Jurisprudence Commons^™

Democracy And Renewed Distrust: Equal Protection And The Evolving Judicial Conception Of Politics, Bertrall L. Ross

Bertrall L Ross

Judicial interpretations of the Equal Protection Clause have undergone a major transformation over the last fifty years. A Supreme Court once suspicious of the democratic losses of discrete and insular minorities, now closely scrutinizes their democratic victories. A Court once active in structuring the democratic process to be inclusive of racial and other minorities, now views minority representation in the political process as essentially irrelevant. A Court once deferential to exercises of congressional power that enhanced the equal protection rights of minorities, now gives Congress much less leeway.

What explains these shifts? An easy explanation is that the Supreme Court …

Reconciling Positivism And Realism: Kelsen And Habermas On Democracy And Human Rights, David Ingram

David Ingram

It is well known that Hans Kelsen and Jürgen Habermas invoke realist arguments drawn from social science in defending an international, democratic human rights regime against Carl Schmitt’s attack on the rule of law. However, despite embracing the realist spirit of Kelsen’s legal positivism, Habermas criticizes Kelsen for neglecting to connect the rule of law with a concept of procedural justice (Part I). I argue, to the contrary (Part II), that Kelsen does connect these terms, albeit in a manner that may be best described as functional, rather than conceptual. Indeed, whereas Habermas tends to emphasize a conceptual connection between …

Baker V. State And The Promise Of The New Judicial Federalism, Charles Baron, Lawrence Friedman

Charles H. Baron

In Baker v. State, the Supreme Court of Vermont ruled that the state constitution’s Common Benefits Clause prohibits the exclusion of same-sex couples from the benefits and protections of marriage. Baker has been praised by constitutional scholars as a prototypical example of the New Judicial Federalism. The authors agree, asserting that the decision sets a standard for constitutional discourse by dint of the manner in which each of the opinions connects and responds to the others, pulls together arguments from other state and federal constitutional authorities, and provides a clear basis for subsequent development of constitutional principle. This Article explores …

Public Wrongs And The ‘Criminal Law’S Business’: When Victims Won’T Share, Michelle Dempsey

Michelle Madden Dempsey

Amongst the many valuable contributions that Professor Antony Duff has made to criminal law theory is his account of what it means for a wrong to be public in character. In this chapter, I sketch an alternative way of thinking about criminalization, one which attempts to remain true to the important insights that illuminate Duff’s account, while providing (it is hoped) a more satisfying explanation of cases involving victims who reject the criminal law’s intervention.

“Onde Está A Felicidade?", Paulo Ferreira Da Cunha

Paulo Ferreira da Cunha

Poderemos ser felizes? Passamos a maior parte do tempo a trabalhar, no emprego ou em casa, e em Portugal até dormimos cada vez menos. A aproximação à felicidade parece cada vez mais depender de como nos sentirmos no trabalho. E face à dura realidade, poderemos sonhar que todos sejam felizes no trabalho, ou tal será uma quimera?

“Onde Está A Felicidade?", Paulo Ferreira Da Cunha

Paulo Ferreira da Cunha

Poderemos ser felizes? Passamos a maior parte do tempo a trabalhar, no emprego ou em casa, e em Portugal até dormimos cada vez menos. A aproximação à felicidade parece cada vez mais depender de como nos sentirmos no trabalho. E face à dura realidade, poderemos sonhar que todos sejam felizes no trabalho, ou tal será uma quimera?

“Onde Está A Felicidade", Paulo Ferreira Da Cunha

Paulo Ferreira da Cunha

Poderemos ser felizes? Passamos a maior parte do tempo a trabalhar, no emprego ou em casa, e em Portugal até dormimos cada vez menos. A aproximação à felicidade parece cada vez mais depender de como nos sentirmos no trabalho. E face à dura realidade, poderemos sonhar que todos sejam felizes no trabalho, ou tal será uma quimera?

Crime Virtuoso, Paulo Ferreira Da Cunha

Paulo Ferreira da Cunha

Neste artigo discute-se o que há de profundo e o que há de circunstancial na mania das fotocópias de livros e os problemas conexos da educação e da edição.

