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Full-Text Articles in Law

A More Perfect Union: The Emoluments Clause, Grant C. Rasak Jul 2020

A More Perfect Union: The Emoluments Clause, Grant C. Rasak

Pepperdine Law Review

America’s Framers crafted the Emoluments Clause to preserve institutional integrity, mitigate undue influences, and best serve the American People. The Emoluments Clause influenced the course of the Constitutional Convention, as the Pennsylvania Delegation championed resolute reforms. Benjamin Franklin, working alongside James Wilson, advocated for strengthening domestic and international practices by crafting the Emoluments Clause. The Framers proposed a system of self-government which sought to establish public trust, mitigate corrupt practices, and promote institutional integrity. The Pennsylvania Delegation summoned Wilson, under the tutelage of Franklin, to champion the Emoluments Clause. Wilson proposed a new notion of national unity by placing profound …


Fight Or Flight: The Ninth Circuit's Advancement Of Textualism During An Era Of Intentionalism In United States V. Lozoya, Zachary Remijas Jul 2020

Fight Or Flight: The Ninth Circuit's Advancement Of Textualism During An Era Of Intentionalism In United States V. Lozoya, Zachary Remijas

Pepperdine Law Review

The modern complexities of global interaction and accessibility have recently forced some federal courts to reconsider standards for determining proper venue for criminal defendants who commit offenses while engaged in transportation, particularly those involving interstate commerce and crimes spanning multiple districts. These courts’ application of two adversarial schools of statutory interpretation—textualism and intentionalism—has driven conflict between textualist jurisdictions adhering to the plain meaning of established constitutional and statutory sources, and intentionalist jurisdictions refraining from the “creeping absurdity” of establishing venue for certain in-transit offenses under the literal meaning of such provisions. This Note endorses the sensibility and superiority of the …


No Safe Spaces: A Distorted Image Of A Clear Problem, Michael Conklin Jul 2020

No Safe Spaces: A Distorted Image Of A Clear Problem, Michael Conklin

Pepperdine Law Review

This is a critical analysis of the documentary No Safe Spaces. The movie features comedian Adam Carolla and conservative talk show host Dennis Prager. Depending on the source, the movie is either the most necessary and prescient documentary ever or the most harmful. Unfortunately, the polarizing nature of the reviews largely fall along partisan political lines, with conservatives praising the movie and liberals criticizing it. This partisan result could have likely been minimized if the movie communicated a more bipartisan tone. To further complicate things, the movie does not provide a clear thesis of what it is trying to promote. …


The First Amendment And Data Privacy: Securing Data Privacy Laws That Withstand Constitutional Muster, Kathryn Peyton Jul 2020

The First Amendment And Data Privacy: Securing Data Privacy Laws That Withstand Constitutional Muster, Kathryn Peyton

Pepperdine Law Review

Given the growing ubiquity of digital technology’s presence in people’s lives today, it is becoming increasingly more necessary to secure data privacy protections. People interact with technology constantly, ranging from when engaging in business activates, such as corresponding through emails or doing research online, to more innocuous activities like driving, shopping, or talking with friends and family. The advances in technology have made possible the creation of digital trails whenever someone interacts with such technology. Companies aggregate data from data trails and use predictive analytics to create detailed profiles about citizen-consumers. This information is typically used for profit generating purposes. …


Court Expansion And The Restoration Of Democracy: The Case For Constitutional Hardball, Aaron Belkin Jul 2020

Court Expansion And The Restoration Of Democracy: The Case For Constitutional Hardball, Aaron Belkin

Pepperdine Law Review

Neither electoral politics, norms preservation, nor modest good government reform can restore the political system because they cannot mitigate the primary threat to the American democracy, Republican radicalism. Those who believe otherwise fail to appreciate how and why radicalism will continue to impede democratic restoration regardless of what happens at the ballot box, misdiagnose the underlying factors that produce and sustain GOP radicalism, and under-estimate the degree of democratic deterioration that has already taken place. Republicans do not need to prevail in every election to forestall the restoration of democracy or to prevent Democrats from governing. The only viable path …


