Law Commons^™

The Voting Rights Act, Questions Of Deference & Legislative Facts In A Digital Age, Allison Orr Larsen

Faculty Publications

AALS Constitutional Law Panel (January 5, 2015)

Do Laws Have A Constitutional Shelf Life?, Allison Orr Larsen

Faculty Publications

Times change. A statute passed today may seem obsolete tomorrow. Does the Constitution dictate when a law effectively expires? In Shelby County v. Holder, the 2013 decision that invalidated a provision of the Voting Rights Act, the Court seems to answer that question in the affirmative. Although rational and constitutional when written, the Court held that the coverage formula of the law grew to be irrational over time and was unconstitutional now because it bears “no logical relation to the present day.” This reason for invalidating a law is puzzling. The question answered in Shelby County was not about whether …

Combatendo A Corrupção Nos Estados Unidos, Paul Marcus

Faculty Publications

The article discusses the problematic of the fight against the corruption by the criminal justice system of the United States, mainly the white-collar crimes. It is emphasized, first, that in most of the cases does not result in trial, but in plea bargains, and, second, in many cases the encouragement from an undercover agent has served as an effective defense instrument. Finally, it is discussed the problematic of the use of information obtained from the technological devices and its probable violation to the right privacy.

This article is in Portuguese.

The Right To Remain Armed, Jeffrey Bellin

Faculty Publications

The laws governing gun possession are changing rapidly. In the past two years, federal courts have wielded a revitalized Second Amendment to invalidate longstanding gun carrying restrictions in Chicago, the District of Columbia, and throughout California. Invoking similar Second Amendment themes, legislators across the country have steadily deregulated public gun carrying, preempting municipal gun control ordinances in cities like Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Cleveland.

These changes to substantive gun laws reverberate through the constitutional criminal procedure framework. By making it lawful for citizens to carry guns even in crowded urban areas, enhanced Second Amendment rights trigger Fourth Amendment protections that could …

Justice For The 1 Percent: A Corrupt Governor Stays Free, Those Who Should Have Never Been Jailed Die There, Jeffrey Bellin

Popular Media

No abstract provided.

2015-2016 Supreme Court Preview: Contents, Institute Of Bill Of Rights Law, William & Mary Law School

Supreme Court Preview

No abstract provided.

Section 2: Did The Roberts Court Turn Leftward?, Institute Of Bill Of Rights Law, William & Mary Law School

Supreme Court Preview

No abstract provided.

Section 1: Moot Court: Friedrichs V. California Teachers Association, Institute Of Bill Of Rights Law, William & Mary Law School

Supreme Court Preview

No abstract provided.

Section 3: Election Law, Institute Of Bill Of Rights Law, William & Mary Law School

Supreme Court Preview

No abstract provided.

Section 4: Business Law, Institute Of Bill Of Rights Law, William & Mary Law School

Supreme Court Preview

No abstract provided.

Section 7: Supreme Court Bar, Institute Of Bill Of Rights Law, William & Mary Law School

Supreme Court Preview

No abstract provided.

2015-2016 Supreme Court Preview: Schedule And Panel Members, Institute Of Bill Of Rights Law, William & Mary Law School

Supreme Court Preview

No abstract provided.

Section 8: Looking Ahead: Abortion And The Aca Contraception Mandate, Institute Of Bill Of Rights Law, William & Mary Law School

Supreme Court Preview

No abstract provided.

Section 6: Criminal, Institute Of Bill Of Rights Law, William & Mary Law School

Supreme Court Preview

No abstract provided.

Section 5: Race, Institute Of Bill Of Rights Law, William & Mary Law School

Supreme Court Preview

No abstract provided.

Locked In: Interactions With The Criminal Justice And Child Welfare Systems For Lgbtq Youth, Ymsm, And Ywsw Who Engage In Survival Sex, Meredith Dank, Lilly Yu, Jennifer Yahner, Elizabeth Pelletier, Mitchyll Mora, Brendan M. Conner

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Big Data Blacklisting, Margaret Hu

Faculty Publications

“Big data blacklisting” is the process of categorizing individuals as administratively “guilty until proven innocent” by virtue of suspicious digital data and database screening results. Database screening and digital watchlisting systems are increasingly used to determine who can work, vote, fly, etc. In a big data world, through the deployment of these big data tools, both substantive and procedural due process protections may be threatened in new and nearly invisible ways. Substantive due process rights safeguard fundamental liberty interests. Procedural due process rights prevent arbitrary deprivations by the government of constitutionally protected interests. This Article frames the increasing digital mediation …

Brief Of Law Professors Bruce P. Frohnen, Robert P. George, Alan J. Meese, Michael P. Moreland, Nathan B. Oman, Michael Stokes Paulsen, Rodney K. Smith, Steven D. Smith, And O. Carter Snead As Amici Curiae In Support Of The Petitioners, Nathan B. Oman, John D. Adams, Matthew A. Fitzgerald

Briefs

No abstract provided.

