Erie v. Tompkins and the Relationship Between Federal and State Courts

1942 ◽  
Vol 36 (5) ◽  
pp. 885-895
Author(s):  
Kenneth C. Cole

Erie v. Tompkins evidences decentralizing trends in our federal system in two different ways—one fairly obvious and relatively orthodox; the other neither obvious nor orthodox, but probably the more significant. The first aspect may be touched upon very briefly and the ramifications of the second explored more fully.The obvious side of Erie v. Tompkins lies in its rejection of a common law of the United States available for application by the federal courts in diversity cases. This conception was given expression by Story in Swift v. Tyson, and has been followed in many, if not most, of the succeeding cases building upon and expanding Story's doctrine.

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan P. Kastellec

I examine how courts condition the relationship between state-level public opinion and policy. The system of federalism in the United States allows federal and state courts to establish the types of policies that states are constitutionally allowed to implement. In particular, federal courts can set “federal floors” for policy, below which no states can go. State courts, in turn, can raise the level of this floor. Thus, both federal and state courts shape whether state policy can match the preferences of the median voter in a given state. Analyzing data on public opinion, judicial decisions, and state-level policy on the issue of abortion, from 1973 to 2012, I show that changes in the set of allowable abortion restrictions, according to the combined decisions of state and federal courts, significantly affect whether states implement majority-preferred policies. I also show that ignoring the influence of courts on the policymaking environment significantly affects the estimated level of policy congruence and thus conclusions about the scope of representation. These results demonstrate the importance of placing courts in the larger study of state-level representation.


1979 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 211-237 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. M. C. Gummow

The Federal Court of Australia has only the jurisdiction conferred on it by statute. However, many disputes falling within that jurisdiction, particularly in trade practices matters, will also involve elements of common law or other State or federal statutory law. Section 32 invests in the Federal Court additional jurisdiction in some such cases in respect of “associated matters”. This may be compared with “pendent jurisdiction” developed by the federal courts in the United States. The object of this article is to analyse the meaning of the term “associated matters” and to consider the bearing it has upon the future relationship between the Federal Court and the various State courts.


1957 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cara Richards ◽  
Henry Dobyns

This paper deals with a problem long debated by anthropologists—the relationship between environment and culture. We analyze effects of topography on cultural change in situations of contact between two social systems, one more powerful than the other and inclined to enforce its behaviors on the weaker. We do this by examining cultural changes in one work-unit within a large insurance company in the United States.


1995 ◽  
pp. 27-39
Author(s):  
Margalit Berlin ◽  

The article analyzes the relationship between the corporate culture of a multinational company headquartered in the United States, which enjoys great prestige worldwide, and the business environment and practices in Venezuela, where it has an operation. The prevailing culture in the corporation is North American and the top managers come from their country of origin. In Venezuela, on the other hand, most of the companies are family-owned, and personal contacts and influences prevail. The research is oriented to the elaboration of a qualitative diagnosis, through rigorous observation and semi-structured interviews. The results revealed that there is resistance on the part of Venezuelan managers to follow the culture of a strict company governed by rules set in a very different economic and political context. The ambiguity between acceptance and low identification with the values of the parent company leads to think of corporate culture as fragmented.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 95 (6) ◽  
pp. 934-936 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary N. McAbee

Many medical and legal commentators have expressed concern about the validity of scientific evidence that is proffered by expert witnesses at depositions and in courts of law.1,2 The sparse research that is available on the testimony of medical expert witnesses suggests that it is frequently flawed and erroneous.3 On June 28, 1993, the United States (US) Supreme Court ruled on the proper standard for admissibility of scientific evidence in the courtroom.4 Although the ruling establishes guidelines that are binding only in federal courts, it is expected that many state courts will follow the Court's ruling. This commentary reviews the Court's guidelines for admissibility of expert testimony, and expresses concern about their applicability in future cases involving scientific testimony.


