Courts Commons^™

Trademark Dilution And Corporate Personhood, Stacey Dogan

Shorter Faculty Works

It’s become almost passé to decry our federal trademark dilution laws. The laws – first passed in 1995 and amended in 2006 – protect “famous trademarks” against uses that are likely to dilute their distinctiveness, without regard to any confusion among consumers or competition between the parties. Early critics warned that passage of the anti-dilution statute marked a turning point in trademark law: by giving famous trademark holders rights against even non-confusing uses of their marks, the law created “property”-like rights in trademarks. The initial commentary on the statute focused mainly on the costs associated with this increasingly absolutist approach …

Reflecting On Appeals On Questions Of Law Arising Out Of Domestic Arbitration Awards, Darius Chan, Paul Tan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Domestic arbitration awards rendered under the Arbitration Act (Cap 10, 2002 Rev Ed) (“the Act”) can be subject to appeal on a question of law arising out of an award. Unless parties consent, an appeal can only be brought with the leave of court.

The Judicial Power And The Inferior Federal Courts: Exploring The Constitutional Vesting Thesis, A. Benjamin Spencer

Scholarly Articles

The third branch of our federal government has traditionally been viewed as the least of the three in terms of the scope of its power and authority. This view finds validation when one considers the extensive authority that Congress has been permitted to exercise over the Federal Judiciary. From the beginning, Congress has understood itself to possess the authority to limit the jurisdiction of inferior federal courts. The Supreme Court has acquiesced to this understanding of congressional authority without much thought or explanation.

It may be possible, however, to imagine a more robust vision of the Judicial Power through closer …

Rebel Without A Clause: The Irrelevance Of Article Vi To Constitutional Supremacy, Gary Lawson

Michigan Law Review First Impressions

With Stare Decisis and Constitutional Text, Jonathan Mitchell has produced what I think is the most interesting and creative textual defense (or at least partial defense) to date of the use of horizontal precedent in federal constitutional cases. Mitchell's careful analysis of the Supremacy Clause is fascinating and instructive, and he does an impeccable job of drawing out the implications of his premise that the Supremacy Clause prescribes only a very limited choice-of-law rule-a rule that does not, by its own terms, specifically elevate the Constitution above federal statutes and treaties. His innovative and intriguing framework yields four distinct conclusions …

Accessing Justice: The Availability And Adequacy Of Counsel Removal Proceedings: New York Immigrant Representation Study Report, Stacy Caplow, Peter L. Markowitz, Jojo Annobil, Peter Z. Cobb, Nancy Morawetz, Oren Root, Claudia Slovinsky, Zhifen Cheng, Lindsay C. Nash

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Legitimate Exercises Of The Police Power Or Compensable Takings: Courts May Recognize Private Property Rights, Terence J. Centner

Journal of Food Law & Policy

Under their police power, governments regulate nuisances and take actions in emergency situations. For protecting humans, animals, and plants from diseases and other pests (jointly referred to as diseases), governments order inoculations, quarantine items and people, and seize and destroy property.' With respect to plants and animals, the United States Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to prohibit the importation and movement of items than may be infested. The Secretary also has the authority to hold, treat, and destroy items to prevent the dissemination of plant and animal pests. State governments take additional actions to prevent the introduction and dissemination of …

Hybridizing Jurisdiction, Scott Dodson

Faculty Publications

Federal jurisdiction – the “power” of the court – is seen as something separate and unique. As such, it has a litany of special effects that define jurisdictionality as the antipode of nonjurisdictionality. The resulting conceptualization is that jurisdictionality and nonjurisdictionality occupy mutually exclusive theoretical and doctrinal space. In a recent Article in Stanford Law Review, I refuted this rigid dichotomy of jurisdictionality and nonjurisdictionality by explaining that nonjurisdictional rules can be “hybridized” with any – or even all – of the attributes of jurisdictionality.

This Article drops the other shoe. Jurisdictional rules can be hybridized, too, and in myriad …

To Dollars From Sense: Qualitative To Quantitative Translation In Jury Damage Awards, Valerie P. Hans, Valerie F. Reyna

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

This article offers a new multistage account of jury damage award decision making. Drawing on psychological and economic research on judgment, decision making, and numeracy, the model posits that jurors first make a categorical gist judgment that money damages are warranted, and then make an ordinal gist judgment ranking the damages deserved as low, medium, or high. They then construct numbers that fit the gist of the appropriate magnitude. The article employs data from jury decision-making research to explore the plausibility of the model.

