Law and Politics Commons^™

Ideal Theory And The Limits Of Historical Narrative, Anthony O'Rourke

Anthony O'Rourke

Some intellectual concepts that once played a central role in America’s constitutional history are, for both better and worse, no longer part of our political language.[1] These concepts may be so alien to us that they would remain invisible without carefully reexamining the past in order to challenge the received narratives of America’s constitutional development.[2] Should constitutional theorists undertake this kind of historical reexamination? If so, to what extent should they be willing to stray from the disciplinary norms that govern intellectual history? And what normative aims can they reasonably expect to achieve by exploring ideas in our …

Did Russian Cyber Interference In The 2016 Election Violate International Law?, Jens David Ohlin

Jens David Ohlin

When it was revealed that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election by hacking into the email system of the Democratic National Committee and releasing its emails, international lawyers were divided over whether the cyber-attack violated international law. President Obama seemingly went out of his way to describe the attack as a mere violation of “established international norms of behavior,” though some international lawyers were more willing to describe the cyber-attack as a violation of international law. However, identifying the exact legal norm that was contravened turns out to be harder than it might otherwise appear. To …

Environmental Law Outside The Canon, Todd S. Aagaard

Todd S Aagaard

It is time to rethink the domination of environmental law by a canon of major federal statutes enacted in the 1970s. Environmental law is in a malaise. Despite widespread agreement that existing laws are inadequate to address current environmental problems, Congress has not passed a major environmental statute in more than twenty years. If it is to succeed, the environmental law of this new century may need to evolve into something that looks quite different than the extant environmental law canon. The next generation of environmental laws must be viable for creation and implementation even in an antagonistic political climate; …

The Political Economy Of Decarbonization: A Research Agenda, Eric Biber, Nina Kelsey, Jonas Meckling

Eric Biber

Addressing climate change entails daunting policy challenges for nations seeking to decarbonize their energy systems. Current policies are inadequate to achieve the necessary reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in major part because of political resistance to more aggressive policies. Academic policy research to date has primarily focused on what policies are economically optimal, or on what is politically feasible in the short-term. But given the long-term nature of the problem and the scale of the policy challenges, an essential question is how to improve the political landscape for aggressive climate policies over time. In this paper we outline a research …

Whole Other Story: Applying Narrative Mediation To The Immigration Beat, Carol Pauli

Carol Pauli

If Donald Trump, kicking off his campaign for the White House, was saying “what everyone is thinking,” about illegal immigration, it must be that his message mirrored a narrative that already existed in the minds of his audience. That fearful story of criminals invading the U.S. borders has long been a dominant theme in the mainstream news immigration story. Like all news stories, this one focuses attention on some facts at the expense of others. Like many news stories, it draws its power from earlier, well-known tales — some as old as the Flood. This article recommends that the news …

Transforming News: How Mediation Principles Can Depolarize Public Talk, Carol Pauli

Carol Pauli

News media interviews bring opposing voices into the public forum where, ideally, audience members can deliberate and reach democratic compromise. But in today's politically polarized atmosphere, partisans increasingly accuse each other of being a threat to the country, and prospects for compromise have suffered. Journalists have been urged to take a more affirmative role, promoting problem solving and opposing conflict. They have stopped short, citing professional norms that demand a stance of neutral detachment. This article turns to the principles of transformative mediation. Like journalism, it is detached from any goal of settlement. It aims instead at increasing the capacity …

Second Class For The Second Time: How The Commercial Speech Doctrine Stigmatizes Commercial Use Of Aggregated Public Records, Brian N. Larson, Genelle I. Belmas

Brian Larson

This Article argues that access to aggregated electronic public records for commercial use should receive protection under the First Amendment in the same measure as the speech acts the access supports. In other words, we view commercial access to aggregated public records as an essential means to valuable speech. For many, however, the taint of the commercial speech doctrine is turning all “information flows” into commercial ones. This, in turn, is threatening the access to government records.

Guns On Campus: A Look At The First Year Of Concealed Carry At Texas Universities, Aric K. Short

Aric Short

After years of failed attempts, the Texas Legislature passed "campus carry" in 2015. Under the new law, effective in 2016 for four-year institutions, public universities must allow the concealed carry of handguns by license holders on their premises. Texas's campus carry law is unique when compared to other states that allow concealed carry on college campuses: each university is given the flexibility to create weapons implementation plans, including the establishment of limited gun-free zones. The first year of campus carry implementation by Texas universities has been relatively quiet, with generally uniform implementation rules established by colleges across the state. However, …

The Ceo And The Hydraulics Of Campaign Finance Deregulation, Sarah C. Haan

Sarah Haan

Voters increasingly view their consumer activities, not their campaign contributions, as the most meaningful way to participate in politics. In 2014, after it became public that Mozilla’s CEO, Brendan Eich, had made a controversial political donation in a state ballot proposition, consumer pressure led to his resignation. Eich’s downfall and the politicization of retail markets means that business leaders are unlikely to respond to McCutcheon v. FEC by embracing transparency with their campaign donations, and also suggests that campaign finance deregulation is causing hydraulic effects that the Supreme Court has failed to anticipate. This Essay explores what “economic reprisal” means …

Voter Primacy, Sarah C. Haan

Sarah Haan

This Article argues that Citizens United v. FEC expanded the audience for campaign finance disclosure to include a group that had never before been held relevant to campaign finance disclosure—corporate shareholders—and explores the constitutional, policy, and political consequences of this change. In part IV of Citizens United, the U.S. Supreme Court departed from more than thirty years of campaign finance disclosure analysis to treat corporate shareholders as a target audience for corporate electoral spending disclosure, holding that the governmental interest advanced by campaign finance disclosure laws includes an interest in helping corporate shareholders “determine whether their corporation’s political speech advances …

The Question's Not Clear, But Party Government Is Not The Answer, Erwin Chemerinsky

Erwin Chemerinsky

No abstract provided.

