Digital Commons Network^™

Where's The Harm?: Free Speech And The Regulation Of Lies, Lyrissa Lidsky

Faculty Publications

The United States Supreme Court has interpreted the First Amendment to accord a measure of protection to outright lies. This essay seeks to explain why. Using Holocaust denial as an example of verifiably false speech, this essay poses the question of whether such speech poses a more serious danger than First Amendment jurisprudence traditionally has acknowledged. This essay also probes the unintended consequences of governmental attempts to impose criminal punishment on lies.

The 60th Anniversary Of The Everson Decision And America's Church-State Proposition, Carl H. Esbeck

Faculty Publications

Sixty years ago the U.S. Supreme Court handed down Everson v. Board of Education of Ewing Township, which for the first time incorporated the Establishment Clause through the Fourteenth Amendment and made it binding on state and local governments. The case marks the beginning of the Court's modern era with respect to church-state relations. In Everson, the Justices said that the restraints on federal power represented by the Establishment Clause were the same as the ideas that emerged from the disestablishment struggles in the several states, with special attention to the Virginia experience. The disestablishment effort in the states, which …

Authorship, Audiences, And Anonymous Speech, Thomas F. Cotter, Lyrissa Lidsky

Faculty Publications

A series of United States Supreme Court decisions establishes that the First Amendment provides a qualified right to speak and publish anonymously, or under a pseudonym. But the Court has never clearly defined the scope of this right. As a result, lower courts have been left with little guidance when it comes to dealing both with the Internet-fueled growth of torts and crimes committed by anonymous speakers, and with the increasing number of lawsuits aimed at silencing legitimate anonymous speech. In this Article, we provide both positive and normative foundations for a comprehensive approach to anonymous speech. We first draw …

Constitutional Referendum In The United States Of America, William B. Fisch

Faculty Publications

The United States of America, as a federation of now 50 states each with its own constitution and legal system still enjoying a large degree of governmental autonomy within the national legal framework, presents a strikingly mixed picture regarding the use of direct democracy--the submission of proposed governmental action to a popular vote--in law- and constitution-making processes. At the national level, direct democracy has never been used for either type of enactment. At the state and local level, however, its use dates back to colonial times and has been increasing gradually (though still not universal) ever since. Since the mid-19th …

Some Reflections On The Symposium: Judging, The Classical Legal Paradigm And The Possible Contributions Of Science, Christina E. Wells

Faculty Publications

One theme running through the many excellent contributions to this symposium involves the myriad influences on judicial decision-making. As Professor Wrightsman notes, Supreme Court Justices' personal characteristics may affect their ability to influence colleagues and, consequently, the outcome of Supreme Court decisions. Professor Ruger observes that judges have both attitudinal and jurisprudential preferences that may change over time, affecting legal outcomes differently as time passes. Professor Sisk similarly notes that judges' personal values and experiences influence their decision-making. These observations are consistent with those of numerous other scholars, who find wide-ranging and diverse influences on the judicial resolution of legal …

Democracy And Dispute Resolution: The Problem Of Arbitration, Richard C. Reuben

Faculty Publications

Scholars have approached arbitration, especially under the Federal Arbitration Act, from a variety of perspectives, including doctrinal, historical, empirical, and practical. One aspect that has not yet been fully considered, however, is the relationship between arbitration and constitutional democracy. Yet, as a dispute-resolution process that is often sanctioned by the government, that sometimes inextricably intertwines governmental and private conduct, and that derives its legitimacy from the government, it is appropriate--indeed, our responsibility--to ask whether arbitration furthers the goals of democratic governance. It is only sensible that state-supported dispute resolution in a democracy should strengthen, rather than diminish, democratic governance and …

Encouraging Courage: Law's Response To Fear And Risk, William B. Fisch

Faculty Publications

Our three papers provide a helpful review of the many things that can go wrong with our system for the protection of civil liberties under the pressures of war or other emergencies. Professor Winfield focuses on the U.S. Attorney General, the non-judicial officer from whom the public might expect the highest fidelity to the law and the constitution. She offers a sobering perspective on the ways in which those expectations can be and have been disappointed. The star of her taxonomy, I take it, is the Leveler, who reaches an independent (and rights-protective!) view of the law and works to …

