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The Declaration Of Independence And Constitutional Interpretation, Alexander Tsesis

Faculty Publications & Other Works

This Article argues that the Reconstruction Amendments incorporated the human dignity values of the Declaration of Independence. The original Constitution contained clauses, which protected the institution of slavery, that were irreconcilable with the normative commitments the nation had undertaken at independence. The Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments set the country aright by formally incorporating the Declaration of Independence's principles for representative governance into the Constitution.

The Declaration of Independence provides valuable insights into matters of human dignity, privacy, and self-government. Its statements about human rights, equality, and popular sovereignty establish a foundational rule of interpretation. While the Supreme Court has …

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Constitutional Change And Wade's Ultimate Political Fact, Richard Kay

Richard Kay

This is a retrospective review of H.W.R. Wades classic article on parliamentary sovereignty in the United Kingdom, The Basis of Legal Sovereignty, published in 1955. I discuss the legal background against which the essay was written and particularly the South African case of Harris v. Minister of the Interior that was the centerpiece of Wade’s analysis. I survey Wade’s differences with Ivor Jennings, the leading figure among the then active academic defenders of Parliament’s power to impose “manner and form” limitations on future parliaments. I also compare Wade’s identification of an “ultimate political fact” supporting the legal system with Hans …

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The Gravitational Force Of Federal Law, Scott Dodson

Scott Dodson

In the American system of dual sovereignty, states have primary authority over matters of state law. In nonpreemptive areas in which state and federal regimes are parallel—such as matters of court procedure, certain statutory law, and even some constitutional law—states have full authority to legislate and interpret state law in ways that diverge from analogous federal law. But, in large measure, they don’t. It is as if federal law exerts a gravitational force that draws states to mimic federal law even when federal law does not require state conformity. This paper is the first to explore the widespread phenomenon of …

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Full-Text Articles in Jurisprudence

The Declaration Of Independence And Constitutional Interpretation, Alexander Tsesis

Faculty Publications & Other Works

Constitutional Change And Wade's Ultimate Political Fact, Richard Kay

Richard Kay

The Gravitational Force Of Federal Law, Scott Dodson

Scott Dodson