Digital Commons Network^™

The Academic Expert Before Congress: Observations And Lessons From Bill Van Alstyne's Testimony, Neal Devins

Neal E. Devins

No abstract provided.

Racial Indirection, Yuvraj Joshi

Yuvraj Joshi

Intrastate Federalism, Rick Su

Rick Su

In debates about the role of federalism in America, much turns on the differences between states. But what about divisions within states? The site of political conflict in America is shifting: battles once marked by interstate conflict at the national level are increasingly reflected in intrastate clashes at the local. This shift has not undermined the role of federalism in American politics, as many predicted. Rather, federalism's role has evolved to encompass the growing divide within states and between localities. In other words, federalism disputes — formally structured as between the federal government and the states — are increasingly being …

Lgbt Rights And The Mini Rfra: A Return To Separate But Equal, Danielle Weatherby, Terri R. Day

Danielle Weatherby

Mandatory Immigration Detention For U.S. Crimes: The Noncitizen Presumption Of Dangerousness, Mark Noferi

Mark L Noferi

The Commander In Chief's Authority To Combat Climate Change, Mark P. Nevitt

Mark P Nevitt

Climate change is the world’s greatest environmental threat. And it is increasingly understood as a threat to domestic and international peace and security. In recognition of this threat, the President has taken the initiative to prepare for climate change’s impact – in some cases drawing sharp objections from Congress. While both the President and Congress have certain constitutional authorities to address the national security threat posed by climate change, the precise contours of their overlapping powers are unclear. As Commander in Chief, the President has the constitutional authority to repel sudden attacks and take care that the laws are faithfully …

Constitutional Principles In Substantive Criminal Law, Benjamin L. Berger

Benjamin L. Berger

Since Milsom’s famous dismissal of the “miserable history of crime in England,” criminal law has undergone a revolution in constitutional significance. The rise of rights constitutionalism as the heart of the modern liberal rule of law has given criminal law a new life in which it is subject to substantial justice-based innovation through appeal to the internal and basic norms of the legal system itself. Far from the marginal and exceptional status once ascribed to it by Milsom, this chapter argues that criminal law is now best understood and approached as a species of constitutional reflection. Substantive criminal law has …

Domestic Violence And The Confrontation Clause: The Case For A Prompt Post-Arrest Confrontation Hearing, Robert M. Hardaway

Robert Hardaway

Prior to the Supreme Court’s 2004 decision in case of Crawford v. Washington, a prosecutor could pursue a domestic violence case and introduce the prior accusatory testimonial statement of the victim even where the victim refused to appear at trial, declined to testify at trial, retracted a prior statement made to police, or claimed lack of memory as to the events described in her prior statement if: 1) the victim was unavailable, and 2) the statement bore ‘adequate indicia of reliability’ as indicated by falling within a ‘firmly rooted hearsay exception’, or satisfied ‘particularized guarantees of trustworthiness’. Ohio v. Roberts …

The High Price Of Poverty: A Study Of How The Majority Of Current Court System Procedures For Collecting Court Costs And Fees, As Well As Fines, Have Failed To Adhere To Established Precedent And The Constitutional Guarantees They Advocate., Trevor J. Calligan

Trevor J Calligan

No abstract provided.

Twenty-First Century Regression: The Disparate Impact Of Hiv Transmission Laws On Gays, Siobhan E. Murillo

Siobhan E Murillo

No abstract provided.

Stop Blaming The Prosecutors: The Real Causes Of Wrongful Convictions And Rightful Exonerations, And What Should Be Done To Fix Them, Adam Lamparello, Charles E. Maclean, James J. Berles

Adam Lamparello

Wrongfully convicted and rightfully exonerated criminal defendants spent, on average, ten years in prison before exoneration, and the ramifications to the defendants, the criminal justice system, and society are immeasurable.Prosecutorial misconduct, however, is not the primary cause of wrongful convictions. To begin with, although more than twenty million new adult criminal cases are opened in state and federal courts each year throughout the United States, there have been only 1,281 total exonerations over the last twenty-five years. In only six percent of those cases was prosecutorial misconduct the predominant factor resulting in those wrongful convictions. Of course, although prosecutorial misconduct …

Law Enforcement And Technology: Requiring Technological Shields To Serve And Protect Citizen Rights, Ryan C. Pulley

Ryan C Pulley

An often revisited topic is the tension between law enforcement and the citizens they aim to protect. One side of this discussion seeks to mitigate the tension by explaining the hard decisions that law enforcement officers must make to protect citizens and themselves, while the other emphasizes the corruption that exists within police departments. Recently, this discussion has begun a critical examination of the role of technology within police department to determine whether police officers are properly monitored and trained.

