scholarly journals 134,368 Unnamed Workers: Client-Centered Representation on Behalf of H-2A Agricultural Guestworkers

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Briana Beltran
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Direct Action ◽  
The United States ◽  
Hourly Wage ◽  
Federal Law ◽  
Legal Representation ◽  
Wage Theft ◽  
Worker Empowerment ◽  
Civil Lawsuits ◽  
Worker Voice

Forthcoming in: NYU Review of Law and Social Change Each year, tens of thousands of workers, mostly from Mexico and mostly men, enter the United States on temporary visas to labor in its agricultural fields. H-2A workers, as they are known, are the ultimate outsiders: contracted by a single employer for a specified period, they face dangerous labor and housing conditions, without the option of seeking other employment and with no other ties to or rights in the United States. Despite a robust regulatory scheme that mandates terms including their hourly wage and expenses their employer is required to cover, H-2A workers are frequently exploited, experiencing everything from wage theft to the extraction of unlawful recruitment fees. To compound the problem, the systems in place to redress these wrongs are woefully insufficient: government enforcement is weak, and H-2A workers’ ability to take direct action is undercut by factors such as their temporary and isolated presence in the United States and the intentional limitations on their rights and access to legal representation under federal law. Despite these constraints, there are examples of H-2A workers who have filed civil lawsuits against their employers. Having done so, they still encounter obstacles to their full participation in the process, due to the lack of familiarity with the U.S. legal system and the likelihood that the litigation will continue while they are in their home countries. In this article, I explore strategies for minimizing the disconnect between H-2A workers and the process of civil litigation, and consider the ways in which litigation itself can be an empowering process and a vehicle for amplifying worker voice. Using the frame of client-centered lawyering, and drawing on two recent case studies of community lawyering among low-wage immigrant workers, I discuss the methods that lawyers representing H-2A workers can employ during the various stages of a civil lawsuit in order to ensure that their clients are not again relegated to an outsider status. In particular, I focus on four “moments” in the life of a case: the decision to file a lawsuit, the drafting of the complaint, discovery, and trial. Moreover, I also consider how client voice can be amplified outside of the four corners of a lawsuit, and provide strategies for how to amplify worker voice while settling cases and discuss the downstream, indirect effects of litigation on H-2A worker empowerment. By putting these considerations into practice, I argue that litigation itself can serve as an empowering experience for H-2A workers and shed light on the abuses within the H-2A program more generally.

Review of form 483s and warning letters to pharmaceutical manufacturers issued by USFDA

2021 ◽  
pp. 174113432110235
Author(s):  
Chandan Saini ◽  
Ashish Miglani ◽  
Pankaj Musyuni ◽  
Geeta Aggarwal
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Regulatory Authority ◽  
The United States ◽  
Federal Law ◽  
Pharmaceutical Manufacturers ◽  
The World ◽  
Considerable Impact ◽  
A Company ◽  
Responsible Person

Regular inspections are carried out to ensure system conformity by the Food and Drugs Regulatory Authority (FDA) of the United States one of the most stringent regulatory authorities in the world. The inspectors send Form 483 to the management after the inspection, detailing the inappropriate conditions. Because the FDA guidelines are difficult to comply with, a company can contravene the regulations. If any significant infringements can affect the protection, quality, effectiveness, or public health of the drug is identified, the FDA issues advice to the company. Warning Letters (WL) shall be an official notification of non-compliance with federal law within a period to be issued by manufacturer, clinician, distributor, or responsible person in the company. The delivery of a letter has a considerable impact on the company's reputation and position in the market. Inadequate WL reactions could lead to a refusal, import denial, memorandum or even conviction and order. A brief study was conducted in this document of Form 483 and WL for four years (2017–2020) on an understanding the regulatory provisions.

Researching U.S. Federal Law: a Primer

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 158-175
Author(s):  
Marcia Singal Zubrow
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Legal System ◽  
Information Search ◽  
The United States ◽  
Background Information ◽  
Basic Information ◽  
Federal Law ◽  
Search Techniques

AbstractThis article is designed for law librarians based outside the United States. The paper, written by Marcia Zubrow, provides basic information about the United States legal system and its sources. This background foundation to the article is important in understanding how to effectively use the two major U.S. databases, Lexis and Westlaw. The author describes the contents of the two databases within the context of the background information. Search techniques, including advance searching strategies, are described.

