Forum

This week, The Pocket Part presents the second of two issues on recent developments in courts and legislatures. In this installment, we survey a variety of interesting trends among state legislatures.

First, Mitchell M. Gans, Bridget J. Crawford & Jonathan G. Blattmachr comment on new state laws that establish descendible rights of publicity. Authors argue that such laws may have unforeseen federal estate tax consequences. They propose revisions to the new laws to avoid an unintended tax bite for heirs.

Next, Kamal Ghali discusses a new internal procedural rule implemented by Georgia's state legislature. House Rule 11.8 gives the Speaker unprecedented legal power to control the function of legislative committees. Ghali argues that argues that Rule 11.8 is an abuse of the committee system, which should push legal scholars to theorize about the normative value of allowing such laissez-faire organization of our legislatures.

Christen Linke Young discusses a new trend among states interested in resource preservation to rely on tax incentives to encourage voluntary efforts. Young discusses key issues facing states contemplating such measures.

Finally, Jeffrey M. Hirsch argues for the elimination of state authority to regulate the workplace. Hirsch argues that scholars are overly optimistic about the ability of federalism to improve workplace regulation.

As with our last state law issue, you will find links to audio Podcasts of the Commentaries at the end of each piece. The Podcasts are in mp3 format for listening online or downloading into to portable audio players.