In this section we present three distinct perspectives on the critical issue of the consumer repr... more In this section we present three distinct perspectives on the critical issue of the consumer representation in government and quasigovernment agencies. Silber looks at the historical development of the concept, analyzing the roots of today's limited formal participation of individuals labeled consumer representatives. The insights of Reverby and Cude demonstrate the diverse aud at times conflicting roles contemporary consumer representatives play. We welcome your contributions to this discussion, which may be published in subsequent issues of ACI.
An increasing number of industrial polluters have taken advantage of protective features of the F... more An increasing number of industrial polluters have taken advantage of protective features of the Federal Bankruptcy Code' to avoid compliance with environmental injunctions, and thus have undermined the enforcement of environmental laws designed to protect the public from toxic wastes. Two provisions of the Code are at issue: section 362,2 which stays judicial proceedings against a party that files a bankruptcy petition; and section 554,3 which allows a trustee to abandon burdensome property. The lower courts have struggled, with little success, to find allowable limits to the protection afforded by these statutory provisions. Both provisions have come to the attention of the Supreme Court. Recently, in Ohio v. Kovacs, the Supreme Court considered whether an environmental injunction that had been stayed through the automatic stay could be discharged in bankruptcy. In the coming term, the Supreme Court will review In re Quanta Resources Corp.,5 which involves the propriety of qualifying the privilege of abandonment to protect the public interest. This Note examines the issues raised by these cases, and proposes a legislative solution to the problems encountered when industrial polluters go into bankruptcy. Part I examines case law concerned with sections 362 and 554, and proceeds to analyze the Kovacs decision. Part II confronts the issues surrounding section 554 as they have been raised in the Quanta case. Arguing that Kovacs did not resolve problems related to section 362, and that the disallowance of abandonment would be inconsistent with the language and purpose of section 554, the Note concludes that congressional amendment of the bankruptcy law is necessary. Part III therefore proposes an interrelated set of changes to sections 554(a), 6 523(a), 7 and 5078 of the Code in order to close loopholes, deter irre- 1985]
Social welfare organizations are prohibited from channeling foreign contributions to favored poli... more Social welfare organizations are prohibited from channeling foreign contributions to favored political candidates. Prospects for enforcing this prohibition, however, are uncertain. Do federal election laws or tax laws provide effective tools? Are state authorities equipped to hold a nonprofit culpable as an entity, or to hold a manager or board member responsible? These questions are important to understand whether the existing rules safeguard the nonprofit community and the fairness of elections. This Essay concludes that federal tax and election rules are likely to be less effective than the authority vested with state attorneys general to monitor and hold accountable nonprofits and their officers and directors who become vehicles for foreign interference in national elections.
Why investigate a 3 volume, 68 chapter, 3,314 page reference set that contains a small mountain o... more Why investigate a 3 volume, 68 chapter, 3,314 page reference set that contains a small mountain of information and advice written by 94 leading practitioners and judges?' One reason is to see how such a group * Robert L. Haig, editor-in-chief. A joint venture of the West Publishing Company and the
This article addresses inequities in the apportionment of losses that arise when traditional rule... more This article addresses inequities in the apportionment of losses that arise when traditional rules of consumer finance are applied to enforce payment obligations that accrue during and after catastrophes. Disasters lead inevitably to job losses, property destruction, inhibited access to homes and workplaces, and problems with debt repayment. In the wake of such devastation, fees and interest charges mount, and payment defaults increase. The author argues that hardships and social distress can be mitigated, and losses more equitably allocated, by mandating the inclusion of a force majeure provision in consumer agreements. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION: THE IMPACT OF DISASTERS .
From The Jungle to The Matrix: The Future of Consumer Protection in Light of Its Past
Consumer Protection in the Age of the 'Information Economy', 2016
This chapter scheduled to appear in a forthcoming book traces the history of consumer protection ... more This chapter scheduled to appear in a forthcoming book traces the history of consumer protection law in twentieth-century America, to address whether the Internet and electronic opportunities for commerce in recent years have diminished or increased the necessity for traditional approaches to consumer protection, particularly topical federal protective statutes and expansive agency authority. During earlier periods a variety of literature, journalism and social science study by authors including Wesley Claire Mitchell, Walter Lippman, Upton Sinclair, and Arthur Kallet, among others illuminated relational imbalances between buyers and sellers and illustrated ways in which the growth of specialized manufacturing and selling operations was not accompanied by parallel specialization or sophistication in family purchasing. Consumer protection laws in great variety in terms of effectiveness and legitimacy were enacted. The paper considers the extent to which the imbalance may or may not have been addressed by increased opportunities to shop on the Internet and concludes that the cultural and political responses to modern conditions of consumption resemble earlier responses in significant ways.
Social welfare organizations are prohibited from channeling foreign contributions to favored poli... more Social welfare organizations are prohibited from channeling foreign contributions to favored political candidates. Prospects for enforcing this prohibition, however, are uncertain. Do federal election laws or tax laws provide effective tools? Are state authorities equipped to hold a nonprofit culpable as an entity, or to hold a manager or board member responsible? These questions are important to understand whether the existing rules safeguard the nonprofit community and the fairness of elections. This Essay concludes that federal tax and election rules are likely to be less effective than the authority vested with state attorneys general to monitor and hold accountable nonprofits and their officers and directors who become vehicles for foreign interference in national elections.
