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Articles 1 - 19 of 19
Full-Text Articles in Law
State Rejection Of Federal Law, Thomas B. Bennett
State Rejection Of Federal Law, Thomas B. Bennett
Faculty Publications
Sometimes the United States Supreme Court speaks, and states do not follow. For example, in 2003, the Arizona Supreme Court agreed to "reject" a decision of the U.S. Supreme Court, because no "sound reasons justif[ied] following" it. Similarly, in 2006, Michigan voters approved a ballot initiative that, according to the legislature that drafted it, sought "at the very least to freeze' the state's ... law to prevent" state courts from following a ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court. Surprising though this language may be, there is nothing nefarious about these cases. Cooper v. Aaron this is not. Unlike more notorious …
Religious Rights In Historical, Theoretical And International Context: Hobby Lobby As A Jurisprudential Anomaly, S. I. Strong
Religious Rights In Historical, Theoretical And International Context: Hobby Lobby As A Jurisprudential Anomaly, S. I. Strong
Faculty Publications
The United States has a long and complicated history concerning religious rights, and the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., has done little to clear up the jurisprudence in this field. Although the decision will doubtless generate a great deal of commentary as a matter of constitutional and statutory law, the better approach is to consider whether and to what extent the majority and dissenting opinions reflect the fundamental principles of religious liberty. Only in that context can the merits of such a novel decision be evaluated free from political and other biases.
This …
Preferences Are Public Rights, Brook E. Gotberg
Preferences Are Public Rights, Brook E. Gotberg
Faculty Publications
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in Stern v. Marshall, there is widespread uncertainty as to what other proceedings may constitutionally fall within a bankruptcy court’s core jurisdiction. Supreme Court jurisprudence has been cryptic regarding the constitutional limitations of non-Article III courts, but the Court has identified a "public rights exception" to the general rule that the judicial power must be exercised only by judges with life tenure and salary protection. This public rights exception has not yet been explicitly extended to a bankruptcy proceeding, but the reasoning of the Court strongly suggests that a trustee’s motion to …
Constitutional Conundrums In Arbitration: Book Review Of Arbitration And The Constitution, S. I. Strong
Constitutional Conundrums In Arbitration: Book Review Of Arbitration And The Constitution, S. I. Strong
Faculty Publications
The combination of arbitration and constitutional law is the topic of Professor Peter Rutledge's new book, and the focus of this review essay, which will consider, among other things, whether these two subjects are compatible.
Cross-Border Collective Redress And Individual Participatory Rights: Quo Vadis?, S. I. Strong
Cross-Border Collective Redress And Individual Participatory Rights: Quo Vadis?, S. I. Strong
Faculty Publications
This article fills a critical gap in the commentary by undertaking a rights-based analysis of the various issues that arise in cases involving large-scale international litigation, focusing in particular on the Brussels I Regulation and what may be called ‘individual participatory rights’. In so doing, the discussion considers the nature and scope of individual participatory rights in collective litigation as well the ways in which these rights should be weighed and considered. Although the analysis is set in the context of European procedural law, this discussion is of equal relevance to parties outside the European Union, either because they will …
Beyond The Self-Execution Analysis: Rationalizing Constitutional, Treaty And Statutory Interpretation In International Commercial Arbitration, S. I. Strong
Faculty Publications
International commercial arbitration has long been considered one of the paradigmatic forms of private international law and has achieved a degree of legitimacy that is virtually unparalleled in the international realm. However, significant questions have recently begun to arise about the device’s public international attributes, stemming largely from a circuit split regarding the nature of the New York Convention, the leading treaty in the field, and Chapter 2 of the Federal Arbitration Act, which helps give effect to the Convention in the United States. Efforts have been made to place the debate about the New York Convention within the context …
Cross-Border Collective Redress In The European Union: Constitutional Rights In The Face Of The Brussels I Regulation, S. I. Strong
Cross-Border Collective Redress In The European Union: Constitutional Rights In The Face Of The Brussels I Regulation, S. I. Strong
Faculty Publications
This article considers the various issues associated with the creation of a system of collective relief in a region that has traditionally been hostile to the provision of large-scale private litigation. In so doing, the discussion focuses on the clash between certain constitutional rights relating to the ability of the plaintiff to choose the time, place and manner of bringing suit and the European Union’s primary form of legislation concerning cross-border procedure, Council Regulation 44/2001 on jurisdiction and on recognition and enforcement of civil and commercial judgments, commonly known as the Brussels I Regulation.
