Faculty News

Professor Pat K. Chew has published a new article, " Seeing Subtle Racism," 6 Stanford Journal of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties 183 (2010).  Here is the abstract: Traditional employment discrimination law does not offer remedies for subtle bias in the workplace. For instance, in empirical studies of racial harassment cases, plaintiffs are much more likely to be successful if they claim egregious and blatant racist incidents rather than more subtle examples of racial intimidation, humiliation, or exclusion. But some groundbreaking jurists are cognizant of the reality and harm of subtle bias—and are acknowledging them in their analysis in racial harassment cases. While not yet widely recognized, the jurists are nonetheless creating important precedents for a re-interpretation of racial harassment jurisprudence, and by extension, employment discrimination jurisprudence more broadly. This article traces the development of racial harassment jurisprudence, explaining the development of the traditional model, which does not recognize subtle bias. It concludes with an analysis of an alternative jurisprudential model that “sees” subtle racism.

Professor Anthony Infanti has published "Decentralizing Family:  An Inclusive Proposal for Individual Tax Filing in the United States," 2010 Utah Law Review 605.  Here is the abstract: The debate in the United States over individual versus joint federal income tax filing is at something of a crossroads. For decades, progressive - and, particularly, feminist - scholars have urged us to abolish the joint return in favor of individual filing. On the rare occasion when scholars have described what such an individual filing system might look like, the focus has been on the ways in which the traditional family must be accommodated in an individual filing system. These descriptions generally do not take into account - let alone remedy - the tax system’s ongoing failure to address the tax treatment of nontraditional families. More recently, scholars concerned with the sexual-orientation-based discrimination that pervades our tax laws have proposed extending joint filing to same-sex and, in some cases, unmarried different-sex couples. But these proposals are equally problematic because they merely widen the privileged circle by extending the tax advantages provided to traditional families to other relationships patterned after the traditional family (and only to such relationships). Especially in view of the growing complexity of family arrangements in the United States, I find neither of these proposed paths to be desirable. As an alternative, I lay out a third path in this article that has a different, more inclusive destination. Relying on the Canadian experience with individual filing and proposals there to move “beyond conjugality,” I sketch the outlines of an individual filing system that, where appropriate, recognizes all economically interdependent relationships for tax purposes — and not only those that are patterned after the traditional family headed by a married different-sex couple. Link to article

Professor Harry Flechtner has been awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to support teaching and research as a Visiting Professor at the University of Salzburg (Austria) in spring 2012.  The grant, part of the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program, is sponsored and funded jointly by the Austrian-American Education Commission and the University of Salzburg.  The award is designed to support a visiting professor whose program will enhance understanding of the American legal system in general, and U.S. contract law in particular, among Salzburg students, and will explore the global impact of U.S. contract law.  Professor Flechtner will teach two courses during his time at the University of Salzburg: a course on Comparative American and (Emerging) European Contract Law, and another on Comparative International Sales Law.

Professor Charles C. Jalloh has published a solicited book chapter entitled "The International Criminal Court on Trial," in Chile Eboe-Osuji, ed., Protecting Humanity: Essays in International Law and Policy in Honour of Navenethem Pillay (Martinus Nijhoff Brill, 2010). A luminary in international law, Pillay is the current United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and former President of the Rwanda Tribunal and a judge of the International Criminal Court.  According to the book's description, "some of the modern legends and experts in international law and policy have, in this volume, shared their experiences and thoughts on how better to protect humanity in our time. In the book, we read the wise words of Nobel laureates and other envoys of peace, renowned international judges and famous scholars, as well as those of energetic younger minds with great promise." Link to publisher's web page for book