Private Securities Litigation Reform Failure: How Scienter Has Prevented The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 from Achieving Its Goals

This Comment advocates a purposivist reading of the scienter requirement in private securities litigation. Section II.A of this comment provides an overview of securities litigation and the relevant laws, including the PSLRA. Section II.B illustrates how the core provisions of the PSLRA advantage defendants by comparing the core provisions of the Act to the law as it stood before the PSLRA and to other alternatives available to Congress. Section II.C describes the importance of purposivism in interpreting securities laws. Section II.C concludes that any reading of the ambiguous scienter requirement that favors securities litigation plaintiffs is inconsistent with the crux of the Act and the policy of federal securities laws. Section III.A describes the pre-PSLRA circuit split, whereas Section III.B describes the post-PSLRA circuit split and describes why the Ninth Circuit\u27s interpretation of scienter is the sole interpretation that is consistent with the crux of the Act. Section IV concludes with a recommendation that the United States Supreme Court grant certiorari and adopt the Ninth Circuit\u27s articulated scienter requirement should the issue present itself for appellate review

In Re Blair Misses the Mark: An Alternative Interpretation of the BAPCPA\u27s Homestead Exemption

Bankruptcy law is wrought with compelling policy tensions, which legislators, judges, and academics must constantly balance. Bankruptcy law seeks to foster a fresh start and promote the rehabilitation of distressed debtors discharged from bankruptcy, while simultaneously ensuring that creditors receive repayment of debts owed to them by debtors. When bankruptcy law focuses too heavily on paternalistic goals providing a fresh start to debtors and fostering debtor rehabilitation both creditors and consumers suffer financially. Every dollar that remains with the debtor in furtherance of a fresh start is a dollar removed from the bankruptcy estate, and thus, a dollar that cannot go to repayment of debt. This Note addresses this central policy tension as it relates to the revised homestead exemption under the BAPCPA