No third term for Trump upon nonconsecutive-term theory, Vyas concludes in 22nd Amendment research

Trump at CPAC 2019
Mike Licht via Flickr CC BY 2.0

The theory that the President may seek a third term because his two terms were nonconsecutive holds no water.

That's the finding of law professor and constitutional scholar, and my friend and colleague, Anoo Vyas, in a short but important new piece in Wisconsin Law Review Forward: No Third Term: Rejecting the Nonconsecutive Loophole (2026).

Speaking about Trump at the Conservative Political Action Conference in March, televangelist Franklin Graham urged the crowd "to get him reelected!"

Graham subsequently said he misspoke (Yahoo News). His cry nevertheless stoked anxiety among Trump skeptics and opponents, amplified by the March 28 No Kings rallies, about the President's sometimes clingy affection for the office. 

Commenters have spilt much ink on how the President might circumvent the two-term limit of the 22nd Amendment.

With sound interpretive methodology and inquiry into historical sources, Professor Vyas's research takes the wind out of one circumvention theory. Here is the abstract:

The text of the Twenty-Second Amendment seems clear that a president cannot be elected to a third term: "No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice." This Essay looks further to the history surrounding the Twenty-Second Amendment, an exercise sometimes employed by judges, particularly those who favor the constitutional interpretive method of originalism. History shows that a president cannot be elected to a third term on the theory that the previous terms were nonconsecutive.

I'm a fan of Professor Vyas's work, such as his 2025 Why Capping the House at 435 is Unconstitutional (at The Savory Tort), besides his expertise in intellectual property law. So I have full confidence in his conclusion here and am gratified that he has shared it.

Workplace mobbing researchers plan global conference

The third annual Niagara Conference on Workplace Mobbing (NCWM) is open for proposals and registration and will occur hybrid, online and in person, at Niagara University, New York, on July 20-22, 2026.

The NCWM is the conference of the World Association for Research on Workplace Mobbing (WARWM), which publishes the Journal of Workplace Mobbing. It has been my honor to serve as an inaugural organizer of the conference, organization, and journal. (Read about previous conference convenings at The Savory Tort.)

Following is the call for proposals, recently dispatched by my friend and colleague at Niagara University, the president of the WARWM, Dr. Qingli Meng. Dr. Meng spoke to Tegan Osmond, a workplace abuse recovery coach, about workplace mobbing in 2025. More information is at the conference website.

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We are pleased to invite you to the third annual hybrid Niagara Conference on Workplace Mobbing (NCWM), to be held July 20–22, 2026, at Niagara University, Niagara Falls, New York.

Hosted by the World Association for Research on Workplace Mobbing (WARWM) and Niagara University, this year's theme, "From Awareness to Action: Creating Healthy, Respectful, and Dignified Workplaces," continues our commitment to advancing research, dialogue, and practical strategies for addressing workplace mobbing. All conference participants are automatically become member of WARWM.

We warmly invite proposals for:

• Individual paper presentations
• Panel discussions
• Roundtable discussions
• Poster presentations

The purpose of the conference is to advance the understanding of workplace mobbing as a distinct phenomenon. Proposals will focus specifically on workplace mobbing. We welcome submissions that examine different aspects of mobbing, including leadership and power dynamics, cross-cultural and comparative perspectives, legal and ethical frameworks, psychological impact, trauma and recovery, organizational change, and preventive practices.

Both in-person and virtual participation options are available. The registration fee is $225 for in-person participants and $100 for virtual participants.

Please submit proposals through the online portal (linked on the conference website). For questions, you may contact us.

Conference presenters and participants are invited to submit their papers for publication in the Journal of Workplace Mobbing.

Follow us on Facebook.

We look forward to welcoming you to Niagara Falls in July 2026 for an inspiring and collaborative international gathering.

Comparative law students explore world with guests, online cohort, and enrich field with new research

Boasting about the accomplishments of my students is a rich indulgence I selfishly embrace. The Savory Tort hosts collections of student abstracts from past courses in Comparative Law and Freedom of Information Law.

This winter, I am happy to share abstracts from students who completed papers in Comparative Law in fall 2025. These might be the most scholarly capable set of papers I've yet seen in a seminar. Their work was a pleasure to read, and I am grateful for all that these students taught me.

Besides their research projects, these students participated vitally in the Global Law Classroom (GLC). They were leaders in their groups and exchanged knowledge and experiences with students from 13 countries over eight weeks of class sessions with contributing faculty.

