Monthly Archives: December 2010

The use of the death penalty---both in number of new death sentences and actual executions---has been steadily decreasing during the past decade. Two phenomena largely explain this decrease: (1) the…

A tying arrangement is a seller's requirement that a customer may purchase its "tying" product only by taking its "tied" product. In a variable proportion tie the purchaser can vary…

The tax code allows taxpayers to deduct amounts donated to an extremely broad variety of organizations deemed to create societal benefits---that is, positive externalities. But many organizations that may receive…

In 2006, North Carolina became the first state to establish an innocence commission---a state institution with the power to review and investigate individual post-conviction claims of actual innocence. And on…

In July 2009, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) dramatically altered the notorious 287(g) program, a program that cultivates partnerships between Immigration and Customs Enforcement and local law enforcement. Billed…

Plausibility is much on the collective mind of the legal profession these days. The Supreme Court set the stage in *Twombly* and *Iqbal*, resetting federal civil pleading to a "plausibility…

This Essay provides an initial account of a strategic apparatus crafted by private lawmakers to influence federal policy. The "battering ram strategy" employs the legal powers of states and localities…