Law Commons^™

Free Press-Fair Trial: Restrictive Orders After Nebraska Press, Doug R. Rendleman

Doug Rendleman

No abstract provided.

Scarlet Letter Lawsuits: Private Affairs And Public Judgments, Lynn Buzzard

Lynn R. Buzzard

This article will review the legal issues related to church discipline which are raised by Guinn v. Church of Christ of Collinsville. Part II will provide an overview of the general legal bases for church rights of internal control and discipline in associational and first amendment law. Part III will note the traditional limited scope of tort claims, and defenses to them, raised in church discipline cases. Part IV will note the newer claims grounded in the modern torts of invasion of privacy and infliction of emotional distress as represented by Guinn in church discipline-related suits. Part V will suggest …

Brief Of Amicus Curiae, The National Legislative Association On Prescription Drug Prices, The New Hampshire Medical Society, And Prescription Policy Choices In Support Of Defendant's Objection To Plaintiff's Motion For Preliminary Injunction, Sean Flynn

Sean Flynn

Plaintiffs in this case seek a preliminary injunction to prevent the enforcement of the New Hampshire Prescription Confidentiality Act, which protects consumers and the privacy interests of doctors in the state of New Hampshire from the increasingly common practice of using doctor-identifying information in prescription records to facilitate targeting of pharmaceutical marketing and gifts toward doctors who prescribe the most expensive drugs for their patients. This practice raises drug costs for all New Hampshire residents and compromises the professional autonomy of doctors. This brief addresses the failure of the plaintiffs to show that they are likely to succeed on the …

Brief Of Aarp And The National Legislative Association On Prescription Drug Prices As Amici Curiae In Support Of Petitioners, Sean Flynn

Sean Flynn

This brief was written in support of Vermont’s Prescription Confidentiality Law, which regulates the confidentiality of prescription records and protects them from being used by pharmaceutical companies as a “targeting tool” to identify doctors most susceptible to sales messages.

United States V. Stevens: Win, Loss, Or Draw For Animals?, David N. Cassuto

David N Cassuto

Robert J. Stevens, proprietor of “Dogs of Velvet and Steel,” was indicted for marketing dog-fighting videos in violation of 18 U.S.C. §48, a law criminalizing visual or auditory depictions of animals being “intentionally mutilated, tortured, wounded, or killed” if such conduct violated federal or state law where “the creation, sale, or possession [of such materials]” takes place.” The law aimed principally at makers and distributors of “crush videos” wherein women wearing high heels and depicted from the waist down, grind small animals to death. However, the language of 18 U.S.C. §48 extended to dog-fighting as well. Stevens challenged the law …

The Fight For Free Speech, Even If It's Offensive, Alan E. Garfield

Alan E Garfield

No abstract provided.

A Look At The Establishment Clause Through The Prism Of Religious Perspectives: Religious Majorities, Religious Minorities, And Nonbelievers, Samuel J. Levine

Samuel J. Levine

This article traces the Court’s Establishment Clause jurisprudence through several decades, examining a number of landmark cases through the prism of religious minority perspectives. In so doing, the Article aims to demonstrate the significance of religious perspectives in the development of both the doctrine and rhetoric of the Establishment Clause. The Article then turns to the current state of the Establishment Clause, expanding upon these themes through a close look at the 2004 and 2005 cases Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow, Van Orden v. Perry, and McCreary County v. American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky. The article concludes …

Occupy Wall Street And The U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division: A Hypothetical Examination Of The Slippery Slope Of Military Intervention During Civil Disturbance, Mckay Smith

McKay Smith

Throughout 2011, the world was an incredibly angry place. The global economy was in disarray. The streets of Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Syria had erupted in unprecedented violence. While Americans watched events spiral out of control abroad, a new movement was taking shape domestically. The Occupy movement is a self-described, nonpartisan protest movement targeting economic injustice and social inequality. At its core, however, many domestic protestors also vocally deride the current state of U.S. politics. This article analyzes the Army’s authority to collect information in support of domestic operations, particularly operations aimed at quelling civil disturbance. Historically, the use of …

