Fly by Night or Face the Music? Premature Dissolution and the Desirability of Extended Liability

Premature dissolution can be a rational corporate response tothe threat of future liability. Although early dissolution iscostly to a firm, liability may be more so. The way in whichliability rules can exacerbate this extreme form of liabilityavoidance is of interest, since "fly-by-night" firms generateparticularly large social costs. In particular, we explore theconsequences of liability that is extended to the business partnersof an insolvent or absent tortfeasor—a relatively commonlegal response when tortfeasors abandon obligations. Extendedliability can be desirable; however, if extended liability isanticipated, business partners themselves may choose to flyby night. We show how the preferred liability rule, includingno liability, depends on the relative costs of premature dissolutionand future obligations. The analysis also sheds light on a setof interrelated legal issues, such as the role of the trustfund doctrine and state dissolution statutes.     

Employing the Mental Health System to Control Sex Offenders After Penal Incarceration*

In the 1930s, several states provided civil commitment in mental institutions for certain sex offenders. Civil commitment of these sex offenders abated after most states repealed their statutes in the 1960s. In the 1980s, however, these statutes returned, as outraged citizens deplored the offenses of repeated sex offenders. The author of this essay examines civil commitment statutes for sex offenders in Washington and Minnesota, two of the leading states in this area, as well as recent rulings from each state's Supreme Court upholding the constitutionality of these statutes. Particularly, the author focuses on the psychiatric or mental health discussions by the justices in the majority in both state rulings. Furthermore, the author criticizes the legislatively defined mental abnormality statutes that sanction these commitments, proposes use of the ordinary civil commitment statutes for individuals who are seriously mentally ill, and concludes that sex offenders who do not meet the criteria for traditional civil commitment should be handled by the criminal justice system.     

共同危险侵权责任之法律重构———按份责任对连带责任的替代简

尽管受害人无法确定共同危险侵权的具体加害人，但从对危险行为人进行惩罚和重点保护受害人理念出发，法律应规定由所有危险行为人对受害人的损害承担责任。在确定共同危险侵权人承担责任前提下，需要进一步研究哪种责任承担方式更为合理。共同危险侵权承担连带责任客观说将危险侵权人承担责任的基础当做危险行为人承担连带责任的基础，混淆了二者的区别。共同危险侵权入主观上不存在共同故意，也不存在共同过失，行为人承担连带责任主观说理论依据不足。危险侵权入承担按份责任有利于受害人和行为人利益保护的平衡，应当成为法律之选择。共同危险侵权人责任份额确定的因素主要有行为人过错的强弱、致害几率的大小等，无法确定情况下应该承担均等份额的责任。     

Bonnieview v. Woodmont: Court Sorts out Environmental Liability between Homeowners and Developers

Bonnieview Homeowners Ass’n v. Woodmont Builders, LLC,—F. Supp. 2d—, No. Civ. A. 03CV4317(DRD), 2009 WL 2999355 (D.N.J. Sept. 22, 2009), was a suit brought by a homeowners’ association and its individual members against the developers of the property where their homes were located and the municipality. In a recent opinion, the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey made several important rulings applying federal and state environmental statutes and common law. First, the developers were potentially liable to plaintiffs under the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), where their soil grading and stockpiling activities distributed previously contaminated soil around the site, which had been used as a fruit orchard. Second, however, the court prohibited plaintiffs from recovering under CERCLA or New Jersey's Spill Compensation and Control Act (Spill Act) because they had not incurred any environmental cleanup costs compensable under the two statutes. Third, plaintiffs were innocent purchasers not subject to CERCLA liability under a 2002 amendment to the statute. A negligence claim against the municipality failed, however, because the municipality owed no duty of care to plaintiffs. The court also assessed plaintiffs' other federal and state statutory and common law claims.     