The students also served as a gracious and inquisitive audience for several guests in the fall semester. I thank my colleagues who gave of their time and expertise to enrich our class:

• Anna Conley, Cliff Edwards Professor of Excellence in Trial Advocacy at the Alexander Blewett III School of Law, University of Montana, and also a member of the GLC faculty, joined us via Zoom to explore customary law and the rights of indigenous peoples.
• Bernard Freamon, professor of law at Roger Williams University Law School, and co-chair of the Bristol (R.I.) Middle Passage Port Marker Project, treated us to a thorough and thought-provoking introduction to Islamic law.
• Dan Greenberg, Cato Institute, shared with us a special screening of the documentary film he produced and directed, American Libel (2025), in relation to the disparate "actual malice" and "public interest" defenses to defamation in U.S. and UK law.
• Wojciech Jarosiński, founding partner of Peak Legal in Poland, and Stefanie Chiba, a corporate attorney and data privacy expert in Austria, led us via Zoom in exploration of differences between civil law and common law practice.
• Ferhat Pekin, attorney with Pekin Bayar Mizraha, and adjunct professor at UMass Law, led us in a study of Turkish law and exercises in the cross-cultural competence required for transnational law practice.
• A friend and colleague working in the international aid sector joined us via Zoom to talk about the challenges of delivering aid from western sources to conflict areas amid political and cultural challenges on the ground. His identity is not published here to protect his security while deployed in Asia.

Here are the fall's compelling student projects:

Jake Fruchter, Civil Rights in Extra-Ordinary Prosecutions: a Comparative Analysis of Ireland and the United States Trial Rights in Terrorism Prosecutions. The United States is witnessing a growth in domestic terrorism charges. As these cases make their way through state and federal courts, questions arise over what rights and procedures apply. One country with a well established history of prosecuting domestic terrorism is the Republic of Ireland. This history led the Republic to establish a Special Criminal Court with unique rules and procedures for terrorism and organized crime cases. This paper, using a comparative method, compares the Republic’s Special Criminal Court with procedures in the United States at the state and federal level. In particular, the rights this paper analyzes pertain to the right to silence as, protected by the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and the right to a trial by jury and to face your accuser, as protected by the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Kyle LaMont, Belonging by Blood or Soil?: A Functionalist-Historical Comparison of Italian and American Citizenship Traditions. This paper examines how Italy and the United States have developed their jus sanguinis and jus soli citizenship traditions, respectively, over time. Using a functionalist and historical approach, it compares and analyzes the legal frameworks and the different legal consequences of citizenship for each country. Culturally, Italy has had a long-standing tradition of focusing on citizenship through lineage, which was a core part of Italy’s unification since 1861 and further reinforced with Law No. 91/1992. In stark contrast, the United States primarily uses jus soli and the territory approach of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. These different approaches to citizenship show how historical, cultural, and economic factors have molded the traditions that each country has embraced. By comparing these different systems, this paper reveals differing understandings of belonging and how both traditions survive in each country today. 

Kennis Levano, Language, Law, and Identity: A Functionalist Comparison of Indigenous Language Rights Protection in Bolivia and Peru. Focusing on the divergent political trajectories since the 1980s, this paper conducts a functionalist microcomparison of the frameworks for indigenous language rights in Bolivia and Peru. The research first establishes the historical and political contexts of both countries. It then provides a detailed examination of the Bolivia legal framework, highlighting recent legislative advancements, key provisions, and their successful implementation and impact in the country. In contrast, I discuss Peru's evolving legal framework, identifying differences and significant challenges in implementation. The analysis uses a functionalist approach to compare legal frameworks, identifying successful elements in the Bolivian model that are absent or underdeveloped in the Peruvian. The study culminates in the proposal of a solution designed to catalyze a significant leap forward in Peru's constitutional recognition of indigenous language rights, mirroring the progress achieved in Bolivia.

John McCauley, The Merchant: The Object of Economic Legislation & Regulation. This paper is focused on the differences and similarities between the U.S. Uniform Commercial Code Article 2 definition of “merchant” and the Egyptian Commercial Code definition of “Trader,” and how those definitions work into other statutes when a dispute arises. The UCC is analyzed according to different jurisdictions within the United States, with jurisdictional splits being noted, particularly around farmers. The topic is introduced with a brief history of each codification effort, how disputes of trade are handled procedurally, and how the courts of each respective jurisdiction interpret their definitions of those who conduct trade. This paper seeks to adhere to critical comparative methodologies and be mindful of the different cultural contexts that lead to the expression and subsequent regulation of one who conducts trade and said merchant’s explicit duties. In essence, this paper seeks to unravel choices of law with policies in mind which lead to the defined terms of “merchant” and “trader,” and who or what is interpreted as falling within and without that category, and what are some of the obligations attached to the merchant status. This paper looks at global market dynamics, and interpretive and legislative fiats, as well as statutory language to conclude who or what is defined as a merchant in the United States and Egypt and why. A commercial code is an expression of what a government believes is the proper way of doing business and thus regulates it, and the merchant or trader is the one who is to adhere to that regulation. With those premises in mind, it is key to look at the similarities and differences in these systems and cultural contexts to examine potential policy goals in enacting such legislation.

