Law Commons^™

The Public Forum Doctrine And Public Housing Authorities: Can You Say That Here?, Martin J. Rooney

ExpressO

This article reviews a number of federal cases applying the Public Forum Doctrine of the First Amendment. The doctrine concerns the use of public property for expressive purposes. These cases explore the application of this doctrine to situations were the government is acting as landlord, and not as sovereign. Several of these federal cases have been seriously questioned, if not outright rejected, by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. The state court has taken a much more absolutist view of the Free Speech – First Amendment rights of public housing tenants than has most of the federal case law.

A Complete Property Right Amendment, John H. Ryskamp

ExpressO

The trend of the eminent domain reform and "Kelo plus" initiatives is toward a comprehensive Constitutional property right incorporating the elements of level of review, nature of government action, and extent of compensation. This article contains a draft amendment which reflects these concerns.

Disability Discrimination In Long-Term Care: Using The Fair Housing Act To Prevent Illegal Screening In Admissions To Nursing Homes And Assisted Living Facilities, Eric M. Carlson

ExpressO

Nursing homes and assisted living facilities routinely require applicants to disclose an extensive amount of medical information. Not infrequently, these long-term care facilities use the information to deny admission to those applicants with relatively greater care needs. These denials constitute illegal discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act, but generally consumers are unaware of these protections or find litigation too expensive and time-consuming under their generally difficult circumstances.

These illegal denials of service could be limited by active enforcement of the Fair Housing Act’s no-inquiry regulation, which prohibits a housing provider from inquiring into an applicant’s …

Please Don't Feed The Homeless: Pottinger Revisited, Shirley D. Howell

ExpressO

This article is an outgrowth of my experiences as the founding director of Faulkner University’s Family Violence Legal Clinic in Montgomery, Alabama. My students and I partnered with Legal Services Corporation of Alabama and set up a makeshift office in a Montgomery shelter, where we met with victims of domestic violence. What we discovered surprised us all. The majority of our clients were homeless, though not necessarily under the Stewart B. McKinney Act’s definition.

When Hurricane Katrina added approximately 1.5 million more individuals to the already burgeoning homeless population of the United States, I sensed the mood of the country …

Bond Repudiation, Tax Codes, The Appropriations Process And Restitution Post-Eminent Domain Reform, John H. Ryskamp

ExpressO

This brief comment suggests where the anti-eminent domain movement might be heading next.

Finding New Constitutional Rights Through The Supreme Court’S Evolving “Government Purpose” Test Under Minimum Scrutiny, John H. Ryskamp

ExpressO

By now we all are familiar with the litany of cases which refused to find elevated scrutiny for so-called “affirmative” or “social” rights such as education, welfare or housing: Lindsey v. Normet, San Antonio School District v. Rodriguez, Dandridge v. Williams, DeShaney v. Winnebago County. There didn’t seem to be anything in minimum scrutiny which could protect such facts as education or housing, from government action. However, unobtrusively and over the years, the Supreme Court has clarified and articulated one aspect of minimum scrutiny which holds promise for vindicating facts. You will recall that under minimum scrutiny government’s action is …