The Rise of Apps Culture

Based on surveys, analyzes trends in adults' use of mobile software applications, including popular types of apps, number, frequency of use, source, and prevalence compared with other cell phone uses, by age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, and income

Hearing the Call: Liturgy, Justice, Church, and World (Book Review)

Reviewed Title: Wolterstorff, Nicholas. Hearing the Call: Liturgy, Justice, Church, and World. Eds. Mark R. Gornik and Gregory Thompson. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2011. 440 pages. ISBN 978-0-8028-6525-0

Real Sex: The Naked Truth About Chastity (Book Review)

Reviewed Title: Winner, Lauren F. Real Sex: The Naked Truth about Chastity. Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2005. 175 pp. ISBN 9781587431975

Compensation for Non-Economic Loss, the Tort-Liability Insurance System, and the 21st Century

Les indemnités pour préjudice moral ont connu une hausse exponentielle aux États-Unis depuis la reconnaissance de ce préjudice il y a environ 150 ans. Les tribunaux ont non seulement étendu les cas où de tels montants peuvent être réclamés, mais ils ont également élargi la définition des notions de « souffrances et douleurs ». Cette évolution s'explique en partie par l'organisation du système judiciaire après la Révolution américaine, par le rôle joué en ce domaine par les avocats et par le niveau de richesse du pays. En conséquence, les indemnités pour préjudice moral ont pris une place de plus en plus importante en droit américain, place qui n'augure rien de bon quant aux chances de voir adopter des régimes d'assurance automobile sans égard à la responsabilité qui réduiraient ces indemnités. Le présent texte donne un aperçu des facteurs qui ont historiquement influé sur le droit de l'assurance responsabilité aux États-Unis et résume les développements plus récents en matière de compensation du préjudice moral. L'auteur s'interroge ensuite sur les possibilités d'adoption d'une loi fédérale présentement à l'étude devant le Congrès américain, loi qui accorde aux victimes de la route le droit d'être indemnisées sans égard à la responsabilité, en échange d'une renonciation préalable au droit de réclamer une indemnité pour préjudice moral. Finalement, l'auteur met de l'avant des propositions de réforme envisageables en matière de responsabilité civile aux États-Unis, à l'aube du 21e siècle.Tort awards for non-economic loss have grown in an almost geometric progression in the United States since first recognized nearly 150 years ago. Not only have courts constantly expanded the areas in which claimants are permitted to recover pain and suffering awards, but at the same time they have liberalized the definition of pain and suffering itself This may be traced in part from the way the judicial system was designed after the American Revolution, the role of lawyers in the system, and the affluence of the country. Consequently, awards for non-economic loss have taken on ever increasing importance, an importance that does not bode well for the prospects for future adoptions of no-fault auto insurance plans that would curtail such recoveries. This article sketches historical influences on the tort-liability insurance system and summarizes modern developments in the law of damages for non-economic loss in the United States. It then raises questions regarding the prospects for adoption of the federal Choice No-Fault Auto Reform Act now pending in the U.S. Congress, a plan that would offer auto accident victims the choice of being compensated on a no-fault basis, while waiving their right to recover for pain and suffering. It concludes by offering a possible scenario of how future efforts to reform the tort-liability system in the United States may occur as we move into the 21st century

The Tort of Bad Faith in First-Party Insurance Transactions: Refining the Standard of Culpability and Reformulating the Remedies by Statute

This Article explores the common-law and statutory background of the tort of bad faith in first-party insurance situations analyzes the varying standards of culpability that have been developed by the courts and suggests a uniform statutory solution to the problems created by the varying standards. The statute also tailors the remedies more closely to the particular type of insurer wrongdoing. The proposed remedies recognize the dual nature of the insurer-insured relationship, that is, one based upon contract and tort concepts. Such a statute would eliminate many of the ambiguities and other deficiencies in the common law of those states that already have adopted the new tort. In addition, the proposed statutory solution would provide clear guidelines to those states where the courts so far have refused to adopt the new tort or have not faced all of the issues

David Dow—Teacher

A tribute upon his retirement to David Dow, professor and dean of the University of Nebraska College of Law, for thirty-two years of service