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Articles 1 - 14 of 14
Full-Text Articles in Law
Life’S Complexities: Rethinking Barnette, The Flag, Totalitarianism, And The First Amendment, Daniel Gordon
Life’S Complexities: Rethinking Barnette, The Flag, Totalitarianism, And The First Amendment, Daniel Gordon
University of Massachusetts Law Review
This article rethinks the meaning of the 1943 Barnette case and questions the canonical status of Justice Robert Jackson’s famous opinion for the majority. On the assumption that we have lost sight of the logic that had been used to uphold compulsory flag salute laws, the article traces the many state court opinions on this topic prior to World War II. Also brought under scrutiny is Jackson’s usage of the term “totalitarian” to describe flag salute laws, a quasi-theological term promoted first and foremost by the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Jackson’s opinion in Barnette, while rhetorically compelling, was out of sync with …
A Breath Of Fresh Air: A Constitutional Amendment Legalizing Marijuana Through An Article V Convention Of The States, Ryan C. Griffith, Esq.
A Breath Of Fresh Air: A Constitutional Amendment Legalizing Marijuana Through An Article V Convention Of The States, Ryan C. Griffith, Esq.
University of Massachusetts Law Review
Criminal enforcement of anti-marijuana laws by the United States federal government has been non-sensical for more than twenty years. Culminating, ultimately, in an anomaly within American jurisprudence when California legalized marijuana in 1996 in direct violation of federal law, yet the federal government did little to stop it. Since then, a majority of states have followed California and legalized marijuana. Currently, thirty-six states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical marijuana despite federal law. Every year billions of dollars are spent on the federal enforcement of anti-marijuana laws while states collect billions in tax revenue from marijuana sales. Even …
The Unwritten Rules Of Liberal Democracy, Charles W. Collier
The Unwritten Rules Of Liberal Democracy, Charles W. Collier
University of Massachusetts Law Review
This Article is set amidst the distinctly unsettled and unsettling state of governmental practices, legislative policy, and presidential politics of contemporary America. Immediacy, too, introduces its own uncertainty—as compared to the comfortable vantage point of the distant future. But, as I shall argue, there is no realistic alternative to beginning in medias res. To address these issues as they inherently demand, the usual precedents and protocols and precautions must be set aside—if they are not already “gone with the wind.”6 Since the 2016 Presidential Election, and even before, threats to liberal democracy have emerged, in plausible form, as never before …
Massachusetts Has A Problem: The Unconstitutionality Of The Tax Deed, Ralph D. Clifford
Massachusetts Has A Problem: The Unconstitutionality Of The Tax Deed, Ralph D. Clifford
University of Massachusetts Law Review
The predominant method for collecting delinquent real estate taxes in Massachusetts is the use of the “tax deed” as authorized by Chapter 60, Sections 53-54. Under the authorized procedures, each municipality’s tax collector can execute and record a deed that transfers fee simple title to the real estate to the municipality subject to the taxpayer’s statutorily created redemption right. If the redemption right is or cannot be exercised, all of the taxpayer’s rights in the property, as well as other’s rights created by encumbrances such as mortgages, are terminated by the foreclosure process provided for in the statute. Importantly, the …
Gun Control To Major Tom: An Analysis Of Failed Gun Regulations And The Terrorist Watchlist, Paolo G. Corso
Gun Control To Major Tom: An Analysis Of Failed Gun Regulations And The Terrorist Watchlist, Paolo G. Corso
University of Massachusetts Law Review
As a division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Security Branch, the Terrorist Screening Center maintains the Terrorist Watchlist, a central database for identifying individuals known or suspected to engage in terrorism or terrorist activities. Subsumed under the Terrorist Watchlist is the No Fly List, which prohibits individuals from boarding commercial aircrafts in and out of the United States. Placement on either list presumes named individuals as a potential threat to U.S. national security, yet there is no restriction preventing them from legally purchasing firearms. Following a mass shooting at an Orlando nightclub in June of 2016, which was …
Ulysses: A Mighty Hero In The Fight For Freedom Of Expression, Marc J. Randazza
Ulysses: A Mighty Hero In The Fight For Freedom Of Expression, Marc J. Randazza
University of Massachusetts Law Review
James Joyce’s Ulysses was a revolutionary novel, and this much is common knowledge. What is not common knowledge is how useful Ulysses was in pushing the boundaries of freedom of expression. This masterpiece of literature opened the door for modern American free speech jurisprudence, but in recent years has become more of an object of judicial scorn. This Article seeks to educate legal scholars as to the importance of the novel, and attempts to reverse the anti-intellectual spirit that runs through modern American jurisprudence, where the novel is now more used as an object of mockery, or as a negative …
When Do The Ends Justify The Means?: The Role Of The Necessary And Proper Clause In The Commerce Clause Analysis, David Loudon
When Do The Ends Justify The Means?: The Role Of The Necessary And Proper Clause In The Commerce Clause Analysis, David Loudon
University of Massachusetts Law Review
This Article discusses the interplay between the Necessary and Proper Clause and the Commerce Clause, particularly in light of the landmark decision of National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius. First, this Article reviews the historical interaction between the two clauses, discussing the instances in which the two may have been considered together, and introducing the Supreme Court jurisprudence of each clause, setting the legal landscape for the NFIB v. Sebelius decision. Next, this Article details the three opinions from the NFIB v. Sebelius decision, Chief Justice Roberts’ holding, the joint concurrence, and Justice Ginsberg’s dissent, specifically as they …
