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Legislation

Fordham Law School

Federalism

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Full-Text Articles in Law

Dissing Congress , Ruth Colker, James J. Brudney Jan 2001

Dissing Congress , Ruth Colker, James J. Brudney

Faculty Scholarship

This article adopts a novel separation of powers framework to analyze the Rehnquist Court's recent decisions under the Commerce Clause and Section Five of the Fourteenth Amendment. We demonstrate in historical terms how the Court's methods for assessing the constitutional adequacy of federal laws have changed dramatically since the mid-1990s, and we argue that these new methods are undermining the proper role of Congress and producing a significant shift in the balance of power between the Branches. We identify two distinct methodologies employed by the Rehnquist Court that have resulted in growing disrespect for Congress - the "crystal ball" and …


Opening Remarks: The States And Cities As Federal Laboratories Of Democracy, Frederick A.O. Schwarz, Jr. Jan 1999

Opening Remarks: The States And Cities As Federal Laboratories Of Democracy, Frederick A.O. Schwarz, Jr.

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Mr. Schwarz’s opening remarks address the function of local and state governments in stimulating more widespread change. He begins by providing examples of such inspiration to change throughout American History. First, Mr. Schwarz discusses the role of states in forging both institutional process reforms and social, substantive, and economic changes. Next, he discusses the advantages of using localities as grounds to test social experiments. Lastly, Mr. Schwarz discusses the relationship between experimentation in localities and federalism values, both generally and with specific regard to the role of minority interests. These remarks were made at From the Ground Up: Local Lessons …