416 research outputs found
Parties in Israel: Between Law and Politics
The decline in prestige and influence of the political parties in Israel, particularly the larger parties, has become a source of distress for many in Israel. Similarly, in the United States, where the significance of parties is also recognized, many have shown concern for weakening of the dominant political parties. In the American system where politics are ruled by two strong national parties, one of the most common concerns is aimed at the potential possible damage to smaller parties and independent candidates. But, in Israeli, the nature of politics is becoming increasingly sectoral, personal, superficial and populist. As is often characteristic of public discourse in Israel, many have reacted by holding the legal system responsible for this phenomenon. This essay examines this contention by comparing Israeli and American law. On a more general level, it considers the complex relationships between the law of a given country and the style and quality of its politics
The Relevance of the Judicial Activism vs. Judicial Restraint Discourse
This article was presented at the 2011 Symposium honoring Aharon Barak
The Judicial Discretion of Justice Aharon Barak
This paper was presented at the 2011 Legal Scholarship Symposium
Views on Prostitution
The Essay argues that both law and art represent deeply-rooted cultural ambivalences and ethical incoherence towards prostitution. The choice of Picasso\u27s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon as representative of this tension stems from the sui-generis status of the painting in the history of modern art—as an avant-garde which later became a canon. Of the various views evoked by the painting, four are especially prominent: a moralizing, a normalizing, a victimizing and a patheticizing view. The examination of various Western prostitution laws shows that each of the laws simultaneously expresses different perceptions and ideologies about prostitution, much like the views evoked by the painting. It appears that law is unable to avoid the cultural incongruity linked to prostitution, which is apparent even in countries that allegedly declare unambiguous standing towards it
The human 'pitch center' responds differently to iterated noise and Huggins pitch
A magnetoencephalographic marker for pitch analysis (the pitch onset response) has been reported for different types of pitch-evoking stimuli, irrespective of whether the acoustic cues for pitch are monaurally or binaurally produced. It is claimed that the pitch onset response reflects a common cortical representation for pitch, putatively in lateral Heschl's gyrus. The result of this functional MRI study sheds doubt on this assertion. We report a direct comparison between iterated ripple noise and Huggins pitch in which we reveal a different pattern of auditory cortical activation associated with each pitch stimulus, even when individual variability in structure-function relations is accounted for. Our results suggest it may be premature to assume that lateral Heschl's gyrus is a universal pitch center
The Roberts Court, State Courts, and State Constitutions: Judicial Role Shopping
In this Article we reveal a dual dilemma, both material and institutional, that the Supreme Court in its current composition faces when reviewing liberal state court decisions based on the state constitution. The Article further describes substantive and procedural tactics that the Court adopts to address this dilemma, and illustrates the arguments by analyzing a number of recent Supreme Court decisions. The two dilemmas, the combination of which serve as a “power multiplier,” of sorts, have arisen following the last three appointments to the Supreme Court, which resulted in a solid majority of conservative Justices nominated by Republican presidents. One dilemma, material in nature, that the Roberts Court faces, is between the federalist component of the conservative legal worldview, that requires federal courts to defer to state courts’ rulings based on state constitutions, and its non-liberal component, based on conservative values. The second dilemma, institutional in nature, stems from the Roberts Court’s legitimacy deficit among substantial sections of the American public, mainly supporters of the Democratic Party, which has increased as a result of the three recent appointments. The legitimacy deficit may make it difficult for conservative Justices to fully implement their judicial philosophy. We further argue that the emerging ambivalence of the Roberts Court, which is a consequence of the combination of these two dilemmas, is manifested, in addition to general avoidance doctrines and the specific state ground doctrine, also in two types of judicial tactics, substantive (such as seeking judicial compromise in order to reach a broad common denominator among the Justices) and procedural (such as encouraging other branches to carry out their obligations until the dispute is reasonably resolved), that the Court adopts in coping with liberal state court decisions based on the state constitution. In the last Part of the Article we illustrate our contentions by analyzing three recent Supreme Court decisions: Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission (2018), Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue (2020) following Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer (2017), and Republican Party of Pennsylvania v. Boockvar (2020)
The Supreme Court as a Babysitter: Modeling Zubik v. Burwell and Trump v. International Refugee Assistance Project Rights
Article published in the Michigan State Law Review
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Loss of α-Synuclein Does Not Affect Mitochondrial Bioenergetics in Rodent Neurons.
Increased α-synuclein (αsyn) and mitochondrial dysfunction play central roles in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD), and lowering αsyn is under intensive investigation as a therapeutic strategy for PD. Increased αsyn levels disrupt mitochondria and impair respiration, while reduced αsyn protects against mitochondrial toxins, suggesting that interactions between αsyn and mitochondria influences the pathologic and physiologic functions of αsyn. However, we do not know if αsyn affects normal mitochondrial function or if lowering αsyn levels impacts bioenergetic function, especially at the nerve terminal where αsyn is enriched. To determine if αsyn is required for normal mitochondrial function in neurons, we comprehensively evaluated how lowering αsyn affects mitochondrial function. We found that αsyn knockout (KO) does not affect the respiration of cultured hippocampal neurons or cortical and dopaminergic synaptosomes, and that neither loss of αsyn nor all three (α, β and γ) syn isoforms decreased mitochondria-derived ATP levels at the synapse. Similarly, neither αsyn KO nor knockdown altered the capacity of synaptic mitochondria to meet the energy requirements of synaptic vesicle cycling or influenced the localization of mitochondria to dopamine (DA) synapses in vivo. Finally, αsyn KO did not affect overall energy metabolism in mice assessed with a Comprehensive Lab Animal Monitoring System. These studies suggest either that αsyn has little or no significant physiological effect on mitochondrial bioenergetic function, or that any such functions are fully compensated for when lost. These results implicate that αsyn levels can be reduced in neurons without impairing (or improving) mitochondrial bioenergetics or distribution
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