Searching For Remedial Paradigms: Human Rights In The Age Of Terrorism, Frances Howell Rudko
Searching For Remedial Paradigms: Human Rights In The Age Of Terrorism, Frances Howell Rudko
University of Massachusetts Law Review
Nine years after the unprecedented terrorist attacks on September 11, judicial response to various governmental and individual methods of combating terrorism remains deferential and restrained. The courts have heard at least three types of cases brought by advocates for three distinct groups: the alleged perpetrators of terrorism; the victims of terrorist attacks; and third party humanitarian groups. Implicit in the practical question of how to deal effectively with terrorism is the broader consideration which Congress, the President and others must also address: how to respond to the terrorists’ extreme human rights violations without violating international human rights norms and international …
Tax Reform Proposals On A Gift Tax On The Transfer Of Property By Nonresidents, Daze Swift Lee
Tax Reform Proposals On A Gift Tax On The Transfer Of Property By Nonresidents, Daze Swift Lee
University of Massachusetts Law Review
This Note raises taxation issues pertaining to a gift tax on the transfer of property by nonresidents under current United States tax rules. It further illustrates patterns and trends to evade a gift tax using transaction maneuvers. These issues are defined in three categories: a gift tax on the transfer of property situated only within the United States by a nonresident, no gift tax on the transfer of intangible assets, and transferee liability. In response to such issues, this Note calls for corresponding proposals to resolve gift taxation problems. It proposes that a gift tax should be imposed on the …
What About The Victims? Domestic Violence, Hearsay, And The Confrontation Clause In The Aftermath Of Davis V. Washington, Stacey Gauthier
What About The Victims? Domestic Violence, Hearsay, And The Confrontation Clause In The Aftermath Of Davis V. Washington, Stacey Gauthier
University of Massachusetts Law Review
This article analyzes the Sixth Amendment right to confrontation, admission of hearsay statements, and the effect of the Davis decision on the prosecution of domestic violence cases. Part II discusses the history of the Confrontation Clause. Part III discusses hearsay prior to Crawford. Parts IV, V, and VI discuss the landmark cases Crawford v. Washington, Commonwealth v. Gonsalves, and Davis v. Washington, respectively, with regard to whether statements made to police are admissible when the declarant is not available to testify at trial. The reasons why the Supreme Court’s extension of the Confrontation Clause is unwarranted are contained …
Watching The Watchers: The Growing Privatization Of Criminal Law Enforcement And The Need For Limits On Neighborhood Watch Associations, Sharon Finegan
Watching The Watchers: The Growing Privatization Of Criminal Law Enforcement And The Need For Limits On Neighborhood Watch Associations, Sharon Finegan
University of Massachusetts Law Review
On the night of February 26, 2012, George Zimmerman, a member of a neighborhood watch program, was patrolling his community in Sanford, Florida, when he spotted Trayvon Martin, a seventeen-year-old Africa-American high school student, walking through the neighborhood. Zimmerman dialed 911 and indicated that he was following "a real suspicious guy". The police dispatcher requested that Zimmerman discontinue following Martin, but he ignored the request and approached the teenager. In the resulting confrontation, Zimmerman used his legally owned semi-automatic handgun to shoot and kill Trayvon Martin. Martin, who was unarmed, had been returning from a local convenience store. George Zimmerman …
On Business Torts And The First Amendment, Richard J. Peltz-Steele
On Business Torts And The First Amendment, Richard J. Peltz-Steele
Faculty Publications
A gaping question in free speech law surrounds the application of the First Amendment defense in business torts. The pervasiveness of communication technologies, the flourishing of privacy law, and the mere passage of time have precipitated an escalation in tort cases in which communication, and what the defendant may allege is free speech, lies at the heart of the matter.
What's Competence Got To Do With It: The Right Not To Be Acquitted By Reason Of Insanity, Justine A. Dunlap
What's Competence Got To Do With It: The Right Not To Be Acquitted By Reason Of Insanity, Justine A. Dunlap
Faculty Publications
An acquittal by reason of insanity is sufficiently adverse and is in many ways more akin to a conviction than to an outright acquittal. Although not technically punishment, it involves substantial infringement of rights. The legal literature has devoted significant space to the issue of a criminal defendant’s competence to stand trial and to the issue of the insanity plea. The problem of a pretrial insanity acquittal of an incompetent defendant, on the other hand, has not been extensively examined. In undertaking that task, this article will, in Part II, review the law and practice of competency determinations. Part III …
How Are You Going To Keep Them Down On The (Collective) Farm After They’Ve Seen Chicago?: A Minor’S Right To Political Asylum Against His Parents’ Wishes, Michael G. Hillinger
How Are You Going To Keep Them Down On The (Collective) Farm After They’Ve Seen Chicago?: A Minor’S Right To Political Asylum Against His Parents’ Wishes, Michael G. Hillinger
Faculty Publications
“Children’s rights” is a nebulous phrase subsuming two very different issues: the extent to which children can assert the same rights against the state as adults, and the extent to which the state can limit a parent’s power over his child. In cases involving the issue of children’s rights , the Supreme Court has defined those rights in a relatively restrictive fashion. On the one hand, the Supreme Court has recognized that children have constitutional rights independent of those enjoyed by their parents. On the other hand, it has frequently held those rights to be either less than those afforded …