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Full-Text Articles in Law
Broad Exemptions In Animal-Cruelty Statutes Unconstitutionally Deny Equal Protection Of The Law, William A. Reppy Jr.
Broad Exemptions In Animal-Cruelty Statutes Unconstitutionally Deny Equal Protection Of The Law, William A. Reppy Jr.
Law and Contemporary Problems
This article considers the history, interpretation, and constitutionality of statutory exemptions that preclude prosecution either for misdemeanor or felony violation of North Carolina's criminal animal-cruelty statute, section 14-3601 of the General Statutes, in nine situations.
Play It Again, Uncle Sam, A. Wallace Tashima
Play It Again, Uncle Sam, A. Wallace Tashima
Law and Contemporary Problems
Tashima, currently a federal judge, relates his experience in a Japanese American internment camp at Poston AZ during WWII. The unjust internment was in part a failure of the federal courts to protect the constitutional rights of American citizens.
Interning The “Non-Alien” Other: The Illusory Protections Of Citizenship, Natsu Taylor Saito
Interning The “Non-Alien” Other: The Illusory Protections Of Citizenship, Natsu Taylor Saito
Law and Contemporary Problems
Saito draws parallels between the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII and the current actions being taken by the US government as it seeks out terrorists in the post-9/11 world. The action of unequal prosecution of citizens based on race has roots that extend far back in American history, and the unfair internment of citizens in the 20th century should not be considered an aberration of public policy.
The Constitution Glimpsed From Tule Lake, Patrick O. Gudridge
The Constitution Glimpsed From Tule Lake, Patrick O. Gudridge
Law and Contemporary Problems
Although Ex Parte Endo undid the wrongs that resulted from the US Supreme Court decision Korematsu v. United States, the Japanese Americans who faced internment during WWII cannot so easily put the past behind them. Gudridge examines the publication The Spoilage, which documents the political efforts of those inside the internment camp at Tule Lake, and relates them to Endo and Korematsu.
Korematsu: A Mélange Of Military Imperatives, Eugene Gressman
Korematsu: A Mélange Of Military Imperatives, Eugene Gressman
Law and Contemporary Problems
No abstract provided.
Speech And Strife, Robert L. Tsai
Speech And Strife, Robert L. Tsai
Law and Contemporary Problems
Tsai examines the ways in which the US Supreme Court uses language to signal its authority. One technique of the Court is to frequently use the image of institutional conflict within its rulings.
Foreword, Christopher H. Schroeder
Foreword, Christopher H. Schroeder
Law and Contemporary Problems
In the summer of 2001, a group of lawyers, law professors, students, and judges formed the American Constitution Society. The organization’s avowed purpose is "to counter the dominant vision of American law today, a narrow conservative vision that lacks appropriate regard for the ways in which the law affects people’s lives: and to "restore the fundamental principles of respect for human dignity, protection of individual rights and liberties, genuine equality, and access to justice to their rightful- and traditionally central-place in American law."1 By spring 2002, the American Constitution Society had formed more than fifty campus chapters, plus lawyer chapters …
Functional Departmentalism And Nonjudicial Interpretation: Who Determines Constitutional Meaning?, Dawn E. Johnsen
Functional Departmentalism And Nonjudicial Interpretation: Who Determines Constitutional Meaning?, Dawn E. Johnsen
Law and Contemporary Problems
Johnsen examines the roles of nonjudicial entities--especially the Congress and the president--in the development of constitutional meaning. Although the other two branches are fearful of challenging judiciary supremacy, functional departmentalism may offer a certain degree of autonomy from the Court.
The Antebellum Political Background Of The Fourteenth Amendment, Garrett Epps
The Antebellum Political Background Of The Fourteenth Amendment, Garrett Epps
Law and Contemporary Problems
Epps presents information concerning the historical context of the Fourteenth Amendment. Among other implications, the Amendment should be viewed as an effort to defend the national government from control by transient majorities or undemocratic factions in the states.
Warning: Labeling Constitutions May Be Hazardous To Your Regime, Suzanna Sherry
Warning: Labeling Constitutions May Be Hazardous To Your Regime, Suzanna Sherry
Law and Contemporary Problems
Sherry presents information concerning the labeling of court decisions as being liberal or conservative victories. Because each case can be viewed in different aspects of liberalism and conservatism, it is more appropriate to simply recognize that there are important, non-ideological values at stake on both sides of each case.
The Cycles Of Constitutional Theory, Barry Friedman
The Cycles Of Constitutional Theory, Barry Friedman
Law and Contemporary Problems
Friedman presents information on the cyclical nature of constitutional theory. Because constitutional theory is a reaction to the current developments of constitutional law, it is interesting to view constitutional issues through the framework of different historical circumstances.