Both citizens and police forces alike should require that law enforcement officers utilize publicly available technologies that protect citizens’ rights. …

Criminal Justice In The Supreme Court: A Review Of United States Supreme Court Decisions At The Close Of The Millennium 1998-1999, Laurence A. Benner, Marshall J. Hartman, Hon. Shelvin Singer, Ret.

Laurence A. Benner

No abstract provided.

Criminal Justice In The Supreme Courts: An Analysis Of United States Supreme Court Criminal And Habeas Corpus Decisions (October 2, 2000 - September 30, 2001), Laurence A. Benner, Marshall J. Hartman, Hon. Shelvin R. Singer, Andrea D. Lyon

Laurence A. Benner

No abstract provided.

Criminal Justice In The Supreme Court: A Review Of United States Supreme Court Criminal And Habeas Corpus Decisions (October 4, 1999 - October 1, 2000), Laurence A. Benner, Marshall J. Hartman, Hon. Shelvin R. Singer, Andrea D. Lyon

Laurence A. Benner

No abstract provided.

A “Modern” Interpretation Of The 3rd Amendment: Unconstitutional Militarized Police, Sarah York

Sarah York

This paper suggests that the 3^rd Amendment has not been properly analyzed by the Court to reflect its broad basis and the intent of the founding fathers concerning the limitations on the use of military force on the civilian population. The paper specifically examines the 1033 program that streamlines the process for domestic police forces to take possession of military surplus weapons, vehicles, and tactical gear. The Posse Comitatus and the documented discussions of the founding fathers are used to support the argument that the 3^rd Amendment was not meant to be limited to a strict interpretation of …

Democracy Enhancement And The Sixth Amendment Right To Choose, Janet Moore

Janet Moore

A democracy deficit undermines the legitimacy of criminal justice systems. People enmeshed in these systems are disproportionately poor people and people of color with little voice in creating or implementing the governing law. A stark example is the Sixth Amendment right to choose a lawyer. This understudied and undertheorized right is protected for criminal defendants who can afford to hire counsel. Yet according to Supreme Court dicta and rulings by other courts across the country, poor people “have no right to choose” their lawyers. This Article argues that the Sixth Amendment right to choose should apply to the overwhelming majority …

Jones, Lackey, And Teague, Richard Broughton

Richard Broughton

In a recent, high-profile ruling, a federal court finally recognized that a substantial delay in executing a death row inmate violated the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishments. Courts have repeatedly rejected these so-called “Lackey claims,” making the federal court’s decision in Jones v. Chappell all the more important. And yet it was deeply flawed. This paper focuses on one of the major flaws in the Jones decision that largely escaped attention: the application of the non-retroactivity rule from Teague v. Lane. By comprehensively addressing the merits of the Teague bar as applied to Lackey claims, and making …

Calling Out Maryland V. King: Dna, Cell Phones, And The Fourth Amendment, Jennie Vee Silk

Jennie Vee Silk

In Maryland v. King, the Supreme Court narrowly upheld a Maryland statute that permits police to obtain a DNA sample from an arrestee without a search warrant. A year later, the Court drastically changed course and provided significantly more protection to an arrestee’s privacy. In a unanimous decision, the Court in Riley v. California held that police must obtain a search warrant before they can search the cell phone of an arrestee.

This article is the first to compare the Court’s conflicting decisions in Riley and King. Riley and King present the same issue: governmental invasion of privacy for …

The Law Of Antigayism, Huhnkie Lee

Huhnkie Lee

No abstract provided.

Dog Whistling, The Color-Blind Jurisprudential Regime And The Constitutional Politics Of Race, Calvin J. Terbeek

Calvin J TerBeek

Ian Haney Lopez’s new book, "Dog Whistle Politics: How Coded Racial Appeals Have Reinvented Racism and Wrecked the Middle Class", has a provocative thesis. Lopez contends that dog-whistling, that is, coded racial rhetoric, “explains how politicians backed by concentrated wealth manipulate racial appeals to win elections and also to win support for regressive policies that help corporations and the super-rich, and in the process wreck the middle class." Though this may seem plausible enough, the thesis cannot stand up to scrutiny; the relevant political science literature provides no support for this. What is more, Lopez's treatment of the Supreme Court's …

Jones, Lackey, And Teague, Richard Broughton

Richard Broughton

In a recent, high-profile ruling, a federal court finally recognized that a substantial delay in executing a death row inmate violated the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishments. Courts have repeatedly rejected these so-called “Lackey claims,” making the federal court’s decision in Jones v. Chappell all the more important. And yet it was deeply flawed. This paper focuses on one of the major flaws in the Jones decision that largely escaped attention: the application of the non-retroactivity rule from Teague v. Lane. By comprehensively addressing the merits of the Teague bar as applied to Lackey claims, and making …

