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.     

石油企业采油一线员工职业健康管理问题与对策

在我国石油企业中采油一线员工占比最多,在劳动过程中会遇到各种各样的职业健康危害。实现采油一线员工身心健康,是人力资源保障的重要内容,是石油企业应尽的责任,也是企业实现和谐发展的必然选择。文章以采油一线员工为研究对象,通过调查、访谈,了解员工对职业健康的感知程度,掌握石油企业职业健康管理现状,分析存在的问题,并从企业自身出发提出了改善措施。     

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.     

论国际投资中的国家责任问题

国际投资中的国家责任问题主要涉及国际投资的法律保护问题 ,如对外国投资和投资者的待遇标准、国有化或征收及其补偿问题。另外 ,还涉及特许权协议、拒绝司法、外交保护等问题。就外资待遇而言 ,发展中国家应根据其经济发展的实际情况在双边投资保护条约中慎重承诺。笔者通过对国有化问题的分析 ,认为国家在这个问题上所承担的国家责任不是传统国际法上的国家责任 ,而是一种“合法行为引起的国家责任”。关于特许协议 ,笔者认为它是国内契约。此外 ,在国际投资中 ,还涉及因污染转嫁而产生的国家责任。     

在惩罚犯罪与保障人权之间：关于监听的法律思考

监听是世界各国为应付犯罪形势的新变化而发展起来的一种高技术化、高隐密性的强制侦查措施，其出现对于侦查机关打击和惩罚犯罪发挥了极其重要的作用。但是另一方面，监听的采用又严重侵犯了公民隐私权，因此，各国都对监听的采用规定了严格的法律程序，以防止侦查机关滥用监听，过度分割公民权利。我国刑事诉讼立法上对监听缺乏明确规定，这不利于保障公民人权，应当加以改进。