Law Commons^™

Nondelegation In The States, Benjamin Silver

Vanderbilt Law Review

American public law is on the precipice of a nondelegation revival. Yet scholars have largely ignored the greatest wellspring of American nondelegation law: that of the states. As a result, the nondelegation literature is badly in need of a broad and deep examination of state nondelegation. This Article takes up that task by describing the kaleidoscope of contexts in which states apply the nondelegation doctrine. Significantly, state nondelegation reaches deep into public law and covers far more than the legislature-to-agency delegations that preoccupy the discussion at the federal level. This Article analyzes this mess of state nondelegation jurisprudence, arguing that …

A New Model Of Sovereignty In The Contemporary Era Of Integrated Global Commerce, Kevin Sobel-Read Jd, Ph.D.

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Existing legal scholarship does not offer an effective or comprehensive definition of sovereignty. Sovereignty, however, matters. Indeed, many have lived and died for it; the term likewise appears with remarkable frequency in both academic and popular discourse. But, sovereignty is not what it used to be. The evolution of globalization generally, and transformations in global commerce specifically, have sutured together the peoples of the world-conventional nation-states and Indigenous groups alike--permanently altering the sovereignty of each. These developments make it that much more imperative to incorporate a functional definition of sovereignty into legal scholarship. But, given the complexities of sovereignty, the …

Returning Sovereignty To The People, Hallie Ludsin

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Governments across the world regularly invoke sovereignty to demand that the international community "mind its own business" while they commit human rights abuses. They proclaim that the sovereign right to be free from international intervention in domestic affairs permits them unfettered discretion within their territory. This Article seeks to challenge those proclamations by resort to sovereignty in the people, a time-honored principle that is typically more rhetorical than substantive. Relying on classical interpretations of sovereignty, this Article infuses substance into the concept of sovereignty in the people to recognize that a government is entitled to sovereign rights only as the …

Reinventing Sovereignty?: Federalsim As A Constraint On The Voting Rights Act, Franita Tolson

Vanderbilt Law Review

The legal landscape has changed significantly since Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 ("VRA" or "the Act"). Even though Congress amended the Act in 2006, these amendments have done little to address the new obstacles faced by minority communities who seek to expand their electoral opportunities.' Some of these obstacles are political, as partisan forces have often manipulated the Act for electoral gain, but the greatest obstructions have been judicial. The Supreme Court has strongly implied that Congress might violate principles of federalism by requiring states to preclear their redistricting plans with the Department of Justice; has held …

From Ideology To Pragmatism: China's Position On Humanitarian Intervention In The Post-Cold War Era, Jonathan E. Davis

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article fills a gap in the literature by examining in depth China's state practice and official pronouncements in respect of nine post-Cold War cases typically cited by academics when considering the international legal status of humanitarian intervention. The majority of today's commentary and scholarship holds that the People's Republic of China's position on sovereignty and intervention remains inflexible and absolutist, much as it was for the PRC's first four decades. This Article contends that this view is outdated and overly simplistic: while China continues to champion a strong conception of state sovereignty in interstate relations, it has signaled a …

Sovereignty Migrates In U.S. And Mexican Law: Transnational Influences In Plenary Power And Non-Intervention, Ernesto Hernandez-Lopez

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Mexico and the United States exercise sovereignty that is increasingly transnational and less absolute with respect to migration. This is evident in changes to Mexico's norm of non-intervention and the United States' plenary power doctrine, two doctrines rooted in international sovereignty. Both have historically defined sovereign authority in absolute terms, avoiding any foreign influence or domestic limitation. The non-intervention norm prohibits Mexican foreign relations from interfering in another state's domestic affairs. Traditionally, it barred a foreign policy on migrants in the United States, which led to Mexico's "no policy" on migrants. The U.S. plenary power doctrine labels immigration law as …

Subjects Of International Law: A Power-Based Analysis, Guido Acquaviva

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

In this Article, the Author challenges the definition of the term "state" that is commonly accepted in legal scholarship as the basis for assessing whether an entity is a subject of international law. By analyzing a number of cases that do not fit into the "traditional" model--including the Holy See, Napoleon, and the Confederacy--the Author reaches the conclusion that the only essential element of a subject of international law is its sovereignty. An entity is sovereign when it is able effectively to assert that it is not subordinate to another authority: territory and population are therefore not essential attributes of …

Command Of Sovereignty Gives Way To Concern For Humanity, Christine Ellerman

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Note examines the legality of humanitarian intervention by tracing the historical justifications for nonintervention through modern interpretations of the U.N. Charter. Events leading to the change in the U.N. stance on humanitarian intervention are discussed. The Note also sets out criteria for justifiable intervention. The Note concludes that intervention can be justified to the extent that it is carried out for humanitarian purposes.

