Law Commons^™

Supreme Court Legitimacy Under Threat? The Role Of Cues In How The Public Responds To Supreme Court Decisions., Laura Moyer, Scott S. Boddery, Jeff Yates, Lindsay Caudill

Faculty Scholarship

Understanding how the public views the Court and its rulings is crucial to assessing its institutional stability. However, as scholars note, “People are broadly supportive of the court and believe in its ‘legitimacy’—that is, that Supreme Court rulings should be respected and followed. But we don’t know that much about whether people actually agree with the case outcomes themselves.” In this article, we highlight empirical research investigating the factors that affect public agreement with Court decisions, highlighting recent developments from our work. At the onset, it is to note that the public generally hears about the Court’s decisions from media …

The Independent State Legislature Theory And Partisan Gerrymandering: How Moore V. Harper May Reshape Congressional Elections, Luke Porter

Honors Projects

In 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Rucho v. Common Cause that partisan gerrymandering is not a justiciable question for federal courts. Four years later, the Court is reviewing a new case, Moore v. Harper. In Moore, the question presented is whether state courts can review partisan gerrymandering.

The central question in Moore is the validity of the Independent State Legislature Theory. Proponents of the ISLT believe that state legislatures derive their authority to draw Congressional districts from the Federal Constitution and are therefore not subject to state-level checks and balances such as gubernatorial vetoes and state courts …

Title Ix's Trans Panic, Deborah L. Brake

Articles

Sport is an agent of social change, but that change does not always track in a progressive direction. Sport can be a site for contesting and reversing the gains of progressive social movements as much as furthering the values of equality and justice for historically marginalized groups. This dynamic of contestation and reversal is now playing out in a new wave of anti-transgender backlash that has gained adherents among some proponents of equal athletic opportunities for girls and women. In this latest twist in the debate over who deserves the opportunity to compete, the sex-separate athletic programming permitted by Title …

A Guide For Our Times: Herbert Hoover's Critique Of Supreme Court Expansion, Matthew Chopp

Compass: An Undergraduate Journal of American Political Ideas

Former President Herbert Hoover’s critiques of FDR’s plan to expand the Supreme Court are useful for defending against contemporary calls to enlarge the composition of the Court, such as the Judiciary Act of 2021.

Liberating The Truth In Augustine’S Confessions And Douglass’ Narrative, Vincent Hanrahan

Compass: An Undergraduate Journal of American Political Ideas

In this paper, I explore how Frederick Douglass’ and St. Augustine's understanding of the corruption of God's word produced their respective achievement of freedom. In examining Augustine’s Confessions and Douglass’ Narrative, we come to understand the moral imperative of public service both thinkers promoted; the idea that individuals have a distinct social obligation to share their knowledge in a promotion of the greater good.

Predictors Of College Student Support Toward Colin Kaepernick’S National Anthem Protests, Brooke Coursen, Nicole Peiffer, Sakira Coleman, Philip Lucius

VA Engage Journal

Racial discrimination and inequality have perpetuated within the U.S. since its inception. In 2016, Colin Kaepernick initiated the national anthem protests to oppose the oppression of people of color in America. This study was developed in 2018 to identify social determinants of health underlying discriminatory beliefs and behaviors. The objective was to investigate the impacts of college students’ race, gender, political ideology, socio-economic status [SES], NFL interest, patriotism, and general protest support on support for the national anthem protests. We administered paper-and-pencil surveys across locations on the James Madison University campus using a convenience sample. There were 408 participants included, …

Solving The Congressional Review Act’S Conundrum, Cary Coglianese

All Faculty Scholarship

Congress routinely enacts statutes that require federal agencies to adopt specific regulations. When Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in 2010, for example, it mandated that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopt an anti-corruption regulation requiring energy companies to disclose payments they make to foreign governments. Although the Dodd-Frank Act specifically required the SEC to adopt this disclosure requirement, the agency’s eventual regulation was also, like other administrative rules, subject to disapproval by Congress under a process outlined in a separate statute known as the Congressional Review Act (CRA).

