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Law reform

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Articles 91 - 120 of 202

Full-Text Articles in State and Local Government Law

Timeliness In The Unemployment Compensation Appeals Process: The Need For Increased Federal Oversight, Sharon M. Dietrich, Cynthia L. Rice Jan 1996

Timeliness In The Unemployment Compensation Appeals Process: The Need For Increased Federal Oversight, Sharon M. Dietrich, Cynthia L. Rice

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Anecdotal evidence suggests that during the recession of 1989-1992, unemployment insurance claimants suffered unprecedented delays in the receipt of their benefits. Advocates reported that claimants who were initially denied benefits suffered delays of months, and even years, before the state administrative appeals process resolved their claims. Although federal law establishes timeliness standards for processing appeals, many states did not meet those standards. In this Article, the Authors discuss and analyze the results of a nationwide review of state compliance with federal timeliness standards. They then assess the state and federal responses to the increased number of unemployment insurance claims and …

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Are Non-English-Speaking Claimants Served By Unemployment Compensation Programs? The Need For Bilingual Services, Mary K. Gillespie, Cynthia G. Schneider Jan 1996

Are Non-English-Speaking Claimants Served By Unemployment Compensation Programs? The Need For Bilingual Services, Mary K. Gillespie, Cynthia G. Schneider

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Article examines the need for interpreters and translated written materials in unemployment compensation programs for those claimants who do not read, understand, or speak English well or at all. Thousands of employable persons in the United States do not read, understand, or speak English. These persons may be unable to receive unemployment compensation benefits or may receive delayed benefits solely because they are unable to comprehend English. The authors examine how ten states with substantial populations of limited-English-proficient speakers have provided these persons access to their state's unemployment compensation programs. The authors find varying practices among the states 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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Accelerated Education As A Remedy For High-Poverty Schools, William H. Clune May 1995

Accelerated Education As A Remedy For High-Poverty Schools, William H. Clune

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

High-poverty schools, and the students who attend them, have historically faced substantial challenges in providing and receiving, adequate education. Despite some relief from the courts, school finance remedies that require the redistribution of monetary aid to low-wealth districts have encountered strong political opposition. In this Article, Professor Clune makes a renewed claim for accelerated education as the primary focus of adequacy litigation in school reform cases. He describes the nation's educational condition, in which there exists a disturbing correlation between poverty and low educational outcomes. He then drafts a vision of a comprehensive, school reform remedy, one that emphasizes institutional …

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School Finance Adequacy As Vertical Equity, Julie K. Underwood May 1995

School Finance Adequacy As Vertical Equity, Julie K. Underwood

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

In this Article, Dean Underwood explains that school finance cases can be divided into three waves of reform. The first wave involved efforts to use the Federal Equal Protection Clause to overturn financing systems. Litigants in the second wave turned to state equal protection and due process clauses. Finally, the third wave involved the utilization of education clauses in state constitutions as the predominant litigation vehicle. These three waves embody two primary approaches to school finance litigation. The first approach involves a challenge to the adequacy of a state's funding system under either the state or federal equal protection clause, …

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Establishing Education Program Inadequacy: The Alabama Example, Martha I. Morgan, Adam S. Cohen, Helen Hershkoff May 1995

Establishing Education Program Inadequacy: The Alabama Example, Martha I. Morgan, Adam S. Cohen, Helen Hershkoff

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The authors draw on their experience as attorneys for a statewide class of plaintiff school children in the liability phase of ongoing public education reform litigation in Alabama to demonstrate the availability of state and nationally recognized standards concerning educational resources (inputs) and results (outputs) that can serve as evidentiary tools for assessing and for establishing a state public education system's failure to satisfy constitutional mandates of educational adequacy. The Article discusses the usefulness and limitations of using such standards as a starting point in a court's constitutional analysis. It suggests an integrated approach that links input and output standards …

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Achieving Equity And Excellence In Kentucky Education, C. Scott Trimble, Andrew C. Forsaith May 1995

