Note: When the Invention Is an Inventor: Revitalizing Patentable Subject Matter to Exclude Unpredictable Processes
By Peter M. Kohlhepp. Full text here. Abstract inventions continue to confound the patent system. Several recent Federal Circuit decisions have only added to the uncertainty surrounding limitations on the type of inventions that may be patented. Computer algorithms capable of independent, artificial creativity provide a useful case study, revealing weaknesses in the law governing patentable…
Continue ReadingThe Mythical Divide Between Collateral and Direct Consequences of Criminal Convictions: Involuntary Commitment of "Sexually Violent Predators"
By Jenny Roberts. Full text here. For many people convicted of crimes, the case does not end when the sentence is over. Instead, it follows them out of the courthouse or prison doors in the guise of “collateral,” or non-penal, sanctions. The last several decades have seen unprecedented expansion in the number and severity of the…
Continue ReadingHorizontal Federalism
By Allan Erbsen. Full text here. This Article constructs frameworks for analyzing federalism’s undertheorized horizontal dimension. Discussions of federalism generally focus on the hierarchical (or vertical) allocation of power between the national and state governments while overlooking the horizontal allocation of power among coequal states. Models of federal-state relations tend to treat the fifty states as…
Continue ReadingEssay, Protecting Financial Markets: Lessons from the Subprime Morgage Meltdown
By Steven L. Schwarcz. Full text here. Why did the recent subprime mortgage meltdown undermine financial-market stability notwithstanding the protections provided by market norms and financial regulation? This Essay attempts to answer that question by identifying anomalies and obvious protections that failed by examining hypotheses that might explain the anomalies and failures. Although some of the…
Continue ReadingThe Child Protection Pretense: States' Continued Consignment of Newborn Babies to Unfit Parents
By James G. Dwyer. Full text here. Major federal legislation since the mid-90s has embodied a philosophical shift away from trying to salvage grossly unfit parents and toward ensuring children good families before they incur permanently damaging abuse, neglect, or foster care drift. That legislation has created a widespread perception that the state is now more…
Continue ReadingNote: Blight and Its Discontents: Awarding Attorney's Fees to Property Owners in Redevelopment Actions
By Noreen E. Johnson. Full text here. The public response to the now notorious 2005 Supreme Court decision Kelo v. City of New London changed the landscape of redevelopment law in the United States. In Kelo, the Court held that eminent domain could be used to transfer property from one private party to another private party…
Continue ReadingAvalanche or Undue Alarm? An Empirical Study of Subpoenas Received by the News Media
By RonNell Andersen Jones. Full text here. For more than thirty years, proponents and opponents of a federal reporter’s shield law have debated the necessity of a privilege for members of the news media and have disagreed sharply about the frequency with which subpoenas are issued to the press. Most recently, in the wake of several…
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