Law and Society Commons^™

Valuing Cultural Differences In Behavioral Economics, Justin D. Levinson, Kaiping Peng

ExpressO

Behavioral economic research has tended to ignore the role of cultural differences in economic decision-making. The authors suggest that a systematic bias affects existing behavioral economic theory-- cognitive biases are often assumed to be universal. To examine how cultural background informs economic decision-making, and to test framing effects, morality effects, and out-group effects in a cross-cultural study, the authors conducted an experiment in the United States and China. The experiment was designed to test cultural and cognitive effects on a fundamental economic phenomenon-- how people estimate the financial values of objects over time.

Results of the experiment demonstrated dramatic cultural …

How The Legal System Can Help Millions Retire: A Call For Improved Application Of The Suitability Standard, Ryan Z. Keller

ExpressO

An increased awareness in legal circles of the value of aggressive investments is necessary and the recommended solution should have two divergent effects on broker liability. On one hand, a broker who recommends growth investments should find his potential liability has decreased because the legal profession no longer solely focuses on financial loss. On the other hand, a broker who invests conservatively should discover his liability has potentially increased because his recommendations may not be in the client’s best interest. The value of both of these effects is that it causes brokers to have a substantially greater incentive to invest …

Finding The Constitutional Right To Education In San Antonio School District V. Rodriguez, John H. Ryskamp

ExpressO

In Lawrence v. Texas, the Supreme Court abolished the scrutiny regime because it impermissibly interfered with an important fact, liberty. And yet, even in earlier cases which ostensibly upheld the scrutiny regime, it is difficult to see that the Court ever did so to the detriment of facts it considered important. In short, the Court often (always?) found itself raising the level of scrutiny for a fact in the same case it upheld the regime, leaving us to wonder if the scrutiny regime ever actually had any effect at all, or even whether the Court felt it was relevant. As …

A Tale Of Two Trusts: The Barnes Foundation And The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Jeannette H. Maurer

ExpressO

This paper examines the law of charitable trusts and donor intent through a comparison of two museums: the Barnes Foundation and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. This paper first analyzes the framework of the Barnes trust and the Gardner trust and explores the various limitations each donor placed upon their trust instruments, including the similar restriction that, after their deaths, their art could never be moved from where they placed it in their respective galleries. The paper then compares and contrasts the Gardner trust with the Barnes trust and discusses how, given their initial similarities, the Gardner Museum has received …

Entrapment By Numbers, Dru Stevenson

ExpressO

This essay analyzes emerging trends in entrapment law, and is the first to describe the declining numbers of reported cases that involve the entrapment defense. This phenomenon is attributed to decreasing levels of uncertainty in the rules pertaining to the defense, and to discreet procedural issues. The shifting degrees of certainty in penal rules, which have become increasingly mechanical and mathematical over time, are shown to disfavor certain defendants inherently, to the point of being a snare or source of “entrapment” themselves for these individuals. (Published in 16 J. Law & Pub. Pol’y 1 2005)

Any Place For Ethnicity? The Liberal State And Immigration, David Abraham

ExpressO

When it comes to immigration, almost all liberal states are faced with the contradiction between their universalist principles and the real affinities they feel for ethnic kinsmen. This review essay (4000 words) addresses the different ways a number of liberal democracies have handled this dilemma.

You’Re So Vain, I’Ll Bet You Think This Song Is About You, Joseph W. Dellapenna

Working Paper Series

Dispelling the Myths of Abortion History covers over 1,000 years of abortion history in England and America, with special emphasis on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It presents an accurate and thoroughly fresh look at that history, reaching several unorthodox conclusions without taking sides on the merits of the abortion debate. The true history of abortion in England and America is important because Justice Harry Blackmun, drawing on the work of law professor Cyril Means, structured the argument of the majority in Roe v. Wade around the history of abortion laws. Means’ argument was later buttressed by the work of …

Adult Punishment For Juvenile Offenders: Does It Reduce Crime?, Richard E. Redding

Working Paper Series

This chapter discusses the research on the general and specific deterrent effects of transferring juveniles for trial in adult criminal court, identifies gaps in our knowledge base that require further research, discusses the circumstances under which effective deterrence may be achieved, and examines whether there are effective alternatives for achieving deterrence other than adult sanctions for serious juvenile offenders. As a backdrop to this analysis, the chapter first examines the role of public opinion in shaping the get tough policies, and how policy makers have misunderstood and perceived support for these policies.

April 21, 2006, W. Van Winklin, Cao, Summaries Of Cao Effectiveness In Cases, Cao

CAO General 1999-Present

No abstract provided.

Prevalence Of Substantive Consolidation In Large Bankruptcies From 2000 To 2004: Preliminary Results, William H. Widen

Articles

No abstract provided.

Spring 2006

Bill of Particulars

No abstract provided.

