Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Law Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Fordham Law School

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Federal courts

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Law

How Much Protection Do Injunctions Against Enforcement Of Allegedly Unconstitutional Statutes Provide?, Vikram David Amar Jan 2004

How Much Protection Do Injunctions Against Enforcement Of Allegedly Unconstitutional Statutes Provide?, Vikram David Amar

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This essay addresses the unresolved effects of preliminary injunctions issued by federal district courts in response to legislation that is possibly unconstitutional. More problematically, set against the backdrop of the "Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003," the essay asks whether an individual who violates the contested statute after receiving a preliminary injunction from a federal district court may be prosecuted if the statute is later upheld as constitutional. The essay analyzes competing arguments by Justice Stevens and Justice Marshall in Edgar v. MITE Corp., which involved a federal preliminary injunction against enforcement of a state statute. Siding with Justice …


Sorting Out Federal And State Judicial Roles In State Insitutional Reform: Abstention's Potential Role, Charles R. Wise, Robert K. Christensen Jan 2001

Sorting Out Federal And State Judicial Roles In State Insitutional Reform: Abstention's Potential Role, Charles R. Wise, Robert K. Christensen

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The U.S. Supreme Court has given federal courts the authority to abstain from hearing certain cases and defer to state courts in some cases where constitutional or federal statutory rights have been violated. This piece attempts to clarify the abstention requirements and provide a clear rationale for the doctrine. Part I of this piece discusses the origin and development of the abstention doctrine, focusing specifically on the Burford abstention, a kind of abstention particularly salient to institutional reform cases. Part I also illustrates the inconsistencies inherent in the application of the abstention doctrine in its current form. Parts II and …