Law Commons^™

Testing Two Assumptions About Federalism And Tort Reform, Thomas A. Eaton, Susette M. Talarico

Scholarly Works

In, 1996 both the United States House of Representatives and Senate passed legislation that, if enacted, would preempt state tort laws in significant ways. Why would a Congress otherwise apparently committed to vesting states with greater policymaking autonomy call for federal control of tort law?

Tort policymaking has traditionally been done at the state level. One assumption underlying this distribution of power is that states are better able than the national government to fashion tort rules appropriate for local conditions and circumstances. In other words, states are thought to have a special competence in crafting tort rules responsive to local …

States' Repeal: A Proposed Constitutional Amendment To Reinvigorate Federalism, Aaron J. O'Brien

Cleveland State Law Review

The lack of both legislative and judicial integrity led to a governmental system which is federalist in name but centrally planned in reality. Congress regularly passes laws which stretch the conceivable bounds of its powers. By failing to overturn such legislation, the Supreme Court ignores the benefits of federalism and the significance of dual sovereignty. These changes render the individual citizen's opinion rather meaningless while attacking the roots of democracy and threatening the liberties early Americans so earnestly tried to preserve. The People are left without a mechanism through which to speak on a national level. Because of this dissolution …

The Electoral College And The Constitution : The Case For Preserving Federalism, Robert M. Hardaway

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

This study examines how the Electoral College actually works, how it is supposed to work, and how it might be reformed. Robert Hardaway first looks at the Constitutional Convention, the Twelfth Amendment, and historical elections where the Electoral College has come into play, providing the historical background to the present-day College.

Section 9: The Court And Politics, Institute Of Bill Of Rights Law, William & Mary Law School

Supreme Court Preview

No abstract provided.

Principles, Politics, And Constitutional Law, Mark Tushnet

Michigan Law Review

The contrast in Senator Thurmond's performance in hearings concerning Judge Bork, whose nomination he supported, and Justice Marshall, whose nomination he opposed, suggests the apparently cynical view that one's position on the proper scope of senatorial inquiry during a nomination depends upon one's position on the merits of the nomination. Much has been written, usually provoked by controversial nominations, about the proper scope of senatorial inquiry. The press of immediate controversy, however, diverts attention from more fundamental issues about the nature of constitutional government, to which I devote this essay.

Planning As A Major Tool Of Public Land Management, John D. Leshy

The Public Lands During the Remainder of the 20th Century: Planning, Law, and Policy in the Federal Land Agencies (Summer Conference, June 8-10)

25 pages.

Population Changes And Constitutional Amendments: Federalism Versus Democracy, Peter Suber

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

To amend the federal Constitution, we need the assent of two-thirds of each house of Congress and three-fourths of the states. This Article focuses on the three-fourths requirement for the states. This threshold is particularly high, and it suggests that constitutional amendment is very difficult. In fact, amendment is difficult in different degrees for different constituencies, depending not on their numbers but on where they live.

Prospects For Federalism, Maurice J. Holland

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

The Reapportionment Cases: Cognitive Lag, The Malady And Its Cure, E. F. Roberts, Paul T. Shultz Iii

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

The reapportionment cases have been considered by many to be the product of a liberal, activist Court which is endeavoring to reshape America’s political life according to its own views. The authors of this article assert that, to the contrary, the Court actually is reacting to the incontrovertible fact of the modern predominance of urban complexities which have rendered inappropriate our older political boundaries. In this sense, they consider the Court’s decisions conservative rather than liberal- because the Court’s purpose is to maintain a version of federalism along state boundaries which may have become outmoded even before the Court entered …

Is A Provision For The Initiative And Referendum Inconsistent With The Constitution Of The United States?, W. A. Coutts

Michigan Law Review

We are told today that the Constitution of the United States forbids the adoption of the Initiative and the Referendum, as these involve such purely democratic principles as to be inconsistent with the republican form of government guaranteed by the fourth section of the fourth article of the Federal Constitution. The special interests that are opposed to the Initiative tell us that we must find some other cure for the evils at which it aims; that the Initiative is a purely democratic principle and, as such, it is forbidden by the fourth section of the fourth article of the Federal …