Professor Traum's Latest Article to Be Published in the Hastings Law Journal

The Boyd School of Law is very pleased to announce that Professor Anne Traum's latest article will be published in Volume 64 of the Hastings Law Journal.

The abstract for Mass Incarceration at Sentencing provides: "Courts can address the problem of mass incarceration at sentencing. Although scholars suggest that the most effective response may be through policy and legislative reform, judicial consideration of mass incarceration at sentencing would provide an additional response that can largely be implemented without wholesale reform. Mass incarceration presents a difficult problem for courts because it is a systemic problem that harms people on several scales – individual, family and community, and the power of courts to address such broad harm is limited. This Article proposes that judges should consider mass incarceration, a systemic problem, in individual criminal cases at sentencing. Sentencing is well-suited to this purpose because it is a routine phase of a criminal case when courts have great flexibility to individualize punishment based on individual and systemic factors. In this phase, judicial discretion is at its highest, judges’ contact with defendants is most direct, and the broadest scope of information properly flows to the court. Mass incarceration can be viewed as a systemic concern that is relevant to both the defendant’s history and the traditional sentencing purposes, including the need to benefit public safety and to ensure that sentences are fair and just. Information about mass incarceration would enhance courts’ understanding of the impacts of sentencing on the defendant and others in the local community. This Article articulates how this can be accomplished in federal sentencing, and suggests doctrinal and practice changes that would enhance courts’ capacity to consider and mitigate the harms of mass incarceration in individual cases."

The article's full citation is: Anne R. Traum, Mass Incarceration at Sentencing, 64 Hastings L.J. __ (forthcoming 2013). Congratulations, Anne!

Professor Bartrum's Latest Article to Be Published in the Florida State University Law Review

The Boyd School of Law is very pleased to announce that Professor Ian Bartrum's latest article will be published in Volume 40 of the Florida State University Law Review.

The abstract for Constitutional Value Judgments and Interpretive Theory Choice provides: "Philip Bobbitt's description of the six modalities of constitutional argument has had broad influence among constitutional theorists. Bobbitt, however, has struggled to account for the choice between modalities in close and difficult cases where that choice is likely to determine the outcome. This paper addresses that problem by drawing an analogy to the work of Thomas Kuhn, who provided some account of the similar choices that scientists must make between competing theoretical paradigms during moments of scientific revolution. I suggest that, as is true of scientific practice, constitutional lawyers share a broad set of constitutional values, in terms of which they can and should justify their choices between interpretive modalities in outcome-determinative cases."

The article's full citation is: Ian Bartrum, Constitutional Value Judgments and Interpretive Theory Choice, 40 Fla. St. U. L. Rev. ___ (forthcoming 2013). Congratulations, Ian!

Professor Tovino's Latest Article to Be Published in the Houston Law Review

Professor Stacey Tovino's latest law review article (A 'Common' Proposal) will be published in Volume 50 of the Houston Law Review.

The abstract for A 'Common' Proposal provides: "The Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects (the Common Rule) is codified in separate regulations by seventeen federal departments and agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). HHS’s version of the Common Rule currently contains a basic policy for the protection of all human subjects, codified at Subpart A of the Common Rule, as well as special provisions governing human subjects research involving three sets of vulnerable populations, including pregnant women, fetuses, and neonates (Subpart B), prisoners (Subpart C), and children (Subpart D). This Article proposes that HHS amend the Common Rule to add a new Subpart E governing human subjects research involving adults with impaired decision-making capacity."

The article's full citation is: Stacey A. Tovino, A 'Common' Proposal, 50 Hous. L. Rev. __ (forthcoming 2013).

Professor LaFrance Wins Ladas Memorial Award

The Boyd School of Law is very pleased to announce that Professor Mary LaFrance's recent article, "Passing Off and Unfair Competition: Conflict and Convergence in Competition Law," was selected as the winner of the 2012 Ladas Memorial Award for writing excellence on the subject of trademarks and related matters.

The abstract for "Passing Off and Unfair Competition" provides: "Traditionally, common law and civil law regimes have differed significantly in their approaches to trademark protection, with common law regimes focused primarily on preventing consumer deception, and civil law regimes aiming more broadly at upholding an ill-defined standard of fairness in the marketplace. As a result, while civil law regimes ground their trademark jurisprudence in the avoidance of free-riding, in common law countries a wider array of competitive behavior is permitted, provided that these activities do not mislead consumers. The European Union’s attempt at harmonizing competition law has tended to favor the civil law approach, with resulting pressure on the United Kingdom to depart from its adherence to the narrower concept of passing off. In addition, aggressive litigation by trademark owners has tested the limits of the passing off doctrine in both the United States and Australia. As a result, the passing off doctrine has undergone dramatic expansion in several of the common law jurisdictions, and in some cases has become indistinguishable from unfair competition law. Despite this convergence, some pushback can be discerned in discrete areas of application. These developments are clearly illustrated by recent developments in three areas: (1) comparative advertising of copycat products; (2) merchandising rights; and (3) keyword advertising."

The Award, which is sponsored by the International Trademark Association (INTA) and the law firm of Ladas & Parry, will be officially announced at the INTA Gala on May 5, 2012, at The National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. Congratulations, Mary!