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Full-Text Articles in Law
Just Because You Can, Doesn't Mean You Should: Equal Protection, Free Speech, And Religious Worship, Timothy J. Tracey
Just Because You Can, Doesn't Mean You Should: Equal Protection, Free Speech, And Religious Worship, Timothy J. Tracey
Northern Illinois University Law Review
Surveys suggest that about twelve percent of Evangelical Christian churches assemble for worship each week in local school buildings. Most of these churches meet Sunday after Sunday without trouble. However, in the last five years, a handful of school districts have banned Christian churches from using their facilities for worship services. Most notoriously, New York City school officials adopted a policy denying access to anyone seeking to use school space as a “house of worship.” Some of the churches faced with these bans have responded with legal action. They and their attorneys maintain that these worship bans violate the First …
“U Can’T Touch This” Fog Line: The Improper Use Of A Fog Line Violation As A Pretext For Initiating An Unlawful Fourth Amendment Search And Seizure, Harvey Gee
Northern Illinois University Law Review
Fog line litigation is happening all across the country. For years, law enforcement officers across the country have been initiating traffic stops of cars on our roadways, based on allegations that the drivers crossed onto a fog line in violation of a state ordinance prohibiting such conduct. A fog line is the white line that divides the shoulder from the road. While the legislative history and language of these fog line statutes reflect their public safety purpose, the police are relying on statutes as an excuse to pull over cars which may have only momentarily crossed the fog line and …
“That Justice Shall Be Done”—Constitutional Requirements, Ethical Rules, And The Professional Ideal Of Federal Prosecution, Charles R. Wilson
“That Justice Shall Be Done”—Constitutional Requirements, Ethical Rules, And The Professional Ideal Of Federal Prosecution, Charles R. Wilson
Northern Illinois University Law Review
Seventy-five years ago, then-Attorney General and subsequent Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson delivered a speech entitled The Federal Prosecutor. This Article revisits Jackson's speech to extract a few insights about ethics and professional responsibility, specifically with regard to prosecutorial discretion. Beyond the constitutional and ethical obligations involved in representing the United States in court, federal prosecutors must continually aspire to a professional ideal derived from their duty to seek and serve justice. This Article submits that this professional ideal”as envisioned by Jackson and alluded to by the Supreme Court”is also applicable to every lawyer as he or she exercises …
Wrestling With The Ecclesiastical Abstention Doctrine: How Puskar V. Krco Further Complicated The Heavily Litigated History Of The Serbian Orthodox Church In America, Dan Knudsen
Northern Illinois University Law Review
The ecclesiastical abstention doctrine is a long-held constitutional principle that prohibits a court from resolving a dispute that is inherently religious in nature. The ecclesiastical abstention doctrine's practical application requires a court to either abstain from fact-finding issues that are based on religious doctrine or church governance, or defer to the decisions handed down by the church leadership or a hierarchical authority. An implicit concept within the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine is the necessity for there to be an interchurch dispute”namely, one that is confined to a local church body or a hierarchically structured religious organization. Since not every dispute within …
Illinois Lawyer Investigations Of Current Client Concerns, Jeffrey A. Parness
Illinois Lawyer Investigations Of Current Client Concerns, Jeffrey A. Parness
Northern Illinois University Law Review
When questions are raised by a current client regarding an attorney’s representation of the client, the questioned attorney should be able to seek counsel confidentially. Such a conferral will often benefit the attorney, the firm and the client. Advice regarding questioned conduct should be encouraged, not discouraged. To prompt such conferrals, an attorney-client communication and a work product privilege should be available in Illinois, with availability not dependent upon whether in-house, outside or other attorneys are sought for counsel. While early federal precedents were split, increasingly under other state high court precedents the attorney-client communication privilege is available. Its recognition …
Gone Fishing: Angling For An Answer To Asian Carp Migration After The Seventh Circuit's Refusal To Allow Hydrological Separation, Matthew A. Kratky
Gone Fishing: Angling For An Answer To Asian Carp Migration After The Seventh Circuit's Refusal To Allow Hydrological Separation, Matthew A. Kratky
Northern Illinois University Law Review
Asian carp are the latest addition to an extensive list of invasive species that pollutes American waterways. But unlike other prominent invasive species, Asian carp were intentionally brought into the United States to control algae growth in Southern aquaculture ponds. Torrential flooding provided an avenue for these fish to escape into the Mississippi River, and since then, the Asian Carp have migrated northward into the Illinois River and the Chicago Area Waterway System. Along the way, their incessant hunger and prolific breeding habits have enabled Asian carp to monopolize food sources to the detriment of native fish populations. Asian carp …
Vol. 36, No. 1, Fall 2015: Table Of Contents, Northern Illinois University Law Review
Vol. 36, No. 1, Fall 2015: Table Of Contents, Northern Illinois University Law Review
Northern Illinois University Law Review
No abstract provided.
