Law Commons^™

In Pittsburgh, Freedom Abridged, Bruce Ledewitz

Ledewitz Papers

Published scholarship collected from academic journals, law reviews, newspaper publications & online periodicals.”

Theorizing Agency, Susan Carle

American University Law Review

Progressive legal scholars today exhibit contrasting views on the scope of legal actors' agency in making "choices" about how to lead their lives. Feminist legal scholar Joan C. Williams, for example, challenges claims that women who leave the paid workforce to stay home with children have made a voluntary choice to take this path. Critical race scholar Ian Haney López, on the other hand, argues that the social construction of racial identity occurs precisely through the many voluntary choices members of both subordinated and dominant racial groups make about matters that implicate racial meanings. Williams contests the idea of voluntary …

Recalibrating The War On Terror By Enhancing Development Practices In The Middle East, Kevin J. Fandl

ExpressO

This research paper suggests that the cart has been placed before the horse, that democratization and open markets in the Middle East are more likely the result of effective development than the catalyst for it. The war on terror has been justified by the United States as an effective means of reducing the possibility of terrorist attacks. This paper analyzes the validity of those justifications by reviewing the linkage between democracy and economic growth and that between democracy and peace.

The paper begins by hypothesizing that the war on terror and forced democratization of the Middle East are leading to …

Restorative Justice, Slavery And The American Soul, A Policy-Oriented Approach To The Question Of Slavery Reparations By The United States, Michael F. Blevins

ExpressO

This LL.M. Intercultural Human Rights thesis (May, 2005), awarded the best student paper prize for 2005 by the Institute of Policy Sciences at Yale University (in October, 2005), after analysing past and curent issues regarding the culture wars controversy of "reparations", proposes a specific process for establishing Truth and Reconciliation regarding the legacy of slavery in the United States. The proposal recommends commissions in each Federal judicial district under the supervision of a U.S. Slavery Justice and Reconciliation Commission (USSJRC), calling for "America's 21st Century Contract with Africa and African-Americans".

Resurrection From Babel: The Cultural, Political, And Legal Status Of Christian Communities In Lebanon And Syria And Their Prospects For The Future, Alexandra R. Harrington

ExpressO

In the well-known Biblical story, the faithful, attempting to create a place of unity for themselves, set about building the Tower of Babel, only to see the Tower implode due to linguistic differences and power assertions. Thousands of years later, the world is still plagued by sectarian strife and warfare. Indeed, the situation has only become more involved since Babel, as there are now inter-communal and intra-communal conflicts for supremacy and superiority – a notable difference in these conflicts is that the ultimate tool of getting to Heaven is no longer a tower, it is now a state. Within the …

Let Us Now Praise Famous Judges: Exploring The Roles Of Judicial "Intuition" And "Activism" In American Law, Rodney A. Smolla

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Taxation, Craig D. Bell

University of Richmond Law Review

This article reviews significant developments in the law affecting Virginia taxation. Each section covers recent legislative changes, judicial decisions, and selected opinions or pronouncements from the Virginia Department of Taxation and the Virginia Attorney General over the past year. The overall purpose of this article is to provide Virginia tax and general practitioners with a concise overview of the recent developments in Virginia taxation most likely to have an impact on their practices. This article will not, however, discuss many of the numerous technical legislative changes to the State Taxation Code of Title 58.1.

Multiracialism Engineered: The Limits Of Electoral And Spatial Integration In Singapore, Eugene K. B. Tan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This paper examines Singapore's innovations in electoral and spatial integration. In examining the Group Representation Constituency and the Ethnic Integration Policy, a critique is made of the official discourse that multiracialism is internalized and entrenched in Singapore's political psyche and electoral process. While the electoral and spatial integration policies are driven by the objective of enhancing multiracialism, their actual workings do not adequately advance the development of norms and values that would be truly supportive of the need for a multiracial legislature and an abiding commitment to multiracialism. The layering of the electoral system with other political objectives, such as …

Making Free Speech Affordable: A Discussion Of Legislation To Provide Public Funding To Candidates For The U.S. Congress, Jared S. Cram

ExpressO

This article discusses a recent attempt by the U.S. Congress to provide for public financing of campaigns for the House of Representatives. Although a good start, this legislation would not go far enough to ensure that every voice has an opportunity to be heard in federal elections. My article discusses the strengths and weaknesses of this legislation and also provides suggested amendments to make this bill more effective should it become law.

