Law Commons^™

Avoidance Creep, Charlotte Garden

Faculty Articles

At first glance, constitutional avoidance—the principle that courts construe statutes so as to avoid conflict with the Constitution whenever possible—appears both unremarkable and benign. But when courts engage in constitutional avoidance, they frequently construe statutory language in a manner contrary to both its plain meaning and to the underlying congressional intent. Then, successive decisions often magnify the problems of avoidance—a phenomenon I call “avoidance creep.” When a court distorts a statute in service of constitutional avoidance, a later court may amplify the distortion, incrementally changing both statutory and constitutional doctrine in ways that are unsupported by any existing rationale for …

The Deregulatory First Amendment At Work, Charlotte Garden

Faculty Articles

It has been more than seventy years since Justice Hugo Black wrote that First Amendment rights were “essential to the poorly financed causes of little people.” Since then, the well-financed causes of the powerful have discovered the First Amendment as well, deploying it to crowd out the little people in electoral politics and undo their legislative successes in the courts. The seeds for this project were planted in the 1970s — the decade in which Justice Lewis Powell joined the Court, and in which the Court decided both Buckley v. Valeo and Virginia State Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens …

Defining “Church” In American Law, Michael S. Ariens

Faculty Articles

Balancing the autonomy of religious organizations against regulatory laws remains both a difficult and hotly contested issue. It is helpful to survey labor, property, tax, and education laws to illustrate the tensions between religion and government in American law.

Labor law cases show the autonomy of religious organizations concerning governmental regulations through the National Labor Relations Act and Title VII. In regard to church property, the government has an interest in regulating how religious organizations buy and sell land, run day care centers and food kitchens, raise and borrow money, commit torts, and enter into contracts. Section 501(c)(3) of the …

Into The Thicket: Pursuing Moral And Political Visions In Labor Law, John W. Teeter Jr

Faculty Articles

Teachers should attempt to illuminate the moral and political implications of life as a labor lawyer and encourage students to reflect critically on what they think is ethical and why. Regardless of whether they represent management or unions, labor lawyers inevitably confront serious ethical issues. Teachers cannot—nor should they—resolve these issues for their students; they must follow the pull of their own moral and political beliefs. But teachers should at least assure that their students consider the ethical implications of life as a labor lawyer. This enriches the students’ thinking by placing them in real-world predicaments and enabling them to …

Judicial And Adminstrative Enforcement Of Individual Rights Under The National Labor Relations Act And Under The Labor-Management Relations Act Between 1935 And 1990 - An Historical And Empirical Analysis Of Unsettled Intercircuit And Intracircuit Conflicts, Willy E. Rice

Faculty Articles

This Article is concerned with exploring the extent to which both the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 and the Labor-Management Relations Act of 1947 have protected individual employees' rights in administrative and judicial proceedings.