Government Contracts Commons^™

From Claiborne To Climate: Anti-Esg Boycott Legislation And Corporate First Amendment Rights, Ingrid Tjendro

Fordham Law Review Online

Since 2021, at least twenty-one states have enacted laws targeting financial institutions and companies that incorporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations into their business practices. This Comment examines the First Amendment implications of one specific category of such legislation—state anti-ESG boycott statutes—and argues that they constitute an unconstitutional suppression of protected corporate speech and association.

Drawing on traditional anti-boycott jurisprudence, including NAACP v. Claiborne Hardware Co. and Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights, Inc., and the circuit split over anti-Israel boycott legislation, this Comment centers on the recent decision in American Sustainable Business Council v. Hegar …

All The King’S Lawyers, Rebecca Aviel

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Ai Procurement As Regulatory Reconnaissance, Sam Adler

Fordham Law Review

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a black box technology in a black box industry. Some view AI as a life-changing technology capable of advancing society and perhaps even saving the world, while others fear its capacity to harm. Like Dr. Frankenstein, developers fear the unpredictability of their own creations; deployers fear the unknown risks of third-party AI tools that market pressures drive them to assume; members of civil society fear AI’s capacity to oppress the already oppressed and degrade trust in institutions; and everyday users fear the undisclosed potential of AI to cause harm by means they cannot readily comprehend. These …

Oligarchy, State, And Cryptopia, Julie E. Cohen

Fordham Law Review

Theoretical accounts of power in networked digital environments typically do not give systematic attention to the phenomenon of oligarchy—to extreme concentrations of material wealth deployed to obtain and protect durable personal advantage. The biggest technology platform companies are dominated to a singular extent by a small group of very powerful and extremely wealthy men who have played uniquely influential roles in structuring technological development in particular ways that align with their personal beliefs and who now wield unprecedented informational, sociotechnical, and political power. Developing an account of oligarchy and, more specifically, of tech oligarchy within contemporary political economy therefore has …

Bridging The False Certification Gap: Why “Resulting From” In The 2010 Aks Amendment Requires But-For Causation, Alexandra Wildman

Fordham Law Review

Before 2010, violators of the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) could avoid False Claims Act (FCA) liability if claims for items or services borne of their kickback scheme were submitted to federal healthcare programs by a third party. In 2010, as part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Congress attempted to close this loophole in the FCA by amending the AKS. Under the amendment’s terms, claims submitted to federal healthcare programs for items or services “resulting from” an AKS scheme are false for the purposes of establishing FCA liability, regardless of who submitted the claims.

Although the amendment widened the FCA liability …

The Belt-And-Suspenders Canon, Ethan J. Leib, James J. Brudney

Faculty Scholarship

This Essay christens a new canon into the doctrines of statutory interpretation, one that can counter the too-powerful canon that has courts imposing norms against redundancy in their readings of statutes. Judges engaging in statutory interpretation must do a better job of recognizing how and why legislatures choose not to draft with perfect parsimony. Our Essay highlights the multifarious ways legislatures in federal and state governments self-consciously and thoughtfully – rather than regrettably and lazily – think about employing “belt-and-suspenders” efforts in their drafting practices. We then analyze in depth courts’ disparate efforts to integrate a belt-and-suspenders canon into their …

Free And Open Source Software In Municipal Procurement:The Challenges And Benefits Of Cooperation, Justin C. Colannino

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The use of free and open source software by municipal governments is the exception rather than the rule. This is due to a variety of factors, including a failure of many municipal procurement policies to take into account the benefits of free software, free software vendors second-to-market status, and a lack of established free and open source software vendors in niche markets. With feasible policy shifts to improve city operations, including building upon open standards and engaging with free software communities, municipalities may be able to better leverage free and open source software to realize fully the advantages that stem …

Agency Costs And The False Claims Act, David Farber

Fordham Law Review

The False Claims Act represents the U.S. Justice Department’s most effective tool in detecting, punishing, and deterring fraud against the government. The effectiveness of the False Claims Act is due in large part to the law’s qui tam provisions, which provide a private right of action to whistleblowers who may sue fraudsters on behalf of the government in exchange for a percentage of the recovery. The resulting relationship between the government and whistleblowers has led to increased detection and recoveries from corporate defendants who defraud and abuse government programs.
However, these whistleblower provisions also come with social costs where profit-motivated …

A Most Useful Ball Of Thread, Review Of Navigating Hud Programs: A Practitioner's To The Labyrinth By George Weidenfeller & Julie S. Mcgovern, Eds., Nestor M. Davidson

Faculty Scholarship

This book review of Navigating HUD Programs: A Practitioner’s Guide to the Labyrinth (George Weidenfeller & Julie McGovern eds., 2012) discusses the approach the book takes to a range of HUD programs, discusses some intimations of reform efforts suggested by the authors, and explores ways in which the book’s guidance reflects potential benefits in nascent HUD efforts at programmatic consolidation and modernization.

It's Time To Privatize, E.S. Savas

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Schools are failing, crime is commonplace, streets are filthy, transportation is a test of endurance, drug addiction is a curse, and millions have fled the city seeking a higher quality of life. The problem? New York City government. This paper argues that to fix the myriad of problems facing New Yorkers, the only solution is a restructuring of government that would lead to a privatization, allowing New Yorkers to rely more heavily on private industry instead of government. This system would force public agencies and private firms to compete for the privilege of providing public services and thereby earning taxpayers' …

Case Note: Labor Law - Collective Bargaining - Job Security Is A Proper Subject Of Negotiations Between A Public Employer And Public Employee Organization Under The Taylor Law, Joan W. Keenan

Fordham Urban Law Journal

In this case note, Joan W. Keenan analyzes Board of Education v. Yonkers Federation of Teachers, 40 N.Y.2d 268, 353 N.E.2d 569, 386 N.Y.S.2d 657 (1976). In 1975 the city of Yonkers was plagued by a severe financial emergency. As part of an effort to balance its budget, plaintiff Yonkers City Board of Education unilaterally terminated the services of a number of teachers. Defendant Yonkers Federation of Teachers demanded arbitration on this issue under the terms of a job security clause contained in the collective bargaining agreement between the Board and the Federation. Plaintiff then brought a proceeding for a …

Case Note: Transportation Law - Urban Mass Transportation Act - The Absence Of Statutory Provisions Relating To Standing And Judicial Review Does Not Preclude A Claimant From Seeking Relief In Federal Court, Terry L. Barnich

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This case note by Terry L. Barnich analyzes the Seventh Circuit's decision in Bradford School Bus Transit, Inc. v. Chicago Transit Authority, 537 F.2d 943 (7th Cir. 1976), cert denied, 97 S. Ct. 797 (1977). The plaintiff, a private bus company, sought a declaration that the Chicago Transit Authority violated section 1602(a) of the Urban Mass Transportation Act when it competed with the private bus line for a contract with the Chicago Board of Education. The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois declared that the plaintiff lacked standing under the Act and dismissed the complaint. The …