United States Legal Research Articles

United States's Legal Strategy

United States's Legal Strategy

Mapping transgender policies in the US 2017-2021: The role of geography and implications for health equity.

Transgender individuals globally face varying policy contexts that can influence their health. In the United States (US), a patchwork of exclusionary and inclusive policies exists, creating potentially different social and political contexts that shape transgender health depending on the state. In this article, we consider how recent legislation introduced in US states focused on transgender people may be a political determinant of health and affect health equity goals. To advance this aim, we employed the perspective of legal epidemiology to systematically search a US legal database (Westlaw) for policies focused on transgender individuals proposed between January of 2017 and September of 2021.698 policies were analyzed as affirming or exclusionary of transgender identities and categorized by content. We calculated a ratio of affirming versus exclusionary bills to create "exclusionary density" and "affirming density" measures. Those measures were used to calculate an inclusivity score and corresponding maps of inclusivity and exclusionary contexts by US state. Exclusionary and affirming density measures showed deeply polarized policy responses to transgender individuals depending on US state. Further, we observed differences in magnitude regarding the laws being proposed. Exclusionary laws largely focused on criminalization while inclusionary laws focused on representation in government agencies. These findings highlight that transgender individuals in the US can experience vastly different political contexts depending on where they live.

Trends in the use of cannabis products in Canada and the USA, 2018 - 2020: Findings from the International Cannabis Policy Study.

There is little information on consumption patterns across the diverse range of cannabis product types. This paper examines trends in consumption patterns in Canada and the United States (US) between 2018-2020. Repeat cross-sectional surveys were conducted as part of the International Cannabis Policy Study online survey in 2018 (n=27,024), 2019 (n=45,426), and 2020 (n=45,180). Respondents were recruited from commercial panels in Canada and US states that had and had not legalized non-medical cannabis (US 'legal' and 'illegal' states, respectively). Respondents were male and female participants aged 16-65 years. Data on frequency and consumption amounts were collected for nine types of cannabis products, including dried flower and processed products (e.g., oils and concentrates). Consumers were also asked about mixing cannabis with tobacco. Socio-demographic information was collected. Dried flower was the most commonly used product, although use in the past 12 months declined between 2018 and 2020 in Canada (81% to 73%), US legal (78% to 72%) and illegal states (81% to 76%; p<0.05 for all). Prevalence of past 12-month use increased for virtually all other product forms, although prevalence of daily use remained stable across years. In 2020, edibles and vape oils were the most commonly used products after flower. Use of non-flower products was highest in US legal states, although similar trends were observed in all jurisdictions. Males were more likely to report using processed products, and vape oils were the most commonly processed product among 16-20-year-olds. Daily use of cannabis flower increased in US legal and illegal states, and average joint size increased across all jurisdictions over time. Dried flower remains the dominant product in Canada and the US; however, use of processed cannabis products has increased, with the largest increases observed in legal cannabis markets.

U.S. SPORTS BETTORS WRAP UP RECORD 2021 ON POSITIVE NOTE

U.S. SPORTS BETTORS WRAP UP RECORD 2021 ON POSITIVE NOTE

A United States Fair Lending Perspective on Machine Learning.

The use of machine learning (ML) has become more widespread in many areas of consumer financial services, including credit underwriting and pricing of loans. ML’s ability to automatically learn nonlinearities and interactions in training data is perceived to facilitate faster and more accurate credit decisions, and ML is now a viable challenger to traditional credit modeling methodologies. In this mini review, we further the discussion of ML in consumer finance by proposing uniform definitions of key ML and legal concepts related to discrimination and interpretability. We use the United States legal and regulatory environment as a foundation to add critical context to the broader discussion of relevant, substantial, and novel ML methodologies in credit underwriting, and we review numerous strategies to mitigate the many potential adverse implications of ML in consumer finance.

Implications of Adult Use Cannabis Legalization for Adolescent Use, Perceptions, Health, and Consequences

Background: Adult-use cannabis legalization is being increasingly embraced by various jurisdictions in the United States (US) and internationally. As adolescents are particularly vulnerable to the negative consequences of cannabis, it is essential to ensure that the effects of adult-use legalization are minimized. Objectives: This review aimed to synthesize the extant literature exploring the impact of adult-use legalization on adolescents and provide recommendations for future action. We focused on the following domains: 1) prevalence of use, 2) high-frequency use, 3) perceived harm, 4) perceived availability, 5) modes of use, 6) potency, 7) mental health and medical outcomes, and 8) legal consequences. Methods: Narrative review is focused on adult-use legalization in the US. Results: Adolescent cannabis use prevalence in US legal (as well as illegal) states has remained essentially stable since the advent of adult-use legalization. Criminal penalties for adolescents have not decreased in legal states and maybe increasing; out-of-school suspensions for cannabis use may also be increasing. It is uncertain whether reported decreases in national rates of perceived harm and availability and increases in cannabis frequency and potency of use in adolescents differ between legal and illegal states. The impact of legalization on adolescent health outcomes remains uncertain. Conclusion: At this early stage of adult-use legalization, we recommend that jurisdictions implement real-time, detailed monitoring to assess adolescent outcomes. In addition, both criminal penalties and out-of-school suspensions for cannabis infractions should be minimized.

