Stepping Up to the Plate: Minor Leaguers Attempt to Remedy their Unconscionable Plight

Professional baseball players are often thought of as making multi-million-dollar salaries, but most professional baseball players have recently made under $15,000 a year. Minor league players toiled under an onerous system resulting from baseball's judicially created antitrust exemption and lobbying efforts that exempted them from minimum wage and overtime. These factors allowed teams to impose a uniform player contract (UPC) on players with numerous unconscionable provisions for years. However, a late-night Tweet in August of 2022 sent shockwaves through the sports and labor world, announcing that the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) was sending out authorization cards to represent minor league players. After years of fighting to maintain the authority to impose conditions on minor league players, through lobbying and litigation, Major League Baseball (MLB) turned over a new leaf and recognized the unionization of minor league players under the MLBPA less than three weeks later. In light of this long sought-after recognition, this article takes a novel approach. First, it provides historical context for baseball's unique ability to impose working conditions on minor leaguers without significant concern for legal ramifications. Second, it provides an overview of the doctrine of contractual unconscionability and analyzes the prior UPC as an unconscionable agreement. Finally, it details the historic unionization process and makes detailed recommendations to ameliorate the unconscionable conditions minor league players have faced when they negotiate with MLB owners to draft their initial collective bargaining agreement.     

冒用他人蚂蚁花呗构成盗窃罪

【裁判要旨】蚂蚁花呗的发行机构并非商业银行(含邮政金融机构),因此,蚂蚁花呗不属于刑法意义上的信用卡,冒用他人蚂蚁花呗的行为不构成信用卡诈骗罪。蚂蚁花呗具备信用卡的表观功能,根据花呗用户服务合同约定,冒用他人蚂蚁花呗购物或套现的行为,无需重新签订合同,责任由账户本人负担。     

Red Tape,Rule Burden,and Legitimate Performance Trade-Offs: Results from a Vignette Experiment

Abstract

Goals in the public sector are complex and managers can face situations in which pursuing one legitimate goal necessitates performance trade-offs in other areas. This study tests how knowledge of legitimate performance trade-offs shapes the perception of red tape. Using a vignette experimental design and a sample of university students, between group t-tests and regression analyses suggest that, when evaluating increased rule burden, individuals that are provided with information about how objectively burdensome rules serve alternative values such as equity and effectiveness associate them with lower levels of red tape. A series of Monte Carlo simulations suggest that this effect is substantial.     

论高校司法鉴定机构的定位

司法鉴定制度改革,为高校司法鉴定机构的生存和发展带来生机,高校鉴定机构与一般社会鉴定机构比较,存在多种天然优势,因此,高校鉴定机构应当将自己的发展定位放置在一个适当的高度,不仅要在为社会提供司法鉴定服务中承担主要业务,而且应该配合诉讼制度的改革,为科学管理鉴定机构、规范司法鉴定流程和统一鉴定结论的技术标准起关键作用。     

现代教育技术在“音像”专业教育中的应用

现代教育技术的应用,极大地拓展了“音像”专业的教学手段,优化了教学过程,提高了教学质量。     

关于领导干部权力运行机制的几个问题

现行领导干部权力运行机制通行的基本原则是一切权力属于人民，党的统一领导和实行民主集中制等；现行领导干部权力运行机制的优势是广泛的人民性和整体性，是政治的民主性和决策的科学性；而现行领导干部权力运行机制的缺陷则是权力过分集中，权力制约乏力和缺少具体的运行规则；完善领导干部权力运行机制的具体原则是法制化原则，公正原则，公开原则，廉洁原则，廉价原则，效率原则，监督原则和稳定原则等，要完善现行领导干部权力运行机制就必须有总体思考和具体思路。     

Restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of forensic science casework in the People's Republic of China.

Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis for the purpose of individualization is now being used in casework in the People's Republic of China. This report describes the use of the multilocus minisatellite probe 33.15 to solve three cases, including two homicides and a rape. In the third case, fetal tissue was analyzed to prove that the alleged rapist was, in fact, the father. In each case, analysis of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) resulted in a positive match. The probability of chance association of the DNA fingerprint was calculated as 5.6 x 10(-12), which is similar to the figures reported in the literature.