Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 4 of 4
Full-Text Articles in Law
Robinson Township: A Model For Environmental Constitutionalism, Erin Daly, James May
Robinson Township: A Model For Environmental Constitutionalism, Erin Daly, James May
Erin Daly
In Robinson Township v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, a plurality of the court held that a controversial law encouraging fracking (“Act 13”) violates the state’s constitutional Environmental Rights Amendment, the provisions of which the court held are “on par” with political rights. The decision highlights the challenges of engaging constitutional environmental provisions but demonstrates that, with sufficient creativity and commitment, meeting these challenges lies well within the bounds of judicial capability and authority. Because courts around the world are increasingly being asked to engage in environmental constitutionalism, and Robinson Township's thorough examination of the issues is instructive, not only for cases …
Human Dignity In The Roberts Court: A Story Of Inchoate Institutions, Autonomous Individuals, And The Reluctant Recognition Of A Right, Erin Daly
Erin Daly
Throughout its history, the Supreme Court has assumed that dignity is relevant to constitutional interpretation, though it has rarely considered exactly how. In the post-war years, the Court (like its counterparts around the world) found that human dignity underlay many individual rights, and in the 1990s, the Court's federalism jurisprudence found that the dignity of states immunized them from most lawsuits in both state and federal courts. This article examines the Court's past references to dignity and argues that the conception of dignity that is evoked in the federalism cases -- which focus, at root, on the autonomy of the …
Senate Debate Served Us All Well, Erin Daly, Paul Regan
Senate Debate Served Us All Well, Erin Daly, Paul Regan
Erin Daly
No abstract provided.
Garcetti In Delaware: New Limits On Public Employees' Speech, Erin Daly
Garcetti In Delaware: New Limits On Public Employees' Speech, Erin Daly
Erin Daly
In 2006, the Supreme Court decided Garcetti v Ceballos, 547 U.S. 410 (2006), which significantly altered the free speech rights of the more than 18 million Americans who are public employees for federal, state or local government. It revised the test it had formerly used for public employee speech and, in so doing, dramatically diminished the scope of their rights. This has significant implications not only for the individuals involved, but for the public at large, and for the praxis of democracy in America: by limiting what public employees can say about their workplaces, the Court has reduced the amount …