Advocating for Equality: Restoring Same-Sex Marriage Recognition in Bermuda

In May 2017, Bermuda made significant strides towards marriage equality by legalizing same-sex marriage. Following the general elections in mid-2017, Bermuda’s newly elected PLP (Progressive Labour Party) government enacted legislation in December 2017 to replace same-sex marriage with domestic partnerships. This article suggests arguments that may be used to challenge the revocation of same-sex marriage rights in Bermuda

Compensation Under the Microscope: What Has Gone Wrong with Oregon\u27s Wrongful Compensation Statute?

Oregon’s legislature passed one of the country’s most recent wrongful conviction compensation statutes in 2022. Not surprisingly, it borrows statutory structure and language from existing statutes that follow a litigation model in which a plaintiff files a claim for compensation in court and a judge (or jury) decides the case. In the nearly two and half years since passage, only three Oregon exonerees, of 27 listed on the National Registry of Exonerations who are potentially eligible, have received compensation, and two of those were compensated by settlement before even filing a complaint. The storyline of the Oregon statute is one of promise and disappointment.1 The compensation bill was introduced by a Republican lawmaker, Rep. Kim Thatcher, after talking to her handyman, John Loveless, an exoneree. It passed and was signed into law quite quickly. But, since then, advocates for the exonerated have complained that the Oregon Attorney General’s Office appears to be fighting most of these cases. This seems unfair to them because the plaintiffs have already obtained court orders setting aside their convictions. Rep. Thatcher was quoted saying, “That was not the intention. There was no intention to have to have a court battle.”2 This article examines the Oregon statute. We see that there are none of the unusual barriers to compensation that are sometimes found in other state statutes. We show the numbers of claims filed and what has happened to them. Ultimately, though, no one should be surprised about what is going on in Oregon. So long as statutes of this sort require plaintiffs or claimants to bear the burden of demonstrating their innocence of the crimes for which their convictions have been reversed or vacated, and the order vacating the conviction does not rest on a finding of innocence, the government can be expected to defend these cases vigorously

Trade Law Policing on the Factory Floor: Next Generation Agreements and Their Corporate Accountability Tools

Trade policymakers\u27 increased attention to sustainability has prompted the development of trade tools focused on corporate accountability within international trade agreements. As evidenced by the creation and use of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement\u27s Rapid Response Labor Mechanism, this institutional shift has potent implications for labour rights and environmental protections. This article, which transcribes a lecture delivered at the Lauterpacht Centre in October 2023, scrutinises the turn toward supply-chain policing within international trade law and its institutional, legal, sociological, rhetorical and disciplinary effects

Effectiveness of Technology Access and Use to Mitigate Social Isolation of Seniors in Monterey County, CA

The Centers for Disease Control identifies isolation and loneliness as severe public health risks that affect older adults and increase their risk of chronic health conditions (Loneliness and Social Isolation Linked to Serious Health Conditions, 2021). In Monterey County, 39% of seniors experienced isolation or loneliness in the past year (Polco, 2023). This mixed-methods research study explores the impact of technology use on mitigating loneliness, enhancing information access, and stimulating mental activity among seniors (O\u27Sullivan et al., 2017). With survey data from 95 seniors and ten 1-on-1 interviews, findings show positive effects on social well-being (85%) and a high likelihood of recommending technology to others (96%). Challenges like poor internet connectivity were reported by 24% of respondents. Recommendations include addressing connectivity issues, enhancing data literacy and cybersecurity awareness training, and providing technical support. Effectively implementing and using technology can significantly reduce social isolation and improve overall well-being among seniors, urging further research to address connectivity issues. The results could inform decision-makers on prioritizing funding for the aging population and combating isolation and loneliness

Modular Bankruptcy: Toward a Consumer Scheme of Arrangement

In the world of cross-border corporate insolvency, those in the know are familiar with the increasingly popular scheme of arrangement, the British quasi-reorganization procedure that allows a company to restructure some, but not all, of its debt. The typical scheme effects a corporate balance sheet reshuffling by supermajoritarian approval (and judicial sanction ) but often leaves other debt, such as the trade, untouched. A key conceptual component of the scheme mechanism is its intentional modularity, called by some its selectivity. It does not require a comprehensive reckoning of all claims against a given debtor, only some. The scheme has proved popular-so popular, in fact, that corporate bankruptcy market share-grabber Singapore introduced scheme-like procedures in its most recent overhaul of its insolvency system. Indeed, some wags have pronounced it the Decline and Fall of Chapter 11

The Loan Market Response to Dropdown and Uptier Transactions

Two innovative methods of subordinating first-lien lenders to newly issued debt—so-called dropdown and uptier transactions—have become important options when a restructuring looms. We weigh concerns about borrowers’ power and the loan market’s capacity to produce efficient contracts by examining the extent to which the terms of newly originated loans changed after two salient transactions: J. Crew’s dropdown, in 2016, and Serta Simmons’s uptier, in 2020. Our primary result is a contrast. Loans originated after the Serta transaction became much more likely to block uptier transactions, which suggests that loan contracts can adjust rapidly to curtail borrowers’ flexibility. Conversely, the frequency of loans susceptible to a dropdown transaction changed little after the J. Crew transaction, which suggests that giving borrowers flexibility to repledge collateral may be valuable. In a range of loans, the optimal contract may permit borrowers to subordinate lenders by one means but not the other