Not A Free Press Court?, Lyrissa Lidsky
Not A Free Press Court?, Lyrissa Lidsky
Faculty Publications
The last decade has been tumultuous for print and broadcast media. Daily newspaper circulation continues to fall precipitously, magazines struggle to survive, and network television audiences keep shrinking. In the meanwhile, cable news is prospering, mobile devices are contributing to increased news consumption, and many new media outlets appear to be thriving. Despite the dynamism in the media industry, the Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Roberts has taken up relatively few First Amendment cases directly involving the media. The Court has addressed a number of important free speech cases since 2005, but thus far the only Roberts Court decisions …
Lochner V. New York (1905) And Kennedy V. Louisiana (2008): Judicial Reliance On Adversary Argument, Douglas E. Abrams
Lochner V. New York (1905) And Kennedy V. Louisiana (2008): Judicial Reliance On Adversary Argument, Douglas E. Abrams
Faculty Publications
Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist called Lochner v. New York (1905) “one of the most ill-starred decisions that [the Supreme Court ever rendered.” The Justices’ deliberations preceding the 5-4 decision demonstrate the courts’ reliance on advocacy in the adversary system of civil and criminal justice. The stark imbalance between the state’s “incredibly sketchy” brief and Joseph Lochner’s sterling submission may have determined Lochner’s outcome, and thus may have changed the course of constitutional history, by leading two Justices to join the majority on the central question of whether New York’s maximum-hours law for bakery workers was a reasonable public health …
Privacy And Funeral Protests, Christina E. Wells
Privacy And Funeral Protests, Christina E. Wells
Faculty Publications
This article examines the free speech implications of funeral protest statutes. Enacted in response to the Westboro Baptist Church, whose members protest at funerals to spread their antigay message, such statutes restrict a broad array of peaceful expressive activity. This Article focuses on the states’ interest underlying these statutes - protecting mourners’ right to be free from unwanted intrusions while at funeral services. Few would argue against protecting funeral services from intrusive protests. These statutes, however, go far beyond that notion and protect mourners from offensive, rather than intrusive, protests. As such, they do not conceive of privacy as protection …
Constitutional Referendum In The United States Of America, William B. Fisch
Constitutional Referendum In The United States Of America, William B. Fisch
Faculty Publications
The United States of America, as a federation of now 50 states each with its own constitution and legal system still enjoying a large degree of governmental autonomy within the national legal framework, presents a strikingly mixed picture regarding the use of direct democracy--the submission of proposed governmental action to a popular vote--in law- and constitution-making processes. At the national level, direct democracy has never been used for either type of enactment. At the state and local level, however, its use dates back to colonial times and has been increasing gradually (though still not universal) ever since. Since the mid-19th …
Defending Deference: A Response To Professors Epstein And Wells, Robert J. Pushaw Jr.
Defending Deference: A Response To Professors Epstein And Wells, Robert J. Pushaw Jr.
Missouri Law Review
This Note primarily seeks to challenge Professor Wells’s ideas contributed to the symposium. Specifically, the Constitution creates political and institutional structures that lead to strong executive-branch initiative in military affairs and fairly circumscribed judicial review. Constitutional considerations, as well as precedent, cast doubt on the viability of Wells’s “hard look” proposal and suggest that the Court will—should—continue its pattern of reviewing with deference wartime claims that the President has violated individual rights.
Encouraging Courage: Law's Response To Fear And Risk, William B. Fisch
Encouraging Courage: Law's Response To Fear And Risk, William B. Fisch
Missouri Law Review
No abstract provided.
