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Full-Text Articles in Law

The Respectable Dignity Of Obergefell V. Hodges, Yuvraj Joshi Oct 2015

The Respectable Dignity Of Obergefell V. Hodges, Yuvraj Joshi

Yuvraj Joshi

In declaring state laws that restrict same-sex marriage unconstitutional, Justice Kennedy invoked “dignity” nine times—to no one’s surprise. References in Obergefell to “dignity” are in important respects the culmination of Justice Kennedy’s elevation of the concept, dating back to the Supreme Court’s 1992 decision in Planned Parenthood v. Casey. In Casey, “dignity” expressed respect for a woman’s freedom to make choices about her pregnancy. Casey laid the foundation for Lawrence v. Texas, which similarly respected the freedom of choice of homosexual persons. Yet, starting in United States v. Windsor and continuing in Obergefell, the narrative began to change. Dignity veered …


The High Price Of Poverty: A Study Of How The Majority Of Current Court System Procedures For Collecting Court Costs And Fees, As Well As Fines, Have Failed To Adhere To Established Precedent And The Constitutional Guarantees They Advocate., Trevor J. Calligan Jul 2015

The High Price Of Poverty: A Study Of How The Majority Of Current Court System Procedures For Collecting Court Costs And Fees, As Well As Fines, Have Failed To Adhere To Established Precedent And The Constitutional Guarantees They Advocate., Trevor J. Calligan

Trevor J Calligan

No abstract provided.


The Market For Legal Education And Freedom Of Association: Why The "Solomon Amendment" Is Constitutional And Law Schools Are Not Expressive Associations, Andrew P. Morriss Jul 2015

The Market For Legal Education And Freedom Of Association: Why The "Solomon Amendment" Is Constitutional And Law Schools Are Not Expressive Associations, Andrew P. Morriss

Andrew P. Morriss

This term the Supreme Court will confront the constitutionality of the Solomon Amendment, which mandates equal access for military recruiters at universities that accept federal funding. The Third Circuit previously held the statute unconstitutional. This Article argues that the Court should reverse and uphold the statute because the lower court failed to consider the cartelized nature of legal education and so assumed that law schools are "expressive associations" entitled to assert First Amendment claims; the court also failed to give proper deference to Congress's exercise of its Article I power to raise and support armies and over-valued law faculties' interest …


A Fugitive From The Camp Of The Conquerors: The Revival Of Equal Sovereignty Doctrine In Shelby County V. Holder, Vik Kanwar Apr 2015

A Fugitive From The Camp Of The Conquerors: The Revival Of Equal Sovereignty Doctrine In Shelby County V. Holder, Vik Kanwar

Journal of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity

No abstract provided.


After Nfib V. Sebelius, When Does The Cost Of Voting Become An Illegal Poll Tax?, Andre L. Smith Apr 2015

After Nfib V. Sebelius, When Does The Cost Of Voting Become An Illegal Poll Tax?, Andre L. Smith

Journal of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity

No abstract provided.


Court Of Appeals Of New York, People V. Wright, Melanie Hendry Apr 2015

Court Of Appeals Of New York, People V. Wright, Melanie Hendry

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.


Functionally Suspect: Reconceptualizing 'Race' As A Suspect Classification, Lauren Sudeall Apr 2015

Functionally Suspect: Reconceptualizing 'Race' As A Suspect Classification, Lauren Sudeall

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

In the context of equal protection doctrine, race has become untethered from the criteria underlying its demarcation as a classification warranting heightened scrutiny. As a result, it is no longer an effective vehicle for challenging the existing social and political order; instead, its primary purpose under current doctrine is to signal the presence of an impermissible basis for differential treatment. This Symposium Article suggests that, to more effectively serve its underlying normative goals, equal protection should prohibit not discrimination based on race per se, but government actions that implicate the concerns leading to race’s designation as a suspect classification. For …


(Un)Equal Protection: Why Gender Equality Depends On Discrimination, Keith Cunningham-Parmeter Mar 2015

(Un)Equal Protection: Why Gender Equality Depends On Discrimination, Keith Cunningham-Parmeter

Northwestern University Law Review

Most accounts of the Supreme Court’s equal protection jurisprudence describe the Court’s firm opposition to sex discrimination. But while the Court famously invalidated several sex-based laws at the end of the twentieth century, it also issued many other, less-celebrated decisions that sanctioned sex-specific classifications in some circumstances. Examining these long-ignored cases that approved of sex discrimination, this Article explains how the Court’s rulings in this area have often rejected the principle of formal equality in favor of broader antisubordination concerns. Outlining a new model of equal protection that authorizes certain forms of sex discrimination, (Un)Equal Protection advocates for one particular …


Constitutional Borrowing, Robert Tsai Mar 2015

Constitutional Borrowing, Robert Tsai

Robert L. Tsai

Borrowing from one domain to promote ideas in another domain is a staple of constitutional decisionmaking. Precedents, arguments, concepts, tropes, and heuristics all can be carried across doctrinal boundaries for purposes of persuasion. Yet the practice itself remains underanalyzed. This Article seeks to bring greater theoretical attention to the matter. It defines what constitutional borrowing is and what it is not, presents a typology that describes its common forms, undertakes a principled defense of borrowing, and identifies some of the risks involved. The authors' examples draw particular attention to places where legal mechanisms and ideas migrate between fields of law …


The Separation Of The Religious And The Secular: A Foundational Challenge To First Amendment Theory, Laura Underkuffler Feb 2015

The Separation Of The Religious And The Secular: A Foundational Challenge To First Amendment Theory, Laura Underkuffler

Laura S. Underkuffler

No abstract provided.


Toward A New Separation Of Church And State: Implications For Analogies To Last Year's Supreme Court Decision In Hobby Lobby By This Year's Decision In Obergefell V. Hodges, Vincent Samar Jan 2015

Toward A New Separation Of Church And State: Implications For Analogies To Last Year's Supreme Court Decision In Hobby Lobby By This Year's Decision In Obergefell V. Hodges, Vincent Samar

Vincent J. Samar

No abstract provided.


Deselecting Biased Juries, Scott W. Howe Dec 2014

Deselecting Biased Juries, Scott W. Howe

Scott W. Howe

Critics of peremptory-challenge systems commonly contend that they inevitably inflict “inequality harm” on many excused persons and should be abolished. Ironically, the Supreme Court fueled this argument with its decision in Batson v. Kentucky by raising and endorsing the inequality claim sua sponte and then purporting to solve it with an approach that preserved peremptories. This Article shows, however, that the central problem is something other than inequality harm to excused persons. The central problem is the harm to disadvantaged litigants when their opponents use peremptories to secure a one-sided jury. This problem can arise often—whenever a venire is slanted …