Fracking In Illinois: Implementation Of The Hydraulic Fracturing Regulatory Act And Local Government Regulatory Authority, John Abendroth
Fracking In Illinois: Implementation Of The Hydraulic Fracturing Regulatory Act And Local Government Regulatory Authority, John Abendroth
Northern Illinois University Law Review
High-volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing (Fracking) is a relatively new means of drilling for oil and gas resources. With the knowledge that the oil and gas industry was purchasing land leases in southern Illinois and beginning to introduce fracking activities in the state, and that such activities would not be regulated under existing state law, Illinois legislators collaborated with industry and environmental interests to develop and pass the Hydraulic Fracturing Regulatory Act (HFRA or Act) in 2013. While this legislation has been considered by some to be among one of the most stringent and protective in the nation, many environmental interests …
The Worst Of Both Worlds: The Wild West Of The "Legal" Marijuana Industry, Luke Scheuer
The Worst Of Both Worlds: The Wild West Of The "Legal" Marijuana Industry, Luke Scheuer
Northern Illinois University Law Review
As states have legalized marijuana, they have created a booming industry that operates in violation of the federal Controlled Substances Abuse Act. Like the tobacco and alcohol industries, this new legal marijuana industry has the potential to do great harm to American consumers and communities if it is not disciplined and restrained in how it sells and develops its products. Unfortunately the federal government has not yet stepped in to regulate the industry and state governments have imposed only limited controls. In addition, because of the increased threat of criminal and civil liability hanging over the industry, it has been …
The 2015 Federal Budget's Medical Marijuana Provision: An "End To The Federal Ban On Marijuana" Or Something Less Than That?, Alex Kreit
Northern Illinois University Law Review
In 2014, Congress began to face the nearly 20-year conflict between state medical marijuana laws and federal prohibition. It did so in a somewhat curious way, however--tacking on a rider to the 2015 federal budget to block the Department of Justice from spending money to “prevent” medical marijuana States from “implementing” their laws. Some news reports trumpeted the development as an “end” to the federal ban on marijuana. But the handful of court decisions to consider the 2015 budget provision so far suggest it might not have much effect at all on federal marijuana enforcement. This essay, written for the …
Juvenile Sentencing In Illinois: Addressing The Supreme Court Trend Away From Harsh Punishments For Juvenile Offenders, Maureen Dowling
Juvenile Sentencing In Illinois: Addressing The Supreme Court Trend Away From Harsh Punishments For Juvenile Offenders, Maureen Dowling
Northern Illinois University Law Review
The United States Supreme Court has steadily been changing the way it approaches juvenile sentencing since 2005. This ideological shift has occurred as a response to the increase in biological and sociological studies, which point toward fundamental differences between juveniles and adults. This Note addresses how the new mandates by the Supreme Court have been implemented around the country, with a focus on statutory changes Illinois should make moving forward. Specifically, this Note argues that there are several adjustments Illinois will have to make in regards to the way it sentences juvenile homicide offenders, in order to be considered Constitutional …
Medical Marijuana: An Overview Of Select Resources, Therese A. Clark Arado, Annie Mentkowski
Medical Marijuana: An Overview Of Select Resources, Therese A. Clark Arado, Annie Mentkowski
Northern Illinois University Law Review
The following annotated bibliography provides information in a number of areas. The state laws related to legalizing medical marijuana in effect as of January 2015 are summarized. In addition to the statute summaries, annotations of select articles are provided. The greatest portion of materials annotated involves federalism discussions and employment related issues. Also included, but to a much lesser extent are family law, transportation, and attorney ethics. Additionally, a few articles on state regulatory power and other topics are included. As this bibliography was being created, the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate introduced legislation to reclassify marijuana within the …
Brandeisian Experiment Meets Federal Preemption: Is Cooperative Federalism A Panacea For Marijuana Regulation?, Saby Ghoshray
Brandeisian Experiment Meets Federal Preemption: Is Cooperative Federalism A Panacea For Marijuana Regulation?, Saby Ghoshray
Northern Illinois University Law Review
This Article traces marijuana regulation's federal-state dichotomy through a multi-dimensional prism to evaluate states' rights with a Brandeisian experiment under the Constitution's Tenth Amendment. The genesis of this federalism conflict is evaluated through the ambiguity of the applicable federal law, while the federal preemption is examined through the dual lens of the Supremacy Clause and the Anti-commandeering doctrine. By evaluating the relevance of cooperative federalism through its constitutional inheritance, this Article proposes a roadmap for implementing cooperative federalism for marijuana regulation. In taking note of the deficiency in contemporary discourse in adequately contextualizing the intersecting rights framework for marijuana regulation, …
Vol. 35, No. 3, Summer 2015: Table Of Contents, Northern Illinois University Law Review
Vol. 35, No. 3, Summer 2015: Table Of Contents, Northern Illinois University Law Review
Northern Illinois University Law Review
No abstract provided.
