Law Commons^™

The Road To Human Emancipation - The Moral And Political Foundations Of Markets, William Shi

CMC Senior Theses

The thesis aims to provide both a real public ideology and the legal and socioeconomic structures to realize Karl Marx’s ideal of human emancipation. Marx argues that in capitalist society, the legal and political superstructure forces the ruling class to represent its interest as the public interest, which legitimizes the massive inequality in resources and social power. To demonstrate how to realize the substantive public interest, the two parts of the thesis have two goals. The first part aims to formulate a rightful candidate to the public ideology of human emancipation, which represents the substantive public interest rather than the …

Principle Or Partisanship: An Analysis Of The Role Stare Decisis Plays In Supreme Court Jurisprudence, Clare Burgess

CMC Senior Theses

In this thesis, I analyze the reasons that Supreme Court overturns precedent, and how, if at all, does the doctrine of stare decisis impact those decisions. The Supreme Court’s decisions are often politicized and viewed as a result of the Supreme Court Justices’ ideological views. Simply, they abide by precedents they agree with and abandon ones they do not. While the impact of ideology on Supreme Court decisions is unclear, I find that the doctrine of stare decisis plays an important role in their jurisprudence. In fact, the doctrine of stare decisis has increasingly dominated cases that reverse a prior …

Healthy And Unhealthy Responses To American Democratic Institutional Failure, Thomas D'Anieri

CMC Senior Theses

I have set out on the hunch that politics in America “feels different,” that we are frustrated both with our institutions as well as with one another. First, I will seek to empirically verify this claim beyond mere “feelings.” If it can be shown that these kinds of discontent genuinely exist to the extent that I believe they do, I will then explain why people feel this way and why things are different this time from the economic, political, and social points of view. Next, I will examine two potential responses, what I will call the populist and the institutional …

@Usa Vs. @Realdonaldtrump: The Decline Of Democracy In 280 Characters Or Less, Bryn Edwards

CMC Senior Theses

From threats, to hate speech, to potential criminal statements, Donald Trump has made use of Twitter like no president or world leader before him. His presidency and communication strategy have been defined by his “tweetstorms” and a consequent slew of legal issues. The prolific rate of his tweeting has made large-scale analyses difficult as they quickly become dated.

Nevertheless, this thesis has aimed for a more holistic analysis by uniquely linking trends in his tweeting to its perceived social consequences, situating this work in a long line of analyses of presidential rhetoric and media strategies. Moreover, it assesses Trump’s use …

The Syrian Refugee Crisis Within Europe: A Matter Of Politics, Not Capacity, Anita Frances Shenoi

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis examines factors that enabled the influx of Syrian refugees to the European Union and traces their plight in Europe as one of the greatest humanitarian crises since World War II. The migration of refugees to European countries is a result of Syrians facing religious, racial, and social persecution, and immediate danger from proximity to on the ground conflict in Syria. The Syrian refugee crisis in Europe is occurring, in part, because there is a concentrated effort on behalf of Member States to change the definition of displacement to fit narratives more conducive to each countries’ individual preferences. European …

The Limits Of Affirmative Action And The Illusion Of Whiteness As Property, Gino Townsend

CMC Senior Theses

In 1993 Cheryl Harris delivers a scathing review of the effects of American slavery on the socioeconomic status of black Americans in Whiteness as Property. In her criticisms of the rulings of Brown v. Board of Education and Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, Harris uses these cases and others to show how affirmative action is meant to equalize the socioeconomic status of white and black Americans and does not conflict with the Constitution, which Harris observes through the lens of whiteness as property. Harris’ goal is to show that affirmative action is the only means …

The European Union Military: A Debate On The Need For A Common Defense Mechanism, Gonzalo Secaira

CMC Senior Theses

In a region affected by death and destruction brought on by two devastating world wars, the European Union has held peace and economic stability as its primary objective. Since its creation, the EU has expanded both in size and scope, becoming on the largest economic global actors in the world. In recent years, the EU has looked towards expanding its competencies to include common security and defense policies. Efforts on behalf of the EU to further integrate EU members have faced mixed reactions and opposition. One of these policies, the funding, and implementation of a European Union military has been …

Surfacing Contexts Of Violence In Novel Forms Of The Reproductive Justice Framework Through Lessons From Latin America: A Study Of Brutality, Migration And Bodily Autonomy And Progressive Solutions For Use In Public Health, Angelica M. Campos

CMC Senior Theses

In the last 5 years, Latin America has witnessed a tenacious wave of pañuelo verde and #NiUnaMenos activism. Sparked by increasing mortality rates associated with unsafe, clandestine abortions and femicide, the praxes and fundamental elements of these social movements have proven themselves useful not only in garnering international attention on issues relating to bodily autonomy, but in the synthesis of their respective sociopolitical solutions as well. In the United States, similar efforts have been spearheaded by the lauded reproductive justice framework, which has often been credited for centering the plight of women of color in both reproduction and social justice. …

No Pain, No Gain: Australia, Uk, And Us Stock Market Responses To The 2020 Stimulus Efforts, Jett Zeimantz

CMC Senior Theses

The stock market shocks of 2020 caused by the COVID-19 crisis have been met by monetary policy announcements rapidly issued by the central banks of developed economies, signaling a concerted effort to keep markets afloat. Utilizing an ordinary least squares regression, this paper tests whether the monetary policy announcements of the central banks of the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom served their intended purpose in soothing market reactions via high-frequency event data. For the overall stock market, I find that the Federal Reserve’s announcements boosted market returns of the S&P 500 Index by 4.2%, the All Ordinaries Index …

“It’S The Procedure, Stupid!”: Amendment Procedures And Their Effects On Constitutional Stability, Joseph Noss

CMC Senior Theses

Constitutions must change. No human can stop time from marching forward, nor the social, economic, cultural, and technological developments associated. As a result, constitutions necessitate mechanisms that allow for their own progress. The amendment procedure of a constitution—the rules that govern what changes can occur—is therefore fundamental to any constitutional system. Importantly, scholars, politicians, and citizens alike fail to take into account the significance of these amendment processes and their effects on the constitutions they govern. While usually treated as a constitutional after-thought, amendment procedures have one of the most pronounced, substantive effects on the permanence of a constitutional order. …