The Ethics of Representing Elected Representatives

Clark attempts to sketch out the work of several different types of legislative lawyers. He suggests that the role of lawyers who work for individual legislators may be similar to that of Executive Branch lawyers

AUTOMATED APPOINTMENT REMINDERS AND NO-SHOW RATES AT APPLETREE BAY PRIMARY CARE: A QUALITY ASSURANCE PROJECT

This quality assurance project is aimed to determine how effective a specific primary care office’s current method of reminding patients of scheduled appointments is in reducing the percentage of no-shows. The retrospective data gathered from a calendar month will be evaluated to determine what percentage of patients check-in when reminded with a telephone call. The estimated national no-show is between 23% and 34%. This project reveled a no-show rate of 3.7% at Appletree Bay Primary Care, This rate is important to the health and wellness of their patients. With additional research, the variables affecting this practice’s no-show rates may be exposed, which would provide an opportunity to share the effective methods with other primary care practices

Deliberation\u27s Demise: The Rise of One-Party Rule in the Senate

Much of the recent legal scholarship on the Senate expresses concern about gridlock, which was caused in part by the Senate’s supermajority requirement to pass legislation and confirm presidential nominees. This scholarship exalted the value of procedural changes permitting the majority party to push through legislation and confirmations, and failed to appreciate salutary aspects of the supermajority requirement: that it provided a key structural support for stability and balance in governance. The Senate changed its rules in order to address the problem of partisan gridlock, and now a party with a bare majority is able to force through much of its agenda. As a result, the minority party no longer plays its traditional and vital role in Senate deliberation. These rules changes—along with increased party polarization— have diminished the Senate’s traditional role as a centrist institution, and the nation is suffering from its loss. The Senate’s record in 2017 illustrates the danger of transforming from a deliberative institution to one where a party with a bare majority can force through contentious legislation on a straight party-line vote. This recent record may foreshadow even more extreme steps. This Article examines the “nuclear option,” which was employed to ram through the confirmation of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, and reconciliation, which was used to steamroll substantive legislation on tax cuts (successfully) and health care (almost). The Senate has lost its way as a deliberative institution and has come to resemble the House of Representatives. To regain its stature as a deliberative body, the Senate must revitalize the role of the minority party and stabilize its procedure

A New Era of Openness? : Disclosing Intelligence to Congress Under Obama

Part of Symposium: Presidential Power in the Obama Administration: Early Reflection

Consequences of Sexual Violence During Civil Conflicts for Post-Colonial Democratization

Countries face large obstacles in the post-civil conflict period, including democratization. The nature of the warfare during the civil conflict may have important implications for the prospects for future democratization. Specifically, the experience of sexual violence during civil conflicts may hinder democratization. I argue that countries that experience prevalent sexual violence during civil conflicts have lower chances for post-conflict democratization than those without. This occurs through the psychological consequences of sexual violence on victims and communities. Sexual violence negatively impacts victims, but it can also have more widespread negative consequences for society. Communities of the victims may collectively respond to wartime sexual violence in ways that can generate increased hostilities, decrease the chances of enemies reaching the cooperation needed for democratization. In this paper, I examine these political consequences with cross-national data of sexual violence in conflicts, and find results that show that increased prevalence of wartime sexual violence is related to lower levels of post-conflict democratization success

Government Lawyers and Confidentiality Norms

Part I of this Article outlines the lawyer’s confidentiality obligation, which is both strict and broad. One of the exceptions to that obligation, however, is that clients can consent to disclosure. Thus, Part II examines in some depth the identity of the government lawyer’s client, and concludes that no single definition of a client applies to all government lawyers. Instead, one must examine the structure of authority within the particular government context where the lawyer works. Only with such a contextualized and structural analysis can one properly identify the government lawyer’s client and the extent of the lawyer’s authority to make decisions on behalf of that client. In addition, Part II notes that certain government lawyers are authorized to make decisions that are normally in the hands of clients. Part III explains the specific ways in which government lawyers’ confidentiality obligations differ from those of private sector lawyers. First, policy concerns and specific whistleblowing protection laws suggest that government lawyers may disclose government wrongdoing. Second, as a substantive matter, government lawyers must be permitted to disclose information that is subject to mandatory disclosure under open government laws. Since this could result in a chaotic situation with each government lawyer applying her own conception of open government laws, this Article recommends that governments adopt a set of procedures that lawyers can use to get approval of such disclosures. To that end, Part III sets out the substantive standard for the government lawyer’s confidentiality obligation. Part IV recommends the adoption of specific procedures so that government lawyers can make these disclosures in an orderly fashion, providing their clients with advance notice and protecting legitimate government interests