The Role Of International Arbitrators, Susan Franck

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

With the advent of the global economy, arbitration has become the preferred mechanism for resolving international disputes. Today international arbitrators resolve billions of dollars worth of disputes.' Arbitration has taken on such prominence in the international context that commentators express "little doubt that arbitration is now the first-choice method of binding dispute resolution" and has "largely taken over litigation."'

What's Wrong With Being Creative And Aggressive?, W. Bradley Wendel

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

When I tell people that I am a law professor specializing in legal ethics, they usually have one of two reactions: “Legal ethics—that’s an oxymoron!” or “I bet you always have a lot to do.” The second reaction is the more interesting of the two, because it rightly implies that legal ethics is a fascinating field, in part because lawyers are always thinking of new ways to get into trouble. Many run-of-the-mill lawyer disciplinary cases involve simple wrongdoing, such as stealing from client funds, which does not present conceptually interesting issues. Contemporary high-profile legal ethics scandals, by contrast, are made …

Introduction, Barry Scheck

Cardozo Public Law, Policy & Ethics Journal

The symposium aims to reform eyewitness identification procedures by fostering dialogue between law enforcement, social scientists, and legal experts. It seeks to address the high rates of mistaken identifications and improve the accuracy and reliability of eyewitness testimony through scientific research and practical implementations. The event highlights the human impact of wrongful convictions and explores evidence-based solutions to prevent such injustices.

A Sample Of Witness, Crime, And Perpetrator Characteristics Affecting Eyewitness Identification Accuracy, Brian L. Cutler

Cardozo Public Law, Policy & Ethics Journal

The article examines the impact of estimator variables on eyewitness identification accuracy, focusing on six key factors: own-race bias, exposure duration, masking of hair and hairline cues, weapon focus, eyewitness stress, and passage of time. It argues that these variables significantly influence identification accuracy and are not merely matters of common sense, emphasizing the need for expert testimony and education for legal professionals.

Urban Legends, Desegregation And School Finance: Did Kansas City Really Prove That Money Doesn’T Matter?, Preston C. Green

ExpressO

This article examines whether conservative critics are correct in their assertion that the Kansas City, Missouri School District (KCMSD) desegregation plan clearly establishes that no correlation exists between funding and academic outcomes. The first section provides a summary of public education in the KCMSD prior to 1977, the beginning of the Missouri v. Jenkins school desegregation litigation. The second and third sections analyze whether the Jenkins desegregation and concurrent school finance litigation (Committee for Educational Equality v. State) addressed these problems. The fourth section provides an overview of school finance litigation and explains how the KCMSD desegregation plan has been …

Mar. 29, 2006, Int'l Acc. Project, Analysis Of Ifc Perf. Standard 5, Ifc

IFC E&S Performance Standards

No abstract provided.

Who’S In And Who’S Out? Can India’S Answer Help Us Determine Who Qualifies For Affirmative Action? , Sean A. Pager

ExpressO

Who should be the beneficiaries of racially targeted affirmative action? In its Croson decision, the Supreme Court answered part of the “Who Question” when it conditioned affirmative action eligibility on underrepresentation. What the Court did not tell us was underrepresentation of whom? The Court thus instructs us to select beneficiary groups by counting heads, but leaves open which heads get counted where and what categories to use.

By artificially separating what are necessarily related inquiries, the Court left a definitional lacuna that lower courts have struggled to fill. Such definitional issues matter because they often determine who benefits from affirmative …

Paid Family Leave In American Law Schools: Findings And Open Questions, Laura T. Kessler

ExpressO

There exists a substantial literature on the status of women in the legal profession, including studies on women students’ experiences in law schools, gender bias on law school faculties, and family leave policies and practices among legal employers. However, no recent study examines the family leave policies and practices in American law schools. This study seeks to fill that gap. Its findings are threefold. First, almost three quarters of law schools provide wage replacement during a family leave that is more generous than required by federal law. Second, there is a positive relationship between teaching at top-tier and private law …

Formal Versus Informal Allocation Of Land In A Commons: The Case Of The Macarthur Park Sidewalk Vendors, Gregg Kettles

ExpressO

Sidewalk vendors are becoming a more common presence in cities in Latin America and the United States. Vendor demand for the best sidewalk vending spots increasingly exceeds supply, making necessary a system to allocate space in what is essentially an open access commons. This paper presents an empirical study of two very different systems of allocation that have been adopted in the city of Los Angeles, California, a formal one imposed by the city on legal vendors when they were unable to come up with one on their own, and a second that was embraced by illegal vendors across the …

Commodification And Contract Formation: Placing The Consideration Doctrine On Stronger Foundations, David S. Gamage

ExpressO

Under the traditional consideration doctrine, a promise is only legally enforceable if it is made in exchange for something of value. This doctrine lies at the heart of contract law, yet it lacks a sound theoretical justification – a fact that has confounded generations of scholars and created a mess of case law.

