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Articles 1 - 11 of 11

Full-Text Articles in Law

Truth, Deterrence, And The Impeachment Exception , James L. Kainen Jan 2007

Truth, Deterrence, And The Impeachment Exception , James L. Kainen

Faculty Scholarship

James v. Illinois permits illegally-obtained evidence to impeach defendants, but not defense witnesses. Thus far, all courts have construed James to allow impeachment of defendants' hearsay declarations. This article argues against allowing illegally-obtained evidence to impeach defendants' hearsay declarations because doing so unduly diminishes the exclusionary rule's deterrent effect. The distinction between impeaching defendants and defense witnesses disappears when courts allow prosecutors to impeach defendants' hearsay declarations. Because defense witnesses report exculpatory conduct of a defendant who always has a substantial interest in disguising his criminality, their testimony routinely incorporates defendant hearsay. Defense witness testimony thus routinely paves the way …


A Textual And Historical Case Against A Global Constitution, Andrew Kent Jan 2007

A Textual And Historical Case Against A Global Constitution, Andrew Kent

Faculty Scholarship

he emerging conventional wisdom in the legal academy is that individual rights under the U.S. Constitution should be extended to noncitizens outside the United States. This claim - called globalism in my article - has been advanced with increasing vigor in recent years, most notably in response to legal positions taken by the Bush administration during the war on terror. Against a Global Constitution challenges the textual and historical grounds advanced to support the globalist conventional wisdom and demonstrates that they have remarkably little support. At the same time, the article adduces textual and historical evidence that noncitizens were among …


Congress’S Under-Appreciated Power To Define And Punish Offenses Against The Law Of Nations, Andrew Kent Jan 2007

Congress’S Under-Appreciated Power To Define And Punish Offenses Against The Law Of Nations, Andrew Kent

Faculty Scholarship

Perhaps no Article I power of Congress is less understood than the power to define and punish . . . Offences against the Law of Nations. There are few scholarly works about the Clause; Congress, the Supreme Court, and the Executive Branch have seldom interpreted the Clause, and even then they have done so in a cursory and contradictory manner. Relying on textual analysis and Founding-era history and political theory to read the Clause in a different mannner than previous commentators, this Article seeks to rescue the Clause from obscurity and thereby enrich current foreign affairs debates. Not only is …


The Perpetual Anxiety Of Living Constitutionalism, Ethan J. Leib Jan 2007

The Perpetual Anxiety Of Living Constitutionalism, Ethan J. Leib

Faculty Scholarship

It certainly seems like the originalists are winning. Professor Jack Balkin--finding that he couldn't beat 'em--joined them. Living constitutionalists used to turn to Balkin as a reliable advocate; he recently wrote “we are all living constitutionalists now.” But Balkin has forsaken them. Losing such an important advocate might be a sign that what some once deemed the “ascendant” and dominant theory in constitutional interpretation is on the decline. Still, don't count living constitutionalism out of the game just yet--and don't think one can embrace Balkin's approach and a true living constitutionalism at the same time.


Why Supermajoritarianism Does Not Illuminate The Interpretive Debate Between Originalists And Non-Originalists, Ethan J. Leib Jan 2007

Why Supermajoritarianism Does Not Illuminate The Interpretive Debate Between Originalists And Non-Originalists, Ethan J. Leib

Faculty Scholarship

In A Pragmatic Defense of Originalism, they seek to explain why supermajoritarianism furnishes a new pragmatic defense of originalism. In this Essay, I dispute each of their substantive claims. First, I argue that there is nothing newly pragmatic about their defense. Although they claim to want to make originalists and pragmatists friends, nothing about their project is likely to accomplish this matchmaking. Second, I argue that there is no reason to believe that constitutional entrenchments produced under supermajoritarian decision rules are any more desirable as a general matter than rules produced under other, more relaxed, decision rules. At the core …


Military Voting And The Law: Procedural And Technological Solutions To The Ballot Transit Problem, R. Michael Alvarez, Thad E. Hall, Brian F. Roberts Jan 2007

