Connecticut Public Interest Law Journal

The Legal Rights of Disabled Infants to Receive Life-Sustaining Medical Treatment

Jeannine Wyszkowski — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 10:19:10 PDT

The End of the World as We Know It? The State of Decentralized Peer-to-Peer Technologies in the Wake of Metro-Goldwin-Mayer Studios v. Grokster

Michael Suppappola — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 10:19:08 PDT

Singleton v. Norris: Exploring the Insanity of Forcibly Medicating, then Eliminating the Insane

Sarah F. DePanfilis — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 10:19:06 PDT

Police Brutality and Citizen Complaints

Harvey Gee — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 10:19:02 PDT

Post-Gideon Developments in Law and Lawyering

Timothy H. Everett — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 10:18:59 PDT

The Transparency Myth: A Conceptual Approach to Corruption and the Impact of Mandatory Disclosure Laws

Jeffrey Matrullo — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 10:18:56 PDT

The Patient and Physician Safety and Protection Act: Crucial Federal Legislation to Improve the Lives of Residents and Patients

Tracey B. Ehlers — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 10:18:54 PDT

The Transparency Myth: A Conceptual Approach to Corruption and the Impact of Mandatory Disclosure Laws

Justin M. Sadowsky — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 10:18:52 PDT

Reassessing Packer in the Light of International Human Rights Norms

Farkhanda Zia Mansoor — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 10:18:50 PDT

Not All Children are Created Equal: A Proposal to Address Equal Protection Inheritance Rights of Posthumously Conceived Children

Julie E. Goodwin — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 10:18:48 PDT

The Battle for Public Interest Law: Exploring the Orwellian Nature of the Freedom Based Public Interest Movement

Timothy L. Foden — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 10:18:45 PDT

Live and Let Live:Healthcare is a Fundamental Human Right

Anita Pereira — Thu, 16 Dec 2004 07:36:27 PST

Healthcare is a fundamental human right. The right to health is as important as the right to food and shelter. Although the United States leads the world in advancing medical technology and science, it significantly lags behind other industrialized nations in regard to the basic human right to health. Healthcare has become a commodity in the United States. The affluent have absolute access to health; the disadvantaged and marginalized are denied this necessary access.

COMMENT: IS RONALD MCDONALD THE NEXT JOE CAMEL? REGULATING FAST FOOD ADVERTISEMENTS TARGETING CHILDREN IN LIGHT OF THE AMERICAN OVERWEIGHT AND OBESITY EPIDEMIC

Lee J. Munger — Thu, 16 Dec 2004 07:31:15 PST

In 1995, the battle against tobacco industries reached a new frontier. After countless failed lawsuits, public skepticism, and decades of tobacco industry internal exposure, attorney generals from various states attempted to certify a nationwide class action against the five largest tobacco companies based on the “novel” theory first acknowledged in Cipollone v. Liggett Group, Inc. that tobacco was an addictive drug. In this proposed class action, instead of seeking damages attributable to smoking-related illnesses, the plaintiffs sought compensation for economic losses due to the injury of nicotine addiction, including emotional distress and funds expended in efforts to stop smoking. This mass torts case was anticipated to be one of the largest class actions attempted in federal court and was well on its way to taming the tobacco beast.

One Man's Junk Mail Is Another Man's Treasure: Proxy Contests and Corporate Governance

Erica Laudano — Thu, 16 Dec 2004 07:24:04 PST

Proxy contests traditionally have been viewed as the least efficient means of corporate governance. During the 1960s, such contests were opined to be “the most expensive, the most uncertain, and the least used of the various techniques” available to discipline management and transfer corporate control. This attitude persisted through the 1980s when the cash tender offer dominated the wave of hostile takeovers and acquisitions of publicly held companies. In fact, during the period from 1981 to 1984, there were over 250 tender offers for publicly held U.S. corporations as compared to only some 100 proxy contests. In effect, the ready availability of cash coupled with the relatively short timetables afforded by the Williams Act rendered the tender offer a quicker, more certain alternative to the proxy contest.