Modernizing U.S. Tax Code Section 280E: How an Outdated “War on Drugs” Tax Law Is Failing the United States Legal Cannabis Industry and What Congress Can Do to Fix It

Modernizing U.S. Tax Code Section 280E: How an Outdated “War on Drugs” Tax Law Is Failing the United States Legal Cannabis Industry and What Congress Can Do to Fix It

Medical Malpractice of Vestibular Schwannoma: A 40-Year Review of the United States Legal Databases.

To analyze medical malpractice lawsuit trends pertaining to cases of vestibular schwannomas (VS). Two major computerized legal databases (LexisNexis and WestLaw) were queried and reviewed for evaluation of all the US state and federal court records from civil trials alleging malpractice between 1976 and 2016. A total of 32 VS cases were identified. Allegations were divided into four categories: misdiagnosis/delayed diagnosis (47%), postoperative complications (44%), failure of informed consent or information sharing (16%), and other (3%). Postoperative complications included facial nerve paralysis, myocardial infarction, meningitis, and intracranial hemorrhage. Judgment amounts ranged from $300,000 to $2,000,000. The specialist type was specified for 24 of the 32 cases (75%): neurosurgeons (n = 9; 37%), neurotologists (n = 6; 25%), general otolaryngologists (n = 5; 21%), primary care physicians (n = 4; 17%), neurologists (n = 3; 12%), radiologists (n = 3; 12%), anesthesiologists (n = 2; 8%), radiation oncologists (n = 1; 4%), and general surgeon (n = 1; 4%). Of these 24 cases, (n = 9; 37%) two or more physicians were named as defendants in the lawsuit. Enhanced physician-patient communication, ensuring proper and adequate patient consent procedures, and proper documentation are good practices that may decrease the likelihood of lawsuits.

The United States Legal System: The Jurisprudence of Partisanship With Supreme Court Rulings

The United States Legal System: The Jurisprudence of Partisanship With Supreme Court Rulings

Is Racial Equality Unconstitutional?

Golub, Mark. (2018) Is Racial Equality Unconstitutional. New York: Oxford University Press. 232 pp. Hardback, $65.00. ISBN: 9780190683603 Race is a primary factor in United States legal, political, and social history. It is race that has found its way into the minds of citizens, influencing and shaping their thoughts and beliefs through the cracking of a gavel in a courtroom. Mark Golub reflects on these challenges in his new book, Is Racial Equality Unconstitutional?, as he traces the argument of “colorblind constitutionalism” back to Justice Harlan’s famous dissent in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) to current debates on affirmative action. This leads to a furthered discussion of the many Supreme Court cases that emphasize a hierarchy of racial non-existence, where a protection of whiteness pervades as the illicit mechanism of the Supreme Court’s decision making, rather than an equal racial society, under the problematic color-blind doctrine.

"미국의 부권소송(Parens Patriae Action)에 관한 연구 -우리나라 독점규제법 분야에의 도입가능성을 중심으로-"

"미국의 부권소송(Parens Patriae Action)에 관한 연구 -우리나라 독점규제법 분야에의 도입가능성을 중심으로-"

Comparative Analysis About Binding Preliminary Agreements between Brazil and United States Legal Systems

During the past decades the world became one globalized market in a way that every country, with few exceptions, established economic, social and political relations among then. Consequently, new legal bonds started uprising in reason of the contracts signed to support such international relations. A lot of problems would be avoided if all the countries had the same legal system and if the same laws regulated the contracts. This is not even imaginable. Within this scenario, this research had the purpose to analyze why preliminary agreements became a crucial tool when dealing with contracts that easily involve parties from different countries and different legal systems and that were made through a process much more complex than the idea of the two parties exchanging offers, acceptance and performance. Furthermore, this paper significantly examined and compared which kinds of preliminary agreement exist and which ones attract legal responsibilities (are binding) between different countries and different legal systems. This study focused specifically in the difference between Brazil’s, a Civil Law country, and Unites States’, a Common Law country, legal systems.

