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Law reform

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Articles 241 - 270 of 487

Full-Text Articles in Legislation

Crafting An Advocate For A Child: In Support Of Legislation Redefining The Role Of The Guardian Ad Litem In Michigan Child Abuse And Neglect Cases, Albert E. Hartmann Oct 1997

Crafting An Advocate For A Child: In Support Of Legislation Redefining The Role Of The Guardian Ad Litem In Michigan Child Abuse And Neglect Cases, Albert E. Hartmann

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Michigan's current statutory system leaves the role of the child's attorney unclear. In this Note, Hartmann advocates the adoption of a legislative proposal that will redefine the role of the child's attorney. The proposal specifies that the child's primary legal representative should be a guardian ad litem who will represent the best interests of the child. Hartmann begins by describing the current system and then analyzes how the proposal will modify the role of the child's attorney. Hartmann argues that the proposed changes would be highly beneficial and identifies specific points of improvement. Hartmann concludes by suggesting several reforms to …

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Overcoming Collective Action Problems: Enforcement Of Worker Rights, Louise Sadowsky Brock Jun 1997

Overcoming Collective Action Problems: Enforcement Of Worker Rights, Louise Sadowsky Brock

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

In a period of new employment laws, it is important to determine how those laws are enforced, why enforcement of those laws is sometimes limited and how enforcement can be improved. This Note discusses the ways in which the theory of collective action limits enforcement of three employee rights statutes: the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, and the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act. Enforcement mechanisms such as class action lawsuits, administrative agencies, employee participation groups, and labor unions represent potential methods of overcoming collective action problems. Each method has its benefits, and the three …

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Toward A South African Administrative Justice Act, Michael Asimow Jan 1997

Toward A South African Administrative Justice Act, Michael Asimow

Michigan Journal of Race and Law

Section 33 of South Africa's Constitution provides fundamental principles of administrative justice. It also requires Parliament to adopt an Administrative Justice Act. This Article contends that without enactment of such legislation Section 33 will be ineffective in practice and may prove to be an obstacle to achieving the economic and social objectives of the Constitution. In addition, such legislation is essential to preserving the legitimacy and the effectiveness of the Constitutional Court.

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Marriage Today: Legal Consequences For Same Sex And Opposite Sex Couples, David L. Chambers Jan 1997

Marriage Today: Legal Consequences For Same Sex And Opposite Sex Couples, David L. Chambers

Articles

Laws that treat married persons in a different manner than they treat single persons permeate nearly every field of social regulation in this country -- taxation, otrts, evidence, social welfare, inheritance, adoption, and on and on.

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The Virtue Of Speed In Bankruptcy Proceedings, James J. White Jan 1997

The Virtue Of Speed In Bankruptcy Proceedings, James J. White

Articles

In my opinion the principal difficulty with Chapter 11 is that it gives strong incentives to various Chapter 11 players to distort the priorities that were intended by Congress.

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Comments At The 1997 Aals Annual Meeting: Consumer Protection And The Uniform Commercial Code, James J. White Jan 1997

Comments At The 1997 Aals Annual Meeting: Consumer Protection And The Uniform Commercial Code, James J. White

Other Publications

As Jean [Braucher]' said, I have served on several committees in connection with the revisions of Articles 2, 2A, and 5. I am now on a committee of uncertain obligation that is going to review the NCCUSL draft of Article 2 for the American Law Institute. I was the reporter-an awful task, if anybody ever asks you to do that, you should think about it once or twice-for Article 5. I think service as the reporter for Article 2 might kill Dick Speidel by the time he is done.

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Adverse Possession Against The States: The Hornbooks Have It Wrong, Paula R. Latovick Jun 1996

Adverse Possession Against The States: The Hornbooks Have It Wrong, Paula R. Latovick

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The hornbook rule is that adverse possession statutes do not run against land owned by state governments. Yet, in practice, the land of many states is subject to loss by adverse possession. Few states have statutes that simply and explicitly protect all state land from adverse possession. This Article describes the variety of ways in which states protect or fail to protect their land from adverse possession. It concludes with the recommendation that, given increasing development pressures and limited state enforcement budgets, state legislatures should protect completely all state land from adverse possession.

