Law Commons^™

Policing Pregnancy "Crimes", Valena Beety, Jennifer Oliva

Articles by Maurer Faculty

The Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization held that there is no right to abortion healthcare under the United States Constitution. This Essay details how states prosecuted pregnant people for pregnancy behaviors and speculative fetal harms prior to the Dobbs decision. In this connection, it also identifies two, related post-Dobbs concerns: (1) that states will ramp up their policing of pregnancy behaviors and (2) that prosecutors will attempt to substantiate these charges by relying on invalid scientific evidence. This Essay examines the faulty forensic science that states have used to support fetal harm allegations and reminds …

Escaping Circularity: The Fourth Amendment And Property Law, João Marinotti

Articles by Maurer Faculty

The Supreme Court’s “reasonable expectation of privacy” test under the Fourth Amendment has often been criticized as circular, and hence subjective and unpredictable. The Court is presumed to base its decisions on society’s expectations of privacy, while society’s expectations of privacy are themselves presumed to be based on the Court’s judgements. As a solution to this problem, property law has been repeatedly propounded as an allegedly independent, autonomous area of law from which the Supreme Court can glean reasonable expectations of privacy without falling back into tautological reasoning.

Such an approach presupposes that property law is not itself circular. If …

The 'Impractical And Anomalous' Consequences Of Territorial Inequity, Jayanth K. Krishnan

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Located in the South Pacific Ocean, American Samoa is one of five populated “unincorporated territories” of the United States. It is unique, though, as those born there are not recognized as American citizens at birth and instead are deemed “noncitizen U.S. nationals.” They enjoy some, but not all, constitutional protections. Two federal appellate courts—the D.C. Circuit (in 2015) and the Tenth Circuit (in 2021)—have ruled that this classification does not violate the Fourteenth Amendment’s Citizenship Clause. Both courts have stated that it would be “impractical” and “anomalous” to extend birthright citizenship to the American Samoan community.

Drawing upon a powerful …

The Immigrant Struggle For Effective Counsel: An Empirical Assessment, Jayanth K. Krishnan

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Recently, in Department of Homeland Security v. Thuraissigiam, the Supreme Court upheld 8 U.S.C. § 1252(e)(2), a statutory provision placing restrictions on certain noncitizens from seeking habeas review in the federal judiciary. The Court focused on the Constitution’s Suspension Clause, but it also discussed the Due Process Clause, declaring that there was no violation there either.

One question which flows from this decision is whether the federal courts will soon be precluded from hearing other types of claims brought by noncitizens. Consider ineffective assistance of counsel petitions, which in the immigration law context are rooted in the Due Process Clause. …

Human Rights, Constitutional Rights, And Judicial Review: Comparing And Assessing Michael Perry's Early And Contemporary Arguments, Daniel O. Conkle

Articles by Maurer Faculty

In this Essay, I explore, compare, and evaluate two theoretical models of judicial review in individual rights cases, each proposed by Professor Michael J. Perry, albeit in books separated by three and a half decades. In his 1982 book, The Constitution, the Courts, and Human Rights: An Inquiry into the Legitimacy of Constitutional Policymaking by the Judiciary, Early Perry embraced an aggressive form of judicial activism, urging the Supreme Court to test political judgments through an open-ended search for political-moral truth. Contemporary Perry, by contrast, takes a very different approach. In his 2017 book, A Global Political Morality: Human Rights, …

Rétrospectives Et Perspectives Sur La Place Du Droit Comparé Dans La Jurisprudence Du Conseil Constitutionnel, Elisabeth Zoller

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

No Voice, No Exit, But Loyalty? Puerto Rico And Constitutional Obligation, Guy-Uriel E. Charles, Luis Fuentes-Rohwer

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This Essay contextualizes Puerto Rico not as an anomalous colonial vestige but as fundamentally a part of the United States' ongoing commitment to racial economic domination. We are thrilled to highlight this work, which indicts our constitutional complacence with the second-class status of Puerto Rican citizens and demands a national commitment to self-determination for Puerto Rico.

