Law Commons^™

The Dead End Of Animus Doctrine, Dale Carpenter

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

Hatred is as old as our civilization. So is the moral principle that one should not hate others and should not act on such hatred. Concerns that an angry or fearful majority might nevertheless treat people maliciously were present both at the beginning of our constitutional Republic and in its most divided epoch. The very structure of our government—dividing and separating powers—and our most hallowed egalitarian principle—Equal Protection of the Laws—were seen as safeguards against decisions driven by a “bare . . . desire to harm.” Such decisions are blasphemy in our legal heritage. Half a century ago, the Supreme …

Judge James A. Wynn, Originalism, And The Juridical/Judicial Role, Michael E. Tigar

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Judging Without A J.D., Sara Sternberg Greene, Kristen M. Renberg

Faculty Scholarship

One of the most basic assumptions of our legal system is that when two parties face off in court, the case will be adjudicated before a judge who is trained in the law. This Essay begins by showing that, empirically, the assumption that most judges have legal training does not hold true for many low-level state courts. Using data we compiled from all fifty states and the District of Columbia, we find that thirty-two states allow at least some low-level state court judges to adjudicate without a law degree, and seventeen states do not require judges who adjudicate eviction cases …

"Slack" In The Data Age, Shu-Yi Oei, Diane M. Ring

Faculty Scholarship

This Article examines how increasingly ubiquitous data and information affect the role of “slack” in the law. Slack is the informal latitude to break the law without sanction. Pockets of slack exist for various reasons, including information imperfections, enforcement resource constraints, deliberate nonenforcement of problematic laws, politics, biases, and luck. Slack is important in allowing flexibility and forbearance in the legal system, but it also risks enabling selective and uneven enforcement. Increasingly available data is now upending slack, causing it to contract and exacerbating the risks of unfair enforcement.

This Article delineates the various contexts in which slack arises and …

Race, Space, And Surveillance: A Response To #Livingwhileblack: Blackness As Nuisance, Lolita Buckner Inniss

Publications

This article is an invited response to an American University Law Review article titled “#LivingWhileBlack: Blackness as Nuisance” that has been widely discussed in the news media and in academic circles.

Dying Constitutionalism And The Fourteenth Amendment, Ernest A. Young

Faculty Scholarship

The notion of a “living Constitution” often rests on an implicit assumption that important constitutional values will “grow” in such a way as to make the Constitution more attractive over time. But there are no guarantees: What can grow can also wither and die. This essay, presented as the 2018 Robert F. Boden Lecture at Marquette University Law School, marks the sesquicentennial of the Fourteenth Amendment’s ratification as a powerful charter of liberty and equality for black Americans. But for much of its early history, the Fourteenth Amendment’s meaning moved in reverse, overwhelmed by the end of Reconstruction, the gradual …

Martin, Ghana, And Global Legal Studies, H. Timothy Lovelace Jr.

Faculty Scholarship

This brief essay uses global legal studies to reconsider Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s activism after Gayle v. Browder. During this undertheorized portion of King's career, the civil rights leader traveled the world and gained a greater appreciation for comparative legal and political analysis. This essay explores King's first trip abroad and demonstrates how King's close study of Kwame Nkrumah's approaches to law reform helped to lay the foundation for watershed moments in King's own life.

In To Redeem the Soul of America: The Southern Christian Leadership Conference and Martin Luther King, Jr., renowned civil rights scholar and author, Adam …

The Disparate Treatment Of Race And Class In Constitutional Jurisprudence, Mario L. Barnes, Erwin Chemerinsky

Erwin Chemerinsky

No abstract provided.