Hannah Patalsky, Comparing Mechanisms for Artist Compensation in the United States and the European Union (Taylor’s Version). This paper compares two distinct legal frameworks: the Living Wage for Musicians Act (2024) (LWMA), a bill recently reintroduced in the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, and Articles 18 through 22 of the EU Digital Single Market Directive (DSM Directive). Both of these mechanisms are designed to address the persistent issue of inadequate artist compensatory rights in the era of online streaming. The LWMA aims to establish an “Artist Compensation Royalty Fund” as an economic intervention, which would guarantee artists near-immediate payment through a statutory framework and additional stream of revenue flowing from listener to musician. In contrast, the DSM Directive focuses on member-state involvement in a contractual approach, seeking to balance the relationship between artists, on one side, and labels and agents, on the other. The primary DSM Directive articles of focus in this paper are Articles 18 through 22, which are designed to counteract the power dynamics and inequalities between these groups. This paper examines the benefits of each approach, as well as the limitations and drawbacks. The paper demonstratively applies each framework to the well-known ownership dispute between Taylor Swift and Scooter Braun, demonstrating how outcomes may differ under each mechanism to showcase the practical, real-world applications of these compensatory mechanisms. Fundamentally, this paper compares a statutory and contractual framework to find the best approach to artist compensation. Ultimately, this paper argues that each framework seeks to remedy a different issue in the modern digital and stream-based economy, and that understanding the differences among these remedies is essential to evaluating how legal systems can meaningfully address inherent inequalities and imbalances across the music industry. The LWMA aims to address the problem of insufficient streams of revenue for artists. At the same time, the DSM Directive directly targets any inequalities that may have arisen during the contracting phase that may lead to long-term exploitation of artists. In comparing these legal mechanisms that are addressing the same issue, this comparison reveals not only the strengths and weaknesses of each approach, but also the potential benefits of creating a hybrid model, including fair revenue and fair contracting conditions.

Tamar Shimon, Hate Speech: Overprotected or Undervalued? A Comparative Analysis Between U.S. and German Student Speech on College and University Campuses Post October 7. This paper analyzes the impact of protecting hate speech, particularly antisemitic speech, on post-secondary institutions within the United States and Germany. The world is no stranger to antisemitism. This type of hate has existed for millennia. However, with the events of October 7, 2023, a new wave of antisemitism found a home amongst a new generation of people: young university and college students. For months, U.S. college and university officials allowed for antisemitism to take hold on their campuses, subjugating Jewish students to abuse from their fellow students. But this was not the same response in Germany. Rather than allow the “protests” to become rampant and violent, German university and college officials quickly placed bans and restrictions for fears of antisemitism reemerging at such a drastic rate that was last seen in the 1920s. Free speech is a fundamental right within the United States and Germany; however, both countries take different approaches when it comes to protecting hate speech. This paper explores the differentiations in each country’s free speech rule, specifically focusing on the way in which each country sees the importance of hate speech to its society. To understand this differentiation, the events on and post October 7, 2023, on college and university campuses across the United States and Germany will be analyzed to determine whether the United States can somehow implement Germany’s model but still uphold the values of free speech.

Tryon P. Woods, Indigenous Fishing Rights, Comparative Settler Colonialism, and the Problem of Modern Law. This paper is a comparative legal analysis of United States v. Washington (W.D. Wash. 1974), known as the “Boldt decision” after the presiding judge’s opinion, and the 2024 ruling in Sapporo District Court on the Raporo Ainu Nation fishing rights lawsuit in Japan. Regarded as a legal landmark in indigenous rights and land use management in North America, the Boldt decision recognized the treaty rights of Native tribes to off-reservation inland fishing.  It held that such Native fishing was not subject to State regulation.  The recent Ainu lawsuit in Japan similarly sought to assert indigenous rights to fish Japanese inland waters but was rejected by the court. Comparative analysis of the two cases reveals distinct national histories regarding indigenous rights in law, which in turn, are indicative of differing forms of racialization in the national development of the United States and Japan that align with distinct histories of settler colonialism. This discrete legal comparison raises further questions regarding law’s mutability in the face of dynamic culture; how dominance is reworked as rule of law; and the problems stemming from shared ecology.

Ellie Zhang, Fair Use vs. Second Creation: A Comparative Study of Short-Video Law Between the United States and China. This paper examines how U.S. and Chinese copyright law treat short-video “second creations,” focusing on two common formats: (1) reaction and review videos that intersperse short excerpts and (2) parody. After setting out the U.S. open-ended, fair-use framework under 17 U.S.C. § 107 and China’s rights-first, enumerated “reasonable use” approach under Article 24, the paper asks when these videos amount to protected commentary and when they become unlicensed, market-substituting derivatives. For interspersed-clip reactions, U.S. doctrine tends to credit transformation and lack of substitution, whereas Chinese courts emphasize “reasonable use” and substitution risks; both systems disfavor compilation-style recaps. For parody, U.S. law treats targeted critique as paradigmatic transformative use so long as the borrowing is reasonably necessary and does not usurp cognizable licensing markets. By contrast, Chinese law lacks an explicit parody exception, channeling analysis through “appropriate quotation,” the two-step constraints, and moral-rights concerns, producing a narrower space for unlicensed parody. The paper closes with practical guidance for creators and a policy recommendation: clearer, semi-open exceptions in China and more attention in U.S. cases to audiovisual modes of critique when judging transformation and necessity.