Questioning Deference, Christina E. Wells

Faculty Publications

This article examines the accepted axiom that courts should defer to the government's actions during national security crises even when such actions potentially violate citizens' constitutional rights. The paper questions two assumptions underlying that axiom - first, that executive officials are best equipped to determine when security needs justify liberty infringements and, second, that judges are particularly unqualified to meddle in security issues, even when civil liberties are involved. Relying on psychological theories regarding the role that fear plays in skewing risk assessment and historical analyses of past crises, the paper argues that times of crisis lend themselves to unnecessary …

Supreme Court's 2002 Term Employment Law Cases: Is This Justice Scalia's Court?, Rafael Gely

Faculty Publications

In a recent article,' Erwin Chemerinsky argues that the Supreme Court's constitutional law decisions of the 2002 Term "cannot be explained by any overarching theory or underlying set of interpretative principles." Instead, he argues, "constitutional law is all about value choices made by the Justices." Professor Chemerinsky also argues that given the current composition of the Court, "it is the value choices of the middle" - Justice O'Connor and Justice Kennedy - that matter the most. Professor Chemerinsky ends his article with the assertion that "[f]or better or worse, this really is the O'Connor Court." In reviewing the cases decided …

Hate Speech In The Constitutional Law Of The United States, William B. Fisch

Faculty Publications

Our general reporter, Professor Pizzorusso, has given us “incitement to hatred” - primarily against a group of persons defined in terms of race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, religion, sexual orientation, and the like--as the working definition of “hate speech”, and asks to what extent such speech is constitutionally protected in the reporting countries. The United States of America are known at least in recent times for providing exceptionally broad protection for otherwise objectionable speech and expression, and hate speech is understood to be one of the areas in which they have positioned themselves further out on the speech-protective end of …

Brandenburg And The United States War On Incitement Abroad: Defending A Double Standard, Lyrissa Lidsky

Faculty Publications

While it is perfectly legitimate for the United States to attempt to persuade foreign citizens and media not to engage in advocacy of violent acts, the administration's rhetoric suggests that the United States expects foreign governments to take action against speech that would be protected by the First Amendment in the United States. What explains this apparent hypocrisy? Is this simply another example of the United States touting democracy at home while supporting despotism abroad? Or is the Brandenburg incitement standard so socially and culturally contingent that it is not appropriate for export, at least to the Arab Middle East? …

Cybergossip Or Securities Fraud? Some First Amendment Guidance In Drawing The Line., Lyrissa Lidsky, Michael Pike

Faculty Publications

Fifteen-year-old Jonathan Lebed, the youngest person ever pursued by the SEC in an enforcement action, made over $800,000 in six months by promoting stocks on Internet message boards. Using several fictitious screen names, Jonathan posted hundreds of messages on Yahoo! Finance, hyping selected over-the-counter stocks and then promptly selling his pre-purchased shares as soon as the stock prices rose.

Publicly, the SEC painted a picture-perfect case of securities fraud. Yet, the SEC forced disgorgement of only $285,000 of Jonathan's profits, leaving many observers to wonder why the resolution of this supposedly clear-cut case left its teenaged perpetrator with over $500,000. …

Book Review: We The People: The Fourteenth Amendment And The Supreme Court, S. I. Strong

Faculty Publications

Never one to shirk a challenge, Michael Perry has taken on the difficult task of investigating whether, as charged by a number of prominent social and legal commentators, "the modern Supreme Court, in the name of the Fourteenth Amendment [to the US Constitution], [has] usurped prerogatives and made choices that properly belong to the electorally accountable representatives of the American people," and if so, to what extent (p. 8). Perry makes no attempt to address every facet of Fourteenth Amendment doctrine, but instead focuses his discussion on some of the most controversial topics: racial segregation, affirmative action, discrimination on the …

Constitutional Gravity: A Unitary Theory Of Alternative Dispute Resolution And Public Civil Justice, Richard C. Reuben

Faculty Publications

Under the traditional bipolar model, civil dispute resolution is generally divided into two spheres: trial, which is public in nature and therefore subject to constitutional due process, and alternative dispute resolution (ADR), which is private in nature and therefore not subject to such constraints. In this article, Professor Richard Reuben proposes a unitary understanding of public civil dispute resolution, one that recognizes that ADR is often energized by state action and thus is constitutionally required to comply with minimal but meaningful due process standards. Depending upon the process, such standards might include the right to an impartial forum, the right …

