Legal Writing and Research Commons^™

2020-2021 Annual Report, Caroline L. Osborne

Law Library Annual Reports and Assessments

No abstract provided.

The Dream Of Property Professors, Ezra Rosser

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Michael Heller and James Salzman's new book, Mine! How the Hidden Rules of Ownership Control Our Lives, is a dream come true for property professors.

I suspect that many of us have moments when we think to ourselves, "wow, this stuff is really interesting," imagining that property law could somehow be of general interest. Too often that dream is killed when the eyes of non-lawyers, including family members, start to glaze over when they hear words like rule against perpetuities or trademark. Heller and Salzman have succeeded in making the stories property professors tell the stuff of a bestseller. They …

Dare To Dream: How Would You Teach 1ls Legal Research With No Restrictions?, Olivia Smith Schlinck

Library Staff Online Writings

When I started in my current role as an instructional librarian, I was given space to make the changes I thought necessary to improve an already-changing legal research program. I’ve made changes – some small, some more major – in both the 1L and upper-level research curriculum, but there is more to do. In particular, I’m not entirely satisfied with how we teach legal research to 1Ls.

Integrating Doctrine And Diversity Speaker Series: Making Space, Taking Space 11-16-2021, Roger Williams University School Of Law

School of Law Conferences, Lectures & Events

No abstract provided.

Legal Corpus Linguistics And The Half-Empirical Attitude, Anya Bernstein

Journal Articles

Legal writers have recently turned to corpus linguistics to interpret legal texts. Corpus linguistics, a social-science methodology, provides a sophisticated way to analyze large data sets of language use. Legal proponents have touted it as giving empirical grounding to claims about ordinary language, which pervade legal interpretation. But legal corpus linguistics cannot deliver on that promise because it ignores the crucial contexts in which legal language is produced, interpreted, and deployed.

First, legal corpus linguistics neglects the relevant legal context—the conditions that give legal language authority. Because of this, legal corpus studies’ evidence about language use perversely obscures and misstates …

Introducing David Lefkowitz’S Philosophy And International Law, Andreas Follesdal, Steven R. Ratner

Reviews

David Lefkowitz’s new book Philosophy and International Law: A Critical Introduction (Cambridge University Press, 2020) comes at a critical time in the conversation between international law scholars and practitioners, on the one hand, and philosophers, whether legal, moral, or political, on the other. Until about fifteen years ago, philosophical inquiry related to the international legal order was generally limited to a few issues within political and moral philosophy, notably distributive justice and just war theory. Since that time, an expansion has taken place in two directions. First, political and moral philosophers are writing about other aspects of the global political …

"Yogi-Isms" In The Courts, Douglas E. Abrams

Faculty Publications

The versatility of Lawrence Peter (Yogi) Berra, a native of St. Louis,5 appears unparalleled in the annals of professional sports. His stellar on-the-field performance earned him election to the Hall of Fame in 1972, and his vast collection of off-the-field sayings earned him a secure place in American folklore. Some Yogi-isms are cited and quoted in federal and state judicial opinions. Topping the judicial ledger is “It’s déjà vu all over again,” which appears in Shurtleff and a few dozen other decisions.

A Human Being Wrote This Law Review Article: Gpt-3 And The Practice Of Law, Amy B. Cyphert

Law Faculty Scholarship

Artificial intelligence tools can now “write” in such a sophisticated manner that they fool people into believing that a human wrote the text. None are better at writing than GPT-3, released in 2020 for beta testing and coming to commercial markets in 2021. GPT-3 was trained on a massive dataset that included scrapes of language from sources ranging from the NYTimes to Reddit boards. And so, it comes as no surprise that researchers have already documented incidences of bias where GPT-3 spews toxic language. But because GPT-3 is so good at “writing,” and can be easily trained to write in …

Law Review And Finding A Place In The Academy, Jenny E. Carroll

Faculty Scholarship

Membership on the Texas Law Review created opportunities for me, taught me a lot about editorial processes, and served as a reminder that I was a law outsider. The last of these is the focus for this essay, not because it is the most important or because it stands alone (it doesn’t), but because I believe there are other rooms in which to reminisce fondly about law review. Here, I want to speak more honestly about my experience because that experience, as an outsider, has influenced me most as a scholar, teacher, and advocate.

Editing And Interleaving, Patrick Barry

Articles

This essay suggests that a powerful learning strategy called "interleaving"--which involves strategically switching between cognitive tasks--is being underused. It can do more than make study sessions more productive; it can also make editing sessions more productive.