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The Proposed Model Surrogate Parenthood Act: A Legislative Response To The Challenges Of Reproductive Technology, Murray L. Manus Apr 1996

The Proposed Model Surrogate Parenthood Act: A Legislative Response To The Challenges Of Reproductive Technology, Murray L. Manus

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

In this Article, Manus proposes a Model Surrogate Parenthood Act. He examines the medical and scientific history of surrogacy and reviews the jurisprudence in the area, specifically the constitutional relationship between procreation rights and surrogacy. The author asserts that surrogate motherhood cannot be, and indeed, should not be, eradicated through legislation criminalizing it. The proposed Model Act, presented here in its entirety, attempts to reduce the problems inherent in the concept of surrogate parenthood by putting the process under strict court supervision and by zealously protecting the rights of the surrogate mother and the child to be conceived.

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Securitization Of State Ownership: Chinese Securities Law, Minkang Gu, Robert C. Art Jan 1996

Securitization Of State Ownership: Chinese Securities Law, Minkang Gu, Robert C. Art

Michigan Journal of International Law

Part I of this article establishes the scope of analysis and defines the Chinese use of the term "security," which is more limited than under American law. Parts II and III briefly examine the history of Chinese securities laws and the understanding of securities by the Chinese people. Part IV focuses on the government's motivations in establishing the securities markets. Part V discusses the distinctively Chinese approach of classifying shares according to the characteristics and nationality of permitted shareholders. Part VI addresses the future development of Chinese securities markets. The conclusion reflects on the significance of western forms of securities …

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Introduction: Unemployment Compensation Eligibility, Cheryl A. Leanza Jan 1996

Introduction: Unemployment Compensation Eligibility, Cheryl A. Leanza

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Introduction will review the Symposium sessions which dealt with eligibility issues. Many of the statements made by the panel participants and audience members highlighted the contemporary problems of a system established over sixty years ago. Thus, this Introduction seeks to record the main points made during these sessions in an effort to contribute to the debate regarding reform of the unemployment compensation system.

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A Case For Pregnancy-Based Unemployment Insurance, Mark R. Brown Jan 1996

A Case For Pregnancy-Based Unemployment Insurance, Mark R. Brown

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Professor Brown argues that unemployment insurance laws should be amended to provide coverage to otherwise eligible, pregnant claimants. Under current law, women who quit because of pregnancy are either disqualified from receiving unemployment benefits altogether or qualify only after childbirth. Those who are fired, meanwhile, often either cannot prove the motivation for their discharge or discover that they are disqualified because of their unavailability for work. Professor Brown uses a case study to illustrate the problems posed by pregnancy and unemployment insurance. He proposes model legislation that extends coverage to all pregnant claimants who temporarily separate from their employment.

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Clarifying Conditions For Nonmonetary Eligibility In The Unemployment Insurance System, Amy B. Chasanov Jan 1996

Clarifying Conditions For Nonmonetary Eligibility In The Unemployment Insurance System, Amy B. Chasanov

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Article explores the nonmonetary eligibility requirements that unemployed individuals must meet in order to receive Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits. These eligibility criteria, which are decided by the states, vary significantly. Because states often have relatively vague statutes regarding their specific nonmonetary eligibility criteria, state rules, regulations, and case law interpret these statutes and better define the criteria. The author discusses the results of a recent survey of UI nonmonetary eligibility criteria which provides information on the status of criteria across the nation than has been available previously. The author concludes that policy reform in this area should be focused …

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Introduction: The Federal-State Partnership Of Unemployment Compensation, Richard W. Fanning Jr. Jan 1996

Introduction: The Federal-State Partnership Of Unemployment Compensation, Richard W. Fanning Jr.

