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Constitutional Law

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2012

Constitutional law

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Full-Text Articles in Law

Cheer On Separation Of School, Religious Messages, Alan E. Garfield Dec 2012

Cheer On Separation Of School, Religious Messages, Alan E. Garfield

Alan E Garfield

No abstract provided.


Shall The Twain Never Meet? Competing Narratives And Discourses Of The Rule Of Law In Singapore, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee Dec 2012

Shall The Twain Never Meet? Competing Narratives And Discourses Of The Rule Of Law In Singapore, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This article aims to assess the role played by the rule of law in discourse by critics of the Singapore Government’s policies and in the Government’s responses to such criticisms. It argues that in the past the two narratives clashed over conceptions of the rule of law, but there is now evidence of convergence of thinking as regards the need to protect human rights, though not necessarily as to how the balance between rights and other public interests should be struck. The article also examines why the rule of law must be regarded as a constitutional doctrine in Singapore, the …


Excavating Constitutional Antecedents In Asia: An Essay On The Potential And Perils, Arun K. Thiruvengadam Dec 2012

Excavating Constitutional Antecedents In Asia: An Essay On The Potential And Perils, Arun K. Thiruvengadam

Chicago-Kent Law Review

This essay seeks to endorse Tom Ginsburg's call for studies that expand the relatively limited range of historically informed scholarship on constitutional law in Asia. Such a trend will no doubt also broaden the focus of the discipline of contemporary constitutional scholarship, which remains unjustifiably narrow and excludes many regions of the globe. While appreciating the virtues of Ginsburg's broader analysis, the essay also seeks to draw attention to the potential pitfalls of such historically-oriented inquiry. I emphasize the fact that in many Asian societies, contemporary constitutional practice marks radical departures from pre-existing traditions of law and constitutionalism. Drawing upon …


Inside Voices: Protecting The Student-Critic In Public Schools, Josie F. Brown Dec 2012

Inside Voices: Protecting The Student-Critic In Public Schools, Josie F. Brown

Faculty Publications

First Amendment doctrine acknowledges the constructive potential of citizens’ criticism of public officials and governmental policies by offering such speech vigilant protection. However, when students speak out about perceived injustice or dysfunction in their public schools, teachers and administrators too often react by squelching and even punishing student-critics. To counteract school officials’ reflexively repressive responses to student protest and petition activities, this Article explains why the faithful performance of public schools’ responsibility to prepare students for constitutional citizenship demands the adoption of a more receptive and respectful attitude toward student dissent. After documenting how both educators and courts have mistakenly …


Constitutionalism And The Rule Of Law: Considering The Case For Antecedents, Rogers M. Smith Dec 2012

Constitutionalism And The Rule Of Law: Considering The Case For Antecedents, Rogers M. Smith

Chicago-Kent Law Review

Tom Ginsburg credibly establishes that East Asian legal traditions include elements that can be considered antecedents for perhaps the strongest form of the rule of law, constitutional restraints that apply even to sovereigns. Treating these precedents chiefly as anticipations of Western-style constitutionalism, however, may be historically misleading and may inhibit reflection on the desirability of practices that represent alternatives to Western conceptions of the rule of law.


The Right To Refuse Life Sustaining Medical Treatment And The Noncompetent Nonterminally Ill Patient: An Analysis Of Abridgment And Anarchy, Elizabeth Helene Adamson Nov 2012

The Right To Refuse Life Sustaining Medical Treatment And The Noncompetent Nonterminally Ill Patient: An Analysis Of Abridgment And Anarchy, Elizabeth Helene Adamson

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


A First Amendment Right Of Access To A Juror's Identity: Toward A Fuller Understanding Of The Jury's Deliberative Process , Robert Lloyd Raskopf Nov 2012

A First Amendment Right Of Access To A Juror's Identity: Toward A Fuller Understanding Of The Jury's Deliberative Process , Robert Lloyd Raskopf

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


Shall The Twain Never Meet? Competing Narratives And Discourses Of The Rule Of Law In Singapore, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee Nov 2012

Shall The Twain Never Meet? Competing Narratives And Discourses Of The Rule Of Law In Singapore, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee

Jack Tsen-Ta LEE

This article aims to assess the role played by the rule of law in discourse by critics of the Singapore Government’s policies and in the Government’s responses to such criticisms. It argues that in the past the two narratives clashed over conceptions of the rule of law, but there is now evidence of convergence of thinking as regards the need to protect human rights, though not necessarily as to how the balance between rights and other public interests should be struck. The article also examines why the rule of law must be regarded as a constitutional doctrine in Singapore, the …


Incompetent Plea Bargaining And Extrajudicial Reforms, Stephanos Bibas Nov 2012

Incompetent Plea Bargaining And Extrajudicial Reforms, Stephanos Bibas

All Faculty Scholarship

Last year, in Lafler v. Cooper and Missouri v. Frye, a five-to-four majority of the Supreme Court held that incompetent lawyering that causes a defendant to reject a plea offer can constitute deficient performance, and the resulting loss of a favorable plea bargain can constitute cognizable prejudice, under the Sixth Amendment. This commentary, published as part of the Harvard Law Review’s Supreme Court issue, analyzes both decisions. The majority and dissenting opinions almost talked past each other, reaching starkly different conclusions because they started from opposing premises: contemporary and pragmatic versus historical and formalist. Belatedly, the Court noticed …


