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Constitutional Law

Duke Law

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Constitutional amendments

Articles 1 - 8 of 8

Full-Text Articles in Law

A Meditation On The Thirteenth Amendment And Constitutional Redemption, Darrell A. H. Miller Jan 2023

A Meditation On The Thirteenth Amendment And Constitutional Redemption, Darrell A. H. Miller

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.


Treaty Termination And Historical Gloss, Curtis A. Bradley Jan 2014

Treaty Termination And Historical Gloss, Curtis A. Bradley

Faculty Scholarship

The termination of U.S. treaties provides an especially rich example of how governmental practices can provide a “gloss” on the Constitution’s separation of powers. The authority to terminate treaties is not addressed specifically in the constitutional text and instead has been worked out over time through political-branch practice. This practice, moreover, has developed largely without judicial review. Despite these features, Congress and the President—and the lawyers who advise them—have generally treated this issue as a matter of constitutional law rather than merely political happenstance. Importantly, the example of treaty termination illustrates not only how historical practice can inform constitutional understandings …


Case For Calling An Article V Convention, Paul D. Carrington Jan 2011

Case For Calling An Article V Convention, Paul D. Carrington

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.


Quintessential Elements Of Meaningful Constitutions In Post-Conflict States, William W. Van Alstyne Jan 2008

Quintessential Elements Of Meaningful Constitutions In Post-Conflict States, William W. Van Alstyne

Faculty Scholarship

This examination compares several successful constitutions formulated to govern countries just formed from the conclusion of armed conflicts (including the U.S.). Some of the most important elements gleaned from these successful constitutions include an independent court before which one may appeal to the new constitution because such a constitution adequately secures the integrity of the court itself.


Amending The Exceptions Clause, Joseph Blocher Jan 2008

Amending The Exceptions Clause, Joseph Blocher

Faculty Scholarship

Jurisdiction stripping is the new constitutional amendment, and the Exceptions Clause is the new Article V. But despite legal academia’s long-running obsessions with the meaning of constitutional amendment and the limits (if any) on Congress’s power to control federal jurisdiction, we still lack even a basic understanding of how these two forms of constitutional politicking interact. As legislators increasingly propose and pass jurisdiction-stripping legislation and pursue politically charged constitutional amendments, these constitutional processes have begun to step off of the pages of law reviews and into the halls of Congress. The looming collision between them makes it all the more …


Constitutional Existence Conditions And Judicial Review, Matthew D. Adler, Michael C. Dorf Jan 2003

Constitutional Existence Conditions And Judicial Review, Matthew D. Adler, Michael C. Dorf

Faculty Scholarship

Although critics of judicial review sometimes call for making the entire Constitution nonjusticiable, many familiar norms of constitutional law state what we call "existence conditions" that are necessarily enforced by judicial actors charged with the responsibility of applying, and thus as a preliminary step, identifying, propositions of sub-constitutional law such as statutes. Article I, Section 7, which sets forth the procedures by which a bill becomes a law, is an example: a putative law that did not go through the Article I, Section 7 process and does not satisfy an alternative test for legal validity (such as the treaty-making provision …


Notes On A Bicentennial Constitution: Part I, Processes Of Change, William W. Van Alstyne Jan 1984

Notes On A Bicentennial Constitution: Part I, Processes Of Change, William W. Van Alstyne

Faculty Scholarship

With the approach of the Bill of Rights bicentennial, this paper takes the cause for celebration as an equally important occasion for critique. This work argues that the most distinguishing aspects of our Constitution are not the Bill of Rights, federalism, and separation of powers, but rather the availability of judicial review, the political insulation of federal judges, and the limited mechanisms available for constitutional change.


A Constitution For Every Man, William W. Van Alstyne Jan 1969

A Constitution For Every Man, William W. Van Alstyne

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.