Achieving Equity And Excellence In Kentucky Education, C. Scott Trimble, Andrew C. Forsaith

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

In this Article, Trimble and Forsaith discuss the landmark Kentucky school finance case, Rose v. Council for Better Education, 790 S.W.2d 186 (Ky. 1989), and the school reform efforts it spawned. In Council for Better Education, the Kentucky Supreme Court held that the state had failed its duty under the state constitution to provide all students with an adequate education, which it defined in terms of seven categories of knowledge and skills students should acquire. The State General Assembly responded with the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA), which significantly boosted state funding as well as established an ambitious accountability system …

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Oklahoma School Finance Litigation: Shifting From Equity To Adequacy, Mark S. Grossman May 1995

Oklahoma School Finance Litigation: Shifting From Equity To Adequacy, Mark S. Grossman

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Article traces the history of Oklahoma school finance litigation from the initial challenge based on funding inequity to a recent lawsuit founded on alleged constitutional inadequacies in the state system. Although the legal challenge based on funding inequity was unsuccessful in the courts, the pendency of the suit helped push the state legislature toward some reforms. The threat of a new lawsuit based on alleged inadequacies in the state school system, together with a serious funding shortfall, propelled a comprehensive education reform plan through the state legislature in 1990. The association of local school boards that led the equity …

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State Responses To Task Force Reports On Race And Ethnic Bias In The Courts, Suellyn Scarnecchia Jan 1993

State Responses To Task Force Reports On Race And Ethnic Bias In The Courts, Suellyn Scarnecchia

Articles

While several states have embarked on studies of race and ethnic bias in their courts, Minnesota is only the sixth to publish its report to date. As Minnesota joins the ranks of states with published reports, it is worthwhile to assess the impact of the five earlier published reports from other states. Final reports have been published in Michigan (1989), Washington (1990), New York (1991), Florida (1991) and New Jersey (1992). The published reports make findings and provide several specific recommendations for change. This article will review the published findings and recommendations of the task forces and will discuss the …

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Are Laws Against Assisted Suicide Unconstitutional?, Yale Kamisar Jan 1993

Are Laws Against Assisted Suicide Unconstitutional?, Yale Kamisar

Articles

On 15 February of this year, shortly after the number of people Dr. Jack Kevorkian had helped to commit suicide swelled to fifteen, the Michigan legislature passed a law, effective that very day, making assisted suicide a felony punishable by up to four years in prison. The law, which is automatically repealed six months after a newly established commission on death and dying recommends permanent legislation, prohibits anyone with knowledge that another person intends to commit suicide from "intentionally providing the physical means" by which the other person does so or from "intentionally participat[ing] in a physical act" by which …

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Equity In Public Education: School-Finance Reform In Michigan, William S. Koski Oct 1992

Equity In Public Education: School-Finance Reform In Michigan, William S. Koski

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Note argues that the only adequate compromise between the pressure to limit taxes and the need to provide both educational quality and equity is to institute a form of full-state funded education. Part I of this Note briefly defines equity in public education and discusses the importance of increasing equity. Part II discusses other values and concerns that arise in the school-finance debate, such as liberty, local control, efficiency, and quality of education. Part III considers several fundamental school-finance alternatives. Part IV provides a historical overview of Michigan school finance reform and a description of the current State School …

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Minor Changes: Emancipating Children In Modem Times, Carol Sanger, Eleanor Willemsen Jan 1992

Minor Changes: Emancipating Children In Modem Times, Carol Sanger, Eleanor Willemsen

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Article reports on the use of still another mechanism for removing children in conflict with their parents: statutory emancipation, the process by which minors attain legal adulthood before reaching the age of majority. Statutorily emancipated minors can sign binding contracts, own property, keep their earnings, and disobey their parents. Although under eighteen, they are "considered as being over the age of majority" in most of their dealings with parents and third parties. Thus, while emancipated minors can sign contracts and stay out late, their adult status also means that their parents are no longer responsible for the minors' support. …

