Law Commons^™

The Constitution Of Conversations: The Enduring Legacy Of Sandra Day O'Connor, Derek A. Webb

Scholarly Articles

Soon after Justice O'Connor's passing in December 2023, commentators and court watchers across the ideological spectrum questioned whether anything in the legacy of the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court— once called “the most powerful woman in Washington, D.C.”—remained intact.

Drawing upon speeches and interviews she gave over her entire forty-year public career, I argue that O’Connor’s deepest and most enduring contribution was a subtle, compelling, interconnected, and yet today largely countercultural vision of the Constitution as a site of multiple conversations, a “Constitution of Conversations,” that took place variously within institutions, across institutions, and across time. More …

The Constitutional Significance Of The First American Pope: The Promise Of Listening In An Era Of Mutual Suspicion, Derek A. Webb

Scholarly Articles

Pope Leo XIV has focused a good deal of writing and speaking in the first year of his pontificate on the theme of listening, dialogue, and bridgebuilding. For Leo, listening, dialogue, and creating harmony across diverse perspectives where possible are at the heart of the Christian life. But his reflections on these themes, while rooted in theology, are aimed at a wider audience, going well beyond the church community, and addressing philosophical issues of universal human concern. Indeed, the first American pope happens to be highlighting certain ideals regarding dialogue that, while perhaps forgotten today, are central to the American …

Gender Therapy False Equivalency, Scott Skinner-Thompson

Publications

One critical dispute surrounding the rights of LGBTQ people and societal recognition of their existence is the legal debate regarding very different types of gender therapy. On the one hand, several states have banned the provision of gender-affirming medical care to transgender youth, positing that it is a dangerous form of mutilation. A separate set of states has banned the practice of so-called gay or gender conversion therapy that seeks to transform youth away from their queer identities, concluding that it is a form of abuse. Both sets of laws have been challenged in courts with the Supreme Court recently …

The Borderline Constitution, Pratheepan Gulasekaram

Publications

This Feature identifies and theorizes a distinct constitutional regime that federal courts have constructed at, adjacent to, and because of the nation’s border. Drawing together strands of First, Fourth, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendment law, along with habeas doctrine, constitutional torts, tribal sovereignty, and separation-of-powers concerns, this Feature demonstrates how constitutional guarantees systematically recede in the border’s shadow. These deviations from canonical and mainstream constitutional norms authorize intrusive state invasions of privacy and other fundamental rights, abdicate judicial oversight in favor of outsized executive discretion, and entrench racial and religious subordination.

The Feature further demonstrates that the effects of border exceptionalism …

Brady's Shadow, Justin Murray

Publications

Scholars have spent sixty years documenting Brady v. Maryland’s failures—its materiality standard that licenses suppression of exculpatory evidence, its abandonment of defendants who plead guilty, its toothless enforcement. Yet these same critics celebrate Brady’s supposed grand promise, treating the decision’s incarnate presence as the betrayal of an ideal rather than recognizing the promise itself as a mirage. This Article contends that our profession’s faith in Brady—even faith expressed through demands for reform—perpetuates the very dysfunction it critiques. Brady operates not merely as failed doctrine but as a trap and a shadow: the trap springs when its mythology …

Examining Reproductive Equity In The Post-Roe United States, Yali Pang, Anna Grace Causey, Nakeina E. Douglas-Glenn, Research Institute For Social Equity Rise

Research Institute for Social Equity

Four years after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, state-level variation in reproductive rights policy is associated with substantial geographic inequities in access to abortion and reproductive health care across the United States. The adoption of restrictive or protective reproductive rights policies is closely tied to legislative control, underscoring the political drivers of reproductive inequity. The evidence suggests that advancing reproductive equity will require coordinated national, state, and local response to strengthen healthcare infrastructure, reduce economic barriers, and establish durable legislative protections for reproductive rights.

Obituary For The Birth Certificate, Malinda L. Seymore

Faculty Scholarship

Have birth certificates outlived their usefulness? Birth certificates establish an individual’s name, identity, age, race, sex and gender, parental authority, and citizenship. In addition, the information collected at the time of birth and reflected on a long-form birth certificate provides data for public health policy, population statistics, internal migration, government planning, and resource allocation. Birth certificates are also the all-access pass to American life, necessary for many functions of modern life: registering a child in school, signing a child up for soccer, getting a driver’s license and passport, enlisting in the military, and applying for government benefits. All of this, …