A Call For America's Law Professors To Oppose Court-Packing, Bruce Ledewitz Jul 2020

A Call For America's Law Professors To Oppose Court-Packing, Bruce Ledewitz

Pepperdine Law Review

A Court-packing proposal is imminent. Mainstream Democratic Party Presidential Candidates are already supporting it. The number of Justices on the Supreme Court has been set at nine since 1869, but this is merely a statutory requirement. As soon as Democrats regain control of the Presidency and the Congress, Court-packing will be on the agenda, either expressly or under the guise of Court-reform. Now is the time for the American legal academy to join together to oppose this threat. Court-packing would threaten democracy, destroy the rule of law and undermine judicial independence. It is a pointless and unnecessary reaction born of …


Table Of Contents & Masthead, Jacob Bliss Jun 2020

Table Of Contents & Masthead, Jacob Bliss

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


Emerging Technology & Regulation Panel Transcript, Bill Goodwin, Ryan Hagemann, Brooks Rainwater, Caleb Watney Jun 2020

Emerging Technology & Regulation Panel Transcript, Bill Goodwin, Ryan Hagemann, Brooks Rainwater, Caleb Watney

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


Modern Privacy Advocacy: An Approach At War With Privacy Itself?, Justin "Gus" Hurwitz, Jamil N. Jaffer Jun 2020

Modern Privacy Advocacy: An Approach At War With Privacy Itself?, Justin "Gus" Hurwitz, Jamil N. Jaffer

Pepperdine Law Review

This Article argues that the modern concept of privacy itself, particularly as framed by some of its most ardent advocates today, is fundamentally incoherent. The Article highlights that many common arguments made in support of privacy, while initially seeming to protect this critical value, nonetheless undermine it in the long run. Using both recent and older examples of applying classic privacy advocacy positions to key technological innovations, the authors demonstrate how these positions, while seemingly privacy-enhancing at the time, actually resulted in outcomes that were less beneficial for consumers and citizens, including from a purely privacy-focused perspective. As a result, …


The Gdpr And The Consequences Of Big Regulation, Matthew R. A. Heiman Jun 2020

The Gdpr And The Consequences Of Big Regulation, Matthew R. A. Heiman

Pepperdine Law Review

This Article summarizes the key features of the European Union’s General Data Privacy Regulation (GDPR) that became effective on May 25, 2018. The stated purpose of the law is to give individuals greater control over personal information that is handled by companies and organizations. The Article argues that the GDPR is fundamentally flawed. Key terms within the GDPR are undefined; the burdens of the GDPR will fall heaviest on small businesses; the GDPR disrupts a valuable business model; the GDPR will stymie growth, innovation, and information sharing; and it may be the product of protectionist impulses rather than concerns for …


When Considering Federal Privacy Legislation, Neil Chilson Jun 2020

When Considering Federal Privacy Legislation, Neil Chilson

Pepperdine Law Review

Legislators, advocates, and business interests are proposing federal privacy legislation with new urgency. The United States has a long-established federal framework for addressing commercial privacy concerns, including general consumer protection law and sector-specific legislation. But the calls to expand or replace this approach have grown louder since Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation went into effect and since California adopted detailed and prescriptive privacy legislation. Should we create a U.S. federal privacy law, and if so, how? When considering any kind of privacy regulation, three concepts are fundamental. First, no one can control all information about them. Second, all privacy laws …


Consumer Welfare & The Rule Of Law: The Case Against The New Populist Antitrust Movement, Elyse Dorsey, Geoffrey A. Manne, Jan M. Rybnicek, Kristian Stout, Joshua D. Wright Jun 2020

Consumer Welfare & The Rule Of Law: The Case Against The New Populist Antitrust Movement, Elyse Dorsey, Geoffrey A. Manne, Jan M. Rybnicek, Kristian Stout, Joshua D. Wright

Pepperdine Law Review

Populist antitrust notions suddenly are fashionable again. At their core is the view that antitrust law is responsible for a myriad of purported socio-political problems plaguing society today, including but not limited to rising income inequality, declining wages, and increasing economic and political concentration. Seizing on Americans’ fears about changes to the modern US economy, proponents of populist antitrust policies assert the need to fundamentally reshape how we apply our nation’s competition laws in order to implement a variety of prescriptions necessary to remedy these perceived social ills. The proposals are varied and expansive but have the unifying theme of …