Public hearings as an institution of deliberative democracy in major Russian and American cities

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-83
Author(s):  
Andrey Fursov
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Russian Federation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Legal Regulation ◽  
The State ◽  
Legal Regulations ◽  
Federal Law ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Hearings ◽  
The Russian Federation

Currently, public hearings are one of the most widespread forms of deliberative municipal democracy in Russia. This high level of demand, combined with critique of legal regulations and the practices for bringing this system to reality – justified, in the meantime, by its development (for example, by the Agency for Strategic Initiatives and the Public Chambers of the Russian Federation) of proposals for the correction of corresponding elements of the legal code – make both the study of Russian experiences in this sphere and comparative studies of legal regulations and practical usage of public hearings in Russia and abroad extremely relevant. This article is an attempt to make a contribution to this field of scientific study. If the appearance of public hearings in Russia as an institution of Russian municipal law is connected with the passing of the Federal Law of 6 October 2003 No.131-FZ, “On the general organisational principles of local government in the Russian Federation,” then in the United States, this institution has existed since the beginning of the 20th century, with mass adoption beginning in the 1960s. In this time, the United States has accumulated significant practical experience in the use of public hearings and their legal formulation. Both countries are large federal states, with their own regional specifics and diversity, the presence of three levels of public authority and different principles of federalism, which cause differences in the legal regulation of municipal public hearings. For this reason, this article undertakes a comparative legal analysis of Russian and American experiences of legal regulation and practical use of public hearings, on the example of several major municipalities – the cities of Novosibirsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Voronezh and New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. A comparison of laws influencing the public hearing processes in these cities is advisable, given the colossal growth in the role of city centers in the industrial and post-industrial eras. Cities in particular are the primary centers for economic growth, the spread of innovations, progressive public policy and the living environment for the majority of both Russian and American citizens. The cities under research are one of the largest municipalities in the two countries by population, and on such a scale, the problem of involving residents in solving local issues is especially acute. In this context, improving traditional institutions of public participation is a timely challenge for the legislator, and the experiences of these cities are worth describing. The unique Russian context for legal regulations of public hearings involves the combination of overarching federal law and specific municipal decrees that regulate the hearing process. There are usually two municipal acts regulating public hearings on general issues of the city district (charter, budget, etc.) and separately on urban planning. In the United States, the primary regulation of public hearings is assigned to the state and municipality level, with a whole series of corresponding laws and statutes; meanwhile, methodological recommendations play a specific role in the organisation of hearings, which are issued by the state department of a given state. It is proposed that regulating the corresponding relationships at the federal subject level will permit a combination of the best practices of legal administration with local nuances, thereby reinforcing the guarantee of the realization of civil rights to self-government. There are other features in the process of organizing and conducting public hearings in the United States, which, as shown in the article, can be perceived by Russian lawmakers as well in order to create an updated construct of public discussions at the local level.

Are You Ready for Some Football? Estimating the Effect of American Football Season on Labor Supply in the United States

2021 ◽  
pp. 152700252110246
Author(s):  
Luke Petach ◽  
Dustin Rumbaugh
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Labor Market ◽  
Labor Supply ◽  
Economic Cost ◽  
The United States ◽  
American Football ◽  
Hourly Wage ◽  
Market Models ◽  
Supply Effect ◽  
The Business Cycle

American football season reduces the Monday labor hours of employed men by two-thirds of an hour. A similar effect is found for Friday labor hours. We term these effects the “hangover effect” and “happy hour effect.” Consistent with a wide class of labor market models, the labor supply effect varies over the business cycle, increasing in expansions. The hangover effect implies an intertemporal elasticity of labor supply on the order of 0.014. Evaluated at the median hourly wage, our estimates imply an annual economic cost of foregone earnings associated with football season in the neighborhood of $5.06 billion.

scholarly journals The Forensic Engineer in State and Federal Court

2014 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard M. Ziernicki
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Legal System ◽  
Expert Witness ◽  
Federal Court ◽  
The United States ◽  
Court System ◽  
Civil Lawsuits ◽  
Forensic Engineering ◽  
And Function

