Volume 57 No. 2 – Wayne Law Review

Examining Citizens United’s Expansive Reach: Looking Through the Lens of Market Place of Ideas and Corporate Personhood

Saby Ghoshray — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 16:45:06 +0000

In Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission the Supreme Court established that corporations and unions have the same political speech rights as individuals under the First Amendment. By rejecting the government’s compelling interest in prohibiting corporate electioneering communication, the Court ruled in favor of corporate use of treasury funds on indirect support of political candidates. This constitutional mandate of broadening corporate political speech rights beyond justifiable rational limits must be evaluated in full—a process still unfolding. The Court’s ruling proceeded along two predominant threads. In the first, the Court revived the corporate personhood doctrine in order to acquire a newer meaning of corporation replete with a broader assortment of rights than before. In the second, the Court granted a broader measure of political speech rights to corporations by invoking the First Amendment doctrine of the marketplace of ideas. While the opinion’s prudence has already been the subjectofmultipleinquiries, mycurrentanalysisfocusesontwodistinct areas. First, I examine whether the majority’s advancement of a corporate personhood doctrine is necessarily a prudent constitutional methodology for expanding corporate speech rights. Second, I shed revelatory light on the novel approach the Court has undertaken in embracing the marketplace of ideas doctrine for broadening the scope of corporate political speech. Posterity will indeed decide whether or not Citizens United was wrongly decided on both of these grounds. However, in its quest for corporate speech rights expansion, the Court might have engaged in incoherent jurisprudence. Therefore, this article examines the Citizens United Court’s trajectory along the First Amendment jurisprudence to its rationale for seeking a new corpus in American corporate law. Continue reading →

Survival of the Fittest? The Origins and Evolution of the Substantial-Similarity Doctrine

Jeremy L. Kidd, David C. Viano & Evan Stephenson — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 16:45:06 +0000

The substantial-similarity doctrine had its origins in the nineteenth century, arising as a way of aiding courts in determining whether accident re-creation evidence, either through actual re-creation or analysis of other similar accidents, is relevant and admissible. In recent decades, the doctrine has become an enigma for some courts, in part because its foundational principles had become so well understood that for many years they were never expressly stated. A small but growing number of courts are replacing this useful tool for evaluating evidence with a near-blanket rule of exclusion that rejects relevant and reliable evidence. A review of the doctrine’s birth and evolution, combined with a series of thought-experiments, helps define the appropriate bounds for the doctrine. The substantial-similarity doctrine, in its original form, is defended against the emerging trends towards blanket rules, both in terms of coherency of the legal system and in terms of product safety. Continue reading →

Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones But Extreme and Outrageous Conduct Will Never Hurt Me: The Demise of Intentional Infliction Of Emotional Distress Claims in the Aftermath of Snyder V. Phelps

Elizabeth M. Jaffe — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 16:45:06 +0000

57 Wayne l. Rev. 473 – Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones but Extreme and Outrageous Conduct Will Never H… by WayneLawReview

Make the Hand Fit the Glove: OPR Finds Professional Misconduct

Michael C. Wallace Sr — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 16:45:06 +0000

57 Wayne l. Rev. 497 – Make the Hand Fit the Glove Opr Finds Professional Misconduct – Michael c Wallace, S… by WayneLawReview

The U Visa: Proposed Changes to the Code of Federal Regulations to Aid Undocumented Alien Victims

Sarah Wixson — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 16:45:06 +0000

57 Wayne l. Rev. 535 – The u Visa Proposed Changes to the Code of Federal Regulations to Aid Undocumented A… by WayneLawReview

Affordable Mental Health Care in the Post Healthcare Reform Era

Olukunle Fadipe — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 16:45:06 +0000

57 Wayne l. Rev. 575 – Affordable Mental Health Care in the Post Healthcare Reform Era – Olukinkle Fadipe by WayneLawReview

Independent Contractors and the Internal Revenue Service’s “Twenty Factor” Test Perspective on the Problems of Today and the Solutions for Tomorrow

Alexandre Zucco — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 16:45:06 +0000

57 Wayne L. Rev. 599 – INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS AND THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE’S “TWENTY FACTOR” TEST PERS… by WayneLawReview

Hydraulic Fracturing in Michigan: Reassessing State Regulations in Light of New Drilling in the Collingwood and Utica Shales

Stephanie Karisny — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 16:45:06 +0000

57 Wayne l. Rev. 627 – Hydraulic Fracturing in Michigan Reassessing State Regulations in Light of New Drill… by WayneLawReview

Socially Networked Jurors Raise Concern Empanelling Anonymous Juries to Protect The Defendant’s Right to a Fair Trial

Bridget M. Hathaway — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 16:45:06 +0000

57 Wayne L. Rev. 557 – SOCIALLY NETWORKED JURORS RAISE CONCERN EMPANELLING ANONYMOUS JURIES TO PROTECT THE… by WayneLawReview