Law Commons^™

December 23, 2012: The Egyptian Constitution, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “The Egyptian Constitution“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

December 20, 2012: No, God Has Not Called Them Home, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “No, God Has Not Called Them Home“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

December 16, 2012: Heller Is Good News For Gun Control, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Heller is Good News for Gun Control“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

May 30, 2012: Seeger—An Extraordinary Case, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Seeger—an Extraordinary Case“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

May 24, 2012: What Is The Right Term For Nonmembers Of Organized Religion?, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “What Is the Right Term for Nonmembers of Organized Religion?“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

A (Modest) Separation Of Powers Success Story, Tara Leigh Grove

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

March 30, 2012: A Fundamental Rights Case Masquerading As A Commerce Clause Case, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “A Fundamental Rights Case Masquerading as a Commerce Clause Case“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

The Article Ii Safeguards Of Federal Jurisdiction, Tara Leigh Grove

Faculty Publications

Jurisdiction stripping has long been treated as a battle between Congress and the federal judiciary. Scholars have thus overlooked the important (and surprising) role that the executive branch has played in these jurisdictional struggles. This Article seeks to fill that void. Drawing on two strands of social science research, the Article argues that the executive branch has a strong incentive to use its constitutional authority over the enactment and enforcement of federal law to oppose jurisdiction-stripping measures. Notably, this structural argument has considerable historical support. The executive branch has repeatedly opposed jurisdiction-stripping proposals in Congress. That has been true even …

January 12, 2012: The New Foundations Of The Ministerial Exception, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “The New Foundations of the Ministerial Exception“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

Reinventing The Wheel: Constructing Ethical Approaches To State Indigent Legal Defense Systems, Bill Piatt

Faculty Articles

Indigent defense remains in a state of crisis. Almost fifty years after the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Gideon v. Wainwright, lack of funding, favoritism, inefficiency, and poorly-designed indigent-defense plans plague the system, which can best be characterized as being in a state of disrepair. As a result, accused indigent individuals, a vulnerable population, suffer from a lack of adequate representation. This Article reviews the history and implementation of various indigent-defense systems and examines the ethical issues arising from their operation. It offers a guide to reconstructing a model system, including the suggestion that attorneys first recommit the profession to …

The Mentally Disordered Criminal Defendant At The Supreme Court: A Decade In Review, Dora W. Klein

Faculty Articles

In the past decade, at least eight cases involving issues at the intersection of criminal law and clinical psychology have reached the United States Supreme Court. Of particular interest are those cases which concern three general topics: the culpability of juvenile offenders; mental states and the criminal process, including the presentation of mental disorder evidence, competency to stand trial, and competency to be executed; and the preventive detention of convicted sex offenders.

Of these eight cases, two cases cases adopted categorical exclusions from certain kinds of punishment, three involved questions about mental states (and in two of these the Court …