Preemption in the U.S. Federal System

The sharp increase in the number of congressional partial andtotal preemption statutes and innovative use of preemption powerssince 1965 have produced major changes infederal-state relations.The Congress has become a unitary government in several regulatoryfields and also finances its policies in other fields inpartby imposing burdensome mandates and restraints on state andlocal governments. Current federalism theories fail to accountfor the changes produced by preemption or to address alternativesto preemption other than conditional grants-in-aid     

Government policy for dangerous inventions in the United States and Great Britain

This study compares British and United States policy-making for nonmilitary dangerous inventions. It focuses on nine twentieth century invention groups ranging from electricity to biotechnology. Public policy for all nine dangerous inventions was very similar between the two countries. When inventions appeared, policy-makers in and out of government attempted to apply analogies of two types between existing technologies and the inventions: (1) the use to which an invention was put; and (2) the techniques used to achieve the invention's objective(s). Early societal formulations of these analogies set the stage for an unending iterative policy process. Components of this process included: technical progress toward an invention's power and effectiveness; technical progress toward an invention's safety; the number of innocent victims who might be hurt by an invention; the volume of government regulations; the degree of government rational-comprehensive decision-making with regard to the invention; and the degrees of centralization of government responses to the invention.     

MDPs May Be Dead After Enron/Andersen, But Subsidiary Businesses Thrive

While some commentators believe that the Enron and Arthur Andersen affair that came to light in 2001 is responsible for the demise of multidisciplinary practices (MDPs), the notion of law firms engaging in MDPs lost most of its momentum during the American Bar Association (ABA) debate of 1999 and 2000. Enron and Andersen weakened whatever support remained for MDPs after the ABA defeat, during which MDP opponents raised legitimate concerns. But Enron and Andersen did not derail all models in which law firms successfully provide nonlegal services. In fact, the law-related services ancillary business model (as referred to by the ABA's Commission on Multidisciplinary Practice) is much more relevant post-Enron. Ancillary businesses, or subsidiary businesses as they are referred to at the authors' law firm of Bingham McCutchen LLP, are not MDPs. When structured and managed in compliance with fundamental principles and regulations, subsidiary businesses give progressive law firms the ability to deliver a comprehensive bundle of integrated services in response to client needs .     

Measurement of delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in whole blood samples from impaired motorists

The major psychoactive cannabinoid in marihuana, delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) was measured in 1792 randomly selected blood specimens from erratic motorists arrested for impairment who submitted to blood alcohol sampling. Of these specimens, 14.4% were positive for THC (greater than or equal to 5.5 ng/mL). In those erratic driver specimens negative for alcohol THC positives rose to 23%. Drivers who used marihuana covered a broad age range. Aliquots of hemolyzed blood (10 microL) were analyzed by a sensitive radioimmunoassay (RIA) not requiring extraction. RIA accuracy and specificity were validated by gas liquid chromatography/mass spectroscopy (GLC/MS) split pair analysis (correlation coefficient = 0.93). This initial experience should facilitate and amplify a program designed to set forth the epidemiology of marihuana use in motorists and possible behavioral correlates.