Law Commons^™

The Future Interpretation Of The Constitution As A Result Of The Reelection Of President Barack Obama, Wilson Huhn

Akron Law Faculty Publications

On November 6, 2012, Barack Obama was reelected President of the United States. What effect will this have on the future interpretation of the Constitution? This article identifies 19 areas of constitutional law that would likely change if one more liberal justice is appointed to the Supreme Court.

The Decision Of The Supreme Court On The Constitutionality Of The Ppaca, Wilson Huhn

Akron Law Faculty Publications

This powerpoint presentation summarizes the opinion of Chief Justice Roberts in NFIB v. Sebelius, upholding the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

The Civil Rights Movement And The Constitution, Wilson Huhn

Akron Law Faculty Publications

This presentation of March 3, 2012, describes the influence that the Civil Rights Movement has had on the interpretation of the Constitution. The Civil Rights Movement not only broadened our understanding of the principle of equality under Equal Protection, it also expanded opportunities for Freedom of Expression and the Right to Privacy. In addition, the Civil Rights Movement stimulated the courts to recognize the power of Congress to enact legislation under the Commerce Clause and Section 5 of the 14th Amendment. Finally, as a result of the Civil Rights Movement, the Supreme Court has moved to a more realistic, consequentialist …

The Growing Acceptance And Legal Recognition Of Same-Sex Marriage In America Constitutes A Victory For Reality-Based Thinking, Wilson Huhn

Akron Law Faculty Publications

During the 20th century “pragmatism” emerged as the leading American philosophy and policy analysis – also called “legal realism” – became the dominant method of interpreting American law. The lightning speed with which same-sex marriage is gaining acceptance in the United States is due to the fact that Americans embrace realistic rather than ideological forms of thinking, and the growing recognition of same-sex marriage in the law is due to the fact that we interpret our Constitution in accordance with realistic analysis.

The Constitutionality Of The Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act, Wilson Huhn

Akron Law Faculty Publications

This presentation of April 26, 2012 presents data explaining why universal health care coverage is necessary, what the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will accomplish, and the constitutional challenges that the Supreme Court is considering.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton And The Notion Of A Legal Class Of Gender, Tracy A. Thomas

Akron Law Faculty Publications

In the mid-nineteenth century, Elizabeth Cady Stanton used narratives of women and their involvement with the law of domestic relations to collectivize women. This recognition of a gender class was the first step towards women’s transformation of the law. Stanton’s stories of working-class women, immigrants, Mormon polygamist wives, and privileged white women revealed common realities among women in an effort to form a collective conscious. The parable-like stories were designed to inspire a collective consciousness among women, one capable of arousing them to social and political action. For to Stanton’s consternation, women showed a lack of appreciation of their own …

Law, History, And Feminism, Tracy A. Thomas

Akron Law Faculty Publications

This is the introduction to the book, Feminist Legal History. This edited collection offers new visions of American legal history that reveal women’s engagement with the law over the past two centuries. It integrates the stories of women into the dominant history of the law in what has been called “engendering legal history,” (Batlan 2005) and then seeks to reconstruct the assumed contours of history. The introduction provides the context necessary to appreciate the diverse essays in the book. It starts with an overview of the existing state of women’s legal history, tracing the core events over the past two …

Mcdonald V. Chicago, Self-Defense, The Right To Bear Arms, And The Future, Richard Aynes

Akron Law Faculty Publications

This article examines the opinion of the Court in McDonald v. Chicago and its implications for the future. The author participated as a party-amicus in the case and an article he authored in 1993 was cited by the Court.

Using a concept that others have applied in other situations, this paper suggests that Chicago was a “outlier” and that this case simply involved reigning in a maverick outlier. While the paper finds Justice Thomas’s concurring opinion (with the exception of dicta on the establishment clause) being the most faithful to the meaning, intention, and public understanding of the 14th Amendment, …

Constantly Approximating Popular Sovereignty: Seven Fundamental Principles Of Constitutional Law, Wilson Huhn

Akron Law Faculty Publications

The concept of “popular sovereignty” is not a simple, singular, unified concept; instead, as it has developed in the United States, popular sovereignty embraces the following seven fundamental principles:

1. The Rule of Law. The people are sovereign and their will is expressed through law.

2. Limited Government. The people are sovereign, not the government. By adopting the Constitution the people created the government, imposed limits upon its power, and divided that power among different levels and branches.

