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Full-Text Articles in Law
Representation Reinforcement: A Legislative Solution To A Legislative Process Problem, Anita S. Krishnakumar
Representation Reinforcement: A Legislative Solution To A Legislative Process Problem, Anita S. Krishnakumar
Faculty Publications
One of the most valuable—and disturbing—insights offered by public choice theory has been the recognition that wealthy, well-organized interests with narrow, intense preferences often dominate the legislative process while diffuse, unorganized interests go under-represented. Responding to this insight, legal scholars in the fields of statutory interpretation and administrative law have suggested that the solution to the problem of representational inequality lies with the courts. Indeed, over the past two decades, scholars in these fields have offered up a host of John Hart Ely-inspired representation reinforcing "canons of construction," designed to encourage judges to use their role as statutory interpreters to …
Congressional Standing To Sue: Whose Vote Is This, Anyway?, R. Lawrence Dessem
Congressional Standing To Sue: Whose Vote Is This, Anyway?, R. Lawrence Dessem
Faculty Publications
The article is divided into three major sections. Section I traces the development of a separate doctrine of “congressional standing.” It examines the doctrine's development from the Supreme Court's initial consideration of legislative standing through the current opinions of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Section II then analyzes three possible theories of congressional injury and standing. Derivative, representative, and third-party standing theories are all rejected as a basis for congressional standing. While rejecting the suggestion that congressmen possess a personal interest in “their” votes sufficient to constitute the “distinct and palpable injury” required …