Digital Commons Network^™

"Kill The Sea Turtles" And Other Things You Can't Make The Government Say, Scott W. Gaylord

Scott W. Gaylord

In Pleasant Grove City v. Summum, the Supreme Court confirmed that there is no heckler’s veto under the government speech doctrine. When speaking, the government has the right to speak for itself and to select the views that it wants to express. But the Court acknowledged that sometimes it is difficult to determine whether the government is actually speaking. Specialty license plates have proven to be one of those difficult situations, raising novel and important First Amendment issues. Six circuits have reached four separate conclusions regarding the status of messages on specialty license plates. Three circuits have held that …

August 19, 2013: If Materialism Goes, What Goes With It?, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “If Materialism Goes, What Goes With It?“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

Saving Disparate Impact, Lawrence Rosenthal

Lawrence Rosenthal

No abstract provided.

Financial Armageddon Routs Law Again, Nicholas L. Georgakopoulos

Nicholas L Georgakopoulos

This essay, after highlighting the unique aspects of financial markets, offers a mostly rational account for financial crises, centering on the 2008 crisis as an example. The thesis is that market participants overestimate the duration of high productivity growth due to new technologies and produce occasional—and likely unavoidable—bubbles. Considering potential changes in the regulation of financial markets, the conclusion is grim. Regulators appear to have exhausted the effective legal levers against overestimations of continued high growth. The legislative responses to the last few crises were likely unproductive. The sole (but still unrealistic) effective protection would be the constitutional development of …

August 15, 2013: The Feast Of The Assumption And The Disaster In Egypt, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “The Feast of the Assumption and the Disaster in Egypt“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

The Applicability Of Co-Operative Federalism: Lessons Learned From The Assisted Human Reproduction Act, David A.M. Seccareccia

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The Assisted Human Reproduction Act (AHRA) is a piece of federal legislation that was passed in 2004. The province of Quebec issued a reference question regarding the constitutionality of the federal legislation and in 2010 the Supreme Court of Canada rendered its opinion. The result was a success for the provinces because the Supreme Court’s verdict severely limited the scope of the federal legislation. In addition to clarifying the limits of the federal government’s criminal law power, the saga of the AHRA also helps illustrate the integral role the concept of co-operative federalism plays in modern Canadian inter-governmental …

The Battle For The Soul Of International Shoe, Eric H. Schepard

Eric H Schepard

In 2011, Justice Kennedy’s plurality opinion in J. McIntyre Machinery, Ltd. v. Nicastro repeatedly cited International Shoe v. Washington, a 1945 decision that transformed the law of personal jurisdiction. Kennedy believed that International Shoe broadly supported his position that a state may hear a suit arising from a within-state workplace injury to its citizen only if the foreign (out-of-state) corporate defendant specifically markets its products to that state. This article reexamines the jurisprudence of International Shoe’s author, Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone, to argue that Kennedy hijacked International Shoe’s half-buried legacy of judicial restraint. Scholars have suggested that Stone hoped …

The First Amendment Structure For Speakers And Speech, Charles W. Rhodes

Charles W Rhodes

A noticeable trend in the Roberts Court’s free speech decisions is heightened attention to the dimensions of the First Amendment. From holding false factual statements, violent video games, and depictions of animal cruelty are covered by the First Amendment, to determining that a legislator’s vote, governmental acceptance of a monument, and a law school’s refusal to allow access to military recruiters are not, the Court has highlighted the importance of evaluating both the scope of the First Amendment and the appropriate attribution of communicative efforts. But the Court has failed to announce an overarching structural framework for resolving these prefatory …

Brief Opposing Mma, Brendan T. Beery

Brendan T Beery

Brief challenging the constitutionality of the MMA

August 11, 2013: Reza Aslan Speaks To The Commonwealth Club, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Reza Aslan Speaks to the Commonwealth Club“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

An Anachronism Too Discordant To Be Suffered: A Comparative Study Of Parliamentary And Presidential Approaches To Regulation Of The Death Penalty, Derek R. Verhagen

