SelectedWorks @ Widener University Commonwealth Law School
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Impeachment of Jury Verdicts: Tanner and Beyond
No full textWhy, after more than two centuries of study and consideration by the courts and legal scholars alike, does the debate over the impeachment of jury verdicts persist? The problem is not one susceptible to an easy solution. If we lived in a perfect world, fair and impartial juries would be selected; they would listen to the evidence, retire to the jury room, discuss the evidence rationally in a cordial manner, follow the court\u27s instructions, reach a just and logical verdict, accurately report that verdict and be excused. Unfortunately, a myriad of problems can develop during this process, for example, a juror\u27s untruthful response to a voir dire question may result in his improper placement on the jury. Jurors may base a verdict on rumors, newspaper accounts, or comments by court personnel. Inadmissible evidence or bias against a party may influence a jury verdict. Litigants, third parties, or even other jurors may threaten or pressure jury members to reach a certain verdict. The jury may misunderstand he court\u27s instructions or the ramifications of its verdict. Furthermore, a jury verdict may be founded on a compromise, quotient, or even a coin toss
Industrial Waste: Saving the Worst for Last?
No full textThis article explains why industrial waste that is not legally hazardous must be given greater attention and regulatory oversight. Industrial waste (including coal ash) may represent as much as 94 percent of municipal, hazardous, and industrial wastes combined. The article explores the existing federal framework for industrial waste and looks at innovative state approaches, particularly the approach taken in Pennsylvania. The article recommends four national goals for addressing industrial waste: energy and materials conservation, environmental protection at waste management facilities, prompt and significant results, and genuine state and federal partnerships. The author suggests changes to the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act that would help achieve these goals
The Option Contract: Irrevocable Not Irrejectable
No full textThis Article briefly examines the traditional contract principles governing offer and acceptance, particularly the various means to terminate an offer. It also explores the special circumstances governing option contracts and similar mechanisms utilized to transform a revocable offer into an irrevocable one. Further, this Article reviews Restatement (Second) Section 37 and case law that addresses the question of whether a rejection should terminate an irrevocable offer. It explains why the view articulated by section 37 and its decisional predicates are untenable. Finally, this Article presents an alternative to section 37 that reflects logical compliance with established contract formation principles, while doing no violence to the legal and practical considerationsattending the creation of typical option contracts
The Textualist (reviewing George Anastaplo, The Constitution of 1787: A Commentary (1989))
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The Danielson Rule: An Anodyne for the Pain of Reasoning
No full textFor several decades, taxpayers bargained away tax advantages, often inadvertently, to opposing parties in formal agreements, reclaiming these same advantages by recharacterizing the transactions for tax purposes on their income tax returns