Law Commons^™

The Nsa Domestic Surveillance Program: An Analysis Of Congressional Oversight During An Era Of One-Party Rule, Tara M. Sugiyama, Marisa Perry

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

On December 16, 2005, the New York Times sounded a fire alarm when it revealed that, in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks, President George W Bush had issued a secret executive order permitting the National Security Agency (NSA) to conduct warrantless surveillance on individuals to unearth nascent terrorist activity. Congress responded to the disclosure of the NSA domestic surveillance program largely by shirking its oversight duties. This Note argues that when a single party controls both the executive and the legislative branches, the fire-alarm model fails to provide sufficient congressional oversight. Short of future elections altering the balance …

The Case For Federal Anti-Gerrymandering Legislation, Brian O'Neill

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Partisan gerrymandering is a political tradition the United States can no longer afford. Due in part to the effects of partisan gerrymandering, very few congressional elections are meaningfully competitive. This Note argues that partisan gerrymandering damages both the quality of American democracy and the federal system of the United States. This Note concludes that the important federal interests at stake warrant action by Congress to halt partisan gerrymandering. The Note further concludes that any action by Congress should incorporate the principles of federalism by resisting the temptation to micromanage and Congress should instead require state commissions to draft the boundaries …

Campaign Finance Reform And The Social Inequality Paradox, Yoav Dotan

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The recent landmark decision by the Supreme Court in McConnell v. FEC opens the way for new and more decisive regulation of the vast amounts of private and corporate money poured into the political system. However, the theoretical grounds for campaign finance regulation - as reflected in the Court's opinion - remain highly perplexing. The purpose of the current article is to tie together the evolving constitutional principle of equality in election with modern process theory and to apply them to the field of campaign finance. The inherent tension between the stringent requirement for political equality on the one hand …

Executing The Laws Or Executing An Agenda: Usurpation Of Statutory And Constitutional Rights By The Department Of Justice, Christopher C. Sabis

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The Department ofJustice (DOJ) can compel individuals and entities to sacrifice their constitutional or statutory rights. The DOJ can do so through brute political force, settlements and consent decrees, selective statutory enforcement, and prosecutions that coerce future actors not to pursue goals contrary to the policy desires of the executive branch. The current regime provides few constraints on the DOJ's ability to abuse its legal authority to achieve political objectives. This unbridled power jeopardizes the rights of both opposing and third parties.

This Note examines, in a bipartisan manner, the methods the Justice Department employs that deprive opponents or third …

Affirmative Action In The Electoral Process: The Constitutionality Of The Democratic Party's Equal Division Rule, Timothy J. Hoy

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Part I of this Note traces the history of affirmative action in the Democratic Party and the events preceding adoption and implementation of the equal division rule. Part II establishes that the equal division rule is subject to constitutional review. Part III presents constitutional and state statutory challenges to the equal division rule. The Note concludes that use of the equal division rule "quota" in the delegate selection process is unconstitutional.