Cumulative Constitutional Rights, Kerry Abrams, Brandon L. Garrett

Faculty Scholarship

Cumulative constitutional rights are ubiquitous. Plaintiffs litigate multiple constitutional violations, or multiple harms, and judges use multiple constitutional provisions to inform interpretation. Yet judges, litigants, and scholars have often criticized the notion of cumulative rights, including in leading Supreme Court rulings, such as Lawrence v. Texas, Employment Division v. Smith, and Miranda v. Arizona. Recently, the Court attempted to clarify some of this confusion. In its landmark opinion in Obergefell v. Hodges, the Court struck down state bans on same-sex marriage by pointing to several distinct but overlapping protections inherent in the Due Process Clause, including the right to individual …

Race, Class, And Access To Civil Justice, Sara Sternberg Greene

Faculty Scholarship

After many years of inattention, policymakers are now focused on troubling statistics indicating that members of poor and minority groups are less likely than their higher-income counterparts to seek help when they experience a civil justice problem. Indeed, roughly three-quarters of the poor do not seek legal help when they experience a civil justice problem, and inaction is even more pronounced among poor blacks. Past work on access to civil justice largely relies on unconfirmed assumptions about the behavior patterns and needs of those experiencing civil justice problems. At a time when increased attention and resources are being devoted to …

Seeing Color In Black And White : New York Defines Its Color Line In Ridgway V. Cockburn In 1937, Nicholas A. Soares

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This thesis examines the role Ridgway v. Cockburn played in exposing the “Negro race” as a subjective experience rather than a definitive label. Blacks in the 20th century were seen as undesirable. The NAACP fought for blacks’s rights to property and justice in the courts. Racially restrictive covenants became a popular method used by whites to keep blacks out of their neighborhoods. Arthur Garfield Hays, a white lawyer, defended the Cockburns as they moved into Edgemont Hills, a white elite neighborhood.

Equality Before The Law? Evaluating Criminal Case Outcomes In Canada, Michael Trebilcock, Albert Yoon

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

One of our most strongly held ideals is that individuals receive equal treatment under the law. Incidents of wrongful conviction or wide disparities in sentencing, however, challenge this premise. While legal scholars have recently examined this premise, our understanding remains largely normative or anecdotal. Scholars have begun to identify factors that influence legal outcomes, yet this question has remained largely unexplored in Canada. This article seeks to advance this inquiry. Using unique data from both the Ontario courts and Legal Aid Ontario during 2007–2013, we find that outcomes in routine criminal cases vary in ways not summarily explained by differences …

Lessons In Access To Justice: Racialized Youths In Ontario's Safe Schools, Janet E. Mosher

Janet Mosher

Access to justice is often equated with access to institutionalized dispute resolution processes, and the objective barriers that hinder such access-costs and delay most particularly-are commonly identified as the primary objects of reform efforts. In sharp contrast, when interviews and focus groups were conducted with racialized youths in Toronto regarding their experiences of access to justice in the context of school disciplinary matters, accounts of access to dispute resolution processes being impeded by costs and delay did not figure prominently. The interviews and focus groups revealed that many racialized youths scarcely ever considered accessing institutionalized dispute resolution processes largely because …

Kant's Categorical Imperative: An Unspoken Factor In Constitutional Rights Balancing, Donald L. Beschle

Donald L. Beschle

No abstract provided.

The Evolution Of Equality In American Law, Gerald Torres

Gerald Torres

No abstract provided.

The Evolution Of Equality In American Law, Gerald Torres

Gerald Torres

No abstract provided.

Yoder And The Question Of Equality, Laura S. Underkuffler

Laura S. Underkuffler

No abstract provided.

Barriers To Entry And Justice Ginsburg’S Criminal Procedure Jurisprudence, Lisa Kern Griffin

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Contraception As A Sex Equality Right, Neil S. Siegel, Reva B. Siegel

Faculty Scholarship

Challenges to federal law requiring insurance coverage of contraception are occurring on the eve of the 50th Anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Griswold v. Connecticut. It is a good time to reflect on the values served by protecting women’s access to contraception.

