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Prospective Remedies In Constitutional Adjudication, Doug Rendleman

West Virginia Law Review

The archetypal constitutional plaintiff represents a class, sues in federal court, and asks the court to declare something unconstitutional and to effect a remedy against a local or state government official. If this litigant succeeds, the court must accommodate its remedy to federalism's perquisites. The remedy should advance some substantive or constitutional purpose. The mutual respect compelled by federalism exacerbates the inherent difficulties of attaining a successful remedy. This article examines the remedial relationships between class actions, declaratory judgments, and injunctions. The remedial task is to convert law into results. Most people comply with the law when it is communicated …