Author(s):  
Stellios James

This chapter identifies the origins, content, and operation of federal jurisdiction in Australia. In the United States the creation of federal jurisdiction was the necessary concomitant of the establishment of the judicial arm of federal government. The same could not be said of the conditions for Australian federalism. Federalism Australian-style did not require a federal system of courts. Further complicating the issue was the ‘autochthonous expedient’: the facility provided to Parliament for the use of State courts to exercise federal jurisdiction. Hence the chapter also seeks to suggest that the discordance between the concept and purpose of federal jurisdiction left the High Court with the challenging task of conceptualizing ‘judicial federalism’. In executing that task, High Court jurisprudence has presented differing conceptions of the place of State courts within the federal judicial system.


Author(s):  
Robert Jackson ◽  
Georg Sørensen

This chapter examines three important debates in International Political Economy (IPE). The first debate concerns power and the relationship between politics and economics, and more specifically whether politics is in charge of economics or whether it is the other way around. The second debate deals with development and underdevelopment in developing countries. The third debate is about the nature and extent of economic globalization, and currently takes places in a context of increasing inequality between and inside countries. This debate is also informed by the serious financial crisis of 2008 and has raised questions regarding the viability of the current model of capitalism in the United States and Western Europe.


2011 ◽  
pp. 84-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Chandler ◽  
Khalil el-Khatib ◽  
Morad Benyoucef ◽  
Gregor Von Bochmann ◽  
Carlisle Adams

Online reputation systems have become important tools for supporting commercial as well as noncommercial online interactions. But as online users become more and more reliant on these systems, the question of whether the operators of online reputation systems may be legally liable for problems with these systems becomes both interesting and important. Indeed, lawsuits against the operators of online reputation systems have already emerged in the United States regarding errors in the information provided by such systems. In this chapter, we will take the example of eBay’s Feedback Forum to review the potential legal liabilities facing the operators of online reputation systems. In particular, the applicability of the Canadian law of negligent misrepresentation and of defamation will be covered. Similar issues may be expected to arise in the other common law jurisdictions


2020 ◽  
pp. 232949652096818
Author(s):  
Di Di

This study explores how religious adherents construct their ideas regarding gender in Buddhist faith communities. Two temples, one in China and the other in the United States, both affiliated with the same international Buddhist headquarters, are situated in national contexts that endorse different macro-level gender norms. While leaders of both temples teach similar religious gender norms—specifically, that gender is unimportant for spiritual advancement—adherents do articulate gender differences in other respects. Buddhists at the temple in China believe that men and women differ but should be treated equally, with neither holding dominance over the other; meanwhile, U.S. practitioners also believe that everyone should be treated equally irrespective of gender, but they view men and women as essentially the same. A close analysis reveals that Buddhists at both temples recognize the distinctions between their religious and societal macro-level gender norms and navigate between these norms when constructing their own understandings of gender. This study highlights the influence of national context on the relationship between gender and religion, thereby contributing to and deepening our understanding of the subject.


2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 331-345
Author(s):  
David J Stute

Abstract Since the 1948 enactment of 28 USC § 1782 in the United States, no consensus has emerged as to the availability of federal court discovery to parties in private foreign or international arbitral proceedings. This year, within months of one another, six federal courts have issued rulings that are widely inconsistent on the availability of section 1782 discovery. The courts have ruled that a proceeding before a private international arbitral tribunal is eligible for section 1782 discovery; that, categorically, no such discovery is available; that the definition of private arbitral tribunal applies to CIETAC; and that discovery is available by virtue of a party’s parallel pursuit of discovery through foreign civil proceedings. As these cases demonstrate, recent US court decisions have brought no predictability, let alone certainty, to the subject. Congress, on the other hand, could and should amend the statute so as to include private tribunals in the scope of section 1782. This article discusses the case law’s state of disarray; proposes a legislative solution; considers the proposed amendment’s merits; and advocates for Congress to act.


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