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Articles 1 - 30 of 37
Full-Text Articles in Law
Terrorism Should Not Be A Crime: How Political Labels Are Dangerous To American Democracy, Abigail S. Grand
Terrorism Should Not Be A Crime: How Political Labels Are Dangerous To American Democracy, Abigail S. Grand
William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice
This Note calls for a dismantling of the United States’ current method of prosecuting terrorism, rejecting the “terrorism” label as a mechanism for charging crimes. Prosecutors should instead charge individuals in terrorism cases for their underlying criminal actions rather than rely on material support statutes and political innuendos to secure a conviction. By examining the implications of the terrorism label in post-9/11 America, this Note addresses how a moral panic enabled the executive branch to overstep its constitutional restraints and threatened the delicate balance of powers central to American democracy. Next, it proposes, as many have before, that Article III …
Rage Rhetoric And The Revival Of American Sedition, Jonathan Turley
Rage Rhetoric And The Revival Of American Sedition, Jonathan Turley
William & Mary Law Review
We are living in what Professor Jonathan Turley calls an age of rage. However, it is not the first such period. Professor Turley explores how the United States was formed (and the Constitution was written) in precisely such a period. Throughout that history, sedition has been used as the vehicle for criminalizing political speech. This Article explores how seditious libel has evolved as a crime and how it is experiencing a type of American revival. The crime of sedition can be traced back to the infamous trials of the Star Chamber and the flawed view of free speech articulated by …
Stephen Breyer, The Authority Of The Court And The Peril Of Politics, Harvard University Press, 2021, Louis Fisher
Stephen Breyer, The Authority Of The Court And The Peril Of Politics, Harvard University Press, 2021, Louis Fisher
William & Mary Law Review Online
Louis Fisher reviewing Stephen Breyer's The Authority of the Court and the Peril of Politics (Harvard University Press, 2021).
Destructive Federal Decentralization, David Fontana
Destructive Federal Decentralization, David Fontana
William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal
This Article—written for a symposium hosted by the William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal—focuses on the efforts by the Trump administration to relocate federal officials outside of Washington to reduce the capacity of the federal government. Federalism and the separation of powers are usually the twin pillars of structural constitutional law. Locating federal officials outside of Washington— federal decentralization—has been an additional tool of diffusing power that has started to gain some scholarly attention. These debates largely focus on structural constitutional law as constructive—as improving the capacity and operation of the federal and state governments. The power …
Political Fair Use, Cathay Y. N. Smith
Political Fair Use, Cathay Y. N. Smith
William & Mary Law Review
No abstract provided.
Comments On Mcgahn "A Brief History Of Judicial Appointments From The Last 50 Years Through The Trump Administration", Russell Wheeler
Comments On Mcgahn "A Brief History Of Judicial Appointments From The Last 50 Years Through The Trump Administration", Russell Wheeler
William & Mary Law Review Online
Donald McGahn is a respected member of the Washington D.C. legal community, known especially for his expertise in election law. He served as White House counsel in the Trump administration until October 2018 and was a key player in the Trump administration’s judicial appointments process.His article is witty, sometimes revealing, but above all a description, as he sees it, of the decades-long deterioration of the process for Senate confirmation of federal judicial nominees, with some blame assigning. He also provides a few behind-the-scenes looks at Trump administration confirmation battles, and some recommendations for easing contentiousness in— or at least, speeding …
The Death Of Non-Resident Contribution Limit Bans And The Birth Of The New Small, Swing State, George J. Somi
The Death Of Non-Resident Contribution Limit Bans And The Birth Of The New Small, Swing State, George J. Somi
William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal
New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District race in 2018 featured an eye-popping number: 96.7. That figure represents the percentage of candidate Maura Sullivan’s individual contributions derived from out-of-state, non–New Hampshire donors. In August 2018, of the $1.37 million USD of individual contributions that Sullivan had raised, only 3.3%—$46,648 USD—originated from in-state contributors. Sullivan had received individual donations amounting to $497,405 USD from Boston, $216,359 USD from New York City, $101,562 USD from the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, and $92,371 USD from San Francisco.
