Law Commons^™

Some Preliminary Thoughts On The Law Of Neighbors, Jim Smith

Scholarly Works

A fundamental characteristic of real property law, one that is definitional in nature, is that its subject matter consists of land parcels. A land parcel, in contrast to an ownership interest such as a fee simple estate, is not an abstraction. Each land parcel has a physical reality, and virtually all land parcels abut other parcels. Each parcel has one particular location, defined by its proximity to other pieces of property. The value of a land parcel depends heavily upon its location, and the nature of neighboring parcels has a major impact in determining that value.

Owners of neighboring parcels …

Edzia Carvalho On Human Rights In The Global Political Economy: Critical Processes. By Tony Evans. Boulder, Co: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2011. 232pp., Edzia Carvalho

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Human Rights in the Global Political Economy: Critical Processes. By Tony Evans. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2011. 232pp.

Direct And Indirect U.S. Government Debt, Steven L. Schwarcz

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Should Foreign Patent Law Matter?, Timothy R. Holbrook

Campbell Law Review

One of the most controversial issues in American law today is the extent to which it is appropriate for courts to consider foreign law when deciding issues of United States law. The debate has engaged the courts, Congress, and commentators, leading to discussions about completely banning references to non-United States law by courts. The reality is, however, that the United States courts often have to address or apply foreign law.

Change To The Best Mode Requirement In The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act: Why Congress Got It Right, Andrew R. Shores

Campbell Law Review

The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA), signed into law on September 16, 2011, represents the most significant overhaul of the United States Patent system since the Patent Act of 1952. In addition to making the United States a “first-to-file” system, which is more in line with the patent law of other countries, the act institutes numerous other changes aimed at ensuring that the United States “maintains its competitive edge in the global economy.” One of these changes eliminates failure to disclose the best mode as a defense in patent infringement litigation. Proponents applaud the change for the positive effect it …

Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind? Why The Lanham Act Needs To Be Brought Into The Digital Millennium, M. Lee Taft

Campbell Law Review

This Comment provides a brief overview of trademark law as specifically applied in the context of the Internet, and also looks at the substantial differences in how that law is applied in various jurisdictions. Part I of the Comment briefly discusses the protections offered by the Lanham Act. Part II discusses the Lanham Act as applied to the Internet, specifically in the context of website meta tags. Part III discusses how recent decisions have ruled on the buying and selling of keywords. Part IV discusses recent rulings on using trademarked terms as meta tags. Finally, Part V discusses potential changes …

The United States And Iran – Decades Of Animosity: An Analysis Of The Path To The Current Conflict, Patrick Mcdade

University of Baltimore Journal of International Law

Lost in the international debate raging around Iran’s burgeoning nuclear weapons program is the deep and complex history that exists between the United States and Iran, as well as the legal rights and responsibilities that exist between the two nations. A thorough examination of the intensely adversarial relationship that has developed over the past sixty years must be undertaken before any path to a diplomatic solution is likely to succeed. The historical evidence clearly shows that Iran’s animosity towards and distrust of the United States is entirely justified, and the United States’ mistrust of Iran is equally well-grounded. Due these …

"Coming Out Of The Shadows": Dream Act Activism In The Context Of Global Anti-Deportation Activism, Laura Corrunker

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

This Article, based on ethnographic fieldwork with an undocumented, youth-led immigrant rights organization, explores undocumented youth activism in the United States in relation to global anti-deportation movements. The strategies that undocumented youth utilize in their fight for the DREAM Act, a bill that creates provisions for certain undocumented youth to legalize their status, are compared with examples of anti-deportation activism outside the United States. In comparing the DREAM Act movement with anti-deportation movements globally, three points of commonality emerge: (1) leadership of undocumented immigrants; (2) visibility; and (3) measures of "deservingness." This Article argues that comparing examples of immigrant activism …

Somebody Else's Problem: How The United States And Canada Violate International Law And Fail To Ensure The Prosecution Of War Criminals, Nicholas P. Weiss

Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

U.S. Proposal For An Intellectual Property Chapter In The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, Sean M. Flynn, Brook Baker, Margot Kaminski, Jimmy Koo

American University International Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Sopa-Tpp Nexus, Jonathan Band

American University International Law Review

No abstract provided.

Does The Upper Basin Have A Delivery Obligation Or An Obligation Not To Deplete The Flow Of The Colorado River At Lee Ferry?, Colorado River Governance Initiative, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center, Western Water Policy Program

Books, Reports, and Studies

24 p. ; 29 cm

Law Of The River Apportionment Scheme: Compilation Of Laws, Jason Robison, Colorado River Governance Initiative, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center, Western Water Policy Program

Books, Reports, and Studies

52 p. ; 29 cm

Prosecutors And Bargaining In Weak Cases: A Comparative View, Jenia I. Turner

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

One of the most controversial uses of prosecutorial discretion in plea bargaining concerns cases involving weak evidence of guilt. When a prosecutor bargains about the charges or even the facts in a case with weak evidence, at least three problems may arise. First, if the charge bargain is generous, it may coerce an innocent defendant to plead guilty. Second, such a bargain may let a guilty defendant off too easily, thus disserving the public and victim’s interests. Third, if the parties bargain about the facts, the result may distort the truth of the case.

In this book chapter, I examine …

Correspondents' Reports, Chris Jenks

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

This correspondent report compiles examples of where and how the United States demonstrated its compliance with international humanitarian law by prosecuting its service members in 2012.

Regulating Shadow Banking, Steven L. Schwarcz

Faculty Scholarship

Inaugural Address for Boston University Review of Banking & Financial Law's Inaugural Symposium: “Shadow Banking” February 24, 2012.

