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Articles 1 - 10 of 10

Full-Text Articles in Law

In Search Of A Substantive Republic, James E. Fleming, Linda C. Mcclain Dec 1997

In Search Of A Substantive Republic, James E. Fleming, Linda C. Mcclain

Faculty Scholarship

The publication of Michael J. Sandel's Democracy's Discontent: America in Search of a Public Philosophy is a long-awaited and important event in political and constitutional theory. In 1982, through his first book, Liberalism and the Limits of Justice,1 Sandel emerged as a leading communitarian or civic republican critic of liberalism. That book became prominent, not because its criticisms of liberalism were dispositive, but because it eloquently and elegantly captured discontent with liberalism and evoked yearnings for an alternative. Since then, Sandel has occupied a position on the American intellectual landscape as a placeholder for a *510 communitarian or civic …


On Reading Recipes -- And Constitutions, Gary S. Lawson Jun 1997

On Reading Recipes -- And Constitutions, Gary S. Lawson

Faculty Scholarship

Modem theories of constitutional interpretation typically make the truth of propositions about constitutional meaning depend, at least to some degree, on the extent to which those propositions (1) lead to politically legitimate results' and/or (2) cohere with modem constitutional practice.2 That is, such theories generally maintain that correct interpretations of the Constitution must provide normative grounds to apply those interpretations in real cases, must be consistent with at least a substantial amount of real-world constitutional decisionmaking, or both.


Fidelity To Our Imperfect Constitution, James E. Fleming Mar 1997

Fidelity To Our Imperfect Constitution, James E. Fleming

Faculty Scholarship

What is the question of fidelity a question about? The topic of our Symposium, "Fidelity in Constitutional Theory," raises two fundamental questions: Fidelity to what? and What is fidelity? The short answer to the first-fidelity to the Constitution-poses a further question: What is the Constitution? For example, does the Fourteenth Amendment embody abstract moral principles or enact relatively concrete historical rules? And does the Constitution presuppose a political theory of majoritarian democracy or one of constitutional democracy? The short answer to the second-being faithful to the Constitution in interpreting it-leads to another question: How should the Constitution be interpreted?' Does …


Law And Religion In Israel And Iran: How The Integration Of Secular And Spiritual Laws Affects Human Rights And The Potential For Violence, S. I. Strong Jan 1997

Law And Religion In Israel And Iran: How The Integration Of Secular And Spiritual Laws Affects Human Rights And The Potential For Violence, S. I. Strong

Michigan Journal of International Law

Part I of this article provides a brief sketch of the principles of the two majority religions at issue in this discussion and an overview of the history of both Israel and Iran. It explains why each nation has chosen to structure itself as it has and why the imposition of U.S.-style secularism would be an inappropriate method of dealing with the religio-legal conflict in the two societies. Part II compares the fundamental or constitutional laws of the two nations by analyzing the provisions, policies, and practices most influenced by religion. After identifying and analyzing the laws themselves in Part …


An Eagle Soaring: The Jurisprudence Of Justice Antonin Scalia, Autumn Fox, Stephen R. Mcallister Jan 1997

An Eagle Soaring: The Jurisprudence Of Justice Antonin Scalia, Autumn Fox, Stephen R. Mcallister

Campbell Law Review

No abstract provided.


Conservatives, Liberals, Romantics: The Persistent Quest For Certainty In Constitutional Interpretation, Frederick Mark Gedicks Jan 1997

Conservatives, Liberals, Romantics: The Persistent Quest For Certainty In Constitutional Interpretation, Frederick Mark Gedicks

Faculty Scholarship

Despite their considerable ideological differences, "conservative originalists" such as Robert Bork and "progressive originalists" such as Michael Perry both divide the process of understanding into cognitive (or "objective") and normative (or "subjective") aspects. The determination of the original meaning of the Constitution is methodologically separated from the question how this predetermined meaning should be applied in a particular case. This places both conservative and progressive originalists squarely in the tradition of Romantic hermeneutics, which sought to overcome the uncertainty and imprecision of textual interpretation by developing a "science of interpretation" which purported to be as epistemologically reliable as the methods …


The Meaning Of "Advice And Consent": The Senate's Constitutional Role In Treatymaking, Howard R. Sklamberg Jan 1997

The Meaning Of "Advice And Consent": The Senate's Constitutional Role In Treatymaking, Howard R. Sklamberg

Michigan Journal of International Law

This article analyzes the role that the Constitution assigns to the Senate in treatymaking and the implications of this role on the relationship between the President and the Senate. Part I examines the meaning of "advice and consent" in the Treaty Clause. It discusses the origins of the phrase "advice and consent," the history of the drafting of the Treaty Clause, and the implications of the Framers' decision to include the Treaty Clause in Article II of the Constitution.


South Africa's Amnesty Process: A Viable Route Toward Truth And Reconciliation, Emily H. Mccarthy Jan 1997

South Africa's Amnesty Process: A Viable Route Toward Truth And Reconciliation, Emily H. Mccarthy

Michigan Journal of Race and Law

The road to democracy for South Africa was based on compromise. One of the most significant compromises made by the negotiators was the acceptance of an amnesty process culminating in the passage of the Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act of 1995. The Act grants full indemnity from criminal and civil prosecution to anyone affiliated with a political organization who committed an "act associated with a political objective" and who fully discloses all relevant facts. The purpose of the Act is twofold: to establish the "truth" about the apartheid past and to promote "reconciliation" among South Africans. Unfortunately, such …


Interstate Dialogue In State Constitutional Law, Patrick L. Baude Jan 1997

Interstate Dialogue In State Constitutional Law, Patrick L. Baude

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.


Was Slavery Unconstitutional Before The Thirteenth Amendment? Lysander Spooner’S Theory Of Interpretation, Randy E. Barnett Jan 1997

Was Slavery Unconstitutional Before The Thirteenth Amendment? Lysander Spooner’S Theory Of Interpretation, Randy E. Barnett

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

In 1843, radical abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison called the Constitution of the United States, "a covenant with death and an agreement with hell." Why? Because it sanctioned slavery, one of the greatest crimes that one person can commit against another. Slavery was thought by abolitionists to be a violation of the natural rights of man so fundamental that, as Lincoln once remarked: "If slavery were not wrong, nothing is wrong." Yet the original U.S. Constitution was widely thought to have sanctioned this crime. Even today, many still believe that, until the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment prohibiting involuntary servitude, slavery …