Law Commons^™

December 11, 2010: Hallowed Secularism And The Tea Party, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Hallowed Secularism and the Tea Party“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

December 8, 2010: Uphold Proposition 8, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Uphold Proposition 8“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

December 5, 2010: Seeking Common Ground: A Secular Statement, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Seeking Common Ground: A Secular Statement“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

Lawmakers As Lawbreakers, Ittai Bar-Siman-Tov

William & Mary Law Review

How would Congress act in a world without judicial review? Can
lawmakers be trusted to police themselves? This Article examines
Congress’s capacity and incentives to enforce upon itself “the law of
congressional lawmaking”—a largely overlooked body of law that is
completely insulated from judicial enforcement. The Article explores
the political safeguards that may motivate lawmakers to engage in
self-policing and rule-following behavior. It identifies the major
political safeguards that can be garnered from the relevant legal,
political science, political economy, and social psychology scholarship,
and evaluates each safeguard by drawing on a combination of
theoretical, empirical, and descriptive studies about …

November 30,2010: There Is No G-O-D In America, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “There is no G-o-d in America“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

November 18, 2010: “Getting Honest”, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, ““Getting Honest” “ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

November 14, 2010: Global Warming, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Global Warming“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

November 3, 2010: Pat Tommey A Citizens United Victory, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Pat Tommey a Citizens United Victory“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

Book Review Of The Supreme Court And The American Elite, 1789-2008, By Lucas A. Powe, Jr., Joerg Knipprath

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

European Identity Struggles In The Age Of Austerity, Par Engstrom

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The economic crisis has coincided with a discernible rise of right-wing populist parties in a number of European countries. This was most recently seen in elections in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Sweden. Right-wing populist parties also hold parliamentary seats in Austria, Denmark, Finland, and Norway, and they have been part of coalition governments in Italy and Switzerland for some time. In France, Jean-Marie Le Pen’s National Front, although not represented in parliament, wields considerable political influence, and may receive an additional electoral boost should Le Pen’s daughter, Marine Le Pen, inherit the party leadership. True, these parties still enjoy only …

Book Review Of Out Of Range: Why The Constitution Can't End The Battle Over Guns, By Mark V. Tushnet, Dennis A. Henigan

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

October 31, 2010: Why I Wish No One Had Gone To The Stewart/Colbert Rally, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Why I Wish No One Had Gone to the Stewart/Colbert Rally“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

October 28, 2010: Is Islam A Religion Of Peace?, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Is Islam a Religion of Peace?“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

October 25, 2010: Why Are The Democrats Doing So Badly?, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Why Are the Democrats Doing So Badly?“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

October 17, 2010: Woody Allen’S Hell, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Woody Allen’s Hell“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

September 30, 2010: Ignorant Of Religion But Believing In God, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Ignorant of Religion but Believing in God“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

Barack Obama And Congress: How The Rules Of The Caucus Hinder The President’S Legislative Agenda, Jordan Acker

Legislation and Policy Brief

In order to fix the Democratic caucus, strong leadership, combined with effective rules, are needed. First, the overall leadership needs to be restructured according to the ideology of the caucus. While strong leadership may come from the center or the left, it is important that leadership tend toward the center of the caucus, not the national political center. A moderate member of the caucus who is under no threat of removal, such as Senator Schumer, Senator Stabenow, or Senator Durbin, would make effective leaders. Part of the problem with the current leadership is, at times, it has failed to “pull …

Why The Honest Leadership And Open Government Act Of 2007 Falls Short, And How It Could Be Improved, Rand Robins

Legislation and Policy Brief

This paper will examine the track record of federal and state lobbying and campaign finance laws, as well as related First Amendment litigation, and propose alternative regulatory regimes accounting for the concerns raised when lobbying and campaign finance intersect. The scope of this paper will be limited in large measure by focusing on the HLOGA registration and disclosure provisions, and addressing campaign finance law tangentially where appropriate. Intended to bring greater transparency to the inner-workings of government, some of these provisions actually facilitate the potential of a small number of lobbyists to distort the political process.

Tax Relief In The American Recovery And Reinvestment Act Of 2009, Steven Gassert

Legislation and Policy Brief

On February 17, 2009, less than thirty days after his inauguration, President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). This new law was one of many measures from the new administration designed to quickly stimulate the ailing American economy. The $789 billion package was divided between direct government spending, tax reductions and financial relief to states and individuals. The bill contains $285.6 billion in tax reductions, which is about 36.3% of the legislation. In this article, I will analyze some of the tax provisions that were written into ARRA, and attempt to assess their …

Breathing New Life Into Old Technological Infrastructure: Broadband Internet As A Means Of Jump-Starting The Economy And Connecting The Country, Elizabeth Chernow

Legislation and Policy Brief

This paper examines the current structure of universal service and the FCC’s Universal Service Fund, recent pushes to expand the definition of and funding for universal service to include broadband access, and how broadband internet can contribute to saving the ailing economy. This paper concludes by calling for the inclusion of broadband internet in the Universal Service Fund.

The Model Rules Of Professional Conduct And Political Campaign Activities, Lauren Gilius

Legislation and Policy Brief

This article will examine whether the American Bar Association’s (“ABA”) Model Rules of Professional Conduct (“Model Rules”) should apply to lawyers in situations where a lawyer-candidate or a lawyer involved in a disingenuous political campaign activity, particularly when the lawyer was not convicted on criminal charges. Though the American Bar Association said that the Model Rules apply to dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation by lawyers, even when acting in a non-professional capacity, the support for applying the Rules in this context is lacking.

This article will first briefly discuss the development of applying the Model Rules to the non-professional conduct, …

Help America Vote Act Enforcement, Tiana Butcher

Legislation and Policy Brief

Although the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) features extensive mandates, its enforcement provisions of are weaker than those found in previous federal election reform laws, including the Voting Rights Act and the National Voter Registration Act. Activists argue this limited enforcement power is a failing of the Act. Congress may have chosen to adopt weak enforcement mechanisms due to political posturing, lack of funding, faulty technology, or lobbying by the states. Regardless of the reason behind this choice, stronger enforcement mechanisms in HAVA would, paradoxically, fail to encourage election reform or deter election reform altogether.

September 23, 2010: Why Global Warming Cannot Be Happening, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Why Global Warming Cannot be Happening“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

September 11, 2010: What Did Rick Santorum Mean?, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “What Did Rick Santorum Mean?“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

September 6, 2010: George F. Will As A Know-Nothing, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “George F. Will as a Know-Nothing“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

August 29, 2010: Glen Beck’S Restoring Honor Rally, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “ Glen Beck’s Restoring Honor Rally“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

August 26, 2010: Arguments About The Existence Of, Or Consequences Of The Nonexistence Of, God Go Nowhere, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Arguments about the Existence of, or Consequences of the Nonexistence of, God Go Nowhere“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

August 22, 2010: Imposing Shariah, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Imposing Shariah“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

August 14, 2010: The Sick Tragedy Of The Anti-Mosque Movement, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “The Sick Tragedy of the anti-Mosque Movement“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

Book Review Of Lawyers Of The Right: Professionalizing The Conservative Coalition, By Ann Southworth, Laura Beth Nielsen, Jill D. Weinberg

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.