Deadly Dicta: Roe’S “Unwanted Motherhood”, Gonzales’S “Women’S Regret” And The Shifting Narrative Of Abortion Jurisprudence, Stacy A. Scaldo

Stacy A Scaldo

For thirty-four years, the narrative of Supreme Court jurisprudence on the issue of abortion was firmly focused on the pregnant woman. From the initial finding that the right to an abortion stemmed from a constitutional right to privacy[1], through the test applied and refined to determine when that right was abridged[2], to the striking of statutes found to over-regulate that right[3], the conversation from the Court’s perspective maintained a singular focus. Pro-life arguments focusing on the fetus as the equal or greater party of interest were systematically pushed aside by the Court.[4] The consequences of an unwanted pregnancy, or as …

Para Uma Desconstrução Social E Política, Paulo Ferreira Da Cunha

Paulo Ferreira da Cunha

Feira de vaidades, sociedade de enganos, mundo de aparências, a pólis em tempo de crise profunda mostra rostos que não são a sua alma, se é que ainda a tem (e não a vendeu já: por exemplo ao diabo). É preciso olhar raio X para ver através das cortinas de fumo quando, na comunidade política, por um lado se quer parecer o que se não é, ou meramente se pretende demostrar o que se pensa, sem se ter já qualquer veleidade de alterar o que está aí. Quando as consciências morais - ou quem a tal aspire - se limitam …

The Reality Of Moral Imperatives In Liberal Religion, Howard Lesnick

howard lesnick

This paper uses a classic one-liner attributed to Dostoyoevski’s Ivan Karamozov, "Without God everything is permitted," to explore some differences between what I term traditional and liberal religion. The expansive connotations and implications of Ivan’s words are grounded in the historic association of wrongfulness and punishment, and in a reaction against the late modern challenge to the inexorability of that association, whether in liberal religion or in secular moral thought. The paper argues that, with its full import understood, Ivan’s claim begs critical questions of the meaning and source of compulsion and choice, and of knowledge and belief regarding the …

The Second Amendment´S Fixed Meaning And Multiple Purposes, Thiago L. B. Sturzenegger

Thiago L. B. Sturzenegger

The Second Amendment’s Fixed Meaning and Multiple Purposes

The faith to the Constitution’s textual meaning may provide the interpreter with the ability to perceive the adaptability of a constitutional provision to different social and political contexts. The text of the Constitution refers to principles of law; principles that are indispensable in different ways throughout time. Textualism as a constitutional interpretation model may offer the path to a more versatile Constitution.

To support this statement, this work examines the cases in which the Supreme Court interpreted the Second Amendment to the Constitution. The focal point of interest is the uses of …

Vencer A Crise. Ética, Psicologia E Partidos, Paulo Ferreira Da Cunha

Paulo Ferreira da Cunha

Crise e medidas de liofilização e compressão ensurdecem toda a comunicação social. Há contudo que analisar as raízes psicológicas da crise e da crise sobre a crise, e urgentemente regenerar os partidos, sob pena de sempre se ter "mais do mesmo". Ou então muito diferente, porque a obstinação de uns levará à obstinação de outros. E se a II República não mostrar que vale a pena, poderá vir (o diabo não nos oiça) uma anti-república que se chamará IV (porque contará também o Estado Novo) a tentar resolver tudo à força.

The Constitution As If Consent Mattered, Tom W. Bell

Tom W. Bell

Libertarians do not fit into the left-right spectrum very comfortably; by their own account, they transcend it. This brief paper, written for a Chapman Law Review symposium on libertarian legal theory, argues that libertarians should likewise transcend the dichotomy currently dividing constitutional theory. The Left tends to regard the Constitution as adaptable to current needs and defined by judicial authority; the Right tends to search the historical record for the Constitution’s original meaning. Each of those conventional approaches has its own virtues and vices. Combining the best of both — the responsiveness of living constitutionalism and the textual fidelity of …

“Religious Freedom,” The Individual Mandate, And Gifts: On Why The Church Is Not A Bomb Shelter, Patrick Mckinley Brennan