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The Model Employment Termination Act: Fairness For Employees And Employers Alike, Theodore J. St. Antoine Jan 1992

The Model Employment Termination Act: Fairness For Employees And Employers Alike, Theodore J. St. Antoine

Articles

The Model Employment Termination Act (META), which state legislatures are expected to consider in the near future aims to prevent the unfair firing of Amer~ ican workers. At the same time, the Act aims to prevent devastating financial blows to American business. For both employees and employers, META offers streamlined dispute resolution procedures that would be simpler, less costly, and less time-consuming than the civil courts. The essence of the proposal is compromise-not as a matter of political expediency but as a practical, balanced accommodation of the competing worthwhile interests of employers and employees. Workers are entitled to be free …

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On The Need For A Uniform Choice Of Law Code, Larry Kramer Aug 1991

On The Need For A Uniform Choice Of Law Code, Larry Kramer

Michigan Law Review

At first blush, the notion of a uniform choice of law code seems almost paradoxical. After all, the primary mission of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL) is to promote uniformity in the law, while choice of law exists only because laws are not uniform. To be sure, the Constitution of the NCCUSL limits the organization's objective to promoting uniformity "where uniformity is desirable and practicable," which leaves plenty of room for different laws and hence for choice of law. But even so, one would expect the Commissioners to devote their limited resources to reducing the …

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Discretion, Rules, And Law: Child Custody And The Umda's Best-Interest Standard, Carl E. Schneider Aug 1991

Discretion, Rules, And Law: Child Custody And The Umda's Best-Interest Standard, Carl E. Schneider

Michigan Law Review

One barrier facing any attempt to devise a uniform law for diverse jurisdictions is the occasional - perhaps even frequent - difficulty of writing rules that will accurately guide judges. The law's ordinary solution to that difficulty is to give judges some measure of discretion. This article inquires into the nature and legitimacy of that technique. It does so by analyzing a particularly controversial provision of the Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act (UMDA). Section 402 of that Act states: "The court shall determine custody in accordance with the best interest of the child." It then instructs the court to "consider …

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Interpreting Codes, Bruce W. Frier Aug 1991

Interpreting Codes, Bruce W. Frier

Michigan Law Review

Large systematically codified bodies of law, such as the European codes or the UCC, gradually effect, or at least encourage, a different kind of legal culture, in which, as such codes are integrated within a national legal heritage, general clauses and principles become more salient within an expanded interpretive community. Because of the open texture of their rules, codes foster an altered legal posture; ancient judicial vigilance against the intrusive legislation may give way to a new ethos of cooperation in the development of law. To be sure, it remains uncertain whether the resulting law will be, in fact, "better," …

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Market-Share Liability After Hymowitz And Conley: Exploring The Limits Of Judicial Power, Christopher J. Mcguire May 1991

Market-Share Liability After Hymowitz And Conley: Exploring The Limits Of Judicial Power, Christopher J. Mcguire

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Note surveys the development of market-share liability and examines the limits on the power of state and federal courts to impose liability on defendants through market-share liability. Part I examines briefly the development of market-share liability in the early 1980s. It then explores how the New York Court of Appeals extended market-share liability in Hymowitz v. Eli Lilly and explores this case's ramifications. Part I also draws on a recent Florida case, Conley v. Boyle Drug Co., for further insight into the problems surrounding market-share liability litigation. Part II argues that jurisdictional limitations, such as standing to sue …

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Ex Proprio Vigore, James J. White Jan 1991

Ex Proprio Vigore, James J. White

Articles

The National Conference of the Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL) is a legislature in every way but one. It drafts uniform acts, debates them, passes them, and promulgates them, but that passage and promulgation do not make these uniform acts law over any citizen of any state. These acts become the law of the various states only ex proprio vigore - only if their own vitality influences the legislators of the various states to pass them.

