Law Commons^™

Federalism At Step Zero, Miriam Seifter

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Supremacy Of The Supremacy Clause: A Garamendi-Based Framework For Assessing State Law That Intersects With U.S. Foreign Policy, Alexandria R. Strauss

Fordham Law Review

State and local governments across the United States increasingly act in areas that intersect with foreign policy. Federalism concerns and U.S. foreign relations are thus in constant tension.
In American Insurance Ass’n v. Garamendi, the U.S. Supreme Court in 2003 both expanded and detracted from where states and localities may permissibly act in areas that touch upon foreign affairs. This Note works within the confines of Garamendi to outline four distinct categories of state action that might intersect with foreign relations. It discusses how lower courts, namely the Ninth Circuit, the Eleventh Circuit, and the Northern District of Illinois, …

Toil And Trouble: How The Erie Doctrine Became Structurally Incoherent (And How Congress Can Fix It), Alan M. Trammell

Fordham Law Review

The Erie doctrine is still a minefield. It has long been a source of frustration for scholars and students, and recent case law has exacerbated the troubles. Although other scholars have noted and criticized these developments, this Article explores a deeper systemic problem that remains undeveloped in the literature. In its present form, the Erie doctrine fails to protect any coherent vision of the structural interests that supposedly are at its core—federalism, separation of powers, and equality.

This Article argues that Congress has the power to fix nearly all of these problems. Accordingly, it proposes a novel statute to revamp …

Federalism, Subsidiarity, And The Role Of Local Governments In An Age Of Global Multilevel Governance, Yishai Blank

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This article argues that current legal and political systems are incapable of dealing with human conflicts on multiple spheres (federal, state, local) simultaneously. The two dominant political theories that are supposed to solve this problem - federalism and subsidiarity, are inadequate. This article then argues that federalism and subsidiarity must be understood as distinct from one another, and subsidiarity is a better fit for the task of articulating multi-level governance, even if only as a tool for loosening the grip of federalism over our political and legal theory.

Should Preemption Apply In A Pharmaceutical Context? An Analysis Of The Preemption Debate And What Regulatory Compliance Statutes Contribute To The Discussion, Jennifer A. Surprenant

Fordham Law Review

Should the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s determination that a product is safe negate a private litigant’s cause of action under state law in all circumstances, unless the FDA determines that the manufacturer withheld relevant information regarding the safety of the product? This Note concludes that such federal preemption is proper because the FDA is fully capable of making a determination regarding the adequacy of the information disclosed by a pharmaceutical manufacturer without state interference. Additionally, such interference on the state level hinders the FDA’s objectives and effective functioning. Thus, determinations about the adequacy of the information provided to the …

Upstairs, Downstairs: Subnational Incorporation Of International Human Rights Law At The End Of An Era, Martha F. Davis

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

"Federalizing" Immigration Law: International Law As A Limitation On Congress's Power To Legislate In The Field Of Immigration, Shayana Kadidal

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Keynote Address, A Community Of Reason And Rights, Harold Hongju Koh, William Michael Treanor

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Vertical Learning: On Baker And Rodriguez's "Constitutional Home Rule And Judicial Scrutiny", Nestor M. Davidson

Faculty Scholarship

In Constitutional Home Rule and Judicial Scrutiny, Lynn Baker and Daniel Rodriguez start an important conversation about an interesting and understudied puzzle. In one view of vertical federalism, the federal government is understood as constrained to enumerated powers, states retain plenary police power, and local governments are traditionally creatures of the state. This view yields something of structural constitutional bell curve that situates the heart of sovereignty at the state level, leaving the federal government and local governments with forms of limited authority on either end. Despite this seemingly privileged state position, however, federal courts seem unwilling in the main …

The Constitutional Dimension Of Immigration Federalism, Clare Huntington

Faculty Scholarship

Although the federal government is traditionally understood to enjoy exclusive authority over immigration, states and localities are increasingly asserting a role in this field. This development has sparked vigorous debate on the propriety of such involvement, but the debate is predicated on a misunderstanding of the nature of federal exclusivity. Challenging the conventional wisdom that the Constitution precludes a meaningful role for state and local involvement in immigration.