This paper argues that the failure of traditional justifications for the doctrine comes from two mistaken assumptions. First, previous scholars have assumed that anyone can back a promise with nominal consideration if they wish to do so. We show how social norms against commodification limit the availability …

When 2 Or 3 Come Together, Tracey L. Meares

ExpressO

This article investigates policies that are responsive to crime in disadvantaged, urban neighborhoods from a community-based context. The vehicle is an analysis of a community-wide prayer vigil held in Chicago in May of 1997. The vigil resulted from a collaboration between the Chicago Police Department and hundreds of (mostly) African-American churches on Chicago’s West Side. Strikingly, the local police district’s commander facilitated the vigil. We explain the sociological and political significance of this collaboration by drawing upon the “Chicago School” of urban sociology and demonstrating theoretically and empirically the potential for the collaboration, through the integration of key community institutions, …

A Norms Approach To Jury "Nullification", Joseph Sanders

ExpressO

The paper synthesizes economic and sociological approaches to norms to explain the circumstance under which juries are most likely to substitute their own rules and criteria for that of the law when deciding a case. It concludes that this type of “nullification” is most likely to occur when substantive societal value norms embedded in scripts are contrary to legal rules.

The (Practical) Meaning Of Property, Vincent F. Chiappetta

ExpressO

I argue that a functional approach to property - defining it as society’s decisions allocating varying kinds and degrees of legal control over resources rather than in terms of fixed sets of attributes or predefined goals - significantly clarifies public policy debate and related decision-making. That approach demonstrates we should reject characterizations of property as a yes-no proposition to which we react as well as the assumption that those who disagree with us are fools or worse. Those characterizations distract us from the central issue in property - our persistent normative disagreements regarding what constitutes its just application. Discussing property …

The Employer Preference For The Subservient Worker And The Making Of The Brown Collar Workplace, Leticia M. Saucedo

ExpressO

The rapidly growing Latino immigrant population raises questions about how the “brown collar” worker is being incorporated into our economy. Newly arrived Latino immigrants, or “brown collar” workers, are increasingly found in segregated workplaces throughout the country. They typically perform the least desirable jobs in the most unstable conditions in our economy. This article explores the creation of these workplaces by focusing first, on the conditions that create brown collar subservience and second, on employer practices that seek workers out for their subservience. Today’s anti-discrimination law does not adequately capture the form of discrimination lurking in the interaction between brown …

Legal Archaeology And Feminist Legal Theory: A Case Study Of A Violation Of A Protective Order , Debora L. Threedy

ExpressO

This article explores the intersection between the field of legal archaeology and feminist legal theory through the medium of a case study of the prosecution of the violation of a protective order.

Both legal archaeology and feminist theory employ “bottom up,” or grounded, theorizing; that is, they begin with specific context and move from there to generalization or abstraction, rather than the other way around. And both operate from a critical perspective that consciously challenges what we think we know about how law operates. For example, both are interested in exploring how systemic vulnerabilities, such as conscious or unconscious gender …

Buried Online: State Laws That Limit E-Commerce In Caskets, Jerry Ellig, Asheesh Agarwal

ExpressO

Consumers seeking to purchase caskets online could benefit from the Supreme Court’s 2005 decision that states cannot discriminate against interstate direct wine shipment. Federal courts have reached conflicting conclusions when asked whether state laws requiring casket sellers to be licensed funeral directors violate the U.S. Constitution’s Due Process Clause. In Powers v. Harris, the 10th Circuit even offered an unprecedented ruling that economic protectionism is a legitimate state interest that can justify otherwise unconstitutional policies. In Granholm v. Heald, however, the Supreme Court declared that discriminatory barriers to interstate wine shipment must be justified by a legitimate state interest, and …

Principles Of U.S. Family Law, Vivian E. Hamilton

ExpressO

What explains U.S. family law? To answer this question, this Article undertakes a conceptual analysis of the legal practices that govern families. This analysis has yet to be done, and its absence hamstrings constructive thought on our family law. The Article develops a typology that conceptualizes U.S. family law and exposes its underlying principles: First, it identifies the significant elements, or rules, of family law. Second, it demonstrates that these rules reflect or embody four important concepts – conjugality, privacy (familial as well as individual), contract, and parens patriae. Finally, it shows that the concepts of family law in turn …

Constitutional Tipping Points: Civil Rights, Social Change, And Fact-Based Adjudication, Suzanne B. Goldberg

Rutgers Law School (Newark) Faculty Papers

Judicial opinions typically rely on facts about a social group to justify or reject limitations on group members' rights, especially when traditional views about the status or capacity of group members are in contest. Yet the fact based approach to decision making obscures the normative judgments that actually determine whether restrictions on individual rights are reasonable. This article offers an account of how and why courts intervene in social conflicts by focusing on facts rather than declaring norms. In part, it argues that this approach preserves judicial flexibility to retain traditional justifications for restricting group members' rights in some settings …

Mar. 15, 2006, D. Hunter, Memo To A. Durbin & S. Herz Re Analysis Of Ifc Perf. Standards Against Old Safeguards, David Hunter, Andrea Durbin, Steve Herz

IFC E&S Performance Standards

No abstract provided.