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Biodiversity, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore: Work on Related IP Matters in the WTO
No full textIssues related to biodiversity, traditional knowledge and folklore have received increasing attention in the global intellectual property (IP) arena, including in the work of intergovernmental organizations and civil society. The World Trade Organization (WTO) is one of the forums in which the debate on related IP matters is occurring. Other intergovernmental organizations in which such debates are taking place include, among others, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the World Bank, and various United Nations human rights bodies. This paper primarily looks at the WTO\u27s work relating to this complex issue. The focus of this work has been on the relationship between the TRIPS Agreement and the CBD, particularly in respect to genetic recourses and associated traditional knowledge
Of Inferior Stock: The Two-Pronged Repression of Radical Immigrant Birth Control Advocates at the Turn-of-the Twentieth Century
No full textThis article addresses law\u27s coercive function to quash birth control advocacy at the turn-of-the-twentieth century. Part II addresses the development of anti-obscenity legislation, especially at the federal level, to slow quelling support for birth control availability and usage. In particular, the article addresses the trend during the late 1800s in which the states and federal government prohibited sending birth control information or products through the mail. This section also explores the significant harassment, and both actual and threatened prosecution of birth control advocates that resulted from criminal prohibitions. Part III surveys the rampant nativism that swept policymaking circles during this period. This section explores a critical shift in immigration from northern and western Europe to southern and eastern Europe, and the effects of this changing migration on birth control legislation. Lastly, Part IV addresses the convergence of anti-obscenity criminal laws and immigration law to quash birth control advocacy. The political radicalism that spurred much of the early birth control advocacy played a critical role in the governmental response to birth control proponents, many of whom were immigrants. When policymakers determined that criminal laws were not sufficient to keep birth control advocates in jail, mmigration laws were used to deport immigrants who advocated for birth control
The Commissioner\u27s New Clothes: The Myth of Major League Baseball\u27s Antitrust Exemption
No full textIn this paper, I will argue that MLB\u27s antitrust exemption has been widely misinterpreted as being much more broadly applicable than the Supreme Court\u27s decision in Flood v. Kuhn actually mandates. Based on the language and the underlying reasoning in the case, Flood should in fact be narrowly interpreted as only exempting MLB\u27s reserve system, not any and all actions undertaken by MLB pertaining to the business of baseball. As mentioned before, the reserve system is no longer in effect due to the collective action taken by players over the years, which has brought about its dismantling. However, even if the most important components of the reserve system had not been lost, the owners would no longer be immune from antitrust lawsuits from players on these grounds. In 1998, Congress passed The Curt Flood Act, which explicitly applied federal antitrust law to the baseball reserve system, but was intentionally ambiguous regarding the application of antitrust law to any other aspects of MLB. If coupled with a narrow interpretation of Flood, the Curt Flood Act entirely takes away MLB\u27s antitrust exemption. I will also discuss several legal doctrines that have evolved significantly since the Flood decision was issued and that should be taken into account when evaluating the current status of MLB\u27s antitrust exemption. There is no evidence that MLB actually needs an exemption from federal antitrust law, or that such an exemption would actually benefit the game. This can be seen most clearly by viewing other similarly situated sports like basketball and football, which have grown enormously in recent decades, while baseball no longer enjoys the place in the national spotlight that it once did. These sports have thrived despite never having been exempt from federal antitrust law. Finally, I will conclude by examining how realistic it is that a general antitrust exemption will ever be absolutely removed by the Supreme Court or Congress. There are several legal doctrines and rationales that would support such an action. There are also several situations in which antitrust litigation could arise, and I will detail what these situations are and how they may force a court or Congress to make a final decision on MLB\u27s antitrust exemption
Estates in Land and Future Interests: Problems and Answers, 5th Edition
No full textEstates in Land and Future Interests: Problems and Answers provides a clear and systematic presentation of the rules and classifications of estate law. Problem sets in each chapter let students practice applying the rules and assigning the classifications of estates and future interests, carefully leading students from one level of complexity to the next.https://scholarship.stu.edu/faculty_books/1018/thumbnail.jp
Unexpected Plans
No full textThis speech was presented on March 13, 2008, at the National Conference of Law Reviews in Key Biscayne, Florida
Farmer Operations of Color and Food Based Coalitions
No full textLegal theorists are engaging and pursuing alternative visions directed towards building coalitions between communities of color. We are told that coalitions are necessary in order to fully understand and attack racial hierarchy and white supremacy in the United States. This essay explores the concept of coalition building and examines whether it would be a possible method for preserving and protecting communities of color. A remarkable, heinous agricultural history has thwarted the traditional land use practices of communities of color, who have also been subject to rural subordination by widespread white supremacy. Physical manifestations of rural racial superiority curtailed the operations of farmers of color in the past, and even today, these farmers continue to face varying forms of economic and political subordination. Specifically, farming is a financially cost prohibitive venture that puts minority-owned farming operations at risk of collapse. The increasing costs of inputs such as buying seeds, grains, equipment, and other necessities often accelerate economic distress in independent farmers. Due to the resultant costs and the exposed fragile nature of independently owned operations, federal law provides