Digital Commons Network^™

Tale Of A Manuscript, Rowan Cahill

Rowan Cahill

At War With Civil Rights And Civil Liberties, Thomas E. Baker

Thomas E. Baker

No abstract provided.

The Harms Of Child Pornography Law, Bruce Ryder

Bruce B. Ryder

The author challenges the assumption that the expansion of child pornography offenses can lead only to a decrease in harm to children and to society. He argues that Canadian child pornography law is incoherent. In some respects, child pornography law makes valuable contributions to the prevention of child sexual abuse by targeting the production, dissemination and use of material ("real" child pornography) that involved harm in production. It also improves the law by criminalizing written and visual material that advocates the commission of sexual crimes against children and youth. In other respects, the law causes harm to society by suppressing …

Decoupling 'Terrorist' From 'Immigrant': An Enhanced Role For The Federal Courts Post 9/11, Victor C. Romero

Victor C. Romero

Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Attorney General John Ashcroft has utilized the broad immigration power ceded to him by Congress to ferret out terrorists among noncitizens detained for minor immigration violations. Such a strategy provides the government two options: deport those who are not terrorists, and then prosecute others who are. While certainly efficient, using immigration courts and their less formal due process protections afforded noncitizens should trigger greater oversight and vigilance by the federal courts for at least four reasons: First, while the legitimate goal of immigration law enforcement is deportation, Ashcroft's true objective in targeting …

The Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Divide, Christopher W. Schmidt

Christopher W. Schmidt

Contemporary legal discourse differentiates “civil rights” from “civil liberties.” The former are generally understood as protections against discriminatory treatment, the latter as freedom from oppressive government authority. This Essay explains how this differentiation arose and considers its consequences.

Although there is a certain inherent logic to the civil rights-civil liberties divide, it in fact is the product of the unique circumstances of a particular moment in history. In the early years of the Cold War, liberal anticommunists sought to distinguish their incipient interest in the cause of racial equality from their belief that national security required limitations on the speech …

Dean’S Message, Lawrence Raful

Lawrence Raful

No abstract provided.

The Constitution Of Belarus: A Good First Step Towards The Rule Of Law, Gary M. Shaw

Gary M. Shaw

No abstract provided.

‘For The Times They Are A Changin’: Explaining U.S. Supreme Court Justices’ Voting Through Identification Of Micro-Publics, Brian P. Levey, Jeffrey L. Yates, Justin Moeller

Brian P Levey

In assessing how social forces may shape U.S. Supreme Court justices’ decision making it has been presumed that there is one, singular public opinion and that it affects the individual justices in largely the same fashion. We suggest that it is more likely the case that justices’ world views are informed and shaped by a myriad of social concerns and group identities upon which these individuals structure and process their experiences and develop and refine their personal schemas. While some have already begun to question the proposition of a monolithic public opinion influence on judicial behavior and have begun to …

Rhode Island Traffic Stop Statistics 2004-2005: Final Report: Executive Summary, Amy Farrell, Jack Mcdevitt

Jack McDevitt

No abstract provided.

Rhode Island Traffic Stop Statistics 2004-2005: Final Report: Executive Summary, Amy Farrell, Jack Mcdevitt

Amy Farrell

No abstract provided.

Understanding The Dennis Ferguson Debate: Part 2, Jodie O'Leary

Jodie O'Leary

Extract: Recently I received a cause invitation from an old school friend on Facebook. The cause was to support micro-chipping of all paedophiles. I rejected that invitation. All I could think of was the microchip embedded in my Labrador. The way I understand that chip to work is that if someone finds my dog wandering the streets they can take him to a vet or the RSPCA who will then scan the chip and return him to me. The obvious question seemed to be: how would such a measure help protect children? After all, protection of children is the goal …

Network Accountability For The Domestic Intelligence Apparatus, Danielle Keats Citron, Frank Pasquale

Danielle Keats Citron

A new domestic intelligence network has made vast amounts of data available to federal and state agencies and law enforcement officials. The network is anchored by “fusion centers,” novel sites of intergovernmental collaboration that generate and share intelligence and information. Several fusion centers have generated controversy for engaging in extraordinary measures that place citizens on watch lists, invade citizens’ privacy, and chill free expression. In addition to eroding civil liberties, fusion center overreach has resulted in wasted resources without concomitant gains in security. While many scholars have assumed that this network represents a trade-off between security and civil liberties, our …

Antisemitism In The Academic Voice: Confronting Bigotry Under The First Amendment, Kenneth Lasson

Kenneth Lasson

Among the abuses of the academic enterprise that have been taking place in American universities over the past several decades, and continue to this day, are failures of intellectual rigor: the abandonment of reliance on facts, common sense, and logic in the pursuit of narrow political agendas – which all too often presented in the academic voice. Students today increasingly find themselves confronted by curricula manipulated by scholarly extremists. While the number of overt antisemitic incidents has declined markedly in the United States over the past few years, there has been a significant increase in anti-Zionist rhetoric and activity on …

Civil Liberties Lost, Waterboarding And The Legacy Of The Bybee-Yoo 'Torture-Power' Memorandum: Reflections From An Erstwhile Bush Administration Apologist, M. Katherine B. Darmer

M. Katherine B. Darmer

This symposium piece argues that waterboarding is torture and that torture is wrong. It reflects on the enduring legacy of the August 1, 2002 memo defining torture narrowly, which this paper describes as the Bybee and Yoo Torture and Power Memorandum [or 'BYTAP'].

Schengen Information System Ii: The Balance Between Civil Liberties, Security And Justice, K. Michael, M. G. Michael

M. G. Michael

This paper investigates the application of the Schengen Information System (SIS) in the European Union and the balance between civil liberties, security and justice. It provides an overview of the SIS, technical issues related to the maintenance of the SIS, and transnational legal issues in the context of national security and public policy. Given that citizens can now move freely between States in Europe, the paper investigates how the SIS is being administered, applied, and enforced and some of the potential problems that arise from cross mutual state recognition of SIS alerts. This paper argues that the SIS has a …

Judicial Recantation, Mark A. Graber

Mark Graber

No abstract provided.

Democracy On Trial: Terrorism, Crime, And National Security Policy In A Post 9-11 World, David A. Schultz

David A Schultz

Post 9-11 concerns in the United States, among the European Union (EU) members, and other western democracies regarding international terrorism forced convergence of the traditionally distinct policy areas of domestic criminal justice and national security. This convergence has produced several policy and institutional conflicts that pit individual rights against homeland security, domestic law and institutions against international norms and tribunals, and criminal justice agencies against national security organizations. This Article examines regime responses to international terrorism, principally in the United States, in comparison to the European Union, seeking to describe the consequences of the merger of criminal justice norms with …

Equal Protection And Sexual Orientation, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee

Jack Tsen-Ta LEE

Equality is the thread running through the fundamental liberties enshrined in our Constitution. ... Equality, expressed in Art 12 of the [Singapore] Constitution, is also a specific right enforceable by the court. The difficulty comes in applying this deceptively simple concept to real-life situations. ... In considering the validity of legislation, Singapore and Malaysian courts have generally favored rational review, a modest conception of equal protection, unlike their American counterparts which have adopted a more expansive reading in the form of strict and intermediate review. This article examines how these three levels of equal protection review operate, and argues that …

Treaty Law: A Primer For Human Rights Lawyers, Perry S. Bechky

Perry S. Bechky

This short article introduces the law of treaties to domestic lawyers handling civil liberties cases.