Considering the Allure and Peril of Nonprofit Social Impact Bond Arrangements
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2019
This essay considers Social Impact Bonds not from the point of view of the Investor, or the Gover... more This essay considers Social Impact Bonds not from the point of view of the Investor, or the Government, or the Service Population, but from the vantage point of nonprofit organization officers and directors who contemplate a SIB venture. From this perspective, not all the foreseeable perils have been fleshed out in the academic literature or elsewhere—although perhaps they are fleshed out in the fine print of disclosure statements contained in private agreements among the parties that usually are read closely by lawyers for their nonprofit clients. Still, important elements of these agreements are not salient or even publicly available. What financial, litigation and reputational risks should be faced by a nonprofit organization that is considering entrance into a SIBS agreement? What does the embrace of SIBS say about the larger privatization of social contract? These and related questions are addressed in a presentation that was made to nonprofit law specialists in 2014 at the Annual Conference of the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Associations.
An increasing number of industrial polluters have taken advantage of protective features of the F... more An increasing number of industrial polluters have taken advantage of protective features of the Federal Bankruptcy Code' to avoid compliance with environmental injunctions, and thus have undermined the enforcement of environmental laws designed to protect the public from toxic wastes. Two provisions of the Code are at issue: section 362,2 which stays judicial proceedings against a party that files a bankruptcy petition; and section 554,3 which allows a trustee to abandon burdensome property. The lower courts have struggled, with little success, to find allowable limits to the protection afforded by these statutory provisions. Both provisions have come to the attention of the Supreme Court. Recently, in Ohio v. Kovacs, the Supreme Court considered whether an environmental injunction that had been stayed through the automatic stay could be discharged in bankruptcy. In the coming term, the Supreme Court will review In re Quanta Resources Corp.,5 which involves the propriety of qualifying the privilege of abandonment to protect the public interest. This Note examines the issues raised by these cases, and proposes a legislative solution to the problems encountered when industrial polluters go into bankruptcy. Part I examines case law concerned with sections 362 and 554, and proceeds to analyze the Kovacs decision. Part II confronts the issues surrounding section 554 as they have been raised in the Quanta case. Arguing that Kovacs did not resolve problems related to section 362, and that the disallowance of abandonment would be inconsistent with the language and purpose of section 554, the Note concludes that congressional amendment of the bankruptcy law is necessary. Part III therefore proposes an interrelated set of changes to sections 554(a), 6 523(a), 7 and 5078 of the Code in order to close loopholes, deter irre- 1985]
Thriving on Adversity: Disclosing Corporate Mistreatment of Consumers Caught in Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and Exploring the Consumer Movement's Response to Crisis and Catastrophe
Over the last year it has been unexceptional to watch the consumer coverage of problems related t... more Over the last year it has been unexceptional to watch the consumer coverage of problems related to the natural disasters created by the hurricanes. Outside of the Southern states, the national media and leaders of other consumer organizations spent a very large amount of time warning the immediate victims of the storm about construction scammers and con artists; and warning the wider public about flood-damaged cars and charity frauds. But compared to some other real, authentically grave consumer problems connected with the hurricanes, these are neither the only, nor the dominant narratives that leaders of the consumer movement should be focusing on. Many of the institutional leaders of the movement have concentrated on fringe bad actors - at a time when there are problems of greater cumulative significance exploding out of mainstream commercial behavior.By criterion that I think most would consider important - the aggregate impact of the practice in question on general consumer welfare and the aggregate impact on consumers' loss of home, health, employment, purchasing power and leisure time enjoyment - the serious consumer problems connected with natural disasters relate not to charity scams and fly-by-night construction companies, but to the insufficiently compassionate responses of mortgagees, banks, credit card issuers, and utilities. With only a few exceptions, however, the behavior of major commercial actors, especially in the financial sector has not been comprehensively illuminated. This discussion examines the mainstream housing, banking, lending, and selected basic utilities sectors to learn more about the increased costs and burdens that commercial entities have imposed on consumers, in the aftermath of the hurricanes, and more generally to reveal the unique possibilities for public education and reform which arise during times of natural disaster.
PROF. REIDENBERG: Our topic this afternoon is whether traditionally private communications should... more PROF. REIDENBERG: Our topic this afternoon is whether traditionally private communications should remain private when they are on the Internet. This topic raises a variety of themes and we will try to touch on many of them. Part of our inquiry will examine what the technology is doing and will explore the challenges that the technology poses to us for private communications. When we look at the technology and the Internet in particular, we see new problems and new issues being raised. How do we use it? If I post a message to something called a Usenet Group or if I simply send a "point to point" e-mail message, it may have radically different consequences for both who can access it, and what else can happen to that message. The act of sending a message now generates information, gena.
Copyright (c) 2009 Loyola University Chicago School of Law Loyola Consumer Law Review. 2009. 22 L... more Copyright (c) 2009 Loyola University Chicago School of Law Loyola Consumer Law Review. 2009. 22 Loy. Consumer L. Rev. 139. LENGTH: 16863 words Thriving On Adversity: Corporate Treatment and Mistreatment of Consumers in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina. NAME: ...
Why investigate a 3 volume, 68 chapter, 3,314 page reference set that contains a small mountain o... more Why investigate a 3 volume, 68 chapter, 3,314 page reference set that contains a small mountain of information and advice written by 94 leading practitioners and judges?' One reason is to see how such a group * Robert L. Haig, editor-in-chief. A joint venture of the West Publishing Company and the
Law Review provided thoughtful assistance. A special debt of gratitude is due to Dwight L. Greene... more Law Review provided thoughtful assistance. A special debt of gratitude is due to Dwight L. Greene, a departed friend and colleague. Dwight kindled my curiosity about the problems explored here and helped me to evaluate their importance. Support from Hofstra made possible the valuable research assistance of Kevin Buggy, Alexander Fear,
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