Mar 9, 2011 | Lead Articles, Number 1, Print Edition, Volume 44
In July 2010, Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which fills many of the gaps in mortgage regulation that brought the United States economy to its knees. This new law and the debates leading up to it grabbed the headlines...
Mar 9, 2011 | Lead Articles, Number 1, Print Edition, Volume 44
It would be difficult to overstate the dire condition of the U.S. economy as inherited by President Barack Obama on January 20, 2009. At that time, the economy stood on the precipice of collapse. Over the past year and a half, a combination of economic stimulus...
Mar 9, 2011 | Lead Articles, Number 1, Print Edition, Volume 44
Across America, drivers pass twice as many payday loan storefronts as Starbucks coffee shops. In twenty-nine states, there are more payday lender stores than McDonald’s restaurants. Numerous research studies warn of the dangers associated with payday loans,...
Mar 9, 2011 | Lead Articles, Number 1, Print Edition, Volume 44
This article considers how the law of public nuisance might be applied to protect neighborhoods from the destructive forces of the mortgage crisis. For more than thirty years I have been a close observer and a participant in community development at the neighborhood...
Mar 9, 2011 | Lead Articles, Number 1, Print Edition, Volume 44
The issue of the death penalty, like abortion, deeply divides this country. To most Americans, the answer to the question of whether the death penalty is unavoidable is obvious and beyond debate. It is “one of the most complex, emotional, controversial, and important...
Mar 9, 2011 | Lead Articles, Number 1, Print Edition, Volume 44
The foreclosure crisis that began in 2007 has forced state and local governments to develop a first response capacity to meet a national crisis. States seeking to control foreclosures have always faced certain limitations in enacting laws that limit or impair contract...
