Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Discipline
-
- Antitrust and Trade Regulation (1)
- Constitutional Law (1)
- Criminal Law (1)
- Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law (1)
- First Amendment (1)
-
- Law and Gender (1)
- Legal Remedies (1)
- Religion Law (1)
- Retirement Security Law (1)
- Science and Technology Law (1)
- Second Amendment (1)
- Secured Transactions (1)
- Securities Law (1)
- Sexuality and the Law (1)
- Social Welfare Law (1)
- State and Local Government Law (1)
- Tax Law (1)
- Taxation-Federal (1)
- Taxation-Federal Estate and Gift (1)
- Taxation-State and Local (1)
- Taxation-Transnational (1)
- Torts (1)
- Transportation Law (1)
- Water Law (1)
- File Type
Articles 1 - 11 of 11
Full-Text Articles in Law
Definitions, Religion, And Free Exercise Guarantees, Mark Strasser
Definitions, Religion, And Free Exercise Guarantees, Mark Strasser
Mark Strasser
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution protects the free exercise of religion. Non-religious practices do not receive those same protections, which makes the ability to distinguish between religious and non-religious practices important. Regrettably, members of the Court have been unable to agree about how to distinguish the religious from the non-religious—sometimes, the implicit criteria focus on the sincerity of the beliefs, sometimes the strength of the beliefs or the role that they play in an individual’s life, and sometimes the kind of beliefs. In short, the Court has virtually guaranteed an incoherent jurisprudence by sending contradictory signals with …
Leaving The Dale To Be More Fair: On Cls And First Amendment Jurisprudence, Mark Strasser
Leaving The Dale To Be More Fair: On Cls And First Amendment Jurisprudence, Mark Strasser
Mark Strasser
In Christian Legal Society of the University of California, Hastings College of Law v. Martinez, the Supreme Court upheld the Hastings College of Law’s requirement that all recognized student groups have an open membership policy. The decision has been criticized for a variety of reasons, e.g., that the Court conflated the First Amendment tests for speech and association. What has not been adequately explored is the degree to which the Court has modified limited purpose public forum analysis in the university context over the past few decades, resulting in a jurisprudence that is virtually unrecognizable in light of the more …
The Next Battleground? Personhood, Privacy, And Assisted Reproductive Technologies, Mark Strasser
The Next Battleground? Personhood, Privacy, And Assisted Reproductive Technologies, Mark Strasser
Mark Strasser
Personhood statutes and amendments have been proposed in several states. As a general matter, they establish as a matter of state law that legal personhood begins at conception. Such laws may have implications for state policies concerning abortion and contraception, and will have implications for other areas of law including state policies related to assisted reproductive technologies. Yet, some of the ways in which these different areas of law might be affected are not well understood and thus are explored here.
Doma’S Bankruptcy, Mark Strasser
Doma’S Bankruptcy, Mark Strasser
Mark Strasser
Over the past few years, several federal courts have suggested or held that section three of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) violates constitutional guarantees. The courts have differed, however, both with respect to the appropriate standard of review and with respect to the particular constitutional guarantees that the section allegedly violates. Ironically, the resolution of these debates may ultimately have less import for the constitutionality of the section at issue than for the constitutionality of DOMA’s full faith and credit section and for the constitutionality of state same-sex marriage bans. This article addresses the constitutionality of section three of …
Equal Protection, Same-Sex Marriage, And Classifying On The Basis Of Sex, Mark Strasser
Equal Protection, Same-Sex Marriage, And Classifying On The Basis Of Sex, Mark Strasser
Mark Strasser
Over the past several years, several plaintiffs have challenged same-sex marriage bans under the respective state constitution’s equal protection guarantees. Some state supreme courts have struck down those laws on that basis, whereas others have not. This lack of uniformity is unsurprising, both because the language in one state constitution might differ from that of another and because, even where the language is the same, the jurisprudence in the respective states fleshing out the depth and breadth of the guarantees might differ. What seems more surprising is that courts cannot even agree about whether same-sex marriage bans employ a sex-based …
Same-Sex Marriage And The Right To Privacy, Mark Strasser
