Law Commons^™

A Scary Tale: Battered Women Who Kill Their Abusers, Victoria M. Mather

Faculty Articles

In recent years there has been a lot of attention focused on the specific issue of the battered women, and the battered women who eventually fight violence with violence. This is with good reason, since it is a widespread and serious problem for modern society. The authors whose works are discussed here struggle with notions of male dominance, experiment with legal tests, and manipulate the instruments of law enforcement in an attempt to figure out exactly what to do with, and for, these people in abusive relationships. However, as the authors themselves indicate, the problem is much deeper in modern …

No Harm, No Foul: Pornography (Violent And Otherwise), Victoria M. Mather

Faculty Articles

At the heart of the entire pornography debate is the lack of understanding or agreement of what is regulated. Society does not agree about what pornography means, what is hardcore or softcore, what is obscene, or what is "adult." The disagreement tends to derive from two very different viewpoints—the liberal view, and the feminist view. On the liberal side of the debate, pornography should be protected speech but on the feminist side, society should take into account the feminist perspective and the harmful effects of these graphic depictions.

Applying the Miller-Roth test, liberals believe that pornography is protected speech until …

Applying Edgewood V. Kirby To Analysis Of Fundamental Rights Under The Texas Constitution, Albert H. Kauffman

Faculty Articles

State constitutions are affirmative grants of power under which both stated and implied fundamental rights can be sought. A proposed test for fundamental rights under the Texas Constitution looks at three factors: the history of the topic within the Texas Constitution and case law; the actual language used in the controlling provision; and the importance of that value to the people of Texas. The declaration of a constitutional right as fundamental certainly has implications for future relationships between the people and the government.

The Edgewood v. Kirby case has the potential to change much in Texas. The case stands for …

Judicial Bias, The Insurance Industry And Consumer Protection: An Empirical Analysis Of State Supreme Courts’ Bad-Faith, Breach-Of-Contract, Breach-Of-Covenant-Of-Good-Faith And Excess-Judgment Decisions, 1900–1991, Willy E. Rice

Faculty Articles

Consumers are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the services and products that the American insurance industry provides. Correspondingly, they are filing an ever-increasing number of lawsuits against insurers in state courts. While courts have ruled equally in favor of insurers and policyholders, advocates for both consumers and the insurance industry strongly believe “judicial bias” or “judicial hostility” permeates state supreme courts.

Some United States Supreme Court Justices have argued that state supreme courts are hostile towards insurance carriers. Commentators have also viciously criticized state supreme courts for being biased against insurance carriers. The contrary view that state supreme courts are anti-consumer …

Up In Smoke: Fourth Amendment Rights And The Burger Court, Gerald S. Reamey

Faculty Articles

When Warren Burger was appointed Chief Justice in 1969, he was expected to lead the Supreme Court away from its liberal, value-laden approach to constitutional adjudication. Indeed, a retrospective of the court’s work during the seventeen years Warren Burger served as Chief Justice reveals the expected conservative trend of the Chief Justice himself, as well as the Supreme Court generally. It does not, however, reflect wholesale rejection of the most controversial civil liberties decisions rendered by the Warren Court. It is also unclear that Chief Justice Burger was responsible for the Court’s retrenchment on civil liberties where it did occur. …

Evidence Of Religion And The Religion Of Evidence, Michael S. Ariens

Faculty Articles

When testimony about the religiosity of a victim is elicited, a jury will likely become aware of the religious affiliation of the victim. Any revelation to a jury of the religiosity of a victim can be an aid to the jury in assessing the punishment to be given to the defendant, since being religious and talking with people about religion is deemed a communal good. However, prescribing a harsher punishment to a defendant because of the religious affiliation of a victim is a form of religious discrimination which is unconstitutional. In light of this inherent difficulty of evidence of religion, …

The Lessons Of My Lai, Jeffrey F. Addicott

Faculty Articles

The spring of 1993 marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the My Lai Massacre. As such, it is an appropriate time to seriously revisit the event and to reinforce the lessons learned. The antithesis of the conduct of the United States Military in the Gulf War, My Lai echoes back to a nightmarish event that most Americans would like to forget. But My Lai must never be forgotten.

To a large degree, from Grenada (1983) to Panama (1989) to the Gulf War (1991), the United States Military can take full credit for a commendable record in its adherence to the law …

Codification Of The “Special Forces Exception”, Jeffrey F. Addicott

Faculty Articles

For the past eight years, Army Special Forces units have conducted training and operations with friendly foreign forces outside the United States. The Army has obtained funding for these operations under what has been termed the “Special Forces exception” to a 1986 General Accounting Office (GAO) opinion regarding permissible funds appropriations for foreign exercises.

With the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 1992–1993, Congress has finally codified the Special Forces exception. Subject to a guiding principle regarding the purpose of operations, the commander of Special Operations Command and select others may draw on the Department of …