Religion And The Purification Of Reason: Why The Liberal State Requires More Than Simple Tolerance, John M. Breen

John M. Breen

What could Pope Benedict possibly mean by the astounding claim that reason in public discourse must be "purified" by religion? What does he mean in saying that religion has a "corrective" role to play in the political process? In the essay that follows, first, I explore the meaning of this provocative passage as elucidated in the other documents of Benedict's papacy, in the work of Joseph Ratzinger prior to his election as pope, and in the larger body of papal encyclicals, conciliar documents and episcopal statements collectively known as "Catholic social teaching." Second, I will show how much of what …

The Theology Of Civil Disobedience: The First Amendment, Freedom Riders, And Passage Of The Voting Rights Act, Jonathan C. Augustine

Jonathan C. Augustine

America's New Civil Rights Movement: Education Reform, Public Charter Schools And No Child Left Behind, Jonathan C. Augustine

Jonathan C. Augustine

In Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court placed access to educational opportunities at the heart of the twentieth century Civil Rights Movement. Moreover, in Grutter v. Bollinger, a case decided almost 50-years after Brown, the Court affirmed this time-honored philosophical position. While the concept of education reform is not new, the socioeconomic realities of recent years beg the question of whether the Court’s philosophical position has been compromised by so-called failing public schools. Indeed, from an African-American perspective, education reform has become America’s new civil rights movement. As January 2012 marked the 10-year anniversary of the No Child …

Your Money Or Your Speech: The Children's Internet Protection Act And The Congressional Assault On The First Amendment In Public Libraries, Steven D. Hinckley

Steven D. Hinckley

This article examines the inherent conflict between This article examines the inherent conflict between two Congressional approaches to public access to the Internet - the provision of federal funding support to schools and public libraries to ensure broad access to online information regardless of financial means, and federal restrictions on children's use of school and public library computers to access content that the government feels could be harmful to them. It analyzes the efficacy and constitutionality of the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA), Congress's attempt to use its powers of the purse to control objectionable online content in the very …

Disclosure's Effects: Wikileaks And Transparency, Mark Fenster

Mark Fenster

When Is A Lie An Affront To The Law?, Alan E. Garfield

Alan E Garfield

No abstract provided.

Free Will Paradigms, Kent Greenfield

Kent Greenfield

One of the iconic issues in American law and politics is the question of free will—sometimes known as agency, choice, or autonomy, or the absence of duress, coercion, and compulsion. In politics, whether one is liberal or conservative, we balk at government limitations on choice and fight those limitations with legal arguments about rights and political rhetoric about freedom. Liberals demand access to abortions, want the ability to purchase medical marijuana, and bristle at pat-down searches before boarding a plane. Conservatives dislike requirements to buy health insurance or pay taxes, rail against limits on gun ownership and school prayer, and …

Dropping F-Bombs At The Supreme Court, Alan E. Garfield

Alan E Garfield

No abstract provided.

To Swear Or Not To Swear: Using Foul Language During A Supreme Court Oral Argument, Alan Garfield

Alan E Garfield

This essay considers the provocative question of whether it is strategically wise for a lawyer to use foul language during a Supreme Court oral argument. This issue doesn’t come up often. But it does when a lawyer claims his client’s First Amendment rights were violated when the government punished him for using foul language. If the lawyer doesn’t use his client’s offensive words, he risks conceding that these words are so horrid they warrant suppression. But if he does use the words, he risks alienating justices who find the words unseemly. The essay uses the “fleeting expletives” case that was …

Issues Of Law And Religion In The News -- Hutterites, Lorin Geitner

Lorin C. Geitner

The Hutterites are an Anabaptist group who live communally. This lifestyle has allowed them to compete against private construction firms in Montana. A new law requires the Hutterites to carry workers compensation for their members who work in construction. The Hutterites counter that they already have provisions in their society that provide all the coverage provided by workers compensation. The legislator who sponsored this bill says this bill is needed to provide an even playing field. What are the Hutterites history, beliefs and practices which lead them to believe this is redundant? What are the legal principles involved? Who is …

Limited Government And The Bill Of Rights, Patrick Garry

Patrick M. Garry

No abstract provided.

