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Full-Text Articles in Law

When A King Speaks Of God; When God Speaks To A King: Faith, Politics, Tax Exempt Status, And The Constitution In The Clinton Administration, Randy Lee Apr 2000

When A King Speaks Of God; When God Speaks To A King: Faith, Politics, Tax Exempt Status, And The Constitution In The Clinton Administration, Randy Lee

Law and Contemporary Problems

In considering the guidance the executive branch of government has provided to resolve questions relating to religious freedom and the issue of church and state, Lee draws upon the positions of both the IRS and the President. Initially, he concludes that when the state requires churches committed to speaking truth in the public square to choose between publicizing their beliefs and remaining tax-exempt, it burdens the free exercise of religion.


Indirect Constitutional Discourse: A Comment On Meese, Robert F. Nagel Apr 2000

Indirect Constitutional Discourse: A Comment On Meese, Robert F. Nagel

Law and Contemporary Problems

Nagel responds to Alan J. Meese's comments on Pres Clinton's actions following the Supreme Court's decision in "Regents of the University of California v. Bakke." While the Clinton Administration's strategy does not produce the best possible form of constitutional dialogue, it does produce another recognizable form of dialogue, one full of confusion and hypocrisy but a surprisingly central and entrenched part of the practice of judicial review itself.


The Clinton Administration And War Powers, Lori Fisler Damrosch Apr 2000

The Clinton Administration And War Powers, Lori Fisler Damrosch

Law and Contemporary Problems

Damrosch compares the record of the Clinton Administration with those of its predecessors, after first briefly locating US war powers practice in the context of crossnational comparisons. Pres Clinton has been more respectful of Congress's constitutional role than either Pres Reagan or Pres Bush, yet less successful in persuading Congress to exercise the responsibility that goes along with the claim of constitutional power.


The Scope Of “High Crimes And Misdemeanors” After The Impeachment Of President Clinton, Neil Kinkopf Apr 2000

The Scope Of “High Crimes And Misdemeanors” After The Impeachment Of President Clinton, Neil Kinkopf

Law and Contemporary Problems

Kinkopf believes that the House of Representatives' decision to impeach Pres Clinton on the charge that he committed perjury before the grand jury, a charge that did not involve official conduct, was proper. Even though Pres Clinton's misconduct was not a proper basis for impeachment or conviction, his case demonstrates that if would be terribly unwise to understand official misconduct to be a necessary element of a high crime or misdemeanor.


The Special Constitutional Structure Of The Federal Impeachment Process, Michael J. Gerhardt Apr 2000

The Special Constitutional Structure Of The Federal Impeachment Process, Michael J. Gerhardt

Law and Contemporary Problems

Gerhardt offers a general explanation of the federal impeachment process and relates it to the impeachment of Pres Bill Clinton. The first feature of the constitutional allocation of power for impeachment and removal is that it facilitates and rewards a pragmatic or flexible analysis and impedes a formalistic analysis of the fundamental question at the core of Pres Clinton's impeachment proceedings--whether his conduct constituted a "high Crime or Misdemeanor."


Religion And The Law In The Clinton Era: An Anti-Madisonian Legacy, Marci A. Hamilton Apr 2000

Religion And The Law In The Clinton Era: An Anti-Madisonian Legacy, Marci A. Hamilton

Law and Contemporary Problems

Hamilton first examines Pres Bill Clinton's rhetoric, and then his Administration's actions to promote religious free exercise. She hopes to show that the Administration has integrated religious entities into administrative agenda-setting, which is consciously intended to serve religious ends.


The Culture Of Belief And The Politics Of Religion, William P. Marshall Apr 2000

The Culture Of Belief And The Politics Of Religion, William P. Marshall

Law and Contemporary Problems

Religion has stood at the center of the American stage during the years of Bill Clinton's presidency. Marshall argues that the political manifestation of religion is not confined to the instances when religion becomes involved in express political activity, such as lobbying or partisan politics, but rather, religion must be understood as a pervasive social force that has an inevitable political effect.


The President And Choices Not To Enforce, Peter L. Strauss Apr 2000

The President And Choices Not To Enforce, Peter L. Strauss

Law and Contemporary Problems

Strauss explores the context of executive non-enforcement in a broad way that may help in understanding situations in which the President believes a particular statute is inconsistent with one or another provision of the Constitution and, therefore, should not be enforced.


Threading Between The Religion Clauses, Ira C. Lupu Apr 2000

Threading Between The Religion Clauses, Ira C. Lupu

Law and Contemporary Problems

A careful review of the overall record suggests that Pres Clinton's Administration has been more solicitous of the First Amendment's Religious Clauses as a whole than can normally be expected of elected national officials and their appointees.


Writing Off Race, Girardeau A. Spann Apr 2000

Writing Off Race, Girardeau A. Spann

Law and Contemporary Problems

Because the US Constitution says absolutely nothing about affirmative action, the Supreme Court should have absolutely nothing to say about it either. Rather, the political branches should set the nation's affirmative action policy, and they should do so with political leadership provided by the President. Spann considers Pres Clinton's record on affirmative action.


