Governance Through Morals, Ethics or Rules: Assessing Employee Conduct Against Legal and Moral Codes; an Emerging Standard Without a Rule of Law?

(From Penn State Faculty Senate look for ways to curb student loan debt, Centre Daily Times)

“I rise to make the following motion:  That no employee, faculty member or other agent of the University be required, as a condition of employment, to adhere to standards of conduct that are not specified by rules, regulation, or legal requirement.  Failures of moral obligations alone should not be made a basis of evaluation or job performance.  The HRs and other appropriate University regulations should be amended to reflect this requirement.” (A.E. Luloff-Agricultural Sciences) (Pennsylvania State University Faculty Senate, Agenda Tuesday, March 13, 2012 – 1:30 p.m.; 112 Kern Graduate Building; G Unfinished Business)

Judging an employee's conduct by its conformity to law and morals raises important and interesting issues.  Like my fellow Senators, and especially in my role as Chair Elect of the University Faculty Senate, I have been asked to consider a Senate motion dealing with the place of morals in the construction of University rules.  What follows are my thoughts on that motion in the context of recent thoughts about the issue from our Governor, from the Penn State Board of Trustees in their justification for the removal of Coach Paterno and President Spanier, and the University President's "Promise to the Penn State Community."

Edward Waitzer on Fiduciary Duty and Corporate Social Responsibility; Are Benefit Corporations a Step in the Right Direction?

Edward Waitzer is a professor and director of the Hennick Centre for Business and Law at York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School and the Schulich School of Business and a senior partner of Stikeman Elliott LLP.

Professor Waitzer has recently written an opinion piece worth careful consideration, Edward Waitzer, The next generation gap: equity and fairness, The Globe and Mail (Toronto, Ont.),  Feb. 21, 2012.  

Thoughts on the US-China Economic & Security Review Commission Report: China in Latin America

The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission has been a source of policy generation in government circles in the United States. 

The Commission was created on October 30, 2000 by the Floyd D. Spence National Defense Authorization Act for 2001 § 1238, P.L. 106-398 (codified at 22 U.S.C.§ 7002 (2001) as amended.  The e Commission  was established "to review the national security implications of trade and economic ties between the United States and the People's Republic of China."  22 U.S.C. § 7002(a)(1).  The Commission's Fact Sheet explains that the "Commission is composed of 12 members, three of whom are selected by each of the Majority and Minority Leaders of the Senate, and the Speaker and the Minority Leader of the House. The Commissioners serve two-year terms." 

In May, 2011, the Commission has released a backgrounder entitled China in Latin America. "The backgrounder provides an overview of China's growing economic and political ties to Latin America over the past ten years. It examines China's current trade relationship with countries in the region, the scope and nature of China's foreign direct investment, the extent of its diplomatic, military, and regional organization engagement, and its interaction with Latin American countries that officially recognize Taiwan as an independent country." U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, Announcements, May 31, 2011.

Ruminations 38: State Ideology, Social Scientism, and Legal Analysis

One of the great perversions of the 21st century is the merger of ideology and social scientism. The perversion arises in the way in which each hides its effects on the other and together seeks to present something that is both neutral and natural. 

  (Pix (c) Larry Catá Backer 2012)

Paper Delivered at the 2012 Penn State Law and Semiotics Roundtable: The Corporation as Semiosis, “Citizens United,” the Signification of the Corporate Enterprise and the Development of Law

Every year, my distinguished colleague at Penn State, Jan M. Broekman, Professor Emeritus Universities of Leuven, Belgium, and Amsterdam, Netherlands, Honorary Professor National University of Argentina in Mar del Plata, Argentina, Visiting Professor University of Illinois College of Law (some of whose works are listed here), presides over The Roberta Kevelson Seminar on Law and Semiotics.   

(Signs, Girona, Catlunya, Pix (c) Larry Catá Backer 2012)

As part of that seminar, Professor Broekman organizes a wonderful Roundtable on semiotics and the law, featuring distinguished faculty and Penn State's law students.  On the 2011 Roundtable see Larrey Catá Backer, The 2011 Kevelson Workshop on Law and Semiotics at Penn State--Outstanding Student Presentations, Law at the End of the Day, April 11, 2011.

A Tale of Two Universities: Faculty Governance and No Confidence Votes at Penn State and the University of Illinois

University of Illinois President Michael Hogan, left, talks with Chris Kennedy, chairman of the university's board of trustees, at a basketball game earlier this month. Kennedy says the board backs Hogan's leadership of the school's three campuses. (Nuccio DiNuzzo, Chicago Tribune / February 5, 2012)  From Jodi S. Cohen, 130 top scholars call for U. of I. president's ouster: Trustees chairman says board backs school leader, Chicago Tribune, February 29, 2012

The issue of shared governance at the nation's top public universities has long been understood to form a close link to academic freedom and the excellence of these institutions.  See, Larry G. Gerber, "Inextricably Linked": Shared Governance and Academic Freedom, Academe Online, May-June 2001.  In some jurisdictions, faculty involvement in shared governance of the university is written into law.  See, e.g., Arizona Revised Statute: ARS 15-1601B (PDF).

Sometimes shared governance structures comes under stress.  That appears to be the case at two prominent American public universities.  At the University of Illinois, the issue concerns the role of the top administrative official, who retains the confidence of the university board of trustees.  At Penn State, the issue concerns the role of the Board of Trustees, who retain the confidence of the university's top administrators.  In both cases,the university faculties sought to move aggressively at assert a role in shared governance beyond the ordinary course expectations. 