In nearby Maine, campaign finance reports filed on October 15, 2019, with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) indicate …
Challenging Congress's Single-Member District Mandate For U.S. House Elections On Political Association Grounds, Austin Plier
Challenging Congress's Single-Member District Mandate For U.S. House Elections On Political Association Grounds, Austin Plier
William & Mary Law Review
No abstract provided.
We Are All Growing Old Together: Making Sense Of America's Monument-Protection Laws, Zachary Bray
We Are All Growing Old Together: Making Sense Of America's Monument-Protection Laws, Zachary Bray
William & Mary Law Review
Monuments and the laws that protect them divide Americans today as never before. American attitudes toward monuments have always been a blend of affection, insecurity, and suspicion. But Americans are now more invested in the built and natural monuments that surround us: to be for, or against, protecting certain monuments has now become a shorthand for one’s stance on a host of cultural and political issues. These changing attitudes have thrown American monument-protection laws into sharp relief. And many local, state, and federal legislators and executive officials have taken advantage of this opportunity to exploit America’s patchwork of monument-protection laws, …
Western Reconstruction And Woman Suffrage, Lorianne Updike Toler
Western Reconstruction And Woman Suffrage, Lorianne Updike Toler
William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal
The normal narrative of woman suffrage in the United States begins in Seneca Falls, New York, and steadily marches along through the lives and papers of the most noteworthy national suffragettes—Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Lucy Stone, and a handful of other women until the hard-fought passage of the Nineteenth Amendment. The six-volume History of Woman Suffrage tomes tells just such a story.
Yet the dominant narrative “overgeneralizes the experiences of the national, largely eastern leadership” and “generally neglect[s] the West, or fail[s] to evaluate its significance within the national movement.” Although the American Woman Suffrage Association was organized …
Filling The Ninth Circuit Vacancies, Carl Tobias
Filling The Ninth Circuit Vacancies, Carl Tobias
William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal
Upon Republican President Donald Trump’s inauguration, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit experienced some pressing appellate vacancies, which the Administrative Office of the United States Courts (AO) carefully identified as “judicial emergencies” because the tribunal resolves a massive docket. Last year’s death of the iconic liberal champion Stephen Reinhardt and the late 2017 departure of libertarian former Chief Judge Alex Kozinski—who both assumed pivotal circuit leadership roles over numerous years—and a few of their colleagues’ decision to leave active court service thereafter, mean the tribunal presently confronts four judicial emergencies and resolves most slowly the largest …
Some Form Of Punishment: Penalizing Women For Abortion, Mary Ziegler
Some Form Of Punishment: Penalizing Women For Abortion, Mary Ziegler
William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal
In 2016, Donald Trump ignited a political firestorm when he suggested that women should be punished for having abortions. Although he backtracked, Trump’s misstep launched a debate about whether women have been or should be punished for having abortions. At the same time, Trump’s comments revealed that punishing women has become far more than an abstraction. In 2016, Indiana resident Purvi Patel became just the most recent visible example when she was sentenced to twenty years for feticide and child neglect for inducing an abortion.