In 1965, the Court ruled in Griswold that a law criminalizing the use of contraception violated the privacy of the marriage relationship. Griswold offered women the most significant constitutional protection since the Nineteenth Amendment gave women the right to vote, constitutional protection as important as the cases prohibiting sex discrimination that the Court would …

Brief For Foreign And Comparative Law Experts Harold Hongju Koh Et Al. As Amici Curiae In Support Of Petitioners, Harold Hongju Koh, Thomas Buergenthal, Sarah H. Cleveland, Laurence R. Helfer, Ryan Goodman, Sujit Choudhry

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Substantive Equality As Equal Recognition: A New Theory Of Section 15 Of The Charter, Anthony Robert Sangiuliano

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

This article presents a novel theory of the concept of substantive equality under section 15(1) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms called Substantive Equality as Equal Recognition. This contribution is timely in light of the Supreme Court of Canada’s recent disagreement over the proper jurisprudential approach to interpreting section 15(1) in the 2013 case of Quebec v A. Substantive Equality as Equal Recognition holds that the purpose of section 15(1) is to ensure that the law’s application does not reflect, through its impact or effects, hierarchies of status that exist between citizens within Canadian society. The article argues …

Exit, Voice, And Loyalty As Federalism Strategies: Lessons From The Same-Sex Marriage Debate, Ernest A. Young

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Hollingsworth V. Perry, Brief For Foreign And Comparative Law Experts Harold Hongju Koh Et. Al. As Amici Curiae Supporting Respondents, Harold Hongju Koh, Sarah H. Cleveland, Laurence R. Helfer, Ryan Goodman

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Lifting The Fog: Ending Felony Disenfranchisement In Virginia, Dori Elizabeth Martin

Law Student Publications

This comment explores how Virginia's disenfranchisement law originated, how it has managed to survive throughout Virginia's history, and whether it may be vulnerable to various legal challenges. Part II outlines the history of felony disenfranchisement in Virginia. Part III analyzes common policy justifications for the current law and discusses the widely held beliefs about the role of race in the law's inception. Part IV examines legal challenges to similar laws in the federal courts and evaluates the potential for success of comparable challenges in Virginia. Part V looks to recent attempts at enacting solutions at the state level. Part VI …

Pimps, Johns, And Juvenile Prostitutes: Is New York Doing Enough To Combat The Commercial Sexual Exploitation Of Children, Marihug Cedeno

Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy

No abstract provided.

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 Reluctant Apology For Plessy: A Response To Akhil Amar, Barry P. Mcdonald

Pepperdine Law Review

A response to the article "Plessy v. Ferguson and the Anti-Canon," by Akhil Amar, published in the November 2011 issue of the "Pepperdine Law Review," is presented. Topics include an examination of Justice Henry Billings Brown's decision in the case, the constitutionality of segregating U.S. citizens by race, and the impact of public opinion on U.S. Supreme Court decisions.

Plessy V. Ferguson And The Anti-Canon, Akhil Reed Amar

Pepperdine Law Review

The article focuses on the U.S. Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson, which dealt with the constitutionality of racial segregation in the U.S. Topics include the application of precedent in controversial U.S. Supreme Court cases, when the U.S. Constitution can overrule a court decision, and dissenting judicial opinions.

The Boston Principles: An Introduction, Hope Lewis, Rachel E. Rosenbloom

Hope Lewis

This commentary introduces the Draft Boston Principles on the Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights of Noncitizens. The Draft Boston Principles are the outcome of "Beyond National Security: Immigrant Communities and Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights," an institute held at Northeastern University School of Law in Boston, Massachusetts (United States of America) on October 14-15, 2010. Convened by the Program on Human Rights and the Global Economy (PHRGE) with the sponsorship of the Ford Foundation and the Human Rights Interest Group of the American Society of International Law, the institute brought together leading immigrants' rights attorneys, human rights advocates, and scholars …

The Tsunami Of Legal Uncertainty: What’S A Court To Do Post-Mcdonald, Stacey L. Sobel

Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy

No abstract provided.