and compares civil and criminal law in Singapore to the approaches taken by various jurisdictions in dealing with the problem. It is submitted that legislation is needed to protect employees, as Singapore law currently does not present any clear and coherent means for victims to seek redress for workplace sexual harassment.

Criminal Sanctions Under The Federal Mine Safety And Health Act Of 1977, Dennis M. Ryan, Ronald J. Schell

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Case Digest, Journal Staff

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Definition of Seaman under the Jones Act Need Not be Restricted to Person Assigned to Only One Vessel

Fourth Amendment Does Not Bar Warrantless Fishing Vessel Searches Authorized by the Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976 to Protect Fisheries in the Conservation Zone

Properly Extradited Fugitive Not Entitled to Judicial Hearing Challenging Enlargement of Original Warrant of Surrender

Visa Numbers Wrongfully Charged Against Western Hemisphere Quotas are Reissued According to an Historical Approach Rather than Chronological Order

Payment of Irrevocable Letter of Credit May Not be Enjoined on Grounds of Instability of Foreign Governments

Expropriation of a Contractual Right …

Recent Cases, Vanderbilt Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Civil Rights--Private Education-Racially Discriminatory Admissions Policies Violate Right to Contract Provision of 42 U.S.C. § 1981

Plaintiffs, ' blacks who had been denied admission solely on the basis of their race to two all-white private schools that received no state aid,' sought damages and injunctive relief in federal district court contending that these rejections violated section 1981 of 42 U.S.C. by denying them the same right to contract as enjoyed by white citizens.

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Copyright--Telecommunications--CATV Importation of Distant Television Signals Constitutes Infringement Under Sections One (c) & (d) of the Copyright Act

Plaintiffs,' creators and producers of television programs,brought a …

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Antitrust Law--Conspiracy To Eliminate Discounters From Automobile Market a Per Se Violation of Sherman Act

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Antitrust Law--Merger of Two Major Competitors in Industry with History of Concentration Violates Section 7 of Clayton Act

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Criminal Law--Future Confessions Will Be Inadmissible Unless Specified Pre-trial Procedures Are Followed

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Juvenile Courts--Juvenile Delinquent Entitled to Hearing On Question of Waiver of Jurisdiction

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Labor Law--Public Carrier Can Make Unnegotiated Unilateral Changes in Collective Agreements When "Reasonably Necessary" To Maintain Service

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Labor Law--In Future NLRB Elections, Employer Must Furnish List of Employees' Names and Addresses

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Taxation--Thin Incorporation Not Tantamount to Disqualification …

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Antitrust--Consignment Agreements To Fix Retail Prices

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Constitutional Law--Fifth Amendment-Denial of Passport

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Constitutional Law--State Procedure To Determine The Voluntariness of a Confession

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Criminal Law--Statutory Rape-Good Faith, Reasonable Belief That Female Has Reached Age of Consent as a Defense

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Insurance--Validity of Policy Provision Permitting Insured To Choose Forum for Determination, of Disputes Under the Policy

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Labor Law-Closing of Plant Due to Unionization

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Labor Law--National Labor Relations Act--Strike by Minority of Union as Protected Concerted Activity When in Support of Union Position

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Labor Law--National Labor Relations Act--Union's Duty of Fair Representation Not Implicit in Section 7--Discrimination …

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Antitrust--FTC Proceeding Will Not Toll the Statute of Limitations in an Action Under Section 4(b) of the Clayton Act

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Conflict of Laws--Where None of the Beneficiaries Reside in Forum State, Limitation on Amount of Recovery Imposed by State Where Tort Occurred Governs

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Criminal Law--Double Jeopardy--Conviction of Greater Degree of Offense on Retrial

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Federal Rules of Civil Procedure--No Requirement that Agent Appointed To Receive Service of Process be Expressly Bound To Give Notice to Principal

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Labor Law--NLRA--Union's Duty To Represent Fairly

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Labor Law-Walsh--Healey Act--Secretary of Labor Not Authorized To Set More Than One Prevailing Wage

