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A Systems Theory of Tort Law: Reevaluating the Case Against “Regulation by Litigation”
No full textFor decades, critics of tort law have argued that lawsuits are a poor substitute for government regulation. These detractors compare the institutional capacities of courts and agencies, and they conclude that litigation is ineffective, inefficient, and illegitimate as an alternative to notice-and-comment rulemaking. In response, this Article asserts that characterizing tort law and administrative regulation as alternatives obscures their interdependence. By using systems theory to model this interdependence, the Article argues that any fair-minded assessment of tort litigation\u27s contribution to regulatory governance requires understanding it as part of a system. Ignoring the systemic impacts of tort litigation overlooks the subtle ways in which it enhances expertise, stakeholder participation, feedback, and learning in regulatory regimes. To illustrate, the Article examines the most urgent food safety problem currently facing U.S. consumers: foodborne illness outbreaks caused by leafy greens contaminated with virulent microbial pathogens. Systems theory demonstrates how tort litigation has played a vital role in the development of government regulations and industry standards to reduce the risk of contamination. Through interactions with media coverage, consumer advocacy, and insurance underwriting, tort litigation has shaped and motivated the development of the food safety standards that govern leafy greens production. From a careful analysis of how lawsuits have advanced food safety policy, the Article derives a general theory of the interdependence of tort litigation and government regulation
Building and Sustaining Restorative Community Trust and Engagement: The Co-Researcher Activation Network
No full textBackground
After identifying substantial trust gaps between our university and neighboring community, we developed the Co-Researcher Activation Network (CRANE) to cultivate restorative engagement through ongoing transformational relationships. Informed by the Culture-Centered Approach, CRANE is a network of community member groups who identify local health concerns, develop research questions, and generate community-driven solutions. Organized by place rather than interest, groups are systematically created within geographic areas. The model focuses on engaging community members as “co-researchers,” whereby community members play an active role and share in the decision-making process through a collaborative and interdependent relationship with the research team. Methods
Using RE-AIM domains, we applied convergent mixed methods to test the effects of CRANE and to identify factors associated with fidelity and sustainability of the model. Results
From 2022 to 2023, we convened 21 co-researchers in three groups that met bimonthly. Groups reflected age, racial/ethnic, economic, and educational diversity. Co-researchers’ perceptions of university researcher credibility (trustworthiness, expertise, and caring) significantly increased during the project. Five factors contributed to success: regular, audience-centered communication; small groups; gender segregation; scheduling flexibility; and community meeting spaces. Challenges included hiring issues, travel limits, low technology acceptance, transportation obstacles, and participant payment problems. Conclusions
CRANE is a blueprint for community engagement that honors community members and their expertise, strives for equitable partnership, and moves the needle on metrics of trust. The theoretically-grounded, co-researcher model can not only build but sustain restorative community trust and engagement
Corporations, Climate, and the Court: New Directions for Business and Human Rights in AO-32/25
No full textSB 144 - Plant Disease, Pest Control, and Pesticides
No full textThe Act limits manufacturer liability for the use of fertilizers, plant growth regulators, or pesticides. Under the Act, and with limited exceptions, a manufacturer cannot be held liable for the failure to warn users of the health risks associated with those fertilizers and pesticides above those already required by the United States Environmental Protection Agency
SB 244 - Criminal Procedure
No full textThis Act establishes a statutory framework to compensate individuals wrongfully convicted and incarcerated in Georgia. Also known as the Wrongful Conviction and Incarceration Compensation Act, the Act allows eligible claimants to seek financial compensation through the Office of State Administrative Hearings (OSAH). The Act also entitles criminal defendants to recover attorney’s fees and costs if a case is dismissed after the original prosecutor is disqualified for misconduct. Compensation awards are to be paid from a newly established state trust fund, and sovereign immunity is expressly waived to permit these claims
SB 68. - Civil Practice
No full textThe Act makes significant changes to Georgia’s civil litigation procedures. It stays discovery upon the filing of a motion to dismiss, limits voluntary dismissals after an answer is filed, and allows for bifurcated trials to separate issues of liability and damages. It caps recoverable medical expenses to the reasonable value actually paid and expands the admissibility of evidence related to damages—including permitting the admission of seat belt non-use to argue comparative fault or mitigate damages. The Act restricts attorney’s fee recovery by barring double recovery under multiple statutes and excluding contingency fee agreements as proof of reasonableness. It also creates new standards for negligent security claims, including heightened foreseeability requirements and mandatory fault apportionment between property owners and criminal actors
Torts - General Provisions
Full text linkThe Act decreases liability exposure to inpatient mental healthcare providers and foster care providers by requiring claimants to prove gross negligence instead of the existing standard of negligence. It also contains jury instructions to be provided in an action involving a mental health care liability claim that describe what the jury should consider in deciding the action. Finally, it prohibits punitive damages against mental health care providers, except for instances of willful and wanton misconduct, reckless infliction of harm, or intentional infliction of harm
Agriculture - Rights of Aliens; Rights as to Realty
Full text linkThe Act restricts nonresident aliens from acquiring certain land interests. It forbids such nonresident aliens from acquiring possessory interests in agricultural land within ten miles of military bases, installations, and airports. Nonresident aliens include natural persons who are not United States citizens or legal residents, are agents of foreign adversaries designated in 15 C.F.R. § 7.4 (currently China (including Hong Kong), Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, and the Venezuelan Maduro Regime), and who satisfy one of two time-related presence thresholds. Further, nonresident aliens include corporations domiciled in or owned (by at least 25% ownership) by entities domiciled in the same adversarial nations, as well as the government of said nations. The Act includes several exceptions, such as for ownership of residential property, ownership for purposes of indebtedness, and leaseholds for research and experimental purposes. The Act also creates provisions allowing for Transfer-on-Death Deeds