Table Of Contents & Masthead, Jacob Bliss Jun 2020

Table Of Contents & Masthead, Jacob Bliss

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


Federal Protection For "Fur-Babies": A Legislative Proposal, Rebecca Ferrari Jun 2020

Federal Protection For "Fur-Babies": A Legislative Proposal, Rebecca Ferrari

Pepperdine Law Review

Americans love their animals, but America doesn’t protect them. Across the country, animals continue to be classified as mere property, undeserving of any basic rights and unprotected by the animal welfare statutes that do exist, but often remain unenforced. This Article proposes a comprehensive animal protection system that includes the following components: (a) general prohibitions against animal crushing, cruelty, neglect, and abuse; (b) a civil action provision that will allow humane society officers to investigate violations of those prohibitions; (c) a provision establishing animal legal advocates to work alongside the officers and prosecute violations; and (d) an animal-suit provision to …


Contracts And The Constitution In Conflict: Why Judicial Deference To Religious Upbringing Clauses Infringes On The First Amendment, Elica Zadeh Jun 2020

Contracts And The Constitution In Conflict: Why Judicial Deference To Religious Upbringing Clauses Infringes On The First Amendment, Elica Zadeh

Pepperdine Law Review

When a Hasidic person files for divorce under New York law, either party to the marriage may invoke a declaratory judgment action to establish certain rights in a settlement agreement. If children are involved, such an agreement may include a religious upbringing clause, dictating that the child is to be raised in accordance with their then-existing religion—Hasidism. Deviation from the contract risks removal from the aberrant parent who intentionally or unwittingly allows the child to wane into secularism. Although the child’s best interest is the cornerstone of custodial analysis, a problem emerges when his or her best interest is couched …


Compelled Speech And The Irrelevance Of Controversy, Seana Valentine Shiffrin Jun 2020

Compelled Speech And The Irrelevance Of Controversy, Seana Valentine Shiffrin

Pepperdine Law Review

NIFLA v. Becerra stealthily introduced a new First Amendment test for compelled speech that has injected chaos into the law of compelled disclosures. NIFLA reinterpreted the requirement that compelled disclosures contain only “purely factual and uncontroversial information” in a way that imbued independent force into the “uncontroversial” component of that test. Yet, the Court failed to supply criteria for what sort of purely factual information would fail to qualify as “uncontroversial information” and identified no important free speech concerns that this new prong protects. This Article distinguishes seven different interpretations of “uncontroversial information.” It then assesses them to ascertain whether …


Men's Reproductive Rights: A Legal History, Mary Ziegler Jun 2020

Men's Reproductive Rights: A Legal History, Mary Ziegler

Pepperdine Law Review

This Article offers the first legal history of men’s procreative rights, filling a gap in scholarship on assisted reproduction, constitutional law, and social movements. A rich literature addresses women’s procreative rights in contexts from abortion to infertility. By comparison, we know relatively little about the history of the debate about reproductive rights for men. This void is particularly troubling at a time when the law of reproductive rights is increasingly up for grabs, especially in the context of assisted reproduction technologies (ART). Men’s rights advocates—and the abortion-rights supporters responding to them—championed a jurisprudential approach to parenting that casts a long …


Creative Destruction: Copyright's Fair Use Doctrine And The Moral Right Of Integrity, Cathay Y. N. Smith Jun 2020

Creative Destruction: Copyright's Fair Use Doctrine And The Moral Right Of Integrity, Cathay Y. N. Smith

Pepperdine Law Review

This Paper explores the role of copyright’s fair use doctrine as a limit on the moral right of integrity. The moral right of integrity gives an author the right to prevent any distortion, modification, or mutilation of their work that prejudices their honor or reputation. Actions that have been found to violate an author’s moral right of integrity include, for instance, altering a mural by painting clothing over nude figures, selling separated panels of a single work of art, and displaying sculptures with holiday ribbons. At the same time, copyright’s fair use doctrine allows follow-on creators to transform original works …


Table Of Contents & Pepperdine Law Review Masthead, Jacob Bliss Mar 2020

Table Of Contents & Pepperdine Law Review Masthead, Jacob Bliss

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


"Christian Traditions, Culture, And Law": An Update And A Few Reflections, Robert F. Cochran Jr. Mar 2020

"Christian Traditions, Culture, And Law": An Update And A Few Reflections, Robert F. Cochran Jr.

