Current

On November 18, 2010, Anna Jaques Hospital in Newburyport, Massachusetts revealed its new hiring policy. Under the policy, the hospital will not hire any prospective employees who test positive for nicotine. Anna Jaques Hospital’s policy is part of a national trend among private employers that have instituted tobacco-free employment policies and tobacco surcharges on health insurance. Many employers have gone even further, instituting policies that target not only potential employees, but also current employees, who must attempt to quit using tobacco or face termination. . . .  

In the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the protection of U.S. national security became the impetus for far-reaching legal action. In response to recent U.S. national security measures, legal scholarship has continuously examined the use of military force, and the legal justifications and constraints surrounding such action. One particular area of this debate focuses on the controversial use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, and the legality of carrying out UAV-targeted strikes against alleged members of Al Qaeda throughout the Middle East and Asia-Pacific regions. . . .  

In early labor and employment law history, employers enjoyed unfettered power under the at-will employment doctrine, which allowed employees to be terminated for any reason, so long as they were not hired for a fixed term. Seeking to remedy the harsh conditions imposed on working men, Congress altered the employment dynamics by equalizing the previously employer dominated at-will employment relationship. Congress enacted the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to safeguard employee rights and prevent abuse by employers who enjoyed greater bargaining power. Considered the heart of the NLRA, section 7 codifies the protections guaranteed to private sector employees—including the right to engage in protected concerted activity. Congress simultaneously created the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to ensure proper administration and [...]

Modern concepts of property ownership are deeply rooted in centuries of Anglo-American jurisprudence. The earliest form of concurrent property ownership—joint tenancy—dates back to the early thirteenth century; from the first references, joint tenancy included the hallmarks of the modern estate: undivided interest in the entire estate and the right of survivorship. By the fourteenth century, English law recognized that husbands and wives could hold property in a special manner—distinct from a joint tenancy—while still including the right of survivorship and an undivided interest in the whole. . . .  

Congress passed the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) in 1995. Since that time, no provision of the PLRA has created more confusion than the limitation-on-recovery provision, or § 1997e(e), commonly referred to as the “physical-injury requirement.” The provision reads: “No Federal civil action may be brought by a prisoner confined in a jail, prison, or other correctional facility, for mental or emotional injury suffered while in custody without a prior showing of physical injury.” Because the statute itself does not define physical injury, the provision leaves the task of defining the phrase to the courts. . . .