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Recent Case Comments, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Attorneys--Violation of Canon 27 by Encouraging or Permitting Favorable Publicity

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Constitutional Law--Dismissal of Criminal Charges Because of Deprivation of Right to Effective Counsel by Eavesdropping

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Criminal Law--Credit Card Invoice as a "Security" under National Stolen Property Act

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Criminal Law--Rights of Alleged Parole Violator at Revocation Hearing

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Labor Law--Federal Procedure--Right to Jury Trial under Section 17 of the Fair Labor Standards Act

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Labor Law--Representation. Elections--Provision on Ballot Allowing Vote for "No Representation"

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Labor Law--Unfair Labor Practice--Availability of Injunction Prior to Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies

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Taxation--Federal Estate Tax--Survivor's Annuity as Insurance Under Section 2039 a …

Book Reviews, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Decision at Law

By David W. Peck.

New York: Dodd, Mead & Co.,1961. Pp. vii, 303.

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Corporation Lawyer: Saint or Sinner? By Beryl Harold Levy.

Philadelphia and New York: Chilton Co., 1961. Pp. x, 175.

reviewer: Elliott E. Cheatham

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Criminal Psychology Edited by Richard W. Nice. New York: Philosophical Library, Inc., 1962. Pp. 284.

reviewer: J. Paschall Davis

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Symposium on the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 Edited by Ralph Slovenko. Baton Rouge: Claitor's Bookstore, 1961. Pp. xliv, 1237. $20.00.

reviewer: Robert N. Covington

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Handling Accident Cases, Vol. 3

By Albert Averbach.

Rochester: The Lawyers …

Abstracts Of Recent Cases, Aaron David Trub

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Recent Cases:

CONTRACTS--CONFLICT OF INTERESTS--GOVERNMENT EXPERT'S PRINCIPAL EMPLOYMENT INSUFFICIENT TO VOID CONTRACT ON GROUNDS OF PUBLIC POLICY

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CRIMINAL LAW-ATTEMPT-CONVICTION OF ATTEMPT TO RECEIVE PROPERTY NOT IN FACT STOLEN

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DOMESTIC RELATIONS-UNIFORM RECIPROCAL ENFORCEMENT OF SUPPORT ACT--RELIEF FROM-EXTRADITION UPON PETITION OF THE OBLIGOR

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EVIDENCE-ADMISSIONS--GUILTY PLEA TO TRAFFIC LAW VIOLATION INADMISSIBLE IN SUBSEQUENT CIVIL SUIT

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FEDERAL JURISDICTION AND PROCEDURE--DIVERSITY JURISDICTION--ABSTENTION BY FEDERAL COURT FROM THE EXERCISE OF JURISDICTION IN DIVERSITY CASE

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LABOR LAW--LABOR--MANAGEMENT RELATIONS ACT-STATE COURT PRE-EMPTED FROM ENFORCING GRIEVANCE PROCEDURES OF COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT

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PROFESSION OF LAW--BAR ASSOCIATION MAY NOT DISCIPLINE AN ATTORNEY FOR CONDUCT AS …

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Attorneys--Unauthorized Practice of Law--Negligence per se for Which Liable to Injured Person Other than Client

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Conflict of Laws--Choice of Law--Application of Dramshop Act Where Injury Occurs in Another State

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Constitutional Law--Due Process--Legislative Publication of Intercepted Attorney-Client Communication

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Corporations--Stockholders' Rights--Mandamus to Compel Inspection of Corporate Books at Place Outside Forum State

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Creditors' Rights--Federal Tax Liens--Removal of Lien from Property in Hands of Bonafide Purchaser

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Criminal Law--Perjury--Witness Brought before Grand Jury for Primary Purpose of Extracting Perjured Testimony

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Domestic Relations--Torts--Action by Husband against Wife for Negligently inflicted Personal Injuries

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Evidence--Witnesses--Cross-Examination of Character Witness for Accused …

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Constitutional Law--Congressional Investigations --Relevancy of Required Testimony

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Constitutional Law--State Taxation of Interstate Commerce--Sales Taxation of Income from Trans-Shipment of Goods within State

