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Articles 1 - 22 of 22
Full-Text Articles in Legal History
Judicial Power & Civil Rights Reconsidered, David E. Bernstein, Ilya Somin
Judicial Power & Civil Rights Reconsidered, David E. Bernstein, Ilya Somin
George Mason University School of Law Working Papers Series
Michael Klarman's "From Jim Crow to Civil Rights: The Supreme Court and the Struggle for Racial Equality" is an important contribution to the scholarly literature on both the history of the civil rights struggle and judicial power more generally. Klarman argues that for much of the twentieth century, the Supreme Court was very reluctant to rule in favor of African American civil rights claimants, and had little impact when it did.
Klarman is right to reject traditional accounts that greatly exaggerated the Supreme Court's willingness and ability to protect minorities. However, he overstates his case. The Court's views on the …
A Culturally Correct Proposal To Privatize The British Columbia Salmon Fishery, D. Bruce Johnsen
A Culturally Correct Proposal To Privatize The British Columbia Salmon Fishery, D. Bruce Johnsen
George Mason University School of Law Working Papers Series
Canada now faces two looming policy crises that have come to a head in British Columbia. The first is long-term depletion of the Pacific salmon fishery by mobile commercial ocean fishermen racing to intercept salmon under the rule of capture. The second results from Canadian Supreme Court case law recognizing and affirming “the existing aboriginal and treaty rights of the aboriginal peoples of Canada” under Section 35(1) of the Constitution Act, 1982. This essay shows that the economics of property rights provides a joint solution to these crises that would promote the Canadian commonwealth by way of a privatization auction …
The Tenuous Case For Conscience, Steven D. Smith
The Tenuous Case For Conscience, Steven D. Smith
University of San Diego Public Law and Legal Theory Research Paper Series
If there is any single theme that has provided the foundation of modern liberalism and has infused our more specific constitutional commitments to freedom of religion and freedom of speech, that theme is probably “freedom of conscience.” But some observers also perceive a progressive cheapening of conscience– even a sort of degradation. Such criticisms suggest the need for a contemporary rethinking of conscience. When we reverently invoke “conscience,” do we have any idea what we are talking about? Or are we just exploiting a venerable theme for rhetorical purposes without any clear sense of what “conscience” is or why it …
Montesquieu's Mistakes And The True Meaning Of Separation, Laurence Claus
Montesquieu's Mistakes And The True Meaning Of Separation, Laurence Claus
University of San Diego Public Law and Legal Theory Research Paper Series
“The political liberty of the subject,” said Montesquieu, “is a tranquility of mind arising from the opinion each person has of his safety. In order to have this liberty, it is requisite the government be so constituted as one man needs not be afraid of another.” The liberty of which Montesquieu spoke is directly promoted by apportioning power among political actors in a way that minimizes opportunities for those actors to determine conclusively the reach of their own powers. Montesquieu’s constitution of liberty is the constitution that most plausibly establishes the rule of law. Montesquieu concluded that this constitution could …
The Police Power Revisited: Phantom Incorporation And The Roots Of The Takings Muddle, Bradley C. Karkkainen
The Police Power Revisited: Phantom Incorporation And The Roots Of The Takings Muddle, Bradley C. Karkkainen
ExpressO
This article traces the roots of the current muddle in the Supreme Court’s regulatory takings jurisprudence to an ill-considered “phantom incorporation” holding in Penn Central v. New York (1978), the seminal case of the modern regulatory takings era. The Penn Central Court anachronistically misread a long line of Fourteenth Amendment Substantive Due Process cases as Fifth Amendment Takings Clause cases, misattributing to Chicago Burlington & Quincy v. Chicago (1897) (“Chicago B & Q”) the crucial holding that the Fifth Amendment Takings Clause applied to the states. Like other cases of its era, Chicago B & Q was decided strictly on …
A Case Study In The Banning Of Political Parties: The Pan-Arab Movement El Ard And The Israeli Supreme Court, Ron Harris
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 …
The Birth Of A Logical System: Thurman Arnold And The Making Of Modern Administrative Law, Mark Fenster
The Birth Of A Logical System: Thurman Arnold And The Making Of Modern Administrative Law, Mark Fenster
ExpressO
Much of what we recognize as contemporary administrative law emerged during the 1920s and 1930s, a period when a group of legal academics attempted to aid Progressive Era and New Deal regulatory efforts by crafting a legitimating system for the federal administrative state. Their system assigned competent, expert institutions—most notably administrative agencies and the judiciary—well-defined roles: Agencies would utilize their vast, specialized knowledge and abilities to correct market failures, while courts would provide a limited but crucial oversight of agency operations. This Article focuses both on this first generation of administrative law scholarship, which included most prominently Felix Frankfurter and …
The Alley Behind First Street, Northeast: Criminal Abortion In The Nation's Capital 1873-1973, Douglas R. Miller
The Alley Behind First Street, Northeast: Criminal Abortion In The Nation's Capital 1873-1973, Douglas R. Miller
ExpressO
The thirtieth anniversary of Roe v. Wade found our country no less divided over abortion than it was during the era of its prohibition. As the bitter struggle over judicial nominations throughout the present administration suggests, abortion’s future remains at the forefront of American political debate.