New Zealand's Forgotten Promises: The Treaty Of Waitangi, Jennifer S. Mcginty

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Note presents the problems the Maori, New Zealand's indigenous people, have encountered in seeking enforcement of the Treaty of Waitangi that they signed with Great Britain in 1840. It argues that the Treaty of Waitangi is a valid legal document that should be fully integrated into New Zealand domestic law and afforded protection under international law. The author argues that the Maori met the international law requirements of statehood in 1840 and, therefore, were capable of entering into a treaty with Great Britain. Even if there was no Maori state capable of entering into a treaty, there is analogous …

Transnational Alignment Of Nongovernmental Organizations For Global Environmental Action, Maria Garner

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Note proposes an alternative to the current international legal system for addressing the worldwide environmental crisis. The author describes the conditions of the environment and argues that the current legal system is incapable of responding to the already severe global environmental crisis. The author suggests that a network of environmental nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) can obtain results that are currently beyond the capabilities of either individual states or traditional international organizations. The main function of this type of network would be to collect and disseminate information to facilitate environmental action. The author also proposes a specific construction for an environmental …

Case Digest, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

MILITARY ACTIVITIES OF THE PROVISIONAL IRISH REPUBLICAN ARMY FALL WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THE POLITICAL OFFENSE EXCEPTION TO THE TREATY OF EXTRADITION BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND THE UNITED KINGDOM--In the Matter of the Requested Extradition of Joseph Patrick Thomas Doherty, Crim. Misc. No. 83-1(S.D.N.Y. Dec. 12, 1984).

THE IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY ACT PERMITS THE DEPORTATION OF AN ALIEN WHEN THE IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION SERVICE ESTABLISHES BY CLEAR AND CONVINCING EVIDENCE THAT THE ALIEN, UNDER THE AEGIS OF NAZI GERMANY, PERSONALLY AND ACTIVELY PARTICIPATED IN THE PERSECUTION OF INDIVIDUALS BECAUSE OF THEIR POLITICAL OPINIONS--Laipenieks v. Immigration and Naturalization Service, No. …

Human Rights And The Belgrade Meeting, Arthur J. Goldberg

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

In September of 1977, President Carter asked me to take on responsibility for what is familiarly called CSCE--the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. Like most Americans, I had previously thought of the CSCE in terms of the Helsinki Summit of 1975 when President Ford signed the document called the Final Act, a lengthy text, not a treaty, but an expression at the highest political level of the commitment of the 35 states of Europe and North America to respect certain principles of interstate behavior, to respect human rights, to build mutual confidence in the military sphere, and to …

Jurisdiction Over Palestine--An Analysis Of The Conflicting Arab-Israeli Claims Of Legal Title, Peter A. Schuller

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The recent controversy over the establishment of Israeli settlements in occupied territory has resurrected a thirty year dispute over territorial sovereignty in the area referred to before 1948 as Palestine...

This note will attempt to analyze the conflicting legal claims to Palestine under a standard likely to be applied by an international judicial tribunal operating in conjunction with or under the auspices of the International Court of Justice. The analysis will be concerned not with the political or quasi-legal claims of the respective parties, examples of which are Israeli historical claims based upon decades of alleged persecution and Arab claims …

Recent Development--Panama Canal Treaties, David M. Himmelreich

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Given its strategic interest in the Canal, it might well be asked why the United States would sign a Treaty which does not give an unambiguous right of intervention. Under the Treaty, the United States has at best only a weak legal justification for intervention, which will be useful in domestic politics should the popular opposition to "giving the Canal away" become critical, but which will be much less convincing elsewhere. World opinion is suspicious of the reliance of any great power on intervention, regardless of the legal rationale. The justification will be least persuasive in Latin America where there …

Artificial Islands Constructed On United States Continental Shelf Denied Status Of Independent Sovereignty, Journal Staff

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The United States brought injunction and trespass claims in the federal district court against three private persons to prevent the unauthorized construction of artificial islands atop several submerged coral reefs located about four and one-half miles off the southeast coast of Florida. These reefs were composed of the skeletal remains of coral organisms and lay at a depth of 600 feet. The reefs continued to grow laterally, but had reached their maximum height and were completely submerged at all times except at low tide when their highest projections were momentarily visible. The reef area, which harbored countless varieties of marine …

Local Government Law--1959 Tennessee Survey, A. E. Ryman, Jr.

Vanderbilt Law Review

Local government law is primarily made up of special exceptions to and provisions concerning laws of general application, both substantive and procedural. Starting with that premise, this survey is classified into two basic subsections: exceptions resulting from relations between sovereign agents, and exceptions resulting from relations between a sovereign agent and private parties. Because of a trend believed to be of significance with regard to other areas of law, the section on financial policy is considered separately as another subdivision herein.

Satisfactory review of all of the substantive legal subjects touched upon by decisions and legislation which involved local agents …