Law Commons^™

Presence And Absence In Lochner: Making Rights Real, Eileen A. Scallen

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

No abstract provided.

The Death Penalty In The Twenty-First Century , Stephen B. Bright, Edward Chikofsky, Laurie Ekstrand, Harriet C. Ganson, Paul D. Kamenar, Robert E. Morin, William G. Otis, Jasmin Raskin, Ira P. Robbins, Diann Rust-Tierney, Charles F. Shilling, Andrew L. Sooner, Ronald J. Rabak, David V. Drehle, James Wootton

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Arts: A Traditional Sphere Of Free Expression? First Amendment Implications Of Government Funding To The Arts In The Aftermath Of Rust V. Sullivan , Thomas P. Leff

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

United States V. Clary: Equal Protection And The Crack Statute , Jason A. Gillmer

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Arts: A Traditional Sphere Of Free Expression? First Amendment Implications Of Government Funding To The Arts In The Aftermath Of Rust V. Sullivan , Thomas P. Leff

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Death Penalty In The Twenty-First Century , Stephen B. Bright, Edward Chikofsky, Laurie Ekstrand, Harriet C. Ganson, Paul D. Kamenar, Robert E. Morin, William G. Otis, Jasmin Raskin, Ira P. Robbins, Diann Rust-Tierney, Charles F. Shilling, Andrew L. Sooner, Ronald J. Rabak, David V. Drehle, James Wootton

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

United States V. Clary: Equal Protection And The Crack Statute , Jason A. Gillmer

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Your Life As An Open Book: Has Technology Rendered Personal Privacy Virtually Obsolete?, Sandra Byrd Peterson

Federal Communications Law Journal

As society becomes increasingly automated, the ability of individuals to protect their "information privacy" is practically nonexistent. Information that was once kept on paper in filing cabinets is now on-line in computer databases. At the touch of a computer key, a complete stranger can conveniently access and compile from a variety of different sources a dossier of intimate, personal information about people without their knowledge. Perhaps more shocking is the current lack of legal recourse available to contest the nonconsensual use of personal data.

In this Note, the Author examines the currently loose constitutional and common-law protections and suggests strategies …

"A Government Of Limited And Enumerated Powers": In Defense Of United States V. Lopez, Steven G. Calabresi

Michigan Law Review

The Supreme Court's recent decision in United States v. Lopez marks a revolutionary and long overdue revival of the doctrine that the federal government is one of limited and enumerated powers. After being "asleep at the constitutional switch" for more than fifty years, the Court's decision to invalidate an Act of Congress on the ground that it exceeded the commerce power must be recognized as an extraordinary event. Even if Lopez produces no progeny and is soon overruled, the opinion has shattered forever the notion that, after fifty years of Commerce Clause precedent, we can never go back to the …

The Constitution's Forgotten Cover Letter: An Essay On The New Federalism And The Original Understanding, Daniel A. Farber

Michigan Law Review

At the end of the summer of 1787, the Philadelphia Convention issued two documents. One was the Constitution itself. The other document, now almost forgotten even by constitutional historians, was an official letter to Congress, signed by George Washington on behalf of the Convention. Congress responded with a resolution that the Constitution and "letter accompanying the same" be sent to the state legislatures for submission to conventions in each state.

The Washington letter lacks the detail and depth of some other evidence of original intent. Being a cover letter, it was designed only to introduce the accompanying document rather than …

Foreword, Louis H. Pollak

Michigan Law Review

Introduction to the Symposium Reflections on United States v. Lopez

Enumerated Means And Unlimited Ends, H. Jefferson Powell

Michigan Law Review

United States v. Lopez can be read as a fairly mundane disagreement over the application of a long-settled test. The Government defended the statute under review in the case, the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990, along familiar lines as a permissible regulation of activity affecting interstate and foreign commerce.

In this essay, I do not address the question whether Lopez was an important decision. My concern instead is with the problem that underlies Lopez's particular issue of the scope of the commerce power: Given our commitment to limited national government, in what way is the national legislature actually limited? …

Commerce!, Deborah Jones Merritt

Michigan Law Review

In this article, I explore the Supreme Court's new definition of "Commerce ... among the several States."9 In Part I, I examine three new principles that Lopez announces and that could significantly rework the Court's Commerce Clause jurisprudence. Part II, however, shows that these principles must be understood in the context of almost a dozen factors narrowing the Supreme Court's Lopez decision. Part II also demonstrates that the lower courts have understood the contextual uniqueness of Lopez and already have distinguished the decision in upholding more than half a dozen broad exercises of congressional authority. Part III then shows that …

Petty Offenses, Serious Consequences: Multiple Petty Offenses And The Sixth Amendment Right To Jury Trial, Jeff E. Butler

Michigan Law Review

In Blanton v. City of North Las Vegas, the Supreme Court set forth the definitive standard for distinguishing petty offenses from serious crimes.7 The benchmark used by the Court is the maximum prison term assigned to each offense by the legislature. Where the penalty exceeds six months' imprisonment, the offense is serious enough to trigger the right to jury trial. Where the penalty is six months' imprisonment or less, there is a strong presumption that the offense is petty; therefore, a defendant accused of that offense has no Sixth Amendment right to jury trial.