Unfit For Prime Time: Why Cable Television Regulations Cannot Perform Trinko's 'Antitrust Function', Keith Klovers

Michigan Law Review

Until recently, regulation and antitrust law operated in tandem to safeguard competition in regulated industries. In three recent decisions-Trinko, Credit Suisse, and Linkline-the Supreme Court limited the operation of the antitrust laws when regulation "performs the antitrust function." This Note argues that cable programming regulations-which are in some respects factually similar to the telecommunications regulations at issue in Trinko and Linkline-do not perform the antitrust function because they cannot deter anticompetitive conduct. As a result, Trinko and its siblings should not foreclose antitrust claims for damages that arise out of certain cable programming disputes.

The Judicial Duty To Give Reasons: Thong Ah Fat V Public Prosecutor [2011] Sgca 65, Siyuan Chen

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The accused was charged under the Misuse of Drugs Act after being found with 142.41 grams of diamorphine at the Woodlands Checkpoint. The High Court Judge found the accused guilty and sentenced him to death in a brief judgment of five paragraphs. The Court of Appeal, however, ordered a retrial as it was of the view that the Judge’s reasoning was “unclear” and the “judicial duty to give reasoned decisions” was not discharged

Split Definitive, Lawrence Baum, Neal Devins

Popular Media

For the first time in a century, the Supreme Court is divided solely by political party.

In Memoriam: The Honorable Leroy Rountree Hassell, Sr., Hon. Harry L. Carrico

University of Richmond Law Review

Leroy Rountree Hassell, Sr. passed away on February 9, 2011. News of his death devastated those of us associated with him onthe Supreme Court of Virginia. We had lost a dear friend, one always conscious of the needs of his associates and anxious about making sure they were comfortable. Even more, the court lost its peerless leader, and the people of the Commonwealth of Virginialost a dedicated public servant. He will be sorely missed in allcorners of our great state.

Finding The Appropriate Mode Of Dispute Resolution: Introducing Neutral Evaluation In The Subordinate Courts, Dorcas Quek Anderson, Chi-Ling Seah

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) movement has gained significant traction over the last three decades and has been expanding at a rapid pace in many common law jurisdictions. The allure of ADR lies, in large part, in its recognition of litigants’ desire for self-determination and autonomy in resolving their disputes. ADR became even more attractive as dissatisfaction with the traditional court system grew. In the seminal Roscoe Pound Conference on Popular Causes of Dissatisfaction with the Administration of Justice in USA, the changing role of the courts was highlighted, casting ADR further into the spotlight.i Instead of offering only adjudication …

Shutting The Black Door: Using American Needle To Cure The Problem Of Improper Product Definition, Daniel A. Schwartz

Michigan Law Review

Section 1 of the Sherman Act is designed to protect competition by making illegal any agreement that has the effect of limiting consumer choice. To make this determination, courts first define the product at issue and then consider the challenged restraint's impact on the market in which that product competes. When considering § 1 allegations against sports leagues, courts have tended to define products according to the structure of the leagues. The result of this tendency is that harm to competition between the leagues' teams is not properly accounted for in the courts' analyses. This, in turn, grants leagues a …

Transnational Class Actions And The Illusory Search For Res Judicata, Tanya Monestier

Law Faculty Scholarship

The transnational class action-a class action in which a portion of the class consists of non-US claimants-is here to stay Defendants typically resist the certification of transnational class actions on the basis that such actions provide no assurance of finality for a defendant, as it will always be possible for a non-U.S. class member to initiate subsequent proceedings in a foreign court. In response to this concern, many U.S. courts will analyze whether the "home" courts of the foreign class members would accord res judicata effect to an eventual U.S. judgment prior to certifying a U.S. class action containing foreign …

Advance, Winter 2011, San Jose State University, Department Of Justice Studies

Advance (Justice Studies)

News from the San Jose State University Record Clearance Project

Juror Investigation: Is In-Courtroom Internet Research Going Too Far?, Duncan Stark

Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts

Lawyers traditionally have conducted research on potential jurors outside the courtroom as part of voir dire. But as wireless Internet access becomes ubiquitous, attorneys are increasingly likely to conduct juror research inside the courtroom, including during voir dire itself. In the August 2010 decision Carino v. Muenzen, a New Jersey appeals court held that a trial court judge erred when he told a lawyer to close his laptop during voir dire, reasoning that there was no disruption, no resulting prejudice, and no rule against researching jurors online during the proceeding. This Article examines the Carino decision and the issue …

The Garcetti Virus, Nancy M. Modesitt

All Faculty Scholarship

In an era where corporate malfeasance has imposed staggering costs on society, ranging from the largest oil spill in recorded history to the largest government bailout of Wall Street, one would think that those who uncover corporate wrongdoing before it causes significant harm should receive awards. Employees are particularly well-placed to uncover such wrongdoing within companies. However, rather than reward these employees, employers tend to fire or marginalize them. While there are statutory protections for whistleblowers, a disturbing new trend appears to be developing: courts are excluding from the protection of whistleblowing statutes employees who report wrongdoing as part of …

