Law Commons^™

Functionalism’S Military Necessity Problem: Extraterritorial Habeas Corpus, Justice Kennedy, Boumediene V. Bush, And Al Maqaleh V. Gates, Richard Nicholson

Fordham Law Review

The U.S. Supreme Court has struggled over the last 150 years to definitively answer the question of whether the U.S. Constitution applies beyond the borders of the territorial United States. Because the Constitution is silent on the issue, the burden has fallen on the judiciary to establish the contours of the doctrine. At times, the Court has espoused formulistic theories limiting constitutional application to territorial sovereignty, while at others it has looked to more objective, practical solutions that reach beyond the borders.

In 2008, the Supreme Court held in Boumediene v. Bush that the application of the Suspension Clause of …

Unearthing The Public Interest: Recognizing Intrastate Economic Protectionism As A Legitimate State Interest, Katharine M. Rudish

Fordham Law Review

In Oklahoma, a person must complete sixty-credit hours of undergraduate training and embalm twenty-five bodies before being legally licensed to sell caskets in the state. In Louisiana, in order to sell caskets, one must operate a fully licensed funeral establishment, defined as a place dedicated to preparing bodies for burial. In recent years, these states and others have faced legal challenges to casket sale restrictions by individuals who wish to sell caskets directly to the public, yet who are unable to do so as they are not licensed funeral directors. Courts have grappled with whether these state regulations, which in …

A Pillar Of Democracy: Reflections On The Role And Work Of The Constitutional Court Of South Africa, Kate O’Regan

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Recognizing The Right To Petition For Victims Of Domestic Violence, Tamara L. Kuennen

Fordham Law Review

Like any citizen, a victim of domestic violence (DV) may call the police for help when she needs it. And yet, when a victim calls the police, she not only seeks law enforcement assistance but also invokes her constitutional right to seek one of the most fundamental services the government can provide—protection from harm. That right, recently described by the Supreme Court as “essential to freedom,” is the right “to petition the Government for a redress of grievances” guaranteed by the First Amendment.

This Article argues that a combination of law and policy initiatives produces negative collateral consequences for DV …

Unconstitutional Animus, Susannah W. Pollvogt

Fordham Law Review

It is well established that animus can never constitute a legitimate state interest for purposes of equal protection analysis. But neither precedent nor scholarship has stated conclusively how animus is properly defined, what counts as evidence of animus in any given case, or the precise doctrinal significance of a finding of animus. The U.S. Supreme Court has explicitly addressed the question of animus only a handful of times, and these cases do not appear to be particularly congruent with one another, at least on the surface. Further, while a number of scholars have discussed animus in terms of moral philosophy, …

The Representative Equality Principle: Disaggregating The Equal Protection Intent Standard, Bertrall L. Ross Ii

Fordham Law Review

Challenges under the Equal Protection Clause require proof of intentional discrimination. Though rarely questioned by legal scholars or the courts, that conventional account cannot explain the success of equal protection challenges to electoral structures that dilute the vote of racial minorities. In the Supreme Court’s most recent decisions on vote dilution, the Court has invalidated local electoral structures under the Equal Protection Clause to the extent that they deprive African Americans of the opportunity for effective representation in the political process. The Court has reached its decisions despite the absence of any proof of intentional discrimination in the adoption of …

Seeking Liberty’S Refuge: Analyzing Legislative Purpose Under Casey’S Undue Burden Standard, Lucy E. Hill

Fordham Law Review

In the 1992 decision Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, the U.S. Supreme Court crafted the “undue burden” standard for evaluating the constitutionality of abortion laws. Under that standard, a state is free to regulate abortion, as long as the regulation does not impose an undue burden on a woman’s right to an abortion. Although the standard is disjunctive, the Casey opinion focuses on the “effect” prong of the test, with little guidance as to what a “purpose” prong inquiry would look like. Subsequent Supreme Court abortion jurisprudence has served only to obscure the issue. Circuit courts, therefore, …

Behind The Music: Determining The Relevant Constitutional Standard For Statutory Damages In Copyright Infringement Suits, Colin Morrissey

Fordham Law Review

Record labels have brought thousands of copyright infringement lawsuits against individuals engaged in the online downloading and distribution of music. As these lawsuits work their way through the court system, a debate has emerged over the constitutionality of the large statutory damage awards some juries have awarded. In arguing that the copyright statute results in unconstitutional damage awards, commentators as well as defendants accused of copyright infringement contend that courts should apply the rigorous standard of review for punitive damages that the U.S. Supreme Court adopted in BMW of North America v. Gore to find large statutory damage awards unconstitutional. …

Presidential Popular Constitutionalism, Jedidiah Purdy

Fordham Law Review

This Article adds a new dimension to the most important and influential strand of recent constitutional theory: popular or democratic constitutionalism, the investigation into how the U.S. Constitution is interpreted (1) as a set of defining national commitments and practices, not necessarily anchored in the text of the document, and (2) by citizens and elected politicians outside the judiciary. Wide-ranging and ground-breaking scholarship in this area has neglected the role of the President as a popular constitutional interpreter, articulating and revising normative accounts of the nation that interact dynamically with citizens’ constitutional understandings. This Article sets out a “grammar” of …

