Digital Commons Network^™

Excessive Force: Justice Requires Refining State Qualified Immunity Standards For Negligent Police Officers, Angie Weiss

Seattle University Law Review Online

At the time this Note was written, there was no Washington state equivalent of the § 1983 Civil Rights Act. As plaintiffs look to the Washington state courts as an alternative to federal courts, they will find that Washington state has a different structure of qualified immunity protecting law enforcement officers from liability.

In this Note, Angie Weiss recommends changing Washington state's standard of qualified immunity. This change would ensure plaintiffs have a state court path towards justice when they seek to hold law enforcement officers accountable for harm. Weiss explains the structure and context of federal qualified immunity; compares …

Unmarked Agents, Accountability, And The Anti-Commandeering Doctrine, Nicholas Almendares

Articles by Maurer Faculty

The Trump Administration recently deployed federal agents to Portland, Oregon in response to ongoing protests. Notably, these agents wore camouflage and drove unmarked cars instead of uniforms and vehicles that would clearly identify their agency affiliation and whose authority they act under. The administration also deployed officers in riot gear lacking agency identification to the nation’s capital in June.

Critics argue that these actions represent authoritarian tactics, encourage the use excessive force, and overstep the statutory and constitutional powers of the federal government. They sparked another wave of protests in response throughout the country. Here, I want to sketch an …

Pengaturan Dan Praktek Praperadilan Tindak Pidana Pajak Di Indonesia, Ahmad Sofian, Batara Mulia Hasibuan

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

Pretrial is an institution to control and correct law enforcement which are deemed to have violated mechanisms established in procedural laws. The correction is not aimed to look into the aspects of the alleged criminal case but determine whether “rules of the game” established in the formal criminal law have been implemented properly or not. In practice, tax payers being involved in tax criminal cases often file pretrial motion although tax investigators actually have applied the principles of formal criminal law in legal measures they take. There are often different interpretations of laws and regulations used in pretrial institution for …

The Pandemic Juror, Melanie D. Wilson

Washington and Lee Law Review Online

While the deadly and highly contagious COVID-19 virus lingers and spreads across the country, courts are resuming criminal jury trials. In moving forward, judges reference case backlogs, speedy trial rights, and other concerns for the rights of the accused. Overlooked in this calculus is the importance of jurors and their safety. The Sixth Amendment guarantees “the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury.” Without jurors, there is no justice.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the justice system sometimes took advantage of juror vulnerability, treating jurors callously, if not rudely, during voir dire by asking them intensely …

Burying Mcculloch?, David S. Schwartz

Arkansas Law Review

Kurt Lash is a superb constitutional historian trapped inside the body of an originalist. He is one of the few originalists bold enough to acknowledge that McCulloch v. Maryland needs to be ejected from the (conservative) originalist canon of great constitutional cases. While he attributes to me an intention “not to praise the mythological McCulloch, but to bury it,” it is Lash who seeks to bury McCulloch, which he views as a fraudulent “story of our constitutional origins.”

Mcculloch V. Madison: John Marshall's Effort To Bury Madisonian Federalism, Kurt Lash

Arkansas Law Review

In his engaging and provocative new book, The Spirit of the Constitution: John Marshall and the 200-Year Odyssey of McCulloch v. Maryland, David S. Schwartz challenges McCulloch’s canonical status as a foundation stone in the building of American constitutional law. According to Schwartz, the fortunes of McCulloch ebbed and flowed depending on the politics of the day and the ideological commitments of Supreme Court justices. Judicial reliance on the case might disappear for a generation only to suddenly reappear in the next. If McCulloch v. Maryland enjoys pride of place in contemporary courses on constitutional law, Schwartz argues, then this …

What Is "Appropriate" Legislation?: Mcculloch V. Maryland And The Redundancy Of The Reconstruction Amendments, Franita Tolson

Arkansas Law Review

I am thankful for the opportunity to review Professor David Schwartz’s really thoughtful and incisive critique of McCulloch v. Maryland. The book is a creative and masterful reinterpretation of a decision that I thought I knew well, but I learned a lot of new and interesting facts about McCulloch and the (sometimes frosty) reception that the decision has received over the course of the last two centuries. Professor Schwartz persuasively argues that modern views of McCulloch as a straightforward nationalist decision that has always had a storied place in the American constitutional tradition are flat-out wrong. The Spirit of the …

Marshalling Mcculloch, Richard Primus

Arkansas Law Review

David Schwartz’s terrific new book is subtitled John Marshall and the 200-Year Odyssey of McCulloch v. Maryland. But the book is about much more than Marshall and McCulloch. It’s about the long struggle over the scope of national power. Marshall and McCulloch are characters in the story, but the story isn’t centrally about them. Indeed, an important part of Schwartz’s narrative is that McCulloch has mattered relatively little in that struggle, except as a protean symbol.

