Military, War, and Peace Commons^™

The Chemical Weapons "Red Line": What International And United States Law Say About The Use Of Chemical Weapons And Why We Should Care, Ghirlandi C. Guidetti

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Energy Security, Green Fleets, And Green Warriors, Jennifer Huang

Florida A & M University Law Review

The U.S. military, both our nation's largest consumer and securer of energy, can no longer be absolved of the high costs and environmental consequences of its reliance on conventional fuel sources and energy systems in the face of mounting evidence of unavoidable global warming and climate change. The oil-dependent U.S. national and energy security policies that have helped achieved American military and economic greatness are no longer sustainable; in fact, uncovering the hidden costs of our oil addiction reveals many insecurities. In order to progress towards true energy independence, the U.S. must overcome its congressional in-fighting, and kick-start its promising …

All Other Breaches: State Practice And The Geneva Conventions’ Nebulous Class Of Less Discussed Prohibitions, Jesse Medlong

Michigan Journal of International Law

With respect to the protections afforded by the Geneva Conventions, a great deal of ink has been spilled in recent years over the two-tiered system of tribunals employed by the United States in its prosecution of enemy combatants in the “war on terror.” Less discussed, though, is the wholly separate two-tiered system for sorting violators of the Geneva Conventions that emerges from the very text of those agreements. This stratification is a function of the Conventions’ distinction between those who commit “grave breaches” and those who merely commit “acts contrary to the provisions of the present convention” or “all other …

Getting Paid In Probate Court., Robert J. Augsburger

St. Mary's Law Journal

After reviewing the Texas Probate Code, the Texas Property Code, and current case law, this Essay compiles relevant information designed to assist attorneys in obtaining payment for services provided to their clients. An attorney ad litem is an officer of the court whose “fees are assessed as costs of suit” rather than requiring the ad litem to seek “fees only from his clients’ recovered shares.” Therefore, each attorney ad litem appointed under § 34A of the Texas Probate Code is entitled to reasonable compensation for services in the amount set by the court. The attorney’s fees “must be supported by …

The Co-Author Prenup., David A. Schlueter

St. Mary's Law Journal

Producing a book or article with co-authors is not an easy task. There are six potential issues one might consider before deciding to co-author a book or article. First, do you really want to be a co-author? Second, how many co-authors are going to be involved in the project? Having more than one co-author can make the departure of a co-author less of an issue, but each co-author needs to have a clearly defined role. Third, what role will each member of the team perform and what are those roles? Fourth, what should the co-author “marriage” look like? Multiple scenarios …

The Executive Right To Lease Mineral Real Property In Texas Before And After Lesley V. Veterans Land Board., Christopher S. Kulander

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract Forthcoming.

Deceiving Law Students: Employment Statistics And Tort Liability., Angie Roberts-Huckaby

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract Forthcoming.

Specialty Juvenile Courts In Texas: Using The Rehabilitative Juvenile Justice Approach To Reform Texas's Youngest Gang Members., Drew Darnell

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract Forthcoming.

New Oil And Old Laws: Problems In Allocation Of Production To Owners Of Non-Participating Royalty Interests In The Era Of Horizontal Drilling., Benjamin Holliday

St. Mary's Law Journal

Oil and gas exploration and production is not only a big business, it is also an expensive one. As with any business, when faced with competing alternatives, operators generally prefer to pursue exploration in areas with more stable and predictable legal environments. Efforts have previously been made to make Texas such an environment, but as technology advances, legal rules often become unclear in their application. The explosion in horizontal drilling activity is challenging the courts and the Texas Railroad Commission to apply and adapt traditional legal and regulatory concepts to horizontal wells. The growing dominance of horizontal well development is …

The Strange Case Of Lieutenant Waddell: How Overly Restrictive Rules Of Engagement Adversely Impact The American War Fighter And Undermine Military Victory., Jeffrey F. Addicott

St. Mary's Law Journal

A rules of engagement (“ROE”) Review Board should be created in order to provide an impartial review process for service members facing adverse administrative action for violations of ROE. Politicians defining the ROE, rather than military experts, create rules that are so restrictive and confusing that they ultimately run counter to the military objective of victory. A violation of a ROE can be a criminal offense under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, but violations are issued arbitrarily, and often the military does not charge the service member with a crime, instead using adverse administrative measures to impose punishment. While …

Plugging The School-To-Prison Pipeline By Improving Behavior And Protecting Core Judicial Functions: A Constitutional Crisis Looms., Patrick S. Metze

St. Mary's Law Journal

The consolidation of the Texas Youth Commission (TYC) and the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission (TJPC) into the Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD) in 2011, produced a unified state juvenile justice agency to promote public safety first and to produce positive outcomes for youth, families, and communities second. As Professor Metze’s second paper discussing ways to effect a change in the School-to-Prison Pipeline, he first highlights the progress of TJJD’s use of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) in the Texas juvenile correctional context as continued evidence that such techniques, if effective in the correctional setting, will certainly work in the …

