Confidentiality and Privilege for Family and Child Protection Mediation: A Roadmap for Navigating the Innovation,Inconsistency and Confusion

This article will identify the inconsistency and confusion in mediation regarding the definition of mediation, the role of the mediator, and the difference between mediation confidentiality and privilege. Further, it will discuss the confusion and inconsistency in the protection of mediation communication, specifically regarding the definition of mediation communication, the time frame for protected communication, waiver of the protections and exceptions to protected mediation communication. It will provide a roadmap and fact pattern for determining whether mediation communications are protected and if so, the protection they are afforded. Lastly, it will offer recommendations so parties, professionals and the courts may better understand and reap the benefits of mediation.     

Technological Protections in Copyright Law: Is More Legal Protection Needed?

Providing legal protection against the 'hacking' of technological locks used to protect copyrighted works recently has been the subject of an international treaty (the World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty), a European Community Directive (the Information Society Directive) and major copyright legislation in the USA (the Digital Millennium Copyright Act). By making hacking illegal, these legal protections fortify the technological protections employed by copyright owners to reduce infringement of their works. While copyright owners may use technological protections to compensate for the increased infringement potential in a digital world, technological protections can also be used to obtain far greater protection than the law would otherwise grant the copyright owner. In this article, Professor Loren argues that attention needs to be shifted from providing legal protection for technological protections, to providing legal protections against the overzealous use of these technological protections by content providers. She argues that laws should be enacted, and perhaps even treaties should be signed, that would prohibit the use of technological protections to impermissibly invade certain use rights recognized by a country's copyright laws.     

The growth and gaps of genetic data sharing policies in the United States

The 1996 Bermuda Principles launched a new era in data sharing, reflecting a growing belief that the rapid public dissemination of research data was crucial to scientific progress in genetics. A historical review of data sharing policies in the field of genetics and genomics reflects changing scientific norms and evolving views of genomic data, particularly related to human subjects’ protections and privacy concerns. The 2013 NIH Draft Genomic Data Sharing (GDS) Policy incorporates the most significant protections and guidelines to date. The GDS Policy, however, will face difficult challenges ahead as geneticists seek to balance the very real concerns of research participants and the scientific norms that propel research forward. This article provides a novel evaluation of genetic and GDS policies’ treatment of human subjects’ protections. The article examines not only the policies, but also some of the most pertinent scientific, legal, and regulatory developments that occurred alongside data sharing policies. This historical perspective highlights the challenges that future data sharing policies, including the recently disseminated NIH GDS Draft Policy, will encounter.     

Breaking and Entering My Own Computer: The Contest of Copyright Metaphors

In the current debate over copyright law, those who support maximum copyright protections have advanced their agenda largely via the metaphor of ownership in physical property. As part of this metaphorical system, they have successfully argued that digital rights management (DRM) systems deserve legal protections befitting locked doors. This article is a discourse analysis of this related system of metaphors and of opponents' metaphorical and non-metaphorical responses. Scholars who oppose the maximalist vision of copyright have devoted considerable thought to the problem of metaphors, including especially the search for metaphors that can challenge the metaphor of property. The article concludes there is work yet to be done on this count. As an incremental contribution to this conversation, the article suggests additional arguments, including additional metaphors in search of a new means to conceptualize copyright law.     

An international legal framework for data protection: Issues and prospects

The processing of personal data across national borders by both governments and the private sector has increased exponentially in recent years, as has the need for legal protections for personal data. This article examines calls for a global legal framework for data protection, and in particular suggestions that have been made in this regard by the International Law Commission and various national data protection authorities. It first examines the scope of a potential legal framework, and proceeds to analyze the status of data protection in international law. The article then considers the various options through which an international framework could be enacted, before drawing some conclusions about the form and scope such a framework could take, the institutions that could coordinate the work on it, and whether the time is ripe for a multinational convention on data protection.     

After the First Amendment Fails: The Newsmen's Privilege Hearings of the 1970s

The recent jailing and threatened jailing of journalists seeking to protect confidential sources has prompted Congress to reopen debate on legislation providing journalists with a statutory right of confidentiality. This article explores debates over eighty-six newsmen's privilege bills introduced in the House of Representatives between 1972 and 1975, after the Supreme Court of the United States decided Branzburg v. Hayes. The article identifies the primary policy differences, motives and perspectives of key advocates, and reasons for the failure of any bill to become law. It examines arguments for and against a privilege and the four major areas of policy disputes: the range of protections from absolutist to qualified protections, the problem of defining “journalist,” protection of only confidential information or all newsgathering material, and whether a federal privilege statute should apply to state proceedings. In doing so, the article provides historical context to contemporary legislative debates.     

