Law Commons^™

Unilateral Alteration Of Public Sector Collective Bargaining Agreements And The Contract Clause, Stephen F. Befort

Articles

As public sector budgets have waxed and waned in response to changes in the economic cycle over the past 30 years, public sector employers increasingly have sought to control personnel costs by resorting to measures such as wage freezes and furloughs. Not infrequently, those measures have pitted the viability of collective bargaining agreements against the ability of government to protect its coffers. This article examines those court decisions that have considered the reach of the contract clause in this setting over the past thirty years. Most of these courts properly have applied the principles established by the Supreme Court in …

Property Rights On The New Frontier: Climate Change, Natural Resource Development, And Renewable Energy, Alexandra B. Klass

Articles

This Article explores the history of natural resources law and pollution control law to provide insights into current efforts by states to create wind easements, solar easements, and other property rights in the use of or access to renewable resources. Development of these resources is critical to current efforts to address climate change, which has a foot in both natural resources law and pollution control law. This creates challenges for developing theoretical and policy frameworks in this area, particularly surrounding the role of property rights. Property rights have played an important role in both natural resources law and pollution control …

Scientific Integrity: The Perils And Promise Of White House Administration, Heidi Kitrosser

Articles

This Article was written for a Fordham Law Review symposium on “Presidential Influence over Administrative Action, Recent Developments.” The Article explores developments in scientific integrity in the first two years of the Obama Administration. Specifically, it looks at the impact of “presidential administration” - that is, of top-down White House directives to administrative agencies - on scientific integrity. I define processes embodying scientific integrity as those designed to enable expert scientific findings to be presented without extra-scientific interference or distortion. Scientific integrity is a subset of information integrity. A system that facilitates information integrity is one that is relatively transparent …

Women, Vulnerability, And Humanitarian Emergencies, Fionnuala Ní Aoláin

Articles

The catastrophic dimensions of humanitarian emergencies are increasingly understood and more visible to states and international institutions. There is greater appreciation for the social, economic and political effects that follow in the short to long term from such catastrophes whatsoever their causes. Rhetorically too, there is some recognition of the gendered dimensions of humanitarian emergencies in policy and institutional contexts. It is generally acknowledged that women are more visible in the refugee and internally displaced communities that typically result from many humanitarian crises. Women, because of their acute care responsibilities in most societies, also disproportionately bear the brunt of familial …

Sanitizing Interested Transactions, Claire Hill, Brett Mcdonnell

Articles

How should corporate law deal with a controlling person's entry into a transaction with the corporation she controls? How should corporate law deal with transactions or decisions where one or more board members are interested? In this Article, we argue that Delaware law could do a better job answering these questions than it presently does. We propose a modest strengthening of judicial review of interested transactions. For transactions where one or more directors have a conflicting interest and defendants attempt to cleanse the transaction using approval by the disinterested directors, we propose that the defendants show that the approving disinterested …

Gendering Constitutional Design In Post-Conflict Societies, Dina Francesca Haynes, Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, Naomi Cahn

Articles

Over the past quarter-century, many countries have experienced deeply divisive and highly destructive armed conflicts, ranging from Afghanistan to The Democratic Republic of Congo to Rwanda, East Timor, Northern Ireland, and the countries of the former Yugoslavia. Each of these countries is at a different point on the spectrum of emerging from and addressing the causes of conflicts. Moreover, with varying degrees of intervention and assistance from the international community, each is responding in highly differentiated ways to the challenges of emerging from conflict, as well as rebuilding or creating new institutions to allow movement forward.

Setting Optimal Rules For Shareholder Proxy Access, Brett Mcdonnell

Articles

Recent developments in Delaware concerning shareholder bylaws and the SEC proposal concerning shareholder proxy access have moved the U.S. closer to a set of optimal rules for shareholder proxy access in nominating director candidates, but not all the way there. These rules must address both the default rule which applies in the absence of agreement within a corporation to the contrary, and the altering rule which specifies who within a corporation may choose to opt out of the default provisions. Applying principles of accountability and freedom of contract, the optimal default rule would allow for certain shareholders to use the …

Rights, Responsibilities, And Roles: A Comment On Waldron, Brian H. Bix

Articles

In his Edward J. Schoen Leading Scholar Lecture, "Dignity, Rights, and Responsibilities," Jeremy Waldron raises important issues regarding the connections between rights and responsibilities and rights and dignity. In this brief comment, I focus on the first set of connections - Waldron’s claim that "some rights actually are responsibilities" - examining in particular, the analytical claim he offers regarding a certain subset of rights. The paper ultimately concludes that Waldron’s argument that there is a type of right that is equivalent to a responsibility remains a provocative but not (yet) fully persuasive idea. Likely examples, like those involving a parent …

Reflections On E-Marriage Papers, Brian H. Bix

Articles

My task is to comment on the rich collection of papers inspired by the E-marriage proposal of Adam Candeub and Mae Kuykendall.' Theirs is a refreshingly novel suggestion, though one with some precedents (in social policy and practice, there is little under the Sun that is entirely new). In the course of commenting on the other papers in this symposium, I will have some reflections on the Candeub/Kuykendall proposal as well.

