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Full-Text Articles in Law
Parallel Justice: Creating Causes Of Action For Mandatory Mediation, Marie A. Failinger
Parallel Justice: Creating Causes Of Action For Mandatory Mediation, Marie A. Failinger
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
The American common law system should adopt court-connected mandatory mediation as a parallel system of justice for some cases that are currently not justiciable, such as wrongs caused by constitutionally protected behavior. As evidence that such a system is practical, this Article describes systemic and ethical parallels between court-connected mediation and the rise of the equity courts in medieval England, demonstrating that there are no insurmountable practical objections to the creation of “mediation-only” causes of action. The Article then explores the constitutional concerns surrounding the idea of “mandatory mediation-only” causes of action, using constitutional hate speech and invasion of privacy …
Sliding Towards Educational Outcomes: A New Remedy For High-Stakes Education Lawsuits In A Post-Nclb World, Christopher A. Suarez
Sliding Towards Educational Outcomes: A New Remedy For High-Stakes Education Lawsuits In A Post-Nclb World, Christopher A. Suarez
Michigan Journal of Race and Law
Sheff v. O'Neill ushered in a new wave of education reform litigation that may challenge the constitutionality of de facto segregation under state education clauses, but its remedy has been inadequate. This Note proposes a new desegregation remedy-the sliding scale remedy-to address socioeconomic isolation in this unique constitutional context. The remedy employs varying degrees of equity power depending on students' academic outcomes. It balances concerns over local control and separation of powers with the court's need to effectuate right, establishes a clear remedial principle, and ensures that states and school districts focus on students as they implement remedies.
Examining Presidential Power Through The Rubric Of Equity, Eric A. White
Examining Presidential Power Through The Rubric Of Equity, Eric A. White
Michigan Law Review
In this Note I propose a method to examine presidents' actions taken outside the normal bounds of executive power by employing the general rubric of equity, in an attempt to find when the president acts with what I term "practical legitimacy." This would be a new category for executive actions that, while perhaps arguably illegal, are so valuable that we want to treat them as legitimate exercises of executive power. To do so, I first examine the history of equity, noting the many relevant parallels to our modern conception of executive power In light of these parallels, I argue that …
School Finance Adequacy As Vertical Equity, Julie K. Underwood
School Finance Adequacy As Vertical Equity, Julie K. Underwood
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
In this Article, Dean Underwood explains that school finance cases can be divided into three waves of reform. The first wave involved efforts to use the Federal Equal Protection Clause to overturn financing systems. Litigants in the second wave turned to state equal protection and due process clauses. Finally, the third wave involved the utilization of education clauses in state constitutions as the predominant litigation vehicle. These three waves embody two primary approaches to school finance litigation. The first approach involves a challenge to the adequacy of a state's funding system under either the state or federal equal protection clause, …
Establishing Education Program Inadequacy: The Alabama Example, Martha I. Morgan, Adam S. Cohen, Helen Hershkoff
Establishing Education Program Inadequacy: The Alabama Example, Martha I. Morgan, Adam S. Cohen, Helen Hershkoff
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
The authors draw on their experience as attorneys for a statewide class of plaintiff school children in the liability phase of ongoing public education reform litigation in Alabama to demonstrate the availability of state and nationally recognized standards concerning educational resources (inputs) and results (outputs) that can serve as evidentiary tools for assessing and for establishing a state public education system's failure to satisfy constitutional mandates of educational adequacy. The Article discusses the usefulness and limitations of using such standards as a starting point in a court's constitutional analysis. It suggests an integrated approach that links input and output standards …
Accelerated Education As A Remedy For High-Poverty Schools, William H. Clune
Accelerated Education As A Remedy For High-Poverty Schools, William H. Clune
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
High-poverty schools, and the students who attend them, have historically faced substantial challenges in providing and receiving, adequate education. Despite some relief from the courts, school finance remedies that require the redistribution of monetary aid to low-wealth districts have encountered strong political opposition. In this Article, Professor Clune makes a renewed claim for accelerated education as the primary focus of adequacy litigation in school reform cases. He describes the nation's educational condition, in which there exists a disturbing correlation between poverty and low educational outcomes. He then drafts a vision of a comprehensive, school reform remedy, one that emphasizes institutional …
Achieving Equity And Excellence In Kentucky Education, C. Scott Trimble, Andrew C. Forsaith
Achieving Equity And Excellence In Kentucky Education, C. Scott Trimble, Andrew C. Forsaith
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
In this Article, Trimble and Forsaith discuss the landmark Kentucky school finance case, Rose v. Council for Better Education, 790 S.W.2d 186 (Ky. 1989), and the school reform efforts it spawned. In Council for Better Education, the Kentucky Supreme Court held that the state had failed its duty under the state constitution to provide all students with an adequate education, which it defined in terms of seven categories of knowledge and skills students should acquire. The State General Assembly responded with the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA), which significantly boosted state funding as well as established an ambitious accountability system …
Oklahoma School Finance Litigation: Shifting From Equity To Adequacy, Mark S. Grossman
Oklahoma School Finance Litigation: Shifting From Equity To Adequacy, Mark S. Grossman
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
This Article traces the history of Oklahoma school finance litigation from the initial challenge based on funding inequity to a recent lawsuit founded on alleged constitutional inadequacies in the state system. Although the legal challenge based on funding inequity was unsuccessful in the courts, the pendency of the suit helped push the state legislature toward some reforms. The threat of a new lawsuit based on alleged inadequacies in the state school system, together with a serious funding shortfall, propelled a comprehensive education reform plan through the state legislature in 1990. The association of local school boards that led the equity …
The Law's Conscience: Equitable Constitutionalism In America, Neil A. Riemann
The Law's Conscience: Equitable Constitutionalism In America, Neil A. Riemann
Michigan Law Review
A Review of The Law's Conscience: Equitable Constitutionalism in America by Peter Charles Hoffer
Equity, Due Process And The Seventh Amendment: A Commentary On The Zenith Case, Patrick Devlin
Equity, Due Process And The Seventh Amendment: A Commentary On The Zenith Case, Patrick Devlin
Michigan Law Review
The seventh amendment to the United States Constitution requires that "[i]n Suits at common law . . . the right of trial by jury shall be preserved." What exactly is a suit at common law? When the amendment was enacted in 1791, there was no law that was common to all the states. In 1812 Supreme Court Justice Story, in a Circuit Court ruling, held that the common law alluded to was the common law of England, "the grand reservoir of all of our jurisprudence." This means that when today an American judge has to decide whether in any set …
Equity And The Constitution, Michigan Law Review
Equity And The Constitution, Michigan Law Review
Michigan Law Review
A Review of Equity and the Constitution by Gary L. McDowell
Constitutional Law-Equal Protection Clause-County Unit Vote, Charles Myneder S.Ed.
Constitutional Law-Equal Protection Clause-County Unit Vote, Charles Myneder S.Ed.
Michigan Law Review
Plaintiffs brought an action against defendants, Chairman of the Georgia State Democratic Executive Committee and others, to restrain adherence to a state statute providing that the County Unit Vote shall determine the outcome of a primary election. Under the statute each county is alloted a number of unit votes. The candidate receiving the highest popular vote in the county is awarded the unit votes of that county. Plaintiffs, residents of the most populous county in the state, alleged that their votes had on an average but one-tenth the weight of those in the other counties in the state. From a …
Recent Important Decisions
Michigan Law Review
A collection of recent important court decisions.