The Two Faces of Bribery: International Corruption Pathways Meet Conflicting Legislative Regimes

Suppose a government agency tasks its purchasing agent with buying a set of computer servers for the agency’s use, and the agent contacts a technology company to make the purchase. After selecting the needed servers, the agent learns of the servers’ fair market value but does not negotiate with the technology company to obtain the lowest possible price. Instead, unbeknownst to the government, the agent agrees with the technology company’s sales manager to purchase the servers on behalf of the government for an amount significantly above their fair market value, and, in return, the company agrees to give the agent a hefty side payment for inflating the company’s profits. In this scenario, the technology company gives a side payment to the purchasing agent to influence the agent’s official act–purchasing the servers for the government. Their agreement fits the classic definition of public sector bribery, a crime outlawed in virtually every jurisdiction in the world. Both parties could face heavy prison sentences and fines for engaging in this corrupt act

Documenting Death: Public Access to Government Death Records and Attendant Privacy Concerns

This Article examines the contentious relationship between public rights to access government-held death records and privacy rights concerning the deceased, whose personal information is contained in those same records. This right of access dispute implicates core democratic principles and public policy interests. Open access to death records, such as death certificates and autopsy reports, serves the public interest by shedding light on government agency performance, uncovering potential government wrongdoing, providing data on public health trends, and aiding those investigating family history, for instance. Families of the deceased have challenged the release of these records on privacy grounds, as the records may contain sensitive and embarrassing information about the deceased. Legislatures and the courts addressing this dispute have collectively struggled to reconcile the competing open access and privacy principles. The Article demonstrates how a substantial portion of the resulting law in this area is haphazardly formed, significantly overbroad, and loaded with unintended consequences. The Article offers legal reforms to bring consistency and coherence to this currently disordered area of jurisprudence

The Two Faces of Bribery: International Corruption Pathways Meet Conflicting Legislative Regimes

Suppose a government agency tasks its purchasing agent with buying a set of computer servers for the agency’s use, and the agent contacts a technology company to make the purchase. After selecting the needed servers, the agent learns of the servers’ fair market value but does not negotiate with the technology company to obtain the lowest possible price. Instead, unbeknownst to the government, the agent agrees with the technology company’s sales manager to purchase the servers on behalf of the government for an amount significantly above their fair market value, and, in return, the company agrees to give the agent a hefty side payment for inflating the company’s profits. In this scenario, the technology company gives a side payment to the purchasing agent to influence the agent’s official act–purchasing the servers for the government. Their agreement fits the classic definition of public sector bribery, a crime outlawed in virtually every jurisdiction in the world. Both parties could face heavy prison sentences and fines for engaging in this corrupt act

Documenting Death: Public Access to Government Death Records and Attendant Privacy Concerns

This Article examines the contentious relationship between public rights to access government-held death records and privacy rights concerning the deceased, whose personal information is contained in those same records. This right of access dispute implicates core democratic principles and public policy interests. Open access to death records, such as death certificates and autopsy reports, serves the public interest by shedding light on government agency performance, uncovering potential government wrongdoing, providing data on public health trends, and aiding those investigating family history, for instance. Families of the deceased have challenged the release of these records on privacy grounds, as the records may contain sensitive and embarrassing information about the deceased. Legislatures and the courts addressing this dispute have collectively struggled to reconcile the competing open access and privacy principles. The Article demonstrates how a substantial portion of the resulting law in this area is haphazardly formed, significantly overbroad, and loaded with unintended consequences. The Article offers legal reforms to bring consistency and coherence to this currently disordered area of jurisprudence

Easing the Tension Between Statutes of Limitations and the Continuing Offense Doctrine