Questioning Deference, Christina E. Wells
Questioning Deference, Christina E. Wells
Faculty Publications
This article examines the accepted axiom that courts should defer to the government's actions during national security crises even when such actions potentially violate citizens' constitutional rights. The paper questions two assumptions underlying that axiom - first, that executive officials are best equipped to determine when security needs justify liberty infringements and, second, that judges are particularly unqualified to meddle in security issues, even when civil liberties are involved. Relying on psychological theories regarding the role that fear plays in skewing risk assessment and historical analyses of past crises, the paper argues that times of crisis lend themselves to unnecessary …
Missouri's Religious Freedom Restoration Act: A New Approach To The Cause Of Conscience, James A. Hanson
Missouri's Religious Freedom Restoration Act: A New Approach To The Cause Of Conscience, James A. Hanson
Missouri Law Review
This Law Summary will examine both the congressional and state efforts to buttress religious liberty guarantees. Of primary interest here is the most recent addition to this community: Missouri’s RFRA. After outlining the history and language of Missouri’s RFRA, this Summary will provide guidance for the interpretation and application of the statute in Missouri.
Blakely And Missouri's Grandparent Visitation Statute: An Abridgment Of Parents' Constitutional Rights - Blakely V. Blakely, Michael Hamlin
Blakely And Missouri's Grandparent Visitation Statute: An Abridgment Of Parents' Constitutional Rights - Blakely V. Blakely, Michael Hamlin
Missouri Law Review
Universally, states have enacted statutes granting nonparental parties, specifically grandparents, the right to petition courts for visitation of minor children. However, the states differ significantly in the manner in which they grant these parties that right. A recent United States Supreme Court decision, Troxel v. Granville, addressed the issue of the constitutionality of nonparental visitation statutes. Unfortunately, the Court failed to provide much clarity to the states in deciding constitutional challenges to these statutes. The Note explores the analysis employed by the Missouri Supreme Court in Blakely v. Blakely and argues that Missouri’s grandparent visitation statute is unconstitutional.
From 34 Cents To 37 Cents: The Unconstitutionality Of The Postal Monopoly, Christina M. Bates
From 34 Cents To 37 Cents: The Unconstitutionality Of The Postal Monopoly, Christina M. Bates
Missouri Law Review
Article 1, Section 8 of the United State Constitution (the “Postal Clause”) states that “The Congress shall have the power . . . to establish Post Offices and Post Roads.” Though at ratification the Postal Clause was inserted with very little discussion, there was increasing debate, involving such famous names as Lysander Spooner, as to whether or not the Postal Clause granted Congress a monopoly over the American postal system. In fact, some adventurous Americans, who did not believe that the Postal Clause granted to Congress a postal monopoly, created their own private mail services that nearly eradicated the Post …
Policy Of Family Privacy: Uncovering The Bias In Favor Of Nuclear Families In American Consitutional Law And Policy Reform, The, Richard F. Storrow
Policy Of Family Privacy: Uncovering The Bias In Favor Of Nuclear Families In American Consitutional Law And Policy Reform, The, Richard F. Storrow
Missouri Law Review
This Article re-examines the landmark cases comprising the backbone of the family privacy doctrine and discloses, within the folds of their rhetoric of individual liberty, a policy of privacy promoting nuclear families. The re-examination of the landmark cases in Part II demonstrates that the policy of family privacy is to foster the creation and longevity of traditional, nuclear families. Part II illustrates how this policy has become more clearly articulated over time through the Court’s restrictive interpretation of fundamental rights and its recent decision in Troxel v. Granville, the much-awaited ruling on grandparental visitation rights. In Part III, this Article …
Changing Interpretations Of The Establishment Clause: Financial Support Of Religious Schools, Bryan D. Lemoine
Changing Interpretations Of The Establishment Clause: Financial Support Of Religious Schools, Bryan D. Lemoine
Missouri Law Review
In Wolman v. Walter, Justice Stevens voiced concem that the "'high and impregnable' wall between church and state, has been reduced to a 'blurred, indistinct, and variable barrier.' 2 The court had sacrificed predictability for flexibility? While this may be true in some areas of Establishment Clause jurisprudence, it is no longer true in cases involving benefits to religious organizations. If the programs equally benefit both secular and "similarly situated" religious organizations, there is no violation of the Establishment Clause.4 Jackson v. Benson is an expression of this view. The Wisconsin Supreme Court, in upholding a program designed to provide …