Misapplication of the Sliding Scale or a Nod to Arbitration Agreements?

The Eleventh Circuit’s recent decision in Lambert v. Signature Healthcare LLC. (11th Cir. July 8, 2022), pushes the limit in upholding arbitration clauses in contracts. In June 2012, Claire Lambert was 57 years old and was unemployed for approximately six months before accepting a position at Signature Healthcare, LLC (“Signature”). As a condition of her employment with Signature, Lambert signed an arbitration agreement that covered claims relating to recruitment, employment, or termination of employment. Lambert also signed an acknowledgment that she had received Signature’s employee handbook. The handbook acknowledgment stated that Signature may unilaterally change or discontinue any policy in the stakeholder’s handbook. This post was originally published on the Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution website on November 4, 2022. The original post can be accessed via the Archived Link button above

The Socialization of Elite Blind Athletes into Sport

The purpose of this study was threefold: (1) to gather information about how athletes with sensory impairments are socialized into sport, (2) to why they continue to participate and compete, (3) to what barriers, if any, they faced due to their blindness or visual impairment. Interview data were gathered from 32 elite athletes (22 males and 10 females) who competed in the 3rd Pan Am Games for the Blind. Pa1ticipants ranged in age from 17-50 (M=27.5 years). Under the classification system used by the ISBA, 1 2 of the participants were classified B1, 7 were classified B2, and 13 were classified B3. The interview protocol included open and closed-ended questions about personal attributes, socializing agents, socializing situations and barriers they faced and are currently confronted with. The participants became involved in sports between the ages of 7 and 36 (M=16.6 years). Over 80% of the participants attended public schools (K-12) with inclusive physical education classes. The other 20% either attended a segregated school for the blind or both types of schools. Results indicated family as the most important socializing agent during childhood, friends during adolescence, and the athletes themselves and coaches’ currently. These results are consistent with other developmental research studies. During all three stages examined (childhood, adolescence, and present), mothers were more influential than any other agent regardless of the participant’s gender. The three major barriers when the participants first began playing sports were perceived perceptions of others, transportation, and lack of confidence. Currently, the barriers are cost of participation, lack of participants, and perceived perceptions of others

The long run—what we know after three years under MPRA

A review of the three years since the passage of the Multiemployer Pension Protection Act of 2014.Accepted manuscrip

Adjudicated Juveniles and Post-Conviction Litigation

Post-conviction relief is a vital part of the American justice system. By filing post-conviction petitions after the close of direct appeal, defendants can raise claims based on evidence outside the record that was not known or available at the time of trial. One common use of post-conviction relief is to file a claim related to a previously unknown constitutional violation that occurred at trial, such as ineffective assistance of counsel. If a defendant\u27s trial attorney performed ineffectively by failing to call, for instance, an alibi witness, then that omission is unlikely to be reflected in the trial record -- but in post-conviction proceedings, the defendant may seek to expand the record to include evidence of such ineffectiveness. If a court sitting in post-conviction hears that evidence and sides with the defendant, the usual remedy is to grant a new trial. Without access to the opportunities to supplement the record that are afforded by post-conviction proceedings, however, a defendant who suffers ineffective assistance of counsel often has no opportunity for relief. Post-conviction proceedings are also often used to raise newly discovered evidence of innocence. This use of post-conviction proceedings, in particular, has met with much success, especially since the development of DNA technology has enabled attorneys to subject trial evidence to scientific testing and to introduce those test results post-conviction as newly discovered evidence of innocence. To date, 289 individuals have been exonerated by DNA testing, almost all of it conducted through the vehicle of post-conviction proceedings. Each of these individuals stands as living proof of the fact that access to post-conviction relief is an essential part of a justice-seeking judicial system. This article examines the troubling disparities in access to post-conviction relief between adults and juveniles that appear to occur in many jurisdictions. Some states explicitly make post-conviction relief unavailable to defendants who are tried as juveniles while granting such access to adults. In many other states, legislatures have drafted laws governing the availability of post-conviction proceedings that are vague and ambiguous, leading to uncertainty about whether juvenile defendants may take advantage of such proceedings. This disparity exists despite the fact that those tried in juvenile court need access to post-conviction remedies just as much as those tried in adult court

Convenient Scapegoats: Juvenile Confessions and Exculpatory DNA in Cook County, IL

In the Winter of 2011-2012, in two different cases known as the Dixmoor Five and the Englewood Four, nine men were exonerated of rapes and murders based on exculpatory post-conviction DNA testing. Seven of these nine men actually confessed to the crime. This article explores these two cases and how the Cook County law enforcement agencies, including the State\u27s Attorney\u27s Office, dealt with the powerful new DNA results

Convenient Scapegoats: Juvenile Confessions and Exculpatory DNA in Cook County, IL

In the Winter of 2011-2012, in two different cases known as the Dixmoor Five and the Englewood Four, nine men were exonerated of rapes and murders based on exculpatory post-conviction DNA testing. Seven of these nine men actually confessed to the crime. This article explores these two cases and how the Cook County law enforcement agencies, including the State\u27s Attorney\u27s Office, dealt with the powerful new DNA results