CFPs: Property Law Events @SEALS2020

This just in from Marc Roark (Southern). Please email him here with questions and your paper submissions.

Discussion Group: The Ric Flair Rule: Market Economics, Political Power, and Critical Awareness in a Global World
There is an old saying: "To be the man, you have to beat the man. woooo!" Known as the "Ric Flair rule" it reflects how "winners" shape the outcomes others. The rule has been explained in law and economics through market dominance; in legal theory that justifies force as validating law; and in politics as agendas set by winners. The Ric Flair Rule presents a conundrum that even when winners don't win they still win. In Property, Contracts, Criminal Law and Torts, this theme emerges. This discussion group explores the Ric Flair Rule as an existential theme of the law for what validates law and what challenges it from the outside.

Discussion Group: Property and Well Being
John Locke defined the purpose of government as safeguarding the freedom to pursue “life, liberty, and the pursuit of property.” Thomas Jefferson borrowed this language in the Declaration of Independence, but he modified it to name “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Property and happiness have thus been bound up with one another for centuries, yet their relationship is a fraught one. One might naturally assume that acquiring property increases our well-being, yet recent evidence indicates that it may do just the opposite. This panel explores the complicated relationship between ownership and happiness. Possible avenues for inquiry include: What is the appropriate role for a liberal democracy to play with respect to property? Should we think about property solely in terms of enhancing welfare, or do other considerations matter? And whose welfare counts—owners, non-owners, others? How do we resolve the tension between maldistribution, redistribution, and liberty? These are only a handful of questions that we hope provide a jumping off point for a wide-ranging discussion about law, ownership, and the nature and purpose of property itself. This discussion group is being organized by Dave Fagundes (Houston).

Panel: Is Housing a Human Right?
This panel considers the question of whether housing as a human right exists in the U.S., despite the lack of enforceable legal or international conventions making such a right enforceable.  Panelists are invited to submit abstracts and papers around this topic, including: the role of proportionality in addressing eviction claims; the content of human rights in the housing context; the existence of latent human rights regimes where no formal regime exists; Constitutional Claims versus Human Rights Claims; and how local, federal and regional governments reconcile human rights in contrast to conflicting regimes of the other.   Papers are also welcome critiquing a human rights regime as a substantive protector of housing rights.   Abstracts no more than 400 words.  This discussion group is being organized by Mark Roark (Southern) and Andrea Boyack (Washburn)