a myriad of assistance in the nature of federal farm loan programs. Yet for operators of color, obtaining loans has proven elusive, often because they have been forced to endure disparate treatment from federal agencies. The disparate treatment from federal agencies in denying operating loans is well documented and underscores their rural subordinate status in the agrarian economy. These disadvantages in obtaining such loans provide yet another form of economic injustice for farmers of color. Part I of this essay targets the legal and historical antecedents that thwarted farmers of color from their full participation in producing the nation\u27s food supply. Part II considers the fact that operators of color have not been allowed to fully participate in rural, and subsequently urban, politics. It also addresses the irreparable harm operators of color have experienced, as well as their incomplete remedies for their irrevocable injuries. Furthermore, Part II examines the current reliance on USDA financial programs, and discusses whether this reliance merely maintains the status quo, while adversely effecting farmers of color. Part III, thereby, addresses potential new directions, resulting from immigrants and domestic minorities who are engaging in food producing structures. In conclusion, this essay targets the federal agricultural anti-trust legislation, which has traditionally excluded farm laborers but promoted group-based activities for food producers. It contemplates an aim of the LatCrit Conference in directing inquiries toward coalition building between communities of color. The agricultural economic regime explored here could provide potential opportunities for a proposed coalition building effort involving farmers of color. Driving this prong is the increased migration of both domestic and immigrant communities transitioning into rural and urban arenas
Ditching the Disposal Plan: Revisiting Miranda in an Age of Terror
No full textThis Essay will show that the creation of an exceptional ad hoc court for the purpose of trying suspected terrorists in the United States would be a misguided approach to solving the problem of the military commissions. It will also demonstrate that, in a society based on the rule of law, the justice which President Bush seeks for terrorists must include proper treatment in detention and fair trials. The regular criminal justice process in the federal courts has served and can continue to serve as an adequate, efficient, and fair method to bring terrorists to justice. Moreover, the exclusionary rule doctrine available to defendants in criminal courts may provide due process protections and curb torturous interrogation practices. Part II presents three of the problems the United States currently faces in its quest to bring suspected terrorists to justice. First, the military commissions, the current regime for trying detainees at Guantdnamo, has failed. It will describe the military commissions\u27 regime as it currently operates, or rather, as it would operate if it ever reconvenes. Because detainee litigation and subsequent remedial legislation have affected the operations of the military commissions, this Part discusses the relevant Supreme Court cases and also describes the relevant provisions of the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 ( DTA ) and the Military Commissions Act of 2006 ( MCA ). Second, the ad hoc court, which some propose as an alternative to the military commissions, will not be seen as fair or legitimate. In part, this is because the ad hoc court likely would admit evidence obtained through torturous interrogation practices. Third, and finally, the torture of terror suspects by agents of the United States creates perverse incentives to dispose of suspects by killing them, consequently making them unavailable to stand trial in any venue. Part III will show that the military commission scheme is deeply flawed, and the creation of an ad hoc court to try suspected terrorists will not provide the remedies sought, efficient, fair trials for the accused, and a legitimate system for preventative detention. Only regularly-constituted criminal courts, such as the federal district courts, can provide due process protections for the accused. Finally, this Essay will conclude that justice and fairness demand individuals accused of terrorism crimes must be treated as criminals and tried in regular criminal courts
Haiti is Black! Racial Essentialism and United States Involvement in the 2004 Removal of President Aristide
No full textThrough this paper I seek to interrogate the United States\u27 policy toward Haiti as one based on racial essentialism. This paper will track the historical evolution of racial essentialism towards Haiti by the United States and the culmination of this essentialism through the removal of populist president Jean-Bertrand Aristide. I will show the common theme in U.S. policy towards Haiti, beginning with the successful slave rebellion in 1804, and ending with the 2004 removal of Aristide; the suppression of popular movements in Haiti based on racial essentialism. I also will attempt to provide an analysis of key actions taken by the United States preceding the removal of President Aristide. The first section of this paper will give a general overview of the historical relationship between the United States and Haiti and explain why the United States may have directly involved itself with the internal affairs of Haiti and the removal of President Aristide in 2004. The second section describes a series of U.S. supported interferences with the internal affairs of Haiti in the years preceding the 2004 overthrow of Aristide. These are policies based not on overt racism of the past, but a more discrete, but equally dangerous, unconscious racism of the present. The third and final section presents the implementation of these modem-day racially essentialist U.S. policies, and the lack of recourse available though international law
Introductory Remarks
No full textIntroductory remarks by Siegfried Wiessner, Professor of Law & Director, Graduate Program in Intercultural Human Rights, for the Intercultural Human Rights Law Review Annual Symposium
Afterword
No full textFew know the process of hosting the 2008 National Conference of Law Reviews ( NCLR ) commenced more than two years before it was realized in Chicago, Illinois at the 2006 NCLR. The national organization had no schools bidding to host in 2008, and representatives made a plea to the general assembly for bids. Melissa O\u27Connor, the Articles Solicitation Editor at the time, believed the St. Thomas Law Review would be perfect for the job. With a few phone calls and an impressive Powerpoint presentation, Ms. O\u27Connor made the bid. The vote was in, and the St. Thomas Law Review was the official host of NCLR 2008