Becoming a Threat: The Burqa and the Contestation Over Public Morality Law in France

Through an examination of legislative debate and court opinions, this article illustrates that the French understanding of public order policing as a bulwark of freedom and national sovereignty deeply informed the development of (and contestation surrounding) the 2010 ban on all facial coverings in public. This ban notably includes the burqa or niqab, garments worn by a small minority of Muslim women in France. This article has two aims. The first is to expand on the sociolegal argument about the contested nature of rights protections and constitutional constraints on legislative authority by highlighting how a nation's legal culture can profoundly shape that contestation. The second aim of this article is to show, through a technique called legal archaeology, how longstanding French views on rights confront current European‐inspired alternative views that would give more weight to individualistic protections against state action than has traditionally been the case in France.     

Privacy Self-Management: A Strategy to Protect Worker Privacy from Excessive Employer Surveillance in Light of Scant Legal Protections

This article examines current and future trends in worker surveillance. It also examines the various, though minimal, legal protections workers have against extensive work-related monitoring. With no meaningful legal protections against excessive work-related surveillance, employees are arguably taking matters into their own hands by engaging in deviant behaviors that attempt to thwart surveillance efforts. Factoring in the ethical and managerial dimensions of a workforce under constant and excessive surveillance, this article examines a way forward for workers to engage in self-managed privacy, potentially leading to a less intrusive, but still productive, work environment.     

International Hague Network of Judges: Significance in Implementation of the 1980 and 1996 Hague Conventions on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction

The 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (“the Convention”) provides for the prompt return to the country of habitual residence of children taken by a parent from one country to another. It was created to address the threshold problem in such cases, that is, which court should determine the rights of the parties involved. In a case under the Convention, the court's concern is which country is the country of habitual residence and practical aspects of the return to ensure the safety of the child and the taking parent. This article will discuss the formation of the International Hague Network of Judges (IHNJ), why it is crucial in the advancement of the Convention's goals, and, specifically, what it does to educate judges and facilitate communication between judges, and how the IHNJ can facilitate the return, including providing information on services, procedures, and protections offered in the countries of return.     

Trust,vulnerable populations,and genetic data sharing

Recent policies and proposed regulations, including the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for the Common Rule and the 2014 NIH Genetic Data Sharing Policy, seek to improve research subject protections. Protections for subjects whose genetic data is shared are critical to reduce risks such as loss of confidentiality, stigma, and discrimination. In the article ‘It depends whose data are being shared: considerations for genomic data sharing policies’, Robinson et al. provide a response to our article, ‘The Growth and Gaps of Genetic Data Sharing Policies’. Robinson et al. highlight the importance of individual and group preferences. In this article, we extend the conversation on models for improving protections which will mitigate consequences for individuals and groups that are vulnerable to stigma and discrimination.     

A comparison of proposed legislative data privacy protections in the United States

The use of online consumer tracking methods has raised significant privacy concerns for consumers and policymakers for decades. Advertisers using these methods analyze web-viewing habits to predict consumer preferences and actions. The advertising industry in the United States has promoted self-regulatory principles to respond to these concerns. However, in December 2010, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission reported that these efforts “have been too slow and up to now have failed to provide adequate and meaningful protection.” President Barack Obama's administration has supported broader legislation for comprehensive protection of individuals' private data. The leading model for data privacy protection is the 1980 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Guidelines on the Protection of Privacy and Transborder Flows of Personal Data. This article examines two leading legislative privacy proposals in the context of the OECD principles. This examination concludes that, although the proposals do not provide sufficient comprehensive privacy protections, they do fill significant gaps in current U.S. privacy laws.     

A combined therapy model (individual and family) for children with sexual behavior problems

This article describes one model from a variety of therapy methods used in the Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Sexual Aggression Among Children. The model combines family and individual therapy for children with sexual behavior problems. The frequency is of two successive individual sessions followed by one family session. The family sessions include the child and both parents, and in some cases siblings are also invited. The article specifies the importance of family therapy for this population and describes the context for appropriate interventions. It gives the characteristics of families whose children are having sexual behavior problems and who are suitable for therapy according to this model. The article deals, among other issues, with the importance of marking boundaries, talking about the fear, restructuring the family and changing behavioral patterns, and recreating communication channels.     