Silencing John Doe: Defamation And Discourse In Cyberspace, Lyrissa Lidsky

Faculty Publications

John Doe has become a popular defamation defendant as corporations and their officers bring defamation suits for statements made about them in Internet discussion fora. These new suits are not even arguably about recovering money damages but instead are brought for symbolic reasons — some worthy, some not so worthy. If the only consequence of these suits were that Internet users were held accountable for their speech, the suits would be an unalloyed good. However, these suits threaten to suppress legitimate criticism along with intentional and reckless falsehoods, and existing First Amendment law doctrines are not responsive to the threat …

High Crimes And Misdemeanors: Defining The Constitutional Limits On Presidential Impeachment, Frank O. Bowman Iii, Stephen L. Sepinuck

Faculty Publications

This Article had its genesis in a statement by the authors submitted to the House Judiciary Committee during its proceedings regarding the impeachment of President Clinton. This final much expanded version appears after the conclusion of the Clinton impeachment proceedings in the Senate, and it is certainly informed by the course those proceedings took. Strictly speaking, however, this is not an article “about” the Clinton impeachment. Although this Article draws some conclusions from the treatment by the House and Senate of the fundamental allegations against President Clinton, it does not address in detail the specific facts underlying those allegations. The …

The Establishment Clause As A Structural Restraint On Governmental Power, Carl H. Esbeck

Faculty Publications

This Article inquires into whether the singular purpose of the Establishment Clause is to secure individual rights, as is conventionally believed, or whether its role is more properly understood as a structural restraint on governmental power. If the Clause is indeed structural in nature, then its task is to negate from the purview of civil governance all matters "respecting an establishment of religion." Conceptualizing the role of the Establishment Clause as either rights-securing or structural has profound consequences for the nation's constitutional settlement concerning the interrelationship of government and religion.

Tribute To Professor Richard B. Tyler, William B. Fisch

Faculty Publications

Tribute to Professor Richard B. Tyler

The Constitutionalization Of Law In The United States, William B. Fisch, Richard S. Kay

Faculty Publications

The constitution is that the federal courts and a majority of state court systems will only entertain a constitutional claim in the context of a concrete dispute involving adversary parties with a specific stake in the outcome, and abstract review in these systems is unknown.

Prying, Spying And Lying: Intrusive Newsgather And What The Law Should Do About Them, Lyrissa Lidsky

Faculty Publications

The media's use of intrusive newsgathering techniques poses an increasing threat to individual privacy. Courts currently resolve the overwhelming majority of conflicts in favor of the media. This is not because the First Amendment bars the imposition of tort liability on the media for its newsgathering practices. It does not. Rather, tort law has failed to seize the opportunity to create meaninful privacy protection. After surveying the economic, philosophical, and practical obstacles to reform, this Article proposes to rejuvenate the tort of intrusion to tip the balance between privacy and the press back in privacy's direction. Working within the framework …

Law And Religion In Israel And Iran: How The Integration Of Secular And Spiritual Laws Affects Human Rights And The Potential For Violence, S. I. Strong

Faculty Publications

The first area of discussion is the structure of each government system. This analysis not only sets the legal framework for later analysis, but demonstrates how both Israel and Iran have brought religion into the very fabric of their legal institutions.The second area of analysis in Part II focuses on the principles of sovereignty and constitutional interpretation utilized by each State. Familiarity with these concepts is necessary in order to learn which religious principles, if any, are incorporated into each nation's general legal environment. These principles, which are implicitly understood by members of the society, are often unstated in judicial …

Public Justice: Toward A State Action Theory Of Alterative Dispute Resolution, Richard C. Reuben

Faculty Publications

Various forms of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) are increasingly taking the place of litigation to resolve disagreements among parties. ADR is frequently imposed by court rule or legislative command for certain types of cases, or compelled by courts when private parties contract to use ADR. To date, ADR doctrine has focused on the structural issues attendant to bringing these processes into the mainstream of American dispute resolution. This Article contends that courts must now address the question of whether ADR-both court-related and contractual-can constitute state action, and therefore be subject to constitutional restraints. The author surveys the history and modern …

Christian Constitutions: Do They Protect Internationally Recognized Human Rights And Minimize The Potential For Violence Within A Society? A Comparative Analysis Of American And Irish Constitutional Law And Their Religious Elements, S. I. Strong