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Federal and state governments jointly administer the unemployment compensation system. Many participants at the Symposium addressed this aspect of unemployment compensation, and it is the topic of the four Articles that follow. This Introduction discusses three broad areas in order to provide a framework for issues concerning federal-state relations in unemployment compensation. This Introduction also will highlight some of the points made by Symposium participants in response to the ideas expressed in the following Articles. Part I addresses how the federal-state partnership operates and defines areas of responsibility for both the states and the federal government. Part I also discusses …

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Unemployment Compensation For Employees Of Educational Institutions: How State Courts Have Created Variations On Federally Mandated Statutory Language, Maribeth Wilt-Seibert Jan 1996

Unemployment Compensation For Employees Of Educational Institutions: How State Courts Have Created Variations On Federally Mandated Statutory Language, Maribeth Wilt-Seibert

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Over the past sixty years, Congress has enacted a system of unemployment insurance for workers who have become unemployed through no fault of their own. While the Social Security Act of 1935 created much of the statutory framework for this system of insurance, Congress did not include employees of educational institutions within its system of unemployment insurance until 1970, when it amended the Federal Unemployment Tax Act of 1954 (FUTA). Since Congress enacted those amendments, each of the fifty states has passed legislation that substantially conforms to the FUTA amendments. Yet, despite the uniformity of state statutory language, state appellate …

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Procedural Reform In The Unemployment Insurance System, Marla D. Clark, Jesse S. Reyes Jan 1996

Procedural Reform In The Unemployment Insurance System, Marla D. Clark, Jesse S. Reyes

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

In the 1990s, we have witnessed a political movement toward smaller governament and reduced federal funding for social benefits programs. At the same time, evidence suggests that the unemployment insurance (UI) system as it works today still may not benefit all of its intended recipients. The need for improved UI services and the scarcity of resources available to meet this need create a tension between political pressures and constitutional considerations of fairness and due process. While constitutional considerations always override political pressures, the real issue is where to strike the appropriate balance between fundamental fairness and economic reality.

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The Law And Politics Of The Enforcement Of Federal Standards For The Administration Of Unemployment Insurance Hearings, John C. Gray Jr., Jane Greengold Stevens Jan 1996

The Law And Politics Of The Enforcement Of Federal Standards For The Administration Of Unemployment Insurance Hearings, John C. Gray Jr., Jane Greengold Stevens

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Unemployment insurance claimants are entitled to have state unemployment programs administered in accordance with federal standards, which include the provision of prompt and fair hearings for claimants if their applications for benefits are denied. Violations of these rights are widespread, but the United States Department of Labor's Unemployment Insurance Service has never brought a formal proceeding to enforce the federal standards of administration. This Article explains why enforcement of the federal standards is needed and why it has not been provided and suggests methods by which advocates for claimants can seek to enforce federal standards in the face of this …

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Unemployment Compensation: Continuity, Change, And The Prospects For Reform, Jerry L. Mashaw Jan 1996

Unemployment Compensation: Continuity, Change, And The Prospects For Reform, Jerry L. Mashaw

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The Symposium proceedings for which this Introduction provides an overview had a decidedly reformative impulse and focus. Authors and discussants came together not just to ruminate about the future, but to grapple with concrete problems that are both a legacy of the past and the product of relatively recent changes. Reformers found much to criticize and to suggest, whether their focus was on stable structures or newly emerging issues. The purpose of this Introduction is to synthesize the views expressed and to reflect on them from the perspective of a student of benefits administration, but one not expert in the …

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Interstate Claims: Their History And Their Challenges, Mark D. Esterle Jan 1996

Interstate Claims: Their History And Their Challenges, Mark D. Esterle

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Article provides an overview of the cases and statutes relating to interstate claims for unemployment compensation. The author suggests that the current federal statutes and regulations are inadequate on the grounds that they are ambiguous, lead to inconsistent results in different states, and may fail to ensure due process in claims determinations. The author highlights these problems with regard to interstate fact finders, attorney representation, witness subpoenas, and access to judicial review. Finally, he points to regulations that cover interstate unemployment compensation claims by federal employees and military servicemembers as models for new regulations of uniform application.

