The Shale Oil and Gas Revolution, Hydraulic Fracturing, and Water Contamination: A Regulatory Strategy
By Thomas W. Merrill & David M. Schizer. Full text here. In the past decade, energy companies have learned to tap previously inaccessible oil and gas in shale and other impermeable rock formations with “hydraulic fracturing” (“fracturing” or “fracking”), pumping fluid at high pressure to crack the rock and release gas and oil trapped inside. This…
Continue ReadingThe Right to Quantitative Privacy
By David Gray and Danielle Citron. Full text here. We are at the cusp of a historic shift in our conceptions of the Fourth Amendment driven by dramatic advances in surveillance technology. Governments and their private sector agents continue to invest billions of dollars in massive data-mining projects, advanced analytics, fusion centers, and aerial drones, all…
Continue ReadingeHearsay
By Jeffrey Bellin. Full text here. This Article proposes a new “eHearsay” rule of evidence that will permit the admission, over a hearsay objection, of a broad spectrum of electronic out-of-court communications. The proposal builds on prior hearsay reform proposals, and also takes advantage of the fact that electronic statements are invariably recorded. Litigants’ ability to…
Continue ReadingNote: Challenging the Plausibility Standard Under the Rules Enabling Act
By Edwin W. Stockmeyer. Full text here. One consequence of the Supreme Court’s landmark decisions in Twombly and Iqbal is the reassessment of pleading standards occurring in state appellate courts. Most of these courts have rejected the new plausibility standard in favor of rules designed to allow more claims to proceed to discovery. Thus, although pleading…
Continue ReadingNote: If It’s in the Game, Is It in the Game?: Examining League-Wide Licensing Agreements After American Needle
By Talon Powers. Full text here. After the Supreme Court’s decision in American Needle, Inc. v. National Football League in 2010, the National Football League’s (NFL) ability to license league intellectual property as a collective whole has been called into question. If the caselaw that emerges from American Needle completely precludes the League from being treated…
Continue ReadingNote: Ensuring Equal Access: Rethinking Enforcement of Medicaid’s Equal Access Provision
By Anne M. Dwyer. Full text here. Challenged by explosive growth in Medicaid enrollment and devastating budget shortfalls, Medicaid provider payments have become a primary target of many state budget-cutting measures. This has left many of the sixty million Americans who rely on Medicaid without access to needed care. Traditionally, Medicaid beneficiaries and providers have relied…
Continue ReadingNote: New Solutions to the Age-Old Problem of Private-Sector Bribery
By Sarah Clark. Full text here. In its wake, commercial bribery leaves increased costs of business, decreased governmental standards and honesty, and a culture of corruption. To combat, and hopefully correct, the evils of corporate bribery, governments have enacted laws to prosecute those willing to pay bribes to garner unfair competitive advantages. Since 1977, the Foreign…
Continue ReadingIt’s the Reply, Not the Comment: Observations About the Bierschbach and Bibas Proposal
By Ronald F. Wright. Full text here. In this response piece, Ronald F. Wright considers Notice-and-Comment Sentencing by Richard A. Bierschbach and Stephanos Bibas, 97 Minn. L. Rev. 1 (2012).
Continue ReadingRage Against the Machine: A Reply to Professors Bierschbach and Bibas
By Erik Luna. Full text here. In this response piece, Erik Luna considers Notice-and-Comment Sentencing by Richard A. Bierschbach and Stephanos Bibas, 97 Minn. L. Rev. 1 (2012).
Continue ReadingProtecting Property Through Politics: State Legislative Checks and Judicial Takings
By Stephanie Stern. Full text here.
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