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Full-Text Articles in Law
State Constitutional Rights And Democratic Proportionality, Jessica Bulman-Pozen, Miriam Seifter
State Constitutional Rights And Democratic Proportionality, Jessica Bulman-Pozen, Miriam Seifter
Faculty Scholarship
State constitutional law is in the spotlight. As federal courts retrench on abortion, democracy, and more, state constitutions are defining rights across the nation. Despite intermittent calls for greater attention to state constitutional theory, neither scholars nor courts have provided a comprehensive account of state constitutional rights or a coherent framework for their adjudication. Instead, many state courts import federal interpretive practices that bear little relationship to state constitutions or institutions.
This Article seeks to begin a new conversation about state constitutional adjudication. It first shows how in myriad defining ways state constitutions differ from the U.S. Constitution: They protect …
The Right To Amend State Constitutions, Jessica Bulman-Pozen, Miriam Seifter
The Right To Amend State Constitutions, Jessica Bulman-Pozen, Miriam Seifter
Faculty Scholarship
This Essay explores the people's right to amend state constitutions and threats to that right today. It explains how democratic proportionality review can help courts distinguish unconstitutional infringement of the right from legitimate regulation. More broadly, the Essay considers the distinctive state constitutional architecture that popular amendment illuminates.
The City’S Second Amendment, Dave Fagundes, Darrell A. H. Miller
The City’S Second Amendment, Dave Fagundes, Darrell A. H. Miller
Faculty Scholarship
Cities are increasingly common sites of contestation over the scope and meaning of the Second Amendment. Some municipalities have announced their opposition to firearm restrictions by declaring themselves Second Amendment sanctuaries. Others have sought to curtail gun violence by passing restrictive local regulations. Still others have responded to police violence by moving to demilitarize, disarm, or even disband their police forces. The burgeoning post-Heller legal literature, though, has largely overlooked the relationship between cities, collective arms bearing, and the Second Amendment. In sum, to what extent do cities themselves have a right to keep and bear arms? This Article tackles …
The Democracy Principle In State Constitutions, Jessica Bulman-Pozen, Miriam Seifter
The Democracy Principle In State Constitutions, Jessica Bulman-Pozen, Miriam Seifter
Faculty Scholarship
In recent years, antidemocratic behavior has rippled across the nation. Lame-duck state legislatures have stripped popularly elected governors of their powers; extreme partisan gerrymanders have warped representative institutions; state officials have nullified popularly adopted initiatives. The federal constitution offers few resources to address these problems, and ballot-box solutions cannot work when antidemocratic actions undermine elections themselves. Commentators increasingly decry the rule of the many by the few.
This Article argues that a vital response has been neglected. State constitutions embody a deep commitment to democracy. Unlike the federal constitution, they were drafted – and have been repeatedly rewritten and amended …
Disuniformity Of Federal Constitutional Rights, Joseph Blocher
Disuniformity Of Federal Constitutional Rights, Joseph Blocher
Faculty Scholarship
Judge Jeffrey Sutton’s 51 Imperfect Solutions describes and celebrates the crucial role of state constitutional law in “making” American constitutional law. The fact that states do not speak with one voice in doing so is, in Sutton’s account, a feature rather than a bug. The diversity in their approaches permits experimentation and tailoring, and ultimately produces a stronger and more supple constitutional fabric.
Sutton’s enthusiasm for the diversity and dynamism of state constitutional law is entirely convincing. But is the federal alternative quite so flat? Although federal constitutional rights are undoubtedly more uniform than those of states, they are not …
Brief Of Amici Curiae Federal Courts Scholars And Southeastern Legal Foundation In Support Of Respondents, Kimberly S. Hermann, Ernest A. Young
Brief Of Amici Curiae Federal Courts Scholars And Southeastern Legal Foundation In Support Of Respondents, Kimberly S. Hermann, Ernest A. Young
Faculty Scholarship
No abstract provided.
Under Containment: Preempting State Ebola Quarantine Regulations, Eang L. Ngov
Under Containment: Preempting State Ebola Quarantine Regulations, Eang L. Ngov
Faculty Scholarship
No abstract provided.
Modern-Day Nullification: Marijuana And The Persistence Of Federalism In An Age Of Overlapping Regulatory Jurisdiction, Ernest A. Young
Modern-Day Nullification: Marijuana And The Persistence Of Federalism In An Age Of Overlapping Regulatory Jurisdiction, Ernest A. Young
Faculty Scholarship
No abstract provided.
Federalism, Treaty Implementation, And Political Process: Bond V. United States, Curtis A. Bradley
Federalism, Treaty Implementation, And Political Process: Bond V. United States, Curtis A. Bradley
Faculty Scholarship
No abstract provided.
Constitutionalizing Local Politics, Joseph Blocher, Ilan Graff
Constitutionalizing Local Politics, Joseph Blocher, Ilan Graff
Faculty Scholarship
No abstract provided.
What Happened In Iowa?, David Pozen
What Happened In Iowa?, David Pozen
Faculty Scholarship
Reply to Nicole Mansker & Neal Devins, Do Judicial Elections Facilitate Popular Constitutionalism; Can They?, 111 Colum. L. Rev. Sidebar 27 (2011).
November 2, 2010 is the latest milestone in the evolution of state judicial elections from sleepy, sterile affairs into meaningful political contests. Following an aggressive ouster campaign, voters in Iowa removed three supreme court justices, including the chief justice, who had joined an opinion finding a right to same-sex marriage under the state constitution. Supporters of the campaign rallied around the mantra, “It’s we the people, not we the courts.” Voter turnout surged to unprecedented levels; the national …
Just Blowing Smoke? Politics, Doctrine, And The Federalist Revival After Gonzales V. Raich, Ernest A. Young
Just Blowing Smoke? Politics, Doctrine, And The Federalist Revival After Gonzales V. Raich, Ernest A. Young
Faculty Scholarship
No abstract provided.
With Strings Attached: The Limits On Local Control, Richard Briffault
With Strings Attached: The Limits On Local Control, Richard Briffault
Faculty Scholarship
In a December 2003 decision, a Colorado trial court judge invalidated the state's new school voucher program. The decision was unusual in that the court relied not on traditional separation-of-church-and-state concerns, but instead on a provision of the Colorado state constitution that vests control over public education in local school boards. The court held that by failing to give local school boards any" input whatsoever into the instruction to be offered by the private schools" that accepted voucher students, the state had violated the constitutional provision that grants local boards "control of instruction in the public schools of their respective …
Defendants' Brief In The School Finance Case: Mcduffy V. Robertson: An Excerpt And A Summary, Mary Connaughton
Defendants' Brief In The School Finance Case: Mcduffy V. Robertson: An Excerpt And A Summary, Mary Connaughton
Faculty Scholarship
The wisdom of promoting public education in the Commonwealth was recognized by the earliest settlers, the framers of the Constitution, and many subsequent legislatures, officials, educators and citizens. The opinions of the Department, the Secretary of Education, the Governor and various educators, contained in the stipulation, demonstrate that a policy of supporting public education is as important today as ever.2
The implementation of this policy goal by the Legislature and municipalities involves choices that are at the heart of representative government: how much public money to raise, how best to allocate the money among education and the many other …