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Unemployment Compensation In A Time Of Increasing Work-Family Conflicts, Martin H. Malin Jan 1996

Unemployment Compensation In A Time Of Increasing Work-Family Conflicts, Martin H. Malin

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The demographics of the workplace have changed substantially since the nation's unemployment insurance system was enacted in the 1930s. The number of dual-earner and single-parent families has increased dramatically. Yet, the basic requirements for eligibility for unemployment compensation have not varied much since their initial enactment. In this Article, Professor Malin explores the availability of benefits to individuals who lose their jobs because of conflicts between work and family responsibilities and to unemployed individuals whose family responsibilities restrict the types of jobs that they are able to take. He finds that the states have differed greatly concerning the degree to …

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Federal Law Requirements For The Federal-State Unemployment Compensation System: Interpretation And Application, Gerard Hildebrand Jan 1996

Federal Law Requirements For The Federal-State Unemployment Compensation System: Interpretation And Application, Gerard Hildebrand

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The benefits provided to states by federal unemployment compensation law are conditioned on meeting several requirements. This Article examines some of these requirements, how they came about, how the United States Department of Labor and the federal courts have interpreted them, and how conflicts between the states and the federal government have been resolved. The Article concludes that certain types of requirements work best within this federal-state system.

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What If? The Legal Consequences Of Marriage And The Legal Needs Of Lesbian And Gay Male Couples, David L. Chambers Jan 1996

What If? The Legal Consequences Of Marriage And The Legal Needs Of Lesbian And Gay Male Couples, David L. Chambers

Articles

Laws that treat married persons in a different manner than they treat single persons permeate nearly every field of social regulation in this country - taxation, torts, evidence, social welfare, inheritance, adoption, and on and on. In this article I inquire into the patterns these laws form and the central benefits and obligations that marriage entails, a task few scholars have undertaken in recent years. I have done so because same-sex couples, a large group not previously eligible to marry under the laws of any American jurisdiction, may be on the brink of securing the opportunity to do so in …

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The Uniform Probate Code Extends Antilapse-Type Protection To Poorly Drafted Trusts, Lawrence W. Waggoner Jan 1996

The Uniform Probate Code Extends Antilapse-Type Protection To Poorly Drafted Trusts, Lawrence W. Waggoner

Articles

The Uniform Law Commission' promulgated a revised version of Article II of the Uniform Probate Code (UPC or Code) in 1990, and approved a set of technical amendments in 1993. As Director of Research and Chief Reporter for the Joint Editorial Board for the Uniform Probate Code (Board)2 and reporter for the UPC Article II drafting committee, I was privileged to serve as the principal drafter of these provisions. UPC Article II deals with the substantive rules governing donative transfers - intestacy; spouse's elective share; execution, revocation, and revival of wills; rules of construction for wills and other donative transfers; …

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The Uniform Probate Code Upends The Law Of Remainders, Jesse Dukeminier Oct 1995

The Uniform Probate Code Upends The Law Of Remainders, Jesse Dukeminier

Michigan Law Review

Nothing is more settled in the law of remainders than that an indefeasibly vested remainder is transmissible to the remainderman's heirs or devisees upon the remainderman's death. Thus, where a grantor conveys property "to A for life, then to B and her heirs," B's remainder passes to B's heirs or devisees if B dies during the life of A. Inheritability of vested remainders was recognized in the time of Edward I, and devisability was recognized with the Statute of Wills in 1540.

