Paint It Black: Rhode Island Supreme Court Rejects Lead Paint Nuisance Suit

During the past decade, state and local governments have increasingly brought suits to redress harm caused by products, including cigarettes, firearms, and toxins such as asbestos, lead paint, and even greenhouse gases, based not on the products liability or negligence theories conventionally applied, but on the public nuisance doctrine. Although the public nuisance doctrine potentially offers governmental plaintiffs more lenient standards with respect to issues like product and manufacturer identification, control of the product, proximate cause, and application of statutes of limitation, while limiting manufacturers' defenses, and has generated insurance claims and pressure to enter settlements, nearly all applications of public nuisance law to products claims have ultimately failed when heard by the courts on the merits. In February 2007, however, a Rhode Island trial court, in a groundbreaking decision, entered a judgment on a jury verdict imposing liability on three lead pigment manufacturers for creating a public nuisance, and ordered them to abate the nuisance in Rhode Island at a cost estimated to exceed two billion dollars.

On July 1, 2008, the Rhode Island Supreme Court reversed the trial court's judgment against the lead paint manufacturers and held that the state attorney general's complaint should have been dismissed for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. The state had not, and could not, allege facts sufficient to support a public nuisance claim, as the doctrine was construed in Rhode Island or nationally. Relief from the serious harms caused by lead paint was available only through specific Rhode Island legislation and products liability law, not the public nuisance doctrine. The Rhode Island Supreme Court's decision is consistent with recent decisions from other state courts, most notably opinions issued by the highest courts of New Jersey and Missouri during 2007, and has already influenced other public nuisance plaintiffs to abandon their lead paint suits.     

Congress,The U.S. Supreme Court And Must-Carry Policy: A Flawed Economic Analysis

The Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992, which requires cable operators to carry the signals of local broadcast television stations, was hailed by supporters as a measure that would preserve the economic viability of the local independent broadcaster by unlocking the anticompetitive grip that the local cable company places on access to its system. In upholding the Act in 1997, the United States Supreme Court seemed to ignore the degree to which the cable and broadcast industries have become vertically integrated. In the end, local independent stations became economically viable not because they were guaranteed carriage on a cable system, but because they represented a practical programming outlet for conglomerate firms with large investments in content production. This article recommends that Congress repeal the Act.     

论政府采购合同的性质及司法审查

本文深入地分析了政府采购行为的私法属性及兼有的公法属性,全面地论证了政府采购合同完全适用合同法的优点及弊端,从历史与现实出发,探讨了公法与私法、行政合同(政府采购合同)与民事合同的关系,认为它们是同源的,可以相通的,进而紧密结合实践中政府行政活动方式已出现重大转变的实际,提出应结合民法、行政法、经济法、诉讼法等学科的优势,再造一套科学、合理、严密的政府采购法律体系.     

多数主义的法院:美国联邦最高法院司法审查的性质

长期以来,美国联邦最高法院的司法审查虽被视为法治和人权的捍卫者,却被作为民主的对立面.结果,它在理论上陷入难以自拔的合法性困境,或者说"反多数难题".本文结合法律和政治学者的讨论,考察美国司法审查的现实图景,指出它具有很强的"多数主义"性质.具体表现为,多数司法判决符合当下多数公众的意见,最高法院这一机构和司法审查这一制度获得多数民众的持久认同;不但如此,司法审查能够在一定程度上回应公众意见,从而在较长时段与主流意见的变迁保持一致.这种"多数主义"的性质,是由法官自身对公众意见的关注和尊重、其他部门和公众对宪法含义的争夺以及法官任命体制等外在制衡,共同促成和保障的.美国联邦最高法院在与其他机构的竞争合作中动态地表达民意,它受制于民主过程,也塑造民主过程.在此意义上,司法审查是美国民主体制的一部分,具有民主合法性.对于"反多数难题"的讨论而言,真正的问题不是司法审查是否符合"民主",而是现有的民主理论是否符合政治现实.     

职务犯罪预防的重点及对策——以天津市滨海新区为实证研究对象

滨海新区职务犯罪预防工作具有重大现实意义。笔者对近5年的职务犯罪的统计数据进行了深入分析,总结职务犯罪发案原因。指出在滨海新区开展职务犯罪预防工作的重要性和必要性,结合滨海新区的特殊情况明确开展职务犯罪预防工作的难点,并且立足检察职能提出了有针对性的预防对策。     

论我国刑法中的危害行为:实然与应然

危害行为是我国传统刑法理论中一个重要的概念,由于我国耦合平面式的犯罪构成体系导致危害行为在犯罪构成体系中的定位和定性存在明显矛盾。本文在分析这些实然状况的基础上,提出将危害行为提到犯罪构成体系之前,改造为我国刑法中的一般行为概念。     

金融危机的成因及法律对策

次贷危机形成的原因,即资本流动性过剩导致大量资金涌入房地产市场,引起房地产价格上扬;在过热的市场预期下,房地产泡沫由此膨胀;进而,在资产证券化等金融创新手段的助长下,房地产泡沫开始与证券市场共同刺激,直至爆发次贷危机,并发展成为金融海啸。考察相关过程可以发现,金融监管法制的缺位使得金融创新无度,因而也就成为次贷危机爆发的重要原因。文章在分析和预测美国金融法律应对的基础上,就我国金融监管法律制度的完善以及国际参与提出了对策建议。     

对“两高”关于黄友谊赔偿案批复之评析

刑事确认权具有国家公权性、程序前置性、行使单一性、生效权威性。确认权属赔偿义务机关 ,存疑错捕案件的确认权属检察机关。刑事赔偿归责原则是违法侵权确认赔偿原则 ,而不是无罪赔偿原则。判定错捕只能用确认方式 ,而不能用推定方式。判定疑案是否错捕的标准应依法定标准而不能依无罪结果。     

中外法庭通译制度比较研究

法庭通译是实现法律平等的重要工具和确保控辩双方公平竞争的语言手段,中国就法庭通译已有相关立法,但是尚未出台具体实践操作的规章制度,法庭通译还未引起足够重视.本文首先概述法庭通译方法,进而分析各国的法庭通译制度以及中国法庭通译现状,借此希望对中国法庭通译的建设工作有所启示.     

论贿赂犯罪的新特点及其治理对策

贿赂犯罪逐渐成为职务犯罪的主要形式,同时贿赂犯罪也呈现出一些新特点。这给贿赂犯罪案件的认定与查办,给反腐败斗争带来了巨大的困难。引发上述问题的原因是我国实体法、程序法规定得不完善,以及目前相关政策过于空泛,不能切实有效地指导实践。治理当前贿赂犯罪要对贿赂犯罪持零容忍态度,尽快完善司法独立,健全反贪法律体系。     

The ICC,Peacekeepers And Resolution 1422: Will The Court Defer To The Council?

Netherlands International Law Review -     

Garner plus five years: An examination of Supreme Court intervention into police discretion and legislative prerogatives

This paper examines legislative changes, state attorney general activities, and early federal case law following the 1985 United States Supreme Court holding inTennessee v. Gamer that laws authorizing police use of deadly force to apprehend fleeing, unarmed, non-violent felony suspects violated the Fourth Amendment. Only four of the 23 states apparently affected by this decision have brought their statutes into line with it. Only two of the attorneys general in the remaining 19 states have advised police of the decision. These findings indicate that control of police discretion in use of deadly force has been assumed by police administrators, and that criminal law definitions and the legal advice of attorneys general are largely irrelevant to effective control of police behavior