Public Law and Legal Theory Commons^™

Masthead & Table Of Contents

Dalhousie Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Caesar’S Gambit: Coherence, Justification Of Legal Rules, And The Duty Test: Towards An Interactional Theory Of Government Liability For Negligence In Disaster Management, Irehobhude O. Iyioha

Dalhousie Law Journal

This article examines barriers posed by the duty of care test for government liability for negligence in disaster management. It argues that various aspects of the test raise concerns about coherence, legitimacy of judicial decision-making, and ultimately how we justify liability in tort law. In examining the coherence of the duty test through multiple prisms, including through theoretical justifications for tort principles, this article contends that the duty test, in its framing and interpretations, fails to meet the formal and substantive demands of coherence, correctness and legitimacy. Arguing that justificatory theories offer necessary theoretical lenses through which to understand, critique, …

Phr & Clihhr Submission To Sgbc Policy (June 2023), Physicians For Human Rights (Phr), Cardozo Law Institute In Holocaust And Human Rights (Clihhr)

CLIHHR Reports & Policy Submissions

This report was submitted by the Cardozo Law Institute in Holocaust and Human Rights (CLIHHR) and Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) in June 2023 as part of the consultation process for the United Nations' policy on addressing sexual and gender-based crimes (SGBC). It offers legal analysis and strategic recommendations to strengthen accountability mechanisms for SGBC under international criminal law. The submission reflects CLIHHR’s ongoing work in advancing human rights and justice for marginalized and vulnerable populations.

Reparation For The Irreparable: Is Punishing International Crimes A Universalist Hoax?, Kholoud Hafez Hassan

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis challenges the conventional discourse on international punishment that emphasizes the development of a single, unified system of international criminal justice. Instead, it advocates for a pluralistic approach that recognizes the fragmented nature of international punishment, which involves various actors, including permanent courts, special tribunals, internationalized tribunals, and domestic courts exercising universal jurisdiction. The sui generis nature of international crimes demands a comprehensive approach to punishment that considers multiple perspectives and norms of diverse actors involved. Rejecting the notion of universalism in determining punishment rationales and promoting accounts of sentencing consistency, the author asserts that a global framework can …

On The Fence About Immigration And Overpopulation: "Environmentalists" Challenge Dhs Policies On Nepa Basis In Whitewater Draw Natural Resource Conservation District V. Mayorkas, Maya J. Williams

Villanova Environmental Law Journal (1991 - )

No abstract provided.

Telegraph Torts: The Lost Lineage Of The Public Service Corporation, Evelyn Atkinson

Michigan Law Review

At the turn of the twentieth century, state courts were roiled by claims against telegraph corporations for mental anguish resulting from the failure to deliver telegrams involving the death or injury of a family member. Although these “telegraph cases” at first may seem a bizarre outlier, they in fact reveal an important and understudied moment of transformation in the nature of the relationship between the corporation and the public: the role of affective relations in the development of the category of the public utility corporation. Even as powerful corporations were recast as private, rights-bearing, profit-making market actors in constitutional law, …

Addressing The Toll Of Truth Telling, Inga N. Laurent

Brooklyn Law Review

Across the United States, there are mounting and renewed calls for applying restorative justice principles to deeply entrenched societal ills based on reconciliation, namely in the form of truth and reconciliation commissions (TRCs). Amid our great mobilization, we would be wise to pause, contemplating lessons from lived experiences. Since the 1970s, approximately thirty-five national truth commissions have taken place. In South Africa, Canada, Sierra Leone, and many processes, TRCs have proven adept at cataloguing approved instances of victim and survivors’ (VS) stories and elaborately contextualizing conflict through a new historical lens. Despite the transformative potential of TRCs, they are still …

Collusive Prosecution, Ben A. Mcjunkin, J.J. Prescott

Law & Economics Working Papers

In this Article, we argue that increasingly harsh collateral consequences have surfaced an underappreciated and undertheorized dynamic of criminal plea bargaining. Collateral consequences that mostly or entirely benefit third parties (such as other communities or other states) create an interest asymmetry that prosecutors and defendants can exploit in plea negotiations. In particular, if a prosecutor and a defendant can control the offense of conviction (often through what some term a “fictional plea”), they can work together to evade otherwise applicable collateral consequences, such as deportation or sex-offender registration and notification. Both parties arguably benefit: Prosecutors can leverage collateral consequences to …

Blue Water Navy Veterans And The Agent Orange Rulings: A Lifeboat For The Veterans; A Storm Warning For The Vba, Jennifer Howley

Catholic University Law Review

Agent Orange was a herbicidal chemical used by the U.S. military for tactical use during the Vietnam War. Although initially told by the government not to worry about exposure to the chemical, veterans, their wives, and their offspring began having severe health and reproductive issues. In the early 1990’s, Congress passed the Agent Orange Act and the government directed the Institute of Medicine to report on the health effects of Agent Orange. Through this approach, Vietnam Veterans could claim benefits for illnesses listed in connection with Agent Orange. But only some Vietnam Veterans.