In their push for increased limitations, abortion opponents generally overlook the historical consequences of prohibition. Abortion rights proponents often invoke history in their opposition to new restrictions, but tend to do so superficially, and only in a manner that supports their position.
This article attempts a more complex study of criminal abortion’s legal and …
Deportations, Removals And The 1996 Immigration Acts: A Modern Look At The Ex Post Facto Clause, Lupe S. Salinas
Deportations, Removals And The 1996 Immigration Acts: A Modern Look At The Ex Post Facto Clause, Lupe S. Salinas
ExpressO
The article addresses the punitive aspects of the deportation procedures as impacted by the 1996 Immigration Acts. When faced with the precedents in the field, that deportation is a civil procedure, federal courts conclude that the Ex Post Facto Clause does not apply. However, the article draws upon common law and other historical bases for the conclusion that a modern view should hold that conviction-related removals are punitive and subject to ex post facto analysis.
Writing Their Faith Into The Law Of The Land: Jehovah's Witnesses, The Supreme Court And The Battle For The Meaning Of The Free Exercise Clause, 1939-1945, Patrick J. Flynn
Writing Their Faith Into The Law Of The Land: Jehovah's Witnesses, The Supreme Court And The Battle For The Meaning Of The Free Exercise Clause, 1939-1945, Patrick J. Flynn
ExpressO
The article traces the development of free exercise jurisprudence through the battles of Jehovah's Witnesses before the Court, and the battles on the Court between Justices Black, Douglas and Frankfurter to establish their constitutional faiths as the law of the land during a brief period in the early 1940's when these issues came before the Court in a flurry of decisions, then disappeared.
Constitutionalism In The Streets, Gary D. Rowe
Constitutionalism In The Streets, Gary D. Rowe
ExpressO
This Article works at the border of constitutional history and constitutional law. It embarks on a reconstruction of constitutionalism in the early American Republic through a microhistorical case study, an analysis of the fascinating United States v. Peters (1809), the first Supreme Court decision to strike down a state law. In the last half century, the Supreme Court has repeatedly asserted that it is the “ultimate expositor of the constitutional text.” From Cooper v. Aaron to United States v. Morrison, the Court has invoked no less than the authority of Chief Justice John Marshall and his opinion in Marbury v. …
Courts As Forums For Protest, Jules Lobel
Courts As Forums For Protest, Jules Lobel
ExpressO
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 public law or structural reform litigation emphasized the judiciary’s role in implementing social change and not simply ordering private relationships.
The ongoing debate between these two views of the judicial role has obscured a third model of the role of courts in a democratic society; a model that has been ignored by legal scholars and viewed as illegitimate by some courts. That …
From The Lighthouses: How The First Federal Internal Improvement Projects Created Precedent That Broadened The Commerce Clause, Shrunk The Takings Clause, And Affected Early Nineteenth Century Constitutional Debate, Adam S. Grace
ExpressO
No abstract provided.
The Constitution And The Lessons Of Rome, Louis J. Sirico
The Constitution And The Lessons Of Rome, Louis J. Sirico
ExpressO
This article identifies all references in The Federalist to ancient Rome and explains them and their import for the arguments favoring ratification. As our knowledge of classical civilization fades, we become less able to understand the meaning of a central document in our history. The article addresses this problem.
Citizens Of An Enemy Land: Enemy Combatants, Aliens, And The Constitutional Rights Of The Pseudo-Citizen, Juliet P. Stumpf
Citizens Of An Enemy Land: Enemy Combatants, Aliens, And The Constitutional Rights Of The Pseudo-Citizen, Juliet P. Stumpf
ExpressO
No abstract provided.
