Law Commons^™

Equality Is A Brokered Idea, Robert Tsai

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

This essay examines the Supreme Court's stunning decision in the census case, Department of Commerce v. New York. I characterize Chief Justice John Roberts' decision to side with the liberals as an example of pursuing the ends of equality by other means – this time, through the rule of reason. Although the appeal was limited in scope, the stakes for political and racial equality were sky high. In blocking the administration from adding a citizenship question to the 2020 Census, 5 members of the Court found the justification the administration gave to be a pretext. In this instance, that lie …

Conflating Politics And Development? Examining Investment Treaty Arbitration Outcomes, Susan Franck

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

International dispute settlement is an area of ongoing evaluation and tension within the international political economy. As states continue their negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the efficacy of international arbitration as a method of dispute settlement remains controversial. Whereas some sing its praises as a method of protecting private property interests against improper government interference, others decry investment treaty arbitration (ITA) as biased against states. The literature has thus far not disentangled how politics and development contribute to investment dispute outcomes. In an effort to control for the effect of internal …

Judicial Ethics And Supreme Court Exceptionalism, Amanda Frost

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

In his 2011 Year-End Report on the Federal Judiciary, Chief Justice John Roberts cast doubt on Congress’s authority to regulate the Justices’ ethical conduct, declaring that the constitutionality of such legislation has “never been tested.” Roberts’ comments not only raise important questions about the relationship between Congress and the Supreme Court, they also call into question the constitutionality of a number of existing and proposed ethics statutes. Thus, the topic deserves close attention.

This Essay contends that Congress has broad constitutional authority to regulate the Justices’ ethical conduct, just as it has exercised control over other vital aspects of the …

Congress In Court, Amanda Frost

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

Congress rarely participates in litigation about the meaning of federal law. By contrast, the executive branch joins in federal litigation on a regular basis as either a party or amicus curiae. Congress simply assumes that the president’s lawyers adequately represent its interests save in those rare instances when the two branches have a direct conflict. This Article questions that assumption.

The federal judiciary’s approach to statutory and constitutional interpretation diminishes Congress’s influence, often to the benefit of the executive branch. The rise of textualism, the canon of constitutional avoidance, the reliance on Chevron deference, and the courts’ reluctance to second-guess …

Aryans, Gender, And American Politics, Robert Tsai

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

This short essay discusses some of the ways in which the Aryan movement in America activates gendered beliefs for the goal of legal, political, and cultural transformation. In recent years, the community has moved from common law theories of white sovereignty to more robust forms of racial constitutionalism. The piece is drawn from "America's Forgotten Constitutions: Defiant Visions of Power and Community"

Barack Obama And Congress: How The Rules Of The Caucus Hinder The President’S Legislative Agenda, Jordan Acker

Legislation and Policy Brief

In order to fix the Democratic caucus, strong leadership, combined with effective rules, are needed. First, the overall leadership needs to be restructured according to the ideology of the caucus. While strong leadership may come from the center or the left, it is important that leadership tend toward the center of the caucus, not the national political center. A moderate member of the caucus who is under no threat of removal, such as Senator Schumer, Senator Stabenow, or Senator Durbin, would make effective leaders. Part of the problem with the current leadership is, at times, it has failed to “pull …

Why The Honest Leadership And Open Government Act Of 2007 Falls Short, And How It Could Be Improved, Rand Robins

Legislation and Policy Brief

This paper will examine the track record of federal and state lobbying and campaign finance laws, as well as related First Amendment litigation, and propose alternative regulatory regimes accounting for the concerns raised when lobbying and campaign finance intersect. The scope of this paper will be limited in large measure by focusing on the HLOGA registration and disclosure provisions, and addressing campaign finance law tangentially where appropriate. Intended to bring greater transparency to the inner-workings of government, some of these provisions actually facilitate the potential of a small number of lobbyists to distort the political process.

Tax Relief In The American Recovery And Reinvestment Act Of 2009, Steven Gassert

Legislation and Policy Brief

On February 17, 2009, less than thirty days after his inauguration, President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). This new law was one of many measures from the new administration designed to quickly stimulate the ailing American economy. The $789 billion package was divided between direct government spending, tax reductions and financial relief to states and individuals. The bill contains $285.6 billion in tax reductions, which is about 36.3% of the legislation. In this article, I will analyze some of the tax provisions that were written into ARRA, and attempt to assess their …

Breathing New Life Into Old Technological Infrastructure: Broadband Internet As A Means Of Jump-Starting The Economy And Connecting The Country, Elizabeth Chernow

Legislation and Policy Brief

This paper examines the current structure of universal service and the FCC’s Universal Service Fund, recent pushes to expand the definition of and funding for universal service to include broadband access, and how broadband internet can contribute to saving the ailing economy. This paper concludes by calling for the inclusion of broadband internet in the Universal Service Fund.