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Decreasing The Costs Of Jurisdictional Gridlock: Merger Of The Securities And Exchange Commission And The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Mark Frederick Hoffman May 1995

Decreasing The Costs Of Jurisdictional Gridlock: Merger Of The Securities And Exchange Commission And The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Mark Frederick Hoffman

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Jurisdictional conflict exists between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), primarily due to the language of the 1974 CFTC Act. This Act grants the CFTC exclusive jurisdiction to regulate certain financial instruments which, given the increasing complexity and "hybrid" nature of such instruments, might simultaneously be subject to SEC regulation. This Note first explores the history of the two agencies and the statutory language giving rise to the jurisdictional conflict. This Note then examines several instances of jurisdictional conflict that resulted in extensive costs for the respective agencies and the United States' financial …

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Legislatively Directed Judicial Activism: Some Reflections On The Meaning Of The Civil Justice Reform Act, Matthew R. Kipp, Paul B. Lewis Jan 1995

Legislatively Directed Judicial Activism: Some Reflections On The Meaning Of The Civil Justice Reform Act, Matthew R. Kipp, Paul B. Lewis

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

With the Civil Justice Reform Act (CJRA), Congress attempted to further a trend that the federal judiciary had undertaken largely on its own initiative. Sensing a critical need to address the mounting expense and delay of federal civil litigation, Congress, like the judiciary, sought to increase the degree of early and active involvement of judges in the adjudicatory process. The result of this mandate has been a further emphasis on the role of the judge as a case manager. As a necessary corollary, the liberty and self-determination of individual litigants-ideals that have historically been seen as philosophical cornerstones of the …

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Furthering The Accountability Principle In Privatized Federal Corrections: The Need For Access To Private Prison Records, Nicole B. Cásarez Jan 1995

Furthering The Accountability Principle In Privatized Federal Corrections: The Need For Access To Private Prison Records, Nicole B. Cásarez

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

As American prisons face unprecedented overcrowding, both the federal and various state governments have engaged private entrepreneurs to operate correctional facilities on a for-profit basis. In the federal context, one overlooked consequence of prison privatization involves decreased public access to prison records. When a federal agency delegates a public function, like the provision of correctional services, to a private contractor, the agency frustrates the purpose of the Freedom of Information Act. Prison records that otherwise would have been available to the public become insulated from disclosure by virtue of the contractor's nonagency status. To safeguard prisoners' liberty interests and well-being, …

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Advising The Neocapitalists, James J. White Jan 1995

Advising The Neocapitalists, James J. White

Articles

I write to reflect on what American lawyers can and will do for these emerging free market economies. I am more skeptical than most.

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Taxation Of Damages After Schleier - Where Are We And Where Do We Go From Here?, Douglas A. Kahn Jan 1995

Taxation Of Damages After Schleier - Where Are We And Where Do We Go From Here?, Douglas A. Kahn

Articles

This article will examine the reasoning of the Schleier decision and speculate as to how taxation of pre-1996 damages will likely apply in light of Schleier. First, the article will set forth a very brief history of the judicial and administrative constructions of the statutory exclusion, and explore tax policy justifications for providing an exclusion from gross income for certain damages. These latter two items (set forth in Parts II and III of this article) are areas that have been extensively addressed previously by several commentators, including the author of this article.' The reason for exploring tax policy issues is …

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Collective Bargaining Or "Collective Begging"?: Reflections On Antistrikebreaker Legislation, Samuel Estreicher Dec 1994

Collective Bargaining Or "Collective Begging"?: Reflections On Antistrikebreaker Legislation, Samuel Estreicher

Michigan Law Review

The strike is a necessary part of collective bargaining. Workers should not ordinarily lose their jobs by pressing their disputes in this manner. But neither should strikes be viewed as a risk-free means of empowering unions to lock employers into uncompetitive contracts.

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The New Gold Rush: Mine Tailings In Southeast Alaska And Perversion Of The Clean Water Act, Beth Leibowitz May 1994

The New Gold Rush: Mine Tailings In Southeast Alaska And Perversion Of The Clean Water Act, Beth Leibowitz

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Part I of this Note provides a basic explanation of the mine tailings problem. Part II of this Note discusses the evolution of the agencies' tailings decision and the statutory and regulatory context in which it occurred. Part III outlines briefly the actual decision, which involved the theory that neither the EPA nor the Corps should apply the usual CWA permit requirements to the initial discharge of mine waste. Part IV evaluates the legal basis for that decision and concludes, based on the language of the CWA, the EPA's own prior policy, and judicial precedent, that the decision was without …

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