Originalism As Disruption, Susan D. Carle

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

This Article challenges the conventional understanding of originalism as a method that promotes unchanging constitutional meanings. Drawing on four and a half decades of experience since Attorney General Edwin Meese first championed originalism as a conservative project, this Article demonstrates that originalism has generally proven destabilizing rather than stabilizing to constitutional law. Landmark cases such as New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harvard College, and Shelby County v. Holder show that the Supreme Court frequently deploys originalism when it seeks to upend settled constitutional doctrine, contradicting claims …

Law’S Limits: Abortion And The Social Determinants Of Health, Maya Manian

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

After Dobbs: How the Supreme Court Ended Roe but Not Abortion (“After Dobbs”) is a prescient and timely response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade and upended nearly five decades of constitutional protection for abortion. In this meticulously structured oral history, law professor David S. Cohen and sociologist Carole Joffe center the voices of abortion providers, clinic administrators, funders, and advocates from across the country. After Dobbs, not only documents the extraordinary persistence of abortion supporters in the face of legal devastation but also bears witness to …

Seven County Infrastructure Coalition V. Eagle County, Craig A. Rigdon

Public Land & Resources Law Review

The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 is a landmark in United States environmental law. For more than half a century, under its authority, all federal agencies contemplating proposed actions that pose significant environmental impacts have incorporated an analysis of those impacts into their decisions. These analyses provided an avenue for opponents to challenge an agency’s final decision in federal court. Earlier this year, the Supreme Court issued a “course correction” to rein in the disparate approaches that the lower courts had applied to cases challenging federal agency decisions on NEPA grounds. The unambiguous guidance the Court lays out for …

Penggunaan Metode Socrates Dalam Mengembangkan Pendidikan Tinggi Hukum Di Indonesia, Syarifah Lisa Andriati, Inneke Kiki Rizki, Ain Najwa Binti Mohd Malian

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

The ability to think critically and have the ability as a problem solver is needed in higher education Law in Indonesia. One of the methods used is the Socratic Method. Critical thinking is one of the aspects that law students must have to improve their ability as problem solvers. This research was conducted to contribute that the application of the Socratic method is effective to be applied in the learning process of higher education in Indonesia, as well as to provide evaluation and knowledge about the challenges and obstacles that will be faced in the process of applying the Socratic …

Tapera: Melindungi Hak Atas Tempat Tinggal Atau Mengancam Kehidupan Yang Layak, Elizabeth Jeneva Samuella, Ida Susanti

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

This study examines the People's Housing Savings (TAPERA) policy in the context of protecting the right to adequate housing and its impact on the decent living conditions of workers. Under TAPERA regulations, all workers are required to set aside a portion of their salary, including those who already own a home. While this policy aims to improve access to adequate housing, it raises questions about its impact on purchasing power and the fulfillment of other basic needs. The study employs an interdisciplinary approach using socio-legal methods to evaluate whether the mandatory TAPERA contributions can be considered a violation of the …

Mogok Kerja Tenaga Medis: Problematika Pada Uu Ketenagakerjaan Dan Pilihan Model Pengaturannya, Rama Agung

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

The issue of healthcare workers' strikes remains complex in terms of regulatory frameworks. On one hand, there is a conflict of interest between public interest in access to healthcare services and, on the other, the Labor Law, which regards the right to strike as a fundamental right of workers, integral to collective bargaining. This paper examines the challenges in regulating healthcare workers' strikes by analyzing Article 139 of the Labor Law and exploring regulatory models that support the provision of high-quality healthcare services. The findings highlight several key points. First, Article 139 of the Labor Law does not yet provide …

Analisis Perluasan Makna Pasal 71 Ayat (1) Undang-Undang Pilkada Berdasarkan Putusan Pengadilan Negeri: Upaya Mewujudkan Keadilan Dalam Pilkada 2024, Supriyadi Supriyadi, Abdullah Iskandar

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

The analysis and study of decisions is actually popular and developed in countries with common law systems, legal scholars, researchers and practitioners there place their court decisions as the primary object of legal study, which is why the existence of court decisions is the main benchmark in applying and shaping the law. In the context of legal development in Indonesia, the study of this decision has had a good place among legal scholars and researchers, this has been proven by the existence of several works produced focusing on the analysis of decisions, such as those popularised by the Judicial Commission …

Lahirnya Tensi Metafisik Di Urat-Leher Projek-Projek Interpretasi Konstruktif, Herman Bakir, Mukhtasar Syamsuddin

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

This project is a legal hermeneutics. The aim is to elaborate the paradigm of the law as integrity theory, Ronald Dworkin’s work, which has received recognition as one of the most influential philosophical systems in the world of law throughout the last century. The issues discussed are divided into three subjects: (1) the interpretation role in legitimizing “law” as a corpus that has a “soul”; (2) a concept of interpretation from the womb of the law as integrity theory; (3) the dual capacity of “constructive interpretation” in [a] “returning” law to its roots; and [b] housing “morals” within the body …

