Digital Commons Network^™

December 5, 2010: Seeking Common Ground: A Secular Statement, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Seeking Common Ground: A Secular Statement“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

September 6, 2010: George F. Will As A Know-Nothing, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “George F. Will as a Know-Nothing“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

August 26, 2010: Arguments About The Existence Of, Or Consequences Of The Nonexistence Of, God Go Nowhere, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Arguments about the Existence of, or Consequences of the Nonexistence of, God Go Nowhere“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

Sex V. Race, Again, Tracy A. Thomas

Akron Law Faculty Publications

In this book, feminists speak out on race and gender in the 2008 presidential campaign. Who should be first? With Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton as frontrunners, the 2008 Democratic primary campaign was a watershed moment in U.S. history. Offering the choice of an African American man or a white woman as the next Democratic candidate for president, the primary marked an unprecedented moment—but one that painfully echoed previous struggles for progressive change that pitted race and gender against each other. Who Should Be First? collects key feminist voices that challenge the instances of racism and sexism during the presidential …

Slides: Livestock Grazing On The Public Lands, Joe Feller

The Past, Present, and Future of Our Public Lands: Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Public Land Law Review Commission’s Report, One Third of the Nation’s Land (Martz Summer Conference, June 2-4)

Presenter: Joe Feller, Professor of Law, Arizona State University Law School; Visiting Professor, University of Colorado Law School

33 slides

A Turbulent Debate In The Ocean State, Dylan D. Lynch

Senior Honors Projects

Rhode Island has in many ways become the last battleground in a national state-by-state battle over the legalization of gay marriage. It is the last state in the country to not have a definitive stance on whether or not same-sex marriages should be legal and can be performed within the state’s borders, or should be banned and marriage defined solely as the union of a man and a woman. The state is currently undergoing a substantial swing in public support on gay marriage, moving from just 34% in 2004, to 60% in 2009. This rise in support for legalizing gay …

Book Review (Paul Frymer's Black And Blue: African Americans, The Labor Movement, And The Decline Of The Democratic Party)., Sophia Z. Lee

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Legal, Moral And Biological Implications Of Poaching And Illegal Animal Trafficking On An International Scale, Meghan A. Pastor

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

Poaching and animal trafficking is a global issue in the areas of biology, morality and politics. This paper will discuss the different areas of impact as well as consider options for the prevention and alleviation of this issue.

The Future Of God—And Secularism, Bruce Ledewitz

Ledewitz Papers

Published scholarship collected from academic journals, law reviews, newspaper publications & online periodicals.”

The Future Of God—And Secularism, Bruce Ledewitz

Ledewitz Papers

Published scholarship collected from academic journals, law reviews, newspaper publications & online periodicals

Agenda: The Promise And Peril Of Oil Shale Development, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

The Promise and Peril of Oil Shale Development (February 5)

The largest known oil shale deposits in the world are in the Green River Formation, which covers portions of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. Fully one-half of the world’s oil shale lies within 150 miles of Grand Junction, Colorado, and about 80% of these reserves are on federal land. Estimates of recoverable reserves in the Green River Formation range from 500 billion to 1.53 trillion barrels. At present consumption rates, this is enough oil to satisfy 100% of U.S. demand for well over 100 years.

Development of oil shale could cause significant impacts on the Colorado Plateau. It would provide for …

Presidential Control Of Administrative Agencies: A Debate Over Law Or Politics?, Cary Coglianese

All Faculty Scholarship

Recent controversy over the unitary executive may be part of what Steven Calabresi and Christopher Yoo have called the “oldest debate in constitutional law.” Yet in this essay, I ask whether this debate is as much legal as it is political. Focusing on the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to grant California a waiver from national automobile emissions standards, I contrast the divergent reactions to presidential influence under President Bush and President Obama. In both administrations the EPA faced clear presidential pressure, but critics of President Bush’s involvement generally applauded the actions taken by President Obama. The main difference appears to …

Measured Sovereignty: The Political Experiences Of Indigenous Peoples As Nations And Individuals, David E. Wilkins

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

On June 18, 2001, in Washington, D.C., Jack Abramoff, a powerful Washington lobbyist, met with Michael Scanlon, a former congressional communications director, to secretly discuss a partnership centered around a firm known as "Capi­tol Carnpaign Strategies" (CCS). Their strategy, later labeled as "Gimme Five," was designed to put in $5 million a year to CCS, revenue that was to be secured from several Indian nations that had grown wealthy through gaming operations. Later, the expression "Gimme Five" was understood as entailing major kickbacks to Abramoff from payments made by any of Scanlon's American Indian clients to Scanlon. By late 2004, …

