Statutory Requirements for Artificial Insemination: A Sperm Donor's Fight to Let Go of His Rights

In 2009, an auto-mechanic from Topeka, Kansas by the name of William Marotta answered a Craigslist ad posted by Angela Bauer and Jennifer Schreiner, a lesbian couple seeking a private sperm donor for artificial insemination.

Mastering the Chargemaster: Minimizing Price-Gouging and Exposing the Structural Flaws in the Healthcare "Market"

In his seminal article, Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us,1 Steven Brill recounts stories of Americans of modest to comfortable means, whose lives were turned upside-down, not just by tragic illness; but, by the cost of the cure.

Front Matter

The Pittsburgh Journal of Environmental and Public Health Law (PJEPHL) is published annually by the University Library System, University of Pittsburgh under the editorial control of students of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, 3900 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15260. PJEPHL can be contacted by email at [email protected]. PJEPHL is freely available to readers worldwide at http://pjephl.law.pitt.edu. PJEPHL is printed by Western Newspaper Publishing Co., Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana. Copyright for each work contained in this issue is retained by the author and under a Creative Commons Attribution- Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Cloud Computing and the NSA: The Carbon Footprint of the Secret Servers

Edward Snowden took the world by storm when he exposed the data collection practices of the National Security Agency, known to many as the NSA. Much ink has been spilled on the constitutionality of such practices and the scope of its surveillance yet the cloud computing that facilitates such surveillance often goes unmentioned, if not unnoticed.

Regulators Throughout American History Have Been Reluctant To Regulate Cigars And The FDA Still Is Today, But Why?

In this article I explore the history of cigar regulation, going back to colonial times, yet focusing on the current regulatory climate. I review the different regulations imposed on tobacco products throughout American history, concluding that government regulators were never particularly serious about regulating tobacco products until the release of the 1964 Surgeon General’s Report on Smoking and Health.  However, I point out that this Report was so obsessed with the health hazards of cigarettes that it actually had the unintended consequence of promoting In the long run the increased consumption of cigars. Today, health organizations show intense frustration with the FDA’s current refusal to regulate cigars, even though the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act gave the FDA regulatory jurisdiction over cigars. But applying a totality of circumstances test, looking at the politics, economics, and even the lack of enough credible health studies on cigars, I conclude, somewhat surprisingly, that there are very good reasons why the FDA should probably not at this time jump into the regulatory arena and impose the same sort of tough regulations on cigars as imposed on cigarettes

Collaborative Law in Pennsylvania and the Frozen Embryo Debate

No Abstrac

Collaborative Law in Pennsylvania and the Frozen Embryo Debate

No Abstrac

Front Matter

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On a Common Road Towards Sustainable Biofuels? EU and U.S. Approaches to Regulating Biofuels

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Does Unconventional Gas Require Unconventional Ownership? An Analysis of the Functionality of Ownership Frameworks for Unconventional Gas Development

The implementation of a responsive and coherent property framework, capable of effectively supporting the progression of a rapidly expanding unconventional gas industry is proving to be a complex and intricate process for many countries. The theory of mineral ownership that underpins any regulatory framework represents its point of departure. It is increasingly clear that the problems associated with the expansion of unconventional gas development have challenged both private and state based models. This article examines how the core principles that form the foundation for land and mineral ownership in both the United States and Australia have responded to the rapid expansion of the unconventional gas industry. The conventional inertia associated with institutionalized property frameworks has meant that the frameworks are largely resistant to external change. Hence, whilst the transformation that has occurred in the energy industries following the advent of unconventional gas development has been remarkable, ownership frameworks have struggled to cope. Many principles that evolved in a period when unconventional gas was inconceivable are now proving ill-equipped and non-responsive to the new energy environment. This Article argues that the stasis that afflicts ownership frameworks has precluded many of the conventional principles from adapting to meet the needs of this new energy revolution. This has generated an increasing imperative, in both the United States and Australia, to develop and implement legislative initiatives that revise or alter the way in which the schema of orthodox ownership principles applies to unconventional gas. Focused legislative development will promote adaptable, consistent, and structured principles, which in turn will allow ownership frameworks to respond to the operational demands of a new energy era.