Diskursus Kriminalisasi Pemidanaan Terhadap Pemberi Gratifikasi, Muhammad Fatahillah Akbar

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

This article aims to examine the legal basis to prosecute gratifiers in Indonesian Corruption Justice System. Samin Tan as the giver of gratification to Eni Maulani Saragih had been acquitted by the Corruption Court of Jakarta Decision Number 37/Pid.Sus-TPK/2021/PN.Jkt.Pst on 30^th August 2021. Then, the Cassation to Supreme Court had also been rejected by Supreme Court Decision Number 2205 K/Pid.sus/2022 on 9^th June, 2022. Hence, Samin Tan stays acquitted. The decision majorly focuses on the “absence” of law which criminalizes gratifiers or gratification givers. Therefore, this article elaborates how similar cases shall be handled in the future. In …

The Illusory Privilege Against Self-Incrimination, Kelsey Rohr

Arkansas Law Review

This Note addresses the insufficiency of the current system in protecting criminal defendants’ privilege against self-incrimination. Part II will outline the background legal principles of the issue, including the privilege against self-incrimination, the presumption of innocence, and the no-impeachment rule. This part will also address the Supreme Court’s sole judicial exception to the no-impeachment rule as laid out in Peña-Rodriguez v. Colorado. Part III will address the statistical significance of juror bias against criminal defendants who invoke the privilege, highlight the widespread nature of the bias, and argue that the procedural safeguards currently in place are insufficient to protect.

Status, Conduct, Belief, And Message: The Wedding Vendor Cases, Mark L. Movsesian

Chicago-Kent Law Review

No abstract provided.

Catholic Institutions And The Religion Clauses: Faith In A Liberal Democracy, Angela C. Carmella

Chicago-Kent Law Review

No abstract provided.

Can First Amendment "History And Tradition" Protect Both Sides In Polarized America?, Thomas C. Berg

Chicago-Kent Law Review

No abstract provided.

"Simple Accommodation": A Solution For Conflicts Between Religious Claims And Secular Law?, Laura S. Underkuffler

Chicago-Kent Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Ten Commandments In Louisiana Public Schools: A Study In The Survival Of Establishment Norms, Ira C. Lupu, Robert W. Tuttle

Chicago-Kent Law Review

No abstract provided.

Religious Liberty And The Constitution, Steven J. Heyman

Chicago-Kent Law Review

No abstract provided.

Introduction To Symposium — In Search Of Common Ground: Religion And Secularism In A Liberal Democratic Society, Kathleen A. Brady, Steven J. Heyman

Chicago-Kent Law Review

No abstract provided.

History, Tradition, And Finding Common Ground: The Establishment Clause And Religious Expression By The State, Kathleen A. Brady

Chicago-Kent Law Review

No abstract provided.

Jurisdictional Diversity, Tradition, And The Religion Clauses, Steven D. Smith

Chicago-Kent Law Review

No abstract provided.

Attempting To Protect The Liberty And Equality Of Minority Faiths And Nonreligious Individuals When The Surpreme Court Will Not Do So, Alan Brownstein

Chicago-Kent Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Supreme Court's Gay Rights-Religious Liberty Contortions, Andrew Koppelman

Chicago-Kent Law Review

No abstract provided.

Religious Employment And The Tensions Between Liberty And Equality, R. Shawn Gunnarson, James C. Phillips, Christopher A. Bates

BYU Law Review

Located in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is an exemption for religious employers that is often misunderstood. Often courts and commentators mischaracterize it as a narrow privilege for religious employers to hire people of the same religion. But the statute’s text says otherwise. This article resolves interpretive debates about the meaning and application of the religious employer exemption through a close textualist reading that discovers a new understanding of the structure of Title VII. Our approach applies the tools of textualism, the prevailing theory of statutory interpretation. Paying attention to the text and structure of Title …

The Inconvenience Doctrine, Alexi Pfeffer-Gillett

BYU Law Review

In a nation of stark inequalities, the Roberts Court is often portrayed as siding with the wealthy and powerful. Many scholars argue that the Court has abandoned legal principles altogether and instead simply chooses winners and losers based on the conservative majority’s political agenda. Meanwhile, scholarly examinations of the legal reasoning underlying the Court’s most impactful decisions are largely confined to specific subject areas. Such compartmentalized analyses, though, overlook broader patterns in the Court’s rulings that transcend substantive legal boundaries.

This Article bridges the gap in these parallel conversations by connecting the Roberts Court’s reasoning across many legal fields with …