The students' research was well supported by ace Law Librarian Katelyn Golesby, who updated and reconstructed a superb library guide in foreign, comparative, and international legal research.

Lead image by Google Gemini. Guest images from respective biographical pages, as linked; no claim to rights. Flags by Flagpedia.

LoMonte tells timely Tenn. tale of vanishing public records, legislative response in retention requirement

My friend and colleague Frank LoMonte, CNN senior legal counsel, has published a superb and timely new article, "The Race to Erase: Destruction of Government Documents Undermines Freedom-of-Information Laws," in the Seattle University Law Review.

Here is the abstract.

In August 2019, reporters with Chattanooga’s daily newspaper, the Times Free Press, filed what seemed to be a routine request for access to emails and other public records held by their local county government. The seemingly unremarkable request set the newspaper’s staff on a months-long journey of unpleasant surprises. The first was a demand to pay the county $717 in advance before being allowed to inspect the documents. The second was that—during prolonged haggling over the fee assessment— the county attorney’s office simply destroyed almost all of the disputed records. Third, and most glaringly, the journalists discovered that Tennessee law did nothing to require agencies to retain public records after receiving a request to produce them, exposing a gaping hole in right-to- know laws that goes well beyond one state.

This Article looks at the state of records-retention law in the United States and how the lack of forceful and well-enforced retention requirements can frustrate the good-government objectives of FOI laws. Part I lays out the animating principles behind right-to-know laws, how they operate, and how requesters have productively used public records to uncover government secrets. Part II examines the state of records-retention laws and regulations, and how their lack of clarity—particularly when it comes to emails, texts and other twenty-first-century electronic communication methods—has led to frustrating results for requesters. Part III looks at the meager remedies under federal and state law to enforce records retention requirements; paradoxically, these remedies provide hidebound government officials with an incentive to destroy, rather than just withhold, embarrassing records. Part IV focuses on the special case of police personnel files and body-cam videos, which hold promise as tools of accountability if the public can actually obtain them. This Part uses a recent California dispute—in which a municipal police department destroyed video footage of officers removing homeless people’s campsites while a requester was still fighting to obtain the footage—to exemplify the larger problem of inadequately rigorous retention laws. Finally, the Conclusion discusses what a legislative remedy to patch this hole in the public’s information safety net might look like, returning to the example of the Chattanooga Times Free Press’ unfulfilled request and the legislative response it inspired.

LoMonte's apt paean to record retention is nicely complemented by a new release from UNC's David Ardia pressing for a constitutional dimension to the freedom of information (HT @ Professor Robert Steinbuch).

I am grateful for references in LoMonte's article to something I wrote many years ago on record retention. I oft lament that my early-career work from flyover country on record retention and court record access are rarely if ever cited, even while they represent first publication of many points later repeated in the literature. Attorney and Georgia law professor LoMonte seems set on taking the wind from my whiny sails.

At the same time, I observe and lament that our strange times—with such as the firing of the National Archivist, the disappearance of federal records, and a privacy-obsessed generation baffled by the custom of open courts—have sent researchers scurrying for past findings in these areas. Who knew.

Comparative law research reaches prisoner rights; women's rights; tech patents; internet, drug reg

Law Offices of James L. Arrasmith CC BY-NC 4.0

In fall 2024, I had the privilege of teaching Comparative Law for the sixth time.

For my time and energies, the course is the best one to teach, because it offers the best opportunity for a lifelong learner. Law teaching usually requires mastering a broad and deep range of content so that one can guide students capably through it. Not so in Comparative Law, in which the teacher cannot possibly know the substantive content of all of the legal systems of the world. Rather, the course is about arming students with the tools of comparative methodology, and then savoring the opportunity to learn from them, what they find in their own research.

This year was not lacking in the savory. As I have in the past, I am proud and pleased to share a collection of abstracts representing the yeoman work of my students in the fall semester. You will see that the students devised some wonderfully innovative theses. The subject matter that researchers tackled spanned prisoner legal rights, marijuana and gambling regulation, black women's representation in the legal profession, women's rights in Afghanistan and in Dutch sex work, semiconductor patents, and regulation of online misinformation.

Alayna Wageman, Prisoners Are Human Too: A Comparative Analysis of Prisoners' Right to Legal Assistance in Chile and the United States. Both Chile and the United States guarantee, through their constitutions, the right to legal counsel for individuals who cannot afford a lawyer during criminal prosecutions. However, prisoners lack resources to access legal assistance when their basic human rights are violated while incarcerated. This project seeks to show how the extreme traumatization of citizens in the United States from the years of slavery and the extreme traumatization of citizens in Chile from the years of dictatorship continue to impact the treatment of prisoners today. This paper begins with an overview of the history of slavery in the United States, specifically in Massachusetts, and an overview of the history of dictatorship in Chile. Next, the paper will explain the laws that define the right to legal assistance for prisoners in Chile and Massachusetts. Finally, the paper compares two programs designed to improve prisoners' access to legal resources: the Prisoners' Legal Services (PLS) of Massachusetts in the United States and the Penitentiary Defense Program (Programa de Defensa Penal Pública Penitenciaria) in Chile. This analysis demonstrates how the influence of the historical extreme traumatization of societies continues to impact the treatment of prisoners in both countries, with focus on the limitation of access to legal assistance in prisons. The paper concludes by acknowledging the efforts of the PLS and the Penitentiary Defense Program, which are working to further protect the rights of prisoners.