Does Importance Equal Greatness? Reflections On John Marshall And Mcculloch V. Maryland, Sanford Levinson

Arkansas Law Review

David S. Schwartz’s The Spirit of the Constitution: John Marshall and the 200-Year Odyssey of McCulloch v. Maryland, is a truly excellent book, for which I was happy to contribute the following blurb appearing on the back jacket: "David Schwartz has written an indispensable study of the single most important Supreme Court case in the canon. As such, he delineates not only the meaning and importance of the case in 1819, but also the use made of it over the next two centuries as it became a central myth and symbol of the very meaning of American constitutionalism.”

Scholarship In Review: A Response To David S. Schwartz's The Spirit Of The Constitution: John Marshall And The 200-Year Odyssey Of Mcculloch V. Maryland, Law Review Editors

Arkansas Law Review

We are elated to introduce, and the Arkansas Law Review is honored to publish, this series discussing and applauding David S. Schwartz’s new book: The Spirit of the Constitution: John Marshall and the 200-Year Odyssey of McCulloch v. Maryland. Schwartz sets forth meticulous research, coupled with unparalleled insight, into the opinion penned by Chief Justice John Marshall and details the winding path Marshall’s words have traveled over the past 200 years. Schwartz argues that the shifting interpretations of McCulloch, often shaped to satisfy the needs of the time, echoes the true spirit of the Constitution.

Political Tribalism Is Trumping Accountability. That’S Bad For Democracy, Bruce Ledewitz

Newspaper Columns

Collected biweekly contributions to the Pennsylvania Capital-Star, a nonpartisan, nonprofit news site.

Table Of Contents, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

Table of Contents

Uncertain Immunity: Assessing Qualified Immunity In The Context Of Post-Arrest Excessive-Force Claims Arising Prior To A Judicial Determination Of Probable Cause, J. Tyler Barton

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Ethical And Aggressive Appellate Advocacy: The Decision To Petition For Certiorari In Criminal Cases, J. Thomas Sullivan

Law Faculty Scholarship

Over the past six decades, United States Supreme Court decisions have dramatically reshaped the criminal justice process to provide significant protections for defendants charged in federal and state proceedings, reflecting a remarkable expansion of due process and specific constitutional guarantees. For criminal defendants seeking relief based on recognition of new rules of constitutional criminal procedure, application of existing rules or precedent to novel factual scenarios, or in some cases, enforcement of existing precedent, obtaining relief requires further action on the Court’s part. In those situations, the Court’s exercise of its certiorari jurisdiction is the exclusive remedy offering an avenue for …

Herein Of 'Herein Granted': Why Article I'S Vesting Clause Does Not Support The Doctrine Of Enumerated Powers, Richard A. Primus

Articles

Article I of the United States Constitution begins as follows: “All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States[.]” That text is sometimes called the Vesting Clause, or, more precisely, the Article I Vesting Clause, because Articles II and III also begin with Vesting Clauses. And there is a feature of those three clauses, when compared, to which twenty-first century constitutional lawyers commonly attribute considerable significance. Although the three Clauses are similar in other ways, the syntax of Article I’s Vesting Clause is not fully parallel to that of the other two. The Vesting …

Pardoning Dogs, Sarah Schindler

Nevada Law Journal

In 1994, the Governor of New Jersey pardoned a dog. In 2017, the Governor of Maine did the same. Each of these dogs had been ordered to be euthanized after killing another dog. While the Governor of New Jersey relied on the property status of the dog in issuing her order, the Governor of Maine relied on his standard pardon power, despite the fact that the being to be pardoned was a dog rather than a human. Both of these cases generated a great deal of popular press and attention, and a few months ago, a New York state senator …

A (Cruel And) Unusual Decision: Questions Raised For The Fifth Circuit Moving Forward From Gibson V. Collier, J. Gregory Cloward

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

State Enforcement In A Polycentric World, David A. Hyman, William E. Kovacic

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Presidential Selection: Historical, Institutional, And Democratic Perspectives, James A. Gardner

Contributions to Books

Published as Chapter 1 in The Best Candidate: Presidential Nomination in Polarized Times, Eugene Mazo and Michael Dimino, eds.

It has been nearly two centuries since an American presidential election has evoked a crisis of confidence like that following the election of 2016. Not since the election of Andrew Jackson in 1828 has there been such a public display of anxiety concerning the methods by which we choose our chief executive. As in the contest of 1828 pitting the Democrat Jackson against his Federalist opponent John Quincy Adams, the presidential nominating process of 2016 produced a contest between a celebrity …

It’S Whose Party? Accurately Defining Political Parties In First Amendment Cases, Makade Claypool

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Corpus Linguistics And Gun Control: Why Heller Is Wrong, Kyra Babcock Woods

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Visions Of The Republic Symposium: The People: A Pre-Primer For Critically Reevaluating Representation & Court Power In The Present, Marvin L. Astrada

Fordham Law Review Online

What exactly is an American? Who or what are the People? Is there an authentic, viable American political identity or community? Or do the deep ruptures and balkanization that seem to pervade law and politics— ranging from pandemics, national security, impeachment, and the environment, to issues of an everyday, local nature—indicate a crisis of legitimacy, cohesion, and national community?

