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Foreword: Beyond Blakely And Booker: Pondering Modern Sentencing Process, Douglas A. Berman
Foreword: Beyond Blakely And Booker: Pondering Modern Sentencing Process, Douglas A. Berman
The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law Working Paper Series
The Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Blakely v. Washington and its federal follow-up United States v. Booker are formally about the meaning and reach of the Sixth Amendment’s right to a jury trial. But these decisions implicate and reflect, both expressly and implicitly, a much broader array of constitutional provisions and principles, in particular, the Due Process Clause of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments and the notice provision of the Sixth Amendment. And the future structure and operation of modern sentencing systems may greatly depend on how courts and others approach the due process provisions and principles which lurk in …
Rehnquist And Federalism: An Empirical Perspective, Ruth Colker, Kevin Scott
Rehnquist And Federalism: An Empirical Perspective, Ruth Colker, Kevin Scott
The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law Working Paper Series
We attempt to articulate a vision of federalism, particularly the Rehnquist version of federalism. We find that there is little consistent thought on the role of the judiciary in protecting federalism. This lack of consensus makes it difficult to predict the decisions federalists might make, but we attempt to outline Chief Justice Rehnquist's contributions to understanding the role courts should play in protecting federalism. We then attempt to assess if Rehnquist adheres to his own vision of federalism. Using his votes since his elevation to Chief Justice in 1986, we test several hypotheses designed to determine if Chief Justice Rehnquist …
The Disability Integration Presumption: Thirty Years Later, Ruth Colker
The Disability Integration Presumption: Thirty Years Later, Ruth Colker
The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law Working Paper Series
The fiftieth anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision has spurred a lively debate about the merits of “integration.” This article brings that debate to a new context – the integration presumption under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”). The IDEA has contained an “integration presumption” for more than thirty years under which school districts should presumptively educate disabled children with children who are not disabled in a fully inclusive educational environment. This article traces the history of this presumption and argues that it was borrowed from the racial civil rights movement without any empirical justification. In …
The Paperless Chase: Electronic Voting And Democratic Values, Daniel P. Tokaji
The Paperless Chase: Electronic Voting And Democratic Values, Daniel P. Tokaji
The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law Working Paper Series
The 2000 election ignited a fierce controversy over the machinery used for voting. Civil rights advocates have called for the replacement of outdated paper-based voting equipment, like the infamous “hanging chad” punch card. Yet the introduction of paperless technology, especially electronic “touchscreen” machines, has induced widespread concern that software might be rigged to alter election results. This article examines the debate over electronic voting, which raises fundamental questions about the democratic values that should guide the administration of elections. It frames the debate by defining four equality norms embodied in federal voting rights laws and the Constitution. Electronic voting has …
Conceptualizing Blakely, Douglas A. Berman
Conceptualizing Blakely, Douglas A. Berman
The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law Working Paper Series
The Supreme Court’s decision in Blakely v. Washington has generated impassioned judicial and academic criticisms, perhaps because the “earthquake” ruling seems to announce a destructive rule in search of a sound principle. Read broadly, the jury trial rule articulated in Blakely might be thought to cast constitutional doubt on any and all judicial fact-finding at sentencing. Yet judicial fact-finding at sentencing has a long history, and such fact-finding has been an integral component of modern sentencing reforms and seems critical to the operation of guideline sentencing. The caustic reaction to Blakely reflects the fact that the decision has sowed confusion …