Law Commons^™

State Taxation Under The Commerce Clause: An Historical Perspective, Jerome R. Hellerstein

Vanderbilt Law Review

Although Congress has plenary power under the commerce clause to regulate state taxation of interstate commerce, that power remained virtually unexercised until 1959. As a consequence of the silence of Congress, the task of reconciling the competing interests of states, multistate businesses, and local businesses, and accommodating those interests to the needs of a national economy fell by default to the Supreme Court. The instrumentality available to the Court for dealing with the complex political, fiscal, and economic controversies inherent in state taxation of multistate business was the commerce clause (augmented by due process restrictions and,to a lesser extent, the …

Political Prisoners: The Law And Politics Of Protection, David P. Forsythe

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

In the fall of 1975 the United States, in a much publicized step at the United Nations, introduced an abortive resolution calling for world-wide amnesty for political prisoners. Admittedly, this draft resolution was withdrawn because of crippling amendments, and it may well be that this American initiative was launched more to deflect criticism to others than to help political prisoners. But it seems to be the case--at least from a Western perspective--that political prisoners are becoming a more salient subject in world affairs. The concept of political prisoners has existed for quite awhile. In the last decade and a half, …

Jurisdiction--The Short-Lived Death Of The Ker-Frisbie Doctrine, C. Jedson Nau

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Why the Second Circuit Court of Appeals chose to retreat from its Toscanino holding is unclear. The drastic nature of the remedy afforded by Toscanino to any defendant illegally abducted has been criticized as too inflexible. On the other hand, the Lujan rule allows the remedy only in the limited circumstances of egregious conduct. The problem remains to determine what remedy, if any, should be available to victims who are subjected to illegal but not outrageous governmental conduct.

The government has vigorously argued that federal narcotics law enforcement depends upon the freedom of officers to abduct suspects, particularly from South …