Archive for the 'Notes' Category



The Unwarranted Weight of a “Paper Barrier”: A Proposal to Ax the Apex Doctrine

[I]f Mr. Iacocca has any information, albeit inadmissible as evidence reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence, he must be required to reveal the same. His prestigious position is an unimpressive paper barrier shielding him from the judicial process . . . . [But] [t]he fact remains he is a singularly unique [...]

Categories: Current Notes, In Print, Notes, Volume 89, Volume 89-6 | Posted: July 20, 2012


Court-Mandated Story Time: The Victim Narrative in U.S. Asylum Law

In the late 2000s and early 2010s, anti-immigrant rhetoric rose on a tide of fears about the U.S. economy. Nativist narratives inspired by rising unemployment dominated an increasingly antagonistic debate about U.S. immigration policy. Restrictive state laws, most notably those found in Alabama and Arizona, and a movement to ban birthright citizenship [...]

Categories: Current Notes, In Print, Notes, Volume 89, Volume 89-6 | Posted: July 20, 2012


Sampling the Circuits: The Case for a New Comprehensive Scheme for Determining Copyright Infringement as a Result of Music Sampling

Music sampling continues to be the linchpin of a variety of musical styles including rap, hip-hop, house, and dance music, and has even become prevalent in rock music. The practice of sampling involves taking pre-existing sound recordings and using portions of those recordings as elements in a new musical composition. The amount of the work [...]

Categories: In Print, Notes, Volume 89, Volume 89-5 | Posted: May 12, 2012


Salazar v. Buono: The Failed Landmark Case and its Illustration of the Two Sides of Plurality Opinions

A simple Latin cross, placed on an outcropping of rock in the Mojave Desert, became the center of much controversy in 1999. The cross had stood since 1934 when the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) placed it to memorialize the deaths of soldiers in World War I. The land was part [...]

Categories: In Print, Notes, Volume 89, Volume 89-5 | Posted: May 12, 2012


ICANN’s Escape from Antitrust Liability

The power to control the architecture of the Internet is the power to control communication, commerce, and vast quantities of personal data. That power is wielded primarily by an American non-profit organization called the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). Although one of ICANN’s professed purposes is to promote competition in the [...]

Categories: In Print, Notes, Volume 89, Volume 89-4 | Posted: March 27, 2012


Setting the Pace for Energy Efficiency: The Rise, Fall, and (Potential) Return of Property Assessed Clean Energy

This Note discusses an innovative form of legislation known as “Property Assessed Clean Energy”, or PACE. PACE allows property owners to receive funding from their municipality for the purpose of energy efficiency improvements. This money is recovered by the municipality in the form of a special assessment that runs with the property, amortized over a [...]

Categories: In Print, Notes, Volume 89, Volume 89-4 | Posted: March 27, 2012