Bryce Mayo, Comparing the Impact of Sports Gambling Advertising: A Legal Exploration of the United States and Australia. The recent legalization of sports gambling has taken the United States by storm, and as a result, an influx of advertising has taken over every commercial break. Sports fans, avid and casual viewers alike, cannot help but notice sportsbooks like BetMGM, FanDuel, and DraftKings attempt to entice an already invested community into raising the stakes of a game or match. These companies use tactics such as celebrity endorsements, sign-up promotions, and "can't lose bets" on your first wager. This paper compares how the United States and Australia have approached the regulation of sports gambling advertising since its legalization in 2018 and 1983, respectively. Although both countries follow the common law system, the legalization of sports gambling came about in drastically different ways. The United States struck down a longstanding congressional act, while Australia codified sports gambling, even making the first sportsbooks state owned and operated. Recently, Australia has issued licenses to private or publicly owned sportsbooks and their advertising regulations have changed as a result; whereas in the United States, private and publicly owned sportsbooks are the primary recipients of licenses, yet the regulations mirror that of Australia in 1983. Legalizing sports gambling in the United States is in its infancy, and growing pains are inevitable. It appears to be the wild west, quite reminiscent of tobacco advertising in years past. The United States can learn from Australia's experience and seek a balance between maintaining a profitable market and minimizing the creation of degenerate gamblers.

Carson Powell, Quality Over Quantity: A Comparative Analysis of Marijuana Quality Control Regulations Between the Netherlands and the United States. This paper compares the law and regulations of the United States and the Netherlands, on the regulations that are used to ensure the quality of marijuana sold legally. First, the paper focus will be on the Dutch marijuana policy, and its past, current and future regulation protecting the quality of the marijuana sold in "coffee shops." Next, the focus will shift to the United States and specifically Colorado regulations when testing the quality of marijuana. The paper views policies implemented to ensure quality and safety within the production, testing, distribution and the sale of cannabis/marijuana products. Finally, the paper compares Netherlands regulations on marijuana quality assurance and with Colorado laws and regulations that establish the safety of state citizens. The paper compares the laws and regulations, how they relate to each other, and the social results. The paper concludes with recommendations based on the comparisons drawn from the two parties, and whether each can become more effective and efficient with its own processes.

Kennia Joseph, A Comparative Analysis of Gender and Racial Equality for Black and Nigerian Women in the Legal Profession. This paper compares the laws in the United States and Nigeria that address gender and racial equality and their effect on black and Nigerian women in the workforce, specifically in the legal profession. One of the key issues in ensuring gender equality in employment lies in enforcing existing laws and policies. The comparison between Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the overturned affirmative action practices thereunder, Article 11 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and the failed Nigerian Gender and Equal Opportunity Bill of 2016 highlight underrepresentation in the legal field. Despite developing systems to support and encourage race and gender equality, black women from different cultures, and political, societal, and economic climates share experiences in the same profession with similar laws, initiatives, and policies.

Nick Saathoff, A Comparison Between Patents on Semiconductors in Germany and the United States. Patent law in Germany and the United States protects those who invent or discover patentable processes. Ideologies between the two countries differ in the field. In the United States, a patent is mainly a monetary protection. In Germany, in addition to monetary protection, there is an honor and prestige associated with inventing. This paper discusses patent law in each country specific to the field of semiconductors. Semiconductors are one of the most technologically significant patentable items in the world today. The paper initially provides an overview of patent law in each country and what role semiconductors play. This paper identifies similarities and differences between patent protections, patent quality, and patent strategies in the United States and Germany. In doing so, the paper discusses key requirements of obtaining a patent. The paper discusses one requirement at a time, discussing the interpretation in the United States and the interpretation in Germany. The paper then notes patent statutes in each country specific to the semiconductor industry. Additionally, the paper will discuss nuances in each country’s patent laws in the semiconductor industry.