Faculty Publications

Section II of this Article studies in greater detail the religio-legal debate currently being waged in American courts and legislatures, including a brief discussion of the religio-legal history of the United States. Section II also describes how the United States resembles and differs from Ireland such that subsequent comparisons will be more accurate. Section III compares the two constitutions by analyzing the provisions and policies most influenced by religion. First, general principles of sovereignty and constitutional interpretation are reviewed to understand the general constitutional framework of each nation. Second, the manner in which personal rights are treated by each nation's …

A Constitutional Case For Governmental Cooperation With Faith-Based Social Service Providers, Carl H. Esbeck

Faculty Publications

This Article will refer to separationism as based on "older assumptions." The Court's presuppositions concerning the nature and contemporary value of religion and the proper role of modem government underlie what will be referred to as a "traditional analysis" of the case law. Part I is a partial overview of the Supreme Court's cases since Everson, and has the goal of making the strongest arguments-within the framework of separationism-for the constitutionality of governmental welfare programs that permit participation by faith-based social service providers.

Part II is about separationism's major competitor, a theory centered on the unleashing of personal liberty to …

The New Federalism, Richard C. Reuben

Faculty Publications

the 10th Amendment was something they noted for the bar exam and then promptly forgot about. But for many conservative lawyers and politicians, the 10th Amendment- which reserves to the states all powers not given to the federal government-has been anything but academic. For them, it embodies the founders' promise for a nation in which the states and federal government are near-equal partners. And they have fought long and hard to give the amendment its proper due. As the rise of House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., and his Contract with America attest, their day may have finally come. Today, federalism, …

Legitimacy Of The Constitutional Judge And Theories Of Interpretation In The United States, William B. Fisch, Richard S. Kay

Faculty Publications

The Legitimacy of the Constitutional Judge and Theories of Interpretation in the United States The paper addresses the sources of legitimacy of a judge exercising the power to declare acts of government invalid on constitutional grounds, and their relationship to theories of interpretation of the constitutional texts.

Intrusion And The Investigative Reporter, Lyrissa Lidsky

Faculty Publications

Although sometimes reviled as muckrakers, investigative reporters play a valuable role in exposing societal ills and advancing reform. The success of investigative journalism is due, at least in part, to its use of novel newsgathering techniques. Yet some of these same techniques pose a threat to individual privacy. Current tort doctrine strikes an unsatisfactory balance between these competing interests. The qualified common-law privilege advocated by this Note, in contrast, would protect those newsgathering activities that promote the public welfare. Equally significantly, by sending a clear message to editors, media lawyers, and reporters about the scope of protected newsgathering activity, it …

Emergency In The Constitutional Law Of The United States, William B. Fisch

Faculty Publications

In the following report I shall concentrate on the law as pronounced by the United States Supreme Court, which has, within the sphere of judicial competence, the last say on the interpretation of the Constitution. The volume of significant litigation on the subject which stops below the Supreme Court has been relatively light, and the constitutional law declared by the lower courts has played a less significant role than is the case in many other issues. Indeed, as we shall see, the Supreme Court itself has had less to say on the topic than might be hoped for. I shall …

After We're Gone: A Commentary, Michael A. Middleton

Faculty Publications

Professor Bell has placed before us a basic question that must be dealt with by all who wish to resolve the difficulties inherent in governing a free society. That question is one with which the framers of our Constitution grappled and that baffles us still. How does a society effectively govern itself and at the same time guarantee equal liberty for all? More specifically, in the racial context presented by The Chronicle of the Space Traders, when may government act for the benefit of society in a manner that is detrimental to some of its citizens because of their race?

Securing Justice: A Response To William Bradford Reynolds, Michael A. Middleton

Faculty Publications

I doubt that William Bradford Reynolds would disagree that the self evident truths the Framers of the Declaration of Independence spoke about are as applicable today in the 1980's as they were over 200 years ago. I also doubt that Mr. Reynolds would disagree that despite the fact that black people were not considered human beings when the Constitution was framed, the fourteenth amendment to that great document was intended to bring them within the ambit of its protections. On these two basic propositions, I suspect, Mr. Reynolds and I would agree. Beyond that however, Mr. Reynolds advances a fundamentally …