But in spite of the furor created by Trump’s comment and Patel’s conviction, the history …
Why Congress Does Not Challenge Judicial Supremacy, Neal Devins
Why Congress Does Not Challenge Judicial Supremacy, Neal Devins
William & Mary Law Review
Members of Congress largely acquiesce to judicial supremacy both on constitutional and statutory interpretation questions. Lawmakers, however, do not formally embrace judicial supremacy; they rarely think about the courts when enacting legislation. This Article explains why this is so, focusing on why lawmakers have both strong incentive to acquiesce to judicial power and little incentive to advance a coherent view of congressional power. In particular, lawmakers are interested in advancing favored policies, winning reelection, and gaining personal power within Congress. Abstract questions of institutional power do not interest lawmakers and judicial defeats are seen as opportunities to find some other …
Judicial Supremacy Revisited: Independent Constitutional Authority In American Constitutional Law And Practice, Mark A. Graber
Judicial Supremacy Revisited: Independent Constitutional Authority In American Constitutional Law And Practice, Mark A. Graber
William & Mary Law Review
The Supreme Court exercises far less constitutional authority in American law and practice than one would gather from reading judicial opinions, presidential speeches, or the standard tomes for and against judicial supremacy. Lower federal court judges, state court justices, federal and state elected officials, persons charged with administering the law, and ordinary citizens often have the final say on particular constitutional controversies or exercise temporary constitutional authority in ways that have more influence on the parties to that controversy than the eventual Supreme Court decision. In many instances, Supreme Court doctrine sanctions or facilitates the exercise of independent constitutional authority …
If It Looks Like A Super Pac, Acts Like A Super Pac, And Is Restricted Like A Super Pac, Then Treat It Like A Super Pac: Why Contribution Limits On A Hybrid Pac’S Independent-Expenditure Arm Are Impermissible, Jacob N. Kipp
William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal
No abstract provided.
The Second Dimension Of The Supreme Court, Joshua B. Fischman, Tonja Jacobi
The Second Dimension Of The Supreme Court, Joshua B. Fischman, Tonja Jacobi
William & Mary Law Review
Describing the Justices of the Supreme Court as liberals and conservatives has become so standard and the left-right division on the Court is considered so entrenched that any deviation from that pattern is treated with surprise. Attentive Court watchers know that the Justices are not just politicians in robes, deciding each case on a purely ideological basis. Yet the increasingly influential empirical legal studies literature assumes just that that a left-right ideological dimension fully describes the Supreme Court. We show that there is a second, more legally-focused dimension of judicial decision making. A continuum between legalism and pragmatism also divides …
Presupposing Corruption: Access, Influence, And The Future Of The Pay-To-Play Legal Framework, Allison C. Davis
Presupposing Corruption: Access, Influence, And The Future Of The Pay-To-Play Legal Framework, Allison C. Davis
William & Mary Business Law Review
Political spending, in all of its various permutations, lies at the nexus between campaign finance law and pay-to-play law. Both of these legal doctrines seek to minimize the corrupting effects of money upon elected officials and candidates, and both impose various caps and restrictions on political contributions in order to do so. Over the past half-century, however, the Supreme Court has struggled to define what sort of activity constitutes corruption in the political sphere. In light of its decisions in 2010s Citizens United v. FEC and 2014s McCutcheonv. FECtwo seminal cases that dramatically altered campaign finance regulation the Court now …
The Narrowing Of Federal Power By The American Political Capital, David Fontana
The Narrowing Of Federal Power By The American Political Capital, David Fontana
William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal
This Essay--prepared for a symposium hosted by the William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal on the future of the District of Columbia--argues that American federal power can be better understood by considering the features of the metropolitan area that houses the most important parts of the American federal government. In other American metropolitan areas and in most capital metropolitan areas elsewhere in the world, local life features multiple and diverse industries. Washington is the metropolitan area that houses the most important parts of the American federal government, and Washington is dominated by the government and related industries. Washington is, …
The Right To Vote: Is The Amendment Game Worth The Candle?, Heather K. Gerken
The Right To Vote: Is The Amendment Game Worth The Candle?, Heather K. Gerken
William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal
No abstract provided.
Theories Of Representation: For The District Of Columbia, Only Statehood Will Do, Mary M. Cheh
Theories Of Representation: For The District Of Columbia, Only Statehood Will Do, Mary M. Cheh
William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal
No abstract provided.
Three Questions For The "Right To Vote" Amendment, Richard Briffault
Three Questions For The "Right To Vote" Amendment, Richard Briffault
William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal
No abstract provided.
Welcome To New Columbia: The Fiscal, Economic And Political Consequences Of Statehood For D.C., David Schleicher
Welcome To New Columbia: The Fiscal, Economic And Political Consequences Of Statehood For D.C., David Schleicher
William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal
No abstract provided.