Why A Federal Wealth Tax Is Constitutional, Ari Glogower, David Gamage, Kitty Richards

Articles by Maurer Faculty

The 2020 Democratic presidential primaries brought national attention to a new direction for the tax system: a federal wealth tax for the wealthiest taxpayers. During their campaigns, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) both introduced proposals to tax the wealth of multimillionaires and billionaires, and to use the revenue for public investments, including in health care and education. These reforms generated broad public support—even among many Republicans—and broadened the conversation over the future of progressive tax reform.

A well-designed, high-end wealth tax can level the playing field in an unequal society and promote shared economic prosperity.

Critics have …

The Architecture Of Judicial Ethics, Charles G. Geyh

Articles by Maurer Faculty

In 1999, Professor Stephen Burbank wrote an article entitled The Architecture of Judicial Independence. It is a foundational piece that gave structure to what was then an understudied field. At the heart of that article is a profound insight: stable and enduring judicial systems are the product of forces in constructive tension. Thus, in the context of judicial administration, Burbank conceptualized judicial independence with reference to judicial accountability, and characterized pressure points in the relationship between them as complementary, not contradictory; and in later work, he made a similar point about the interplay between the law and policy in judicial …

Unmarked Agents, Accountability, And The Anti-Commandeering Doctrine, Nicholas Almendares

Articles by Maurer Faculty

The Trump Administration recently deployed federal agents to Portland, Oregon in response to ongoing protests. Notably, these agents wore camouflage and drove unmarked cars instead of uniforms and vehicles that would clearly identify their agency affiliation and whose authority they act under. The administration also deployed officers in riot gear lacking agency identification to the nation’s capital in June.

Critics argue that these actions represent authoritarian tactics, encourage the use excessive force, and overstep the statutory and constitutional powers of the federal government. They sparked another wave of protests in response throughout the country. Here, I want to sketch an …

Les Deux Constitutions De John Marshall : Une Relecture De L’Arrêt Marbury V. Madison, Elisabeth Zoller

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Changed Science Writs And State Habeas Relief, Valena Beety

Articles by Maurer Faculty

For decades now, the 1996 federal Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) has limited the scope and influence of federal courts in post-conviction case review, forcing convicted individuals to rely instead on state habeas proceedings for conviction relief. Due in large part to the 2009 National Academy of Sciences Report, petitions for conviction relief increasingly include challenges to the government’s scientific evidence at trial. These petitions analyze that evidence by comparing the trial evidence to the advancement of scientific findings and scientific knowledge in the years since the trial. State habeas petitions thus provide an avenue for relief from …

Chiafalo: Constitutionalizing Historical Gloss In Law And Democratic Politics, Luis Fuentes-Rohwer, Guy-Uriel Charles

Articles by Maurer Faculty

We make one central point in this Article. Justice Kagan’s opinion in Chiafalo uses historical gloss to entrench a particular and modern view of political participation—which is best reflected by American political practices— by rejecting an alternative and anachronistic view—which is best reflected by the text and structure of the Constitution. Part I argues that Chiafalo is not a textualist opinion because Article II, Section 1 does not support the majority’s conclusion that states have the power to limit elector discretion. The majority’s reasoning to the contrary is not persuasive, even on its own terms. Part II argues that Chiafalo …

Animus And Its Alternatives: Constitutional Principle And Judicial Prudence, Daniel O. Conkle

Articles by Maurer Faculty

In a series of cases addressing sexual orientation and other issues, the Supreme Court has ruled that animus-based lawmaking is constitutionally impermissible. The Court treats animus as an independent and sufficient basis for invalidation. Moreover, it appears to regard animus as a doctrine of first resort, to be utilized even when an alternative constitutional rationale, such as declaring a challenged classification suspect or quasi-suspect, would readily justify the same result. Responding especially to Professor William D. Araiza’s elaboration and defense of the Court’s animus doctrine, I agree that this doctrine is sound, indeed compelling, as a matter of constitutional principle. …

Dignity And Social Meaning: Obergefell, Windsor, And Lawrence As Constitutional Dialogue, Steve Sanders

