Stepping Up to the Plate: Minor Leaguers Attempt to Remedy their Unconscionable Plight

Professional baseball players are often thought of as making multi-million-dollar salaries, but most professional baseball players have recently made under $15,000 a year. Minor league players toiled under an onerous system resulting from baseball's judicially created antitrust exemption and lobbying efforts that exempted them from minimum wage and overtime. These factors allowed teams to impose a uniform player contract (UPC) on players with numerous unconscionable provisions for years. However, a late-night Tweet in August of 2022 sent shockwaves through the sports and labor world, announcing that the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) was sending out authorization cards to represent minor league players. After years of fighting to maintain the authority to impose conditions on minor league players, through lobbying and litigation, Major League Baseball (MLB) turned over a new leaf and recognized the unionization of minor league players under the MLBPA less than three weeks later. In light of this long sought-after recognition, this article takes a novel approach. First, it provides historical context for baseball's unique ability to impose working conditions on minor leaguers without significant concern for legal ramifications. Second, it provides an overview of the doctrine of contractual unconscionability and analyzes the prior UPC as an unconscionable agreement. Finally, it details the historic unionization process and makes detailed recommendations to ameliorate the unconscionable conditions minor league players have faced when they negotiate with MLB owners to draft their initial collective bargaining agreement.     

纪念香港城市大学合作十周年研讨会发言节选

2019年12月8日国家法官学院与香港城市大学合作办学十年座谈会暨判例法与案例指导制度论坛举行,本刊摘录几位嘉宾的现场演讲,以飨读者。     

Improved Area of Origin Estimation for Bloodstain Pattern Analysis Using 3D Scanning

An important component of crime scene reconstruction is bloodstain pattern analysis (BPA). Where BPA concerns impact patterns, estimating the area of origin is critical information for scene reconstruction. Traditionally, this is achieved by measuring individual bloodstains and performing trigonometric calculations; however, 3D scanning has been proposed as a viable alternative for overcoming logistical and practical concerns with the manual method. Therefore, this project aimed to establish whether the FARO Focus 3D scanner and FARO Zone 3D software can improve the accuracy of area of origin estimates relative to the manual method. We created a series of eight bloodstain impact patterns and performed paired analysis using the two methods to estimate areas of origin for each pattern. Our data suggested that FARO-derived estimates were generally more accurate than using the manual method. FARO-estimated heights of origin areas were generally closer to the true distance. Both methods underestimated the distance from the wall for most patterns originating 150mm or greater from the wall, but overestimated distances for patterns originating closer to the wall. The degree to which distances were underestimated increased significantly the further the blood source was from the wall and was greater for FARO-derived estimates. The results of this research contribute to the validation of these instruments for operational implementation for BPA and should be considered alongside the practical benefits of 3D scanning relative to manual methods. Further, 3D scanning can provide reliable BPA reconstruction documentation for technical review and court presentation.     

Red Tape,Rule Burden,and Legitimate Performance Trade-Offs: Results from a Vignette Experiment

Abstract

Goals in the public sector are complex and managers can face situations in which pursuing one legitimate goal necessitates performance trade-offs in other areas. This study tests how knowledge of legitimate performance trade-offs shapes the perception of red tape. Using a vignette experimental design and a sample of university students, between group t-tests and regression analyses suggest that, when evaluating increased rule burden, individuals that are provided with information about how objectively burdensome rules serve alternative values such as equity and effectiveness associate them with lower levels of red tape. A series of Monte Carlo simulations suggest that this effect is substantial.     

试论善的理念是政治社会的合法性基础

拥有幸福生活始终是人类孜孜以求的一个社会理想。本文试图从古典的哲学思想出发寻找政治社会存在的道德基础。以道德为基础的政治社会体现了人的政治生存向度,需要人们把它作为各种规范的核心观念才能有约束力,才能使社会关系和谐有序地发展,从而实现“自然主义”和“人道主义”的统一。     

繁华与废墟--对当代新闻传播学的批判

在越来越多的学人投身于新闻传播学领域,新闻传播学日益成为一门显学时,我们必须警惕:繁华过后或许是废墟。为了新闻传播教育的超常规发展和摘掉“新闻无学”的帽子,学科极力扩张地盘,内容庞杂无序,良莠难辨;要建立以“术”为基础和基本导向的新闻传播学学术体系,确立新闻传播学教育就是职业教育的现代教育观念;貌真实伪和生吞活剥的学术态度与方法阻遏了新闻传播学研究,到了该检讨我们的学术态度与学术规范的时候了。     

中西法律文化差异之我见

法律文化中表层的、制度化的东西比较容易效仿,但制度的输出和引进并不是决定性的,起决定性作用的应该是法律意识.而这一切又与一国的社会结构、历史传统、文化理念、价值取向息息相关。在进行制度性法律文化的变革时,必须同时关注观念性法律文化的进步和提升,逐步从人的认知系统进入情感系统,再到价值系统,使人们从内心产生对制度的认同并自觉地适应新制度规范的社会关系,从而促进社会的和谐发展。