Law Commons^™

Constrained By The Liberal Tradition: Why The Supreme Court Has Not Found Positive Rights In The American Constitution

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Wolf In Sheep’S Clothing: The Unilateral Executive And The Separation Of Powers, Thomas J. Cleary

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] “The United States Constitution vests all executive powers in a president. This is the unitary executive theory. By virtue of this, many believe the president is vested with the power to act unilaterally. This is the unilateral executive theory. However, the unilateral executive portends more than action. In reality, the unilateral executive theory provides an opportunity to implement a unilateral agenda. Thus, the aim of this paper is to consider executive power, the separation of powers, and the unilateral executive theory to determine if presidential power under the separation of powers doctrine is actually “a wolf in sheep’s clothing.” …

Space, The Final Frontier-Expanding Fcc Regulation Of Indecent Content Onto Direct Broadcast Satellite, John C. Quale, Malcolm J. Tuesley

Federal Communications Law Journal

The vast majority of viewers today receive video programming from multichannel video programming providers-mostly cable television or direct broadcast satellite ("DBS")-rather than directly over-the-air from broadcast stations. While the FCC has not hesitated to sanction broadcasters for what it deems to be indecent content, it consistently has found that it lacks the authority to regulate indecency on subscription services like cable television. Citizens groups and some in Congress now seek to extend indecency restrictions to DBS services under existing law or through the enactment of new legislation. It is true that DBS, because of its use of radio spectrum to …

In The Dark: A Consumer Perspective On Fcc Broadcast Indecency Denials, Genelle I. Belmas, Gail D. Love, Brian C. Foy

Federal Communications Law Journal

Indecency regulation has been a hot political and social topic since Janet Jackson revealed her breast during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show. The number of indecency complaints the FCC receives each year continues to rise. Moreover, to further complicate matters, in 2007 the Second Circuit overturned the FCC policy that so-called "fleeting expletives" would be considered indecent. However, there has been no systematic review of the complaints from the perspective of the complainant. How has the FCC managed its increasing indecency complaint load, and what does it tell consumers who have taken the time to write formal complaints about …

The Common Law Genius Of The Warren Court, David A. Strauss

William & Mary Law Review

The Warren Court's most important decisions-on school segregation, reapportionment, free speech, and criminal procedure are firmly entrenched in the law. But the idea persists, even among those who are sympathetic to the results that the Warren Court reached, that what the Warren Court was doing was somehow not really law: that the Warren Court "made it up," and that the important Warren Court decisions cannot be justified by reference to conventional legal materials. It is true that the Warren Court's most important decisions cannot be easily justified on the basis of the text of the Constitution or the original understandings. …

Emergency Federalism: Calling On The States In Perilous Times, Adam M. Giuliano

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The attacks of September 11 prompted a historic debate concerning terrorism and domestic emergency response. This ongoing dialogue has driven policy decisions touching upon both liberty and security concerns. Yet despite the enormous effort that has gone into the national response, the role of the sovereign states, and with it federalism, has received comparatively little attention. This Article explores the relevance of federalism within the context of the "War on Terror" and in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Acknowledging that theories of federalism developed elsewhere are insufficient, he outlines a doctrine of 'emergency federalism.' The author argues that the Framers …

Sense-Enhanced Searches And The Irrelevance Of The Fourth Amendment, David E. Steinberg

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Interpreting The Fourteenth Amendment: Two Don'ts And Three Dos, Garrett Epps

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

A sophisticated reading of the legislative record of the framing of the Fourteenth Amendment can provide courts and scholars with some general interpretive principles to guide their application of the Amendment to current legal problems. The author argues that two common legal conceptions about the Amendment are, in fact, misconceptions. The first is that the Amendment was chiefly concerned with the immediate situation of freed slaves in the former slave states. Instead, he argues, the legislative record suggests that the framers were broadly concerned with the rights not only of freed slaves but also of foreign-born immigrants in the North …

Racial Adjudication, Andrew M. Carlon

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Brand X Constitution, Richard Murphy

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Congressional Criminality And Balance Of Powers: Are Internal Filter Teams Really What Our Forefathers Envisioned?, Emily E. Eineman

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Garcetti V. Ceballos: Stifling The First Amendment In The Public Workplace, Julie A. Wenell

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Is There A Dormant Extraterritoriality Principle?: Commerce Clause Limits On State Antitrust Laws, Michael J. Ruttinger

Michigan Law Review

State antitrust laws ordinarily supplement federal law by providing a cause of action for anticompetitive activity that occurs in the state. Some states, however, have construed their antitrust regimes to reach conduct that occurs outside the state's boundaries. Such regulation raises significant federalism and Commerce Clause concerns by creating possible extraterritorial liability for conduct with virtually no in-state effect. This Note examines two Commerce Clause standards that may limit the degree to which state antitrust laws may exercise extraterritorial force-the "dormant" or "negative" Commerce Clause and the so-called "Extraterritorial Principle." Unfortunately, the dormant Commerce Clause test, as articulated in Pike …

Taking Text Too Seriously: Modern Textualism, Original Meaning, And The Case Of Amar's Bill Of Rights, William Michael Treanor

