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Reform Md. Parole to Offer a \u27Meaningful Opportunity for Release\u27
No full textAbout a year ago, I started the Juvenile Justice Project at the University of Baltimore School of Law. The clinic represents clients who are serving life sentences for crimes that occurred when they were children. Most of our clients had been in prison for over 20 years when the Supreme Court issued a series of decisions acknowledging what common sense and neuroscience make clear: Children are different. Because adolescent brains are not fully developed, young people do not appreciate risks, resist peer pressure or understand the consequences of their actions in the same way adults do. On the positive side, that developing brain makes juveniles more likely than adults to mature and change over time —to become, in penological terms, rehabilitated
The Negative Capital Account Maze
Get PDFOutside Hubert I and Hubert II, there has been little discussion of negative capital accounts in the tax context and almost no discussion in the nontax context. Nontax law, however, is critically important. This report provides an integrated discussion of the application of tax and nontax law to negative capital accounts.
One of the challenges in writing this report is that it requires a discussion of both the at-risk rules of section 465 and the debt allocation rules of section 752. Complex issues involving sections 465 and 752 and their interaction are worthy of their own articles. Indeed, others have written those articles. In this report, I endeavor to stay focused on the negative capital account issues. So although I am forced to make forays into sections 465 and 752, I try to keep them restrained
Razing the Patent Bar
Get PDFInnovation is vital to economic prosperity, and lawmakers consequently strive to craft patent laws that efficiently promote the discovery and commercialization of new inventions. Commentators have long recognized that legal fees are a significant cost affecting innovation, but remarkably a crucial driver of these costs has largely escaped scrutiny: the Patent Bar. Every year innovators spend billions of dollars on legalfees for representation in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ( USPTO ), where inventors apply for patents and potential infringers seek to invalidate issued patents. Supply in this essential legal services market, however, is sharply limited because patent law requires innovators to select representation from the ranks of the Patent Bar, which only extends membership to persons with extensive technical educations, like engineering degrees. Although this educational requirement bars entry in a market that is critical to innovation, scholars, lawmakers, and commentators have largely ignored this feature of the Patent Bar.
This Article begins to fill this void and demonstrates that the technical-education requirement of the Patent Bar lacks economic justification. This Article explains that a trade-off lies at the heart of efficient occupational licensing: licensing creates harmful barriers to entry in regulated markets, but can also improve the quality of services offered in that market, thus helping those markets to function more effectively. In the case of the Patent Bar, however, service quality improvements have not been-and likely cannot be-shown to justify the deleterious market effects. Paradoxically, the USPTO\u27s misguided efforts to ensure quality service actually threatens to undermine innovation by raising the cost of patent acquisition and other services in the USPTO.
Accordingly, this Article proposes that the labor market for representation in the USPTO be expanded by making lawyers without technical educations eligible to join the Patent Bar. This Article details barriers to this proposal, including the revolving-door relationship between the USPTO and the Patent Bar. In light of these concerns, this Article recommends avenues for effecting the proposed reforms
Book Review: Proposals for Creating a Realistic Family Court for the Future
Get PDFDuring one of the snowstorms in the winter of 2016, I sat before the fireplace and read Divorced from Reality: Rethinking Family Dispute Resolution, by Jane C. Murphy and Jana B. Singer. Because I know the authors and their wealth of experience in family law, as well as their sincere interest in improving the effectiveness of the family law court, I was delighted when asked to share my opinion of the book. As a Family Magistrate in a high volume court, it never ceases to amaze me of the variety of issues the court is confronted with on a daily basis. While Maryland\u27s five larger circuit courts have in place a Family Division to respond to the needs of its litigant pool, there is always room to advance how the court administers family law cases. Given the amount of recidivism and the fact that the court is often the first place families go to settle their disputes, the court is sensitive to new approaches to address the issues that arise in family law cases. It is for this reason that I found Divorced from Reality: Rethinking Family Dispute Resolution an eye-opening reflection of how the court has resolved family disputes in the past, how they are doing so currently, and the host of possibilities to consider when creating a family court for the future
Recent Development: Givens v. State: Preservation of Allegedly Inconsistent Jury Verdicts in a Criminal Trial Must be Made by Objection Before the Verdicts are Rendered Final and the Jury is Dismissed
Get PDFThe Court of Appeals of Maryland held that a defendant waives review of any issue as to allegedly inconsistent verdicts by failing to object before the verdicts become final and the court discharges the jury. Givens v. State, 449 Md. 433, 486, 144 A.3d 717, 748 (2016). Although the defendant in this case did not request plain error review, the court stated that the alleged inconsistent verdicts were not clear and obvious; therefore the four-factor plain error test was not met. Id. at 482, 144 A.3d at 746.
