Law Commons^™

Religious Exemption Or Exceptionalism? Exploring The Tension Of First Amendment Religion Protections & Civil Rights Progress Within The Employment Non-Discrimination Act, Richael Faithful

Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

The District of Columbia (D.C.) marked a landmark civil rights achievement in December 2009 when the city passed the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Equality Amendment Act. The law’s enactment allowed D.C. to become the sixth jurisdiction to sanction same-sex marriage in the United States. Supporters hailed the law as a victory for lesbian and gay equality, while detractors vowed that their efforts to traditionally define marriage would continue.

Among the most public opponents of the law was the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, which operates Catholic Charities, a leading service provider to low-income residents in the metropolitan area. The Catholic …

Expanding The Scope Of The Good-Faith Exception To The Exclusionary Rule To Include A Law Enforcement Officer's Reasonable Reliance On Well-Settled Case Law That Is Subsequently Overruled, Ross Oklewicz

Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

In 2009, the Supreme Court handed down several important decisions on criminal procedure. Perhaps unanticipated at the time, two of those decisions have been read together by lower courts to reach dramatically different results. The emerging split has been sharp, bringing with it urgent calls for the Court to intervene.

Laying the foundation for the conflicting decisions was New York v. Belton, in which the Supreme Court held that “when a policeman has made a lawful custodial arrest of the occupant of an automobile, he may, as a contemporaneous incident of that arrest, search the passenger compartment of the automobile” …

Stepping Out Of The Vehicle: The Potential Of Arizona V. Gant To End Automatic Searches Incident To Arrest Beyond The Vehicular Context, Angad Singh

Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

“Because the law says we can do it” was the response Officer Griffith offered when asked why officers searched Rodney Gant’s car when he was arrested for driving with a suspended license. Officer Griffith’s honest answer exemplifies the effect of prior Supreme Court decisions on search incident to arrest power in the vehicle context: that a vehicle search incident to arrest is a police entitlement divorced from any rationale whatsoever. Concerns for officer safety and preservation of evidence -- legal justifications that generally permit warrantless searches incident to arrest generally -- had been utterly abandoned by the Court in the …

At&T V. Hulteen: The Ghost Of The Supreme Court On Pregnancy Discrimination And Pay Equality For Women’S Pension Benefits In America, Walakewon Blegay

Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Historically, discrimination against women concerning childbirth and pregnancy was legally sanctioned and resulted in fewer advantages for women in the workforce. Most employers discharged a woman as soon as she became noticeably pregnant, and if she returned, she was considered a new, rather than a returning employee. Before 1978, many employers would give female employees a maximum of thirty days of credited pregnancy-related disability leave, while non-pregnant employees would receive unlimited credit for disability leave. In 1978, Congress enacted the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA), requiring that employers treat pregnant employees the same as employees who were not pregnant.

These laws …

Money, Meet Mouth: The Era Of Regulation And Prescription Drug Importation/Reimportation, Aaron Wong

Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

The author explores why our country has failed to devote the necessary resources to health care, and in particular prescription drug importation and reimportation, in an economic and legal context. He analyzes the unique market characteristics of the pharmaceutical industry, the framework of pharmaceutical drug regulation including prescription drug importation, and the regulatory structure of importation in general. Part II provides background on the health care industry and prescription drug markets in the U.S. and abroad. Part III examines legislative proposals for drug importation and reimportation and the controversial congressional reaction to rising prescription drug prices in the U.S. Part …

Regulating Secondhand Tobacco Smoke In The Americas: A Comparison Of The Top Down And Bottom Up Approaches In Brazil And The United States, Leigh Warren

Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

The author presents a comparative analysis of the legal approaches to regulate Second Hand Smoke (SHS) in Brazil and the United States. Part II reviews the FCTC, its objective to achieve smoke-free public places, and the legal framework supporting freedom from SHS as a human right. Parts III and IV examine Brazil’s top down and the United States’ bottom up approaches to regulating SHS through legislative and judicial measures. Part V presents a comparative analysis of the two approaches and offers recommendations based on lessons learned from each approach. Because neither approach is perfect, Part V also discusses the role …

Reexamining Models Of Disability And Applying Rationality, Morality, And Ethics To Support Disability Rights In Context Of Genetics, Gary C. Norman

Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

The author discusses genetic and assistive reproduction science and technology in light of their impact on people with disabilities. Specifically, he focuses on the prism of the models through which disability is recognized. If applied in a manner such that the best facets of both models of disability can bear forth, then the position of the author, a person with a vision disability, is that his colleagues in the disability civil rights movement should not reflexively excoriate genetic and assisted reproduction science and technology. However, safeguarding people with disabilities, who are a discrete and insular minority across the globe, against …

The Post-Medellin Case For Legislative Standing, James A. Turner

Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

After the terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001, the balance of power between the executive and legislative branches of government in this country shifted. President Bush expanded the executive’s unilateral authority in international affairs and war powers. Both President Bush and President Obama have extended executive power, and then staunchly protected their expansion of authority from limitation by the legislative and judicial branches. Further, Bush’s use of presidential signing statements to undermine legislative intent suggests that the executive’s power to avoid legislative input may be virtually limitless.

The Supreme Court’s 2008 Medellín v. Texas decision appeared …

Trips And Human Rights: The Case Of India, Subramanya Sirish Tamvada

Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

The twenty-first century has seen a rapid growth of two regimes: the intellectual property rights regime and the human rights regime. On one hand, growth of multinational corporations has led to a stronger and stricter intellectual property rights regime. On the other hand, human rights have gained primacy in public as well as political debates. Developing countries have argued that intellectual property rights and Human Rights often come into conflict, particularly when implementing their international obligations under TRIPS. Nevertheless, developing countries are forced to provide better intellectual property protection. There is a need to give heed to the voices of …