Legal History Commons^™

To Have And To Hold: What Does Love (Of Money) Have To Do With Joint Tax Filing, Stephanie Mcmahon

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

Wealthy taxpayers have always attempted to reduce their federal income taxes. Before 1948, when the United States had an individual-based system, one popular method was to shift income between spouses so that more of a husband's income could be reported by and taxed to his lower-income, and thus lower-tax-bracket, wife. Congress eliminated the reward for this tax-avoidance behavior in 1948 by nationalizing income splitting via the joint return. Today, there are proposals to return to an individual-based system. Evaluating the proposal for individual filing, this Article first explores the development of the income-splitting joint return as a historical guide to …

The Relation Of Theories Of Jurisprudence To International Politics And Law, Anthony D'Amato

Faculty Working Papers

In this essay we shall be concerned with the real world relevance of theories of international law; that is, with the question of the theories themselves as a factor in international decision-making. To do this it is first necessary to review briefly the substance of the jurisprudential debate among legal scholars, then to view some basic jurisprudential ideas as factors in international views of "law," and finally to reach the question of the operative difference a study of these theories might make in world politics.

On The Connection Between Law And Justice, Anthony D'Amato

Faculty Working Papers

What does it mean to assert that judges should decide cases according to justice and not according to the law? Is there something incoherent in the question itself? That question will serve as our springboard in examining what is—or should be—the connection between justice and law. Legal and political theorists since the time of Plato have wrestled with the problem of whether justice is part of law or is simply a moral judgment about law. Nearly every writer on the subject has either concluded that justice is only a judgment about law or has offered no reason to support a …

An Essay On Torts: States Of Argument, Marshall S. Shapo

Faculty Working Papers

This essay summarizes high points in torts scholarship and case law over a period of two generations, highlighting the "states of argument" that have characterized tort law over that period. It intertwines doctrine and policy. Its doctrinal features include the tradtional spectrum of tort liability, the duty question, problems of proof, and the relative incoherency of damages rules. Noting the cross-doctrinal role of tort as a solver of functional problems, it focuses on major issues in products liability and medical malpractice. The essay discusses such elements of policy as the role of power in tort law, the tension between communitarianism …

Dred Scott V. Sandford: A Prelude To The Civil War, Faith Joseph Jackson

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

This article will first review the foundational cracks that slavery left in the creation of the United States' Constitution. It will then examine the ensuing legislative efforts to contend with the political and societal consequences of the slavery divide. Next, it will discuss the history behind the Scott case, and the course and resolution of the case in the court system. It will then describe the notoriety of the case and the impact it had on the events leading up to the war. It will conclude with an analysis of Dred Scott's position at the locus of only real conflict …

A Social Movement History Of Title Vii Disparate Impact Analysis, Susan Carle

Feminist Scholarship

This Article examines the history of Title VII disparate impact law in light of the policy and potential constitutional questions the Court’s recent decision in Ricci v. DeStefano raises. My analysis shows that, contrary to popular assumptions, disparate impact doctrine was not a last-minute, illconceived invention of the EEOC following Title VII’s passage. Instead, it arose out of a moderate, experimentalist regulatory tradition that sought to use laws to motivate employers to reform employment practices that posed structural bars to employment opportunities for racial minorities, regardless of invidious intent. Non-lawyer activists within the National Urban League first pioneered these experimentalist …

The Hermeneutical And Rhetorical Nature Of Law, Francis J. Mootz Iii

McGeorge School of Law Scholarly Articles

No abstract provided.

Trusts & Estates (Annual Survey Of Michigan Law, June 1, 2011 - May 31, 2012), Susan E. Cancelosi

Law Faculty Research Publications

The Survey period began only two months after the Michigan Trust Code took effect. Thus, attorneys handling matters subject to the new trust law were only beginning to delve into how their practices will change. At the same time, estate planners who handle larger estates spent the first part of the Survey period on edge about federal estate tax uncertainty. Although Congress in mid-December 2010 did act to extend the estate tax relief of the past decade, it did so only temporarily, leaving many questions for future planning. With the new Michigan Trust Code and the federal estate tax changes, …