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Criminal Law--Felony Murder Doctrine--Co-Felon Killed by Victim of Crime

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Evidence--Judicial Admissions--Testimony as to Objective Facts

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Federal Tort Claims Act--"Private Individual" Clause--Uniquely Governmental Activity

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Income Taxation--Capital Gains and Losses--Business Purpose for Contracting in Commodity Futures

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Labor Law--Taft-Hartley Act--Discharge of Employees because of Union Membership

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Negligence--High Tension Power Lines--Duty to Warn of Dangerous Condition

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Real Property--Joint Tenancy--Severance of Estate by Murder of Co-Tenant

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Torts--Landowner--Duty to Social Guest

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Wills--Pretermitted Heir Statue--Sole …

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Recent Cases --

Criminal Law--Habitual Criminal--Right of Accused to Counsel under Fourteenth Amendment

Divorce--Alimony Decree Terminating upon Remarriage of Wife--Effect of Annulment of Subsequent Marriage

Divorce--Statutory Modification of Domiciliary Jurisdiction--Congressional Limitation of Power of Territorial Legislature

Labor Law--Unfair Labor Practice--Primary Jurisdiction in NLRB

Life Insurance--Good Health Clause--Existence of Malady Unknown to Insured

Nuisance--Liability for Non-Trespassory Interference with the Use and Enjoyment of Land--Intentional Invasion

Wills--Holographic Codicil--Publication of an Invalid Typewritten Will

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

RECENT CASES

Criminal Law--Insanity--Test of Irresponsibility

Criminal Procedure--Continuances--Delay of Trial Because of Crowded Civil Docket

Elections--Underage Candidate--Power of Judiciary over Names Appearing on Ballot

Federal Rules of Civil Procedure--Impleader--UnderRule 14(a)--Effect of Judgment between Plaintiff and Third-Party Defendant

Husband and Wife--Expenses of Last Illness--Husband's Right to Reimbursement under Wife's Will

Joint Tort Feasors--Release of One as Release of All--Application of Rule when First Tort Feasor is not Legally Liable

Restraint of Trade--Employee's Covenant Not to Compete--State-Wide Restraint

Specific Performance--Conveyance of Leased Premises upon Lessee's Exercise of Option to Purchase--Defense of Hardship

Unemployment Compensation--"Suitable" Employment--Refusal of Sabbath on Religious Grounds

Wrongful Death--Unborn …

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Recent Cases

Bankruptcy--Acts of Bankruptcy--Petition for Dissolution under State Statute

Corporations--Stockholders' Derivative Suits--Equitable Stockholder's Rights under Security Statute

Criminal Law--Evidence--Immunity Statutes

Criminal Procedure--Grand Jury Indictments--Failure of Jurors to Hear All the Evidence as Grounds for Setting Aside Indictment

Domestic Relations--Torts--Action by Wife against Husband for Personal Injuries

Federal Jurisdiction--Scope of Federal Common Law--Characterization of Foreign Statute for Purpose of Applying Federal Constitution

Labor Law--Unfair Labor Practice--Intent to Encourage or Discourage Union Membership by Discrimination

Recent Cases, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Law Review

Assault and Battery--Injury Sustained in Prize Fig

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Constitutional Law--Elections--Voting Rights of Residents of Federal Enclave where Polling Places are on Land under Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction

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Constitutional Law--Miscegenation Statutes--Statutory Prohibitions against Inter-Racial Marriages held Unconstitutional

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Criminal Law--Evidence--Admissibility of Sound Motion Pictures of Re-Enactment of Crime by Defendants

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Criminal Procedure--Use of Jury Primer Prior to Trial

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Estate Planning--Mistake as to Tax Consequences of a Gift--Requirements for Rescission

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Evidence--Impeachment of Witnesses--Warning Question on Examination as to Prior Testimony

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Interstate Commerce--Sherman Act--Applicability to Organized Baseball

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Labor Law--Constitutional Law--Validity of Prohibition on Contributions and Expenditures of Labor …