Law Commons^™

Justice Thomas, Civil Asset Forfeitures, And Punitive Damages, Jill W. Lens

Jill Wieber Lens

Will Retroactive Proposition 30 Ever Be Challenged?, Frank J. Doti

Frank J. Doti

Professor Doti's article challenges the constitutionality of California Proposition 30. California voters passed Proposition 30 in 2012 to increase for seven years the income tax rates for those making more than $250,000. The highest tax bracket for individuals with more than $500,000 in taxable income was increased from 9.3% to 12.3%. Proposition 30 was approved by voters on November 6, 2012, but the increased rates were made retroactive—without effective notice—to January 1, 2012.

Retroactive tax laws eviscerate respect for the law and may result in a deprivation of due process of law under the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. …

A ‘Simple Test’: Posthumously Conceived Children And Social Security Entitlements In Astrue V Capato, Mel Cousins

Mel Cousins

This case note examines a recent Supreme Court decision concerning the interpretation of the provisions of the Social Security Act concerning entitlement to survivor’s benefits in respect of children. The case involved the correct construction of the term ‘child’ in the Act but arose, more specifically, from a series of cases concerning posthumously conceived children. Courts of Appeal had come to different interpretations as to correct interpretation of the Act and the Supreme Court intervened to resolve the conflict. The Court accepted the Social Security Agency’s (SSA) interpretation of the legislation. However, although legally correct, this does little if anything …

The Constitutionality Of Missouri Protective Statutes Of Child Abuse Victim Testimony In Criminal Trials, Vanessa Marie Starke Ms.

Vanessa Marie Starke Ms.

The Supreme Court decision in Iowa v. Coy and its subsequent holding in Maryland v. Craig found that the confrontation clause of the United States Constitution, like other rights, is not absolute. The Court determined that in some circumstances and under certain procedural conditions, a state’s interest in protecting a child abuse victim might permit the child to testify via video deposition. The cases were in reaction to the passage in many states of protective statutes allowing for such procedures in child-abuse prosecutions.

Missouri is one of the states that had passed such statutes prior to the Supreme Court decisions …

The Mandatory Death Penalty And A Sparsely Worded Constitution, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee

Jack Tsen-Ta LEE

It was not unexpected that the Singapore Court of Appeal would reaffirm the constitutionality of the mandatory death penalty for certain forms of drug trafficking in Yong Vui Kong v Public Prosecutor [2010] 3 S.L.R 489. ... The appellant made submissions based on Articles 9(1) and 12(1) of the Constitution, which respectively guarantee rights to life and personal liberty, and to equality before the law and equal protection of the law. This note examines aspects of the Article 9(1) arguments.

The Unconstitutionality Of Current Legal Barriers To Telemedicine In The United States: Analysis And Future Directions Of Its Relationship To National And International Health Care Reform, Deth Sao, Amar Gupta

Deth Sao

The current health care crisis in the United States compels a consideration of the crucial role that telemedicine could play towards deploying a pragmatic solution. The nation faces rising costs and difficulties in access to and quality of medical services. Telemedicine can potentially help to overcome these challenges, as it can provide new cost-effective and efficient methods of delivering health care across geographic distances. The full benefits and future potential of telemedicine, however, are constrained by overlapping and often inconsistent and inadequate regulatory frameworks, as well as the repertoire of standards imposed by state governments and professional organizations. Proponents of …

Presidential Control Over The Regulatory Affairs Of Federal Administrative Agencies, Jennifer Allison

Jennifer Allison

This paper outlines the historical exertion of presidential control over the regulatory affairs of federal agencies. It first examines the historical understanding of the constitutionality of examining such control. Then, it describes the two main methods that modern Presidents use to exercise such control: presidential directives and presidential regulatory approval regimes. Finally, it discusses how this has manifested itself during the early days of the Obama administration, exploring the regulatory effects of President Obama's executive order that directed agencies to expand funding programs for research using embryonic stem cells.

Indecent Speech On Broadcast Television: A Constitutional Challenge To The Government’S Time-Channeling Provisions, Krista Jacobsen

Krista S. Jacobsen

What is the correct level of scrutiny under which to evaluate the constitutionality of restrictions of indecent speech in broadcast television? The Supreme Court has never articulated the answer to this question. Since the mid-1970s, however, courts have seemingly afforded a lower-than-strict level of scrutiny to governmental restrictions of indecent speech in broadcast television.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) attempts to “time-channel” indecent content on television to the hours when children are unlikely to be in the audience. In 2006, the FCC announced that it was adopting a more aggressive approach to indecent speech on television. In the future, even …

Law's Autonomy, Ashok Agrwaal

Ashok Agrwaal

Like entropy, autonomy exists. As such, the existence of autonomy does not need any law or laws, beyond itself and its nature. Autonomy can, therefore, be said to be an "original" state of human kind; or at least of the individual. Law, which is frequently seen as preserving/ maximising/ conferring autonomy is actually a device to usurp autonomy. The paper looks at a specific example of how the nation-state, the most powerful usurper of autonomies created till date, arrogates autonomy to itself, in the name of ‘public interest’. Needless to say, in the hands of the state, autonomy translates into …

Municipal Overreaching; Federal Preemption As It Applies To Town Ordinances Outlawing The Rental Of Housing To Undocumented Aliens, Hayden Patrick O'Byrne

Hayden Patrick O'Byrne

Within the past year or so a handful of towns around the United States have passed ordinances prohibiting undocumented aliens from renting housing. This paper explores how these ordinances are incompatible with the Federal Immigration Scheme and preempted by Federal Law.