Civil Rights and Discrimination Commons^™

Essay: New Political And Legal Strategies For African-Americans: Dreaming Big, Dreaming Creatively, Maxim Thorne

ExpressO

Maxim Thorne, a Yale Law School Graduate of 1992, writes an essay derived from his address delivered on October 1, 2004 at the thirty-fifth anniversary of the African-American Cultural Center at Yale University, entitled "New Political and Legal Strategies For African-Americans: Dreaming Big, Dreaming Creatively." He presents Seven Strategies that African Americans should use to secure power and justice in America: 1) Go Home, 2) Public Schools Aren’t Our Only Option and other paradigm shifting legal arguments 3) Draw On the Power of Older Women of Color, 4) Network Your Heart Out, Giving Time, Advice, and Money, 5) Honor Our …

A State's Power To Enter Into A Consent Decree That Violates State Law Provisions: What "Findings" Of A Federal Violation Are Sufficient To Justify A Consent Decree That Trumps State Law?, David W. Swift

ExpressO

In the last forty years federal courts have played a prominent role in reshaping our public institutions. And while some scholars question the efficacy of these structural injuctions, the authority of federal courts to order such relief is generally unquestioned. What is open to debate, however, is whether state officials can agree to a remedy they would not have had the authority to order themselves; and if so, to what extent must an underlying constitutional violation be proved so as to justify the remedy?

This article discusses the competing theories and concludes that a remedy that violates state law may …

A Case Study In The Banning Of Political Parties: The Pan-Arab Movement El Ard And The Israeli Supreme Court, Ron Harris

ExpressO

Attempts to outlaw political groups that are alleged to approve the use of violence, to limit the expression of views that challenge the core values of democratic nation-states, and to ban radical, separatist, or religious political parties are more widespread in recent years than at any other time since 1945. They gave rise in the last few years to litigation in Constitutional Courts and Supreme Courts in Spain, Germany, Turkey, France, Israel, and Latvia, as well as in the European courts.

The present article tells the story of the encounter in the years 1959-1965 between the Pan-Arab national movement El …

Rights At United States Borders, Jon Adams

ExpressO

This article explores protections available under the Fourth and Fifth Amendments to the United States Constitution. Contrary to opinions in popular culture, and perhaps even among Customs officials, powers to search, seize, and interrogate at United States border crossings are not unlimited. In the current world climate of security and threat, a discussion regarding the level of intrusiveness available to a zealous Customs agent appears particularly relevant. The article addresses the requirements for search, seizure, and interrogation, as well as the lawful conditions and limits upon each activity.

The Cocaine Vaccine, Dru Stevenson

ExpressO

The controversial new cocaine vaccine (TA-CD) has the potential to be an extremely effective treatment tool for recovering addicts, but it also presents opportunities for non-therapeutic uses, such as preventing cocaine use in the first place. It is foreseeable that the cocaine vaccine could become a condition of parole or probation, or receiving welfare payments, or for employment in certain occupations. Universal vaccination is also a possibility but less likely for political reasons. This article investigates each of these areas of potential use. Any setting where mandatory drug testing is currently in place could become a venue for the vaccination. …

Enemies Foreign And Domestic: A Historical Look At The Use Of Military Commissions By The United States And The Case For Using Them Against American Citizens, James T. Barnett

ExpressO

An historical look at the use of Military Commissions by the United States of America. This article examines the constitutional powers to use Military Commissions as well as the limitations on such commissions.

It also examines the use of these commissions against American citizens and argues that they are proper in certain circumstances. The limitations set out by the Supreme Court are eroded to the point of being void.

The article goes on to examine the cases of John Walker Lindh and Yasser Hamdi to show that Military Commissions are the proper forum for such cases.

Resurrecting The White Primary, Ellen D. Katz

Articles

An unprecedented number of noncompetitive or "safe" electoral districts operate in the United States today. Noncompetitive districts elect officials with more extreme political views and foster more polarized legislatures than do competitive districts. More fundamentally, they inhibit meaningful political participation. That is because participating in an election that is decided before it begins is an empty exercise. Voting in a competitive election is not, even though a single vote will virtually never decide the outcome. What a competitive election offers to each voter is the opportunity to be the coveted swing voter, the one whose support candidates most seek, the …

Celebrating Accomplishments In Equality, Sharon Breckenridge Thomas

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract forthcoming.

Degrees Of Freedom: Building Citizenship In The Shadow Of Slavery, Rebecca J. Scott

Articles

By seeing events in the past as part of a dynamically evolving system with a large, but not indefinite, number of degrees of freedom, we can turn our attention to the multiple possibilities for change, and to the ways in which societies that are initially similarly situated may go on to diverge very sharply. Thus it is, I will argue, with societies in the 19th century that faced the challenge of building citizenship on the ruins of slavery.

Courts As Forums For Protest, Jules Lobel

Articles

For almost half a century, scholars, judges and politicians have debated two competing models of the judiciary's role in a democratic society. The mainstream model views courts as arbiters of disputes between private individuals asserting particular rights. The reform upsurge of the 1960s and 1970s led many to argue that courts are not merely forums to settle private disputes, but can also be used as instruments of societal change. Academics termed the emerging model the hein"public law" or "institutional reform" model.

The ongoing debate between these two views of the judicial role has obscured a third model of the role …

A Thirteenth Amendment Framework For Combating Racial Profiling, William M. Carter Jr.

Articles

Law enforcement officers’ use of race to single persons out for criminal suspicion (“racial profiling”) is the subject of much scrutiny and debate. This Article provides a new understanding of racial profiling. While scholars have correctly concluded that racial profiling should be considered a violation of the Fourth Amendment, the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause, and existing federal statutes, this Article contends that the use of race as a proxy for criminality is also a badge and incident of slavery in violation of the Thirteenth Amendment.

Racial profiling is not only a denial of the right to equal treatment, but …

Racism As 'The National Crucial Sin': Theology And Derrick Bell, George H. Taylor

Articles

The Article probes a paradox that lies at the heart of the work of critical race scholar Derrick Bell. Bell claims on the one hand that racism is permanent, and yet on the other he argues that the fight against racism is both necessary and meaningful. Although Bell's thesis of racism's permanence has been criticized for rendering action for racial justice unavailing, the Article advances an understanding of Bell that supports and defends the integrity of his paradox. The Article draws upon the work of Protestant theologian Reinhold Niebuhr and Niebuhr's paradox that social action is both necessary and meaningful …