3722 research outputs found
Sort by
Pro Bono Week Oct 2025 Book Display 10
No full textClose-up shot of the book, Thorns and Roses: Lawyers Tell Their Pro Bono Stories by Deborah A. Schmedemann in display for National Pro Bono Week in the law library October 2025.https://scholarship.law.tamu.edu/pro-bono-week-2025-photos/1010/thumbnail.jp
Pro Bono Week Oct 2025 Book Display 09
No full textClose-up shot of the book, For the Poor and Disenfranchised by Robert Saute in display for National Pro Bono Week in the law library October 2025.https://scholarship.law.tamu.edu/pro-bono-week-2025-photos/1009/thumbnail.jp
Pro Bono Week Oct 2025 Book Display 05
No full textClose-up shot of the book, Vulnerable Populations and Transformative Law Teaching A Critical Reader edited by the Society of American Law Teachers & Golden Gate University School of Law in display for National Pro Bono Week in the law library October 2025.https://scholarship.law.tamu.edu/pro-bono-week-2025-photos/1005/thumbnail.jp
Indigenous Women Book Display 2025 19
No full textClose up of book display created by Women of Color Collective in the law library October 2025 highlighting the book Bad Indians by Deborah A. Miranda.https://scholarship.law.tamu.edu/indigenous-women-2025-photos/1016/thumbnail.jp
Indigenous Women Book Display 2025 16
No full textClose up of book display created by Women of Color Collective in the law library October 2025 highlighting the book Where They Last Saw Her by Marcie R. Rendon.https://scholarship.law.tamu.edu/indigenous-women-2025-photos/1013/thumbnail.jp
Indigenous Women Book Display 2025 14
No full textClose up of book display created by Women of Color Collective in the law library October 2025 highlighting the book A Council of Dolls by Mona Susan Power.https://scholarship.law.tamu.edu/indigenous-women-2025-photos/1011/thumbnail.jp
Indigenous Women Book Display 2025 10
No full textClose up of book display created by Women of Color Collective in the law library October 2025 highlighting the book The Beginning and End of Rape: Confronting Sexual Violence in Native America by Sarah Deer.https://scholarship.law.tamu.edu/indigenous-women-2025-photos/1007/thumbnail.jp
We Give Laws a Bad Name: An Empirical Examination of How Misleading Law and PAC Names Pollute Legal Perception
Full text linkJournalists and commentators have dismissed acronym-titled laws like the SAFE Act (Secure Access to Firearms Enhancement Act) and slogan-based political action committee (“PAC”) names like Americans for America as window dressing concocted by uncreative political operatives. Beyond the fact that law titles and PAC names have become punching bags in the press, they share another quality: they both appear with frequency in political ads about ballot initiatives and sometimes appear on ballots themselves. Because of their salience in election and voting scenarios, law titles and PAC names have been used tactically in an apparent effort to increase the memorability or favorability of the things they label. Often, these names fairly describe the laws with which they are associated. But a sinister practice has emerged—specifically, using misleading or inapt names.
There is evidence that political operatives understand the power of names, spending considerable resources on name design. Few scholars have empirically tested whether these tactical names influence how people perceive laws, but a recent study provided evidence that they do, finding that apt acronym-titled laws are more memorable and can increase a law’s favorability under certain circumstances. That study, however, did not examine the influence of PAC names, nor did it test inapt names. We designed a novel experiment to fill this void by testing two common tactical naming types: acronym short titles and slogan-based PAC names with apt and inapt versions.
The results of our experiment are disturbing. Our most important finding is that participants’ opinions about laws were profoundly altered by the names of PACs that sponsored those laws and that the effect was most pronounced with inaptly named PACs. Misleading PAC names increased a law’s favorability when those names falsely signaled compatibility with a participant’s political preference and decreased favorability when they falsely signaled incompatibility with a participant’s political preference. As for acronym laws, we observed, consistent with prior work, that acronym names could influence a law’s favorability in a broader array of circumstances than were observed in that prior work.
Worse yet, trying to limit misleadingly named PACs will face significant constitutional impediments. An outright ban on the practice would likely run afoul of the First Amendment. Requiring disclaimers that warn the public of the unreliability of PAC names would likely fare better, but neither their constitutionality nor their effectiveness is assured
Black History Month Book Display
No full textCollection of books on display commemorating the celebration of Black History Month on display in the law library from February through March 2025.https://scholarship.law.tamu.edu/black-history-month-2025-photos/1000/thumbnail.jp
April 2025 Poetry Month Display Photo 08
No full textPhoto of poems and of Vol. 18 No. 3 of Constitutional Commentary containing Law Professor Gil Grantmore’s Constitutional Law Haiku on page 482 as it appears on the display case April 2025https://scholarship.law.tamu.edu/poetry-month-2025-photos/1011/thumbnail.jp