Making Free Speech Affordable provides an in-depth comparison of this proposed legislation with current law at the state level providing for public financing of campaigns. This discussion includes …

Why Judicial Review Fails: Organizations, Politics, And The Problem Of Auditing Executive Discretion, Mariano-Florentino Cuellar

ExpressO

Every day executive branch officials make thousands of decisions affecting our security and welfare. Homeland security officials screen tens of thousands of people at the border. They decide whose name gets on government “no fly lists.” Agencies freeze suspected terrorist assets, choose what companies to inspect for environmental violations, and decide whom to prosecute. This article describes how judicial review predictably and systematically fails to prevent abuse and promote organizational learning when government officials make many such choices using their discretion to target individuals or groups. It then proposes the use of quasi-judicial audits of executive discretion as a remedy. …

Preparing For 2006: A Constitutional Argument For Closing The 527 Soft Money Loophole, Jeffrey P. Geiger

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing: Gaffney And The Improper Role Of Politics In The Districting Process, Robert A. Koch

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The Supreme Court unanimously agrees that excessive partisan gerrymandering is unconstitutional. A plurality of the Court, however, would hold partisan gerrymandering claims to be nonjusticiable due to the lack of a judicially manageable standard. This Note synthesizes the opinions of a majority of the Court in Vieth v. Jubelirer on the precise harms of partisan gerrymandering and argues that excessive partisan gerrymandering unconstitutionally burdens the representational rights of individual voters. This Note proposes a judicially manageable standard to address that representational harm based on the Court's standard in Shaw v. Reno.

From Hot Air To Action? Climate Change, Compliance, And The Future Of International Environmental Law, Meinhard Doelle

PhD Dissertations

This dissertation considers the evolution, current state, and future prognosis of the global climate change regime under the umbrella of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The focus of the dissertation is on State compliance with the Kyoto Protocol. Compliance is considered from the perspective of the internal compliance regime developed under the Kyoto Protocol as well as a select set of potential external international law influences. The dissertation concludes with an assessment of the level of compliance to be expected and its potential influence on the future of the climate change regime. Implications for international environmental law …

Evaluation Of The Civic Engagement Initiative, 2003-2004, Paul Watanabe, Anne W. Gathuo, Claudia Green, Michael Liu, Mary Jo Marion, Carmen Vivian Rivera

Institute for Asian American Studies Publications

The CEI integrated high levels of data collection, use, and analysis into its implementation model. TBF and members of the coordinating team also conducted evaluative and summary research at different periods throughout the project. To assess the CEI's impact on voter participation, therefore, the evaluation team reviewed analyses by these stakeholders, including primarily data from the Massachusetts Voter Education Network (MassVOTE, January 2005), LeLievre Information Systems (March 2004; May 2005, ) and Northeast Action (June 2003); reports to the funders group by the donor collaborative liaison Bates Consulting (March 2004; various dates 2005); an evaluative report to TBF by the …

Blame Canada (And The Rest Of The World): The Twenty-Year War On Imported Prescription Drugs, Daniel L. Pollock

ExpressO

Rising budget deficits and sticker shock over the new Medicare drug benefit have put the issue of prescription drug costs back into the spotlight. The growth in the cost of prescription drugs continues to represent a staggering burden for taxpayer-funded health care programs, even while costs of non-drug health care services have slowed or even decreased. Among the many proposals for cutting prescription drug costs, drug importation is unique. Although bipartisan support for drug importation has existed in Congress for over five years, the federal government continues to maintain that a system of safe and effective drug importation is impossible. …

Make >Em Fess Up, Bruce Ledewitz

Ledewitz Papers

Published scholarship collected from academic journals, law reviews, newspaper publications & online periodicals

Who Are The Good Guys? The Legacy Of Watergate And The Tangled Webs We Weave, Jeffrey A. Breinholt

ExpressO

This article examines the astounding revelation that Deep Throat, the anonymous source that brought down the Nixon Presidency, was Mark Felt, the man who ran the FBI during the Watergate Scandal. Was Mark Felt a hero or a villain? Thanks to the recent publication of Bob Woodward’s The Secret Man in combination with historical case law, we now have more historical evidence about what motivated Felt and how he reacted to his own legal misfortunes. This article examines this record and shows that categorizing Felt along the hero/villain continuum is not an easy task, but argues that this type of …

The Recognition Of Same-Sex Relationships: Comparative Institutional Analysis, Contested Social Goals, And Strategic Institutional Choice, Nancy J. Knauer

ExpressO

The emerging field of comparative institutional analysis (CIA) has much to offer public policy analysts. However, the failure of CIA to address the dynamic process through which social goals are articulated limits the scope of its application to the largely prescriptive pronouncements of legal scholars. By examining the movement for equal recognition of same-sex relationships, this Essay builds on the basic observations of CIA and introduces a new dimension, namely the dynamic process through which social goals are articulated and social change is pursued. The acknowledgment that the production of social goals involves institutional behavior, as well as multiple sites …

Breaking The Bank: Revisiting Central Bank Of Denver After Enron And Sarbanes-Oxley, Celia Taylor

ExpressO

No abstract provided.

