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Tax Cannibalization by State Corporate Taxes: Revised Estimates
Get PDFTo what extent do our prior estimates for the tax cannibalization problem still apply post-2017? In this article we address that question, focusing on the implications of the reduced federal corporate income tax rate
Consent to Student Loan Bankruptcy Discharge
Get PDFAs the Department of Education reconsiders its rules governing consent to discharge of federal student loans in bankruptcy, this Article argues for the first time that the Department should approach the problem specifically as an operator of programs to promote education and benefit students, rather than as an entity interested only in debt collection. This Article shows that the Department’s rules to date have treated whether to consent to discharge primarily as a pecuniary issue, without regard to the educational goals of the student loan programs. For example, the Department apparently has never considered whether making it difficult to discharge student loans interferes with borrowers’ freedom of career choice or deters students from pursuing higher education in the first place. Discharge should be more predictable for borrowers. The Department’s regulations have given ever more nontransparent discretion to student loan holders to decide whether to oppose discharge. This Article joins the scholarly call for the Department to remedy this situation by adopting objectively defined criteria for loan holders’ consent to discharge. Creating such “safe harbors” for borrowers would eliminate the uncertainty and formidable procedural barriers that attend seeking relief through an adversarial process in bankruptcy court. These barriers may deter as many as 69,000 eligible borrowers a year from seeking to discharge their student loans in bankruptcy.
This Article argues that furthering the educational purposes of the student loan programs calls for the Department to consent to discharge more freely. Currently, the only substantive ground for consent is the presence of “undue hardship,” as that term from the Bankruptcy Code has been interpreted by courts. But judicial tests for undue hardship do not take account of discharge-favoring purposes of the student loan programs. To fulfill its mandate, the Department should consent to discharge in cases where failure to do so would thwart the purposes of the student loan programs, even if undue hardship is absent
The Categorical Imperative as a Decarceral Agenda
Get PDFIn his forthcoming book, The Insidious Momentum of Mass Incarceration, Frank Zimring proposes two alternative methods to decarcerate: states can adopt a categorical imperative to reduce prison populations or states can reform the governance of sentencing. This symposium Essay focuses on the first of these options, as proposed in his tentative Chapter Six, wherein Zimring calls for categorically removing drug-addicted offenders from eligibility for prison sanctions and expanding use of jails for categories of offenses or offenders.
These methods, I suggest, exist in tension with numerous popular sentencing reforms being implemented in the states right now. Popular reforms, including the expansion of drug courts and the institutionalization of actuarial risk assessment instruments (RAIs or tools), directly or indirectly contradict the pragmatic, structural methods that Zimring proposes in his book to incentivize reductions in state prison populations. By exploring the tensions between reform trends in practice and Zimring’s proscription, this Essay illuminates a deeper concern within sentencing reform policies adopted in the era of mass incarceration. I argue that reforms focused on identifying categories of offenders for diversion from prison sentences may undermine the call to decarcerate by obscuring the ways that policymakers continue to use the carceral state as the preferred method to respond to sociopolitical problems in society. Recognizing this shortcoming upfront has important implications for scholars and policymakers alike when contemplating the contours of reform agendas going forward. Practically, it requires strategic engagement with the broad scope of pragmatic reforms, a point that Zimring urges with his categorical imperative. Theoretically, it requires reflection on the methodologies implemented to shape a decarceral agenda more broadly. I thank the Minnesota Law Review for the opportunity to think about these issues as part of this timely symposium.
The Essay unfolds in three Parts. Part I introduces Zimring’s categorical imperative and juxtaposes it against common sentencing reforms in the states, including drug courts. Part II explains the tension between the categorical imperative and the institutionalization of actuarial risk assessments at sentencing in particular. It highlights how Zimring’s suggested method and RAIs at sentencing invoke different meanings of “categorical” reform and maintain diverging capacities to raise broader critiques of the carceral state. Part III considers what strategic and methodological insights the categorical imperative offers for sentencing reform efforts going forward
Aman Reflects on Page-Turning Opportunities Throughout his Indiana Law Tenure
Get PDFAfter nearly 50 years of practicing, teaching, and administration, Alfred C. (Fred) Aman, Jr., took emeritus status at the end of the 2019–2020 academic year. Earlier this fall, he visited with ergo editor Ken Turchi to reflect on his distinguished career
The Patent Bar Gender Gap: Expanding the Eligibility Requirements to Foster Inclusion and Innovation in the U.S. Patent System
Get PDFBhopal in the Federal Courts: How Indian Victims Failed to Get Justice
Get PDFOver thirty-five years ago, the city of Bhopal, India, witnessed a horrific gas leak that originated from a facility operated by Union Carbide India Limited (“UCIL”), which had as its parent company the American-based Union Carbide Corporation (“UCC”). Thousands were killed, with many more injured. One hundred forty-five cases were filed throughout various U.S. federal district courts on behalf of the victims asserting that UCIL and UCC were liable. Eventually, these cases were consolidated through the multi-district litigation (“MDL”) process and placed onto the docket of federal Judge John Keenan. In 1986, Judge Keenan issued his famous forum non conveniens opinion, which stated that the Indian courts—and not the U.S. federal judiciary—were the proper venue for hearing these claims.
Between 1986 and 1993, Judge Keenan dismissed all of the other MDL Bhopal cases he heard. Then, between 2000 and 2014 a set of distinct, non-MDL Bhopal matters appeared in front of Judge Keenan. In all of these too, he issued dismissals. Indeed, the original MDL process—coupled with the existence of internal federal courthouse rules—created a type of path dependence, allowing for all of the Bhopal-Union Carbide matters to come before Judge Keenan. The thesis here is that following the MDL consolidation, Judge Keenan became only more deeply wedded to the position he staked out back in 1986. Subsequent, non-MDL Bhopal plaintiffs, seeking an independent assessment of their claims, found themselves tethered to the initial MDL decision from years past. The broader lesson—beyond just this case study—is that in order for deserving plaintiffs to receive a fresh review in federal court, there needs to be an alternative imagination for how to deal with later cases that, although seemingly connected, are nevertheless distinct from the earlier MDL process
Constitutional Reform and Women\u27s Political Participation: Electoral Gender Quotas in Post-Arab Spring Egypt, Tunisia, and Jordan
No full textProfessor Williams\u27s contribution to this volume is Constitutional Reform and Women\u27s Political Particiaption: Electoral Gender Quotas in Post-Arab Spring Egypt, Tunisia, and Jordan.https://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/facbooks/1248/thumbnail.jp
The Impact of an Interactive E-Learning Platform on Patient Comprehension Regarding Infertility Treatment: A Randomized Clinical Trial
Get PDFTo determine the impact of a multi-media e-learning platform regarding patient comprehension of fertility pathophysiology and treatment