California expands the duty to warn patients exposed to and infected with HIV. Reisner v. Regents of the University of California

There is still no general definitive guide for hospitals and other health care providers concerning the extent of their duty to warn third parties of a patient's HIV status. However, even in states like California that have statutorily eliminated any duty to directly inform third parties, the Reisner case clearly indicates that liability to third parties may arise indirectly based on a failure to warn HIV-exposed or -infected patients of their status and the risks of communicating the virus to others. Accordingly, health care providers should take several actions: 1. Ascertain, with the assistance of legal counsel, the precise dictates of applicable state statutes and case law regarding (a) a provider's obligation to warn HIV-exposed or -infected individuals of the potential of communicating the virus to others; (b) additional statutory requirements such as notification of public health authorities; and (c) whether notice to third parties at risk of exposure from the patient is required or even permitted. 2. Develop and implement written policies regarding notification and counseling of exposed or infected patients, including counseling patients on the risks of communicating the virus to third parties; and 3. Develop and implement written policies regarding permissive or mandatory notification and counseling of exposed or infected third parties. In this context, providers should be aware that patient confidentiality and privacy laws may prohibit disclosure of the identity of exposed or infected patients to third parties.     

A Need Not Being Met: Providing Paid Family and Medical Leave for All Americans

Many parents in the United States face the quandary of whether to take time off from work to care for themselves, their children, or other family member, understanding that their jobs may not be there upon return and they will receive no income during their leave. The Family and Medical Leave Act has not lifted this burden; it only provides for unpaid leave. Four states and several cities have implemented paid family and medical leave statutes with both employees and employers benefiting. This Note proposes a uniform paid family and medical leave statute based on other countries’ statutes; proposed federal legislation; and statutes in New York, California, and San Francisco.     

论行政法上的连带责任

《最高人民法院关于审理行政许可案件若干问题的规定》第13条在行政法上确立了一个新的连带责任类型,即行政主体和私人共同承担连带责任。行政法上的连带责任应从行政主体之间的连带责任拓宽到行政相对人之间的连带责任以及行政民事连带责任,应从行政许可与行政赔偿领域拓宽到行政处罚等其它领域。行政法上连带责任的实现有赖于建立或重构行政诉讼和行政赔偿诉讼第三人制度,建立行政案件与民事案件的合并审理机制。行政主体在承担责任后要向作为连带责任人的第三人追偿,则有赖于建立"官告民"的行政诉讼机制,否则只能通过民事诉讼机制去追偿。     

Therapists' obligations to report their patients' criminal acts

The law governing the obligation of therapists to report their patients' previous criminal acts was reviewed. Most often, discussions of this subject fall under the general category of "misprison of a felony," that is, the presumed general obligation of all citizens to report felonies that come to their attention. Review of federal law revealed that the courts have consistently interpreted the federal misprision statute as requiring active concealment of a crime, not a mere failure to report, in order to convict for the offense. State law is more diverse. Only one state has a general misprison statute labeled as such, and several states have recently repealed such statutes. The strong trend in states without statutes is to reject misprison as a common law crime, because of its incompatibility with modern notions of justice. Most states, however, have limited reporting statutes, such as for child abuse or gunshot wounds, that impose similar obligations. Therapists' reporting of past crimes may be affected by clinical and ethical concerns, as well as by obligations to protect future victims. In almost all jurisdictions, however, the fear of prosecution for failure to report a past crime should not be a factor in deciding on a course of action.     

The Chat Room Moderator: Creating a Duty for Parents to Control Their Cyberbully

The advent of new technologies allowing people to communicate via the Internet has opened many windows to social interaction. At the same time, it has shifted the focus of child harassment from the playground to the computer. Instead of face‐to‐face bullying, children are now being bullied on the Internet, in a phenomenon known as “cyberbullying.” Cyberbullying is widespread, affecting generally twenty‐five percent of the child population in the United States. It is also more dangerous, as a child can be bullied at any time in the supposed comfort of his/her own home. To combat this behavior, many states have passed measures to ban or criminalize cyberbullying in school‐related settings. Nevertheless, children and adolescents continue to cyberbully their peers. Furthermore, most of these statutes do not address cyberbullying that occurs outside school or from a child's own home. Thus, this Note proposes that cyberbullying can be better combated by placing responsibility on parents to reasonably control their children in cases of cyberbullying. Based on the recently enacted ‘Cyber‐safety Act” from the Canadian Province of Nova Scotia and Restatement of Torts § 316, this Note proposes (1) placing tort responsibility on parents who know that their child is a cyberbully and do nothing about it and (2) allowing parents to avoid liability when their child truly cannot be controlled.

