Legal Infrastructure and the Forgotten Story of the Restatements
This essay is about the importance and value of building shared “legal infrastructure,” which is a term coined by the eminent economist and law professor Gillian Hadfield in her book, “Rules for a Flat World (2017).”
A Better Approach to Fighting Fraud in West Virginia: Bring in the Whistleblowers
As the saying goes, Mountaineers are always free in West Virginia. Unfortunately, the cost of fraud is not. And as evidenced by the eye-popping $50 million fraud settlement the federal government just secured from Wheeling Hospital, there is a lot of fraud going around these days.
Life Without Parole Sentencing in North Carolina
What explains the puzzle of life without parole (LWOP) sentencing in the United States? In the past two decades, LWOP sentences have reached record highs, with over 50,000 prisoners serving LWOP. Yet during this same period, homicide rates have steadily declined.
Arizona Supreme Court Rejects Eighth Amendment Claims by Juvenile Offenders Given De Facto Life Sentences for Multiple Offenses
On Friday, [Oct. 9] the Supreme Court of Arizona handed down a unanimous rejection of claims by multiple juvenile offenders subject to de facto life sentences for multiple sentences in Arizona v. Soto-Fong.
Prosecutors and Mass Incarceration
It has long been postulated that America’s mass incarceration phenomenon is driven by increased drug arrests, draconian sentencing, and the growth of a prison industry. Yet among the major players—legislators, judges, police, and prosecutors—one of these is shrouded in mystery.
Tracking Insurance Litigation in the Age of Covid-19
Tom Baker of the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School is the creator of the Covid Coverage Litigation Tracker, which provides empirical research on insurance disputes and resolutions during the pandemic. He spoke recently about the project on an episode of the podcast “Case in Point.”
The ALI Adviser is intended to inform readers about the legal topics and issues examined in many of ALI’s current projects; posts do not necessarily represent the position of the Institute taken in those projects. Posts on The ALI Adviser are written by ALI project participants, ALI members, and outside sources.