This paper outlines the legal system in the United States, the different types of courts, the differences between criminal and civil law, and the role of forensic engineering experts involved in civil lawsuits. After providing a summary of relevant procedures employed by civil and criminal courts, the paper describes the basic principles and requirements for the selection and work of a forensic engineering expert in both the state and federal court system. This paper outlines the role and function of forensic experts (specifically forensic engineers), in the United States court system. It is not a treatise on the legal system but on the role of experts. The paper presents the requirements typically used in today’s legal system to qualify a forensic engineer as an expert witness and to accept his or her work and opinions. Furthermore, this paper discusses who can be an expert witness, the expert’s report, applicable standards, conducted research, engineering opinions, and final testimony in court — and how those elements fit into the legal system. Lastly, the paper describes the concept of spoliation of evidence.

Reflections

2019 ◽  
pp. 66-72
Author(s):  
Williams Guevara Martínez
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
El Salvador ◽  
The United States ◽  
Educational Opportunities ◽  
Legal Representation ◽  
College Credits ◽  
Helping Others ◽  
Legal Relief ◽  
Formal Status

Born in El Salvador, Williams Guevara Martínez left home at seventeen to escape domestic abuse and seek refuge with family members living in the United States. After a hazardous journey and crossing into the United States in a context of heightened migration, he was immediately apprehended, detained in federal custody, and ultimately released to his brother’s care in Maryland. He found excellent legal representation and was granted legal relief in the form of Special Immigrant Juvenile Status. Now with formal status, steady work, and college credits he looks back to chronicle the challenges of youth who enter the country alone and without authorization. Guevara Martínez recounts his life in El Salvador, his harrowing journey, experience in federal custody and after release, including personal attachments, educational opportunities and his commitment “to give back” by helping others like himself. He shares the lessons he learned commenting critically on violence, the migration process, human rights, and his hopes for the future..

“The Hall Does Not Make the Space”: Disrupting Concert Hall Norms in Hannibal's One Land, One River, One People

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 287-304
Author(s):  
Benjamin Safran
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Racial Difference ◽  
Classical Music ◽  
White Supremacy ◽  
Direct Action ◽  
The United States ◽  
Orchestral Music ◽  
Social Boundaries ◽  
Audience Participation ◽  
Late Capitalism

AbstractHannibal's cheering and shouting along with his request for audience participation during the 2015 premiere of his composition One Land, One River, One People caused a stir and created discomfort among the Philadelphia Orchestra audience. I interpret his work as an example of a successful musical direct action within contemporary orchestral music. By exposing and subverting the traditions of the classical concert experience, One Land, One River, One People highlights social boundaries within the genre of classical music itself. I apply Robin James's (2015) concept of Multiracial White Supremacy, or MRWaSP, to contemporary orchestral classical music of the United States. Under late capitalism, MRWaSP helps to explain the potential appeal to an orchestra of commissioning Hannibal, who is known as a “genre-crossing” composer rooted in classical and jazz. Yet I argue that the way in which Hannibal performs his identity along with the piece's inclusion of audience participation allow the music to resist functioning as expected under MRWaSP. Rather than promoting a sense that—as one might expect from the title—we are all “one people,” I see the piece as revealing racial difference and as speaking truth to power.

Not Imprisonment in a Legal Sense

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly Lytle Hernández
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
Civil Disobedience ◽  
Chinese Immigrants ◽  
The United States ◽  
Federal Law ◽  
History Of ◽  
Immigrant Detention ◽  
One Year ◽  
The U.S

The third chapter is a western tale of national and global import. That tale, which sutures the split between the history of incarceration within the United States and the history of deportation from the United States, swirls around the passage of the 1892 Geary Act, a federal law that required all Chinese laborers in the United States to prove their legal residence and register with the federal government or be subject to up to one year of imprisonment at hard labor and, then, deportation. Chinese immigrants rebelled against the new law, refusing to be locked out, kicked out, or singled out for imprisonment. Launching the first mass civil disobedience campaign for immigrant rights in the history of the United States, Chinese immigrants forced the U.S. Supreme Court to issue a set of sweeping and enduring decisions regarding the future of U.S. immigration control. Buried in those decisions, which cut through Los Angeles during the summer of 1893, lay the invention of immigrant detention as a nonpunitive form of caging noncitizens within the United States. It was then an obscure and contested practice of indisputably racist origins. It is now one of the most dynamic sectors of the U.S. carceral landscape.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document