Articles by Maurer Faculty

The U.S. Supreme Court’s three most important gay and lesbian rights decisions—Obergefell v. Hodges, United States v. Windsor, and Lawrence v. Texas—are united by the principle that gays and lesbians are entitled to dignity. Beyond their tangible consequences, the common constitutional evil of state bans on same-sex marriage, the federal Defense of Marriage Act, and sodomy laws was that they imposed dignitary harm. This Article explores how the gay and lesbian dignity cases exemplify the process by which constitutional law emerges from a social and cultural dialogue in which the Supreme Court actively participates. In doing …

Dirty Thinking About Law And Democracy In Rucho V. Common Cause, Luis Fuentes-Rohwer, Guy-Uriel E. Charles

Articles by Maurer Faculty

In order to understand the division in Rucho and, as importantly, to understand why the plaintiffs in Rucho failed to win over the conservatives on the Court, we have to come to terms with these different worldviews on the Court. Is sordid politics an inherently necessary and arguably normatively good part of the political process, and thus a necessary part of our representative institutions? Relatedly, do substantive fairness principles exist—outside of race and the equal-population principle—that constrain political actors when they design electoral structures to favor themselves at the expense of their opponents? We take up these questions in the …

French Constitutionalism, Elisabeth Zoller

Articles by Maurer Faculty

From the Foreword:

We are particularly pleased that this first special issue gives the opportunity to celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of the Fifth Republic’s Constitution. Readers will find an enlightened vision of French constitutionalism, so patiently depicted by our colleague Elisabeth Zoller through a life of teachings and research, both in France and in the United States. Defined as “a political doctrine that aims to guarantee political freedom, i.e. the freedom we enjoy in respect of political power, as opposed to civil liberty, which we enjoy in respect of our peers”, constitutionalism has, in France, a profoundly unique character according …

Religious Arguments, Religious Purposes, And The Gay And Lesbian Rights Cases, Steve Sanders

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Transnational Constitution-Making: The Contribution Of The Venice Commission On Law And Democracy, Paul Craig

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Commission for Democracy through Law, better known as the Venice Commission. While part of the Council of Europe, the Venice Commission is much less understood than the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), notwithstanding the existing literature. This chapter therefore seeks to explicate and evaluate. It begins by explicating the organizational foundations of the Venice Commission, followed by analysis of its remit and role. The focus then shifts to triggering and working methodology.

The remainder of the article is concerned with evaluation of the Commission’s role in relation to constitution-making as broadly conceived, the analysis being situated within the literature …

Race, Restructurings, And Equal Protection Doctrine Through The Lens Of Schuette V. Bamn, Steve Sanders

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

When Responsibilities Collide: Humanitarian Intervention, Shared War Powers, And The Rule Of Law, Dawn E. Johnsen

Articles by Maurer Faculty

The use of military force to respond to a foreign humanitarian crisis raises profound legal questions, especially when force is not authorized by the U.S. Congress or the U.N. Security Council. President Clinton's use of air strikes in Kosovo, President Obama's use of air strikes in Libya, and his threat of force following Syrian President Assad's use of chemical weapons against the Syrian people all responded to powerful humanitarian needs-but serious questions about their legality remain. Drawing upon these case studies, Professor Harold Koh proposes a framework that would find some such interventions lawful, even without congressional or Security Council …

The Seductive Power Of Patriarchal Stories, Aviva A. Orenstein

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This essay develops a theme introduced in Rape and Culture of the Courtroom written by Andrew Taslitz. It examines the cases in which judges allow evidence of the victim’s sexual history and proclivities because, in their estimation, excluding such evidence would violate the constitution (an exception to rape shield in Fed. R. Evid 412). The review of these cases demonstrates the persistent power of patriarchal stories and documents how the constitutional exception sometimes indicates a resistance to the entire enterprise of rape shield. In particular, it focus on Gagne v. Booker, an en banc decision from the Sixth Circuit, …

Charles A. Beard & The Columbia School Of Political Economy: Revisiting The Intellectual Roots Of The Beardian Thesis, Ajay K. Mehrotra