Rebecca Stump, A Comparative Look at Sex Work in the United States and the Netherlands. Sex work, historically, has been a controversial occupation for a variety of reasons, including religious beliefs, women’s rights, bodily autonomy, and the extent to which the state should regulate an individual's choices over their own bodies. During this period, sex work has been considered a shameful profession, one which must be criminalized to deter human trafficking or coercion. However, as understanding and advocacy for bodily autonomy and freedom to self, and countries such as the Netherlands reform and change their sex work laws, there are movements for change to law in the United States. The aim is for a discussion, through comparison of the legal systems of Nevada and the Netherlands and the main avenues for reform, partial decriminalization and full decriminalization or legalization, the social and legal implications of legalization of sex work to further investigate reform in the United States. Within research regarding sex work, there are critical biases that must be acknowledged prior to engaging in discussion. First, and foremost, is the moral and ethical considerations of sex work. Sex work is not merely seen as an occupation free from moral implication, but an occupation for which every person may offer their individual consideration as to the ethical value of the work. To engage in substantive discussion, morality must be stripped away. Instead, one must be willing to engage in discussion solely on the legal ability of an individual to make a choice regarding the services they offer using their person, and the role of the state in legislating that decision. To that point, a discussion regarding the legality of sex work is necessarily a discussion of the extent to which the state should regulate labor. There exist various viewpoints as to the question of federalism and the role of the state to regulate. This bias must also be considered.

Sean Pillai, Afghan Women's Human Rights: A Legal Analysis of Constitutional Governance vs. the Taliban Rule. Afghanistan’s history of political turbulence and violent turmoil have repeatedly challenged the legal and social status of women. Afghanistan attempted to rebuild as a democratic nation and included rights to protect women. Under the 2004 constitution, women gained significant legal rights, such as access to education, safety and freedom of movement and employment opportunities, marking a stark contrast to the Taliban's earlier reign (1996-2001). However, the progress made was curtailed with the withdrawal of U.S. forces in 2021 and the Taliban return to power. This analysis will address the shift in legal protections and the impact on societal roles for women contrasting the two eras: the 2004 constitutional government and the Taliban regime 2021 to present. By comparing the legal frameworks and implementation of women's rights in key domains such as women's access to education, safety and freedom of movement, and women's access to employment, this paper seeks to provide an understanding of the impact the two legal systems have on women.

Shiloh Worthington, The Digital Services Act vs. Section 230: The Western Hemisphere's Battle Against Misinformation. The European Union and the United States have both recognized the disparate effects of rampant and unchecked misinformation spreading across the internet. However, each has a distinct approach to combatting this epidemic of troublesome content. The EU battle against misinformation is best exemplified by the recently passed Digital Services Act (DSA), which places the primary responsibility of stopping the spread on the platforms themselves. Meanwhile, in the United States, the struggle to fight misinformation is at odds with the First Amendment rights of the platforms. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act offers platforms total immunity for their misinformation content-removal practices, no matter how it conflicts with individual freedom of expression. Further conflict arises as the EU's DSA attempts to force American-based platforms with European audiences to comply with its content-removal practices under misinformation-related pretenses, even if doing so would remove American citizens' content otherwise protected by the U.S. Constitution.

Watch for these students on upcoming bar pass lists in a state near you!

Flags from Flagpedia, except Afghanistan Taliban from Wikimedia Commons, all public domain.

Researcher seeks to ease persistent anticompetitive constraints on indie films in online environment

Yaleth Calderon, a film school graduate and candidate for the California bar, has published a law review note on antitrust, online technology, and independent filmmaking.

Are There Plenty of Movies in the Sea?: How a Revision of the Terminated Paramount Decrees Could Benefit the Market for Independent Filmmakers appears in the latest issue, volume 20, page 111, of the UMass Law Review. Here is the abstract:

In the early years of filmmaking, the Supreme Court passed the Paramount Decrees as a set of rules prohibiting certain practices by major production companies that restrained competition within the industry. The creation of the internet has not only changed the way society has consumed media, but it has also affected the opportunities for filmmakers to share their works with the world. In 2020, the Paramount Decrees were overturned, dramatically limiting the distribution channels, creative control, and marketing opportunities held by independent filmmakers. This note outlines the injury felt by independent filmmakers and proposes specific rules inspired by the Paramount Decrees that the Federal Trade Commission could enact to mitigate some of the adverse effects of the decision.

The journal is transitioning to a new online publication platform, so volume 20 is not yet online. The new platform is expected to launch in summer 2025. Meanwhile, Calderon generously has made the piece available to Savory Tort readers here.

In an author's note, Calderon wrote that "[t]his article is an attempt to contribute to the ever-changing challenges towards film distribution in the digital era."

Calderon is an alumna of my comparative law class, in which it was a pleasure to have her. She received her B.A. in Cinema and Digital Media and English, with an emphasis in literature, criticism, and theory, from the University of California Davis. Last year, she served as a judicial extern at the L.A. Superior Court. After finishing law school this spring, Calderon plans to return to her home Los Angeles to practice law in California.

Calderon's subject matter is dear to my heart, too. Morgan Steele, my daughter, works in film in Los Angeles and has directed shorts. She just made a cameo in an Instagram promo (below) for The Gorge (streaming today on AppleTV+ (subscription wall)). Paul McAlarney, my friend and former TA and RA, now a New York lawyer, was an independent filmmaker before law school.

Exactly as Calderon recognizes, the streaming environment has multiplied the potential for independent distribution in film, but anticompetitive practices in the market have precluded the full realization of that potential, to the detriment of both creators and viewers.