Rethinking Discrimination Law, Sandra F. Sperino

Michigan Law Review

Modern employment discrimination law is defined by an increasingly complex set of frameworks. These frameworks structure the ways that courts, juries, and litigants think about discrimination. This Article challenges whether courts should use the frameworks to conceptualize discrimination. It argues that just as faulty sorting contributes to stereotyping and societal discrimination, courts are using faulty structures to substantively limit discrimination claims. This Article makes three central contributions. First, it demonstrates how discrimination analysis has been reduced to a rote sorting process. It recognizes and makes explicit courts' methodology so that the structure of discrimination analysis and its effects can be …

Back To The Drawing Board: Reexamining Accepted Criteria For Regional Structure Of The Courts Of Appeals, Martha Dragich

Faculty Publications

This article aims to determine which of the accepted structural features of the courts of appeals are essential by demonstrating that the federal courts are designed to assure the supremacy and uniformity of federal law, and that regional organization was intended to foster, not to negate, uniformity.

Fulfilling The Promise Of Payne: Creating Participatory Opportunities For Survivors In Capital Cases, Megan A. Mullett

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Setting The Record Straight On State V. John Ingram Purtle: Reflections On The Great Dissenter, Samuel A. Perroni

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Appellate Judges As Gatekeepers? An Investigation Of Threshold Decisions In The Federal Courts Of Appeals, Erin B. Kaheny

The Journal of Appellate Practice and Process

No abstract provided.

About Coincidence, Nancy Bellhouse May

The Journal of Appellate Practice and Process

No abstract provided.

Military's Approach To Appellate Law, The, Jay L. Thoman

The Journal of Appellate Practice and Process

No abstract provided.

Back To The Drawing Board: Re-Examining Accepted Premises Of Regional Circuit Structure, Martha Dragich

The Journal of Appellate Practice and Process

No abstract provided.

Pre-Service Removal In The Forum Defendant's Arsenal, Saurabh Vishnubhakat

Faculty Scholarship

This article is the first academic defense of pre-service removal in diversity cases by forum-state defendants under the “properly joined and served” language of 28 U.S.C. § 1441(b). Pre-service removal has proliferated nationally in recent years. Appellate courts, however, have been silent on the issue for two reasons: First, orders that remand a case to state court are statutorily non-reviewable on appeal. Second, cases retained in federal court and litigated to final judgment are highly unlikely, for reasons of judicial economy, to be voided for de novo readjudication in state court. After tracing the development of the removal statute and …

Stare Decisis And Constitutional Text, Jonathan F. Mitchell

Michigan Law Review

Almost everyone acknowledges that stare decisis should play a significant role when the Supreme Court of the United States resolves constitutional cases. Yet the academic and judicial rationales for this practice tend to rely on naked consequentialist considerations, and make only passing efforts to square the Court's stare decisis doctrines with the language of the Constitution. This Article offers a qualified defense of constitutional stare decisis that rests exclusively on constitutional text. It aims to broaden the overlapping consensus of interpretive theories that can support a role for constitutional stare decisis, but to do this it must narrow the circumstances …

Deconstructing 'Just And Proper': Arguments In Favor Of Adopting The 'Remedial Purpose' Approach To Section 10(J) Labor Injunctions, William K. Briggs

Michigan Law Review

Congress, through the 1947 addition of section 10(j) to the National Labor Relations Act, authorized district courts to grant preliminary injunctive relief for unfair labor practices if they deem such relief "just and proper." To this day a circuit split persists over the correct interpretation of this "just and proper" standard. Some circuits interpret "just and proper" to require application of the traditional equitable principles approach that normally governs preliminary injunctions. Other circuits interpret "just and proper" to require an analysis of whether injunctive relief is necessary to preserve the National Labor Relations Board's remedial power This Note examines the …

The Judicial Power And The Inferior Federal Courts: Exploring The Constitutional Vesting Thesis, A. Benjamin Spencer

Faculty Publications

Although the Constitution vests the "Judicial Power" of the United States in the Supreme Court and in any inferior courts that Congress establishes, both Congress and the Court have long propounded the traditional view that the inferior courts may be deprived cognizance of some of the cases and controversies that fall within that power. Is this view fully consonant with the history and text of Article III? One possible reading of those sources suggests that the Constitution vests the full Judicial Power of the United States in the inferior federal courts, directly extending to them jurisdiction over matters that Congress …