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The Disguise of Municipal Bonds: How a Safe Bet in Investing Can Become an Unexpected Uncertainty During Municipal Bankruptcy
Get PDFIs the § 943(b)(7) Feasibility Requirement Feasible? Why Congress Should Clarify Its Chapter 9 Bankruptcy Plan Requirements
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The Bottom of the Iceberg: Unpublished Opinions
Get PDFMost federal intermediate appellate court opinions are “unpublished”— they have no precedential value, even though they are readily available in online databases. Most research on judicial behavior is based on analyses of published opinions. If a court’s decisions not to publish are based on factors relevant to behavioral research, exclusion of unpublished opinions may skew the results. Currently, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has the lowest percentage of unpublished opinions, while the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has one of the highest rates of unpublished opinions. Do the differences in publication rates demonstrate anything about the reasons that judges decide not to publish cases, and how do these reasons inform selection of cases for research on the courts? This Article concludes that the publication decision itself is a form of judicial behavior that is worthy of study, and that unpublished opinions should be considered in most research on the federal appellate courts
Reforming the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to Curb Executive Branch Abuse of Surveillance Techniques
Get PDFAs intelligence agencies like the NSA increase their surveillance activities on law-abiding citizens, the need for protection of privacy rights becomes apparent. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) was designed to protect this fundamental right, but due to changes in the law and to the structure of the court, the court’s role as a watchdog has been weakened. This Comment provides an overview of amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that have tempered the court’s role, including the USA FREEDOM Act of 2015 (Freedom Act), and discusses the need for reform of the FISC due to the unwieldy nature of surveillance agencies. Ultimately, this Comment identifies structural changes that could restore the court to the protector of privacy rights that it was initially intended to be
Revisiting the North Carolina Business Court After Twenty Years
Get PDFOver the past two decades, almost half of all states have enacted business courts to assume jurisdiction over locally arising business disputes. Advocates of these new courts assert that by trying business disputes in a specialized forum using an expert jurist, these venues should improve the adjudication of local business conflicts, while developing the states’ business climate. Considering that a majority of Fortune 500 companies are incorporated in Delaware, where the state’s esteemed Court of Chancery hears all local corporate disputes, out-of-state businesses may become more likely to incorporate or relocate to a state that has enacted a business court. Most academics, however, refute that these nascent business courts will generate tangible benefits. Their first point is that business courts differ substantially from Delaware’s Court of Chancery. The second argument is that business courts are not nearly as established or reputable as the Chancery Court. It is also argued that companies are not nearly as concerned with a state’s legal landscape as they are with other factors, and thus, should be unlikely to migrate to another state for the sake of a business court. Indeed, these competing narratives raise important questions about the ability of states and their court systems to improve business adjudication and to build local value.
The North Carolina Business Court is one of the most reputable and established of these new specialty courts. Having been established almost twenty years ago, the North Carolina Business Court should provide meaningful insights into this debate regarding the benefits of having a business court. Using both statistical and anecdotal evidence, this Article explores whether business courts have improved, or are likely to improve, American business jurisprudence. Alternatively, this Article explores whether business courts can help states to compete against Delaware’s corporate monopoly