Medicolegal cases involving periviable births from a major United States legal database

Objective: The management of expectant mothers and infants born at the threshold of viability is challenging. We describe medicolegal cases from a major United States legal database involving periviable births in an effort to identify areas for improvement.Study design: We conducted a retrospective review of all United States state and federal cases in the Westlaw database from 1980 through 2016 involving peripartum and immediate post-delivery management of infants born between 22 0/7 and 25 6/7 weeks’ gestation.Results: Our search criteria returned 736 results, and 15 cases met full inclusion criteria. Eight cases involved conflicts on resuscitation contrary to parental directives. Eleven cases comprised alleged miscommunication between families and providers. Of these, seven cases alleged inadequate prenatal counseling of infant's chances of survival and neurological outcome, whilst four cases alleged miscommunication of infant's condition post-delivery.Conclusions: Miscommunication between providers and families during prenatal counseling and after birth was a major component of malpractice cases regarding infants born at the threshold of viability. The infant’s immediate post-delivery condition and long term prognosis were of primary interest to parents, and improving effective communication may aid toward more genuinely informed resuscitation directives.

Randomized Control Trials in the United States Legal Profession

We assemble studies within a set that we label randomized control trials (RCTs) in the US legal profession. These studies are field experiments conducted for the purpose of obtaining knowledge in which randomization replaces a decision that would otherwise have been made by a member of the US legal profession. We use our assembly of approximately 50 studies to begin addressing the question of why the US legal profession, in contrast to the US medical profession, has resisted the use of the RCT as a knowledge-generating device.

Aid-In-Dying Practice in the United States Legal and Ethical Perspectives for Pharmacy

Aid-In-Dying Practice in the United States Legal and Ethical Perspectives for Pharmacy

Randomized Control Trials in the United States Legal Profession

We assemble studies within a set that we label randomized control trials ('RCTs') in the United States legal projects that essentially consist of field experiments conducted for the purpose of obtaining knowledge in which randomization replaces a decision that would otherwise have been made by a member of the United States legal profession. We use our assembly of approximately fifty studies to begin addressing the question of why the United States legal profession, in contrast to the United States medical profession, has resisted the use of the RCT as a knowledge-generating device.

Technology and the United States Legal System - Increasing Accessibility

Technology and the United States Legal System - Increasing Accessibility

“Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?” Music as Punishment in the United States Legal System

In recent years, music scholars as well as the public at large have become increasingly aware of music's negative potential. Rather than a subversive anomaly, music's destructive possibilities are an enduring and powerful reality within our historical past and present. This article examines a current example of the exploitation of music's darker potential—the use of music as punishment in the United States legal system—by specifically evaluating the “Music Immersion Program,” invented by Judge Paul Sacco. This program subjects noise violators in Fort Lupton, Colorado, to one hour of music as punishment for their transgression. Based in part on the testimony of Judge Paul Sacco, feedback forms from participants in his program of musical punishment submitted upon completion of the sentence, as well as newspaper articles and theories of punishment, this article considers the origins of this punishment and how it is administered, as well as the sentence's intended results and ultimate effects.

Applying Anti-Money Laundering/Anti-Terrorist Financing Controls to the United States Legal Profession: A Response to the Senate Permanent Subcommittee Report on the Proceeds of Foreign Corruption

Applying Anti-Money Laundering/Anti-Terrorist Financing Controls to the United States Legal Profession: A Response to the Senate Permanent Subcommittee Report on the Proceeds of Foreign Corruption

Applying Anti-Money Laundering/Anti-Terrorist Financing Controls to the United States Legal Profession: A Response to the Senate Permanent Subcommittee Report on the Proceeds of Foreign Corruption

This paper examines and comments on the reforms to the U.S. legal profession as proposed by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee Report on the Proceeds of Foreign Corruption (issued February 2010), specifically whether these proposed reforms are realistic or necessary given the existing attorney regulatory framework. To do so, it will first be necessary to provide a general overview of money laundering/terrorist financing followed by a background of anti-money laundering regulation starting with the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 through to the 2001 USA PATROIT Act. The paper then introduces the role of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the concept of “gatekeeper initiative” as applied to attorneys. The current regulatory system governing the legal profession is examined with an emphasis on the existing anti-fraud safeguards and the question of whether further regulatory measures pertaining to AML/BSA compliance are required. The paper suggests that imposition of BSA controls and suspicious activity reporting on the United States law profession as a whole would be difficult to reconcile against strong traditions of client loyalty and confidentiality that exist in the United States system. The paper then analyzes and suggests several alternate responses to the issue, including imposition of a hybrid approach. This “hybrid approach” involves imposing AML/BSA controls on the U.S. legal profession in a tailored manner, limited to only to law professionals practicing certain transactions. The paper will also discuss the possibility of enacting federal regulations that mirror the Model Rules of Professional Conduct, such as to provide a measure of teeth to the existing attorney regulatory structure as well as an enhanced degree of deterrence.