Digital Commons Network^™

Affirmative Action And The Crisis In Higher Education, Scott D. Gerber

ConLawNOW

At all but the nation’s top colleges and universities, enrollments are down and budgets are strapped. Although many offer ideas why, the heavy-headed use of racial and ethnic preferences in student admissions, financial aid, and faculty hiring is also to blame, but also nobody ever mentions that. The term “affirmative action” originated with an executive order signed by President John F. Kennedy on March 6, 1961. Fast forward five decades and, to borrow a line from Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, “We’re not in Kansas any more.” Bluntly stated, there is systemic discrimination in all three categories of affirmative …

Tradition, Policy And The Establishment Clause: Justice Kennedy's Opinion In Town Of Greece V. Galloway, Wilson Huhn

ConLawNOW

The great jurisprudential battle that has raged in the Supreme Court for more than a century and the question that our society has struggled with since the advent of the Civil War is whether the Constitution is a command by our ancestors that we retain the same political structures, social hierarchies, and cultural traditions that they had, or whether it reflects ideals of liberty, equality, fairness, and tolerance that they aspired to and that they expected us to reach for. That struggle between rules and standards, doctrine and principles, conventionalism and consequentialism, tradition and policy in the interpretation of the …

Prayer And The Meaning Of The Establishment Clause: A Debate On Town Of Greece V. Galloway, Patrick M. Garry

ConLawNOW

Greece v. Galloway involved the constitutionality of the town of Greece’s practice of opening its monthly town board meetings with an invocation given by a volunteer chaplain of the month. The issue in Greece was not the appropriateness, sensitivity, or wisdom of the prayers, nor whether some people are offended by the prayers.

The Establishment Clause is not about feelings, just as the Speech Clause is not about the feelings of people who disagree with or are offended by other people’s speech. The Establishment Clause is not an individual rights clause; it is a clause focused on the institutional liberty …

German Antisemitic Postcard

Bulmash Family Holocaust Collection

Front: A black and white illustration of three Jewish men playing music and singing to various laughing animals and children. [Howling Wolf]Back: Black printed postcard lines.

Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: An early postally unused antisemitic postcard, a cartoonish sendup of Eastern Jews and their music, entitled “howling wolf.” Caricatures of three Jewish musicians playing their instruments while animals are howling and children are laughing gleefully.

German Antisemitic Postcard

Bulmash Family Holocaust Collection

Front: A color drawing of a Jewish man selling contraband goods while three officers detain him.Back: Blank green postcarte lines with a penciled "Judaika!" in the upper right.

Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash:

Postally unused antisemitic postcard of a Jewish merchant caught with contraband.

Navigating A "Legal Black Hole": The View From Guantanamo Bay, Carlos Warner

ConLawNOW

This article discusses the unique and perhaps bizarre litigation surrounding the detainees held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba by the United States Government. The article describes in detail the development of the litigation making “meaningful judicial review” impossible for the detained men. The article also describes how one attorney has strategically advanced the causes of his clients in spite of restrictive classification of material and impossible legal standards. The article describes the conditions and logistics surrounding visiting clients in Guantanamo and litigating cases.

Finally, the article concludes that the only way to "win" the Guantanamo litigation is through a "Dada" approach …

Who Amended The Amendment?, John Olsson

ConLawNOW

The purpose and intent of the Sixth Amendment of the US Constitution has been repeatedly distorted by textualist misinterpretation, orchestrated by elements of the judiciary more concerned with preserving the power of government than the rights of individual defendants. As a result, it is hard to know what the Amendment stands for, since it has been successively re‑interpreted and, effectively, amended for at least the past 80 years and possibly longer. The author argues that it is time for courts to return to the spirit of the laws that actuated the Bill of Rights over two hundred years ago, and …

The Founders On: "Does The Constitution Work?", Craig A. Stern

ConLawNOW

Whether the Constitution works depends upon the purpose of its working. Discerning that purpose, however, has resisted consensus. Consequently, this article suggests a roundabout way to supply at least a tentative answer to the question whether the Constitution works. The Founders believed that the Constitution, like any republican form of government, would work only for a moral and religious people. They framed and adopted the Constitution in that belief. John Adams warned that without morality and religion, the passions of the people “would break the strongest cords of our Constitution.” A glance at how some cords have fared with a …