After the SEC issued its …

Operation Lone Star: The Spectacle Of Immigration Federalism, Danielle Puretz

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Texas Governor Greg Abbott launched Operation Lone Star in March 2021 to respond to the “crisis” at the United States/Mexico border. While in the US immigration is usually thought of as a federal responsibility, different states have worked to expand their capacity to welcome or exclude immigrants. Operation Lone Star is an example of how one state is working to restrict immigration to the US and build notoriety for its republican governor. Drawing on press releases, executive orders, news articles, opinion pieces, and other sources I highlight the performative politics within this initiative. Operation Lone Star is an example of …

Oklahoma V. Castro-Huerta, United States Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh

US Government Documents related to Indigenous Nations

This United States (US) Supreme Court decision, argued April 27, 2022 and decided June 29, 2022 expanded the reach of state jurisdiction to allow for prosecution of crimes that occur on Indigenous land, regardless of whether or not a state is named as having such jurisdiction under US Public Law 280. In 2020, the US Supreme Court's decision on McGirt v. Oklahoma established that much of the eastern part of the state of Oklahoma is Indigenous land and therefore falls under either tribal jurisdiction or Federal jurisdiction. In 2015 Victor Manuel Castro-Huerta was charged and convicted of child neglect by …

Pandemic Governance, Yanbai Andrea Wang, Justin Weinstein-Tull

All Faculty Scholarship

The COVID-19 pandemic created an unprecedented need for governance by a multiplicity of authorities. The nature of the pandemic—globally communicable, uncontrolled, and initially mysterious—required a coordinated response to a common problem. But the pandemic was superimposed atop our decentralized domestic and international governance structures, and the result was devastating: the United States has a death rate that is eighteenth highest in the world, and the pandemic has had dramatically unequal impacts across the country. COVID-19’s effects have been particularly destructive for communities of color, women, and intersectional populations.

This Article finds order in the chaos of the pandemic response by …

The Politics Of The Self: Psychedelic Assemblages, Psilocybin, And Subjectivity In The Anthropocene, Joshua Falcon

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines how psychedelic substances become drawn into particular sociohistorical and political arrangements, and how psychedelic experiences with psilocybin ‘magic mushrooms’ are used as tools of subjectivation. Guided by literatures in philosophy, critical theory, and the social sciences that focus on subjectivity, assemblage theory, and critical posthumanism, I argue that psychedelics are drawn into variegated assemblages, each of which conceptualizes the nature of psychedelics in highly specific ways that reflect implicit conceptions of the world and the self. In developing the concept of psychedelic assemblages, this research provides a window onto the politics of the self in the Anthropocene. …

Clark Memorandum: Spring 2022, J. Reuben Clark Law School, Byu Law School Alumni Association, J. Reuben Clark Law Society

The Clark Memorandum

• General Joseph Smith and His Candidacy for the Presidency of the United States
• Leadership Lessons from the Life of Dallin H. Oaks
• Flunking the Founding
• Seven Lessons from the Life of Rex Lee

The Effects Of “No Pro Homo” Policies On Lgbtq+ Perceptions In The American South, Isabella L. Brocato

Honors Theses

Five states in the American South currently have “no pro homo” policies in place, while an increasing number of bills targeting discussions about sexuality and gender identity in public schools are being introduced to House floors around the country. Although there is extensive research on the ways in which these policies put the physical and mental well-being of LGBTQ+ students at risk, there is little to no research about how they shape public perceptions of the LGBTQ+ community collectively. With inspiration from Kenneth and Mamie Clark’s social science study cited in Brown v. Board of Education (1954), this study works …

Legislating Against Liberties: Congress And The Constitution In The Aftermath Of War, Harry Blain

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

How far can a democracy go to protect itself without jeopardizing the liberties upon which democracy depends? This dissertation examines why wartime restrictions on civil liberties outlive their original justifications. Through a comparative historical analysis of five major American wars, it illustrates the decisive role of the U.S. Congress in preserving these restrictions during peacetime. This argument challenges the prevailing consensus in the literature, which identifies wartime executive power as the main threat to postwar freedoms. It also reveals broader narratives of American constitutional development, including the rise and fall of intrusive congressional investigations, the decline of sedition legislation since …

Interns And Institutions: Interactions Between Unpaid Interns And Public Policy, Hannah G. Waterman

Honors Projects

Political, and especially Congressional, internships are all but mandatory to launch a career in politics. This text examines the demographics of how these internships are dispersed, how they are paid, who is paid, and how this manifests in full-time Congressional staff demographics. Data shows that both paid and unpaid Congressional internships belong disproportionately to white students. Top staff in the House of Representatives is similarly disproportionately white. The text also examines the inherent danger of working in Congress and the broader case for paid internships.

