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Full-Text Articles in Law

Fisher's Fishing Expedition, Vinay Harpalani Dec 2012

Fisher's Fishing Expedition, Vinay Harpalani

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This Essay delves into the Supreme Court oral arguments in Fisher v. Texas, which occurred on October 10, 2012. It examines the exchanges between the advocates and Justices, focusing on the meaning of 'critical mass' and the quest for total race neutrality in UT admissions. It argues that both of these are futile endeavors and unnecessary to decide Fisher. The entire Fisher case is a fishing expedition - albeit one that might reel in race-conscious admissions.


The Long And Winding Road From Monroe To Connick, Sheldon Nahmod Apr 2012

The Long And Winding Road From Monroe To Connick, Sheldon Nahmod

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In this article, I address the historical and doctrinal development of § 1983 local government liability, beginning with Monroe v. Pape in 1961 and culminating in the Supreme Court’s controversial 2011 failure to train decision in Connick v. Thompson. Connick has made it exceptionally difficult for § 1983 plaintiffs to prevail against local governments in failure to train cases. In the course of my analysis, I also consider the oral argument and opinions in Connick as well as various aspects of § 1983 doctrine. I ultimately situate Connick in the Court’s federalism jurisprudence which doubles back to Justice Frankfurter’s view …


Diversity Within Racial Groups And The Constitutionality Of Race Conscious Admissions, Vinay Harpalani Jan 2012

Diversity Within Racial Groups And The Constitutionality Of Race Conscious Admissions, Vinay Harpalani

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This Article offers a novel doctrinal resolution of the key issues in Fisher v. Texas, the impending Supreme Court case which involves race conscious admissions policies at the University of Texas at Austin (UT). The resolution proposed here addresses Justice Anthony Kennedy’s concerns about race conscious policies, but also preserves most of the Court’s 2003 Grutter v. Bollinger ruling, in spite of the fact that Justice Kennedy dissented in Grutter. Substantively, the Article clarifies the key issues in Fisher (the meaning of “critical mass” and the scope of deference that courts give to universities) by focusing on a simple idea …


Batson Revisited (Symposium), Nancy S. Marder Jan 2012

Batson Revisited (Symposium), Nancy S. Marder

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The twenty-fifth anniversary of Batson v. Kentucky provides an important moment to reflect on Batson and to consider how this seminal case and its progeny have affected the use and abuse of peremptory challenges. I had initially welcomed the U.S. Supreme Court’s approach to peremptory challenges in Batson back in 1986. Although Batson was a compromise—preserving peremptories while seeking to address discriminatory peremptories—it had the noble goal of trying to eliminate discrimination during jury selection. I also embraced its expansion over the years. The logic of Batson was inexorable: just as prosecutors should not be permitted to use peremptories to …


The Structural Constitutional Principle Of Republican Legitimacy, Mark D. Rosen Jan 2012

The Structural Constitutional Principle Of Republican Legitimacy, Mark D. Rosen

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Representative democracy does not spontaneously occur by citizens gathering to choose laws. Instead, republicanism takes place within an extensive legal framework that determines who gets to vote, how campaigns are conducted, what conditions must be met for representatives to make valid law, and many other things. Many of the “rules-of-the-road” that operationalize republicanism have been subject to constitutional challenges in recent decades. For example, lawsuits have been brought against “partisan gerrymandering” (which has led to most congressional districts not being party-competitive, but instead being safely Republican or Democratic) and against onerous voter identification requirements (which reduce the voting rates of …


Report - Paying For The Past: Addressing Past Property Violations In South Africa, Bernadette Atuahene Jan 2012

Report - Paying For The Past: Addressing Past Property Violations In South Africa, Bernadette Atuahene

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No abstract provided.