Do Courts Have Jurisdiction To Consider Questions Of Fact To Determine Whether A Noncitizen Is Entitled To Eligibility For Discretionary Relief From Removal?, David L. Hudson Jr.

Law Faculty Scholarship

This article previews Patel v. Garland, a United States Supreme Court case addressing the scope of federal court jurisdiction under 8 U.S.C. § 1252(a)(2)(B)(i), as amended by the REAL ID Act. The central question is whether federal courts retain jurisdiction to review nondiscretionary factual determinations underlying eligibility for discretionary relief from removal, or whether the statute’s bar on reviewing “any judgment” precludes judicial review of such threshold findings. The case arises from the denial of adjustment of status to Pankajkumar Patel, deemed inadmissible for allegedly falsely representing himself as a U.S. citizen on a driver’s license application. Both petitioner …

Does A State Violate Rluipa By Prohibiting An Inmate's Pastor From Laying Hands On Him And Audibly Praying During The Execution Process?, David L. Hudson Jr.

Law Faculty Scholarship

This article examines Ramirez v. Collier, a United States Supreme Court case addressing the scope of religious liberty protections afforded to death-row inmates under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA). The case centers on whether Texas prison officials violate RLUIPA by prohibiting an inmate’s pastor from laying hands on him and praying audibly during the execution process. The dispute requires the Court to evaluate (1) whether such prohibitions substantially burden sincerely held religious beliefs, (2) whether the state satisfies RLUIPA’s strict scrutiny standard by demonstrating a compelling governmental interest advanced through the least restrictive …

Tribute To Professor Bonita K. Roberts, David A. Schlueter

St. Mary's Law Journal

A tribute to St. Mary's University School of Law Professor Bonita K. Roberts.

In Honor Of Professor Bonita K. Roberts, Linda L. Schlueter, Faye M. Bracey

St. Mary's Law Journal

A tribute to Professor Bonita K. Roberts of St. Mary's University School of Law.

Professor Bonita K. Roberts—A Colleague And A “Conscience”, Victoria Mather

St. Mary's Law Journal

A tribute to Bonita K. Roberts, a professor at St. Mary's University School of Law.

Book Review Of The Legal Scholar’S Guidebook, Jamie R. Abrams

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

Total Scholarly Impact: Law Professor Citations In Non-Law Journals, J. B. Ruhl, Michael P. Vandenbergh, Sarah E. Dunaway

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

Three Suggestions To Promote New Scholarship From An Outgoing Editor-In-Chief, Christian I. Bale

Duke Law Journal Online

No abstract provided.

Negative Commentary—Negative Consequences: Legal Ethics, Social Media, And The Impact Of Explosive Commentary, Jan L. Jacobowitz Ms.

St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics

Connecting and sharing on social media has opened communication channels and provided instantaneous information to billions of people worldwide. Commentary on current events, cases, and negative online reviews may be posted in an instant, often without pause or thought about the potential repercussions. This global phenomenon may not only provide news of the day updates, humor, and support for those in need but also is replete with ethical landmines for the unwary lawyer. Lawyers commenting on current events, their cases, or responding to a client’s negative online review, have suffered damage to their careers. In some instances, they have even …

The Silver Lining Of The Covid-19 Pandemic: Building Effective - And Enduring - International Legal Education Opportunities, Diane Penneys Edelman

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

An Ecological And Holistic Analysis Of The Epistemic Value Of Law Libraries, Paul D. Callister, Dana Neacsu

Faculty Works

We examine the libraries' roles within the "epistemic foundation of society.” Our analysis is in response to the omission of Yale Law Dean Gerken of the role of libraries in her recent article about legal education's new focus and to remarks by AALS President Vicki Jackson that suggest an uncertain role for libraries. We have adapted holistic ecological media theory, as developed by Ronald Deibert, to reject a technologically deterministic view of libraries as having no future. We have considered the role of law libraries in the social epistemology or cognitive authority of the legal community, the role of law …

A Framework For Creative Problem- Solving: The Color Of Law: A Forgotten History Of How Our Government Segregated America, Megan Riesmeyer

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

The last few years have led the United States to a national recognition of race and racism that has not been seen in this country for nearly 50 years. Law schools, as part of higher educational institutions around the country, are recognizing not only their potential contribution to the racist society in which we live, but, importantly, the role they can play in addressing and overcoming such racism and its effects. The Color of Law, A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America provides an important framework for understanding and action to become problem-solvers and teach problem-solving.

