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Full-Text Articles in Law
Buck V. Bell: A Constitutional Tragedy From A Lost World, Victoria Nourse
Buck V. Bell: A Constitutional Tragedy From A Lost World, Victoria Nourse
Pepperdine Law Review
The article focuses on the U.S. Supreme Court case Buck v. Bell, which dealt with the forced sterilization of people deemed unfit, such as intellectually disabled or mentally retarded individuals. Topics include the enforceability of unconstitutional judicial decisions, eugenic sterilization, and the application of substantive due process.
A Fatal Loss Of Balance: Dred Scott Revisited , Daniel A. Farber
A Fatal Loss Of Balance: Dred Scott Revisited , Daniel A. Farber
Pepperdine Law Review
This essay focuses on three aspects of the Dred Scott opinion: its effort to ensure that blacks could never be citizens, let alone equal ones; its deployment of a "limited government" argument for a narrow interpretation of Congress's enumerated power over the territories; and its path-breaking defense of property rights against government regulation. These constitutional tropes of racism, narrowing of federal power, and protection of property were to remain dominant for another seventy-five years. Apart from the failings of the opinion itself, Dred Scott also represents an extraordinary case of presidential tampering with the judicial process and a breakdown in …