The Supreme Court As Prometheus: Breathing Life Into The Corporate Supercitizen, Robert Sprague, Mary Ellen Wells

Robert Sprague

This article examines the legal status of the corporation in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission that corporations have political free speech rights equivalent to natural persons. In Citizens United, Justice Kennedy wrote that corporations were disadvantaged persons because the government had intruded upon their freedom of speech. The Citizens United majority portrays a misleading image of corporations. It is true most corporations are owned by small groups of individuals, managed by their owners, and limited in size and revenues. But what the Citizens United majority conveniently ignores is one particular attribute …

The Structural Constitutional Principle Of Republican Legitimacy, Mark D. Rosen

Mark D. Rosen

Democracy does not spontaneously occur by citizens gathering to choose laws. Instead, representative democracy takes place within an extensive legal framework that determines such matters as who gets to vote, how campaigns are conducted, and what conditions must be met for representatives to make valid law. Many of the “rules of the road” that operationalize republicanism have been subject to constitutional challenges in recent decades. For example, lawsuits have been brought against partisan gerrymandering—which is partly responsible for the fact that most congressional districts are no longer party competitive, but instead are either safely Republican or safely Democratic—and against onerous …

Foreword: Constitutional Constraints On State Health Care & Privacy Regulation After Sorrell V. Ims Health, John M. Greabe

John M Greabe

This brief Foreword explains that First Amendment law is fertile ground for analysis under choice of law principles. It then opines that the majority and dissenting opinions in Sorrell v. IMS Health are rooted in different choices of law that would benefit from a more explicit acknowledgment and explanation.

When Retweets Attack: Are Twitter Users Liable For Republishing The Defamatory Tweets Of Others?, Daxton R. Stewart

Daxton "Chip" Stewart

Under the republication doctrine, repeating false and defamatory statements has traditionally triggered liability for the repeater. However, some confusion has emerged regarding retweeting the posts of others on Twitter, the popular microblog site. Does retweeting the defamatory statement of another open the retweeter to liability? This article examines exceptions to the republication doctrine such as the single publication rule, the wire service defense, and the Communications Decency Act (CDA) to answer this question. A review of court opinions leads to the conclusion that Section 230 of the CDA provides a powerful shield for users of interactive computer services such as …

The Faith That Divides Us: Lines Of (In)Division Between Religion & Politics (Reviewing Hijacked: Responding To The Partisan Church Divide By Mike Slaughter & Charles E. Gutenson, With Robert P. Jones)), Jonathan C. Augustine

Jonathan C. Augustine

No abstract provided.

A National Model For Disaster Recovery: Growing Green Jobs In The Age Of Energy Efficiency, Jonathan C. Augustine

Jonathan C. Augustine

No abstract provided.

Environmental Justice And Eschatology In Revelation, Jonathan C. Augustine

Jonathan C. Augustine

The concept of environmental justice is not new. While some scholars and activists trace its origins as part of the ongoing American Civil Rights Movement—a movement which emerged within the interdisciplinary connection of law and religion—this Essay argues that the concept of environmental justice has deep origins in the Holy Bible. With a foundation in the Old Testament Hebrew scriptures, this Essay combines the disciplines of law and religion by arguing that the Book of Revelation should be read ecologically, as a clarion call to protect the environment in anticipation of the time the triune God will return to live …

Correos Electrónicos De Autoridades Públicas: En Torno A Una Mala Caracterización Jurídica, Fernando Muñoz

Fernando Muñoz

No abstract provided.

Decoding First Amendment Coverage Of Computer Source Code In The Age Of Youtube, Facebook And The Arab Spring, Jorge R. Roig

Jorge R Roig