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Full-Text Articles in Law

Defining “Sexual Abuse Of A Minor” In Immigration Law: Finding A Place For Uniformity, Fairness And Feminism, Kate Barth Sep 2009

Defining “Sexual Abuse Of A Minor” In Immigration Law: Finding A Place For Uniformity, Fairness And Feminism, Kate Barth

Kate S. Barth

This article examines the circuit split over the proper definition of the term "sexual abuse of a minor" in the Immigration and Nationality Act, using considerations of fairness, uniform application of the law, and feminist perceptions of the purpose of statutory rape laws to help guide analysis. The Board of Immigration Appeals, the Second, Third, Fifth, Seventh, and Eleventh Circuits have tied the term "sexual abuse of a minor" to the definition given in 18 U.S.C § 3509(a)(8). The Ninth Circuit, on the other hand, recently decided that the term should more properly be tied to the definition given in …


"Streamlining" The Rule Of Law: How The Department Of Justice Is Undermining Judicial Review Of Agency Action, Shruti Rana May 2009

"Streamlining" The Rule Of Law: How The Department Of Justice Is Undermining Judicial Review Of Agency Action, Shruti Rana

Shruti Rana

Judicial review of administrative decision making is an essential institutional check on agency power. Recently, however, the Department of Justice dramatically revised its regulations in an attempt to insulate its decision making from public and federal court scrutiny. These “streamlining” rules, carried out in the name of national security and immigration reform, have led to a breakdown in the rule of law in our judicial system. While much attention has been focused on the Department of Justice’s recent attempts to shield executive power from the reach of Congress, its efforts to undermine judicial review have so far escaped such scrutiny. …


Institutional Racism, Ice Raids, And Immigration Reform, Bill Hing Dec 2008

Institutional Racism, Ice Raids, And Immigration Reform, Bill Hing

Bill Ong Hing

This Article argues that the structure of immigration laws has institutionalized a set of values that dehumanize, demonize, and criminalize immigrants of color. The result is that these victims stop being Mexicans, Latinos, or Chinese and become “illegal immigrants.” We are aware of their race or ethnicity, but we believe we are acting against them because of their status, not because of their race. This institutionalized racism made the Bush ICE raids natural and acceptable in the minds of the general public. Institutionalized racism allows the public to think ICE raids are freeing up jobs for native workers without recognizing …


A Broader View Of The Immigration Adjudication Problem, Jill Family Dec 2008

A Broader View Of The Immigration Adjudication Problem, Jill Family

Jill E. Family

Are too many individuals diverted from civil immigration adjudication? Each year, the government completes millions of diversions from civil immigration adjudication through explicit and implicit waivers, the expedited removal program and the increasing criminalization of immigration law.
By uncovering and analyzing this diversion phenomenon, this article exposes an important piece of the immigration adjudication problem that has been largely undiagnosed. While judges, scholars, government officials and practitioners have acknowledged serious problems within the civil immigration adjudication system, this article widens the view to incorporate the issue of whether too many are being sidetracked from the system altogether.
This article concludes …


Exceptional Justice: A Discourse Ethical Contribution To The Immigrant Question, David Ingram Dec 2008

Exceptional Justice: A Discourse Ethical Contribution To The Immigrant Question, David Ingram

David Ingram

I argue that the exception must be a legitimate possibility within law as a revolutionary project, in much the same way that civil disobedience is. In this sense, the exception is not outside law if by "law" we mean not positive law as defined by extant legal documents (statutes, legislative committee reports, written judgments, etc.) but law as a living tradition consisting of both abstract norms and a concrete historical understanding of them. So construed, the exception is what can be exemplary - a law unto itself that best interprets and creatively extends (and transcends) the law that already exists, …


Flying Passports Of Convenience, Karl T. Muth Dec 2008

Flying Passports Of Convenience, Karl T. Muth

Karl T Muth

This paper proposes an economic alternative to the legal construct of citizenship that currently dominates international law.


Law And Popular Culture: Examples From Colombian Slang And Spanish-Language Radio In U.S., Ernesto A. Hernandez-Lopez Dec 2008

Law And Popular Culture: Examples From Colombian Slang And Spanish-Language Radio In U.S., Ernesto A. Hernandez-Lopez

Ernesto A. Hernandez

This article argues that critical analysis of popular culture themes benefits legal scholarship by providing distinct cross-border perspectives and illuminating popular resistance efforts to hegemonic forces. This examination occurs in an Inter-American context, characterized by a south-north dynamic and migration's transnational influence. In these dynamics, there is significant popular resistance and anti-subordination to hegemonic forces. Legal scholarship often overlooks this by focusing on formal legal texts and processes. This resistance is visible within popular culture, as part of ¿hidden transcripts.¿ This article makes two claims about popular culture's relevance, one methodological/theoretical claim and one substantive claim. First, observing how popular …


Law And Popular Culture: Examples From Colombian Slang And Spanish-Language Radio In The U.S., Ernesto A. Hernandez-Lopez Dec 2008

Law And Popular Culture: Examples From Colombian Slang And Spanish-Language Radio In The U.S., Ernesto A. Hernandez-Lopez

Ernesto A. Hernandez

This article argues that critical analysis of popular culture themes benefits legal scholarship by providing distinct cross-border perspectives and illuminating popular resistance efforts to hegemonic forces. This examination occurs in an Inter-American context, characterized by a south-north dynamic and migration's transnational influence. In these dynamics, there is significant popular resistance and anti-subordination to hegemonic forces. Legal scholarship often overlooks this by focusing on formal legal texts and processes. This resistance is visible within popular culture, as part of ¿hidden transcripts.¿

This article makes two claims about popular culture's relevance, one methodological/theoretical claim and one substantive claim. First, observing how popular …


Fitting Punishment, Juliet P. Stumpf Dec 2008

Fitting Punishment, Juliet P. Stumpf

Juliet P Stumpf

Proportionality is conspicuously absent from the legal framework for immigration sanctions. Immigration law relies on one sanction – deportation – as the ubiquitous penalty for any immigration violation. Neither the gravity of the violation nor the harm that results bears on whether deportation is the consequence for an immigration violation. Immigration law stands alone in the legal landscape in this respect. Criminal punishment incorporates proportionality when imposing sentences that are graduated based on the gravity of the offense; contract and tort law provide for damages that are graduated based on the harm to others or to society. This Article represents …