School of Law

You are here:

Empirical Legal Research

Hagemann Center for
Legal and Public Policy Research
 

Description
Mission Statement
Center Personnel
Studies
Pending Studies
Recognitions
Sponsored Lectures

Description

The study of how law actually interacts with society and what impact law has upon society has become of great interest to both legal scholars and policymakers. This type of legal research also entails an interdisciplinary approach to legal scholarship. A study of the interaction of law and society necessarily requires that legal scholars also employ various of the social sciences in their research endeavors.

The Hagemann Center for Legal Research and Public Policy at The University of South Dakota School of Law takes this interdisciplinary focus in its various studies of the ways in which law actually affects people and social relationships. Since 2003, researchers at the USD School of Law have looked at such issues as: how economic forces and legal doctrines come together to influence shareholder class action litigation; how the Indian Civil Rights Act has actually been applied by tribal courts and ways that tribal governments have incorporated first amendment norms within their social and political structures;  how state transportation laws are affecting economic commerce among the upper Midwest states, and how media ratings systems actually function to control minor access to violent and indecent media programming.

Affiliated with the only law school in the State of South Dakota, the Hagemann Center places particular focus on researching the impact and interrelationships of laws and legal practices of interest to South Dakota. In this capacity, the Center strives in its outreach program to involve the South Dakota State Bar in its research projects. The Center tries to work with groups and organizations in the State of South Dakota to identify and conduct its various empirical research projects. The goal is for this research to have an educational function for state, local and federal policymakers in South Dakota.

The Center proudly bears the name of its founding president, John F. Hagemann.   Professor Hagemann graduated from the University of Wisconsin School of Law and began his teaching career at the USD School of Law in 1968. His career spanned forty-one years, thirty-one of which he served concurrently as the Law Librarian at McKusick Law Library.  John Hagemann is known throughout South Dakota's legal community as a professor, consultant, mentor, invaluable legal resource, and research authority.  In the field of legal research, Professor Hagemann is South Dakota's preeminent authority.

The Director of the Center is Professor Patrick Garry, who has directed all of the Center's previous empirical research projects and who during his tenure at USD has published four books and more than tforty scholarly articles. The Research Coordinator for the Center is Candice Spurlin, Senior Librarian at the USD School of Law.  Spurlin directs the Library's legal research department, teaches online legal research at the Law School, and has authored scholarly articles on the subject of legal research. Stephannie Bonaiuto serves as the Center's administrator.

The Hagemann Center for Empirical Legal Research is a natural outgrowth of The University of South Dakota's research initiative. This initiative seeks to develop and strengthen scholarly research throughout the University. The initiative also seeks to foster an interdisciplinary approach to the University's research efforts. The Hagemann Center for Empirical Legal Research is proud to serve this important mission of The University of South Dakota.
Top

Mission Statement

The Hagemann Center has three functions. First, it conducts research projects on legal and public policy issues, focusing on issues of particular importance to South Dakota and similarly-situated states. Second, The Hagemann Center will serve as a publishing house for books and other materials of interest to the South Dakota legal community or relating to legal and public policy issues facing South Dakotans. And third, The Center will sponsor occasional lectures on legal and public policy issues relevant to the State of South Dakota.            

Regarding its research projects, The Hagemann Center will conduct research on various legal and public policy matters affecting the State of South Dakota, and in particular the South Dakota Bar. The Center's efforts will include empirical research into the actual effects of various laws and legal doctrines, using statistical and survey data. To complete these projects, The Center will partner with outside funding sources.            

In addition to its own research projects, The Hagemann Center will publish books and working papers that are of value and relevance to South Dakota, but which might otherwise not find an appropriate publisher. To fulfill this mission, The Center will seek financial sponsors for its publications.            

Finally, The Hagemann Center will sponsor lectures and presentations on subjects concerning South Dakota laws, history or public policy. Such sponsored lectures will be those that are of high relevance to South Dakota, but which might otherwise not attract a sponsor.
Top

Center Personnel

Top

Studies by Center for Legal Research

49 South Dakota Law Review 275 (2003-2004) Article: THE IRRATIONALITY OF SHAREHOLDER CLASS ACTION LAWSUITS: A PROPOSAL FOR REFORM 
Full Text
This article examines shareholder class actions and offers a proposal for reforming this area of litigation.

Final Report of the Regional Inter-state Transportation and Commercial Law Harmonization Project  & Executive Summary for the US Department of Transportation, May 2006
Full Text Summary
Full Text Report 
A Study on the Disparities in Commercial Trucking Laws Among the Five-State Northern Great Plains Region.  

51 South Dakota Law Review 256 (2006) Article: THE CHALLENGES TO HARMONIZATION OF INTER-JURISDICTIONAL TRADE LAWS: A STUDY OF TRANSPORTATION REGULATION DISPARITIES WITHIN THE NORTHERN GREAT PLAINS REGION
Full Text
The University of South Dakota Law School conducted a comprehensive study of certain commercial transportation regulations within the Northern Great Plains region — North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota — to determine the degree of uniformity or disparities in the trade laws of a particular region.

