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Constitutional Law

1997

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

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Full-Text Articles in Law

Doma: An Unconstitutional Establishment Of Fundamentalist Christianity, James M. Donovan Aug 1997

Doma: An Unconstitutional Establishment Of Fundamentalist Christianity, James M. Donovan

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

This Article scrutinizes the constitutionality of the intent of the Defense of Marriage Act [DOMA]. According to the text of the Act, DOMA's purposes are "to define and protect the institution of marriage," where marriage is defined to exclude same-sex partners. To be constitutionally valid under the Establishment Clause, this notion that heterosexual marriage requires "protection" from gay and lesbian persons must spring from a secular and not religious source. This Article posits that DOMA has crossed this forbidden line between the secular and the religious. DOMA, motivated and supported by fundamentalist Christian ideology, and lacking any genuine secular goals …


The Commerce Clause Post-Lopez: It's Not Dead Yet, Nicole Huberfeld Jan 1997

The Commerce Clause Post-Lopez: It's Not Dead Yet, Nicole Huberfeld

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

This Note focuses on two important pieces of social-policy legislation that could be affected by United States v. Lopez: the Violence against Women Act (VAWA) and the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE). Conflicts exist in the lower federal courts regarding the constitutionality of both statutes, which were enacted under the Commerce Clause. This Note seeks to resolve the dispute in favor of upholding both acts. Part I surveys the major cases in the history of the Commerce Clause as they relate to social-policy legislation, up to and including Lopez. Part II discusses the conflicting cases in the …