Pepperdine Law Review

Using Richard Niebuhr’s description of Christian approaches to culture, this Article examines the way Christians approach law, focusing on developments over the last 20 years. During that time, synthesists have continued to develop natural law, seeking an understanding of law based on shared human goods and reason, an approach that can generate a common approach among people of all faiths and no faith. Conversionists, including those on both the political left and right, argue for changes in law that will reflect Christian understandings of the good. Separatists (including many former conversionists) argue that American culture and law have become so …


One Step Enough, Steven D. Smith Mar 2020

One Step Enough, Steven D. Smith

Pepperdine Law Review

The growing divide between contemporary law and culture and Christianity forces Christians both in general and in the academy to confront difficult choices. The difficulty of those choices was manifest in the most recent presidential election. In this situation, some Christians take an aggressive or triumphalist stance; others are more inclined to a retreatist approach sometimes labeled “the Benedict Option.” What the right response is poses both prudential and theological questions about which Christians disagree, and about which confident answers are elusive. In this context, Professor Bob Cochran’s distinguished career exemplifies a path of humility in which the Christian citizen …


Jesus Came "Not To Abolish The Law But To Fulfill It": The Sermon On The Mount And Its Implications For Contemporary Law, David Vandrunen Mar 2020

Jesus Came "Not To Abolish The Law But To Fulfill It": The Sermon On The Mount And Its Implications For Contemporary Law, David Vandrunen

Pepperdine Law Review

This Article interprets Matthew 5:17–48 and argues that, because Jesus came not to abolish but to fulfill the law and the prophets, the Old Testament law takes on a new form for New Testament Christians. The law of God has been refracted through the ministry of Christ. While Matthew 5 does not address contemporary human law directly, its teaching does have radical implications for it. These implications flow particularly from the fact that Matthew 5 marks a decisive shift from the Mosaic theocracy to the worldwide new-covenant church that has no civil jurisdiction.


Divided By The Sermon On The Mount, David Skeel Mar 2020

Divided By The Sermon On The Mount, David Skeel

Pepperdine Law Review

This Essay, written for a festschrift for Bob Cochran, argues that the much-discussed friction between evangelical supporters of President Trump and evangelical critics is a symptom of a much deeper theological divide over the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus told his disciples to turn the other cheek when struck, love their neighbor as themselves, and pray that their debts will be forgiven as they forgive their debtors. Divergent interpretations of these teachings have given rise to competing evangelical visions of justice. One side of today’s divide—the religious right—can be traced directly back to the fundamentalist critics of the early …


Comparing Literary And Biblical Hermeneutics To Constitutional And Statutory Interpretation, Robert J. Pushaw Jr. Mar 2020

Comparing Literary And Biblical Hermeneutics To Constitutional And Statutory Interpretation, Robert J. Pushaw Jr.

Pepperdine Law Review

Interpreters determine the meaning of language. To interpret literary and biblical texts, scholars have developed detailed rules, methods, and theories of human understanding. This branch of knowledge, “hermeneutics,” features three basic approaches. First, “textualists” treat words as directly conveying their ordinary meaning to a competent reader today. Second, “contextualists” maintain that verbal meaning depends on generally shared linguistic conventions in the particular historical and cultural environment of the author—and that therefore translations or commentaries are necessary to make the writing intelligible to a modern reader. Third, “hermeneutic circle” scholars argue that texts have no objective meaning. Rather, a person’s subjective …


The Metaphorical Bridge Between Law And Religion, John Witte Jr. Mar 2020

The Metaphorical Bridge Between Law And Religion, John Witte Jr.