Derek R VerHagen

It is well-documented that the United States remains the only western democracy to retain the death penalty and finds itself ranked among the world's leading human rights violators in executions per year. However, prior to the Gregg v. Georgia decision in 1976, ending America's first and only moratorium on capital punishment, the U.S. was well in line with the rest of the civilized world in its approach to the death penalty. This Note argues that America's return to the death penalty is based primarily on the differences between classic parliamentary approaches to regulation and that of the American presidential system. …

August 9, 2013: The Christian Case Against Gay Marriage, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “The Christian Case Against Gay Marriage“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

Something To Lex Loci Celebrationis: Federal Marriage Benefits Following United States V. Windsor, Mary Margaret Meg Penrose

Meg Penrose

Something To Lex Loci Celebrationis: Federal Marriage Benefits Following United States V. Windsor, Meg Penrose

Meg Penrose

This article provides one of the first substantive treatments of United States v. Windsor, the Supreme Court's recent same-sex marriage case. The article's thesis proposes lex loci celebrationis (the place of marriage) as the proper method for determining marriage for federal law purposes. Failure to adopt lex loci celebrationis may violate the Fifth Amendment equal protection guarantee or the constitutional right to travel. Further, adoption of the lex loci celebrationis standard furthers marital stability and predictability.

Anatomy Of The Reasonable Observer, Jessie Hill

Jessie Hill

The “reasonable observer”—the fictional person from whose perspective we are to judge whether a governmental display or practice violates the Establishment Clause—has been under fire for decades. Primarily, critics argue that the reasonable observer, as conceived by the Supreme Court, is incapable of representing a community perspective because he does not sufficiently resemble a flesh-and-blood person. This criticism can be further articulated as two specific complaints: first, that too much knowledge is imputed to the reasonable observer, making him more omniscient than the average passerby; and second, that the reasonable observer, like the average judge, is biased toward a majoritarian …

Hougang By-Election Case: What Court Decision On By-Election Reveals, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee

Jack Tsen-Ta LEE

The Singapore Court of Appeal’s judgment in Vellama d/o Marie Muthu v Attorney-General [2013] SGCA 39 – popularly known as the Hougang by-election case – shows that the Court sees its role as policing the margins rather than involving itself in the heart of politics. The Court held that the Government was incorrect in asserting the Constitution confers on it the discretion not to hold a by-election at all after a parliamentary seat falls vacant. The judgment came as a surprise to those used to a judicial stance fairly deferential towards the Government, but on balance the Court did accord …

August 4, 2013: Hannah Arendt And The Banality Of Evil, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “ Hannah Arendt and the Banality of Evil“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

The Conflict Between Stare Decisis And Ov Erruling In Constitutional Adjudication, Steven J. Burton

steven J. burton

This article argues that the Constitution constrains the Supreme Court's power to overrule its constitutional precedents. It bases this argument on the Fifth Amendment's Due Process Clause and the conjunction of Marbury v. Madison, Martin v. Hunter's Lessee, Cohens v. Virginia, and the "case or controversy" limit on federal court jurisdiction.

Reflexiones Jurídicas Sobre El Magnicidio De Jfk A La Luz Del Debido Proceso.®, Daniel Fernando Gómez Tamayo

Daniel Fernando Gómez Tamayo

Reflexiones Jurídicas en torno al atentado de Jhon.F.Kennedy. Ahora bien, en el caso JFK las preguntas son: ¿ Lee Harvey Oswald fue realmente víctima de un caso de injuria y de calumnia por parte de los federales corruptos del FBI?, Según Marita Lorenz, una espía que amó a Fidel Castro sostiene con respecto a Lee H Oswald que: " lo vio débil para coger un rifle." Entonces, ¿ la comisión Warren impostó justicia en el crimen? Ciertamente, el indiciado era una persona inimputable al que se le negó el derecho de defensa y el debido proceso; es más, por análisis …

U.S. Government Counterterrorism Asset Freezes: Regulatory Seizures In A Digital Age Of Terrorism, Adam S. Wallwork

Adam S Wallwork

This Article addresses the question of when, if ever, the Department of the Treasury’s counterterrorism asset freezes against US persons (US citizens, resident aliens, and US-based organizations) violate the Fourth Amendment. It addresses two questions that currently divide the federal courts: (1) whether OFAC blocking orders are seizures subject to the Fourth Amendment and (2) whether the Fourth Amendment’s warrant and probable-cause requirements apply to OFAC counterterrorism blocking orders if these orders are in fact seizures.