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Niagara Conference opens registration, call for proposals on workplace mobbing for summer '25

Following on the success of last year's inaugural Conference on Workplace Mobbing at Niagara University (YouTube playlist), the 2025 conference has posted a call for proposals and opened for registration.

The founding of the World Association for Research on Workplace Mobbing was a key accomplishment of last year's event.

Niagara conference on workplace mobbing examines failure of academic freedom to prevent abuse

NCWM participants at Niagara University in July
© used with permission

With colleagues from around the world, I participated, as chair of the scientific committee, in the inaugural Niagara Conference on Workplace Mobbing (NCWM) on July 22-24, 2024, at Niagara University in New York (Savory Tort, Feb. 27, 2024).

Videos from the conference are now posted on a new NCWM YouTube channel and NCWM 2024 playlist.

Here is my introduction to the program, moderating the opening session.

For reasons investigated in the literature, academic workplaces are especially prone to mobbing. Here is my own presentation on academic freedom relative to workplace mobbing.

Here is another contribution to the academic freedom panel from my friend and colleague, Prof. Robert Ashford, Syracuse Law (pictured).

And here is the panel Q&A with Prof. Frances Widdowson (Woke Academy), Prof. Ashford, and me.

I will feature more programs from the conference in subsequent posts.

New book examines 'rise of classical legal thought' through experience of South Asia, British Empire

Professor Chaudhry
UMass Law

Professor Faisal Chaudhry has published a book on history and the development of classical legal thought.

South Asia, the British Empire, and the Rise of Classical Legal Thought: Toward a Historical Ontology of Law (2024) is available now from Oxford University Press. Here is the publisher's description:

This book delves into the legal history of colonial governance in South Asia, spanning the period from 1757 to the early 20th century. It traces a notable shift in the way sovereignty, land control, and legal rectification were conceptualized, particularly after 1858. During the early phase of the rule of the East India Company, the focus was on 'the laws' that influenced the administration of justice rather than 'the law' as a comprehensive normative system. The Company's perspective emphasized absolute property rights, particularly concerning land rent, rather than physical control over land. This viewpoint was expressed through the obligation of revenue payment, with property existing somewhat outside the realm of law. This early colonial South Asian legal framework differed significantly from the Anglo-common law tradition, which had already developed a unified and physical concept of property rights as a distinct legal form by the late 18th century. It was only after the transfer of authority from the Company to the British Crown, along with other shifts in the imperial political economy, that the conditions were ripe for 'the law' to emerge as an autonomous and fundamental institutional concept. One of the contributing factors to this transformation was the emergence of classical legal thought. Under Crown rule, two distinct forms of discourse contributed to reshaping the legal ontology around the globalized notion of 'the law' as an independent concept. The book, adopting a historical approach to jurisprudence, categorizes these forms as doctrinal discourse, which could articulate propositions of the law with practical and administrative qualities, and ordinary language discourse, which conveyed ideas about the law, including in the public domain.

Professor Chaudhry is a valued colleague of mine. I admire his critical and historical approach to first-year property, with which he complements my social and economic emphases in teaching torts.

Pop culture scholars invite Chicago program proposals

The American Culture Association and Popular Culture Association will meet for the ACA/PCA national conference in Chicago on March 27-30, 2024, and a call for proposals (CFP), including law papers in particular, is open now to November 30.

ACA/PCA is multi-disciplinary and interdisciplinary, and its Law Area has issued this CFP:

LAW AREA

Call for Proposals: Sessions, Panels, Papers for ACA/PCA National Conference in Chicago – March 27-30, 2024

We invite papers and presentations on all aspects of law and American culture and law and popular culture, including but not limited to: representations of the Supreme Court, the Constitution, and current cases and controversies; pop culture depictions of civil and criminal law, attorneys, and the judicial process; cinematic representations of law and justice; papers that comparatively examine the way different literary texts, musical genres or works in art history depict law and outlaws; historic preservation law. We welcome submissions on all historical, interdisciplinary, and contemporary topics related to the justice system and legal practice. Submit your paper or presentation proposal to: https://pcaaca.org/page/nationalconference.

The proposal should include an abstract of more than 250 words, and complete contact information (name, presenter’s institutional affiliation, and e-mail address). Proposals must be submitted through the PCA website. Only current, paid members can submit proposals. The submission deadline is November 30.

Area Chair: Patricia Peknik, ppeknik@berklee.edu

The PCA website further articulates submission guidelines.  PCA membership starts at $50 and includes a digital journal subscription. The PCA conference site indicates that there will be sessions dedicated to undergraduate research.

I'm pleased to share this CFP on behalf of my colleague Professor Peknik at the Berklee College of Music in Boston.

Comparative law class explores death, migration, more

Publicdomainvectors.org

Law students in my comparative law class examined a range of compelling issues this spring, including medical aid in dying, immigration reform, sexual assault and violence against women, and restorative justice in Islamic law; and we benefited from Zoom guests, who joined from Afghanistan, Belgium, Poland, and America.