This Article argues that the Constitution allows immigration authority to be shared among levels of government. After establishing the correctness of this view of immigration authority, this Article argues that the constitutionality …

Cooperative Localism: Federal-Local Collaboration In An Era Of State Sovereignty Part Ii: Federalism, Nestor M. Davidson

Faculty Scholarship

Direct relations between the federal government and local governments - what this article calls "cooperative localism" - play a significant and underappreciated role in areas of contemporary policy as disparate as homeland security, law enforcement, disaster response, economic development, social services, immigration, and environmental protection. Despite the ubiquity of this practice, a jurisprudential clash is looming that threatens this important facet of intergovernmental relations. Historically, courts have allowed local governments to invoke federal authority as a source of local autonomy, despite the prevailing view of local governments as powerless instrumentalities of the state. The Supreme Court is increasingly suggesting, however, …

Countermajoritarian Federalism, Thomas H. Lee

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Judicial Oversight In Two Dimensions: Charting Area And Intensity In The Decisions Of Justice Stevens, Allison Marston Danner, Adam Marcus Samaha

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Fighting Federalism With Federalism: If It's Not Just A Battle Between Federalists And Nationalists, What Is It?, David J. Barron

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Justice Stevens's Theory Of Interactive Federalism, Robert A. Schapiro

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Commerce Clause And Federal Abortion Law: Why Progressives Might Be Tempted To Embrace Federalism, Jordan Goldberg

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

From States' Rights Blues To Blue States' Rights: Federalism After The Rehnquist Court, Kathleen M. Sullivan

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Federalism As Westphalian Liberalism, Roderick M. Hills, Jr.

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Cafa And Erie: Unconstitutional Consequences?, Justin D. Forlenza

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Guns, Drugs, And Federalism: Rethinking Commerce-Enabled Regulation Of Mere Possession, Marcus Green

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Supreme Court, The Violence Against Women Act, And The Use And Abuse Of Federalism, Sally F. Goldfarb

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Dissing Congress , Ruth Colker, James J. Brudney

Faculty Scholarship

This article adopts a novel separation of powers framework to analyze the Rehnquist Court's recent decisions under the Commerce Clause and Section Five of the Fourteenth Amendment. We demonstrate in historical terms how the Court's methods for assessing the constitutional adequacy of federal laws have changed dramatically since the mid-1990s, and we argue that these new methods are undermining the proper role of Congress and producing a significant shift in the balance of power between the Branches. We identify two distinct methodologies employed by the Rehnquist Court that have resulted in growing disrespect for Congress - the "crystal ball" and …

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 …

Reno V. Condon: The Supreme Court Takes A Right Turn In Its Tenth Amendment Jurisprudence By Upholding The Constitutionality Of The Driver's Privacy Protection Act, Richard T. Cosgrove

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Urban Sprawl, Federalism, And The Problem Of Institutional Complexity, William W. Buzbee

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

State Sovereign Immunity And The False Claims Act: Respecting The Limitations Created By The Eleventh Amendment Upon The Federal Courts, James Y. Ho

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Opening Remarks: The States And Cities As Federal Laboratories Of Democracy, Frederick A.O. Schwarz, Jr.

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Mr. Schwarz’s opening remarks address the function of local and state governments in stimulating more widespread change. He begins by providing examples of such inspiration to change throughout American History. First, Mr. Schwarz discusses the role of states in forging both institutional process reforms and social, substantive, and economic changes. Next, he discusses the advantages of using localities as grounds to test social experiments. Lastly, Mr. Schwarz discusses the relationship between experimentation in localities and federalism values, both generally and with specific regard to the role of minority interests. These remarks were made at From the Ground Up: Local Lessons …

Federalism For The New Millennium: Accounting For The Values Of Federalism, Dennis M. Cariello

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Article explores the long and intricate history of federalism, the arrangement between the federal and local governments to serve the people, in the United States. It begins with the beginnings of federalism in pre-colonial times and continues to discuss how recent Supreme Court decisions have failed to articulate a cohesive test for federalism issues. Ultimately, the Article proposes a method for resolving federalism disputes. This method focuses on the sociopolitical and economic benefits of federalism as the Framers intended. Further, it argues that courts should inquire as to the utility of either the federal or local government regulating a …

The States And International Human Rights, Peter J. Spiro

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Little Train That Couldn't: Did The Pennsylvania Anti-Takeover Statute Fail To Protect Conrail From A Hostile Suitor?, David N. Hecht

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.