This Note argues that a criminal …

Back To The Briarpatch: An Argument In Favor Of Constitutional Meta-Analysis In State Action Determinations, Ronald J. Krotoszynski Jr.

Michigan Law Review

Brer Rabbit, after claiming repeatedly that he would prefer almost anything to being thrown into the briarpatch, expressed glee once tossed there. In fact, Brer Rabbit wanted to be in the briarpatch because, like most rabbits, he could navigate the briarpatch with relative ease: the briarpatch was home.

Over the course of a century, the Supreme Court has developed a great degree of familiarity with the state action doctrine, a doctrinal briar patch. Like Brer Rabbit, the Court has disclaimed repeatedly any interest in being there.

In this article, I argue that the existing tests for establishing the presence of …

The Brady Bill: Surviving The Tenth Amendment, Amy M. Pepke

Vanderbilt Law Review

In late 1993, Congress passed the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act ("Brady Bill")' as an amendment to the Gun Control Act of 1968. By mid-1994, several suits had been initiated challenging the constitutionality of the Bill. Although the plaintiffs in each case brought several claims, the most viable and controversial challenge centers on the Tenth Amendment. Plaintiffs have argued that certain provisions of the Bill unconstitutionally commandeer state resources by imposing mandatory duties on the chief law enforcement officer ("CLEO") of the place of residence of the prospective gun purchaser. Supreme Court decisions on tenth amendment questions have been ambiguous …

Homologizing Pregnancy And Motherhood: A Consideration Of Abortion, Julia E. Hanigsberg

Michigan Law Review

In this essay I reconsider abortion in order to bridge what initially seem to be two opposing frameworks: first, the conception of abortion as an issue of women's bodily integrity and liberty, and second, the acknowledgement of the existence and meaning of intrauterine life. The abortion choice is indeed deeply and necessarily tied to women's bodily integrity. I will discuss how taking away women's ability to control their decision not to become mothers can be severely damaging to their very sense of self, for this denial of decisionmaking divides women from their wombs and uses their wombs for a purpose …

Policy Distortion And Democratic Debilitation: Comparative Illumination Of The Countermajoritarian Difficulty, Mark Tushnet

Michigan Law Review

James Bradley Thayer set the terms of the past century's discussion of judicial review in The Origin and Scope of the American Doctrine of Constitutional Law. Thayer was concerned with what Alexander Bickel labeled the "countermajoritarian difficulty" with judicial review, that judicial review displaces decisions made by near-contemporaneous political majorities and therefore is open to the charge that it is undemocratic. Thayer attempted to minimize the displacement- of political majorities through his "clear error" rule, according to which courts should not overturn legislation unless "those who have the right to make laws have not merely made a mistake, but have …

Zoning And Religion: Will The Religious Freedom Restoration Act Of 1993 Shift The Line Towards Religious Liberty? , Simon J. Santiago

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Law—Freedom Of Speech—Homeowner Wins In Battle To Limit City Government's Power To Ban Residential Signs. City Of Ladue V. Gilleo, 114 S. Ct. 2038 (1994)., Stan M. Weber

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Of "Sloppy Journalism," Corporate Tyranny," And Mea Culpas: The Curious Case Of Moldea V. New York Times, David A. Logan

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Cruel And Unusual?: Virginia's New Sex Offender Registration Statute, Elizabeth P. Bruns

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Citizen Initiatives In Florida: An Analysis Of Florida's Constitutional Initative Process, Issues, And Alternatives, P. K. Jameson, Martha Hosack

Florida State University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Revealing The Constitutional Infirmities Of The "Crime Victims Protection Act," Florida's New Privacy Statute For Sexual Assault Victims, Brett Jarad Berlin

Florida State University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Reconsidering Abortion Law: Liberty, Equality, And The Rhetoric Of Planned Parenthood V. Casey , Erin Daly

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Analysis Of Indiana's Controlled Substance Excise Tax, F. Anthony Paganelli

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

"For Our Own Good:" Federal Preemption Of State Tort Law - Risk, Regulation, And The Goals Of Environmental Protection, John Robertson

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

The Expulsion And Disqualification Of Legislators: Parliamentary Privilege And The Charter Of Rights, Andrew Heard

Dalhousie Law Journal

This article examines whetherthe Charter of Rights limits the ability of legislatures to expel sitting members and to disqualify individuals from running for election. The discussions reveal the uncertain breadth of the constitutional status that the Supreme Court of Canada accorded legislative privilege in New Brunswick Broadcasting Co. v. Nova Scotia (Speakerof the House of Assembly). The author argues that both explusion and disqualification should be included among the privileges that are beyond the Charter's purview.

Molecular Motions: The Holmesian Judge In Theory And Practice, Thomas C. Grey

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Federal Standards For Sex Offender Registration: Public Disclosure Confronts The Right To Privacy, Catherine A. Trinkle

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.