Susan Rexford

The Health and Human Services' regulatory requirement that all but a narrow set of "religious" employers provide contraceptives to employees is an example of what Robert Post and Nancy Rosenblum refer to as a growing "congruence" between civil society's values and the state's legally enacted policy. Catholics and many others have resisted the HHS requirement on the ground that it violates "religious freedom." They ask (in the words of Cardinal Dolan) to be "left alone" by the state. But the argument to be "left alone" overlooks or suppresses the fact that the Catholic Church understands that it is its role …

Re-Emerging Equality. Traditions Of Justice In The Cultural Roots Of The Arab Revolutions, Giancarlo Anello, Khaled Qatam

giancarlo anello

For years, modern Egyptian Islamic thinkers have been attempting to define Islamic ideals of social justice and the way in which they had been betrayed in the post-colonial period. This paper will discuss and critique the mid-20th century works of theorists of the Muslim Revolution like Mahmud Abbas ‘Aqqad (author of al-dymuqratyah fy al-islam, Democracy in Islam) and Sayyid Qutb (author of al-‘adalah al-ijtima‘iyya fy al-islam, Social Justice in Islam) in order to shape the discourse about the relevance of their theories of democracy, justice and equality for today’s political movements.

Energy And Environment Policy Case For A Global Project, Thomas A. Faunce

Thomas A Faunce

A policy case is made for a global project on artificial photosynthesis including its scientific justification, potential governance structure and funding mechanisms.

Can A Pluralistic Commonwealth Endure?, Brian M. Mccall

Brian M McCall

This article considers whether the American pluralist system can satisfy Cicero's definition of a commonwealth as a multitude united in a definition of law and justice. The analysis is based upon a review of Thaddeus Kozinski's book, The Problem or Religious Pluralism and Why Philosophers Can't Solve It. This book critiques the philosophy of John Rawls, Jacques Maritain and Alisdaire MacIntyre. The critique is based upon Cicero's definition of a commonwealth and the article concludes that a society which maintains a deep pluralism over the first principles of law and justice cannot survive as a commonwealth.

The Property Platform In Anglo-American Law And The Primacy Of The Property Concept, Donald J. Kochan

Donald J. Kochan

This Article proposes that the property concept, when reduced to its basic principles, is a foundational element and a useful lens for evaluating and understanding the whole of Anglo-American private law even though the discrete disciplines—property, tort, and contract—have their own separate and distinct existence. In this Article, a broad property concept is not focused just on things or on sticks related to things but instead is defined as relating to all things owned. These things may include one’s self and all the key elements associated with this broader set of things owned—including the right to exclude, ownership, dominion, authority, …

The "Reason Giving" Lawyer: An Ethical, Practical, And Pedagogical Perspective, Donald J. Kochan

Donald J. Kochan

Whether as a matter of duty or utility, lawyers give reasons for their actions all the time. In the various venues in which legal skills must be employed, reason giving is required in some, expected in others, desired in many, and useful in most. This Essay underscores the pervasiveness of reason giving in the practice of law and the consequent necessity of lawyers developing a skill at giving reasons. This Essay examines reason giving as an innate human characteristic related directly to our need for answers and our constant yearning to understand the answer to the question “why.” It briefly …

Certainty Of Title: Perspectives After The Mortgage Foreclosure Crisis On The Essential Function Of Effective Recording Systems, Donald J. Kochan

Donald J. Kochan

Recording systems for property play a pivotal, market-facilitating role for the players engaged in any transaction, the judiciary that must resolve disputes between the players, and others members of the general public by informing each about the true nature of ownership of the real property things in the world. This symposium article explores the essential character of such systems in providing certainty of title, and takes a tour through the mortgage foreclosure crisis to see where adherence to and respect for these systems’ roles broke down. Leading up to the crisis, as securitization became vogue and the housing boom blurred …

‘Jogalkotási Javaslatok Megfogalmazása A Jogtudományban’ [Policy Proposals And Legal Scholarship], Péter Cserne, György Gajduschek

Péter Cserne

This is the manuscript of a chapter written for a Hungarian handbook on legal scholarship. It provides an historical overview and a theoretical defense of a policy oriented, in contrast to doctrinal, study of law. The chapter also provides an introduction to the foundations and methodological tools of public policy analysis, including regulatory impact assessment.