Berkemer Revisited: Uncovering The Middle Ground Between Miranda And The New Terry, Michael J. Roth

Fordham Law Review

Over the past twenty-five years, appellate courts have significantly expanded the scope of police authority to stop and frisk potential suspects without probable cause, a power originally granted to law enforcement by the Supreme Court in Terry v. Ohio. This development has led Terry’s once limited licensing of police searches to run into conflict with a defendant’s right against compulsory self-incrimination while in police custody, as articulated by Miranda v. Arizona. This Note explores the contours of this unforeseen collision between two core constitutional doctrines and the solutions generated by appellate courts to resolve the conflict. Courts today are generally …

Toward A Duty-Based Theory Of Executive Power, David M. Driesen

Fordham Law Review

This article develops a duty-based theory of executive power. This theory maintains that the Constitution seeks to instill a duty in all executive branch officers to faithfully execute the law. Conversely, the Constitution’s Framers and Ratifiers did not intend to empower the President to distinctively shape the law to suit his policy preferences or those of his party. Rather, they envisioned a model of “disinterested leadership” serving rule-of-law values. Because of the Ratifiers’ and Framers’ interest in preventing abuse of executive power, the Constitution obligates executive branch officials to disobey illegal presidential directives and creates a major congressional role in …

Reconciling Classified Evidence And A Petitioner's Right To A "Meaningful Review" At Guantanamo Bay: A Legislative Solution, Sarah Lorr

Fordham Law Review

In Boumediene v. Bush, the U.S. Supreme Court determined that the detainees held at Guantánamo Bay have a constitutional right to a writ of habeas corpus and are entitled to a “meaningful review” of their habeas petitions. This Note attempts to reconcile the need for a “meaningful review” with the government’s reliance on classified evidence that is completely inaccessible to the detainee-petitioners. After examining three other contexts in which the reliance on classified evidence has been sanctioned—federal criminal courts, immigration cases, and the ongoing military commissions at Guantánamo—this Note concludes that a “meaningful review” of the Guantánamo habeas petitions requires …

Answering Justice Scalia's Question: Dual Sovereignty And The Sixth Amendment Right To Counsel After Texas V. Cobb And Montejo V. Louisiana, Ryan M. Yanovich

Fordham Law Review

Since the U.S. Supreme Court decided Texas v. Cobb in 2001, eight courts of appeals have rached divergent conclusions as to the scope and extent of a criminal defendant's Sixth Amendment right to counsel when he is being prosecuted by multiple sovereigns, including, most recently, the U.S. Court of appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in 2008. Invariably, each circuit court purports to draw conclusive support for its holding from the plain language of Cobb. The conflict among the circuits reveals a tension between the courts; desire to balance fundamental individual and legitimate state interests, achieve uniformity and consistency in the …

American Ideals & Human Rights: Findings From New Public Opinion Research By The Opportunity Agenda, Alan Jenkins, Kevin Shawn Hsu

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

"Bound Fast And Brought Under The Yokes": John Adams And The Regulation Of Privacy At The Founding, Allison L. Lacroix

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Bankruptcy And Federalism, Thomas E. Plank

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Constitutional Validity Of The Religious Land Use And Institutionalized Persons Act Of 2000: Will Rluipa's Strict Scrutiny Survive The Supreme Court's Strict Scrutiny?, Caroline R. Adams

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Stories Of Fourth Amendment Disrespect: From Elian To The Internment, Andrew E. Taslitz

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Virtue And The Constitution Of The United States, John Finnis

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Professor Eisgruber, The Constitution, And The Good Society, Sotirios A. Barber

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

"Public Citizens" And The Constitution: Bridging The Gap Between Popular Sovereignty And Original Intent, Robert W. Scheef

Fordham Law Review

I sincerely congratulate the citizens of America upon the fair prospect which now presents itself to their view; and promises a long reign of virtue, happiness, and glory, as the result of a constitution which is the real vox populi so often ardently desired by mankind, in vain, for the first time, discovered by the patriotic sages of America.

On The Road Again: How Much Mileage Is Left On The Privileges Or Immunities Clause And How Far Will It Travel?, Nicole I. Hyland

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Further Comment On Robert P. George's "Natural Law", James E. Fleming

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Impenetrable Constitution And Status Quo Morality, Charles A. Kelbley

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Natural Law And The Constitution Revisited, Robert P. George

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Government Speech On Unsettled Issues, Abner S. Greene

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Thin Constitutions And The Good Society, Lawrence G. Sager

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Good Society, Commerce, And The Rehnquist Court, Michael C. Dorf

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Constitution-Talk And Justice-Talk, Mark Tushnet

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Compelling Collaboration With Evil--A Comment On Crosby V. National Foreign Trade Council, Sanford Levinson

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.