Michigan Law Review

Championed on the Supreme Court by Justice Scalia and Justice Thomas and in academia most prominently by Professor Akhil Amar textualism has emerged within the past twenty years as a leading school of constitutional interpretation. Textualists argue that the Constitution should be interpreted in accordance with its original public meaning, and in seeking that meaning, they closely parse the Constitution's words and grammar and the placement of clauses in the document. They have assumed that this close parsing recaptures original meaning, but, perhaps because it seems obviously correct, that assumption has neither been defended nor challenged. This Article uses Professor …

Keep Out Of Myspace!: Protecting Students From Unconstitutional Suspensions And Expulsions, Christi Cassel

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Japanese Prefectural Scapegoats In The Constitutional Landscape: Protecting Children From Violent Video Games In The Name Of Public Welfare, Susan Minamizono

San Diego International Law Journal

Part I of this comment will examine the history and application of freedom of expression in Japanese case law and the evolution of the public welfare concept and its circumscribing effect on individual freedoms. Part II will explore the recent local regulatory efforts and the historical underpinnings for these laws that place restrictions on materials to children. Part III will compare the Japanese legislative endeavors with their American counterparts and highlight the reasons why United States laws will continue to be struck down by courts. Part IV will analyze the response of the video game industry to the onslaught of …

Signing Statements And Divided Government, Neal Devins

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Second Class Citizen Soldiers: A Proposal For Greater First Amendment Protections For America's Military Personnel, Emily Reuter

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

The Constitutional Right To Watch Television: Analyzing The Digital Switchover In The Context Of The First Amendment , Eugene Ho

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Law—Campaign Finance Law & The First Amendment—Can You See The Light?: Illuminating Precedent And Creating A New Tier Of Judicial Scrutiny For Campaign Finance Laws. Randall V. Sorrell, 126 S. Ct. 2479 (2006)., Christopher A. Mcnulty

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Law—Equal Protection & Due Process—Is The Arkansas Supreme Court Abandoning Judicial Federalism?, Alexander Justiss

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

This note examines the history of judicial federalism by discussing the history of its use, as well as the analytical models that have been produced by its various adoptive jurisdictions. The development of these models has given courts much authority in determining the scope of individual rights within their respective jurisdictions. Further, a discussion follows that explores the criticisms directed at the use of such authority.

This note also examines the Arkansas Supreme Court's adoption and use of judicial federalism as a necessary safeguard against governmental infringements on individual rights, particularly those involving the right to privacy. Although such cases …

Settlement Agreements Are Favored Under North Carolina Law... Or So We Thought: Problems With The Court Of Appeals' New Approach Allowing County Governments To Invalidate An Otherwise Binding Settlement Agreement Using North Carolina General Statute Section 159-28, Ryan C. Aul

Campbell Law Review

This comment first examines the established law of settlement agreements in North Carolina, specifically relating to how such agreements are favored under the law, general enforcement of these agreements, and special rules concerning counties and municipalities. Second, it focuses on the requirements for a pre-audit certification under North Carolina General Statute section 159-28(a), the perplexing judicial interpretation of this statute by the North Carolina Court of Appeals, and the resulting inequitable status of the law that treats settlement agreements with county and municipal governments on a different playing field than those with a private entity. Finally, a proposal is offered …

Envisioning The Constitution , Thomas P. Crocker

American University Law Review

If one of the more persistent problems of constitutional interpretation, particularly of the Bill of Rights, is that we lack a clear view of it, then it would appear that how we see the Constitution is as important as how we read it. What clauses we see as connected in order to form comprehensive values, such as federalism or rights protections, are not so much products of constitutional interpretation as constitutional vision. To obtain a view of the Constitution, we have to do more than derive semantic meaning from diverse articles and clauses. To have a vision of the Constitution …

Constitutional & Property Law—Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause & Notice To Be Heard— It Felt So Right But Was All So Wrong: United States Supreme Court Rules Arkansas's Tax-Foreclosure Notice Procedure Fails To Satisfy Due Process Clause When Certified Mail Notice Returns "Unclaimed." Jones V. Flowers, 126 S. Ct. 1708 (2006)., Jenny Wilkes Robertson

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

Local governments in the United States still rely on real property taxation as a dominant source of revenue. Rather than establish a clear, uniform model of tax collection, the federal government allows each state to develop its own form of governance, resulting in over 150 different tax collection systems within the United States. Unfortunately, not all property taxes are paid, and the county government must seize the delinquent taxpayer's property in order to fulfill the taxpayer's obligation. The Constitution requires the government to give the delinquent taxpayer notice of the pending action. Although recently it appears that the Supreme Court …

Why The President Must Veto Unconstitutional Bills, Saikrishna B. Prakash

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

The Unconstitutionality Of "Signing And Not-Enforcing", Michael B. Rappaport

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

The Presidential Signing Statements Controversy, Ronald A. Cass, Peter L. Strauss

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Introduction: The Last Word? The Constitutional Implications Of Presidential Signing Statements, Charlie Savage

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

The On/Off Switch, Philip Heymann

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Presidential Signing Statements In Perspective, Nelson Lund

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.