3. Inalienable Rights. Every individual person is sovereign in the sense that he or she retains certain inalienable rights, which the government …

Mcdonald V. Chicago, The Fourteenth Amendment, The Right To Bear Arms And The Right Of Self-Defense, Richard L. Aynes

Akron Law Faculty Publications

The Supreme Court of the United States has granted certiorari in the case of McDonald v. City of Chicago to consider this question:

"Whether the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms is incorporated as against the States by the Fourteenth Amendment’s Privileges or Immunities or Due Process Clauses."

This case follows and seeks to build upon District of Columbia v. Heller which held that the Second Amendment protects both the right to self-defense and what has been termed an individual right to bear arms. Of course, Heller’s application is limited to the federal government and has no direct …

Enforcing The Bill Of Rights Against The States: The History And The Future, Richard Aynes

Akron Law Faculty Publications

This article traces, in broad strokes, the history of the disputes about whether or not the Bill of Rights can be enforced against the states.

It begins with pre-Fourteenth Amendment claims and recounts the actions of the 39th Congress: The Freedman’s Bureau, the Civil Rights Act of 1866, and the Fourteenth Amendment. Several speeches on the Amendment from the Congressional elections of 1866 are utilized, including those of Section 1 author John Bingham, Congressmen Columbus Delano, Rutherford B. Hayes, James Wilson, James Garfield, and Senator John Sherman, as well as Democrats who participated in what has been termed the most …

Ink Blot Or Not: The Meaning Of Privileges And/Or Immunities, Richard Aynes

Akron Law Faculty Publications

This article examines the meaning of the terms privileges and immunities as used in Article IV of the U.S. Constitution and the Fourteenth Amendment. It begins by tracing the American use of the terms to April 10, 1606 in the first Charter of Virginia. Building upon the work of other scholars and citing original documents, it concludes that these words has a well-established meaning as “rights” well before the Fourteenth Amendment was adopted. The article notes that in Justice Miller’s decision in the Slaughter-House Cases he refers to the privileges and immunities of Corfield v. Coryell as “those rights which …

39th Congress (1865-1867) And The 14th Amendment: Some Preliminary Perspectives, Richard Aynes

Akron Law Faculty Publications

The 39th Congress (1865-1867) was one of the important Congresses in our history. It passed more legislation than any other Congress up to that time.

This preliminary examination of the 39th Congress begins with a look it composition. One of the critical factors was that while the 38th Congress contained a majority of unionists, the 39th Congress contained a super-majority which meant not only that they could override a Presidential veto, but also that they did not need to take the Democratic opposition seriously. This article also identifies the leadership of the 39th Congress. The 38th Congress was composed of …

Cross Burning A Hate Speech Under The First Amendment To The United States Constitution, Wilson Huhn

Akron Law Faculty Publications

Under the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, ‘hate speech’ is constitutionally protected unless the circumstances of the case indicate that the speaker intended to threaten violence or provoke an immediate act of violence. While a person may be removed from a classroom or fired from employment for engaging in ‘hate speech’, under the First Amendment a person may be charged with a crime only if their statements constitute a threat or provocation of immediate violence. Moreover, even in cases where it is clear that a person is threatening violence or that violence is imminent, the person …

Legacy Of Slaughterhouse. Bradwell, And Cruikshank In Constitutional Interpretation, Wilson Huhn