The Supply And Demand Sides Of Judicial Policy-Making (Or, Why Be So Positive About The Judicialization Of Politics?), Cornell W. Clayton
The Supply And Demand Sides Of Judicial Policy-Making (Or, Why Be So Positive About The Judicialization Of Politics?), Cornell W. Clayton
Law and Contemporary Problems
A major reason that many people are intensely interested in who sits on the Supreme Court is that legal decisions can have great influence on the effectuation or frustration of political objectives. Clayton does not view the trend toward the "judicialization" of politics as necessarily antithetical to democratic values because Court decisions are within the mainstream of contemporary political values and electoral preferences.
Comment On Ferejohn’S “Judicializing Politics, Politicizing Law”, Michael C. Munger
Comment On Ferejohn’S “Judicializing Politics, Politicizing Law”, Michael C. Munger
Law and Contemporary Problems
Munger comments on John Ferejohn's recent article in which Ferejohn examines some key issues raised by the exercise of legislative power by the judicial branch. Ferejohn claims that Americans have chosen to accept the judicialization of politics, leaving the courts the option of exercising power inappropriately. Munger argues that while the courts do have power, they forebear from exercising it for long periods of time.
Deliberative Democracy’S Attempt To Turn Politics Into Law, Christopher H. Schroeder
Deliberative Democracy’S Attempt To Turn Politics Into Law, Christopher H. Schroeder
Law and Contemporary Problems
Deliberative democracy is one of the most discussed contemporary political theories. Schroeder argues that its central claim can be understood as the claim that politics needs to become more like law. While specific recommendations to make specific decision processes more deliberative are fair, the attempt to efface the distinctively non-lawlike attributes of politics entirely cannot withstand scrutiny.
Bush V. Gore And The French Revolution: A Tentative List Of Some Early Lessons, Sanford Levinson
Bush V. Gore And The French Revolution: A Tentative List Of Some Early Lessons, Sanford Levinson
Law and Contemporary Problems
Levinson examines the Supreme Court's decision in "Bush v. Gore" as an entry-point into understanding American constitutional culture. "Law," as people ordinarily think of it, may be much less important than people might believe (or hope) with regard to controlling politics. But "law" in another way may have Americans gripped within a constitutional iron cage that makes it next to impossible to engage in a cogent discussion of what might ail contemporary American polity and, concomitantly, what might be needed by way of reforms.
The Bill Of Rights And The Emerging Democracies, Jacek Kurczewski, Barry Sullivan
The Bill Of Rights And The Emerging Democracies, Jacek Kurczewski, Barry Sullivan
Law and Contemporary Problems
Today, the influence of the US Bill of Rights can be traced through its remote offspring, including the Helsinki Agreement, the German Basic Law, the post-war French constitutions, and the European Convention on Human Rights. These documents have influenced recent developments in the emerging democracies of eastern and central Europe.
Telling Miller’S Tale: A Reply To David Yassky, Brannon P. Denning, Glenn H. Reynolds
Telling Miller’S Tale: A Reply To David Yassky, Brannon P. Denning, Glenn H. Reynolds
Law and Contemporary Problems
A recent article by Professor David Yassky suggests that there is a segment of legal academia that dissents from the Standard model and has started to generate alternatives to the Standard Model. Denning and Reynolds critique that part of Yassky's theory dismissing "United States v. Miller" as providing the basis for an individual rights interpretation of the Second Amendment.
Postcommunist Charters Of Rights In Europe And The U.S. Bill Of Rights, Wojciech Sadurski
Postcommunist Charters Of Rights In Europe And The U.S. Bill Of Rights, Wojciech Sadurski
Law and Contemporary Problems
The Bill of Rights of the US Constitution served as both a model and anti-model for the constitutionalization of citizens' rights in the new democracies emerging after the fall of communism in Central and Eastern Europe. The most striking contrast between the US Bill of Rights and postcommunist constitutional charters of rights is the absence in the former, and the inclusion in the latter, of catalogues of so-called "positive," socioeconomic rights.
Constitutional Approaches To Privatization: An Inquiry Into The Magnitude Of Neo-Liberal Constitutionalism, David Schneiderman
Constitutional Approaches To Privatization: An Inquiry Into The Magnitude Of Neo-Liberal Constitutionalism, David Schneiderman
Law and Contemporary Problems
Schneiderman discusses whether constitutional rules in the state capitalist mode that redistribute property ownership more widely can survive the pressures generated by the neo-liberal model of constitutionalism. Schneiderman considers privatization programs that concern the divestiture of state assets, or denationalization through the sale of shares or assets to employees and employee associations.