Strategies For An Employee Role In Corporate Governance, Brett Mcdonnell

Articles

One way to make U.S. corporations more sustainable is to broaden the group of stakeholders whose interests are considered in making decisions. This Essay evaluates a number of possible strategies for creating a role for employees in corporate governance. The strategies include: Using areas other than business association law to enhance the legal rights of individual employees; Encouraging officer or director power, hoping that officers and directors will side with employees and other interests more than shareholders; Encouraging shareholder power, hoping that employees agree with shareholders on the need to keep managers accountable; Supporting unions as a source of countervailing …

Mahr Agreements: Contracting In The Shadow Of Family Law (And Religious Law)--A Comment On Oman's Article, Brian H. Bix

Articles

This article is a Comment on Nathan Oman, "Bargaining in the Shadow of God's Law: Islamic Mahr Contracts and the Perils of Legal Specialization" (45 Wake Forest Law Review 579 (2010)). Oman's article shows that there are real disadvantages in looking at contracts through the lens of narrow transaction types, especially where individual agreements might fit poorly with the assumed narrative of that transaction type. The example Oman uses, mahr agreements treated within the category of premarital agreements, gives partial (but only partial) support for his thesis. The vast majority of those agreements should not be treated as premarital agreements, …

The Role Of The Committee On The Rights Of The Child In Interpreting And Developing International Humanitarian Law, David Weissbrodt, Joseph C. Hansen, Nathaniel H. Nesbitt

Articles

The interaction between human rights law and international humanitarian law (IHL) has received a great deal of scholarly attention. Commentators note the increased presence of IHL in the work of human rights bodies. There remains an interesting gap in the debate, however: while human rights bodies may be referencing international humanitarian law, what are they doing with it? To what extent are they interpreting its protections under a human rights framework? Are they performing substantive or precedential analysis of IHL? This article addresses one measure of that gap by comprehensively examining the work of the Committee on the Rights of …

Dignifying Rights: A Comment On Jeremy Waldron’S Dignity, Rights, And Responsibilities, Katherine M. Franke

Faculty Scholarship

In Dignity, Rights, and Responsibilities1 Jeremy Waldron offers a characteristically thoughtful and elegant account of rights, or as he calls it, responsibility-rights. As Waldron rightfully acknowledges, rights understood as a form of responsibility are not meant to capture every species of rights, but to provide us with a new analytic resource for better understanding a particular subset of rights that curiously entail a form of responsibility on the part of the rights holder. The link between rights and responsibility, Waldron argues, is built upon a strong foundational commitment to human dignity. The most compelling contribution of Waldron's paper is his …

Legislative Reform Of California’S Direct Democracy: A Field Guide To Recent Efforts, Glenn C. Smith

Faculty Scholarship

This Article seeks to enhance the ability of California-initiative process reformers to gain wisdom from the past by briefly, yet comprehensively, reviewing recent proposals considered in the California legislature. Specifically, this "field guide" to initiative reform seeks to orient interested travelers to relevant California legislative exertions from 1997 to the present.' Although our orientation is informed by the entire range of legislative proposals within the dataset, we give special focus to bills proposing to enhance initiative-process deliberation-the ability of voters to understand and meaningfully deliberate about initiative proposals. We also concentrate on two categories of initiative-reform legislation during the period: …

Protecting Scientific Integrity: The Commercial Speech Doctrine Applied To Industry Publications, Joanna K. Sax

Faculty Scholarship

Pharmaceutical companies face increasing pressure to bring new treatments to market in order to survive. The economic reality of survival and profits may distort a company’s decision-making process regarding full disclosure on a particular new drug.

Part II of this article analyzes the publication tactics employed by some members of the pharmaceutical industry (hereinafter “industry”) and explains how some of the publications promote misleading information. Part III proposes policy recommendations to require accurate dissemination of the results of clinical trials in order to protect scientific integrity and the public welfare. Part IV of this article addresses whether industry publications are …

William Howard Taft And The Taft Arbitration Treaties, John E. Noyes

Faculty Scholarship

Part I of this Essay explains Taft's interest in international law, placing it in historical context. Part II, outlines key features of the treaties and explores the debate over their ratification. Part III then reflects on the significance of the treaties.

Contract's Adaptation And The Online Bargain, Nancy Kim

Faculty Scholarship

The model of traditional contracts is that of two individuals negotiating terms that are to each party's advantage. This model persists even though it no longer reflects the reality of consumer contracts. This Article traces the evolution of modern day consumer contracts and explains how courts have accommodated business needs by distorting contract law. This Article argues that the doctrine of consideration should be reconceptualized in light of new technologies and changes in doctrinal application. It concludes that in order to restore contract law's legitimacy, courts must allocate the burdens of technological and doctrinal changes in a more evenhanded manner. …

Cooperation’S Cost, Miriam H. Baer

Faculty Scholarship

This Article explores the costs and benefits of criminal cooperation, the widespread practice by which prosecutors offer criminal defendants reduced sentences in exchange for their assistance in apprehending other criminals. On one hand, cooperation increases the likelihood that criminals will be detected and prosecuted successfully. This is the “Detection Effect” of cooperation, and it has long been cited as the policy’s primary justification.

