The University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform is a quarterly law review published by an independent student group at the University of Michigan Law School. It publishes articles and student-written notes that propose legal reforms. These reforms can occur in one of three ways: (1) changing the actual text of laws; (2) changing the enforcement of laws; or (3) changing the interpretation of laws.
Periodically, the journal hosts symposia where academics and policymakers discuss legal reform. Past symposia have focused on topics such as media regulation, market-oriented welfare reform, managed care reform, jury reform, and Title IX reform.
History
The University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform was established in 1968 under the name Prospectus: A Journal of Law Reform. It was originally conceptualized as a faculty edited journal. Before the publication of the first issue, the untimely death of Frank E. Cooper, the first faculty editor, transformed the journal into a wholly student-run journal.[2] Then-Dean Francis A. Allen authored the first article. In this Prospectus for Reform, he set two goals for the journal: "to report efforts to improve the law and its administration and to stimulate thought and ... action to this end,"[3] and "to enlarge the opportunities for law journal experience of students at the University of Michigan Law School."[4] Starting with its fourth volume in 1971, the journal obtained its current name. David L. Callies served as the first managing editor. A year later, Ronald B. Schram became the first editor-in-chief. The first woman to serve as editor-in-chief was Margaret L. Houy. The current editor-in-chief is Kenneth W. Donaldson II.[5]
Selection
The University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform uses a competitive process that takes into account an applicant's writing sample, résumé, personal statement, and performance on a citation editing exercise. Applicants are also required to identify an area of law in need of reform that could serve as the basis for a note. The journal selects between 46 and 50 editors annually from the incoming second-year law school class.
Notable articles
Ellen Katz et al., Documenting Discrimination in Voting Under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act Since 1982, 39 U. Mich. J.L. Reform 643 (2006).
Lawrence W. Waggoner, The Uniform Probate Code's Elective Share: Time for a Reassessment, 37 U. Mich. J.L. Reform 1 (2003).
Herbert Hovenkamp, Derek Bok and the Merger of Law and Economics, 21 U. Mich. J.L. Reform 515 (1988).
Senator Al Gore, Federal Biotechnology Policy: The Perils of Progress and the Risks of Uncertainty, 20 U. Mich. J.L. Reform 965 (1987).
James Boyd White, Doctrine in a Vacuum: Reflections on What a Law School Ought (and Ought Not) to Be, 18 U. Mich. J.L. Reform 251 (1985).
Wayne R. Lafave, Seizures Typology: Classifying Detentions of the Person to Resolve Warrant, Grounds, and Search Issues, 17 U. Mich. J.L. Reform 417 (1984).
James J. White, Allocation of Scarce Goods under Section 2-615 of the Uniform Commercial Code: A Comparison of Some Rival Models, 12 U. Mich. J.L. Reform 503 (1979).
Michael A. Woronoff, "Public Employees or Private Citizens: The Off-Duty Sexual Activities of Police Officers and the Constitutional Right of Privacy", 18 U. Mich. J.L. Reform 195 (1984)
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