Challenges And Opportunities Facing Religious Freedom In The Public Square, Judge J. Clifford Wallace

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Religion In The Public Sphere: Challenges And Opportunities, Blandine Chelini-Pont

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Religion In The Public Sphere: Challenges And Opportunities In Japan, Hiroaki Kobayashi

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Religion In The Public Sphere: Challenges And Opportunities In Ghanaian Lawmaking, 1989-2004, Elom Dovlo

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Rethinking The Role Of Religion In Changing Public Spheres: Some Comparative Perspectives, Rosalind I.J. Hackett

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Legislatively Revising Kelo V. City Of New London: Eminent Domain, Federalism, And Congressional Powers, Bernard W. Bell

Rutgers Law School (Newark) Faculty Papers

This paper explores Congress’ power to limit state and local authorities’ use of eminent domain to further economic revitalization. More particularly, it examines whether Congress can constrain the discretion to invoke eminent domain which state and local officials appear entitled to under the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Kelo v. City of New London, — U.S. —, 125 S.Ct. 2655 (2005). The question involves and exploration and assessment of the Supreme Court’s recent jurisprudence regarding federalism and judicial supremacy.

In providing that private property may not be taken for “public use” without just compensation, the Fifth Amendment implicitly precludes government …

Do Institutions Really Matter? Assessing The Impact Of State Judicial Structures On Citizen Litigiousness, Jeff L. Yates, Paul Brace, Holley Tankersley

ExpressO

No abstract provided.

An Analysis Of The Duties And Obligations Of The International Legal Community To The Eradication Of Poverty And Growth Of Sustainable Development In Light Of The Jus Cogens Nature Of The Declaration Of The Right To Development, Freda R. Murray-Bruce

ExpressO

This paper examines the copious problem of world poverty affecting half of the world’s population in the South and assesses the international legal obligations of the international legal community, viz., developed states, transnational corporations and the international financial institutions of the IMF, World Bank and WTO to the eradication of poverty and the growth of sustainable development, in view of the inviolability and peremptory nature of the Charter of the UN, and the international human rights provisions arising therefrom. To this extent, we examine the 1986 General Assembly Declaration on the Right to Development, along with the other International Bill …

The Same Side Of Two Coins: The Peculiar Phenomenon Of Bet-Hedging In Campaign Finance, Jason Cohen

ExpressO

The paper addresses the propensity of large donors to give to competing candidates or competing party organizations during the same election cycle – for example, giving money to both Bush and Kerry during the 2004 presidential race – a practice here termed 'bet-hedging.' Bet-hedging is analyzed in strategic and game-theoretic terms. The paper explores the prevalence of bet-hedging, the possible motivations behind the practice, and the informational concerns surrounding it. The paper argues that bet-hedging, out of all donation practices, carries with it a uniquely strong implication of ex post favor-seeking: if a donor prefers one side over the other, …

Christian Faith And Political Life: A Pre- And Post-Election Dialogue, Jason Carter, Randy Beck

ExpressO

The 2004 presidential election has generated a wide-ranging discussion of the role of religion in public life. Well before the election, Jason Carter, grandson of former President Jimmy Carter, anticipated the difficulties the political left would experience in attracting the votes of theologically conservative Christians. In a paper initially drafted for a Spring 2004 law school seminar, Mr. Carter called for a genuine dialogue about political implications of the Christian faith, designed to overcome the country's unhealthy polarization between a religious right and a secular left. In light of the election results, Prof. Randy Beck suggested that Mr. Carter's seminar …

Rhetorical Holy War: Polygamy, Homosexuality, And The Paradox Of Community And Autonomy, Gregory C. Pingree

ExpressO

The article explores the rhetorical strategies deployed in both legal and cultural narratives of Mormon polygamy in nineteenth-century America. It demonstrates how an understanding of that unique communal experience, and the narratives by which it was represented, informs the classic paradox of community and autonomy – the tension between the collective and the individual. The article concludes by using the Mormon polygamy analysis to illuminate a contemporary social situation that underscores the paradox of community and autonomy – homosexuality and the so-called culture wars over family values and the meaning of marriage.