On The Incompatibility Of Political Virtue And Judicial Review: A Neo-Aristotelean Perspective, Ralph F. Gaebler

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Part I of this essay outlines a neo-Aristotelean theory of political virtue, an instance of virtue generally, that serves as the basis of excellent citizenship in the polis. As such, political virtue contributes its share to the achievement of eudaimonia, or the fulfillment of an individual’s natural, human function. In fact, political virtue is especially important because people are political beings, i.e. they seek the good most comprehensively in the context of association with others. Therefore, Aristotle describes politics as the master science of the supreme good, because politics orders the community of the polis and thereby establishes the norms …

Punctuated Equilibrium: A Model For Administrative Evolution, 44 J. Marshall L. Rev. 353 (2011), Mark C. Niles

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Citizens United And Tiered Personhood, 44 J. Marshall L. Rev. 717 (2011), Atiba R. Ellis

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Tort Reform And Implied Conflict Preemption, 44 J. Marshall L. Rev. 827 (2011), Martin A. Kotler

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

One Day Criminal Careers: The Armed Career Criminal Act's Different Occassions Provisions, 44 J. Marshall L. Rev. 963 (2011), Jenny W.L. Osborne

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

The United States Of Immigration: A Nation In Crisis. How Fear Has Shaped Immigration Law And Has Led Us To Question Basic Constitutional Rights, 45 J. Marshall L. Rev. 205 (2011), Patrycja Rynduch

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

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.

Information Anxieties, G. S. Hans

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

The constant access and instant publication that the Internet allows have given every pundit an online soapbox. This content explosion has created two related problems for consumers and industry: how to find valuable content online (whatever "valuable" means) and how to moderate the flow of the content itself. Tim Wu argues in The Master Switch that the second issue of content control and mediation has been fiercely debated in the United States as far back as the invention of the telephone in the late nineteenth century. Consumers, creators, companies, and government officials have disputed the appropriate regulations for the devices …

How To Hold A State Constitutional Convention In The Twenty-First Century, 44 Loy. L.A. L. Rev. 603 (2011), Ann Lousin

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

Although few states have held constitutional conventions in recent decades, there is renewed interest in holding state constitutional conventions in the twenty-first century. This Essay explains the author's views on holding such a convention, based on her experience in Illinois and with a view toward a California convention. The author believes that the two keys to a successful convention in the twenty-first century are extensive preparation and transparency. Only with preparation can the delegates and staff of a convention draft a document worthy of adoption. Only with great transparency of the process, especially in the Internet age, can the citizens …

We Don't Want Dollars, Just Change: Narrative Counter-Terrorism Strategy, An Inclusive Model For Social Healing, And The Truth About Torture Commission, 6 Nw. J. L. & Soc. Pol'y 1 (2011), Kim D. Chanbonpin

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

In 2007, Professor Eric K Yamamoto acknowledged that reparations theory and practice had reached a crossroads and called for a new strategic framework that reparations advocates could utilize in working to achieve redress for social and historical wrongs. This Article attempts to answer Yamamoto's call. In it, I situate my proposal for a truth commission to redress the post-9/11 torture program in a new Inclusive Model for Social Healing. In the past, reparations advocates have relied on litigation-a strategic model that excludes participants other than the named parties-to

obtain redress. By increasing the number of stakeholders in a reparations scheme, …

How Leadership In International Criminal Law Is Shifting From The United States To Europe And Asia: An Analysis Of Spending On And Contributions To International Criminal Courts, 55 St. Louis U. L.J. 953 (2011), Stuart K. Ford

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Opening Remarks, Peter T. Coleman

Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution

No abstract provided.

Sacrifice And Sacred Honor: Why The Constitution Is A "Suicide Pact", Peter Brandon Bayer

Scholarly Works

Most legal scholars and elected officials embrace the popular clich6 that "the Constitution is not a suicide pact." Typically, those commentators extol the "Constitution of necessity," the supposition that Government, essentially the Executive, may take any action-may abridge or deny any fundamental right-to alleviate a sufficiently serious national security threat. The "Constitution of necessity" is wrong. This Article explains that strict devotion to the "fundamental fairness" principles of the Constitution's Due Process Clauses is America's utmost legal and moral duty, surpassing all other considerations, even safety, security and survival.

