Legal status, laws, etc

I investigate the association between independent directors' monitoring roles as distinguished by whether they reside on the audit committee (ACs) or not (NACs) and their respective ownership and whether Section 301 or a proxy for alternative independent monitoring (the percentage of institutional ownership) affects this relation. Specifically, I examine whether the objectivity required of serving as an AC (consistent with their audit function role) or alignment with investors (consistent with agency theory) dominates in determining independent directors' level of share ownership. Using generalized estimations of equations I provide evidence that ACs hold less ownership than NACs that suggests differences with respect to independence in appearance/ alignment with shareholder interests not previously documented amongst independent directors. I also find evidence that Section 301 may contribute to this differential ownership while the presence of institutional ownership moderates this relationship.

The Supreme Court's Ruling in DeShaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services (1989) eld that "A State's failure to protect an individual against private violence simply does not constitute a violation of the Due Process Clause." (489 U.S. 189 at 197). A state child protection agency's failure to prevent near-fatal abuse of a four year old child under its supervision was not considered a violation of the child's fourteenth amendment rights. This thesis critcally examines the reasoning behind the majority decision in DeShaney ; and using feminist legal theory, discusses ways to effectively address state policy and liability when private violence is used on vulnerable citizens, challenging the arbitrary dichotomy between the public and private spheres.

The surge in granting equal rights to gays and lesbians in the United States is remarkable. Yet with this surge comes a conflict : the civil rights of gays and lesbians against the rights of religious individuals, predominantly Christians, refusing to tolerate a behavior they think immoral. My thesis focuses on two hypothetical situations : a county clerk refusing to issue a marriage license to an engaged lesbian couple and an inn owner refusing a night's stay to a gay couple. In both cases, the clerk and inn owner refuse service for religious reasons. Normatively, I argue that we must move beyond a framework of toleration to a system of equal respect and understanding of our fellow human beings. Legally, I argue that the rights of religious expression and exercise should not trump the civil rights of gays and lesbians in the public sphere.