On November 15, 2011, several people including Dominic Givens ( Givens ), pulled up in a minivan at a playground where five individuals were located. Givens proceeded to rob one victim, taking money and a phone, while the other individuals robbed the additional five victims. The incident escalated when one of the assailants and victim, Marvin Darrell Tomlinson ( Tomlinson ) began fighting over a gun. As the other victims fled, Givens grabbed the gun and shot Tomlinson twice, leaving him mortally wounded. He later succumbed to his injuries at the hospital
Too Conflicted to be Transparent: Giving Affordable Financing its ‘Good Name’ Back
Get PDFSecuritization, the process of pooling loans for re-sale on the secondary market, is an important part of mortgage financing. It creates more capital for mortgages and makes home pricing affordable, which is beneficial to borrowers. The subprime crisis exposed intrinsic structural flaws in the mortgage securitization process. Chief among them is the “issuer-pays” model of credit ratings. Issuers, who bundle loans for sale on the securities market, are required to have an independent analysis from a credit rating agency or a Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organization (NRSRO) prior to the sale of the securities to investors. This rating is not only a certification of the creditworthiness of the securities, but also a signal to investors that the securities will perform as predicted. Prior to the subprime crisis, the ratings provided for subprime loans were inflated, causing investors, who relied on the ratings, to leave the private-label mortgage market. Restoring confidence in this market is critical to having robust, sustainable mortgage financing. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank”) made significant changes in the financial services industry designed to protect borrowers and investors. Although the amended law required the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to assume more authority over credit rating agencies, the SEC did not abandon the issuerpays model of credit ratings. This Article fills a void in credit rating agency reform. It proposes that credit rating agencies independently verify and substantiate the information provided by issuers to ensure the accuracy of the information inputted into the business models they use. Rules tightening loan quality standards are now in place, but independent review of the quality of loan manufacturing remains elusive. This Article also argues that borrowers, who have a vested interest in both a sustainable mortgage and an unbiased, fair, transparent rating, are indirect beneficiaries of the rating process. Regulating the market by requiring credit rating agencies to conduct due diligence incorporates quality standards into the ratings process and deters abuse. Given the failure of the credit rating agency reforms to address the inherent structural flaw in the current model, this Article argues the proposal will ensure the needed accountability, transparency, and oversight that can better protect borrowers and investors
Never Enough: Animal Hoarding Law
Get PDFAnimal hoarding, a disorder that causes sufferers to acquire animals compulsively despite the inability or unwillingness to provide them with adequate care, is a widespread, costly, often underestimated problem that causes more animal suffering than all acts of intentional cruelty combined. Not only are animals harmed, but humans are as well, from dependents that live with hoarders to members of the surrounding communities to the hoarders themselves. Current laws do not address the issue effectively, and recidivism rates are close to 100%. This Article seeks to increase awareness of the animal hoarding problem and offers suggestions as to how the law might evolve to better manage and resolve these complex cases
On Dangerous Ground? The Turf War Over Crumb Rubber: Potential Liability for Manufacturers and Municipalities
Get PDFThere is an ongoing trend across the United States for athletic fields and playgrounds to install crumb rubber in lieu of natural grass surfaces. There are conflicting studies as to whether this material is safe and if continuous exposure can lead to cancer in those who use these play areas