| Tobacco
and the Law: A Database of American Law Review Articles
Relating to Tobacco Control |
| |
| Assembled
by Professor Mark A. Levin, with Tom Kolbe, Brandon Mitsuda,
Dawn Nagatani, and Andrew Stewart |
| |
| BACKGROUND |
Using
computer assisted legal research tools, we surveyed North
American law reviews for articles with titles relating
to tobacco control issues. We discovered 310 articles
through December 2000, including student notes and comments.
This data was then assembled into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet
with columns for date,title, authors, citation, word count,
keyword, type, and primary author's last name.
The
data show a low interest in tobacco related issues in
American law reviews in the 1980s, a rapid increase in
the early 1990s, and an apparent drop off of interest
in recent years. In the 1980s, from the first work in
1982 through 1989, there were only 19 articles on the
topic. In 1990, '91, and '92, there were 7 or 8 articles
each year. From 1993-'95, the numbers rose to 17, 25,
and 17 each year respectively. However, in the late 1990s,
as tobacco related cases hit the front pages, law students
and law professors took notice. There were 34 articles
in 1996, 52 articles in 1997, and a peak of 66 articles
in 1998. Since then, interest appears to have waned, with
33 articles in 1999 and only 19 in 2000. |
| |
| NOTES
ABOUT AMERICAN LAW REVIEWS |
American
law reviews are generally student edited journals with
NO peer review process. Typically, issues include articles
written by scholars and professionals ("articles"), as
well as pieces written by law students in the course of
their studies ("notes", "comments", etc.). Although it
perhaps unfair to generalize, student work may be less
authoritative with potential weaknesses in the scope,
accuracy, depth, or reliablity of the report. On the other
hand, students are often more willing and able to spot
new and emerging topics that law professors have not yet
approached.
One
observes that the majority of pieces in the database were
student-written, particular in the earlier years.
Readers
of full-text copies of the articles may also notice a
tendency to supplement text with countless run-on footnotes.
This arguably detracts from readability, but it is the
default style in the field. |
| |
| NOTES
ON THE DATABASE CONTENTS |
The
database includes nine columns -- a simple count, the
date of the piece (with some estimation for publications
dated "Spring 1999" or the like), the title, the authors,
a citation (volume, journal, first page), a word count,
keyword codes to identfy the paper's topical focus, a
type identifier, and the primary authors' last names (to
allow for alphabetical sorting by author).
Keyword
identification was based upon the title of each piece.
The coding is posted with the database. The categories
include:
Advertising
Restrictions / Commercial Speech
Product Liability / Tort Law
International & Comparative
Federal / State Preemption
State & Local Regulation, generally
Environmental Tobacco Smoke- Generally
Environmental Tobacco Smoke- Workplace
ETS- Home / Family Issues
Administrative Law / FDA Regulation
Economics of Tobacco Control / Tax Issues
Civil Process- CivPro, Discovery, Litigation Techniques,
Parties, Class Actions
Lawyers and Lawyering
Tobacco & Social Justice, Minority Issues
Smokers' Rights & Privacy Issues
Criminal Law or Procedure
Intellectual Property- Trademark, Copyright, Patent, etc.
Miscellaneous Tobacco Related Articles
For
convenience, the database identifies the written pieces
as articles ("Art"), notes or comments ("N/C"), book reviews
("BR"), and symposia (published conference papers) ("Sym").
As noted above, faculty articles ("Art") tend to be viewed
as more authoritative expositions of the law, but student
works are often valuable resources as well. |
| |
| NOTES
ON USING THE DATABASE |
| For
a simple printout, using the .pdf file will probably be
easiest. To search or sort the data, it will likely be best
to download the database to your computer as a Microsoft
Excel spreadsheet. The database is read-only protected as
web-posted. |
| |
| ACCESS
TO FULL-TEXT OF ARTICLES |
We
can not make available full-text versions of the articles.
The articles should be available as reference materials
at most American law libraries. For the most recent works,
journals may publish full text of the works online. Alternatively,
most journals now maintain websites that provide information
for obtaining back-issues.
The
fee-based Lexis or Westlaw services are likely to have
all of the listed works available online. |
| |
| OTHER |
| The
database is posted for free as a reference tool AS IS with
NO WARRANTIES express or implied including, but not limited
to, warranties relating to accuracy, validity, or infringement.
If you need legal advice, you should see an attorney. We
do of course welcome advice concerning omissions or errors.
Please send comments to webmaster (lawweb@hawaii.edu). |
|