Akron Law Faculty Publications

The Slaughterhouse Cases, Bradwell v. Illinois, and Cruikshank v. United States, which were all decided between 1873 and 1876, were the first cases in which the Supreme Court interpreted the 14th Amendment. The reasoning and holdings of the Supreme Court in those cases have affected constitutional interpretation in ways which are both profound and unfortunate. The conclusions that the Court drew about the meaning of the 14th Amendment shortly after its adoption were contrary to the intent of the framers of that Amendment and a betrayal of the sacrifices which had been made by the people of that period. In …

Ten Questions On Gay Rights And Freedom Of Religion, Wilson Huhn

Akron Law Faculty Publications

In my opinion most of the legal and social problems that arise under the Constitution stem from the belief, held by some people, that they are better than other people. They do not hate anyone. They simply believe that they are superior and that the law ought to treat them better than the other group. This is true of whites who think they are superior to blacks, men who think they are superior to women, and heterosexuals who think they are superior to homosexuals.

People have often justified these types of beliefs by appeal to religion and have attempted to …

Infinite Hope-- Introduction To The Symposium: The 140th Anniversary Of The Fourteenth Amendment, Elizabeth Reilly

Akron Law Faculty Publications

The Fourteenth Amendment embodies hope. This article introduces the Symposium celebrating the 140th anniversary of its ratification, held at the University of Akron. The symposium was a fruitful occasion to reflect upon the meaning of the Amendment to its Framers in Congress and as it was initially interpreted by the United States Supreme Court and the public, and to examine the lasting impacts of both conceptions. Our participants especially examined three of the Supreme Court's earliest forays into applying the Fourteenth Amendment: The Slaughter House Cases, Bradwell v. Illinois, and Cruikshank v. United States. Those forays succeeded in cramping the …

The Union As It Wasn't And The Constitution As It Isn't: Section Five And Altering The Balance Of Power, Elizabeth Reilly

Akron Law Faculty Publications

The original prototype of Section One of the Fourteenth Amendment, as introduced by its primary Framer, John Bingham of Ohio, read: The Congress shall have the power to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper to secure to the citizens of each State all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States, and to all persons in the several States equal protection in the rights of life, liberty, and property.

Bingham went on to note expressly that “save the words conferring the express grant of power to the Congress,” the principles of the rights were already in …

Bush V. Boumediene: The Court Is Back, Jay Dratler

Akron Law Faculty Publications

This short article is a follow-up to a piece I wrote two years ago on Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, SSRN No. 913822. While applauding the result in Hamdan, I critiqued the Supreme Court for missing a “teachable moment” and obscuring the great issues at stake in prolixity and mind-numbing technical detail.

In this article, I applaud the Boumediene v. Bush Court not only for its result—that the Constitution’s Suspension Clause can require habeas corpus for aliens held abroad under certain circumstances—but for its reasoning and style as well. This time, the majority of five did not miss its “teachable …

Waterboarding Is Illegal, Wilson R. Huhn

Akron Law Faculty Publications

In his 2007 confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee considering his nomination to be Attorney General of the United States, Judge Michael Mukasey refused to address the legality of waterboarding. In my opinion there is no reasonable dispute about this matter. The laws of the United States make waterboarding unlawful in no uncertain terms.

Congress Has The Power To Enforce The Bill Of Rights Against The Federal Government: Therefore Fisa Is Constitutional And The President's Terrorist Surveillance Program Is Illegal, Wilson R. Huhn

Akron Law Faculty Publications

The principal point of this Article is that Congress has plenary authority to enforce the Bill of Rights against the federal government. Although this precept is a fundamental one, neither the Supreme Court nor legal scholars have articulated this point in clear, simple, and direct terms. The Supreme Court does not have a monopoly on the Bill of Rights. Congress, too, has constitutional authority to interpret our rights and to enforce or enlarge them as against the actions of the federal government.