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Commentary: Meeting The Financial Needs Of Children, David L. Chambers Jan 1991

Commentary: Meeting The Financial Needs Of Children, David L. Chambers

Articles

Those who drafted the equitable distribution statutes adopted in New York and elsewhere wanted to help assure women and children an acceptable level of financial well-being after divorce. Marsha Garrison has shown that divorcing couples rarely possess enough resources to attain financial well-being even when they live together as a couple, let alone when they live in two separate households. She has also shown that, even in the cases of couples with substantial assets, the broad and general language of the equitable distribution statute did not lead (and could not have been expected to lead) to consistent distributions that assured …

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Family Support Of The Disabled: A Legislative Proposal To Create Incentives To Support Disabled Family Members, Judith G. Mcmullen Apr 1990

Family Support Of The Disabled: A Legislative Proposal To Create Incentives To Support Disabled Family Members, Judith G. Mcmullen

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Several authorities in the field of estate planning have examined in great detail the options currently available to the parents of disabled children. The options are limited. Ideally, laws should address the concerns of the families of disabled children while providing those families with the incentive to help bear the financial costs of providing for their children. New legislation is needed to achieve this dual objective. This legislation must establish a method by which parents can improve meaningfully the quality of a surviving disabled child's life without substantially increasing the social cost of supporting that disabled child. This Article proposes …

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The Relevance Of Temporary Child Custody Orders To The Formation Of An Established Custodial Environment: A Model Statute For Uniform Application Under Michigan Law, Christine M. Drylie Jan 1990

The Relevance Of Temporary Child Custody Orders To The Formation Of An Established Custodial Environment: A Model Statute For Uniform Application Under Michigan Law, Christine M. Drylie

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Note presents a Model Statute that clearly indicates when a court may find that an established custodial environment has arisen out of a temporary custody order. The Model Statute thus clarifies when it is appropriate to apply the clear and convincing evidentiary standard to situations involving temporary child custody orders. Part I of this Note describes the court's use of temporary custody orders to determine whether an established custodial environment exists. Part II sets forth the Model Statute, which integrates current case law into statutory language designed specifically for temporary custody situations. Part II also analyzes each section of …

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The Uniform Statutory Rule Against Perpetuities: Oregon Joins Up, Lawrence W. Waggoner Jan 1990

The Uniform Statutory Rule Against Perpetuities: Oregon Joins Up, Lawrence W. Waggoner

Articles

Uniform perpetuity reform is on the march, and Oregon has joined the parade. On January 1, 1990, the Uniform Statutory Rule Against Perpetuities (Uniform Act) became effective in Oregon. Although promulgated only three years ago, the Uniform Act has been enacted in over twenty percent of the states and appears to be on its way toward enactment in several others. Prior to the adoption of the Uniform Act, Oregon followed the common-law Rule Against Perpetuities (common-law Rule). Noted for its unjust consequences, the common-law Rule disregards actual events and invalidates a contingent (nonvested) future interest merely on the grounds of …

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Tenants' Rights In Police Power Condemnations Under State Statutes And Procedural Due Process, Eric Wills Orts Oct 1989

Tenants' Rights In Police Power Condemnations Under State Statutes And Procedural Due Process, Eric Wills Orts

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Note explores the legal arguments available to tenants who want to resist arbitrary or unjustified condemnations of their buildings. Part I provides an overview of the legal and constitutional structure of the police power to condemn buildings. Part II analyzes state statutes governing the condemnation of buildings. Focusing on the statutory rights to notice and opportunity for a hearing provided to tenants, Part II concludes that a majority of states provide inadequate protection for tenants facing eviction by condemnation. Part II then proposes statutory reform, based on an approach taken by a minority of states. Part III demonstrates that …

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Misreading The Williams Act, Lyman Johnson, David Millon Jun 1989