A Report Card On The Impeachment: Judging The Institutions That Judged President Clinton, Susan Low Bloch Apr 2000

A Report Card On The Impeachment: Judging The Institutions That Judged President Clinton, Susan Low Bloch

Law and Contemporary Problems

Reflecting on the impeachment and trial of Pres Bill Clinton, Bloch considers how well the impeachment process worked and what was learned from the experience that might be a guide in the event of another impeachment in the future. Any critique of the impeachment process should begin with the independent counsel statute.


Presidential Non-Enforcement Of Constitutionally Objectionable Statutes, Dawn E. Johnsen Apr 2000

Presidential Non-Enforcement Of Constitutionally Objectionable Statutes, Dawn E. Johnsen

Law and Contemporary Problems

Johnsen considers the legitimacy of what he terms "presidential non-enforcement," that is, whether and when the President may disobey an unambiguous congressional command enacted in conformity with the constitutionally prescribed lawmaking process on the ground that the President believes the law is unconstitutional.


The Story About Clinton’S Impeachment, L. H. Larue Apr 2000

The Story About Clinton’S Impeachment, L. H. Larue

Law and Contemporary Problems

No abstract provided.


Bakke Betrayed, Alan J. Meese Apr 2000

Bakke Betrayed, Alan J. Meese

Law and Contemporary Problems

While it seems that a President who disagrees with the Supreme Court's account of the Constitution faces only two choices--to enforce the Court's decision or defy the Court and take his case to a skeptical populace--there is a third way in which the President can publicly embrace the doctrine in question, while at the same time refusing to follow it. Pres Clinton's Administration has followed just such a third way approach to "Regents of the University of California v. Bakke."


The Public And Private Lives Of Presidents, Neal Kumar Katyal Apr 2000

The Public And Private Lives Of Presidents, Neal Kumar Katyal

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

Focusing on a frequent theme in the executive privilege arguments advanced by the Clinton Administration, Neal Kumar Katyal explores the distinction drawn between the public and private lives of the President, particularly in the Paula Jones and Monica Lewinsky cases. He argues that the Administration's difficulties in asserting executive privilege claims following these cases demonstrate that the public/private distinction is not entirely valid. He asserts that, unlike members of Congress who have time when they are not in session, the President is unique in that he is office twenty-four hours a day. He argues that this special constitutional status puts …


Restoring The Balance Of Power: Impeachment And The Twenty-Second Amendment, James Randolph Peck Apr 2000

Restoring The Balance Of Power: Impeachment And The Twenty-Second Amendment, James Randolph Peck

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

The recent proceedings against President William Jefferson Clinton brought Congress' impeachment power into the national spotlight. In the public debate on when it is appropriate for Congress to exercise this power, it is important to consider that the Framers gave this power to the legislature principally as a tool to maintain a balance of power between the legislative and executive branches of the federal government. Examining the debates at the Constitutional Convention, this Note details how the Framers deliberately sought to balance the President's term in office and eligibility for re-election with the Congress' impeachment power in order to prevent …


Constitutionalism In The Shadow Of Doctrine: The President’S Non-Enforcement Power, David Barron Apr 2000

Constitutionalism In The Shadow Of Doctrine: The President’S Non-Enforcement Power, David Barron

Law and Contemporary Problems

Barron challenges the court-centered approach to the scope of the President's non-enforcement power. He contends that a President, notwithstanding that he considers himself bound by the Supreme Court's constitutional interpretations, should resolve three distinct questions in determining whether he may faithfully decline to enforce a statute by virtue of its unconstitutionality.


The Impeachment Of President Clinton: An Ugly Mix Of Three Powerful Forces, Karen A. Popp Apr 2000

The Impeachment Of President Clinton: An Ugly Mix Of Three Powerful Forces, Karen A. Popp

Law and Contemporary Problems

Popp argues that the 1998-99 impeachment debacle resulted in large part from an ugly mix of three extremely powerful forces--an independent counsel who abused his virtually unlimited power; extreme congressional partisanship that was motivated by the desire to gain control of the government; and media outlets that continuously sought to profit from the sensationalism of it all and consistently flouted standards of professional journalism along the way.


Taking Economic Equality Off The Table, Gene R. Nichol Apr 2000

Taking Economic Equality Off The Table, Gene R. Nichol

Law and Contemporary Problems

Nichol considers Pres Clinton's Administration's record on issues of economic equality, including California Gov Pete Wilson's plan to discriminate against newly arrived California welfare recipients. The Clinton Administration has not been alone in taking economic fairness off the political agenda, but they have clearly done their part.


The First Amendment And Cyberspace: The Clinton Years, James Boyle Apr 2000

The First Amendment And Cyberspace: The Clinton Years, James Boyle

Law and Contemporary Problems

Both in terms of speech regulation and in terms of providing raw material for the legal controversies that shape the law of the First Amendment, the legacy of Pres Clinton's Administration is considerable, and nowhere more than in cyberspace. The most visible example of the Clinton Administration's role in cyberspeech regulation are the Communications Decency Act, which was struck down by unanimous vote of the Supreme Court in 1997, and the Child Online Protection Act, which is now before the courts.