Article Iii In The Political Branches, Tara Leigh Grove

Faculty Publications

In many separation of powers debates, scholars excavate the practices and constitutional interpretations of Congress and the executive branch in order to discern the scope of various constitutional provisions. I argue that similar attention to political branch practice is warranted in the Article III context. That is true, in large part because much of the constitutional history of the federal courts has been written not by the federal judiciary, but by the legislative and executive branches. To illustrate this point, this Essay focuses on the Exceptions Clause of Article III. The Supreme Court has said little about the meaning of …

Hampton Roads Intergovernmental Pilot Project: Memo And Legal Primer, Roy Hoagland, Joe Durant, Jeremy Forrest, Kelly Lackey, Deborah Loomis, Benjamin Mcfarlane, Mark Nevitt, Adam Olson, Miguel Padilla, J. Duncan Pitchford, Henry Pollard, Mark Popovich, Lynne Rhode

Virginia Coastal Policy Center

The Hampton Roads area is experiencing the highest rates of sea-level rise along the U.S. East Coast. It is second only to New Orleans, Louisiana as the largest population center at risk from sea level rise in the country. And it is anticipated that Virginia will experience between 2.3 to 5.2 feet of sea level rise by the end of the century. This unprecedented challenge requires a comprehensive and effective planning response.

The mission of the Hampton Roads Sea Level Rise Pilot Project (“Pilot Project”) is to develop a regional whole of government and whole of community approach to sea …

"As If Uttered By Our Own Inspired Mouth": Researching The Corpus Juris Civilis, Frederick W. Dingledy

Library Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

The Forms Had A Function: Rule 84 And The Appendix Of Forms As Guardians Of The Liberal Ethos In Civil Procedure, A. Benjamin Spencer

Faculty Publications

The Appendix of Forms that, from the time of their adoption have accom - panied the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, are a seeming anachronism, more appropriate for a much simpler time that hardly characterizes modem day federal civil litigation. Perhaps the form for a negligence complaint is the most striking in this regard, offering only that at a certain time and place "the defendant negligently drove a motor vehicle against the plaintiff," causing harm.2 Not only does such a complaint fail to typify the negligence claims one might find on any federal docket, but it also fails to reflect …

Book Review Of Fraudulent Evidence Before Public International Tribunals: The Dirty Stories Of International Law, Nancy Amoury Combs

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Measuring Party Polarization In Congress: Lessons From Congressional Participation In Amicus Curiae, Neal Devins

Faculty Publications

First, I will detail the prevalence of party polarization and how party polarization has limited congressional interest in its institutional prerogatives vis-à-vis the executive. Second, I will discuss my research findings governing congressional amicus briefs. I will consider patterns in bipartisan filings over time (comparing the less polarized 1974–1985 Supreme Court terms with the more polarized 2002–2013 terms). I will also consider the types of issues lawmakers and their institutional counsel have pursued in their filings. This investigation will reveal a decline in briefs in institutional cases and an upswing in briefs on politically salient issues that divide the parties …

First Amendment Cosmopolitanism, Skepticism, And Democracy, Timothy Zick

Faculty Publications

This is a response to Professor Ronald J. Krotoszynski, Jr.’s review of my book, The Cosmopolitan First Amendment: Protecting Transborder Expressive and Religious Liberties (Cambridge University Press, 2014). The response explains the basic principles of First Amendment cosmopolitanism and highlights the importance of the First Amendment’s transborder dimension. It also responds to skeptical and critical reactions to some of the book’s arguments. Finally, the response elaborates on First Amendment cosmopolitanism’s relationship to democratic values.

Post 9/11 Veterans: Welcoming Them Home As Colleagues And Clients, Patricia E. Roberts

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Three Grotian Theories Of Humanitarian Intervention, Evan J. Criddle

Faculty Publications

This Article explores three theories of humanitarian intervention that appear in, or are inspired by, the writings of Hugo Grotius. One theory asserts that natural law authorizes all states to punish violations of the law of nations, irrespective of where or against whom the violations occur, to preserve the integrity of international law. A second theory, which also appears in Grotius’s writings, proposes that states may intervene as temporary legal guardians for peoples who have suffered intolerable cruelties at the hands of their own state. Each of these theories has fallen out of fashion today based on skepticism about their …

The Governance Function Of Constitutional Property, Lynda L. Butler

Faculty Publications

Contemporary takings scholarship has devoted much attention to the problem of regulatory takings and has largely assumed that physical takings are resolved under a clear but simplistic per se rule. Under that rule, modern courts automatically find a physical taking whenever government action causes a permanent physical invasion of property, regardless of the context or the importance of the public interest. Applying this bright-line rule has proved to be difficult because it ignores the nuances of physical takings situations and the complexities of modern property arrangements. Should the physical takings concept apply to a rent control law that limits the …

Delaware's Familiarity, Brian J. Broughman, Darian M. Ibrahim

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Antitrust Federalism And State Restraints Of Interstate Commerce: An Essay For Herbert Hovenkamp, Alan J. Meese

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.