"…Chosen By The People Of The Several States…": Statehood For The District Of Columbia, Larry Mirel, Joe Sternlieb
"…Chosen By The People Of The Several States…": Statehood For The District Of Columbia, Larry Mirel, Joe Sternlieb
William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal
No abstract provided.
Democratic Capital: A Voting Rights Surge In Washington Could Strengthen The Constitution For Everyone, Jamin Raskin
Democratic Capital: A Voting Rights Surge In Washington Could Strengthen The Constitution For Everyone, Jamin Raskin
William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal
No abstract provided.
The Partisanship Spectrum, Justin Levitt
The Partisanship Spectrum, Justin Levitt
William & Mary Law Review
In a polarized political environment, allegations of excessive partisanship by public actors are ubiquitous. Commentators, courts, and activists levy these allegations daily. But with remarkable consistency, they do so as if “partisanship” described a single phenomenon. This Article recognizes that the default mode of understanding partisanship is a descriptive and diagnostic failure with meaningful consequences. We mean different things when we discuss partisanship, but we do not have the vocabulary to understand that we are talking past each other.
Without a robust conceptualization of partisanship, it is difficult to treat pathologies of partisan governance. Indeed, an undifferentiated approach to partisanship …
In Search Of Justice: An Examination Of The Appointments Of John G. Roberts And Samuel A. Alito To The U.S. Supreme Court And Their Impact On American Jurisprudence, Alberto R. Gonzales
In Search Of Justice: An Examination Of The Appointments Of John G. Roberts And Samuel A. Alito To The U.S. Supreme Court And Their Impact On American Jurisprudence, Alberto R. Gonzales
William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal
During 2005, President George W. Bush appointed Federal Circuit Court Judges John G. Roberts and Samuel A. Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court. These appointments were the culmination of years of examination of the work, character, and temperament of both men commencing during the 2000 presidential transition. Our evaluation included face-to-face interviews; an analysis of judicial opinions, speeches, and writings; and conversation with friends, colleagues, and court experts. Based on this work, a select group of Bush Administration officials developed a set of predictors that formed the basis of our recommendation to President Bush that he elevate Circuit Court Judges …
Charities In Politics: A Reappraisal, Brian Galle
Charities In Politics: A Reappraisal, Brian Galle
William & Mary Law Review
Federal law significantly limits the political activities of charities, but no one really knows why. In the wake of Citizens United, the absence of any strong normative grounding for the limits may leave the rules vulnerable to constitutional challenge. This Article steps into that breach, offering a set of policy reasons to separate politics from charity. I also sketch ways in which my more precise exposition of the rationale for the limits helps guide interpretation of the complex legal rules implementing them.
Any defense of the political limits begins with significant challenges because of a long tradition of scholarly criticism …
The Use Of Gender Quotas In America: Are Voluntary Party Quotas The Way To Go?, Anisa A. Somani
The Use Of Gender Quotas In America: Are Voluntary Party Quotas The Way To Go?, Anisa A. Somani
William & Mary Law Review
No abstract provided.
Urban Politics And The Assimilation Of Immigrant Voters, Rick Su
Urban Politics And The Assimilation Of Immigrant Voters, Rick Su
William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal
No abstract provided.
Lawmakers As Lawbreakers, Ittai Bar-Siman-Tov
Lawmakers As Lawbreakers, Ittai Bar-Siman-Tov
William & Mary Law Review
How would Congress act in a world without judicial review? Can
lawmakers be trusted to police themselves? This Article examines
Congress’s capacity and incentives to enforce upon itself “the law of
congressional lawmaking”—a largely overlooked body of law that is
completely insulated from judicial enforcement. The Article explores
the political safeguards that may motivate lawmakers to engage in
self-policing and rule-following behavior. It identifies the major
political safeguards that can be garnered from the relevant legal,
political science, political economy, and social psychology scholarship,
and evaluates each safeguard by drawing on a combination of
theoretical, empirical, and descriptive studies about …