Beyond Reparations: An American Indian Theory Of Justice, William C. Bradford
Beyond Reparations: An American Indian Theory Of Justice, William C. Bradford
ExpressO
The number of states, corporations, and religious groups formally disowning past records of egregious human injustice is mushrooming. Although the Age of Apology is a global phenomenon, the question of reparations—a tort-based mode of redress whereby a wrongdoing group accepts legal responsibility and compensates victims for the damage it inflicted upon them—likely consumes more energy, emotion, and resources in the U.S. than in any other jurisdiction. Since the final year of the Cold War, the U.S. and its political subdivisions have apologized or paid compensation to Japanese-American internees, native Hawaiians, civilians killed in the Korean War, and African American victims …
The Democratic Public Domain: Reconnecting The Modern First Amendment And The Original Progress Clause (A.K.A. Copyright And Patent Clause), Malla Pollack
ExpressO
If the Progress Clause, a.k.a. the Patent and Copyright Clause, of the U.S. Constitution had been construed when its original meaning was still obvious, United States law would be far different. In this area at least, the Drafters’ Constitution was much less aristocratic than the modern (mis)reading. The original meaning of the Progress Clause, furthermore, should have stimulated a more communitarian First Amendment, the type of First Amendment currently being suggested by leading First Amendment scholars such as Jack Balkin.
The Agency Law Origins Of The Necessary And Proper Clause, Robert G. Natelson
The Agency Law Origins Of The Necessary And Proper Clause, Robert G. Natelson
Robert G. Natelson
This is the first of several writings by the author on the original meaning of the Constitution's Necessary and Proper Clause. It explains part of the legal background of the Clause, identifies it as a recital (not an independent grant of power) of the 18th century doctrine of incidental powers, and explains the content of that doctrine. The article has since been updated and supplemented by the author's signed chapters in Lawson, Miller, Natelson & Seidman, The Origins of the Necessary and Proper Clause (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2010).
The General Welfare Clause And The Public Trust: An Essay In Original Understanding, Robert G. Natelson
The General Welfare Clause And The Public Trust: An Essay In Original Understanding, Robert G. Natelson
Robert G. Natelson
This article explains the original meaning/understanding of the Constitution's General Welfare Clause, including the scope of the taxing and spending power granted to Congress
The Constitution And The Public Trust, Robert G. Natelson
The Constitution And The Public Trust, Robert G. Natelson
Robert G. Natelson
The American Founders believed that public officials were bound by fiduciary obligations, and they wrote that view into the Constitution. This article copiously documents their position.
A Key Influence On The Doctrine Of Actual Malice: Justice William Brennan’S Judicial Philosophy At Work In Changing The Law Of Seditious Libel, Carlo A. Pedrioli
A Key Influence On The Doctrine Of Actual Malice: Justice William Brennan’S Judicial Philosophy At Work In Changing The Law Of Seditious Libel, Carlo A. Pedrioli
Carlo A. Pedrioli
In light of the historical change in the law of seditious libel that New York Times v. Sullivan (1964) prompted and the need for further exploration of the human factors behind the case, this article gives attention to William Brennan’s judicial philosophy at work in the case. The article defines judicial philosophy as a system of guiding principles upon which a judge calls in the process of legal decision-making. Specifically, the article explains how, through Times v. Sullivan, Brennan’s instrumentalist judicial philosophy had an important influence on changing the course of legal protection for criticism of the government in the …
The Unitary Executive During The Third Half-Century, 1889-1945, Christopher S. Yoo, Steven G. Calabresi, Laurence D. Nee
The Unitary Executive During The Third Half-Century, 1889-1945, Christopher S. Yoo, Steven G. Calabresi, Laurence D. Nee
All Faculty Scholarship
Recent Supreme Court decisions and the impeachment of President Clinton has reinvigorated the debate over Congress's authority to employ devices such as special counsels and independent agencies to restrict the President's control over the administration of the law. The initial debate focused on whether the Constitution rejected the executive by committee employed by the Articles of the Confederation in favor of a unitary executive, in which all administrative authority is centralized in the President. More recently, the debate has begun to turn towards historical practices. Some scholars have suggested that independent agencies and special counsels have become such established features …