Part XXIII—Zhiwei Tong (童之伟) Series: There is no Constitutional Ground for Judicial Activism in China

 (Zhiwei Tong, PIX (c) Larry Catá Backer)

For 2012, this site introduces the thought of Zhiwei Tong (童之伟), one of the most innovative scholars of constitutional law in China.   Professor Tong has been developing his thought in part in a essay site that was started in 2010.  See, Larry Catá Backer, Introducing a New Essay Site on Chinese Law by Zhiwei Tong, Law at the End of the Day, Oct. 16, 2010.  Professor Tong is on the faculty of law at East China University of Political Science and Law.  He is the Chairman of the Constitution Branch of the Shanghai Law Society and the Vice Chairman of the Constitution Branch of the China Law Society.

The  Zhiwei Tong (童之伟) Series focuses on translating some of Professor Tong's work on issues of criminal law and justice in China, matters that touch on core constitutional issues.  Each of the posting will include an English translation from the original Chinese, the Chinese original and a link to the original essay site. Many of the essays will include annotations that may also be of interest.  I hope those of you who are interested in Chinese legal issues will find these materials, hard to get in English, of use.  I am grateful to my research assistants, YiYang Cao and Zhichao Yi for their able work in translating these essays.

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THE SERIES AVAILABLE HERE.

Part XXII—Zhiwei Tong (童之伟) Series: The theory of legal rights is at the heart of Chinese legal applications

 (Zhiwei Tong, PIX (c) Larry Catá Backer)

For 2012, this site introduces the thought of Zhiwei Tong (童之伟), one of the most innovative scholars of constitutional law in China.   Professor Tong has been developing his thought in part in a essay site that was started in 2010.  See, Larry Catá Backer, Introducing a New Essay Site on Chinese Law by Zhiwei Tong, Law at the End of the Day, Oct. 16, 2010.  Professor Tong is on the faculty of law at East China University of Political Science and Law.  He is the Chairman of the Constitution Branch of the Shanghai Law Society and the Vice Chairman of the Constitution Branch of the China Law Society.

The  Zhiwei Tong (童之伟) Series focuses on translating some of Professor Tong's work on issues of criminal law and justice in China, matters that touch on core constitutional issues.  Each of the posting will include an English translation from the original Chinese, the Chinese original and a link to the original essay site. Many of the essays will include annotations that may also be of interest.  I hope those of you who are interested in Chinese legal issues will find these materials, hard to get in English, of use.  I am grateful to my research assistants, YiYang Cao and Zhichao Yi for their able work in translating these essays.

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THE SERIES AVAILABLE HERE.

Part XXI—Zhiwei Tong (童之伟) Series: Responding with my view to the Xinmin Weekly reporter’s questions on the Crackdown 严打

 (Zhiwei Tong, PIX (c) Larry Catá Backer)

For 2012, this site introduces the thought of Zhiwei Tong (童之伟), one of the most innovative scholars of constitutional law in China.   Professor Tong has been developing his thought in part in a essay site that was started in 2010.  See, Larry Catá Backer, Introducing a New Essay Site on Chinese Law by Zhiwei Tong, Law at the End of the Day, Oct. 16, 2010.  Professor Tong is on the faculty of law at East China University of Political Science and Law.  He is the Chairman of the Constitution Branch of the Shanghai Law Society and the Vice Chairman of the Constitution Branch of the China Law Society.

The  Zhiwei Tong (童之伟) Series focuses on translating some of Professor Tong's work on issues of criminal law and justice in China, matters that touch on core constitutional issues.  Each of the posting will include an English translation from the original Chinese, the Chinese original and a link to the original essay site. Many of the essays will include annotations that may also be of interest.  I hope those of you who are interested in Chinese legal issues will find these materials, hard to get in English, of use.  I am grateful to my research assistants, YiYang Cao and Zhichao Yi for their able work in translating these essays.

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THE SERIES AVAILABLE HERE.

Part XX—Zhiwei Tong (童之伟) Series: A valuable step in advancing the protection of constitutional rights

 (Zhiwei Tong, PIX (c) Larry Catá Backer)

For 2012, this site introduces the thought of Zhiwei Tong (童之伟), one of the most innovative scholars of constitutional law in China.   Professor Tong has been developing his thought in part in a essay site that was started in 2010.  See, Larry Catá Backer, Introducing a New Essay Site on Chinese Law by Zhiwei Tong, Law at the End of the Day, Oct. 16, 2010.  Professor Tong is on the faculty of law at East China University of Political Science and Law.  He is the Chairman of the Constitution Branch of the Shanghai Law Society and the Vice Chairman of the Constitution Branch of the China Law Society.

The  Zhiwei Tong (童之伟) Series focuses on translating some of Professor Tong's work on issues of criminal law and justice in China, matters that touch on core constitutional issues.  Each of the posting will include an English translation from the original Chinese, the Chinese original and a link to the original essay site. Many of the essays will include annotations that may also be of interest.  I hope those of you who are interested in Chinese legal issues will find these materials, hard to get in English, of use.  I am grateful to my research assistants, YiYang Cao and Zhichao Yi for their able work in translating these essays.

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THE SERIES AVAILABLE HERE.