Teaching comparative law is a distinctive joy, as I have opined previously, because always there is more to learn. The subject gives students with wide-ranging passions an opportunity to explore previously untapped veins of research. Everyone in the class, including me, shares in the riches that are surfaced.

I owe gratitude to special guests who joined our class via Zoom to enrich our understanding and skills.

• Sylvia Lissens, a Ph.D. candidate and teaching assistant in comparative law, joined from KU Leuven in Belgium to talk about EU law-making and share a European legal perspective.
• Ugo S. Stornaiolo Silva, an Ecuadorean lawyer and LL.M. candidate, joined from Jagiellonian University in Poland, to talk about Ecuadorean constitutional law and share a Latin American legal perspective.
• A Dutch friend (whose name I withhold for his security), a humanitarian aid worker, joined from Kabul, Afghanistan, to talk about aid delivery within domestic legal constraints in the Middle East.
• Misty Peltz-Steele, a law librarian (and my generous wife), joined from Roger Williams University Law School in Rhode Island to orient students on foreign, comparative, and international legal research.
  

Next year, I'll be on a break from teaching comparative law, as I tackle two sections of 1L torts. Fortunately, to tide me over, I have a raft of ambitious and thoughtfully developed student research projects on which to ruminate, including the following. I thank our guests and especially thank my students for a rewarding semester.

Sarah Barnes, Dignified Death: A Comparative Analysis of Medical Aid in Dying Between the United States and the Netherlands.  Medical aid in dying (MAID), also known as physician assisted suicide, has been a growing concept globally for several decades. The ethical, moral, and legal issues surrounding the practice have caused some jurisdictions to proceed with caution and others to abandon it completely. While creating processes and procedures around MAID can be complicated and daunting, a few countries have managed to successfully implement a system in which their citizens can participate. The following compares and analyzes two jurisdictions, the United States and the Netherlands, that have managed to provide this practice and allow those who are eligible a way to die with dignity.

Morgan Dunham, Implementing Change: A Call for a Point-Based Immigration System in the United States. As the United States attempts to compete on a global scale with other economic powers, the ability of countries to attract foreign workers to their shores permanently is placed under a microscope. While immigration is a controversial issue across the globe, it is also a growing reality. This paper examines the U.S. employment-based immigration system in comparison with the employment-based hybrid system of the Commonwealth of Australia, focusing on its use of a point-based merit system in screening applicants. In addition, this paper examines attempts by legislators in each country to incorporate elements of the other system to improve efficiency. Through an overview of each country’s paths to legal permanent residency, zones of convergence are analyzed to better highlight the benefits and limitations of each system. 

Jordan Lambdin, "Call Them by Their True Names": Comparing the United States Violence Against Women Act to Chile's Femicide Laws. Violence against women is linked to legal and social institutions, as well as cultural value systems. This project compares the legal systems and codes relating to violence against women in the United States (U.S.) and Chile. The objective of this project is to compare the similarities and differences between the U.S. approach to criminalize domestic violence and Chile’s femicide criminalizing code, namely the lack of a femicide/intimate partner homicide definition or criminalizing statute. This project aims to explain the different U.S. and Chilean cultural and legal responses to criminalizing violence against women. Both systems are part of a global culture of violence against women that aims to physically and culturally destroy women as a group. The result is the repeated destruction and death of many thousands of women.

Sara Zaman, What is a Sexual Offense?: A Legal Comparison Between Pakistan and the United States. Sexual offenses are fairly defined in the same manner across countries. The passage of Pakistan’s Protection of Women (Criminal Laws Amendment) Act of 2006 played a key role in defining sexual assault against women after the Hudood Ordinance of 1979 received severe criticism from the Pakistani population and human rights groups. Likewise, in the United States, the Model Penal Code draft of 1962 also provided a definition of sexual assault. The two documents have striking similarities despite the fact that they were written thousands of miles apart by very distinct cultures. However, the differences are still noted. The laws of both Pakistan and the United States can be improved by comparing and contrasting these two documents and incorporating the necessary and important provisions that they may lack.

[Name withheld for political sensitivity,] Restorative Justice Theory: Iran and USA.  This paper explores the forms of punishment and mitigation related to criminal acts in Iranian and American criminal law, with a predominant focus on the restorative justice theory. The purpose of this paper is to form a comparative analysis between the Restorative Justice theory in Iran and the United States. This paper will touch on subjects such as, why Iran and the United States moved towards to restorative justice theory, how their criminal courts framework function, a comparative analysis of the act of excusing the guilty party in criminal cases between the lawful frameworks and the comparison of Qisas in Iran and restorative justice theory in the U.S. Finally, I will highlight the similarities and differences between the restorative justice theory in Iran and the United States. This paper hopes to clarify the United States construct of justice lacks the critical components of mercy and compassion which are essential towards the attainment of a fair and equitable justice system.  As a guidance for progressing, the U.S. should look at the Iranian criminal justice system as an example of how to provide a fair and just system.

Flags from Flagpedia.net.