No Excuses: Protecting The Vulnerable After Brown V. Buhman, Amos N. Guiora
No Excuses: Protecting The Vulnerable After Brown V. Buhman, Amos N. Guiora
Northern Illinois University Law Review
This Article responds to the December 2013 federal court ruling striking down a criminal ban on polygamous cohabitation in Utah. In its decision, the court chided the state for its failure to present “competent” evidence of the harms associated with polygamous practice. Moreover, the court asserted that its ruling would in fact aid in preventing harm by forcing the state to focus on prosecuting collateral crimes of polygamy. This Article is a response to the court’s December ruling in four important ways. First, it responds to the state’s failure to document harms associated with polygamous practice by presenting evidence of …
Brougham’S Ghost, Michael Ariens
Brougham’S Ghost, Michael Ariens
Northern Illinois University Law Review
In defending Queen Caroline in the House of Lords, Henry Brougham declared, “[a]n advocate, by the sacred duty of his connection with his client, knows, in the discharge of that office, but one person in the world, that client and none other.” Brougham’s ethic of advocacy has been cited repeatedly as stating the American lawyer’s duty of zealous representation of a client. It has often been called the “classic statement” of zealous representation and representing the “traditional view of the lawyer’s role.” This essay challenges these conclusions. Brougham’s rhetoric was neither a classic statement of the duty of loyalty to …
Every Consumer Knows How To Run A Business: The Dangerous Assumptions Made When A Prior Possession Conviction Is Admitted As Evidence In A Case Involving Commercial Drug Activity, Ashley Hinkle
Northern Illinois University Law Review
This Comment provides a discussion on Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b), which for the past few decades has allowed federal prosecutors to use instances of prior possession to fulfill elements of a different crime involving commercial drug activity. This evidence has been allowed in a variety of circumstances among the federal circuits, regardless of proximity in time, relatedness, or similarity between the previous instance of possession and the new commercial drug charge at hand. This Comment contains an in-depth analysis of the evidentiary rule, procedural requirements, case law, and the present circuit split on this issue. A recent decision by …
Catch 22: The Rising Concern Of Faith Being Removed From Counseling And The First Amendment Concerns Associated, Curtis Schube
Catch 22: The Rising Concern Of Faith Being Removed From Counseling And The First Amendment Concerns Associated, Curtis Schube
Northern Illinois University Law Review
This article addresses a growing concern for a religious counselor. State statutes in California and New Jersey have been passed, banning the practice of sexual orientation change efforts for minors. Counseling students are being discharged from their programs for "discriminating," leading some to believe that this is the future for licensed counselors. This article examines the recent statutory enactments, recent case law, the ACA Code of Ethics, and an analysis of the issue moving forward.
Playing Hide And Seek With Big Brother: Law Enforcement's Use Of Historical And Real Time Mobile Device Data, Ryan Merkel
Playing Hide And Seek With Big Brother: Law Enforcement's Use Of Historical And Real Time Mobile Device Data, Ryan Merkel
Northern Illinois University Law Review
Cell phones and smartphones are everywhere. Today the majority of Americans own one of these mobile devices. Because these devices are only useful when within arm’s reach, they are almost always in the same location as their owner. Even when not in use, these devices are in contact with the towers which allow them to function. Via this contact, the device’s location, and as a byproduct the owner’s location, is recorded by the service provider. In addition, smartphones are equipped with GPS technology which allows for precise real-time and historical tracking of the device. Law enforcement agencies across the country …
If You Move, You Lose: The Interstate Medicaid Obligation To Special Needs Adopted Children, Sharon Mccartney, Vicki Blohm, Daniel Pollack
If You Move, You Lose: The Interstate Medicaid Obligation To Special Needs Adopted Children, Sharon Mccartney, Vicki Blohm, Daniel Pollack
Northern Illinois University Law Review
This Article presents the history of the adoption assistance programs of the United States and analyzes state Medicaid practice related to the federal statutory provisions that established the benefit and the Constitutional guarantees of the freedom of travel. It argues that the state practice of denying Medicaid to a child based on the state from which the child is adopted clashes with the Supreme Court's decision in Saenz v. Roe which held that the Equal Protection Clause does not tolerate a hierarchy of 45 subclasses of similarly situated citizens based on the location of their "prior residence." This Article posits …
Vol. 35, No. 2, Spring 2015: Table Of Contents, Northern Illinois University Law Review
Vol. 35, No. 2, Spring 2015: Table Of Contents, Northern Illinois University Law Review
Northern Illinois University Law Review
No abstract provided.