Indirect Constitutional Discourse: A Comment On Meese, Robert F. Nagel
Indirect Constitutional Discourse: A Comment On Meese, Robert F. Nagel
Law and Contemporary Problems
Nagel responds to Alan J. Meese's comments on Pres Clinton's actions following the Supreme Court's decision in "Regents of the University of California v. Bakke." While the Clinton Administration's strategy does not produce the best possible form of constitutional dialogue, it does produce another recognizable form of dialogue, one full of confusion and hypocrisy but a surprisingly central and entrenched part of the practice of judicial review itself.
An Economic Analysis Of The Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Travis C. Wheeler
An Economic Analysis Of The Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Travis C. Wheeler
Law and Contemporary Problems
As an attempt by Congress to overturn a Supreme Court ruling by statute, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), although passed by a congressional landslide, was one of the most controversial pieces of legislation passed during Bill Clinton's presidency. Wheeler examines RFRA from a law and economics perspective to show that, as a method by which Congress attempted to impose its definition of a constitutional right upon the courts, the Act was inefficient.
The Clinton Administration And War Powers, Lori Fisler Damrosch
The Clinton Administration And War Powers, Lori Fisler Damrosch
Law and Contemporary Problems
Damrosch compares the record of the Clinton Administration with those of its predecessors, after first briefly locating US war powers practice in the context of crossnational comparisons. Pres Clinton has been more respectful of Congress's constitutional role than either Pres Reagan or Pres Bush, yet less successful in persuading Congress to exercise the responsibility that goes along with the claim of constitutional power.
The Scope Of “High Crimes And Misdemeanors” After The Impeachment Of President Clinton, Neil Kinkopf
The Scope Of “High Crimes And Misdemeanors” After The Impeachment Of President Clinton, Neil Kinkopf
Law and Contemporary Problems
Kinkopf believes that the House of Representatives' decision to impeach Pres Clinton on the charge that he committed perjury before the grand jury, a charge that did not involve official conduct, was proper. Even though Pres Clinton's misconduct was not a proper basis for impeachment or conviction, his case demonstrates that if would be terribly unwise to understand official misconduct to be a necessary element of a high crime or misdemeanor.
The Special Constitutional Structure Of The Federal Impeachment Process, Michael J. Gerhardt
The Special Constitutional Structure Of The Federal Impeachment Process, Michael J. Gerhardt
Law and Contemporary Problems
Gerhardt offers a general explanation of the federal impeachment process and relates it to the impeachment of Pres Bill Clinton. The first feature of the constitutional allocation of power for impeachment and removal is that it facilitates and rewards a pragmatic or flexible analysis and impedes a formalistic analysis of the fundamental question at the core of Pres Clinton's impeachment proceedings--whether his conduct constituted a "high Crime or Misdemeanor."
Foreword, Neil Kinkopf
The President And Choices Not To Enforce, Peter L. Strauss
The President And Choices Not To Enforce, Peter L. Strauss
Law and Contemporary Problems
Strauss explores the context of executive non-enforcement in a broad way that may help in understanding situations in which the President believes a particular statute is inconsistent with one or another provision of the Constitution and, therefore, should not be enforced.
Writing Off Race, Girardeau A. Spann
Writing Off Race, Girardeau A. Spann
Law and Contemporary Problems
Because the US Constitution says absolutely nothing about affirmative action, the Supreme Court should have absolutely nothing to say about it either. Rather, the political branches should set the nation's affirmative action policy, and they should do so with political leadership provided by the President. Spann considers Pres Clinton's record on affirmative action.
Presidential Non-Enforcement Of Constitutionally Objectionable Statutes, Dawn E. Johnsen
Presidential Non-Enforcement Of Constitutionally Objectionable Statutes, Dawn E. Johnsen
Law and Contemporary Problems
Johnsen considers the legitimacy of what he terms "presidential non-enforcement," that is, whether and when the President may disobey an unambiguous congressional command enacted in conformity with the constitutionally prescribed lawmaking process on the ground that the President believes the law is unconstitutional.
Constitutionalism In The Shadow Of Doctrine: The President’S Non-Enforcement Power, David Barron
Constitutionalism In The Shadow Of Doctrine: The President’S Non-Enforcement Power, David Barron
Law and Contemporary Problems
Barron challenges the court-centered approach to the scope of the President's non-enforcement power. He contends that a President, notwithstanding that he considers himself bound by the Supreme Court's constitutional interpretations, should resolve three distinct questions in determining whether he may faithfully decline to enforce a statute by virtue of its unconstitutionality.
Impeachment As Congressional Constitutional Interpretation, Neal Kumar Katyal
Impeachment As Congressional Constitutional Interpretation, Neal Kumar Katyal
Law and Contemporary Problems
Katyal argues that one can adhere to originalism in the context of judicial interpretation and, nevertheless, believe in a broader style of interpretation for the legislature. He illustrates the point with three examples--the roles of history, precedent, and moral philosophy--in discussing the case of Pres Bill Clinton's impeachment.