Reconstruction And Resistance, Kermit Roosevelt Iii Nov 2012

Reconstruction And Resistance, Kermit Roosevelt Iii

All Faculty Scholarship

This review essay considers Jack Balkin’s two recent books, Living Originalism and Constitutional Redemption. It argues that Balkin’s theoretical contribution is substantial. His reconciliation of originalism and living constitutionalism is correct and should mark a real advance in constitutional theory and scholarship. Political considerations may, however, complicate its reception. Something like political considerations seem also to have complicated Balkin’s theory. He suggests that we may think of American constitutional history as an attempt to redeem the promises of the Declaration of Independence. I argue that the Reconstruction Amendments are a much more appropriate focus for redemption and speculate that Balkin …


Effectuating Principles Of Federalism: Reevaulating The Federal Spending Power As The Great Tenth Amendment Loophole, Ryan C. Squire Oct 2012

Effectuating Principles Of Federalism: Reevaulating The Federal Spending Power As The Great Tenth Amendment Loophole, Ryan C. Squire

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


Supreme Court Ponders Drug-Detection Dog's 'Sniff Test', Alan E. Garfield Oct 2012

Supreme Court Ponders Drug-Detection Dog's 'Sniff Test', Alan E. Garfield

Alan E Garfield

No abstract provided.


Affirmative Action In Education Weighed Again, Alan E. Garfield Oct 2012

Affirmative Action In Education Weighed Again, Alan E. Garfield

Alan E Garfield

No abstract provided.


Separate But Equal: Miranda's Rights To Silence And Counsel, Steven P. Grossman Oct 2012

Separate But Equal: Miranda's Rights To Silence And Counsel, Steven P. Grossman

All Faculty Scholarship

Three decades ago, the Supreme Court created a dubious distinction between the rights accorded to suspects in custody who invoke their right to silence and who invoke their right to counsel. This distinction significantly disadvantages those who do not have the good sense or good fortune to specify they want an attorney when they invoke their right to remain silent. This article argues that this distinction was flawed at its genesis and that it has led to judicial decisions that are inconsistent, make little sense, and permit police behavior that substantially diminishes the right to silence as described in Miranda …


The Myth Of Jus Tractatus In La Belle Province: Quebec's Gérin-Lajoie Statement, Stéphane Beaulac Oct 2012

The Myth Of Jus Tractatus In La Belle Province: Quebec's Gérin-Lajoie Statement, Stéphane Beaulac

Dalhousie Law Journal

There is much debate in Quebec challenging the traditional stance on jus tractatus," prevalent for nearly 100 years, to the effect that the federal government enjoys plenary power to enter into international treaties, whether the subject matter is federal or provincial. The paper argues that Quebec's Gdrin-Lajoie "doctrine" has become a myth over the years, liable to have a huge semiotic effect, creating the perception that there is an incontestably true legal basis for provincial treatymaking power After dwelling upon the ontological understanding of mythology, the author shows that the constitutional practice since the emancipation from Great Britain, as well …


What's Wrong With Us Political System?, Alan E. Garfield Sep 2012

What's Wrong With Us Political System?, Alan E. Garfield

Alan E Garfield

No abstract provided.


A Reluctant Apology For Plessy: A Response To Akhil Amar, Barry P. Mcdonald Aug 2012

A Reluctant Apology For Plessy: A Response To Akhil Amar, Barry P. Mcdonald

Pepperdine Law Review

A response to the article "Plessy v. Ferguson and the Anti-Canon," by Akhil Amar, published in the November 2011 issue of the "Pepperdine Law Review," is presented. Topics include an examination of Justice Henry Billings Brown's decision in the case, the constitutionality of segregating U.S. citizens by race, and the impact of public opinion on U.S. Supreme Court decisions.


Plessy V. Ferguson And The Anti-Canon, Akhil Reed Amar Aug 2012

Plessy V. Ferguson And The Anti-Canon, Akhil Reed Amar

Pepperdine Law Review

The article focuses on the U.S. Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson, which dealt with the constitutionality of racial segregation in the U.S. Topics include the application of precedent in controversial U.S. Supreme Court cases, when the U.S. Constitution can overrule a court decision, and dissenting judicial opinions.


Conceptualizing Constitutional Litigation As Anti-Government Expression: A Speech-Centered Theory Of Court Access, Robert L. Tsai Aug 2012

Conceptualizing Constitutional Litigation As Anti-Government Expression: A Speech-Centered Theory Of Court Access, Robert L. Tsai

Robert L Tsai

This Article proposes a speech-based right of court access. First, it finds the traditional due process approach to be analytically incoherent and of limited practical value. Second, it contends that history, constitutional structure, and theory all support conceiving of the right of access as the modern analogue to the right to petition government for redress. Third, the Article explores the ways in which the civil rights plaintiff's lawsuit tracks the behavior of the traditional dissident. Fourth, by way of a case study, the essay argues that recent restrictions - notably, a congressional limitation on the amount of fees counsel for …


Health Care Back Where It Belongs, Before The Voters, Alan E. Garfield Jul 2012

Health Care Back Where It Belongs, Before The Voters, Alan E. Garfield

Alan E Garfield

No abstract provided.


