Law Commons^™

Federal Court Review Of Arbitrary State Court Decisions, David T. Azrin

Michigan Law Review

Part I of this Note argues that the Thompson, Logan, and Hicks cases can be read narrowly to deal primarily with concern about protecting specific constitutional guarantees such as criminal procedural protections, equal protection guarantees, and first amendment freedoms. Arguably, in order to avoid dealing explicitly with the broader constitutional questions raised by the state decisions, the Court reversed the state decisions as arbitrary interpretations of state law. Part II argues that the rule against arbitrary state decisions suggested by Thompson, Logan, and Hicks is incompatible with federalism because it interferes with states' ability to develop law over state …

Postsentence Sentencing: Determining Probation Revocation Sanctions, Bradford Mank

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

Although procedural due process requirements govern the proof of a violation in a probation revocation hearing, judges exercise almost total discretion in deciding what sanctions to impose once a violation is established. These postsentence judgments can be as important as the initial sentencing. Sanctions for even minor probation violations can range from obligating a probationer to meet with his probation officer more frequently to executing a suspended prison sentence. The Supreme Court recognized in Morrissey v. Brewer that the choice of sanctions is often more complex than the proof of a violation. Principles must be developed to regulate postsentence sentencing. …

Taking The Framers Seriously, William Michael Treanor

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This article reviews Taking the Constitution Seriously by Walter Berns (1987).

This review focuses on three of the key historical points that Walter Berns makes: his arguments that the Declaration of Independence is a Lockean document; that the Constitution encapsulates the political philosophy of the Declaration; and that the framers viewed the commercialization of society as a salutary development and were unambivalent champions of the right to property. Examination of these issues suggests that the ideological universe of the framers was far more complex than Berns indicates. While the revolutionary era witnessed a new concern with individual rights and a …