On the other hand, cooperation also reduces the expected sanction for offenders who believe they can cooperate if caught. This is the Sanction Effect of cooperation, and it may grow substantially if the government signs up too …

The Rise Of The Corporation, The Birth Of Public Relations, And The Foundations Of Modern Political Economy, Donald J. Smythe

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Road To Nowhere: Caterpillar V. Usinor And Cisg Claims By Downstream Buyers Against Remote Sellers, Donald J. Smythe

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Decent Work, Older Workers, And Vulnerability In The Economic Recession: A Comparative Study Of Australia, The United Kingdom, And The United States, Susan Bisom-Rapp, Andrew Frazer, Malcolm Sargeant

Faculty Scholarship

In countries with aging populations, the global recession presents unique challenges for older workers, and compels an assessment of how they are faring. To this end, the International Labour Organization's concept of decent work provides a useful metric or yardstick. Decent work, a multifaceted conception, assists in revealing the interdependence of measures needed to secure human dignity across the course of working lives. With this in mind, in three English-speaking, common law countries (Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States), this Article considers several decent work principles applicable to older workers and provides evaluations in light of them. Relevant …

The Categorical Approach For Crimes Involving Moral Turpitude After Silva-Trevino, Pooja R. Dadhania

Faculty Scholarship

A conviction for a crime involving moral turpitude (CIMT) can result in harsh immigration penalties such as removal from the United States for noncitizens. The designation of a crime as a CIMT depends on whether moral turpitude inheres in its elements. Administrative adjudicators and federal courts have thus been using a categorical approach that focuses on the elements of a crime to determine whether it is a CIMT. Although variations in the categorical approach have developed among the circuits, the categorical approach has customarily employed two steps, both focusing on the elements of the conviction rather than the actions of …

State Secrets Are A Privilege, Not A Right: Can Foreign Victims Of Extraordinary Rendition And Torture Overcome The State Secrets Privilege Using The Alien Tort Statute, Andrew Kingman

Suffolk Journal of Trial and Appellate Advocacy

No abstract provided.

Arbitration - United States Supreme Court Sounds The Death Knell For Class Arbitration - Stolt-Nielsen S.A. V. Animalfeeds Int'l Corp., 130 S. Ct. 1758 (2010), Keerthi Sugumaran

Suffolk Journal of Trial and Appellate Advocacy

No abstract provided.

Determining Self-Employment Income For Child Support Purposes: The Massachusetts View Compared With The National View, Jason V. Owens

Suffolk Journal of Trial and Appellate Advocacy

No abstract provided.

The Testimonial Nature Of Multidisciplinary Team Interviews In Massachusetts: Applying Crawford To The Child Declarant, Laura E. Ruzzo

Suffolk Journal of Trial and Appellate Advocacy

No abstract provided.

Tort Damages - Medical Provider's Charges And Range Of Payments Accepted For Services Rendered Is Admissible Under Section 79g - Law V. Griffith, 930 N.E.2d 126(Mass. 2010), Matthew Blum

Suffolk Journal of Trial and Appellate Advocacy

No abstract provided.

Public Sex, Same-Sex Marriage, And The Afterlife Of Homophobia, Katherine M. Franke

Faculty Scholarship

The summer of 2011 marked an important turning-point in the geography and politics of sex: public sex, previously a domain dominated by the specter of a hypersexualized gay man, became the province of the irresponsible, foolish, and self-destructive heterosexual man, such as Anthony Weiner. Meanwhile, homosexuals were busy domesticating their sexuality in the private domain of the family. Just as hetero-sex shamefully seeped out into the open, homo-sex disappeared from view into the dignified pickets of private kinship. In this essay I examine the panic that unfolded in connection with Representative Weiner’s tweets as a kind of afterlife of homophobia; …

The Curious Relationship Of Marriage And Freedom, Katherine M. Franke

Faculty Scholarship

This essay explores why and how today’s marriage equality movement for same-sex couples might benefit from lessons learned by African Americans when they too were allowed to marry for the first time in the immediate post-Civil War era. Why has the right to marry, rather than say, employment rights, educational opportunity or political participation, emerged as the preeminent vehicle by and through which the freedom, equality and dignity of gay men and lesbians is being fought in the present moment. Why marriage? In what ways are the values, aspirations, and even identity of an oppressed community shaped when they are …

Taxation Of Financial Products: Options For Fundamental Reform, Alex Raskolnikov

Faculty Scholarship

The following is testimony to the joint hearing of the House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Committee on Finance. The testimony discusses three benchmarks for evaluating the taxation of capital income in general and financial instruments in particular, summarizes three broad-based approaches to reforming the tax treatment of financial products, evaluates the impact of other fundamental reforms on the urgency of reforming the taxation of derivatives, and urges Congress to encourage the IRS to make detailed tax return data available for empirical research of revenue costs and other losses arising from derivatives-based tax planning.