A Constitutional Right To Police Protection And Classical Liberal Theory: Complement, Not Conflict, Laura Rae Dove

ConLawNOW

This article considers whether an obligation should be placed upon the State to enforce its own laws in situations where the State is in a unique position to protect particular citizens. The author argues that the current system, under which the State has virtually no obligation to enforce its own laws, affronts the classical liberal underpinnings on which the United States was founded.

The article examines the U.S. Supreme Court’s holdings in DeShaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services and in Town of Castle Rock v. Gonzales. These two holdings, the author argues, do not properly consider the …

Realism Over Formalism And The Presumption Of Constitutionality: Chief Justice Roberts' Opinion Upholding The Individual Mandate, Wilson Huhn

ConLawNOW

This article examines Chief Justice Roberts’ opinion in National Federal of Independent Business v. Sebelius, a decision that upheld the constitutionality of key provisions in the Affordable Care Act. The individual mandate, the focus of this article and perhaps the most hotly contested provision in the Act, requires private citizens to purchase health insurance or face financial penalty for remaining uninsured. The individual mandate has had and will continue to have important ramifications both for the national economy and for constitutional interpretation in future cases.

First, the article addresses important repercussions of upholding the Act, including significant consequences for …

The Unconstitutionality Of Ohio's House Bill 125: The Heartbeat Bill As Analyzed Under The First Amendment Of The United States Constitution, Jessica L. Knopp

ConLawNOW

This article examines the constitutionality of Ohio’s controversial House Bill 125 (“H.B. 125”), which includes new restrictions and requirements for abortion procedures performed in Ohio. The author argues that, while the new abortion measures conflict with the Supreme Court’s Fourteenth Amendment jurisprudence established in Roe v. Wade and in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, H.B. 125 also violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment by imputing religious beliefs about conception and the value of life onto all Ohioans.

The article first outlines the current legal framework for constitutionally acceptable and unacceptable abortion restrictions, including a discussion of informed consent …

Saving The Next Superman: An Alternative Approach To The Taxation Of Copyright Termination Rights, Benjamin Newell

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.

The Integrated Approach: A Solution To Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Standards In The Software Context, Carrie Moss

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.

Fonts, Typefaces, And Ip Protection: Getting To Just Right, Emily N. Evans

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.

Gray Works: How The Failure Of Copyright Law To Keep Pace With Technological Advancement In The Digital Age Has Created A Class Of Works Whose Protection Is Uncertain… And What Can Be Done About It, Kenneth R.L. Parker

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.

Novartis Ag V. Union Of India: "Evergreening," Trips, And "Enhanced Efficacy" Under Section 3(D), Dorothy Du

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.

Explicitly Explicit: The Rogers Test And The Ninth Circuit, Daniel Jacob Wright

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.

The Rise And Fall Of Patent Reexamination Under The America Invents Act: The Burdens And Unconstitutional Aspects Of Congress' Latest Attempt At Patent Reform, Ron Andrew Sassano

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.

Fighting Piracy With Censorship: The Operation In Our Sites Domain Seizures V. Free Speech, Michael Joseph Harrell

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.

Diametrically Opposing Viewpoints: Why Polar Opposites Should Not Attract The Parody Label Under The Fair Use Exception To Copyright Infringement, Robyn M. Flegal

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.

The 'Four Cs' Of Joint Inventorship: A Practical Framework For Determining Joint Inventorship, Bradley M. Krul

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.

Unraveling The Uspto's Tangled Web: An Empirical Analysis Of The Complex World Of Post-Issuance Patent Proceedings, Mark Consilvio, Jonathan R.K. Stroud

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.

Why Copyright Law Lacks Taste And Scents, Leon Calleja

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.