Same-Sex Marriage And The Right To Privacy, Mark Strasser
Mark Strasser
Over the past decade, several state appellate courts have analyzed whether their respective state constitutions protect the right to marry a same-sex partner. Those courts addressing the issue have differed both in their analyses and in their ultimate conclusions, although there have been striking similarities among those courts upholding same-sex marriage bans and among those striking them down, differences in wording among the respective state constitutional provisions notwithstanding. This article focuses on the due process analyses offered by the different courts, concluding that all of these decisions help demonstrate why the right to marry a same-sex partner should be found …
On Same-Sex Marriage And Matters Of Conscience, Mark Strasser
On Same-Sex Marriage And Matters Of Conscience, Mark Strasser
Mark Strasser
In our increasingly diverse society, it is ever-more important to teach tolerance of and respect for those having differing sexual orientations and religious beliefs. It thus might seem an ideal solution to include conscience clauses in legislation affording same-sex couples the right to marry, whereby individuals with religious qualms about being in any way associated with such marriages may be legally excused from doing so. Yet, by creating one exception specifically for same-sex marriages rather than a more generalized exception for those with religious qualms about facilitating or being associated with marriages contrary to belief, the state may be undermining …
Tribal Marriages, Same-Sex Unions, And An Interstate Recognition Conundrum, Mark Strasser
Tribal Marriages, Same-Sex Unions, And An Interstate Recognition Conundrum, Mark Strasser
Mark Strasser
When justifying the recognition of Native American polygamous unions, courts tended to appeal the rationale that unions valid where celebrated would be valid everywhere. Yet, courts would not recognize polygamous unions that were celebrated on non-tribal lands, even if those marriages had been valid where celebrated. The focus of this essay is on why Native American polygamous unions tended to be recognized, and the implications that these recognition practices might have for the validity of same-sex marriages across state lines.
Life After Doma, Mark Strasser
Life After Doma, Mark Strasser
Mark Strasser
During the 2008 presidential campaign, President Obama expressed his support for the repeal of one or both provisions of the Federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and, further, each of these provisions seems constitutionally vulnerable. Given the distinct possibility that DOMA’s days are numbered, the legal ramifications of its repeal or invalidation should be explored. This essay addresses what DOMA does, and what would happen were it no longer to exist. While the fears that allegedly prompted its passage in the first place would not be realized, the repeal or invalidation of one provision of DOMA will nonetheless have important …
Interstate Marriage Recognition And The Right To Travel, Mark Strasser
Interstate Marriage Recognition And The Right To Travel, Mark Strasser
Mark Strasser
Historically, states were forced decide whether to recognize a marriage, valid where celebrated, that could not have been celebrated locally. As a general rule, non-incestuous, non-polygamous marriages that were valid in the domicile at the time of celebration were treated as valid everywhere, although courts split with respect to how to apply the rule to interracial marriages. Yet, these marriage recognition practices occurred in a context where it was believed that the United States Constitution imposed no limitations on the ability of states to refuse to recognize a marriage validly celebrated elsewhere. This article examines interstate marriage recognition practices, and …
Deliberate Indifference, Professional Judgment, And The Constitution: On Liberty Interests In The Child Placement Context, Mark Strasser
Deliberate Indifference, Professional Judgment, And The Constitution: On Liberty Interests In The Child Placement Context, Mark Strasser
Mark Strasser
Courts and commentators often argue that because adoption is created by state law, there can neither be a constitutional right to adopt nor to be adopted. They sometimes suggest that the major Supreme Court case in this area--Smith v. Organization of Foster Families For Equality and Reform (OFFER)—expressly rejects that there can be rights in the adoption context. Yet, the relevant constitutional jurisprudence is much more nuanced than these courts and commentators suggest, because the issue has not been correctly framed. The focus of discussion should be on whether there is a constitutionally protected liberty interest in the state’s not …