Negotiating Federalism And The Structural Constitution: Navigating The Separation Of Powers Both Vertically And Horizontally (A Response To Aziz Huq), Erin Ryan

Erin Ryan

This essay explores the emerging literature on the negotiation of structural constitutional governance, to which Professor Aziz Huq has made an important contribution in The Negotiated Structural Constitution, 114 Colum. L. Rev. 1595 (2014). In the piece, Professor Huq reviews the negotiation of constitutional entitlements and challenges the conventional wisdom about the limits of political bargaining as a means of allocating authority among the three branches of government. He argues that constitutional ambiguities in the horizontal allocation of power are sometimes best resolved through legislative-executive negotiation, just as uncertain grants of constitutional authority are already negotiated between state and federal …

Religious Exemptions, Marriage Equality, And The Establishment Of Religion, Nancy J. Knauer

Nancy J. Knauer

The advent of nationwide marriage equality has sparked a robust debate over the extent of religious liberties and the limits of civil rights protections. As public opinion regarding LGBT individuals and the families they form has evolved, religious beliefs that once served as the basis for law and policy have been increasing marginalized. Various efforts have been made to protect religious objectors who continue to believe that marriage is only between one man and one woman. For example, all of the states that had enacted marriage equality legislation included exceptions for clergy and religious organizations to ensure that they would …

Incapacitation Through Maiming: Chemical Castration, The Eighth Amendment, And The Denial Of Human Dignity, John F. Stinneford

John F. Stinneford

This year marks the tenth anniversary of California's enactment of the nation's first chemical castration law. This law requires certain sex offenders to receive, as part of their punishment, long-term pharmacological treatment involving massive doses of a synthetic female hormone called medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA). MPA treatment is described as chemical castration because it mimics the effect of surgical castration by eliminating almost all testosterone from the offender's system. The intended effect of MPA treatment is to alter brain and body function by reducing the brain's exposure to testosterone, thus depriving offenders of most (or all) capacity to experience sexual desire …

The Conservative-Libertarian Turn In First Amendment Jurisprudence, Steven J. Heyman

Steven J. Heyman

Conservative constitutional jurisprudence in the United States has an important libertarian dimension. In recent years, a conservative majority of the Supreme Court has strengthened the constitutional protections for property rights, recognized an individual right to own firearms, imposed limits on the welfare state and the powers of the federal government, cut back on affirmative action, and held that closely held corporations have a right to religious liberty that permits them to deny contraceptive coverage to their female employees. This libertarian streak also can be seen in decisions on freedom of speech and association. In several leading cases, conservative judges have …

Employee Speech & Management Rights: A Counterintuitive Reading Of Garcetti V. Ceballos, Elizabeth Dale

Elizabeth Dale

In the two years since the decision came down, courts and commentators generally have agreed that the Supreme Court's decision in Garcetti v. Ceballos sharply limited the First Amendment rights of public employees. In this Article, I argue that this widely shared interpretation overstates the case. The Court in Garcetti did not dramatically change the way it analyzed public employees' First Amendment rights. Instead, it restated the principles on which those claims rest, emphasizing management rights and the unconstitutional conditions doctrine. By making those two theories the centerpiece of the decision, the Court in Garcetti defined public employee speech rights …

The Homicide Survivors’ Fairness-For-Victims Manifesto, Lester Jackson

LESTER JACKSON

Murderer advocates place a far greater value on the lives of the most savage murderers than on the lives of their victims. Let them deny it; their words and deeds conclusively give the lie to that denial. The critical question is this: Whose concept of justice is going to prevail? The concept of a small but vocal well-financed minority with influence and power out of all proportion to its numbers, or that of the large but poorly financed and disorganized majority. In recent decades, the former have dominated. Tragically, compared to media-dominant murderer advocates, victims have been virtually voiceless. Yes, …

Are ‘We The People’ Meeting Our Responsibilities?, Alan E. Garfield

Alan E Garfield

No abstract provided.

Punição E Constituição: Cinco Princípios Para O Futuro Da Democracia Brasileira (Punishment And The Constitution: Five Principles For The Future Of Brazilian Democracy), Paulo Barrozo

Paulo Barrozo

Portuguese Abstract: Publicado nos Anais da XXII Conferência da Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil realizada em 2014, este ensaio elabora cinco princípios para orientar a reforma do sistema penal brasileiro visando traze-lo ao centro da arquitetura constitucional de um país comprometido com os valores do auto-governo democrático e dos direitos individuais. English Abstract: Published in the annals of the of the Brazilian Bar Association XXII annual conference in 2014, this essay offers five principles to guide reform of the Brazilian criminal justice system in order to bring it to the center of the constitutional framework of a country committed to …