Law Commons^™

From Little Acorns Great Oaks Grow: The Constitutionality Of Protecting Minors From Harmful Internet Material In Public Libraries Comment., Kimberly S. Keller

St. Mary's Law Journal

Congress should focus on the receiver's end of Internet transmissions to overcome the anonymity and transmogrification elements of the Internet to protect minors from harmful material. Throughout the years, librarians have struggled with monitoring minors’ access to the accumulating number of controversial texts in the library. The Internet’s unique infrastructure affords librarians virtually no opportunity for the pre-shelf review available with books and videos. Congress enacted the Communications Decency Act (CDA) in 1996 in an attempt to protect minors from the underbelly of the internet. The United States Supreme Court, in Reno v. ACLU, struck down the CDA ruling that …

The Natural Law Tradition On The Modern Supreme Court: Not Burke, But The Enlightenment Tradition Represented By Locke, Madison, And Marshall., R. Randall Kelso

St. Mary's Law Journal

A traditional common-law style of judicial decisionmaking exists which was present at this nation’s founding. This common law style is derived from natural law tradition. And this tradition stands as an alternative to the formalism of Justice Scalia or the Holmesian style of Chief Justice Rehnquist. This natural law style, with its focus on the religious and communitarian ethical tradition, was the dominant view of judicial interpretation for the framing and ratifying generation of the original Constitution and the Civil War Amendments. The decisionmaking style of Justices O’Connor, Kennedy, and Souter appears to have great affinity with this traditional common-law …

Congressional Reform: Can Term Limitations Close The Door On Political Careerism., Julia C. Wommack

St. Mary's Law Journal

Addressing Congressional woes requires reform. Entrenched incumbency is a detriment to the legislative system. Although the enactment of initiatives restricting Congressional terms limits signal voters agree, better alternatives exist. The only prerequisites found in the Constitution for serving in Congress are age, residency, and citizenship. While the twenty-second amendment proscribes the presidential office limit maximum as two terms, no such limitations exist for a congressman or congresswoman. Sitting incumbents have substantial advantages over their challengers. Incumbents success ratio exceeds 80% in Senate races and is approximately 90% for elections in the House of Representatives. Congressional term limitations attempt to eliminate …

No Harm, No Foul: Pornography (Violent And Otherwise), Victoria M. Mather

Faculty Articles

At the heart of the entire pornography debate is the lack of understanding or agreement of what is regulated. Society does not agree about what pornography means, what is hardcore or softcore, what is obscene, or what is "adult." The disagreement tends to derive from two very different viewpoints—the liberal view, and the feminist view. On the liberal side of the debate, pornography should be protected speech but on the feminist side, society should take into account the feminist perspective and the harmful effects of these graphic depictions.

Applying the Miller-Roth test, liberals believe that pornography is protected speech until …

The Political Philosophy Of Campaign Finance Reform As Articulated In The Dissents In Austin V. Michigan Chamber Of Commerce., John S. Shockley, David A. Schultz

St. Mary's Law Journal

The 1992 presidential candidacy of Jerry Brown, who called for campaign contribution limits, has reignited the issue of campaign finance reform. Indeed, the United States Supreme Court has recognized the importance of campaign finance reform as a judicial issue. The importance of this issue is marked by the Court’s continued willingness to address the regulation of campaign finance since the 1976 landmark case of Buckley v. Valeo. The case of Austin v. Michigan Chamber of Commerce emphasized the somewhat confused nature of the Supreme Court’s campaign finance reform decisions. The Supreme Court and state legislatures will likely continue to address …

Nude Dancing Conveying A Message Or Eroticism And Sexuality Is Protected By The First Amendment But Can Be Limited Under State Police Powers Provided The Government Establishes A Substantial, Content-Neutral Purpose., Fred S. Wilson

St. Mary's Law Journal

In Barnes v. Glen Theatre, Inc., the Supreme Court held the First Amendment protects nude dancing as conveying an expressive message, but state police powers may limit protection if the government establishes a substantial, content-neutral purpose. It is a principal of constitutional law where an actor intends to convey a message by expressive conduct, the First Amendment protection extends to that expression. Traditionally, time, place, and manner regulations restricting expressive conduct based on either the subject-matter of the message or the viewpoint of the actor receive content-based classification. However, content-based regulation of expressive conduct is constitutional only when narrowly drawn …

Educational Choice Legislation After Edgewood V. Kirby: A Proposal For Clearing The Sectarian Hurdle., C. Lee Cusenbary Jr.