32 Oklahoma City University Law Review Summer 215 (2007) Article: THE EFFECTIVENESS OF MEDIA RATING SYSTEMS IN PREVENTING CHILDREN'S EXPOSURE TO VIOLENT AND SEXUALLY EXPLICIT MEDIA CONTENT: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY
Full Text
The study described in this article, although narrowly focused, suggests that the voluntary measures undertaken by the media are not nearly as successful in achieving their stated goals as might otherwise be claimed. 

53 South Dakota Law Review 335 (2008) Article: TRIBAL INCORPORATION OF FIRST AMENDMENT NORMS: A CASE STUDY OF THE INDIAN TRIBES OF SOUTH DAKOTA
Full Text
The article examines the legal obligation imposed on Indian tribes to protect certain individual rights, and whether the First Amendment applies to Indian tribes, and finally how the Indian Civil Rights Act applies.

54 South Dakota Law Review 89 (2009) Article: DOES FILTERING STOP THE FLOW OF VALUABLE INFORMATION?: A CASE STUDY OF THE CHILDREN'S INTERNET PROTECTION ACT (CIPA) IN SOUTH DAKOTA
Full Text
The filtering requirements of the CIPA present one of the first successful governmental efforts to help parents protect their children from harmful Internet material. However, the lingering issue is whether that filtering effort, as alleged by the CIPA's opponents, unduly restricts the free speech rights of adults. This study examines the effect of CIPA in those South Dakota public libraries that subscribe to the government E-rate filtering program.

54 South Dakota Law Review 448 (2009) Article: WIND ENERGY IN INDIAN COUNTRY: A STUDY OF THE CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FACING SOUTH DAKOTA TRIBES
Full Text
The development of wind power in Indian country presents a unique opportunity for Indian tribes to advance economic and social interests while adhering to traditional values and mores.  Challenges exist, however, for turning wind-rich lands into viable wind energy production sites.  This study focuses on these challenges and highlights the legal issues surrounding such an undertaking as more tribes become interested in pursuing such an opportunity.
Top

Pending Studies by Hagemann Center for Legal Research

Advanced Estate and Charitable Planning with Perpetual Trust  New

The Impact of Campaign Finance Practice on Federalism

The Judicial Use of Summary Judgment 

Public Involvement in the Agency Rule Making Process 

Fundamental Legal Skills of Entry Level Attorneys

Recognition

Center Studies on SSRN Top-Ten Downloads  

  • Wind Energy in Indian Country: A Study on the Challenges and Opportunities Facing the South Dakota Tribes, 54 SOUTH DAKOTA LAW REVIEW 448 (2009) (listed as SSRN Top-Ten downloaded article in relevant category four weeks in a row).
  • Does Filtering Stop the Flow of Valuable Information?: A Case Study of the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) in South Dakota, 54 SOUTH DAKOTA LAW REVIEW 89 (2009) (listed as SSRN Top-Ten downloaded article in relevant category).
  • The First Amendment and Indian Tribal Constitutions and Legal Systems: A Case Study, 53 SOUTH DAKOTA LAW REVIEW 335 (2008) (listed as a SSRN Top-Ten downloaded article in relevant category).
  • The Effectiveness of Media Ratings Systems in Preventing Children's Exposure to Violent and Sexually Explicit Media Content: An Empirical Study, 32 OKLAHOMA CITY UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW 215 (2007) (selected for inclusion in University of La Verne's Selective Bibliographic Index of Juvenile Law Publications).
  • The Irrationality of Shareholder Class Actions: A Proposal for Reform, 49 SOUTH DAKOTA LAW REVIEW (2004) (listed as an SSRN Top-Ten downloaded article in relevant category).                 

Center Studies Reprinted in other Scholarly Works

  • The First Amendment and Indian Tribal Constitutions and Legal Systems: A Case Study, 53 SOUTH DAKOTA LAW REVIEW 335 (2008) (reprinted in Scheduled Tribal Rights (ICFAI Books)).
  • Does Filtering Stop the Flow of Valuable Information?: A Case Study of the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) in South Dakota, 54 SOUTH DAKOTA LAW REVIEW 89 (2009) (reprinted in Internet Censorship (ICFAI Law Books))
  • The Effectiveness of Media Ratings Systems in Preventing Children's Exposure to Violent and Sexually Explicit Media Content: An Empirical Study, 32 OKLAHOMA CITY UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW 215 (2007) (selected for inclusion in University of La Verne's Selective Bibliographic Index of Juvenile Law Publications).
Sponsored Lectures

Frank Pommersheim Lectures On Indians, Indian Tribes, and the Constitution

Law and Society

research