Hearsay in the Modern Age: Balancing Practicality and Reliability by Amending Federal Rule of Evidence 801(d)(1)(A)
Madeline Smedley 87 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 207 The Advisory Committee on the Federal Rules of Evidence is considering amending Federal Rule of Evidence 801(d)(1)(A) to make prior inconsistent statements captured on audiovisual devices admissible for their substantive value rather than solely for impeachment purposes. Although this proposed change allows litigants to leverage the benefits of digital technology, the proposal lacks the... Read More
The First American Climate Refugees and the Need for Proactive Relocation
Kelley Pettus 87 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 172 American disaster response under the Stafford Act currently provides only reactive responses to natural and man-made disasters, offering assistance to states under major disaster or emergency declarations once harm has occurred. In the age of climate change, where future disasters are accurately predictable and resulting harm is preventable, the United States should adopt... Read More
Biological Citizenship and the Children of Same-Sex Marriage
Michael J. Higdon 87 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 124 In 2015, the Supreme Court ruled that states could not, consistent with the Due Process Clause, deny same-sex couples the right to marry. To allow otherwise, said the Court, would “harm and humiliate the children of same-sex couples.” Thus, it was hoped that marriage equality would provide greater security for the children... Read More
Sexual Harassment and Solidarity
Marion Crain & Ken Matheny 87 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 56 In the waning months of 2017, Americans endured an almost daily barrage of news reports describing sexual harassment by powerful men in entertainment, media, politics, and law. The media focus continued in 2018 as reactions proliferated, ranging from walkouts at Google by workers protesting the company’s handling of sexual-misconduct allegations... Read More
A Rule of Persons, Not Machines: The Limits of Legal Automation
Frank Pasquale 87 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 1 For many legal futurists, attorneys’ work is a prime target for automation. They view the legal practice of most businesses as algorithmic: data (such as facts) are transformed into outputs (agreements or litigation stances) via application of set rules (the law). These technophiles promote substituting computer code for contracts and descriptions of facts... Read More
On the Docket’s Preview of the January Supreme Court Arguments
January 7 Merck Sharpe & Dohme Corp. v. Albrecht No. 17-290, 3d Cir. Preview by Samuel E. Meredith, Senior Online Editor Merck was initiated by over 500 people who used an osteoporosis medication known as Fosamax. The plaintiffs claim that Fosamax caused them to experience “an atypical femoral fracture,” and that the drug manufacturer did not... Read More
A Review of Corporations and American Democracy
Book Review by Lisa Bei Li, Elenore Wade, and Taylor Glogiewicz · Dec. 2018 86 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. Arguendo 60 Corporations and American Democracy (Naomi R. Lamoreaux & William J. Novak eds., 2017) With each chapter reminiscent of the law review article format, the contributors review corporate history from a detailed, scholarly perspective. Much of the... Read More
Career Motivations of State Prosecutors
Ronald F. Wright & Kay L. Levine 86 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 1667 Because state prosecutors in the United States typically work in local offices, reformers often surmise that greater coordination within and among those offices will promote sound prosecution practices across the board. Real transformation, however, requires commitment not only from elected chief prosecutors but also from line prosecutors—the attorneys... Read More
The Challenge of Race and Crime in a Free Society: The Racial Divide in Fifty Years of Juvenile Justice Reform
Kristin Henning 86 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 1604 In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson established the Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice to study the causes of crime and delinquency and identify strategies for prevention. After eighteen months of investigation, the Commission published a report, The Challenge of Crime in a Free Society, in February 1967. Citing youth crime... Read More
The Right to Counsel in Criminal Cases: Still a National Crisis?
Mary Sue Backus & Paul Marcus 86 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 1564 In 1963, Gideon v. Wainwright dramatically changed the landscape of criminal justice with its mandate that poor criminal defendants be entitled to legal representation funded by the government. As scholars and practitioners have noted repeatedly over more than fifty years, states have generally failed to provide the equal access... Read More