St. Mary's Law Journal

States can reform the ineffective educational system by adopting a free educational choice system. A free educational choice system would reimburse parents of educational expenditures through a voucher or tax deduction and will give parents the freedom to select the school their child attends. While free choice may present a viable solution for educational reform, one major obstacle is the possibility free choice would violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment by providing aid to sectarian schools. A free educational choice legislation will be subject to review under the Lemon v. Kurtzman test to determine if the financial aid …

The Crime Of Barratry: Criminal Responsibility For A Branch Of Professional Responsibility, Gerald S. Reamey

Faculty Articles

When lawyers thought of spurious litigation or solicitation of clients, they thought only of disciplinary rules and possible sanctions by a grievance committee. Such misconduct is not, however, merely a breach of professional etiquette or a violation of disciplinary rules. It is also a crime. Barratry, unlike most forms of professional misconduct, is criminal. The sanctions are more serious and the procedures are often less familiar than for other ethical lapses. Personal solicitation of prospective clients is the evil targeted by the barratry statute.

In Bates v. State Bar of Arizona, the Supreme Court first recognized lawyer advertising as commercial …

The Whole Truth Or Nothing But The Truth - Should Attorneys Who Advertise Be Required To Disclose Prior Disciplinary Actions Taken Against Them., Sara Murray

St. Mary's Law Journal

A state should not require attorneys who advertise to disclose all prior disciplinary actions in their advertisements. Attorney advertising, like other forms of commercial speech, is not immune to state regulation. The American public deserves access to accurate information about legal services, and lawyers have a duty to provide such information. However, attorneys and all other citizens have a constitutional right not to speak. A state must balance the competing interests carefully when the public’s right to know clashes with an individual’s right not to speak. There are several arguments against requiring attorneys to disclose all prior disciplinary actions in …

Toward Domestic Recognition Of A Human Right To Language, Bill Piatt

Faculty Articles

There is no clearly defined “right to language” in the United States. Yet, there do exist sources of such a right. For example, a constitutionally protected right to express oneself or receive communications in a language other than English is supported by a number of federal court decisions. Further, there may be a first amendment right to receive broadcast programming in languages other than English, and some federal statutes even provide a guarantee of the exercise of language rights in a number of public and civic contexts.

In spite of these sources for a right to language, it is an …

Shouting Incitement In The Courtroom: An Evolving Theory Of Civil Liability Comment., Michael P. Kopech

St. Mary's Law Journal

Civil incitement is an evolving theory, intended to ascribe liability to a publisher. Civil incitement charges that the contents of a publication proximately caused the plaintiff’s physical injury, thus holding publishers civilly liable for the physical consequences of their communications. However, the validity of civil incitement as an actionable tort clashes with the principles of freedom of speech and press embodied within the First Amendment. Incitement, as a successful cause of action, demands following the standards set out in Brandenburg v. Ohio. Prior attempts to hold publishers civilly liable for the physical consequences of their communications have rarely survived motions …

A Sign Of The Times: Billboard Regulation And The First Amendment Symposium - Selected Topics On Land Use Law - Comment., Anne E. Swenson

St. Mary's Law Journal

Evaluation of a billboard ordinance is complicated by the unique properties of this form of expression. The physical structure of the sign is not a form of expression; therefore, a state may regulate the size, height, degree of illumination, and location of the billboard. The sign’s message, on the other hand, is speech and thus protected from government action by the First Amendment. Further, the precise degree of First Amendment protection afforded to a particular message is a function of the character of the speech involved. First Amendment protection attaches if the sign’s message concerns a political, cultural, social, or …

An At-Will Employee May Be Fired Despite Motives Which Violate State Public Policy., Kelsey Menzel

St. Mary's Law Journal

Scholars generally agree children possess fewer rights than adults under the Constitution. Moreover, the school, as a restricted environment, places additional constraints on the constitutional rights of minors. In recent years, however, the Supreme Court extended to minor students the rights of equal protection and civil due process. In Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, the Court acknowledged children have First Amendment rights of self-expression in a school environment. This marked a significant change from the judiciary’s traditional reluctance to interfere in school matters. Subsequent First Amendment challenges to school board decisions have focused on library book removal. …

Church And State - The Mandate Of The Establishment Clause: Wall Of Separation Or Benign Neutrality., William J. Cornelius

St. Mary's Law Journal

Instead of continuing down the path of confusing, contradictory, and inconsistent nonestablishment clause decisions, the Court should opt for a new approach—benign neutrality. The Court currently follows one of three general approaches when deciding nonestablishment clause issues—Wall of Separation theory, Strict Neutrality theory, or the Accommodation theory. None of these three approaches has led to any clear standards or principles. The Wall of Separation theory has been argued to be the most historically accurate representation of the Framer’s intent, but that is inaccurate. Instead, the Framers pursued religious freedom instead of complete separation in order to partially avoid usurpation by …