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Distributing Discipline: Race, Politics, And Punishment At The Frontlines Of Welfare Reform, Richard Fording, Joe Soss, Sanford F. Schram

University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Discussion Paper Series

Numerous studies have confirmed that race plays an important role in shaping public preferences toward both redistribution and punishment. Likewise, studies suggest that punitive policy tools tend to be adopted by state governments in a pattern that tracks with the racial composition of state populations. Such evidence testifies to the enduring power of race in American politics, yet it has limited value for understanding how disciplinary policies get applied to individuals in implementation settings. To illuminate the relationship between race and the application of punitive policy tools, we analyze sanction patterns in the TANF program. Drawing on a model of …

Remapping A Nation Without States: Personalized Full Representation For California’S 21st Century, Mark Paul, Micah Weinberg

Mark Paul

California is a state of many distinct regions. To give citizens a voice on regional issues and to reinvigorate California’s Legislature, the state’s central institution of self-government, we propose Personalized Full Representation for the 21st Century (PFR21), a system of representation by means of regionally based legislative elections that will allow the state’s citizens to set the agenda for their regions and for the state as a whole. By reshaping the stage on which legisla- tive politics is played out, California can make state govern- ment more attentive to regional issues and give its citizens a means of holding elected …

"Nasty As They Wanna Be", Terri R. Day

Terri R. Day

"Nasty as They Wanna Be" reflects on the social and legal implications of campaign speech restrictions. On the heels of a vigorously fought presidential election, much of voters' and media attention focused on the tenor of the campaign ads and accusations. Although most states and municipalities have some type of "clean campaign" speech restrictions, this paper takes the view that such attempts are per se unconstitutional. The relevance of the "market place of ideas" and New York Times v. Sullivan remains paramount when government attempts to control the content of political discourse during campaigns.

"Nasty As They Wanna Be", Terri R. Day

Terri R. Day

"Nasty as They Wanna Be" reflects on the social and legal implications of campaign speech restrictions. On the heels of a vigorously fought presidential election, much of voters' and media attention focused on the tenor of the campaign ads and accusations. Although most states and municipalities have some type of "clean campaign" speech restrictions, this paper takes the view that such attempts are per se unconstitutional. The relevance of the "market place of ideas" and New York Times v. Sullivan remains paramount when government attempts to control the content of political discourse during campaigns.

"Nasty As They Wanna Be", Terri R. Day

Terri R. Day

"Nasty as They Wanna Be" reflects on the social and legal implications of campaign speech restrictions. On the heels of a vigorously fought presidential election, much of voters' and media attention focused on the tenor of the campaign ads and accusations. Although most states and municipalities have some type of "clean campaign" speech restrictions, this paper takes the view that such attempts are per se unconstitutional. The relevance of the "market place of ideas" and New York Times v. Sullivan remains paramount when government attempts to control the content of political discourse during campaigns.

Nasty As They Wanna Be, Terri R. Day

Terri R. Day

"Nasty as They Wanna Be" reflects on the social and legal implications of campaign speech restrictions. On the heels of a vigorously fought presidential election, much of voters' and media attention focused on the tenor of the campaign ads and accusations. Although most states and municipalities have some type of "clean campaign" speech restrictions, this paper takes the view that such attempts are per se unconstitutional. The relevance of the "market place of ideas" and New York Times v. Sullivan remains paramount when government attempts to control the content of political discourse during campaigns.

The Institutional Logic Of Preventive Crime, Mariano-Florentino Cuellar

Mariano-Florentino Cuellar

Criminal justice plays a major role in regulating undesirable conduct. As part of that role, the system relies on deterrence, incapacitation, and the shaping of social norms and preferences in an effort to prevent conduct considered harmful. But that preventive role is routinely misunderstood. This paper rethinks preventive enforcement by training attention on the relationship between criminal law and the institutional realities affecting risk regulation in environmental, health, and national security regulation. First, while not denying a host of problems with the expansive reach of criminal enforcement, the article describes how the structure of criminal enforcement does not draw particularly …

The Reagan Administration And The Rehnquist Court's New Federalism: Understanding The Role Of The Federalist Society, Amanda L. Hollis-Brusky

Amanda Hollis-Brusky

This article takes to task and complicates the narrative advanced by Professor Dawn Johnsen in her 2003 Indiana Law Review Article, “Ronald Reagan and the Rehnquist Court on Congressional Power: Presidential Influences on Constitutional Change.” Using evidence drawn from an in-depth examination of the speeches and writings of actors associated with both the early Federalists and the Reagan Administration, archival documents from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, as well as data gathered from personal interviews, this study presents a richer, more nuanced, and more complete narrative of the impact of the Reagan Revolution on the New Federalism. In sum, it …

Peerage Privileges Since The House Of Lords Act 1999, Noel Cox

Noel Cox

The recent and ongoing reform of the House of Lords in the United Kingdom, which has thus far seen the passage of the House of Lords Act 1999, which excluded almost all hereditary peers and peeresses from the House, has focused attention upon the appointment process for membership of the upper house, whether hereditary, appointed, or elected. Less attention has been paid to the role of the peerage. Though officially it is said that any proposals for substantial reform of the composition of the Lords will have to look at the Lords’ role, powers and procedures and its relationship with …