Pepperdine Law Review

This Article explores the role of metaphors in shaping our thought and language in general, and in the fields of law and religion in particular. Drawing on modern cognitive theorists like George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, the Article distinguishes and illustrates the roles of “orientation,” “structural,” and “ontological” metaphors in everyday life and language. Drawing on jurists like Robert Cover and Steven Winter, it shows how metaphors work both in describing the law in terms like “the body,” and in prescribing the foundational beliefs and values on which the legal system depends. Finally, the Article explores the ample use of …


The Dutch Effect: Kuyper And Neo-Calvinism In Professor Cochran's Scholarship, David S. Caudill Mar 2020

The Dutch Effect: Kuyper And Neo-Calvinism In Professor Cochran's Scholarship, David S. Caudill

Pepperdine Law Review

One of the obvious influences on Bob Cochran’s scholarship is the Dutch Calvinist tradition, especially as represented in the writings by or about Abraham Kuyper (1837–1920). Even though Cochran was neither Dutch nor a member of a Reformed church, Cochran found inspiration and compelling insights (with respect to legal processes and institutions) in the Dutch Calvinist tradition. This interest reflected Cochran’s generous ecumenism and his well-known respect for religious diversity. Three prominent conceptions—the trilogy of sphere sovereignty, antithesis, and common grace—provide a guide to Cochran’s recourse to Kuyper and Calvinism in his scholarly writing. Following a brief explanation of the …


Celebrating Robert Cochran And The Future Of "Embodied" Christian Legal Scholarship, Barbara Armacost Mar 2020

Celebrating Robert Cochran And The Future Of "Embodied" Christian Legal Scholarship, Barbara Armacost

Pepperdine Law Review

The occasion for this Article is a festschrift for Professor Robert (“Bob”) Cochran. I celebrate Bob’s significant scholarly contributions to the maturing of Christian Legal Scholarship. He applied a Christian perspective to legal issues, hosted conferences, mentored Christian Legal Scholars, and edited books of essays featuring Christian perspectives on law. Bob’s work in this area had a huge influence on the flourishing of Christian Legal Scholarship. This Article considers the future of Christian Legal Scholarship. It enters an ongoing conversation (disagreement) between law Professors David Skeel and David Caudill. In a 2008 article, Skeel defined Christian Legal Scholarship so narrowly …


Bob Cochran On Law And Lawyering: A Catholic Perspective, Stephen M. Bainbridge Mar 2020

Bob Cochran On Law And Lawyering: A Catholic Perspective, Stephen M. Bainbridge

Pepperdine Law Review

This Essay is a contribution to a festschrift honoring Pepperdine law professor Robert Cochran. In addition to his many other professional accomplishments, Professor Cochran is a leading figure in the study of Law and Christianity. One strain of Law and Christianity scholarship focuses on normative critiques of substantive legal issues based on Christian theology. In other words, it seeks to make the civil law more moral; i.e., to conform Man’s Law to God’s Law. A second strain seeks to help lawyers deal with the difficulties inherent in being a Christian and a lawyer. As Cochran has put it, one might …


The Communitarian Work And Vision(S) Of Robert Cochran (And Thomas Shaffer), Richard W. Garnett Mar 2020

The Communitarian Work And Vision(S) Of Robert Cochran (And Thomas Shaffer), Richard W. Garnett

Pepperdine Law Review

Professor Robert Cochran’s work and thought were powerfully shaped by those of his friend, mentor, and teacher, the late Professor Thomas Shaffer, a towering figure in the religious lawyering movement. A leading theme in Shaffer’s writing, one that has continued through and been developed in Cochran’s, is “community.” This Essay explores and unpacks this theme and highlights several ways that the idea of “community” functions in their vision of the lawyer’s role and vocation.


Abraham Lincoln And The Cardinal Virtue Of Practical Reason, Brett G. Scharffs Mar 2020

Abraham Lincoln And The Cardinal Virtue Of Practical Reason, Brett G. Scharffs

Pepperdine Law Review

Practical wisdom is an elusive concept. This Article focuses on a case in which Abraham Lincoln, prior to his election as President, participated (or more accurately did not participate) to frame a discussion of what practical wisdom means and how it makes a difference for lawyers.