Texas Legislative Implications For Minors Accused Of Sexting., Mallory N. Myers

St. Mary's Law Journal

State legislation criminalizing sexting—the possession or electronic transmission of visual material capturing a minor engaged in sexual conduct—should not punish minors similarly to adults. The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (Walsh Act) in conjunction with the Sex Offender Registration & Notification Act (SORNA), require that any individual, including a minor, convicted of child pornography register as a sex offender. As a result, states with legislation that categorize sexting as child pornography, will require a minor with a sexting conviction to register as a sex offender. This disportionate punishment on the minor will make it difficult for …

Water Can Be For Drinking Again: Economic And Collaborative Solutions To A Texas Water Fight., Aaron Culp

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract Forthcoming.

Drones And Cognitive Dissonance, Rosa Brooks

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

There’s something about drones that makes sane people crazy. Is it those lean, futurist profiles? The activities drone technologies enable? Or perhaps it’s just the word itself–drone–a mindless, unpleasant, dissonant thrum. Whatever the cause, drones seem to produce an unusual kind of cognitive dissonance in many people.

Some demonize drones, denouncing them for causing civilian deaths or enabling long-distance killing, even as they ignore the fact that the same (or worse) could be said of many other weapons delivery systems. Others glorify them as a low-cost way to “take out terrorists,” despite the strategic vacuum in which most …

‘Germans Are The Lords And Poles Are The Servants’: The Trial Of Arthur Greiser In Poland, 1946, In The Hidden Histories Of War Crimes Trials (Kevin Jon Heller & Gerry Simpson Eds., 2013), Mark A. Drumbl

Books and Chapters

In the aftermath of World War II, the first conviction of an influential Nazi German official for the crime of waging aggressive war was delivered not by the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, but, rather, by the Supreme National Tribunal of Poland sitting in Poznán. The accused was Arthur Greiser. Beginning in September 1939, Greiser served as Gauleiter (i.e. Governor) of the Warthegau, a large expanse of western Poland that had been illegally annexed to Nazi Germany. The Warthegau's residents suffered brutally under Greiser's boot.

The Polish Tribunal sentenced Greiser to death on July 9, 1946. His execution by public …

Secured Transaction History: Protecting Holmes' Notes Through The Conditional Sales Acts., George Lee Flint Jr.

St. Mary's Law Journal

The historical explanation for the adoption of the conditional sales acts is woefully lacking. How and why the first conditional sales acts arose are investigated. Grant Gilmore, when presenting his theory, confessed ignorance concerning the origins of the conditional sale transaction, first known as Holmes’ notes. The failure of traditional legal historians to explain the passage of the conditional sales acts encourages inquiry into their legislative history to find an explanation. Pre-Act American decisions provide clues regarding the ratification of the acts. The courts provided three explanations for their passage: to treat the conditional sale as a chattel mortgage, to …

The South Texas Drought And The Future Of Groundwater Use For Hydraulic Fracturing In The Eagle Ford Shale., Taelor A. Allen

St. Mary's Law Journal

Texas has undergone a succession of historic droughts, each one creating unique problems and controversies. The state is also one of the largest national producers of oil and gas with the Eagle Ford Shale fields contributing to the production boom. The technique used to extract the oil is called hydraulic fracturing, which requires large volumes of water to be injected at high pressures to “frac” and release gas from an underground formation. The amount of water required places even greater strain on the regional water supply. This Comment highlights legal issues raised by the high volumes of groundwater used for …

The Benefit Corporation: A Questionable Solution To A Non-Existent Problem., Justin Blount, Kwabena Offei-Danso

St. Mary's Law Journal

Throughout American history a continuous call for businesses to wield their power and influence in such a way as to not only create economic value for shareholders, but also to create value in an ethical manner that benefits society as a whole has existed. Currently, many businesses respond to this call by integrating social responsibility into their operations. A recent innovation on this front is the development of the “benefit corporation” by the non-profit organization “B Lab.” The benefit corporation is essentially a hybrid entity. It is designed to have characteristics of both non-profit and for-profit entities. The entity also …

To A Friend: The Honorable Will Garwood., Emilio M. Garza

St. Mary's Law Journal

William Lockhart Garwood died on July 14, 2011. In his thirty years on the court, Will would author numerous notable decisions, but his reputation would be solidified by two extraordinary cases: United States v. Lopez, in which, for the first time in recent judicial history, a court of appeals held that a congressional act was invalid as beyond the power of Congress under the Commerce Clause; and United States v. Emerson, in which, a court of appeals first articulated the Second Amendment protects individual Americans’ right to keep and bear arms. Neither case was without controversy. Not surprisingly, the Supreme …

To A Professor: Douglas Haddock Retires., Charles Epps Ipock

St. Mary's Law Journal

Abstract Forthcoming.