Key Points for the Family Court Community
• Cyberbullying is a major problem that must be addressed beyond the schoolyard.
• The law may provide recourse for the parents of a cyberbullying victim and can hold the parents of a cyberbully responsible.
• The Nova Scotia Cyber‐safety Act is a good model for holding parents liable for their child's acts because it balances the desire to end cyberbullying and the understanding that some minors are uncontrollable.

     

虚假陈述中董事对股东责任研究

现代公司对社会生活的影响巨大 ,作为管理者的董事其权力也日益扩张。根据权利义务相一致的原则 ,董事应当承担更多的责任。董事对包括股东在内的第三人的法律责任就是近年来各国公司立法十分关注的问题。其中 ,虚假陈述中的董事对股东责任具有典型意义。只有加强董事对股东责任的研究 ,才能使我国的公司法制臻于完善     

Identifying Successor Corporations Liable under CERCLA and Pursuing Insurance Coverage for That Liability

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) imposes liability well beyond general corporate successor rules. A company can allocate liability to other Potentially Responsible Parties as more culpable, taking advantage of CERCLA's joint and several liability. Often a source of recovery must be teased from a complex corporate history somehow connected to the site. This article examines the basis for attributing environmental liability to entities within a corporate history, before addressing how even a bankrupt or dissolved target may still have insurance that can be tapped. Similarly, CERCLA's strict liability enables recovery from insurance with some connection to either the target's or the company's corporate history, notwithstanding insurers' non-assignment arguments.     

我国《公司法》修订中商事连带责任的重构——基于“连带”的历史发展脉络

我国《公司法》存在用连带责任替代连带之债、连带责任与无限责任、补充责任混同使用的现象,给理论与司法实践造成困扰。究其原因是对商事连带责任与民事连带责任的关系界定不清,对公司法中的商事连带责任制度缺乏体系化思考与精细化设计。连带之债起源于罗马法的整体之债,形成于中世纪注释法学的理论抽象,发展于近现代民法。近现代商法将法定原因连带责任引入商事规范,构建了商事连带责任制度。商事连带责任与民法连带之债共同具有给付与清偿的整体性特征,但商事连带责任也具有自身的商事特性。由于商事信义义务的道德标准高于民事诚信义务,商事法定连带责任相对于民事连带责任的适用范围更为广泛。基于商事领域的公司股东有限责任制度,商事连带责任可为有限连带也可为无限连带。我国《公司法》未来的修订应在我国《民法典》连带之债规定的基础上对商事连带责任进行体系化贯通,谨慎设定法定连带责任,厘清连带责任与无限责任的关系,对有限连带责任与无限连带责任、连带清偿责任与补充清偿责任进行细化区分。     

Suicide cases in civil law: do the legal tests make sense?

The legal 'tests' for suicide liability in negligence and workmen's compensation law have developed along parallel, but not identical, lines to the tests for criminal responsibility. Current legal precedent has shifted the focus from cognitive awareness and irresistible impulse theories to the ability of a negligent act or injury to cause an abnormal mental state. The courts, in their variable interpretation of these mental state tests, leave no clear guidelines for the psychiatric expert asked to address suicidal behavior from the standpoint of responsibility.     

Providing service--or aiding and abetting discrimination?

Even though federal antidiscrimination laws do not include third-party liability, a number of states now have statutes containing aiding-and-abetting provisions that may provide a basis for causes of action. For instance, in a recent decision, the Colorado Supreme Court held that a third-party insurance company will be held liable along with the employer for providing health insurance coverage that does not cover normal pregnancy expenses. Similarly, cases involving newspapers have shown that newspaper classifieds may occasion liability solely to the newspaper, and not the advertiser, even absent intent. The author provides a full discussion of such issues as standard of proof and exactly who is liable and offers solutions to these new liability problems.     