REPARATIONS TO AFRICAN-AMERICANS: THE ONLY REMEDY FOR THE U.S. GOVERNMENT’S FAILURE TO ENFORCE THE 13TH, 14TH, AND 15TH AMENDMENTS

Edieth Y. Wu — Tue, 14 Dec 2004 12:48:44 PST

This article takes a hard look at U.S. history: the political, the social, and the legal landscape after the passage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments. The author wholeheartedly believes that the Reparations dialogue must continue. Many, including well-educated Americans, are solidly divided on this important issue and have taken the position that Reparations should be buried because American slaves are buried. In spite of the difficulties, we must study and question the societal norms that led to major changes in the United States and forge ahead to find a solution to the issues that adversely affect a major portion of America’s citizenry. Reparations have been used internationally as well as domestically and are not novel theories.

Identity Theft: Are the Elderly Targeted?

Erin L. Sylvester — Tue, 14 Dec 2004 12:40:18 PST

A 101-year-old woman’s hired caregiver stole nine checks from the woman and then forged her signature, stealing $63,000 in two weeks. A nephew convinced his elderly aunt to trade in her $1.7 million bond portfolio and buy stock in his one-year-old oil and gas firm that had not done any business. A social worker assigned to an elderly woman in a hospital used his position to gain access to her house, mail, and bank accounts. He promised to pay all her bills and then wrote himself checks from her account. These are just three examples of the numerous elderly identity theft victims who must now attempt to reclaim their identity from known and unknown violators.

Maintaining the Legitimacy of the High Court:Understanding the “25 Years” in Grutter v. Bollinger

Vijay S. Sekhon — Tue, 14 Dec 2004 12:27:03 PST

The Supreme Court’s decisions in Grutter/Gratz v. Bollinger were among the most anticipated rulings in recent history. Legal scholars, media commentators, and laypeople alike eagerly awaited the release of the Court’s decision on whether the use of race in the admissions processes of institutions of higher education would be held constitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment. Given the divided opinion of the American public on the issue of affirmative action in higher education, it was expected that the Court’s rulings would ignite fervor amongst individuals on either side of the debate, whichever way the decisions came out

The Role of Child's Counsel in State Intervention Proceedings: Toward a Rebuttable Presumption in Favor of Family Reunification

Andrew Hoffman — Tue, 14 Dec 2004 06:33:05 PST

Should you advocate for John's return home? Lisa? Reid? Who decides the child client’s position? What if adults involved in the case disagree as to the child’s position? If you decide, how do you determine your client’s position? What factors should you consider? How important is the client’s expressed preference? What level of understanding of relevant legal proceedings might a six, eight, or fourteen-year-old child possess? How important are family ties? How important are material advantages or disadvantages? How important are ethnicity and culture? How important is socioeconomic status? Does the child have disabilities or unusual medical needs? Is the client’s position ephemeral? Is the client’s position conditioned on the occurrence or non-occurrence of certain future events?

Revisiting the Public Policy Exception to the Employment-at-Will doctrine Following Thibodeau v. Design Group One Architects: Applying an Ethic of Care Analysis

Virginia Brown — Mon, 13 Dec 2004 11:40:30 PST

In 2002, in Thibodeau v. Design Group One Architects, the Connecticut Supreme Court holds that Connecticut’s Fair Employment Practices Act, General Statute § 46a-60, provides immunity to employers who have less than three employees. This case will likely stir up controversy among business and civil liberties groups.

Margin of Appreciation Gone Awry: The European Court of Human Rights' Implicit Use of the Precautionary Principle in Frette v. France to Backtrack on Protection from Discrimination on the Basis of Sexual Orientation

Thomas Willoughby Stone — Thu, 06 Nov 2003 10:23:11 PST

In Fretté v. France, the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) confronted the issue of whether France could discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation in its adoption procedures in conformity with the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (the Convention) . This Note argues that in determining that France was justified in its discrimination, the Court abused the margin of appreciation principle, by collapsing it into something akin to the precautionary principle, which the European Court of Justice uses to interpret the economic treaties of the European Union. This Note will further argue that even within the context of the precautionary principle as applied by the European Court of Justice, this form of discrimination is not justified, and that this principle is not appropriate in the human rights context. This Note concludes by warning that the European Court of Human Rights’ failure to provide an adequate justification for their retreat from human rights principles - that they themselves have proclaimed - represents a dangerous politicization of the Court and a grave threat to the Convention itself.