Initially, only veterans who served on-shore or …

To Meet Or Not To Meet, That Is The Question: An Analysis Of The Meeting Requirement Of The Arkansas Freedom Of Information Act, Jerry L. Canfield

Arkansas Law Notes

The Arkansas Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) of 1967 provides open public access to “all meetings, formal and informal, special or regular, of the governing bodies of all municipalities, counties, townships, and school districts and all boards, bureaus, commissions, or organizations of the State of Arkansas.” Through the years, FOIA’s open meetings provision has been amended as to executive sessions, to provide for recording of meetings, and to provide for meetings via electronic means in the event of a declared disaster emergency. However, the basic requirement that meetings of governing bodies be open to the public has remained unchanged since …

Toward Justice Epidemiology: Outlining An Approach For Person-Centred Access To Justice, Andrew Pilliar

Dalhousie Law Journal

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought widespread public attention to the fields of epidemiology and public health. These fields share a common commitment to the systematic study of disease across populations, with goals of better understanding, preventing, and treating adverse health events. They are empirical, evidence-based, and person-centred. This paper draws on the histories, norms, and methodologies of public health and epidemiology to construct a novel field of study: justice epidemiology. In recent years, a growing body of unmet legal needs research in Canada and elsewhere has demonstrated that justiciable events are likely ubiquitous, but also that these events tend to …

"What's In A [Dead] Name?": Title Vii Protections Against Misgendering And Deadnaming Of Gender Diverse Individuals, Mackenzie O'Connell

University of Florida Journal of Law & Public Policy

The Supreme Court’s 2020 holding in Bostock v. Clayton County monumentally altered the availability of employment discrimination claims under Title VII to individuals identifying as members of the LGBTQ+ community. The Court did so by finding that the meaning of Title VII’s prohibition of workplace discrimination “because of sex” includes discrimination against individuals on the basis of their homosexual or transgender statuses. The effects of this decision on other aspects of employment litigation are still uncertain.

Pre-Bostock, transgender and non-binary individuals were largely left without a legal remedy under Title VII for hostile work environment sexual harassment claims. …

Up In Smoke: Preparing The Air Force For The Legalization Of Marijuana, Major Jeffrey D. Baldridge

University of Florida Journal of Law & Public Policy

Over the last four decades, public sentiment regarding marijuana has changed drastically. Many states now allow medicinal marijuana to be prescribed and consumed, while some even permit recreational use. The federal government, as both sovereign and employer, is behind the curve. In both roles, the federal government has failed to act meaningfully. Lax enforcement and the shift in public sentiment will force Congress and the President to enact some significant changes to marijuana law in the very near future. If no action is taken, a dramatic clash between state and federal law will ensue within the nation’s court system.

The …

Prefatory Matter

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

No abstract provided.

Symposium Transcript

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Call For Change: Doing More To Protect Black And Brown Victims Of Domestic Violence, Kiana Gilcrist

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

Domestic violence (“DV”) disproportionately affects Black and Brown
women. This article examines the tense history of law enforcement
engagement with minority groups, which has caused a strain on that
relationship, leaving minority groups more likely to choose to stay in their
DV situations than seek out law enforcement help. The divide still impacts
these groups today. Additionally, the article highlights several organizations
that have formed to address the needs of minority individuals. Other
organizations have been around, but their ties to law enforcement create an
added barrier for Black and Brown women seeking protection. The article
concludes by briefly examining …

Letter From The Editor, Carley Ruival

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

No abstract provided.

Dobbs In The Context Of Intimate Partner Violence: The Case For A Virginia Constitutional Amendment Protecting Reproductive Choice, Courtenay Schwartz, Caitlin Bradley, Jonathan Yglesias

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

Advocates for victims of sexual and domestic violence have long
understood the critical role that reproductive freedom plays in ensuring
victim safety in the aftermath of trauma. Lawmakers, on the other hand, have
used victims of domestic and sexual violence as political footballs, oftentimes
supporting “exceptions” to abortion bans, such as for rape and incest, as a
means of distracting from the actual harms these restrictions cause. These
exceptions fail to meet the needs of victims and are inadequate protections
against the many forms of abuse, such as reproductive coercion and control,
that victims in abusive relationships face. This article …

Benefits And Drawbacks Of No-Drop Policies And Evidence-Based Prosecution, Nancy Simpson

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

In order to combat the massive threat that domestic violence poses to pub-
lic safety, prosecutors’ offices across America have enacted no-drop policies
requiring prosecutors to seek a guilty verdict on all domestic violence cases.
However, for many and varied reasons, victims of domestic violence are often
hesitant to testify against their abusers in court proceedings. Evidence-based
prosecution, sometimes called victimless prosecution, has become the goal
for many prosecutors seeking to hold abusers accountable when the victim
does not want to testify. However, there can be practical barriers to success-
ful evidence-based prosecutions, which, when combined with strict no-drop
policies, …

Individual Funding: A Policy Solution To Family Abuse In Rural Areas Impacted By The Covid-19 Pandemic, Jessica King

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

Intimate partner violence is an issue in the United States experienced by
more than one in three women. This article addresses the topic of intimate
partner violence and the factors contributing to the perpetuation of abuse. It
focuses on how these factors manifest in rural areas and in the context of the
COVID-19 pandemic, which increased isolation and economic abuse. This
article explores policies currently used to combat intimate partner violence
in these contexts. The current acts, including the Victims of Crime Act
(VOCA), the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA), and the
Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), expressly …