Misreading The Williams Act, Lyman Johnson, David Millon

Michigan Law Review

This Article examines the emerging controversy over preemption of the most potent of recent antitakeover laws, the so-called business combination statutes recently passed by Delaware, New York, and other states, and Pennsylvania's director-approval statute. After examining the strategy employed by the states to shield these statutes from constitutional attack, we consider the issues raised by the preemption claim and the arguments currently being advanced by the SEC and others in favor of preemption. Resolving the preemption controversy requires inquiry into the original meaning and objectives of the Williams Act. We argue that this should involve attention not only to the …

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Federal Chartering Revisited, Donald E. Schwartz Oct 1988

Federal Chartering Revisited, Donald E. Schwartz

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The protections that corporation law provided to shareholders and to our economic community against the excesses and complacency of corporate directors and managers have undergone a general weakening. Although it is uncertain whether the ALI can accomplish effective and meaningful reforms, this effort may be the most important attempt by the corporate community to reform itself.

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The Promise Of State Takeover Statutes, Richard A. Booth Jun 1988

The Promise Of State Takeover Statutes, Richard A. Booth

Michigan Law Review

The purpose of this article is, first, to describe the problems associated with two-tier tender offers and the closely related, and perhaps still more coercive, partial tender offer. Second, the article will address the natural question why such offers have not already been banned, suggesting a better view of what coercion means in the context of a tender offer. Third, the article will offer a management-oriented view of coercion, explaining the legitimate interests of managers (and other groups) in resisting takeovers, as well as how greenmail and poison pills, though subject to abuse, can be used quite properly to combat …

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Rape Shield Laws--Is It Time For Reinforcement?, Catherine L. Kello Jan 1988

Rape Shield Laws--Is It Time For Reinforcement?, Catherine L. Kello

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Note takes a critical look at civil suits arising from allegations of rape, particularly from the perspective of how these actions run counter to the spirit of rape reform and rape shield legislation. The analysis begins with a brief history of the Rape Shield Law and its intended purposes. Part II then utilizes two cases to outline the current dilemma posed by civil suits that are filed during a pending criminal sexual conduct prosecution. After presenting these cases, Part III considers whether a legislative remedy is required and determines that it is. Part IV then proposes a Model Statute. …

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Improving Handicappers' Civil Rights In Michigan--Preventing Discrimination Through Accommodation, Aldebaran Bouse Enloe Jan 1988

Improving Handicappers' Civil Rights In Michigan--Preventing Discrimination Through Accommodation, Aldebaran Bouse Enloe

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Part I of this Note explains the development of· the current state of handicappers' civil rights law in Michigan, beginning with legislative initiatives and progressing to administrative and judicial decisions. Part II analyzes traditional antidiscrimination theory and suggests how that theory can be adapted to handicappers. By examining hypothetical situations, Part III exposes the disparity between the current state of the law in Michigan and the proposed theoretical analysis and suggests amendments to the MHCRA to reconcile this disparity.

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A Seed Germinates: Unjust Discharge Reform Heads Toward Full Flower, Theodore J. St. Antoine Jan 1988

A Seed Germinates: Unjust Discharge Reform Heads Toward Full Flower, Theodore J. St. Antoine

Articles

In this paper, I shall briefly review the nature and limitations of the theories most frequently invoked by the courts in dealing with wrongful dismissal. I shall then examine the major arguments for and against a general overhaul of the doctrine of employment at will. Lastly, I shall discuss some of the particular questions that will have to be addressed in fashioning a statutory solution.

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The Twilight Of Employment At Will? An Update, Theodore J. St. Antoine Jan 1987

The Twilight Of Employment At Will? An Update, Theodore J. St. Antoine

Articles

A 55-year-old white male, who has spent thirty years working his way up to a responsible middle-management position in his company, is asked for his resignation. No reason given. Even though the employee could demonstrate that he still is qualified to perform his duties, the employer's action in dismissing him would be quite unexceptionable under the conventional American common law doctrine of employment at will. The situation could be even more disturbing. If the employment-at-will principle were allowed its full scope, an employee would have no recourse even if he knew he was being discharged because he had refused to …

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