Law Commons^™

Second Amendment Sanctuaries, Shawn E. Fields

Northwestern University Law Review

The term “sanctuary” has long expressed a sympathy for immigrants’ rights and resistance to federal immigration enforcement. Recently, the word has become associated with another divisive political topic, as local governments have begun declaring themselves “Second Amendment Sanctuaries” in defiance of statewide gun-control measures they deem unconstitutional. This gun-rights resistance movement not only flips the political script on the nature of sanctuaries, but also presents important and challenging questions about local–state power sharing, the proper scope of “subfederal commandeering,” and the role of coordinate branches in constitutional decision-making. This Article provides the first scholarly treatment of Second Amendment Sanctuaries. In …

Prerogative And Legislator Vetoes, Elliot Louthen

Northwestern University Law Review

Prerogative is the devolution of power to a single legislator over decisions in her district. In cities with a prerogative regime, when the city council votes on an issue or an administrative agency makes a decision concerning a specific district, decision-makers defer to that district’s legislator. This deference gives the legislator exclusive executive authority over her district. In Chicago and Philadelphia, legislators have infamously wielded prerogative and tied the practice to corruption. But in addition to corruption, prerogative gives rise to another, more pernicious issue. When applied to decisions related to affordable housing, prerogative perpetuates racial segregation through legislator vetoes. …

Transparency Deserts, Christina Koningisor

Northwestern University Law Review

Few contest the importance of a robust transparency regime in a democratic system of government. In the United States, the “crown jewel” of this regime is the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Yet despite widespread agreement about the importance of transparency in government, few are satisfied with FOIA. Since its enactment, the statute has engendered criticism from transparency advocates and critics alike for insufficiently serving the needs of both the public and the government. Legal scholars have widely documented these flaws in the federal public records law.

In contrast, scholars have paid comparatively little attention to transparency laws at the …