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Full-Text Articles in Law
Environmental Torts, Troyen A. Brennan
Environmental Torts, Troyen A. Brennan
Vanderbilt Law Review
Over the last two decades, a new class of torts has emerged that targets personal injuries caused by toxic substances in the environment. These hybrid environmental torts are quite distinct from the trespass-nuisance precedent that is part of traditional tort theory; nor are environmental torts simply a subset of the mass hazardous sub- stance litigation that has remade product liability law. Environmental torts are informed, in a way product law is not, by environmental regulation. These torts are unique because their deterrent signal is transmitted to producers of hazardous environmental pollutants by litigants who have suffered physical injury or disease. …
Use Of Excessive Physical Force Against An Inmate May Constitute Cruel And Unusual Punishment Even Though The Prisoner Does Not Suffer Significant Injury., Anthony A. Avey
St. Mary's Law Journal
In Hudson v. McMillian, the Supreme Court held that use of excessive physical force against an inmate may constitute cruel and unusual punishment even though the prisoner does not suffer any significant injury. The Eighth Amendment has evolved significantly since its adoption in 1791, becoming a complex line of authority which over time expanded the rights of criminals and convicts. Recent cases have attempted to mold the varying Eight Amendment standards into a more cohesive legal doctrine. These efforts were meant to clarify the doctrine of cruel and unusual punishments; however, the divergent interpretations of these decisions rendered Eighth Amendment …