The Legal Significance Of Adolescent Development On The Right To Counsel: Establishing The Constitutional Right To Counsel For Teens In Child Welfare Matters And Assuring A Meaningful Right To Counsel In Delinquency Matters, Michael J. Dale, Jennifer K. Pokempner, Riya Saha Shah, Mark F. Houldin, Robert G. Schwartz Jul 2012

The Legal Significance Of Adolescent Development On The Right To Counsel: Establishing The Constitutional Right To Counsel For Teens In Child Welfare Matters And Assuring A Meaningful Right To Counsel In Delinquency Matters, Michael J. Dale, Jennifer K. Pokempner, Riya Saha Shah, Mark F. Houldin, Robert G. Schwartz

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.


The Bin Laden Exception, Erik Luna Jul 2012

The Bin Laden Exception, Erik Luna

Scholarly Articles

Osama bin Laden's demise provides an opportune moment to reevaluate the extraordinary measures taken by the U.S. government in the "war on terror," with any reassessment incorporating the threat posed by al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations. Some modest analysis suggests that terrorism remains a miniscule risk for the average American, and it hardly poses an existential threat to the United States. Nonetheless, terrorism-related fears have distorted the people's risk perception and facilitated dubious public policies, exemplified here by a series of programs implemented by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Among other things, this agency has adopted costly technology and …


Law's Public/Private Structure, Christian Turner Jul 2012

Law's Public/Private Structure, Christian Turner

Scholarly Works

Often derided for its incoherence or uselessness, the public/private distinction is rarely studied explicitly outside the state action doctrine in Constitutional Law. To ignore this distinction, however, is to miss the most fundamental sorting criterion in our law. Distinguishing whether public or private entities control (a) law creation and definition and (b) prosecution leads to a simple yet powerful taxonomy of legal systems. The taxonomy characterizes legal systems in terms of control over decisionmaking by our most basic institutional forms: the public and private. Thus, the proper categorization of laws within the system, for example whether a policy should be …


Religious Right Versus Government Interest, Alan E. Garfield May 2012

Religious Right Versus Government Interest, Alan E. Garfield

Alan E Garfield

No abstract provided.


Swing Votes On The Current Supreme Court: The Joint Opinion In Casey And Its Progeny, R. Randall Kelso, Charles D. Kelso May 2012

Swing Votes On The Current Supreme Court: The Joint Opinion In Casey And Its Progeny, R. Randall Kelso, Charles D. Kelso

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


International Law As Part Of Our Law: A Constitutional Perspective , Michael D. Ramsey May 2012

International Law As Part Of Our Law: A Constitutional Perspective , Michael D. Ramsey

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


Reforming The Right To Legal Counsel In Singapore, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee Apr 2012

Reforming The Right To Legal Counsel In Singapore, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee

Jack Tsen-Ta LEE

This is an opinion prepared for the Criminal Law Committee of the Law Society of Singapore on an arrested person’s right to legal counsel in Singapore. Specifically, it deals with the following: (1) it summarizes pertinent aspects of the law relating to the right to legal counsel in Singapore; (2) it surveys a number of ASEAN and Commonwealth jurisdictions to determine how long after apprehension the right to counsel is generally accorded to arrested persons, and compares the legal position in these jurisdictions to the situation in Singapore; and (3) it examines two rights ancillary to the right to legal …


Double-Clicking On Fourth Amendment Protection: Encryption Creates A Reasonable Expectation Of Privacy, Sean J. Edgett Apr 2012

Double-Clicking On Fourth Amendment Protection: Encryption Creates A Reasonable Expectation Of Privacy, Sean J. Edgett

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


Asbestos & The Sleeping Constitution, Griffin B. Bell Apr 2012

Asbestos & The Sleeping Constitution, Griffin B. Bell

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


The Constitutional Bounding Of Adjudication: A Fuller(Ian) Explanation For The Supreme Court's Mass Tort Jurisprudence, Donald G. Gifford Apr 2012

The Constitutional Bounding Of Adjudication: A Fuller(Ian) Explanation For The Supreme Court's Mass Tort Jurisprudence, Donald G. Gifford

Donald G Gifford

In this Article, I argue that the Supreme Court is implicitly piecing together a constitutionally mandated model of bounded adjudication governing mass torts, using decisions that facially rest on disparate constitutional provisions. This model constitutionally restricts common law courts from adjudicating the rights, liabilities, and interests of persons who are neither present before the court nor capable of being defined with a reasonable degree of specificity. I find evidence for this model in the Court’s separate decisions rejecting tort-based climate change claims, global settlements of massive asbestos litigation, and punitive damages awards justified as extra-compensatory damages. These new forms of …