Law Commons^™

The Right To Amend State Constitutions, Jessica Bulman-Pozen, Miriam Seifter

Faculty Scholarship

This Essay explores the people's right to amend state constitutions and threats to that right today. It explains how democratic proportionality review can help courts distinguish unconstitutional infringement of the right from legitimate regulation. More broadly, the Essay considers the distinctive state constitutional architecture that popular amendment illuminates.

Municipal Law—A Wedge In Climate Initiatives: How State Legislatures’ Preemption Of Local Government’S Role In Climate Change Policy And Arkansas’ Act 308 Of 2021 Are Misplaced., Travis Golliher

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Revenge Porn, Thomas Lonardo, Tricia P. Martland, Rhode Island Bar Journal

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Initiative And Referendum, Carter V. Celebrezze, Maryanne Rackoff

Akron Law Review

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the process of popular legislation through the use of initiative and referendum measures gained popularity in the United States. It was during this period that twelve states, including Ohio, adopted the measures of initiative and referendum. Theodore Roosevelt advocated the adoption of these measures at the Ohio Constitutional Convention of 1912 where the Ohio legislature enacted provisions for the use of these methods of popular legislation.

The Falcon Cannot Hear The Falconer: How California's Initiative Process Is Creating An Untenable Constitution, Rudy Klapper

Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review

Californians have always cherished the idea that ultimate political power lies in the people, an idea best represented by the state’s hugely influential initiative process. Today, however, that initiative power threatens to spiral out of control, thanks in large part to the California Supreme Court’s inability to construe appropriate limits on it. This has created an unbalanced government where the rights of minorities are easily circumscribed and the financial and political infrastructure of the state is in danger of buckling under the combined weight of dozens of initiatives. This Article argues that the judiciary’s haphazard interpretation of various rules and …

Fixing Hollingsworth: Standing In Initiative Cases, Karl Manheim, John S. Caragozian, Donald Warner

Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review

In Hollingsworth v. Perry, the Supreme Court dismissed an appeal filed by the “Official Proponents” of California’s Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in California. Chief Justice Roberts’ majority opinion held that initiative sponsors lack Article III standing to defend their ballot measures even when state officials refuse to defend against constitutional challenges. As a result, Hollingsworth provides state officers with the ability to overrule laws that were intended to bypass the government establishment—in effect, an “executive veto” of popularly-enacted initiatives.

The Article examines this new “executive veto” in depth. It places Hollingsworth in context, discussing the initiative process …

California's Constitutional Right To Privacy, J. Clark Kelso

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Land Use By, For, And Of The People: Problems With The Application Of Initiatives And Referenda To The Zoning Process, Nicolas M. Kublicki

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Internet Voting With Initiatives And Referendums: Stumbling Towards Direct Democracy, Rebekah K. Browder

Seattle University Law Review

Imagine that it is Tuesday, November 4, 2008, and you realize that you have not yet voted for the candidate that you want to be President of the United States. The polls close at 7 p.m., and it is already 6:45 p.m. Instead of rushing off to the nearest polling place, you simply go to your computer, log in, fill out a ballot, and email your ballot to your designated polling website. The whole process takes fewer than ten minutes, and you have done your civic duty. Leading proponents of Internet voting point to five possible benefits of electronic voting: …

Initiative Process In Washington, Philip A. Talmadge

Seattle University Law Review

This is an introduction to the Seattle University Law Review's Symposium on the initiative process in Washington. In this Symposium, the authors address a variety of issues associated with the initiative process in our state. They examine the specific case of Initiative 695, the role of the courts in reviewing initiatives, the application of the Republican Government Clause in the United States Constitution to Washington's initiative process, and the larger question of whether the entire initiative process is unconstitutional. These articles are timely analyses of a pressing public issue. This Seattle University Law Review Symposium on initiatives will highlight difficult …

A Comment On The Evolution Of Direct Democracy In Western State Constitutions, Patrick L. Baude

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Divestment Of Federal Water Projects, A. Jack Garner

Dams: Water and Power in the New West (Summer Conference, June 2-4)

21 pages.

Contains references.

Playing Defense, Robert F. Nagel

Publications

Noting that the Romer opinion condemns the motives behind Amendment 2 without pausing even briefly to examine the social context in which it was enacted, Professor Nagel describes the decision as a model of the intolerant impulse in action. He traces this impulse to the Justices' unwillingness to examine their own role--and that of the rest of the constitutional law establishment--in creating the underlying conditions that produced Amendment 2.

In order to identify those conditions, Professor Nagel analyzes the primary document used by Colorado for Family Values during its campaign on behalf of the initiative. He argues that this document …