Baby & Bathwater: Standing In Election Cases After 2020, Steven J. Mulroy

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

The current consensus among commentators is that the flood of cases challenging the 2020 presidential election results was almost completely meritless. This consensus is correct as to the ultimate result, but not as to the courts’ treatment of standing. In their (understandable) zeal to reject sometimes frivolous attempts to overturn a legitimate election and undermine public confidence in our electoral system, many courts were too quick to rule that plaintiffs lacked standing. These rulings resulted in unjustified sweeping rulings that voters were not injured even if their legal votes were diluted by states accepting illegal votes; that campaigns did not …

Taking Exception To Assessments Of American Exceptionalism: Why The United States Isn’T Such An Outlier On Free Speech, Evelyn Mary Aswad

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

One of the most significant challenges to human freedom in the digital age involves the sheer power of private companies over speech and the fact that power is untethered to existing free speech principles. Heated debates are ongoing about what standards social media companies should adopt to regulate speech on their platforms. Some have argued that global social media companies, such as Facebook and Twitter, should align their speech codes with the international human rights law standards of the United Nations (“U.N.”). Others have countered that U.S.-based companies should apply First Amendment standards. Much of this debate is premised on …

Standing By To Protect Child Abuse Victims: Utilizing Standby Counsel In Lieu Of Personal Cross-Examination, Claire Murtha

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

Child abuse is a pervasive problem in the United States. Often, the abused child’s word is the only evidence to prove the abuse in court. For this reason, the child’s testimony is critical. Testifying can pose a challenge for the abused child who must face her abuser in the courtroom, especially if that abuser personally questions her.

The United States Supreme Court has recognized the legitimate and strong interest the state has in protecting the psychological and physical well-being of children. When a child will face significant trauma and cannot reasonably communicate in the courtroom, the child can be questioned …

Osha’S Comprehensive Failure To Protect Workers During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Nancy M. Modesitt

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

Under the Trump Administration, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”), failed to protect workers from COVID-19, which has led to deadly workplace outbreaks of the virus. OSHA’s failures began when it refused to produce legally-binding rules, known as emergency temporary standards, that would mandate the most basic step of requiring masks in the workplace to protect workers from the risks of infection on the job. In addition, while OSHA did produce non-binding guidance for employers, that guidance was unclear and fundamentally deficient in failing to require masks in all workplaces and failing to require recordkeeping that would identify potential …

When Fast-Tracking Slows You Down: Reconsidering Nationwide Permit 12 Use For Large-Scale Oil Pipelines, Megan Rulli

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

The consumption of oil pervades everyday life in America. The network of pipelines transporting oil from field to consumer is largely invisible. Until a major news event bursts pipelines onto headlines, this indispensable and invisible system fuels the country without fanfare. At the same time, concern over global climate change has made new large-scale projects for fossil fuel extraction and consumption highly controversial. The Keystone XL (“KXL”) pipeline was originally designed to transport crude oil extracted from oil sands in Canada to the Gulf of Mexico for international export. After more than a decade of false starts, the project currently …

Cyberterrorism And The Public Safety Exception To Miranda, Mitch Snyder

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

Cyberattacks against U.S. targets are becoming increasingly common. To effectively combat these attacks, law enforcement officers need the tools to respond to and prevent cyberattacks before they can occur.

In recent years, hackers have launched cyberattacks against infrastructural targets such as power grids, oil and gas distribution computer systems, and telecommunications networks. Cyberattacks have also targeted U.S. government websites, including the U.S. Department of Transportation and the U.S. Department of Treasury. Recently, a cyberattack against SolarWinds, a Texas-based I.T. company, compromised the computer and network systems of federal, state, and local governments; critical infrastructure entities; and other private sector organizations. …

Dedication

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

No abstract provided.

Removing Roadblocks: Alternatives To Lawful Status And Social Security Number Requirements For Pennsylvania Driver’S Licenses, Miranda Sasinovic

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

As part of their traditional state police powers, states determine the eligibility requirements for their driver’s licenses. Standard eligibility requirements include proof of age, residency, identity, and knowledge. In the 1990s, some states amended their vehicle codes to require proof of lawful status, effectively barring undocumented immigrants from obtaining driver’s licenses.

In response to inconsistent issuance and verification standards, Congress passed the REAL ID Act of 2005. The Act prohibits federal agencies from accepting state driver’s licenses for official purposes unless states comply with minimum issuance and verification standards. These standards include requirements to verify Social Security numbers and lawful …