Federal Circuit Patent Precedent: An Empirical Study Of Institutional Authority And Ip Ideology, David Pekarek-Krohn, Emerson H. Tiller

Faculty Working Papers

In this paper, we aim to better understand the institutional authority of the Federal Circuit as a source of law as well as the influence of pro-patent and anti-patent ideological forces at play between the Supreme Court, Federal Circuit, and the district courts. Our specific focus is on the district courts and how they cite Federal Circuit precedent relative to Supreme Court precedent to support their decisions, whether they be pro-patent or anti-patent. Using a variety of citation approaches and statistical tests, we find that federal district courts treat the Federal Circuit as more authoritative (compared to the Supreme Court) …

A Man Of Passion And Vision: George Whitewolf, David E. Wilkins

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

George Whitewolf's home was also just a stone's throw from Washington, D.C, and many Natives from the Lakota, Haudenosaunee, Blackfeet, Cheyenne, and countless other nations would stop at George's place for rest and ceremonies as they prepped for their difficult diplomatic visits to Congress and the BIA to discuss treaty rights, protest events like the Longest Walk, and other politically incendiary topics. In the 1970s, George was also very active in the American Indian Movement and his home was under frequent surveillance by the FBI.

Within a few years, George and his allies had made tremendous progress on both fronts …

Empirical Modalities: Lessons For The Future Of International Investment, Susan Franck

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

Empirical approaches add value to international investment law and aid in its evolution. Nevertheless, we must "fit the forum to the fuss." When transforming international law, we select proper methodologies for specific research questions and make international law empiricism part of a larger post-structuralist, pluralist legal dialogue. In connection with that, my remarks first place empirical research on international investment in a historical context. I then discuss where the research is today and offer an example of how empirical methods can be used to understand, reassess, and possibly transform international investment law and related institutions. Finally, I consider the future …

Sovereignty And Cooperation In Regional Pacific Tuna Fisheries Management: Politics, Economics, Conservation And The Vessel Day Scheme, Quentin A. Hanich, Hannah Parris, Ben M. Tsamenyi

Faculty of Law - Papers (Archive)

No abstract provided.

Review Essay: Religion And Politics 2008-2009: Sometimes You Get What You Pray For, Leslie C. Griffin

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Truth And Consequences: Mitt Romney, Proposition 8, And Public Reason, Frederick Mark Gedicks

Faculty Scholarship

Although formal religious tests for federal office are constitutionally prohibited, they have long been fact of political life in presidential elections. John Kennedy remains the only nonProtestant ever elected President. The "Judeo-Christian tradition" notwithstanding, no major party has ever nominated a Jew for president - let alone a Buddhist, Hindu, Mormon, Muslim, or unbeliever.

Against this electoral history, it was perhaps predictable that mainstream Christian commentators would feel free to legitimate religious attacks on Mitt Romney during the Republican presidential primaries on the ground that Mormonism is a "false" religion. Ironically, however, the Mormon church periodically intervenes in initiative and …

Citizenship, In The Immigration Context, Matthew J. Lister

All Faculty Scholarship

Many international law scholars have begun to argue that the modern world is experiencing a “decline of citizenship,” and that citizenship is no longer an important normative category. On the contrary, this paper argues that citizenship remains an important category and, consequently, one that implicates considerations of justice. I articulate and defend a “civic” notion of citizenship, one based explicitly on political values rather than shared demographic features like nationality, race, or culture. I use this premise to argue that a just citizenship policy requires some form of both the jus soli (citizenship based on location of birth) and the …

From Words To Worlds: Exploring Constitutional Functionality By Beau Breslin, Robert L. Tsai

Faculty Scholarship

This is a review of Beau Breslin's book, "From Words to Worlds: Exploring Constitutional Functionality" (Johns Hopkins, 2009). As an antidote to what he believes to be scholarly marginalization of the "unique" aspects of a written constitution, Breslin focuses attention on seven functions of such a legal text: transforming existing orders, conveying collective aspirations, designing institutions, mediating conflict, recognizing claims of subnational communities, empowering social actors, and constraining governmental authority. This review briefly critiques Breslin's functional approach and discusses two of the more pressing goals of modern constitutionalism: managing social conflict and preserving cultural heritage.