Although shadow banking is said to be huge, estimated at over $60 trillion, it is not well defined. This short and accessible paper attempts to define shadow banking by identifying its overall scope and its basic characteristics. Based on the definition derived, the paper also conceptually examines how shadow banking can be regulated to try to maximize its efficiencies while minimizing its risks.

Not The Power To Destroy: An Effects Theory Of The Tax Power, Neil S. Siegel, Robert D. Cooter

Faculty Scholarship

The Supreme Court’s “new federalism” decisions impose modest limits on the regulatory authority of Congress under the Commerce Clause. According to those decisions, the Commerce Clause empowers Congress to use penalties to regulate interstate commerce, but not to regulate noncommercial conduct. What prevents Congress from penalizing non-commercial conduct by calling a penalty a tax and invoking the Taxing Clause? The only obstacle is the distinction between a penalty and a tax for purposes of Article I, Section 8. In National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius (NFIB), the Court considered whether the minimum coverage provision in the Patient …

The Liberty Of Free Riders: The Minimum Coverage Provision, Mill’S “Harm Principle,” And American Social Morality, Jedediah Purdy, Neil S. Siegel

Faculty Scholarship

In this Article, the authors show that cost-shifting and adverse selection problems link the federalism dimension of the debate over the Affordable Care Act to the doctrinally separate and suppressed individual rights dimension. As the scope of these free-rider problems justifies federal power to require individuals to obtain health insurance coverage, so the very existence of the free-rider problems illuminates the difficulty of arguing directly — as opposed to indirectly through the Commerce Clause — that the minimum coverage provision infringes individual liberty. The interdependence between some people’s decisions to forgo insurance and the well-being of other people means that …

The 2011 Diane Sanger Memorial Lecture Protecting Investors In Securitization Transactions: Does Dodd–Frank Help, Or Hurt?, Steven L. Schwarcz

Faculty Scholarship

Securitization has been called into question because of its role in the recent financial crisis. Schwarcz examines the potential flaws in the securitization process and compare how the Dodd–Frank Act treats them. Although Dodd–Frank addresses one of the flaws, it underregulates or fails to regulate other flaws. It also overregulates by addressing aspects of securitization that are not flawed.

Responses To The Five Questions, Charles J. Dunlap Jr.

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Use Patents, Carve-Outs, And Incentives — A New Battle In The Drug-Patent Wars, Arti K. Rai

Faculty Scholarship

The Hatch-Waxman Act of 1984 aims to strike a balance between the innovation incentives provided by patents and the greater consumer access provided by low-cost generic drugs. The legislation, which relies in part on an explicit link between the FDA drug approval process and the U.S. patent system, has been controversial, particularly because of the ways in which firms producing brand-name drugs have exploited that link to delay market entry of generics as long as possible. Voluminous scholarship has focused on so-called "pay-for-delay" settlements of patent litigation between brand name and generic firms.

In contrast, this Perspective uses the lens …

Introduction, Paul Finkelman

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

A Political Show Trial In The Northern District: Oberlin-Wellington Fugitive Slave Rescue Case, Paul Finkelman

Faculty Scholarship

This chapter from Justice and Legal Change on the Shores of Lake Erie, examines the first important cases ever heard by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. The cases, known as the Oberlin-Wellington Fugitive Slave Cases -- stemmed out of the rescue of a fugitive slave from the custody of a professional slave catcher. The fugitive was seized in Oberlin, and taken to nearby Wellington, and held in hotel while the slave catchers waiting for a train to take them to Columbus. Meanwhile, a mob -- consisting mostly of Oberlin residents, including many Oberlin College …

Section 2 Is Dead: Long Live Section 2, Guy-Uriel Charles

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Concentration In Health Care Markets: Chronic Problems And Better Solutions, Barak D. Richman

Faculty Scholarship

Health care providers with market power enjoy substantially more pricing freedom than monopolists in other markets, for a reason not generally recognized: US-style health insurance. Consequently, monopolies in health care cause undesirable redistribution of wealth and inefficient allocation of resources, both of which burden consumers at levels beyond those of other monopolists. The unusual costliness of monopoly power in health care markets demands far more policy attention than it has received. For starters, the health sector needs a more aggressive antitrust policy that effectively prevents the creation of new provider market power through mergers, alliances, or government immunity. An immediate …

Fundamental Forces Driving United States And International Financial Regulations Reform, Lawrence G. Baxter

Faculty Scholarship

Multiple forces create a systemic crisis of the proportions of the Global Financial Crisis of 2008. Global and domestic financial reform is a difficult and perplexing task, one that is likely to take many years, and one that will surely continue to be shaped by a diverse range of forces. Recent measures remain incomplete and in some cases are even proving to be misdirected. This article considers seven fundamental forces shaping actions on future reform, specifically the (1) long term impact of the Crisis (and all financial crises); (2) increase in the “financialization” of the global economy, seemingly disproportionate to …

A Current Assessment Of Some Extraterritorial Impacts Of The Dodd-Frank Act With Special Focus On The Volcker Rule And Derivatives Regulation, Lawrence G. Baxter

Faculty Scholarship

As the world struggles to emerge from the Global Financial Crisis the vision of a harmonious framework of global financial regulation seems as distant as ever. Important progress made by international committees such as the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision and the Financial Stability Board notwithstanding, there seem to be increasing signs of unilateral, extraterritorial action by major jurisdictions, including the United States. This paper reviews the framework created by the US financial reforms, in particular anti money laundering provisions, the Volcker Rule and the proposed OTC derivatives margin requirements, and considers some of the dilemmas presented by modern global …

Qui Tam: Is False Claims Law A Model For International Law?, Paul D. Carrington

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Step Down, Justice Melvin, Bruce Ledewitz

Ledewitz Papers

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

Justice’S Suspension Is Dubious, Bruce Ledewitz

Ledewitz Papers

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