Novel Perspectives On Due Process Symposium: Do Foreign Nations Have Constitutional Rights?, Robert J. Pushaw Jr.

Fordham Law Review Online

Clarity would be promoted by treating Article III—which primarily concerns subject matter jurisdiction over three categories of “Cases” and six types of “Controversies”— separately from Due Process issues such as personal jurisdiction. Moreover, Article III’s text and history indicate that its drafters included “Controversies . . . between a State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects” to ensure that such disputes would be resolved impartially by federal judges who, unlike their state counterparts, enjoyed tenure and salary guarantees that insulated them from political pressure.

Novel Perspectives On Due Process Symposium: The Rights Of Foreign States In The Unites States Legal System, John Harrison

Fordham Law Review Online

Professor Wuerth’s article is a significant piece of scholarship. This brief comment is devoted, not to the article’s many strengths, but to its principal doctrinal conclusion, with which I disagree. In my view, the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment allows Congress to provide any rules it chooses regarding service of process on and personal jurisdiction over foreign sovereigns. That is true, at least, insofar as the judgments of U.S. courts are to be enforced against foreign sovereign assets located in the United States. The rules about personal jurisdiction over foreign sovereigns in the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act therefore …

Novel Perspectives On Due Process Symposium: A Commentary On Ingrid Wuerth's The Due Process And Other Constitutional Rights Of Foreign Nations, David P. Stewart

Fordham Law Review Online

Are foreign States and governments (and their state-owned enterprises) “persons” for constitutional purposes? Do they—should they—have “due process” rights under the U.S. Constitution? Ingrid Wuerth’s thoughtful and thoroughly researched article addresses those important questions from both the historical and doctrinal perspectives and proposes an innovative approach to resolving the issues. The following commentary provides additional background and context, briefly tracing the origins and history of relevant U.S. case law and noting some of the practical implications of answering the questions affirmatively or negatively, particularly in light of the various exceptions to U.S. jurisdiction under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. It …

Novel Perspectives On Due Process Symposium: Foreign Nations, Constitutional Rights, And International Law, Austen Parrish

Fordham Law Review Online

Some of the more pressing issues related to global governance and world order lie at the intersection of foreign relations law, international law, and constitutional law. What role does the Constitution play in ensuring the United States lives up to the nation’s international law obligations in an evolving period of globalization? More provocatively, to what degree will the United States uphold its international legal obligations if not mandated by the Constitution? And what role do domestic courts play in enforcing these international law obligations? In this regard, the U.S. Supreme Court has not directly addressed the question of the rights, …

Novel Perspectives On Due Process Symposium: Rights, Immunities, And Sovereigns, Katherine Florey

Fordham Law Review Online

This response first looks at the historical understanding of foreign sovereign immunity and the ways in which it should inform our reading of Article III. It then considers the role that sovereign immunity protections for foreign nations currently play. It closes with a suggestion that—while the sovereign immunity regime is largely adequate to protect other nations’ interests—Professor Wuerth’s insights nonetheless have a role to play in our understanding of cases involving foreign sovereigns.

Novel Perspectives On Due Process Symposium: Questioning The Constitutional Rights Of Foreign Nations, Donald Earl Childress Iii

Fordham Law Review Online

This response evaluates whether Professor Wuerth’s reading of the Constitution is correct. In so doing, this response considers the original understanding of these provisions, the law of nations as understood during the founding era, and Supreme Court case law close to the time of the founding. As explained below, I conclude that it is questionable that the Constitution extends rights to foreign nations.

Novel Perspectives On Due Process Symposium: Constructing The Original Scope Of Constitutional Rights, Nathan S. Chapman

Fordham Law Review Online

This response argues that Wuerth’s paper illustrates the most persuasive way to go about the task—one question at a time, with an emphasis on conventional legal materials and forms of argumentation. Some questions will call for especially imaginative constructions. This does not render them irrelevant, but it does caution some modesty about the extent to which they ought to trump competing constructions arising from practice and precedent. Despite her reluctance, then, Wuerth’s methods are entirely consistent with a confident originalism.

Novel Perspectives On Due Process Symposium: Punishment Without Process: “Victim Impact” Proceedings For Dead Defendants, Bruce A. Green, Rebecca Roiphe

Fordham Law Review Online

When women accuse powerful men of sexual assault, there is increasing public pressure to resolve any doubts in the accusers’ favor before the criminal process is over, if not from the outset. Private individuals and institutions often do so without worrying about due process, but it is different for the trial court, where the presumption of innocence is supposed to apply. This is especially true where public shaming and the accompanying reputational consequences already constitute a kind of punishment. Although they may be sympathetic to accusers, especially those whose cause is championed by a strong and popular social movement, courts …