The Model Rules Of Professional Conduct And Political Campaign Activities, Lauren Gilius

Legislation and Policy Brief

This article will examine whether the American Bar Association’s (“ABA”) Model Rules of Professional Conduct (“Model Rules”) should apply to lawyers in situations where a lawyer-candidate or a lawyer involved in a disingenuous political campaign activity, particularly when the lawyer was not convicted on criminal charges. Though the American Bar Association said that the Model Rules apply to dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation by lawyers, even when acting in a non-professional capacity, the support for applying the Rules in this context is lacking.

This article will first briefly discuss the development of applying the Model Rules to the non-professional conduct, …

Help America Vote Act Enforcement, Tiana Butcher

Legislation and Policy Brief

Although the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) features extensive mandates, its enforcement provisions of are weaker than those found in previous federal election reform laws, including the Voting Rights Act and the National Voter Registration Act. Activists argue this limited enforcement power is a failing of the Act. Congress may have chosen to adopt weak enforcement mechanisms due to political posturing, lack of funding, faulty technology, or lobbying by the states. Regardless of the reason behind this choice, stronger enforcement mechanisms in HAVA would, paradoxically, fail to encourage election reform or deter election reform altogether.

Inter-American System, Diego Rodriguez-Pinzon

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.

One Person, One Vote, One Application: District Court Decision In Ray V. Texas Upholds Texas Absentee Voting Law That Disenfranchises Elderly And Disabled Voters, Sean Flynn

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.

Human Rights Hero - President Barack Obama, Stephen Wermiel

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.

Structure And Integrity, Susan Carle

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

In this Review Essay of David Luban's Legal Ethics and Human Dignity, I argue that although Professor Luban has not had much to say until now about "structural" concerns - namely, how lawyers' locations within institutions that organize access to power shape or should shape those lawyers' conduct - in his most recent work, another approach slips in as a supplement to his individualist framework. In this emerging supplement, structural concerns become increasingly important. Although individual integrity continues to matter most in Professor Luban's world view, it increasingly matters in the context of structural relations in which lawyers' ethical duties …

Foreword: A Symposium Exploring The Modern Legacy Of William Jennings Bryan, Susan Franck

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

William Jennings Bryan, known as "The Great Commoner," is one of the most controversial lawyers to hail from Nebraska.' While he may be best-known as a failed three-time Democratic nominee for U.S. President and the legal defender of creationism at the Scopes Monkey Trial, fundamental aspects of Bryan's life have been overlooked.

In a new biography, A Godly Hero: The Life of William Jennings Bryan, Professor Michael Kazin re-evaluates Bryan's legacy and charges us to consider the profound impact Bryan had upon the political, economic and legal reality of the United States. The book has been the subject of controversy. …

Humanitarian Intervention: The New Missing Link In The Fight To Prevent Crimes Against Humanity And Genocide, Paul Williams

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.

South Asian Americans In U.S. Politics, Roopa Nemi, Amala Nath

The Modern American

No abstract provided.

Earned Sovereignty: The Road To Resolving The Conflict Over Kosovo's Final Status, Paul Williams

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.

Conceptions Of Lawyers' Agency In Legal Ethics Scholarship, Susan Carle

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.

The American Prosecutor: Independence, Power, And The Threat Of Tyranny, Angela J. Davis

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

This Article compares the power, practices, and policies of the Independent Counsel with those of ordinary state and federal prosecutors and suggests that the purported distinctions turn out to be illusory. Part I charts the principal structural characteristics of the Independent Counsel and regular prosecutors, with particular focus on prosecutorial discretion and the charging power. This section notes the public outrage over former Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr and argues that the American prosecutor deserves similar scrutiny. Using illustrations from the author’s former experience as a public defender, this Part explains how regular prosecutors engage in the same acts of misconduct …

Re-Valuing Lawyering For Middle-Income Clients, Susan Carle

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.

Fostering Balance On The Federal Courts , Carl Tobias

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Separatism And The Democratic Entitlement, Diane Orentlicher

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.

The Rights Of Aliens In The 1980'S, Juan E. Mendez

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

No abstract provided.