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Full-Text Articles in Law
Protecting Local Authority In State Constitutions And Challenging Intrastate Preemption, Emily S.P. Baxter
Protecting Local Authority In State Constitutions And Challenging Intrastate Preemption, Emily S.P. Baxter
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
In recent years, state legislatures have increasingly passed laws that prohibit or preempt local action on a variety of issues, including fracking, LGBTQIA nondiscrimination, and workplace protections, among others. Often, these preemption laws are a direct response to action at the local level. States pass preemption laws either directly before or directly after a locality passes an ordinance on the same subject. Scholars have seen these preemptive moves as the outcome of the urban disadvantage in state and national government due to partisan gerrymandering.
Preemption may be a feature of our governing system, but it has also become a problematic …
Executing The Laws Or Executing An Agenda: Usurpation Of Statutory And Constitutional Rights By The Department Of Justice, Christopher C. Sabis
Executing The Laws Or Executing An Agenda: Usurpation Of Statutory And Constitutional Rights By The Department Of Justice, Christopher C. Sabis
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
The Department ofJustice (DOJ) can compel individuals and entities to sacrifice their constitutional or statutory rights. The DOJ can do so through brute political force, settlements and consent decrees, selective statutory enforcement, and prosecutions that coerce future actors not to pursue goals contrary to the policy desires of the executive branch. The current regime provides few constraints on the DOJ's ability to abuse its legal authority to achieve political objectives. This unbridled power jeopardizes the rights of both opposing and third parties.
This Note examines, in a bipartisan manner, the methods the Justice Department employs that deprive opponents or third …