Articles by Maurer Faculty

A century after it was first published, Charles A. Beard’s An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution remains a significant and controversial part of constitutional scholarship and history. Just as Beard sought to historicize the Founders as they drafted and adopted the Constitution, this article attempts to historicize Beard as he researched and wrote his classic text on the Constitution. Because Beard was both a graduate student and professor at Columbia University before and while he researched and wrote his book, this article explores the particular influence that Columbia University’s institutional and intellectual climate may have had on Beard and the …

Review Of Prigg V. Pennsylvania: Slavery, The Supreme Court, And The Ambivalent Constitution, Susan David Demaine

Articles by Maurer Faculty

In 1842, the Supreme Court issued a landmark decision in Prigg v. Pennsylvania, resolving a dispute about fugitive slave rendition that had raged between the states for decades. H. Robert Baker’s analysis of the decision and the events that led up to it is the first book-length work to investigate Prigg and its place in American history. Baker traces the development of fugitive slave laws and recounts the heart-wrenching story that lies behind Prigg to shed light on the Supreme Court’s decision and the gradual clarification of American federalism.

La Citoyenneté Aux Etats-Unis : Une Valeur En Perpétuel Devenir, Elisabeth Zoller

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Religion, Government, And Law In The Contemporary United States, Daniel O. Conkle

Articles by Maurer Faculty

In this Essay, I discuss the relationship between religion and government in the contemporary United States, addressing the period from the 1940s to the present. In so doing, I explore questions of religious liberty, including the protection of religious “free exercise” as well as the constitutional prohibition on the establishment of religion, a prohibition that sometimes - but not always - has been construed to require a “wall of separation” between church and state. I focus especially on the Supreme Court’s evolving interpretations of the First Amendment during this period, which, I suggest, were influenced by broader religious, cultural, and …

"The Essence Of A Free Society": The Executive Powers Legacy Of Justice Stevens And The Future Of Foreign Affairs Deference, Dawn E. Johnsen

Articles by Maurer Faculty

After 9/11, Justice John Paul Stevens insisted the United States maintain its foundational commitment to the rule of law—the very “essence of a free society.” Justice Stevens led the Court’s scrutiny and rejection of early Bush Administration policies regarding the detention and prosecution of suspected terrorists. Since it lost Justice Stevens’s passionate and principled voice in 2008, the Court has not addressed the scope of the President’s military detention authority. This Article considers Justice Stevens’s role in the Court’s altered stance, and also a complementary explanation: the Obama Administration’s improved interpretation and exercise of executive authority. Informed and inspired by …

The Obama Administration’S Decision To Defend Constitutional Equality Rather Than The Defense Of Marriage Act, Dawn E. Johnsen

Articles by Maurer Faculty

When President Barack Obama announced his view that the Defense of Marriage Act1 (DOMA) violated the Fifth Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection,2 he joined a storied line of Presidents who have acted upon their own constitutional determinations in the absence of, and on rare occasion contrary to, those of the U.S. Supreme Court. How best to proceed in the face of a federal statute the President considers unconstitutional can involve complex judgments, as was true of the difficult decision to enforce but not defend DOMA. Ordinarily the Department of Justice should adhere to its tradition of defending statutes against constitutional …

The Constitutional Right To (Keep Your) Same-Sex Marriage, Steve Sanders

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Same-sex marriage is legal in six states, and nearly 50,000 same-sex couples have already married. Yet 43 states have adopted statutes or constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage (typically called mini defense of marriage acts, or “mini-DOMAs”), and the vast majority of these measures not only forbid the creation of same-sex marriages, they also purport to void or deny recognition to the perfectly valid same-sex marriages of couples who migrate from states where such marriages are legal. These non-recognition laws effectively transform the marital parties into complete legal strangers to each other, with none of the customary rights or incidents of …

The Supreme Court And Information Privacy, Fred H. Cate, Beth E. Cate

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Advances in technology—including the growing use of cloud computing by individuals, agencies, and organizations to conduct operations and store and process records—are enabling the systematic collection and use of personal data by state and federal governments for a variety of purposes.

These purposes range from battling crime and terrorism to assessing public policy initiatives and enforcing regulatory regimes. To aid these efforts, governments are promoting mandatory retention and reporting of data by online service providers and the expansion of laws that facilitate wiretaps to greater portions of the web.

The legal framework for protecting individual privacy within this growing world …