My Originalist analysis of OFAC counterterrorism blocking orders draws on evidence of the Framers’ original understanding of “unreasonable . . . seizures,” including the …

Extraterritoriality And The Dormant Commerce Clause: A Doctrinal Post-Mortem, Brannon P. Denning

Louisiana Law Review

The article offers information related to the dormant Commerce Clause doctrine (DCCD), a legal doctrine that courts in the U.S. have inferred from the commerce clause related to the prohibition of the extraterritorial state legislation. It mentions that the clause expressly grants congress the power to regulate commerce among the several states.

Theory Of Constitutional Comparison, Sebastian Müller-Franken Prof. Dr

sebastian müller-franken prof. dr

The article looks into constitutional comparison from a theoretical perspective. It shows the variety of different purposes this juridical discipline pursuits. So constitutional comparison for example takes advantage creating constitutional theory or gives an orientation for constititional politics. The article also shows how constitutional comparison can render benefits for the application of constitutional law without giving up national sovereignty.

U.S. Judicial Independence: Victim In The “War On Terror”, Wayne Mccormack

Wayne McCormack

One of the principal victims in the U.S. so-called "war on terror" has been the independence of the U.S. Judiciary. Time and again, challenges to assertedly illegal conduct on the part of government officials have been turned aside without addressing the merits, either because of overt deference to the Government or because of special doctrines such as state secrets and standing requirements. This paper catalogs the principal cases first by the nature of the government action challenged and then by the special doctrines invoked. The U.S. judiciary has virtually relinquished its valuable role of judicial review. In the face of …

August 1, 2013: A Theology "As If", Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “A Theology "As If"“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

The Role Of The Federal Judge In The Constitutional Structure: An Originalist Perspective, Diarmuid F. O'Scannlain

San Diego Law Review

Join me now in examining some of the structural features of our Constitution. And let’s do so by focusing upon cases that have come before my court—the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the second highest federal court in the land, inferior only to the Supreme Court of the United States. My goal is to present, in modest outline, an originalist perspective on the federal judge’s role, particularly my role as a circuit judge, in the constitutional order.

Table Annexed To Article: Our Aesthetic Constitution, Peter J. Aschenbrenner

Peter J. Aschenbrenner

If natural language is deficient, then descriptions-in-words of constitutions may suffer the same fate. What other choices are there, when an investigator – or more typically, a speaker in ordered discourse – or even more usually a speaker uttering demotic elaboration – sets out to describe constitutional text? Isn’t it obvious that artifacts featuring words lock users into using more words? OCL offers (the first of) several studies.

Our Aesthetic Constitution, Peter J. Aschenbrenner

Peter J. Aschenbrenner

If natural language is deficient, then descriptions-in-words of constitutions may suffer the same fate. What other choices are there, when an investigator – or more typically, a speaker in ordered discourse – or even more usually a speaker uttering demotic elaboration – sets out to describe constitutional text? Isn’t it obvious that artifacts featuring words lock users into using more words? OCL offers (the first of) several studies.

Observaciones Personales, Jose Luis Sardon

Jose Luis Sardon

Porqué no decliné mi elección reciente como Magistrado del Tribunal Constitucional del Perú.

The Definite Article: The D.C. Circuit's Redefinition Of Recess Appointments, Jeff Vandam

NULR Online

No abstract provided.

Finding A Positive Right To Healthcare, Nicole Huberfeld

Law Faculty Popular Media

In this blog post, Professor Nicole Huberfeld provides a review of Edward Rubin's article The Affordable Care Act, The Constitutional Meaning of Statutes, and the Emerging Doctrine of Positive Constitutional Rights, 53 Wm. & Mary L. Rev. 1639 (2012).