Legacy Of A Leader, Michael Staib

Honors Independent Research Papers

This study assesses the historical legacy of former Commander-In-Chief and 40th President, Ronald Wilson Reagan. Research references Reagan’s formidable contribution to subsequent U. S. politics by analyzing his domestic and foreign policy. Ultimately, Reagan revolutionized the presidency and provided conservative reconstruction, restoring moral guidance to American society. Epitomizing the Roosevelt Corollary, the aphorism popularized by Teddy Roosevelt, “Speak softly, but carry a big stick,” Reagan followed an aggressive foreign policy. Exercising diplomacy, Reagan deterred those countries deemed dangerous, while preserving peace with amiable nations. Essay examines his ideological perspective, constitutional interpretation, executive appointment of Supreme Court justices, laissez-faire economic strategy, …

On Armed Conflict, Human Rights, And Preserving The Rule Of Law In Latin America, Luz Estella Nagle

Luz Estella Nagle

The rule of law in Latin America is under great stress due to ongoing internal armed conflict, the proliferation of criminal gangs and international crime organizations, the presence of international terrorist cells in the region, government corruption, citizens’ loss of faith in their governments, and other social and political factors all conspire to cast the Latin American world into a region of transborder conflict, lawlessness, and long term political and social instability.

This article examines the impact on the rule of law in Latin America from internal armed conflict and its attendant terrorism and human rights violations committed by state …

While The Government Fiddled Around, The Big Easy Drowned: How The Posse Comitatus Act Became The Government's Alibi For The Hurricane Katrina Disaster, Candidus Dougherty

Candidus Dougherty

This Article analyzes how the government's blame of the Posse Comitatus Act (PCA) for its late response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster was misplaced. In Part One, I discuss the history of the Posse Comitatus Act, including a summary of some of its many judicial and congressional expansions. In Part Two, I apply the PCA to the Hurricane Katrina Disaster to show that, under its proper application, the PCA does, in fact, permit the lawful use of the military for humanitarian purposes. Based on this analysis, I conclude that we should focus our efforts less on the Posse Comitatus Act …

Let’S Not Jump To Conclusions: How Courts Should Approach Voting Rights Act Challenges To Felon Disenfranchisement Laws, Thomas G. Varnum

Thomas G Varnum

The focus of my article is felon disenfranchisement challenges under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Section 2 prohibits states from denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race or color. Many felons have attempted to challenge felon disenfranchisement laws under Section 2. The general argument is that these laws have racially biased effects and thus may violate Section 2. However, a circuit split exists relative to whether courts can accept such challenges without violating the Constitution. I argue that both sides of the split are wrong. Specifically, courts do not have a standard analysis for …

Unconscious Bias And The 2008 Presidential Election, Gregory S. Parks, Jeffrey J. Rachlinski

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

The 2008 presidential campaign and election will be historic. It marks the first time a Black person (Barack Obama) and a woman (Hillary Clinton) have a real chance at winning the Presidency. Their viability as candidates symbolizes significant progress in overcoming racial and gender stereotypes in America. But closer analysis of the campaigns reveals that race and gender have placed enormous constraints on how these two Senators can run their candidacy. This is not surprising in light of the history of race and gender in voting and politics in America. But what is perhaps more surprising is how the campaigns …

Less Than Fundamental: The Myth Of Voter Fraudand The Coming Of The Second Great Disenfranchisement, David A. Schultz

David A Schultz

This article examines the issue of voter fraud and efforts to regulate it through new photo identification requirements. The overall thesis is that voting fraud is a pretext for a broader agenda to disenfranchise Americans and rig elections. However, the more specific focus of this article is both to examine the evidence of fraud and the litigation around voter IDs thus far, and what supporters of voting rights can learn from both as they move forward and challenge these laws in the future. The Article will argue that the evidence being offered for the photo IDs does not justify the …

Lies, Damn Lies, And Voter Ids: The Fraud Of Voter Fraud, David A. Schultz

David A Schultz

No abstract provided.

Structure And Integrity, Susan Carle

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

In this Review Essay of David Luban's Legal Ethics and Human Dignity, I argue that although Professor Luban has not had much to say until now about "structural" concerns - namely, how lawyers' locations within institutions that organize access to power shape or should shape those lawyers' conduct - in his most recent work, another approach slips in as a supplement to his individualist framework. In this emerging supplement, structural concerns become increasingly important. Although individual integrity continues to matter most in Professor Luban's world view, it increasingly matters in the context of structural relations in which lawyers' ethical duties …

Only Skin Deep: The Cost Of Partisan Politics On Minority Diversity Of The Federal Bench: Why Care Whether Judges Look “Like America” If, Because Of Politics, A “Voice Of Color” Has Become A “Whisper Of Color”?, Sylvia R. Lazos

Scholarly Works

This article explores the difficulties encountered in diversifying the federal bench and why the partisanship of the confirmation process decreases the diversity of viewpoints on the bench. Presidents value diversity in nominating judges. While Bill Clinton and George W. Bush had very contrasting political styles and judicial philosophies, the judges appointed by these two presidents now account for almost 80% of the current active federal minority judges. There has been progress in the area of descriptive diversity; currently 18% of the active federal bench is made up of minority judges according to data compiled from the Judicial Center. However, there …

“Regulating The Political Thicket: Congress, The Courts, And State Reapportionment Commissions", David A. Schultz

David A Schultz

No abstract provided.