Law Commons^™

Against Capital Punishment, Zac Bright, Ben Austin (Editor)

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

Capital punishment has a strong legal precedence in the United States. Capital punishment has been a penal option for those who commit conspicuously wrong acts. For such acts, the punishment seems to be proportional to the crime. In addition to the punishment’s adherence to proportionality, capital punishment mitigates problematic outcomes.

This paper advocates, however, that capital punishment should be classified as “cruel and unusual punishment.” Such violation of the eighth amendment delegitimizes capital punishment. Consequently, The Federal Death Penalty Act of 1994 should no longer be considered a valid law because of its constitutional violation.

The Fourth Amendment In A Digital Age: Defining Boundaries In Law Enforcement Surveillance Of The Home, Josh Hoffman, Jared Xia

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

As our country enters a new digital age, emerging technologies have increased the ability of law enforcement to monitor American citizens more closely. The tracking of suspects through thermal imaging, video monitoring, and cell phone GPSs are just a few examples of the unlocked potential now available to investigating authorities. When directed at the home, these technologies allow for unprecedented encroachment of our most intimate sphere of daily life. With this accelerating prevalence of technology in surveillance practices comes the need to reassess what boundaries the Fourth Amendment defines for our privacy. This paper explores the application of the Reasonable …

The Shadow Docket: What Is Happening And What Should Be Done, Collin Mitchell

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

In light of recent emergency decisions made by the Court ranging from issues addressing the COVID-19 pandemic, religious freedom, abortion rights, and polarized redistricting plans, the Supreme Courts use of the shadow docket has come under renewed scrutiny. This paper argues that the Court's use of the shadow docket, while permissible in the past, is threatening the legitimacy of the Supreme Court and unduly burdening the American Judicial System at large. Due to these effects, this paper advocates to reduce the Supreme Court's use of the shadow docket through the creation of a new specialized court system to handle emergency …

Determining The Constitutionality Of Public Aid To Parochial Schools After Espinoza, Anna Bryner

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

No abstract provided.

Preventing A Permanent Underclass: Why In-State Tuition For Daca Students Just Makes Sense, Christian Bowcutt, Eliza Allen

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

In the landmark 1982 Supreme Court Case "Plyler v. Doe", the right to a free education was guaranteed to undocumented students. One of the reasons for this was to "prevent a permanent underclass". Today, we have a similar opportunity to lift our fellow peers by passing legislation to guarantee in-state tuition to DACA recipients. DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) is a program that grants temporary citizenship to qualifying children and youth who are brought to the United States with their parent(s) or guardian(s). Currently, the majority of states have not guaranteed this right to DACA students. With tuition rates …

Trusting The Process: Amendments To The Supreme Court Process And Their Implications On The Essential Attributes Of The Judiciary In Today's Political Environment, Bailey Swainston

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

The Supreme Court nomination process evolved over the past years to include changes not specified in the Constitution. Because of the obstruction and filibuster of nominees by the Senate minority parties, the “nuclear option” was instituted and effectively modified the process. The life long tenures of the Justices, the increase of public attention to the process and the Supreme Court’s decisions is causing nominees to face an unnecessarily difficult path to a seat in the Supreme Court. We address this issue by discussing (1) the recent changes to the process and their effects, (2) the consequences of life-long tenure and …

Corporation Of The Presiding Bishop V. Amos, Matthew David Dimick

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

The Supreme Court has long sought for a consistent principle in constitutional theory that will "be a master principle that can guide the interpretation of both religion clauses" (Tushnet, 1691). Indeed, at times both the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause seem to contradict. Such an instance arose in Corporation of the Presiding Bishop v. Amos. In this case the Court applied the religious accommodation principle to allow a religious group the right to remain an autonomous entity thereby maintaining protection guaranteed under the Free Exercise Clause, also recognizing "that the government may (and sometimes must) accommodate religious practices …

The Legacy Of The Brown Decision, Abbie Froerer

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

The landmark case regarding school desegregation, Brown v. Board o/ Education of Topeka, was brought by Oliver Brown on behalf of his daughter Linda. Under Kansas law, cities with populations over 15,000 were permitted, but not required, to provide two separate school facilities for white and colored students (Kansas. Gen. Stat. §72- 1724, 1949). Topeka chose to segregate its elementary schools. Consequently, Linda was forced to walk twenty blocks to attend an all-black grade school rather than attend the all-white one in her neighborhood. Several other black families joined the Browns in pursuing their goal.

The Pentagon Papers, Mike Gartner

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

The case New York Times Co. v. United States was a landmark case that involved the right of a free press and the fundamental First Amendment rights of the American People. What follows is an exploration into this case and how it reached the Supreme Court. First we will examine a brief history of what became to be known as the "Pentagon Papers" and finally look into each decision reached in the federal courts, and of course the decision of the Supreme Court.

Bowers V. Hardwick: Diverging Interpretations, Warren D. Leishman

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

Rarely does the serving of a simple misdemeanor warrant result in a case tried before the highest court in the land, but this is what happened to Michael Hardwick in August, 1982. Police officers arriving at his house were let in by a houseguest who led the policemen to the bedroom. At this point they stumbled upon Hardwick engaged in a sexual act with another man, an act which, under Georgia Code 16-6-2, constituted sodomy and was thus punishable "by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than twenty years." Michael Hardwick was arrested and charged, the first such …

"The Right Of Privacy", Fernando Bustos

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

The concept of a right of privacy is one that is currently the focal point of the argument for legalized abortion, and for women's rights in general. By examining the history of this issue, along with its influence upon the U.S. Constitution, and the decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court, we will be better enabled to understand the legal debate at hand.