Congress exercised its power to protect the constitutional rights of American citizens when it enacted the Foreign Intelligence …

Unintended Consequences Of The Fourteenth Amendment And What They Tell Us About Its Interpretation, Richard L. Aynes

Akron Law Faculty Publications

The Fourteenth Amendment has been compared to “second American Constitution.” Indeed, it is said that more litigation is based upon the Fourteenth Amendment or its implementing statutes than any other provision of the Constitution. As one would imagine for such an important charter of government, there is a substantial—and some might say overwhelming—body of scholarship on the “intent,” “meaning,” and “understanding” of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Much of the literature, understandably, seeks to find out what the framers of the amendment or the ratifiers of the amendment “intended.” What did they want to accomplish by adopting this amendment? This article treats …

Ohio Issue 1 Is Unconstitutional, Wilson R. Huhn

Akron Law Faculty Publications

This article discusses the constitutionality of Ohio Issue 1, an amendment to the state constitution that was adopted in a referendum by the people of the State of Ohio in November, 2004. The article consists of two parts. Part I sets forth arguments in support of the proposition that Ohio Issue 1 is unconstitutional. Part II sets forth arguments that have been or may be raised in support of Ohio Issue 1, and responds to each of those arguments.

Assessing The Constitutionality Of Laws That Are Both Content Based And Content Neutral, Wilson R. Huhn

Akron Law Faculty Publications

Such a multi-faceted analysis cannot be conflated into two dimensions. Whatever the allure of absolute doctrines, it is just too simple to declare expression "protected" or "unprotected" or to proclaim a regulation "content-based" or "content-neutral." John Paul Stevens (1992)

American legal doctrine evolved from a formalistic categorical approach that dominated legal thinking during the nineteenth century to a realistic balancing approach that developed over the course of the twentieth century. A similar process is now occurring in the constitutional doctrine governing freedom of expression-a process that may culminate in the adoption of what United States Supreme Court Justice John Paul …

The Continuing Importance Of Congressman John A. Bingham And The Fourteenth Amendment, Richard L. Aynes

Akron Law Faculty Publications

Lead article in a symposium issue.

In the now-famous 1830s chronicle of a visit to America, Alexis de Tocqueville wrote that in America every political issue is ultimately a legal issue in the courts. For Americans who lived through the antislavery and abolitionist era as well as the crisis of the war of 1861-1865, the military victory of the Union forces on the field of battle still left open large political issues. These issues were attempted to be resolved through the political process that produced a legal solution: a constitutional amendment that we currently identify as the Fourteenth Amendment. The …

Framers' Intent And Military Power: Has Supreme Court Deference To The Military Gone Too Far?, Kalyani Robbins

Akron Law Faculty Publications

One of the sources of the Court's inability to conduct proper constitutional analysis in military cases is its lack of access to complete and unbiased information upon which to base that analysis. In Part III, I will make an effort to suggest methods for addressing this problem alternative to simply letting the military use its special knowledge as a source of power over the Court. Part IV will demonstrate a modern example of where the problem of excessive deference can lead, and present the Court with a suggestion to use this as a context for change. Finally, the Article will …

Charles Fairman, Felix Frankfurter, And The Fourteenth Amendment, Richard L. Aynes

Akron Law Faculty Publications

The scope of the Fourteenth Amendment determines, in large measure, the allocation of responsibility and power between the states and the government of the United States. It has been characterized as “the most significant [[[Amendment] in our history” and a “second American Constitution.” It is therefore not surprising that some of the most important disputes in the United States Supreme Court have been over the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment and that the disputes have involved some of the most important legal thinkers of our times.

In the twentieth century, one of the most familiar articulations of differing views occurred …

Constricting The Law Of Freedom: Justice Miller, The Fourteenth Amendment, And The Slaughter-House Cases, Richard L. Aynes

Akron Law Faculty Publications

The Slaughter-House Cases are simultaneously unremarkable and extraordinary. They are unremarkable because the matter at issue -- whether butchers can be required to ply their trade at a central, state-franchised facility -- has long since ceased to be a matter of concern. They are extraordinary because in spite of the fact that three of the Court's significant legal conclusions have been rejected and “everyone” agrees the Court incorrectly interpreted the Privileges or Immunities Clause, the conclusion that the Privileges or Immunities Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment had no meaningful place in our constitutional scheme continues to live on. Even those …