Equality Across The Pond: An Analysis Of Marriage Equality Between The United States And The United Kingdom, Angel Santiago

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

Throughout history, the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US) have faced criticism and backlash for limitations on marriage equality. Within the last two decades, there have been many initiatives put into place to combat the marriage equality dilemma. I will be conducting two case studies on prominent social movements within the US and UK. Within the UK, I will be examining the Stonewall organization and the LGBT Foundation; and within the US, I will be examining the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association and National LGBT Chamber of Commerce. This root of the dilemma spurs mainly from human …

Where The Rainbow Ends: The Hidden Humanitarian Crisis For Members Of The Lgbtqia+ Community In International Business, John R. Krendel

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

Before pursuing an international career, members of the LGBTQIA+ community must be aware of the hardship that may be exacerbated by living and working abroad. This study addresses the trends in laws, including employment and anti-discrimination laws, that provide and restrict certain rights of members of the LGBTQIA+ community in eight countries. These nations, both progressive and discriminatory, include the United States, England, Switzerland, Germany, Taiwan, China, the Philippines and Kazakhstan. Eight LGBTQIA+ business professionals spoke on their experiences living and working in each of these countries and provided advice to members of the community wishing to pursue an international …

Forgotten Immigrant Voices: West Indian Immigrant Experiences And Attitudes Towards Contemporary Immigration, Danielle Cross

Honors Scholar Theses

Scholarly work and media coverage both point to the negative effect that the rhetoric and policy of former US President Donald Trump had on the lived experience and wellbeing of immigrant groups explicitly targeted by it (i.e., the “Trump effect”). Typically, the focus has been on Muslim and Latino immigrants as well as those less-explicitly targeted but still affected by Trump-era policies, such as temporary workers. This thesis explores whether Black immigrants from the English-speaking Caribbean, a group notably missing from the literature of “Trump effects” on immigrant experiences, experienced similar attitudinal or practical effects as a result of contemporary …

Support New Business To Solve Old Problems With Kentucky’S Keystone Waste From Bourbon & Brewing, Samuel C. Kessler

Commonwealth Policy Papers

Provided here is a policy solution from the backside of Kentucky bourbon and brewing to upcycle Kentucky’s “keystone” wastes and grow businesses in the process. Potential effects range from removing the bottleneck on bourbon production and producing GHG-friendly biogas to lowering the price of milk.This full whitepaper brief provides an incentive model for keystone wastes which have a provider and a use. It is equally applicable for policymakers or advocates wishing to place a policy incentive behind waste-to-product upcycling, businesses involved with methane sequestration & renewable biogas energy, and shifting regulatory and penalizing models of pollution into incentive model for …

A Geographically Targeted Approach For A Preceptor Tax Incentive Using Primary Care Health Professional Shortage Areas (Hpsas), Julia Mattingly, Sarah Belcher, Samuel C. Kessler

Commonwealth Policy Papers

Years before the COVID-19 pandemic brought on a health care shortage in Kentucky, its rural areas were already struggling to obtain and attract primary care medical practitioners. Even though the number of medical school graduates in the U.S. has steadily increased throughout the years, there is a general disinterest in rural or small-town practice, and legislators throughout the country have pondered ways to address this issue plaguing communities. Versions of Preceptor Tax Incentive legislation in Kentucky have been proposed in the General Assembly to address care shortages in the state, however, all have been unsuccessful at truly targeting rural areas …

The Hard Work Is Worth It: Overcoming Unfavorable Determinants To Pass Pro-Immigrant Education Policy In A Conservative State Legislature, Megan Cardwell Godfrey

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Immigrants, English learners (ELs), and culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD)students often lag behind their White, monolingual peers in academic achievement and English language proficiency. While there are policy solutions to improve academic and linguistic opportunities and outcomes for immigrant/EL/CLD students, such as implementing bilingual instructional models and increasing teacher diversity, these pro-immigrant policies can be hard to come by in some legislative contexts due to unfavorable economic, social, or political determinants. This qualitative case study analyzed the multifaceted political work that contributed to the passage of two pro-immigrant education policies in the Arkansas 93rd General Assembly: a bill for bilingual …

