Conversation with Professor Todd Haugh on SOX on Fish

In this podcast, Professor Todd Haugh discusses his essay SOX on Fish: A New Harm of Overcriminalization with NULR Online editor Jeff Wojciechowski.

 

Online Conversation with Professor Haugh

 

 

Conversation with Professor Michael T. Morley on the Intratextual Independent Legislature

In this podcast, Professor Michael T. Morley discusses his essay The Intratextual Independent “Legislature” and the Elections Clause with NULR Online editor Nick Carson.

 

Online Conversation with Professor Morley

 

Race Matters in Jury Selection

Editor's Note: This Essay is the third publication in a three-part series on racial bias in jury selection following a series of high-profile, racially charged events occurring across the country during summer 2014.

Peter A. Joy*

[download pdf]

A lot of things matter in jury selection, and often the biggest thing that matters is what a lawyer trying a case fears most—even if that fear is an issue of race or possible juror biases. Patrick Brayer’s essay, Hidden Racial Bias: Why We Need to Talk with Jurors About Ferguson,[1] illustrates the importance of confronting one’s fears even when it involves talking about a difficult subject with prospective jurors. In his essay, Brayer discusses the challenges of picking a jury less than ten miles away from Ferguson, Missouri, just days after a police officer shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old African-American. Brayer confides in his readers his concern that potential jurors may have harbored biases that would work against their ability to decide the charges against his client fairly, but he had doubts about saying the word “Ferguson.”[2] While Brayer did not see race as a major issue in the case, how the jury viewed law enforcement was an important concern in his client’s case.[3] Brayer’s fear of discussing the jurors’ views about law enforcement is exactly why he needed to talk with jurors about Ferguson.

The #Ferguson Effect: Opening the Pandora’s Box of Implicit Racial Bias in Jury Selection

Editor's Note: This Essay is the second publication in a three-part series on racial bias in jury selection following a series of high-profile, racially charged events occurring across the country during summer 2014.

Sarah Jane Forman*

[download pdf]

 

Introduction

It is a warm autumn night in St. Louis. The Cardinals are celebrating a 2–1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in game four of the National League Championship Series. The bitter racial divisions that have erupted in this city following the shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown momentarily dissolve into a sea of red and white as fans dressed in Cardinals gear stream out of the stadium. But there he is: a man wearing a handmade sign, taped to the back of his jersey, that reads: “I AM Darren Wilson.”[1]

Hidden Racial Bias: Why We Need to Talk with Jurors About Ferguson

Editor's Note: This Essay is the first publication in a three-part series on racial bias in jury selection following a series of high-profile, racially charged events occurring across the country during summer 2014.

Patrick C. Brayer*

[download pdf]

As recent tragic events confirm, issues of race frame our national identity and define our capacity to achieve true equality for all individuals. By its very nature and traditions, the law is a profession tasked with confronting inequality and discrimination in our society. As issues of race continue to influence our communities, nation, and world, the legal profession will be charged with leading future discussions on how prejudice and bias affect our clients. Unfortunately, as legal professionals, we still struggle with the question of whether to talk about race in voir dire.[1] This essay discusses our obligation as judges, academics, and practitioners to understand how unconscious racial bias exists in the hidden belief systems of many, if not all, jurors. These actors must also recognize that open dialogue in jury selection is a proven strategy against the effects of individual undetected prejudice. Furthermore, attorneys must concede hidden bias in themselves before fully comprehending the devastating impacts of racial biases. The events of the last four months in Ferguson, Missouri have exposed potential jurors to experiences dominated by issues of race. The opinions, beliefs, and prejudices of future fact-finders will be greatly shaped by how they perceive these events and interpret the issues.

Conversation with Professor John Crawford on Single Point of Entry

In this podcast, Professor John Crawford discusses his essay Single Point of Entry with NULR Online editor Brian O'Connell.

 

Online Conversation with Professor Crawford

 

SOX on Fish: A New Harm of Overcriminalization

Todd Haugh*

[download pdf]

 

Introduction

On November 5, 2014, the Supreme Court heard argument in Yates v. United States.[1] Yates is somewhat of an oddball case. It deals with a small-town Florida fisherman convicted of the “anti-shredding provision” of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (commonly referred to as SOX), a law passed to curb corporate malfeasance in the aftermath of the massive accounting scandals—Enron, WorldCom, Global Crossing—of the early 2000s. However, the fisherman, John Yates, was not found guilty of cooking his company’s books or lying to his shareholders. Instead, Yates was convicted of throwing a crate of undersized fish overboard after a federal agent inspecting his catch told him not to. A jury found this constituted destroying “tangible objects” as defined under the Act, and the Eleventh Circuit affirmed. The Supreme Court will now decide just how closely red grouper relates to Enron in what some have dubbed the “fishy SOX case.”[2] Oddball indeed.

The Intratextual Independent “Legislature” and the Elections Clause

Michael T. Morley*

[download pdf]

 

Introduction

The Elections Clause of the U.S. Constitution is the Swiss army knife of federal election law. Ensconced in Article I, it provides, “The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations.”[1] Its Article II analogue, the Presidential Electors Clause, similarly specifies that “[e]ach State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors” to select the President.[2] The concise language of these clauses performs a surprisingly wide range of functions implicating numerous doctrines and fields beyond voting rights, including statutory interpretation,[3] state separation of powers and other issues of state constitutional law,[4] federal court deference to state-court rulings,[5] administrative discretion,[6] and preemption.[7]

Conversation with Professor Bernard Chao on Patent Imperialism

In this podcast, Professor Bernard Chao discusses his essay Patent Imperialism with NULR Online editor Nick Carson.

 

Online Conversation with Professor Chao

 

Conversation with Dan Terzian on Forced Decryption

In this podcast, Dan Terzian discusses his essay, Forced Decryption as Equilibrium—Why It's Constitutional and How Riley Matters, with NULR Online editor Jeff Wojciechowski.

 

Online Conversation with Dan Terzian