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Full-Text Articles in Law
The Problem With Pretext, Lynn E. Blais
The Problem With Pretext, Lynn E. Blais
Fordham Urban Law Journal
This Article examines the problems with the Supreme Court's holding in Kelo v. City of New London that the concept of public use is expansive unless the government is asserting the public use as a "mere pretext" and the true purpose is private benefit. The author examines the level of scrutiny applied in such cases, the link between pretext and motive, and the tests applied to evaluate pretext challenges: the burden-shifting motives test, the sufficiency of the plan taste, and the benefits to the public test. The author concludes that pretext is an "unworkable mechanism" for evaluating public use cases.
What Lawrence V. Texas Says About The History And Future Of Reproductive Rights, Cynthia Dailard
What Lawrence V. Texas Says About The History And Future Of Reproductive Rights, Cynthia Dailard
Fordham Urban Law Journal
This article explores the ways in which the court's recognition of a broad zone of personal liberty in Lawrence v. Texas may serve to strengthen a woman's constitutionally protected reproductive rights in future Supreme Court decisions. Part of the author's analysis focuses on using particular Justices' opinions (and dissents) to predict the direction of future challenges to abortion rights in front of the Supreme Court.
Book Review: The Law Of Obscenity, Edward J. Berbusse, S.J.
Book Review: The Law Of Obscenity, Edward J. Berbusse, S.J.
Fordham Urban Law Journal
Edward J. Berbusse, S.J. reviews The Law of Obscenity by Frederick F. Schauer. Schauer's book provides a historical perspective on obscenity law, tracking developments through several centuries. It begins with a look at obscenity law within the Church during the 16th and moves through civil law in England and up to the present in the United States. The book then explores the Miller v. California decision and the Supreme Court's move to a local standard, rather than national, of obscenity. In addition to the Miller case, Schauer looks at other important decisions which developed the modern body of law focusing …