As Seen On Screen: American Ambivalence Shown Through Death Penalty And Vigilante Films, Lisette Donewald

Honors Scholar Theses

The United States is one of the last western nations still practicing capital punishment. A history of and commitment to vigilantism and its ideals offers an explanation of America’s retention of capital punishment. Employing scholarship on law and popular culture and vigilantism, this thesis finds that pro-death penalty frames are prevalent in vigilante films while anti-death penalty frames are prevalent in films that focus specifically upon capital punishment. Since the 1960’s however, there has been a gradual shift towards anti-death penalty frames and away from pro-death penalty frames as well as changes in the themes presented in the two genres …

Court Legitimacy & The Shadow Docket, Colton Tilley

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Litigating Reproductive Rights: The Evolving Support Structure In The United States, Allison Anker

Honors Theses

The Supreme Court of the United States functions as the highest judicial body in the country, with its decisions having the capability to reverberate change across the nation. Understanding why they make certain decisions has long been a point of scholarship, with multiple theories emerging as to what exactly influences their rulings. One such theory is the support structure, proposed by Charles Epp in The Rights Revolution (1998), which is a theory exploring how social movements influence litigation and the establishment of certain rights. This theory states that legal mobilization at the Supreme Court rests “on resources, and resources for …

Examining Stock Trading Reforms For Congress Hearing Before The U.S. House Of Representatives Committee On House Administration, Donna M. Nagy

Public Testimony by Maurer Faculty

Professor Nagy testified (text attached, video below) in support of federal legislation that would prohibit members of Congress from owning the securities of individual publicly traded companies as well as certain other investments that would likely conflict with their official duties.

It was nearly 10 years ago to the day when President Barack Obama signed the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act, requiring enhanced financial disclosures and creating new securities transaction reporting rules for members of Congress, certain members of their family, and their staff. The Act also made absolutely clear that a member of Congress who trades securities …

Reformation Within The Nation: Adapting The Nordic Rehabilitation And Reintegration Model To Positively Recondition The United States Criminal Justice System, Jessica Cornell

Helm's School of Government Conference - American Revival: Citizenship & Virtue

An analytical and statistical based comparison of criminal sentencing, incarceration, rehabilitation and reintegration in the United States of America to those of the five countries which follows those of the Nordic Criminal Justice System.

Deterioration Of The Tenth Amendment: Why Federalism’S Hierarchy Must Be Restored, Giana Depaul

Helm's School of Government Conference - American Revival: Citizenship & Virtue

No abstract provided.

Washington State Sausage Making: Attempting To Measure The Efficiency Of The Legislature, Jonathon Church

PPPA Paper Prize

This paper explores the validity and justification for using how a bill dies in the Washington State legislative process to better critique and measure government efficiency. The information was gathered through interviews with former and current members of the State Legislature and from first-hand experience while working as an intern during the 2022 legislative session. Part one of the paper utilizes multiple sources to present a detailed description of the various ways in which a bill can fail to make it through the legislative process during the regular session. Part two then expands on how these obstacles in a bill's …

The Dilemma Of Banned Books: Questioning The Ethics Of Censoring Literature In Schools, Kyle King

Augustana Center for the Study of Ethics Essay Contest

Literature, specifically in the form of novels, has been a vital organ of the public education system within the United States. Not only does reading such works transform us into better close readers and strengthen our vocabulary, but the texts at hand can be very essential to analyze specific contexts or issues that might have existed either throughout history or even in the present day. In today’s country, the issue of banning certain books from school curricula has become as prevalent as ever, where mostly Southern Republican officials are calling for lists of books to be restricted from teaching due …

The Political Dynamics Of Legislative Reform: Potential Drivers Of The Next Communications Statute, Christopher S. Yoo, Tiffany Keung

All Faculty Scholarship

Although most studies of major communications reform legislation focus on the merits of their substantive provisions, analyzing the political dynamics that led to the enactment of such legislation can yield important insights. An examination of the tradeoffs that led the major industry segments to support the Telecommunications Act of 1996 provides a useful illustration of the political bargain that it embodies. Application of a similar analysis to the current context identifies seven components that could form the basis for the next communications statute: universal service, pole attachments, privacy, intermediary immunity, net neutrality, spectrum policy, and antitrust reform. Determining how these …