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Full-Text Articles in Law
Gatekeeping Vs. Balancing In The Constitutional Law Of Elections: Methodological Uncertainty On The High Court, Christopher S. Elmendorf, Edward B. Foley
Gatekeeping Vs. Balancing In The Constitutional Law Of Elections: Methodological Uncertainty On The High Court, Christopher S. Elmendorf, Edward B. Foley
William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal
This Essay examines the methodological upheaval created by the quartet of constitutional election law cases decided during October Term 2007. Prior to this Term, the ascendant analytic approach called for a threshold characterization of the burden on the plaintiff's rights, which characterization determined whether the court would apply strict scrutiny or lax, rational-basis-like review. The characterization was generally formal in nature. But in light of the Supreme Court's latest decisions, it is now open to a lower court adjudicating a First Amendment or Equal Protection challenge to an election law-absent a Supreme Court precedent squarely on point- (1) to engage …
Freedom To Err: The Idea Of Natural Selection In Politics, Schools, And Courts, Paul D. Carrington
Freedom To Err: The Idea Of Natural Selection In Politics, Schools, And Courts, Paul D. Carrington
William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal
No abstract provided.
The Continuing Threshold Test For Free Exercise Claims, Andy G. Olree
The Continuing Threshold Test For Free Exercise Claims, Andy G. Olree
William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal
When a claimant challenges some governmental law or action under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment, courts have long required the claimant to make out a prima facie case that the government has burdened the exercise of the claimant's sincerely held religious beliefs. This requirement has been referred to as the threshold test for free exercise claims, since claimants must make this showing as a threshold matter before courts will proceed to evaluate the burden and the governmental interest at stake under some standard of scrutiny. This Article argues that although the Supreme Court of the United States …