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Correcting A Fatal Lottery: A Proposal To Apply The Civil Discrimination Standards To The Death Penalty, Joseph Thomas Nov 2013

Correcting A Fatal Lottery: A Proposal To Apply The Civil Discrimination Standards To The Death Penalty, Joseph Thomas

Joseph Thomas

Claims of discrimination are treated differently in the death penalty context. Discrimination in employment, housing, civil rights and jury venire all use a burden-shifting framework with the preponderance of the evidence as the standard. Discrimination that occurs in death penalty proceedings is the exception to the rule -- the framework offers less protections; there is only one phase of argumentation, with a heightened evidentiary standard of “exceptionally clear proof.” With disparate levels of protections against discrimination, the standard and framework for adjudicating claims of discrimination in the death penalty is unconstitutional.

Death is different as a punishment. But does discrimination …


Public Assistance, Drug Testing And The Law: The Limits Of Population-Based Legal Analysis, Candice Player Aug 2013

Public Assistance, Drug Testing And The Law: The Limits Of Population-Based Legal Analysis, Candice Player

Candice T Player

In Populations, Public Health and the Law, legal scholar Wendy Parmet urges courts to embrace population-based legal analysis, a public health inspired approach to legal reasoning. Parmet contends that population-based legal analysis offers a way to analyze legal issues—not unlike law and economics—as well as a set of values from which to critique contemporary legal discourse. Population-based analysis has been warmly embraced by the health law community as a bold new way of analyzing legal issues. Still population-based analysis is not without its problems. At times Parmet claims too much territory for the population-perspective. Moreover Parmet urges courts to recognize …


Whither Affirmative Action: A Look At Recent Court Decisions, Tanya M. Marcum J.D. Aug 2013

Whither Affirmative Action: A Look At Recent Court Decisions, Tanya M. Marcum J.D.

Tanya M. Marcum J.D.

The concept of “affirmative action” has held a place in the legal system for well over a thousand years. However, the term “affirmative action” has recently been used and applied in varying ways, causing confusion and outright hostility throughout our nation. The concept of “affirmative action” the term “affirmative action” and the practice of “affirmative action” are still with us giving rise to continuing legal attention and political focus. This article will explore the history of and uses of affirmative action, examine the recent cases before the courts, and finally, make predictions as to the future of affirmative action and …


Article: No Child Left Behind: Why Race-Based Achievement Goals Violate The Equal Protection Clause, Ayriel Bland Apr 2013

Article: No Child Left Behind: Why Race-Based Achievement Goals Violate The Equal Protection Clause, Ayriel Bland

Ayriel Bland

In 2002, No Child Left Behind (NCLB) was passed under President George W. Bush with the goal of increasing academic proficiency for all children in the United States by 2014. Yet, many states struggled to meet this goal and the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education allowed states to apply for waivers and bypass the 2014 deadline. Some states implemented waivers though race-based achievement standards. For example, Florida in October 2012, established that by 2018, 74 percent of African American and 81 percent of Hispanic students had to be proficient in math and reading, in comparison to 88 percent …


Dancing Around Equality: Public Schools And Prejudice At The Prom, Jeffrey S. Thomas Mar 2013

Dancing Around Equality: Public Schools And Prejudice At The Prom, Jeffrey S. Thomas

Jeffrey S. Thomas

No abstract provided.


In Defense Of Implied Injunctive Relief In Constitutional Cases, John F. Preis Feb 2013

In Defense Of Implied Injunctive Relief In Constitutional Cases, John F. Preis

John F. Preis

If Congress has neither authorized nor prohibited a suit to enforce the Constitution, may the federal courts create one nonetheless? At present, the answer mostly turns on the form of relief sought: if the plaintiff seeks damages, the Supreme Court will normally refuse relief unless Congress has specifically authorized it; in contrast, if the plaintiff seeks an injunction, the Court will refuse relief only if Congress has specifi- cally barred it. These contradictory approaches naturally invite arguments for reform. Two common arguments—one based on the historical relationship between law and equity and the other based on separation of powers principles—could …


Manufacturing Moral Panic As Political Distraction: An Empirical And Social Theoretical Analysis Of Domas, Deirdre Bowen Feb 2013

Manufacturing Moral Panic As Political Distraction: An Empirical And Social Theoretical Analysis Of Domas, Deirdre Bowen

Deirdre M Bowen

This article offers the only empirical analysis to date of national data evaluating the claim that defense of marriage acts (DOMAs) preserve and stabilize the family. After concluding that they do not, the article analyzes what variables are, in fact, correlated with family stability. Specifically, the relationships between families below the poverty line, men and women married three or more times, religiosity, percent conservative versus liberal in a state, disposable income, percent with bachelor’s degree, and median age of first marriage, and marriage and divorce trends is fully explored. Next, the article applies the sociological concepts of moral entrepreneurism, which …


Religions As Sovereigns: Why Religion Is "Special", Elizabeth A. Clark Feb 2013

Religions As Sovereigns: Why Religion Is "Special", Elizabeth A. Clark

Elizabeth A. Clark

Commentators increasingly challenge religion’s privileged legal status, arguing that it is not “special” or distinct from other associations or philosophical or conscientious claims. I propose that religion is “special” because it functions metaphorically as a legal sovereign, asserting supreme authority over a realm of human life. Under a religion-as-sovereign theory, religious freedom can be understood as at least partial deference to a religious sovereign in a system of shared or overlapping sovereignty. This Article suggests that federalism, which also involves shared sovereignty, can provide a useful heuristic device for examining religious freedom. Specifically, the Article examines a range of federalism …


I Wanna Marry You: The Irrelevancy And Distraction Of Doma, Deirdre Bowen Feb 2013

I Wanna Marry You: The Irrelevancy And Distraction Of Doma, Deirdre Bowen

Deirdre M Bowen

This article offers the only empirical analysis to date of national data evaluating the claim that defense of marriage acts (DOMAs) preserve and stabilize the family. The article examines marriage and divorce changes in trends for every state over the last ten years for which data is available comparing changes, if any, before and after a DOMA was enacted or same sex marriage was permitted. After concluding that DOMA does not play a role in either divorce or marriage changes in trends or rates, the article explores what variables are, in fact, correlated with family stability. Given that poverty, religiosity, …


The Geography Of Racial Stereotyping: Evidence And Implications For Vra Preclearance After Shelby County, Christopher Elmendorf, Douglas Spencer Dec 2012

The Geography Of Racial Stereotyping: Evidence And Implications For Vra Preclearance After Shelby County, Christopher Elmendorf, Douglas Spencer

Christopher S. Elmendorf

The Supreme Court in Shelby County v. Holder (2013) effectively enjoined the preclearance regime of the Voting Rights Act. The Court deemed the coverage formula, which determines the jurisdictions subject to preclearance, insufficiently grounded in current conditions. This paper proposes a new, legally defensible approach to coverage based on between-state differences in the proportion of voting age citizens who subscribe to negative stereotypes about racial minorities and vote accordingly. The new coverage formula could also account for racially polarized voting and minority population size, but, for constitutional reasons, subjective discrimination by voters is the essential criterion. We demonstrate that the …