论民事责任能力的价值属性

民事责任能力是指能够辨认和控制自己的行为，因而须对其致人损害的后果独立承担侵权责任的资格，又称“过错能力”或“侵权行为能力”。民事责任能力不是不法行为能力、权利能力或客观财产能力。在侵权过失趋向客观化的今天．民事责任能力不再是过失的逻辑前提，而是以对一定的能力低下者提供免责保护为政策性考量而建立的制度。对于民事责任能力的判定，应采纳以年龄形式标准结合具体识别能力的结合主义模式。     

The effect of joint and several liability under superfund on brownfields

To encourage redevelopment of potentially contaminated sites (or “brownfields”), various programs protect purchasers of such sites from Superfund liability. This protection may be unwarranted, however, if sellers can reduce property prices to compensate buyers for this liability. We identify four previously overlooked effects of joint and several liability under Superfund that may discourage sales. Thus, the brownfields problem may be more widespread than the prior literature suggests. Furthermore, the effects we identify may distort any decision of anyone subject to any joint and several liability if that decision may affect the number of other parties liable for the same harm.     

A summary and analysis of warrantless arrest statutes for domestic violence in the United States

In the United States, all 50 states and the District of Columbia have enacted statutes that allow police officers to make warrantless arrests for domestic violence given probable cause; however, state laws differ from one another in multiple, important ways. Research on domestic violence warrantless arrest laws rarely describe them as anything more than discretionary, preferred, or mandatory, either within their analyses or within the texts of their publications; researchers, and their audiences, may not be aware of the vast and potentially important differences among these laws. In this article, we list the domestic violence warrantless arrest laws for each state, and discuss them in terms of five common elements: the phrasing of the arrest authority; whether additional factors to domestic violence are required to trigger the arrest authority; qualifications to the arrest authority; time limits for warrantless arrest to occur; and whether police officers are required to report why they made a dual or no arrest. We then analyze the common elements of the laws, paying particular attention to how they may encourage or discourage the arrest of alleged domestic violence perpetrators. It is critical that researchers, advocates, and policymakers are aware of these variations in state statutes when conducting or interpreting research or making policy recommendations.     

The Need for a Stronger Definition: Recognizing Abandonment as a form of Elder Abuse Across the United States

Elder abuse is a growing public health problem in the United States and statistics show that each year, hundreds of thousands of elders are abused in some manner. This Note discusses elder abuse while focusing specifically on the occurrence of elder abandonment and how the majority of states do not recognize elder abandonment as a form of elder abuse in their statutes. Moreover, this Note proposes a model statute to be adopted by every state in an effort for elder abandonment to become more widely reported. Elder abandonment is an unfortunate phenomenon and those who contribute to elder abandonment should face criminal liability similar to those abusers who engage in elder neglect or other types of elder abuse. Furthermore, this Note emphasizes that there should be a greater focus on how caregivers can seek assistance in order to prevent elder abuse in the United States.     

Tort Reform and Physician Sanctioning

This article examines the relationship between changes in tort rules and the sanctioning of physicians by state medical boards. It compares the sanctioning rates for doctors in states that have passed tort reforms with the rates in states that have not made legislative changes. It concludes that alterations to the joint liability rule may have increased sanctioning, while the addition of pre–trial screening panels and regulation of attorney fees may have limited the number of physicians who receive punishment.     

Toward Rational Criminal HIV Exposure Laws

This article examines criminal HIV exposure statues that address undisclosed exposure through consensual sexual activity. Twenty-seven U.S. states have adopted some form of HIV exposure statute. Thirteen of these statutes specifically address exposure through sexual activity, while another eleven statutes could be applied to exposure through sexual activity, while another eleven statutes could be applied to exposure through consensual sexual interactions. Although the penalties for breach of these laws are often severe, the risk of actual harm posed by the many of the behaviors prescribed is minimal and in some cases virtually nonexistent. After an overview of the various types of U.S. criminal HIV exposure statutes and discussion of the risk of HIV transmission through the various sexual activities addressed in the laws, the authors highlight the tenuous relationship between proscribed activities and actual risk of virus transmission. The authors address this limitation in the law by offering a framework for the evaluation and construction of HIV exposure statutes that considers not only the intent of the HIV-positive actor but also the risk that his or her conduct poses to others.