The analysis begins with the most basic premises: the definition of …

The Hermeneutical And Rhetorical Nature Of Law, Francis J. Mootz Iii

Scholarly Works

In its most venal manifestation, scholarly writing betrays the anxiety of influence by claiming to offer a radically new solution to age-old conundrums. The goal is to make a clean break from a traditional path of thought that has become trapped in a cul-de-sac, to make progress by finding a new way forward. Not so with Jean Porter’s work, and particularly her most recent book. Professor Porter demonstrates that thinking through an established tradition – one that has responded to numerous challenges within very different contexts over several millennia – can sometimes offer the most productive response to contemporary dilemmas. …

The Jurisprudential Turn In Legal Ethics, Katherine R. Kruse

Scholarly Works

When legal ethics developed as an academic discipline in the mid-1970s, its theoretical roots were in moral philosophy. The early theorists in legal ethics were moral philosophers by training, and they explored legal ethics as a branch of moral philosophy. From the vantage point of moral philosophy, lawyers’ professional duties comprised a system of moral duties that governed lawyers in their professional lives, a “role-morality” for lawyers that competed with ordinary moral duties. In defining this “role-morality,” the moral philosophers accepted the premise that “good lawyers” are professionally obligated to pursue the interests of their clients all the way to …

Philosophical Legal Ethics: Ethics, Morals, And Jurisprudence, Katherine R. Kruse

Scholarly Works

The authors and moderator David Luban participated in a plenary session of the International Legal Ethics Conference IV, held at Stanford. Each author answered and discussed questions arising from short papers they had written about the principal concern of legal ethics was the morality of lawyers, the morality of clients, or the morality of laws.

Constitutional Revision: Are Seriatim Amendments Or Constitutional Conventions The Better Way To Amend A State Constitution?, 115 Penn St. L. Rev. 1099 (2011), Ann M. Lousin

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Freedom Of Information Act Trial, 61 Am. U. L. Rev. 217 (2011), Margaret B. Kwoka

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

This Article examines the paucity of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) cases that go to trial and courts' preference for resolving these disputes at the summary judgment stage. Using traditional legal analysis and empirical evidence, this Article explores whether we should expect FOIA cases to go to trial and how the scarcity of FOIA trials compares to the trial rate in civil litigation generally. It concludes that the unusual use of summary judgment in FOIA cases has unjustifiably all but eliminated FOIA trials, which occur in less than 1 % of FOIA cases. It further examines how conducting FOIA trials …

What Do We Mean By An Independent Judiciary, 38 Ohio N.U. L. Rev. 133 (2011), Michael P. Seng

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

Issues continue to arise about judicial independence in the United States. The term judicial independence is often not defined with precision. Judicial independence has its roots in the doctrine of separation of powers. It is also grounded in due process and in ethical standards that require judges to be competent and impartial decision-makers. Judicial independence depends upon society having faith in the integrity of the courts. Accountability is thus the handmaid of an independent judiciary. This article defines both the structures and the ethical standards that ensure an independent judiciary.

Criminalizing Hate: America's Legislative Response To Bias Crime, Bryce Therrien, Nadia-Elysse Harris

Tribeca Square Press

No abstract provided.

Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping; And Nebbia V. New York, Howard Bromberg

Book Chapters

Contributions by Howard J. Bromberg to The Thirties in America, a collection of short essays.

Women Behind The Wheel: Gender And Transportation Law, 1860-1930, Margo Schlanger

Book Chapters

Gender difference is only infrequently mentioned in recent negligence cases. To contemporary (mostly non-essentialist) eyes, gender difference seems to appear only mildly relevant to tort law's area of concern: care and harm to others and self. But in the early days of modern tort law, when gender differences loomed larger in the consciousness of American jurists, and unabashedly so, judicial opinions more frequently grappled with how negligence doctrine ought to take account of female difference. This chapter explores opinions published between approximately 1860 and 1930 that illuminate this issue in cases involving women drivers and passengers of cars and wagons. …