This Article is the first to analyze comprehensively the relationship between the continuing offense doctrine and criminal statutes of limitations. The continuing offense doctrine is a powerful tool for prosecutors who face statute of limitations challenges. It functions to delay the running of statutes of limitations for certain crimes by postponing the completion of those crimes. In order to trigger the operation of the doctrine, a court must conclude that a particular crime is a “continuing offense” for statute of limitations purposes. Identifying what crimes are continuing offenses has been a problematic exercise for federal courts, leading to a growing number of conflicting approaches and circuit splits. Moreover, courts are employing the continuing offense doctrine with increasing frequency, subjecting otherwise time-barred conduct to prosecution and boosting the risk of violation of the rights of the defendant, such as prosecution based upon stale evidence. This Article examines the shortcomings of the continuing offense doctrine and its potential for misuse in the statute of limitations context, and provides solutions to reform the doctrine and restore order in what has become a chaotic area of jurisprudence

Documenting Death: Public Access to Government Death Records and Attendant Privacy Concerns

This Article examines the contentious relationship between public rights to access government-held death records and privacy rights concerning the deceased, whose personal information is contained in those same records. This right of access dispute implicates core democratic principles and public policy interests. Open access to death records, such as death certificates and autopsy reports, serves the public interest by shedding light on government agency performance, uncovering potential government wrongdoing, providing data on public health trends, and aiding those investigating family history, for instance. Families of the deceased have challenged the release of these records on privacy grounds, as the records may contain sensitive and embarrassing information about the deceased. Legislatures and the courts addressing this dispute have collectively struggled to reconcile the competing open access and privacy principles. The Article demonstrates how a substantial portion of the resulting law in this area is haphazardly formed, significantly overbroad, and loaded with unintended consequences. The Article offers legal reforms to bring consistency and coherence to this currently disordered area of jurisprudence

Whistleblowing in the Compliance Era

International events over the last year have propelled theimportance of whistleblowers to the forefront. It is increasinglyevident that whistleblowers provide immense value to society.Yet, for years, whistleblowers have been victims of retaliation,commonly experiencing threats, discrimination, andemployment termination due to their reporting. Against thebackdrop of a society heavily defined by compliance-focusedinitiatives—where organizations and industries constructrobust compliance programs, internal policies, and codes ofconduct—this Article highlights a significant gap in legalprotections for would-be whistleblowers. While complianceinitiatives demonstrate that active self-regulation isincreasingly a staple of organizational governance, this Articlepinpoints the problems that arise when such initiatives extendbeyond applicable legal thresholds for retaliation protection.This over-extension leaves vulnerable employees and potentialwhistleblowers without legal recourse following adverseemployment actions, even if they comply with their employers’ internal policies and compliance programs. We examine thisgap in legal protections in the context of compliance initiativesin three domains: equal employment opportunity and sexualharassment; securities fraud; and anti-corruption. We thencompare these initiatives with the legal and regulatorycompliance postures under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of1964, the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and ConsumerProtection Act, and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act,respectively, to illustrate how most compliance initiatives failto mirror the retaliation protections under those statutes. Toremedy this gap in protections, we propose complementarysolutions under contract and tort law frameworks, coupledwith soft law initiatives

Early role of vascular dysregulation on late-onset Alzheimer's disease based on multifactorial data-driven analysis

Multifactorial mechanisms underlying late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD) are poorly characterized from an integrative perspective. Here spatiotemporal alterations in brain amyloid-β deposition, metabolism, vascular, functional activity at rest, structural properties, cognitive integrity and peripheral proteins levels are characterized in relation to LOAD progression. We analyse over 7,700 brain images and tens of plasma and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI). Through a multifactorial data-driven analysis, we obtain dynamic LOAD–abnormality indices for all biomarkers, and a tentative temporal ordering of disease progression. Imaging results suggest that intra-brain vascular dysregulation is an early pathological event during disease development. Cognitive decline is noticeable from initial LOAD stages, suggesting early memory deficit associated with the primary disease factors. High abnormality levels are also observed for specific proteins associated with the vascular system's integrity. Although still subjected to the sensitivity of the algorithms and biomarkers employed, our results might contribute to the development of preventive therapeutic interventions