Litigation Commons^™

Evidence Without Rules, Bennett Capers

Notre Dame Law Review

Much of what we tell ourselves about the Rules of Evidence—that they serve as an all-seeing gatekeeper, checking evidence for relevance and trustworthiness, screening it for unfair prejudice—is simply wrong. In courtrooms every day, fact finders rely on “evidence”—for example, a style of dress, the presence of family members in the gallery, and of course race—that rarely passes as evidence in the formal sense, and thus breezes past evidentiary gatekeepers unseen and unchecked. This Article calls much needed attention to this other evidence and demonstrates that such unregulated evidence matters. Jurors use this other evidence to decide whether to find …

Investing In Corporate Procedure, Jessica M. Erickson

Law Faculty Publications

Corporate litigation is in crisis. At the state level, shareholder lawsuits challenging mergers and other corporate decisions are ubiquitous but rarely end with meaningful relief for shareholders. At the federal level, securities class actions are rife with ethical challenges and low-value settlements. Over the last several decades, multiple groups — including judges, legislatures, and corporate boards — have tried to solve this problem, but all have come up short. This Article argues that the solution lies in rewriting the procedural rules that govern corporate lawsuits. New standing requirements would lead to better screening of these claims. Discovery limits and heightened …

Winning The Right To Housing : Critical Reflections On A Holistic Approach To Public Interest Litigation, Fay Faraday, Tracy Heffernan, Helen Luu

Articles & Book Chapters

No abstract provided.

An Analysis And Critique Of Mental Health Treatment In American State Prisons And Proposal For Improved Care, Shelby Hayne

Scripps Senior Theses

Mental health treatment in state prisons is revealed to be highly variable, under-funded, and systematically inadequate. Existing literature exposes this injustice but fails to provide a comprehensive proposal for reform. This paper attempts to fill that gap, outlining a cost-effective, evidence-based treatment proposal, directly addressing the deficits in care revealed through analysis of our current system. In addition, this paper provides historical overviews of the prison system and mental health treatment, utilizing theoretical perspectives to contextualize this proposal in the present state of affairs. Lastly, the evidence is provided to emphasize the potential economic and social benefits of improving mental …

Class Actions, Indivisibility, And Rule 23(B)(2), Maureen Carroll

Articles

The federal class-action rule contains a provision, Rule 23(b)(2), that authorizes class-wide injunctive or declaratory relief for class-wide wrongs. The procedural needs of civil rights litigation motivated the adoption of the provision in 1966, and in the intervening years, it has played an important role in managing efforts to bring about systemic change. At the same time, courts have sometimes struggled to articulate what plaintiffs must show in order to invoke Rule 23(b)(2). A few years ago, the Supreme Court weighed in, stating that the key to this type of class action is the “indivisible” nature of the remedy the …

Artificial Intelligence And Role-Reversible Judgment, Kiel Brennan-Marquez, Stephen Henderson

Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology

Intelligent machines increasingly outperform human experts, raising the question of when (and why) humans should remain ‘in the loop’ of decision-making. One common answer focuses on outcomes: relying on intuition and experience, humans are capable of identifying interpretive errors—sometimes disastrous errors—that elude machines. Though plausible today, this argument will wear thin as technology evolves.

In this Article, we seek out sturdier ground: a defense of human judgment that focuses on the normative integrity of decision-making. Specifically, we propose an account of democratic equality as ‘role-reversibility.’ In a democracy, those tasked with making decisions should be susceptible, reciprocally, to the impact …

Jason’S Long Night At Camp Blood: Surveying The Independent Copyrightability Of Jason Voorhees In The Wake Of Horror Inc. V. Miller, Tim Kelly

Cybaris®

No abstract provided.

Virtual Hearings And Blockchain Technology Solutions In Criminal Law, Chantell Bergquist

Political Science Theses and Capstones

Technology has evolved and raided our personal and professional lives. Although the courts are not immune to the advancement and integration of technology, the courts are not keeping up with relevant technological advancements. Historically, courts have been hesitant to embrace new technologies despite the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the American Bar Association Model Rules of Professional Conduct. Rule 1 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure creates the right to a “just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action and proceeding.” Likewise, the American Bar Association Model Rules of Professional Conduct have determined attorneys must “keep abreast of …

Judges Do It Better: Why Judges Can (And Should) Decide Life Or Death, Andrew R. Ford

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

Following its decision in Furman v. Georgia, the Supreme Court of the United States has attempted to standardize procedures that states use to subject offenders to the ultimate penalty. In practice, this attempt at standardization has divided capital sentencing into two distinct parts: the death eligibility decision and the death selection decision. The eligibility decision addresses whether the sentencer may impose the death penalty, while the selection decision determines who among that limited subset of eligible offenders is sentenced to death. In Ring v. Arizona, the Court held for the first time that the Sixth Amendment right to …

Calls For Speculation: An Experimental Examination Of Juror Perceptions Of Attorney Objections, Krystia Reed

Buffalo Law Review

Should attorneys object during trial? Does preserving the record outweigh the potential costs of objections, such as upsetting the jury or drawing attention to the evidence? Legal scholars have opined on the delicate balance attorneys must strike in their decisions to object, but researchers have offered little to guide attorneys making these in-the-moment decisions. I discuss results from two empirical studies that provide evidence that attorneys have less to fear from objections than legal scholars suggest. Based on these results, I provide suggestions for practicing attorneys.

Table Of Contents, Jtaa Editors

Suffolk Journal of Trial and Appellate Advocacy

No abstract provided.

Front Matter, Jtaa Editors

Suffolk Journal of Trial and Appellate Advocacy

No abstract provided.

Editor's Note, Michelle A. Reid

Suffolk Journal of Trial and Appellate Advocacy

No abstract provided.

Masthead, Jtaa Editors

Suffolk Journal of Trial and Appellate Advocacy

No abstract provided.

Audible: Contractual Relations Between Schools And Their Student-Athletes Are Due For A Reroute, Tyler Jordan

Suffolk Journal of Trial and Appellate Advocacy

No abstract provided.

Land Of The Free Market: U.S. Companies Continue To Enjoy Greater Legal Protection Than Consumers, Christopher Leblanc

Suffolk Journal of Trial and Appellate Advocacy

No abstract provided.

All For One And One For - Some: Challenging The Constitutionality Of Massachusetts Charter School Legislation After Doe No. 1 V. Secretary Of Education, Perry Gans

Suffolk Journal of Trial and Appellate Advocacy

No abstract provided.

Reexamining The Admissibility Of The Defendant's Non-Inculpatory Statements At Trial, Wes Reber Porter

Suffolk Journal of Trial and Appellate Advocacy

No abstract provided.

Truancy, Secure Detention, And The Right To Liberty, Amanda Mcnelly

Suffolk Journal of Trial and Appellate Advocacy

No abstract provided.

Sentencing Statutes: The Deviation From Federal Sentencing Guidelines And Variation Among States' Sentencing Laws, Ashley Walsh

Suffolk Journal of Trial and Appellate Advocacy

No abstract provided.