Assessing the Use of Profiling in Searches by Law Enforcement Personnel

This article considers statistical means of evaluating profiling in searches of individuals by law enforcement agencies. It reviews examples of inappropriate methods that have been used to date. A relatively recent, more appropriate, and simple method is elaborated and its usefulness documented with data from Maryland State Police highway stops and searches. The method evaluates profiling for specified groups of interest by comparing the relative magnitudes of contraband find rates among those stopped and searched of each group. When find rates are approximately the same across groups, then profiling used in making the stops and searches is deemed effective and nondiscriminatory. With an increasing number of jurisdictions mandated to collect data on stops and searches, it is important that appropriate methods be used in their analyses so correct public policy conclusions can be drawn.     

系统法学视域下的金融消费者法律保护——以结构要素分析中美制度

在全球金融危机的影响犹在之时,对金融消费者充分保护的重要性愈来愈突显出来。本文以系统法学的视域下结构要素为切入点,审视对金融消费者的法律保护,通过讨论美国在金融消费者保护领域的制度安排及改革,反思中国当前对于金融消费者保护的不足之处,探寻保护金融消费者的有效途径。     

文化遗产法律保护中的几个问题

本文结合当前中国文化遗产法律保护的现状,对国内外文化遗产的概念、保护理念及立法模式等基本问题进行梳理分析,指出文化遗产的法律保护应注重基本问题的研究,系统的文化遗产法律保护的理论研究和实践应用研究应得到重视。     

Criminal justice employee rights: An overview

This article provides a comprehensive overview of the legal rights of criminal justice employees. Among the issues discussed are: property interests in employment; due process and other rights in discipline and termination; First Amendment rights; privacy rights; and protections against discrimination and a hostile work environment. The affirmative obligation of the criminal justice agency to take a proactive stance in formulation, implementation, and enforcement of policies is also discussed.     

Data protection in the Asia-Pacific region

The increasing reliance on technology as a means of conducting cross-border businesses has spurred on the development of data protection and privacy laws in many countries across the globe. In Asia, however, many countries today still have no or extremely limited data protection laws. Cultural attitudes towards the concept of autonomy and the well-established right of certain governments to monitor and scrutinise its people in certain countries have been partly to blame. However, in order to remain economically viable, the businesses and government of these countries must be able to provide protections which are at least similar to those afforded by the data protection laws of their business counterparts. This article examines the effectiveness and relevance of the APEC Privacy Framework and the state of the data protection laws in eight Asia-Pacific countries today.     

No more kidding around: restructuring non-medical childhood immunization exemptions to ensure public health protection

Professor Silverman's article examines the complex challenges faced by U.S. policymakers attempting to balance the public health protections of mandatory childhood immunization programs with the legal, religious, philosophical, and practical concerns raised by permitting non-medical exemptions under the programs. The article begins with a discussion of the history of childhood immunization programs, and continues by describing the inconsistency of enforcement of state immunization laws and exemptions. The author analyzes recent cases from New York, Wyoming, and Arkansas, and discusses how these decisions both pose threats to these programs' public health protections, while also offering insight into potential problems for other state vaccination programs. Professor Silverman concludes by advocating that states adopt an "informed refusal" approach to vaccination exemption as a way of improving immunity protections, while respecting the autonomy rights of those who wish to opt out of the program.     

The Impact of the Registered Intermediary on Adults’ Perceptions of Child Witnesses: Evidence from a Mock Cross Examination

Registered intermediaries are communication specialists appointed to facilitate the communication of vulnerable witnesses participating in the criminal justice system in England and Wales. Intermediaries assess the vulnerable individual’s communication and provide recommendations to practitioners for how to obtain the individual’s ‘best evidence’ during police interviews and in court. The scheme was implemented nationally in 2008, but has not been subject to rigorous research. The aim of the current article is to provide an account on adults’ perceptions of the vulnerable individual when an intermediary assists their communication in court. In the present study 100 participants viewed a mock cross examination of a child witness either with or without an intermediary present. Participants rated the child’s behaviour and communication, and the quality of the cross examination, across a number of different variables. The age of the child was also manipulated with participants viewing a cross examination of a four or a 13 year old child. The results showed the children’s behaviour and the quality of the cross-examination were more highly rated when the intermediary was involved during cross-examination. The older child’s cross-examination was rated as more developmentally appropriate, however no other age differences or interactions emerged. The findings have positive implications for jury perceptions of children’s testimony when they are assisted by an intermediary in court, regardless of the age of the child witness. The success of the intermediary scheme in England and Wales may encourage the implementation of intermediaries internationally.