The Assault On The Constitution: Executive Power And The War On Terrorism, Erwin Chemerinsky

Erwin Chemerinsky

The Bush administration has made unprecedented claims of unchecked executive power. The Constitution reflects a simple model that two branches of government should have to be involved in virtually all major government actions. The Bush administration, however, has claimed the ability to detain individuals, to engage in electronic eavesdropping, and to authorize torture even in violation of federal statutes. The solution must be for courts to reject these broad claims of presidential authority.

An Overview Of The October 2006 Supreme Court Term, Erwin Chemerinsky

Erwin Chemerinsky

No abstract provided.

The President’S Pen And The Bureaucrat’S Fiefdom, John C. Eastman

John C. Eastman

Executive Agreements Relying On Implied Statutory Authority: A Response To Bodansky And Spiro, David A. Wirth

David A. Wirth

No abstract provided.

Professor Breaks Ground With Journal On Sexual Violence And Exploitation, Joseph Essig, Donna M. Hughes Dr.

Donna M. Hughes

Mcdonnell And The Criminalization Of Politics, George D. Brown

George D. Brown

The purpose of this article is to analyze the critique and McDonnell's impact on it. As for McDonnell itself, I contend that the decision gives proponents of the critique less than they claim. The opinion seems to say that an official whose case is identical to McDonnell's could, under a proper approach to bribery, be prosecuted for the same crimes, with the same facts used as evidence. Indeed, the Court raised the possibility that McDonnell himself could be successfully prosecuted in a retrial. The article begins with a discussion of the critique in order to put McDonnell in context. …

New Uri Journal Explores Sexual Exploitation, G. Wayne Miller, Donna M. Hughes Dr.

Donna M. Hughes

Uri Professor Launches Online Journal About Sexual Exploitation, Violence, Slavery, Donna M. Hughes Dr.

Donna M. Hughes

Rebellious Strains In Transactional Lawyering For Underserved Entrepreneurs And Community Groups, Paul R. Tremblay

Paul R. Tremblay

In his 1992 book Rebellious Lawyering: One Chicano’s Vision of Progressive Law Practice, Gerald Lopez disrupted the conventional understandings of what it meant to be an effective poverty lawyer or public interest attorney. His critiques and prescriptions were aimed at litigators and lawyers similarly engaged in struggles for social change. His book did not address the role of progressive transactional lawyers. Today, transactional lawyers working in underserved communities are far more common. This Essay seeks to apply Lopez’s critiques to the work of those practitioners. I argue here that transactional legal services, or TLS, on behalf of subordinated clients achieves …

Legal Attitudes Of Immigrant Detainees, Emily Ryo

Emily Ryo

Tears In Heaven: Religiously And Culturally Sensitive Laws For Preventing The Next Pandemic, Eloisa C. Rodriguez-Dod, Aileen Maria Marty, Elena Maria Marty-Nelson

Eloisa C Rodríguez-Dod

This Article argues that laws created to curtail the spread of deadly contagious diseases need to be drafted and implemented in ways that maximize acceptance of an affected communities’ cultural and religious beliefs. When laws are put in place that are inconsistent with community mores, the overall goal of stopping an epidemic is threatened. Communities often distrust government and other relief organizations who mandate rules and regulations that impinge their religious and cultural beliefs; thus, these regulations geared at helping communities can paradoxically undermine the goal of preventing the spread of infectious disease. This Article focuses on the need for …

New Hampshire Juvenile Sex Trafficking Survivor Urges Representatives To Vote Against Decriminalized Prostitution, Darlene Pawlik, Donna M. Hughes Dr.

Donna M. Hughes

Sex Industry Advocates Aim To Decriminalize Prostitution In New Hampshire, Kelly Roy-Williams, Lisa Thompson, Donna M. Hughes Dr.

Donna M. Hughes

Bibliography Of Sources On Prostitution Decriminalization In Rhode Island, Donna M. Hughes Dr., Melanie Shapiro Esq

Donna M. Hughes

Decriminalized Prostitution: Impunity For Violence And Exploitation, Melanie Shapiro Esq, Donna M. Hughes Dr.

Donna M. Hughes

The Federal Anti-Corruption Enterprise After Mcdonnell - Lessons From The Symposium, George D. Brown

George D. Brown

Stephenmfeldmanpostmodern.Pdf, Stephen M. Feldman

Stephen M. Feldman

Quacking Like A Duck? Functional Parenthood Doctrine And Same-Sex Parents, Katharine K. Baker

Katharine K. Baker

Executive Action And Nonaction, Tom Campbell

Tom Campbell