Unfair Trade Practices In Imports - Section 337 Of The Tariff Act Of 1930 And The Meaning Of "Domestic Industry", Kathy Bond

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

The Potential Tension Between A "Free Marketplace Of Ideas" And The Fundamental Purpose Of Free Speech, M. Neil Browne, Justin Rex, David L. Herrera

ConLawNOW

The authors argue that the marketplace of ideas is not competitive in the economic sense. Yet the Court often rules as if it is. What are the implications?

By assuming often that the idea market is competitive, Justices are committing the reification fallacy. They are treating an abstract belief or hypothetical construct as if it represented a concrete event or physical entity. In this instance, the Justices assume that existing markets are structured the same way idealized competitive markets are. In doing so, they treat the marketplace of ideas as inherently good, when in fact one must first determine what …

A Short Comment On Current Detainee Policy: One Step Forward And Two Steps Back, Kyndra Miller Rotunda

ConLawNOW

During the Presidential Campaign, President Obama promised to close Guantanamo Bay and to abandon Military Commissions. Shortly after taking office, he halted Military Commissions that were then underway, in order to explore other alternatives. Nearly three years later, Guantanamo Bay remains opens, and President Obama has recently resumed Military Commissions.

With the exception of a lone amendment to the Military Commissions Act, the procedures governing Military Commissions under President Obama and those under President Bush are virtually indistinguishable.

What is distinguishable is that now, under President Obama, many detainees will receive no procedural protections under the Military Commissions Act, but …

When The Chief Justice Serves In The Legislative Branch, Roy E. Brownell Ii

ConLawNOW

This article argues that the Chief Justice is considered part of the legislative branch during presidential impeachment trials. In so arguing, this article first argues, as a matter of constitutional text, that the Chief Justice during presidential impeachment trials steps into the shoes of the president of the Senate. The Chief Justice’s authority in this vein is granted by Article I, which predominantly governs the legislative branch, and not Article III, which does the same for the federal judiciary.

Indeed, the only reference to the Chief Justice in the entirety of the Constitution occurs in this context in Article I. …

Preliminary Injunctions, Excessive Entanglement, And Prior Restraints: Should Courts Treat Potential Pretrial Religious Infringement The Same As Potential Pretrial Speech Infringement?, Conor Reilly

ConLawNOW

The virtually absolute ban on prior restraints against speech is, of course, cemented in the Supreme Court’s Free Speech jurisprudence. But the doctrine may potentially apply to another important First Amendment Clause: Establishment. In free speech cases, courts almost always refuse to restrict expression prior to a determination that it is protected. This Article argues that the courts should apply the same principle in cases implicating religious liberty.

First, this Article examines a case in which a district court granted a preliminary injunction in favor of a religious group, but also imposed severe restrictions on the group’s ability to practice …

Assessment Of Personality Through Behavioral Observations In Work Simulations, Andrew B. Speer, Neil Christiansen, Christopher Honts

Personnel Assessment and Decisions

This study outlines the development of a rating scale designed to measure personality-related behavior in the context of work simulations. The tool, labeled the Work Simulation Personality Rating Scale (WSPRS), was validated in an assessment center by rating the personality of 123 assessment center participants. Scores from the WSPRS were correlated with corresponding traits from a self-reported personality inventory, and a Trait Activation Potential (TAP) framework was adopted to predict which traits would display best convergence based on assessment center observations. Correlations between the WSPRS dimensions and self-report trait scales ranged from .11 (Neuroticism) to .31 (Extraversion), with the rank-order …

The Interactive Influence Of Ambition And Sociability On Performance In A Behavior Description Interview, Allen I. Huffcutt, Satoris S. Culbertson, Allen P. Goebl

Personnel Assessment and Decisions

The purpose of this study was to present and empirically test the potential influence on ratings in a behavior description interview (BDI) of the personality traits ambition and sociability, two facets of extraversion. Results suggest a relatively strong role for ambition in the administration and outcomes of BDIs in organizational selection, particularly when its interaction with sociability is taken into consideration. In a sample of 85 participants working in entry-level positions, the correlation with BDI ratings was .22 for ambition alone, which increased to .44 when sociability and its interaction with ambition were added. Adding sociability by itself to ambition …