"Wrongful life" a la francaise

A recent decision of the French supreme court has recognised what has been termed in the common law system, a "wrongful life" action. Intentionally provocative, the decision shows how the desire for equitable or "corrective" justice poses a threat not only to established legal principles on civil liability, but also to the ethical framework in which both the medical and legal professions must operate.     

The last word on the Iran-Contra affair?

The article reviews the Final Report of the Independent Counsel on Iran-Contra and analyses the political and legal factors which shaped its character. It discusses the structure, methods and conclusions of the Report, as well as reactions to it. It argues that the failure to prosecute successfully the leading participants served to undermine the Report's authority and helps to explain why there was no significant political response to the concerns it addresses.     

Envisioning life "on the outs": exit narratives of incarcerated male youth

In this article, the author explores the significance of "exits" for juvenile male offenders who are preparing to leave correctional institutions. The analysis focuses on practical and cognitive exit strategies, anticipated challenges, and future visions based on qualitative interviews with 20 juvenile males (ages 15-17 years) from two correctional facilities in the upper Midwest region of the United States. At the juncture of exit, all of the youth were involved in practical preparation for reentry and shared an emphasis on the theme of "individual responsibility" for their futures. However, the cognitive strategies they used to prepare for exit were strongly differentiated by level of motivation or expressed "openness" to change. Youth who had little motivation to change tended to deny the potential challenges associated with their return to the community, whereas those who expressed a greater openness to change were contemplating how to achieve an alternative, law-abiding future while realistically considering the potential pitfalls of crime temptations. Ambivalence about change was the most common pattern, expressed as a desire to move toward desistance but lacking the internal confidence or sense of social support to achieve such change. From these findings, implications for theory and practice are proposed.     

Not disabled enough: the ADA's "major life activity" definition of disability

Michelle Friedland argues in this note that the Americans with Disabilities Act fails to adequately distinguish between the separate goals of preventing pure discrimination and providing affirmative accommodation. The Act's conflation of these two different objectives, and its reliance on a single definition of disability for both, hinders its effectiveness in improving the status of individuals with disabilities in the employment setting. To illustrate this, she points to the counterintuitive results reached in recent court decisions. Friedland further traces the legislative origins of the Act's definition of disability and the ambiguity it leaves as to Congress's goals for the Act's employment provisions. She posits three possible goals the Act might be designed to achieve and recommends basic reforms for accomplishing each. Her ultimate conclusion is that provisions dealing with accommodation and discrimination need to be divided so that each can have its own definition of disability. In addition, she believes funding mechanisms for providing accommodation should be altered to ameliorate inequalities in burdens borne by employers and to avoid improper incentives to circumvent the Act.     

Non-treatment decisions on grounds of "medical futility" and "quality of life": interviews with fourteen Dutch neonatologists

This essay opens with background information about the concept of "medical futility" and the regulation of nontreatment decisions in Dutch neonatology. The regulations include a list of criteria for predicting the baby's future quality of life. The second part presents the findings from interviews with fourteen Dutch neonatologists on the mannerin which they apply the criteria in their practice.