Military Voting And The Law: Procedural And Technological Solutions To The Ballot Transit Problem, R. Michael Alvarez, Thad E. Hall, Brian F. Roberts

Fordham Urban Law Journal

In this Article, we examine how the issue of military voting has changed over time from one beset by procedural difficulties, often intentional with states changing election laws to promote military voting only within a given set of parameters and to restrict voting by those deemed unworthy of the franchise, to a logistical and technological issue that focuses on how new technologies can fully facilitate military voting. Part II of this Article will briefly outline the scope of the military and overseas voting issue. Part III will outline and address the conflicting statutory frameworks between federal and state election laws. …


From Ashcroft To Larios: Recent Redistricting Lessons From Georgia, Ronald Keith Gaddie, Charles S. Bullock, Iii Jan 2007

From Ashcroft To Larios: Recent Redistricting Lessons From Georgia, Ronald Keith Gaddie, Charles S. Bullock, Iii

Fordham Urban Law Journal

In this Article, we explore the impact of a court-ordered and implemented re-crafting of state legislative districts in the state of Georgia. First, we explore the notion of “fairness” in legislative redistricting and identify the factors associated with a “fair” map. We then describe the partisan nature of the 2001 Georgia state legislative redistricting and the political consequences of this most effective gerrymander. We also describe the two legal challenges to the Georgia maps—Georgia v. Ashcroft and Larios v. Cox—and discuss the path of both cases to the U.S. Supreme Court. We then explore the expected and observed consequences of …


Expressive Merchandise And The First Amendment In Public Fora, Genevieve Blake Jan 2007

Expressive Merchandise And The First Amendment In Public Fora, Genevieve Blake

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Courts have struggled to strike a balance between the interests of individuals and cities with the application of intermediate scrutiny to content-neutral time, place, and manner restrictions, and several variations have emerged. This Comment will examine the breadth of those approaches as they affect the determination of what expression triggers First Amendment protection. Ultimately, the Note will argue for a re-thinking of how courts evaluate the scope of First AMendment protection and municipal regulation of expressive activity.


A Price On Volunteerism:The Public Has A Higher Duty To Accommodate Volunteers, Lauren Attard Jan 2007

A Price On Volunteerism:The Public Has A Higher Duty To Accommodate Volunteers, Lauren Attard

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Comment first examines the issues presented in Bauer (including the holding that the Americans with Disabilities Act does not protect these volunteers from discrimination) and the court’s rationale for finding that volunteers are not protected under Title III. Part II explores the requirements and differences between Title I and Title III and provides some history of the definitions of “volunteer” and “employee.” Part III presents a public duty thesis arguing that the responsibility of providing accommodations should not belong solely to employers in the context of employees, or public accommodations in the context of patrons, but to all factions …


Poverty, Inequality, And Class In The Structural Constitutional Law Course, Stephen Loffredo Jan 2007

Poverty, Inequality, And Class In The Structural Constitutional Law Course, Stephen Loffredo

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Article argues that poverty and income inequality issues should be taught in a constitutional law course. Furthermore, it argues that these issues should not only be considered when discussing due process, equal protection, the First Amendment, but in also within the context of structural constitutional law, i.e. separation of powers and federalism.


Payton, Practical Wisdom, And The Pragmatist Judge: Is Payton's Goal To Prevent Unreasonable Entries Or To Effectuate Home Arrests?, Christos Papapetrou Jan 2007

Payton, Practical Wisdom, And The Pragmatist Judge: Is Payton's Goal To Prevent Unreasonable Entries Or To Effectuate Home Arrests?, Christos Papapetrou

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Comment analyzes the conflicting "objective" and "subjective" tests that courts use to determine if a law enforcement officer's entry into a suspect's home is valid following the Supreme Court's holding in Payton v. New York that an arrest warrant implicitly carries with it a right to enter a suspect's home when there is "reason to believe" it is the suspect's residence and that the suspect is inside. The Comment questions how courts should interpret the "reason to believe" standard and analyzes an approach put forth by Professor Matthew A. Edwards in his article, Posner's Pragmatism and Payton Home Arrests. …