Law Commons^™

Linking The Questions: Judicial Supremacy As A Matter Of Constitutional Interpretation, Tabatha Abu El-Haj

Tabatha Abu El-Haj

This Article explains that what has been missing from the debate between advocates of popular constitutionalism and defenders of judicial supremacy is any account of the practice of constitutional interpretation. Without a clear sense of what constitutional interpretation involves, we cannot assess the prevailing assumption that the Supreme Court is uniquely positioned to interpret the Constitution or explore an expertise-based justification for its claim to finality. The Article, therefore, revisits the debate about judicial supremacy by starting, not with history or politics, but with constitutional interpretation itself.

Having explored the practice of constitutional interpretation, it concludes that the Supreme Court …

Of Cheerios And Sequined Heels: A Response To Darren Rosenblum's "Unsex Mothering: Toward A Culture Of New Parenting", Libby Adler

Libby S. Adler

No abstract provided.

The Prosecutor In Transnational Perspective, Erik Luna, Marianne Wade

Erik Luna

No abstract provided.

Decisional Minimalism And The Judicial Evaluation Of Gun Regulations, Richard Boldt

Richard C. Boldt

No abstract provided.

Поняття «Виборча Система»: Вітчизняний Та Зарубіжний Досвід, Maryana Afanasyeva

Maryana V. Afanasyeva

В статті робиться висновок про недоцільність виокремлення вузького та широкого значення дефініції "виборча система". Системний аналіз політико-правового явища - виборча система - обґрунтовує його авторське визначення. Автор зазначає, що виборча система - це політико-правовий інститут, який забезпечує реалізацію виборчих прав громадян, формування владних виборних органів та певний тип організації публічної влади через сукупність відносно самостійних, але взаємообумовлених та взаємодіючих в межах виборчого процесу, конституційно-правових технологій (способів, прийомів, методів, критеріїв) балотування кандидатів на виборні посади, голосування виборців, підрахунку голосів та встановлення результатів виборів. В статье делается вывод о нецелесообразности выделения узкого и широкого значения дефиниции "избирательная система". Системный анализ политико-правового явления …

Circumstance And Strategy: Jointly Authored Supreme Court Opinions, Laura Ray

Laura K. Ray

The standard form of authorship for a Supreme Court opinion is a single author who then may be joined by any colleagues who are in agreement. There is, however, a significant and overlooked variant of this form, one used in a small cluster of major cases, most of them landmark decisions, over the past seventy years: the jointly authored opinion. In these cases, there may be as many as nine authors signing an opinion (as in Cooper v. Aaron) or as few as two (as in McConnell v. FEC). All the signatories may be credited with the entire opinion (as …

To Swear Or Not To Swear: Using Foul Language During A Supreme Court Oral Argument, Alan Garfield

Alan E Garfield

This essay considers the provocative question of whether it is strategically wise for a lawyer to use foul language during a Supreme Court oral argument. This issue doesn’t come up often. But it does when a lawyer claims his client’s First Amendment rights were violated when the government punished him for using foul language. If the lawyer doesn’t use his client’s offensive words, he risks conceding that these words are so horrid they warrant suppression. But if he does use the words, he risks alienating justices who find the words unseemly. The essay uses the “fleeting expletives” case that was …

In Search Of A Forum For The Families Of The Guantanamo Disappeared, Peter Honigsberg

Peter J Honigsberg

The United States government has committed grave human rights violations by disappearing people during the past decade into the detention camps in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. And for nearly thirty years, beginning with a 1983 decision from a case arising in Uruguay, there has been a well-developed body of international law establishing that parents, wives and children of the disappeared suffer torture, or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment (CID).

This paper argues that the rights of family members were severely violated when their loved ones were disappeared into Guantanamo. Family members of men disappeared by the United States have legitimate claims …

A Tale Of Two Ironies: In Defense Of Tort, David Partlett, William Gill

William Gill

Constitutional Protection For Environmental Rights: The Benefits Of Environmental Process, Erin Daly

Erin Daly

More and more constitutions around the world -- from Bangladesh to Bolivia, and from the Philippines to the countries of the EU -- are explicitly protecting environmental rights and the values of a clean and healthy environment. In many instances, environmental rights are recognized not as substantive entitlements (which would allow litigants to sue if the government polluted their rivers or clearcut their forests), but as procedural rights. Examples of procedural rights include imposing on governments the obligation to consult with communities before they take actions that will affect their environment or giving individuals the right to participate in governmental …