Law Commons^™

Judicial Independence In 2012 Under Russian President Vladimir Putin - An Exploration Of What "Judicial Independence" Really Means, And How It Remains Elusive In Russia, Alex E. Wolcott

Alex E Wolcott

This Article examines the current state of judicial independence in Russia. It considers how the various branches of government interact with each other, what the driving forces are for continuing the tradition of federal control over the judiciary, and how the 2012 reelection of Russian President Vladimir Putin will continue steering Russia away from an independent judiciary without international pressure and assistance. Lastly, this Article considers what steps can be taken to demonstrate to the Russian government and its people that an independent judiciary is the heart of enforcing the rule of law and establishing a successful country. The Russian …

Originalism & Early Civil Search Statutes: Searches & The Misunderstood History Of Suspicion & Probable Cause, Fabio Arcila

Fabio Arcila Jr.

Originalist analyses of the Framers’ views about governmental search power have devoted insufficient attention to the civil search statutes they promulgated. What attention has been paid, primarily as part of what I term the “conventional account,” has it that the Framers were divided about how accessible search remedies should be. This article explains why this conventional account is mostly wrong, and explores the lessons to be learned from the statutory choices the Framers made with regard to search and seizure law.

In enacting civil search statutes, the Framers chose to depart from common law standards and instead largely followed the …