Law Commons^™

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.

The Law Of Citations And Seriatim Opinions: Were The Ancient Romans And The Early Supreme Court On The Right Track?, Joshua M. Austin

Northern Illinois University Law Review

This article explores the oft forgotten and somewhat misunderstood ancient Roman law methodology known as the Lex Citandi, or Law of Citations. The Law of Citations was a relatively simple theory in which authority was given to the writings of five key jurists from the classical period of Roman law, and the majority won the day. Thus, in a way, the method of separate opinions was born. It was a theory revisited by our Supreme Court in its early days through seriatim, or separate, opinions; and perhaps still seen today in the modern day Supreme Court's concurrences and dissents. This …

October 14, 2010: Why Is Snyder V. Westboro Baptist Church A Free Speech Case?, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Why is Snyder v. Westboro Baptist Church a free speech case?“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

Oral Dissenting On The Supreme Court, Christopher W. Schmidt, Carolyn Shapiro

All Faculty Scholarship

In this Article we offer the first comprehensive evaluation of oral dissenting on the Supreme Court. We examine the practice in both historical and contemporary perspective, take stock of the emerging academic literature on the subject, and suggest a new framework for analysis of oral dissenting. Specifically, we put forth several claims. Contrary to the common assumption of scholarship and media coverage, oral dissents are nothing new. Oral dissenting has a long tradition, and its history provides valuable lessons for understanding the potential and limits of oral dissents today. Furthermore, not all oral dissents are alike. Dissenting Justices may have …

Honest Services After Skilling: Judicial, Prosecutorial And Legislative Responses, Iris E. Bennett, Jessie K. Liu, Cynthia J. Robertson, Govind C. Persad

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

In Skilling v. United States, the U.S. Supreme Court substantially narrowed the reach of the “honest services fraud” statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1346, by holding that it applies only to “bribery and kickback schemes,” not to “undisclosed self-dealing by a public official or private employee.” Skilling v. United States, 130 S. Ct. 2896 (2010). Two companion cases also were decided the same day. See Black v. United States, 130 S. Ct. 2963 (2010); Weyhrauch v. United States, 130 S. Ct. 2971 (2010). These decisions have major significance for federal fraud prosecutions.

Justice John Paul Stevens - His Take On Takings, Alan C. Weinstein

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

This commentary reviews and analyzes Justice John Paul Stevens's role in shaping the Court's views on the takings issue in land use regulation.

Aliens On The Bench: Lessons In Identity, Race And Politics From The First "Modern" Supreme Court, Lori A. Ringhand

Scholarly Works

Every time a Supreme Court vacancy is announced, the media and the legal academy snap to attention. Even the general public takes note; in contrast to most of the decisions issued by the Court, a majority of Americans are aware of and have opinions about the men and women who are nominated to sit on it. Moreover, public opinion about the nominee has a strong influence on a senator's vote for or against the candidate. If the confirmation hearing held before the Senate Judiciary Committee is largely an empty ritual, why do so many people seem so enthralled by it? …

Iftikhar Chaudhry’S Options: Can The Courts Remake Pakistani Democracy?, Shubhankar Dam

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

No abstract provided.

Supreme Court Of The United States, October Term 2010 Preview, Georgetown University Law Center, Supreme Court Institute

Supreme Court Overviews

No abstract provided.

July 8, 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.

July 1, 2010: Justice Antonin Scalia Is Responsible For The Christian Legal Society Case, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Justice Antonin Scalia is Responsible for the Christian Legal Society Case“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

Constitutional Interpretation? There's No App For That., Sonja R. West

Popular Media

The confirmation hearings of Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan begin Monday, and court watchers are steeling themselves for another round of the vacuous Q&A that has become the stuff of modern confirmation hearings.

What she will likely talk about—if she's anything like other recent nominees—is that, if confirmed, she promises to become Kagan the Robot. She will find 100 different ways to assure us that when deciding cases she will do nothing more than mechanically apply the law to the facts. And this is where Kagan needs to throw away the script. The absence of any dialogue on substantive law …

June 10, 2010: Whose Fault Is The Florida “Right To Witness” Law?, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Whose Fault is the Florida “Right to Witness” Law?“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

June 6, 2010: Former Justice David Souter’S Harvard Commencement Speech, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Former Justice David Souter’s Harvard Commencement Speech“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

June 3, 2010: American Religious Democracy, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

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

Fcc V. Fox Television Stations And The Fcc's New Fleeting Expletive Policy, Jerome A. Barron

Federal Communications Law Journal

This Article focuses on the Supreme Court's decision in FCC v. Fox Television Stations, Inc., 129 S. Ct. 1800 (2009). In that case, the Supreme Court upheld an important change in the FCC indecency regulation. In the past, the FCC's policy had been that the broadcast of a single expletive did not violate FCC indecency policy. In order for such fleeting expletives to be actionable, the FCC required that they had to be repetitive and gratuitous. But in 2004, in response to the use of some expletives by entertainers during the Golden Globe Awards, the FCC changed its policy and …

May 1, 2010: The Cross In The Desert Case, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “The Cross in the desert case“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

The “New” Presumption Against Preemption, Mary J. Davis

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

Is there or isn't there a “presumption against preemption”? The Supreme Court continues to mention it, but then does, or does not, apply it in a way that helps us understand what it is. This Article explores the Court's preemption opinions in the last several decades, particularly its most recent pronouncements, and concludes that, indeed, there is a presumption against preemption. It is a "new" presumption in the sense that it is born of the Court's active preemption docket in the last two decades, which has more narrowly defined both express and implied preemption analysis. The "new" presumption is stronger …

April 25, 2010: National Day Of Prayer Constitutional, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “National Day of Prayer Constitutional“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

The Unsung Empathy Of Justice Stevens, Sonja R. West, Dahlia Lithwick

Popular Media

Justice John Paul Stevens' announcement of his retirement this morning has his many admirers at a loss: Liberals are already bemoaning the absence of a true liberal leader at the court—a man who could still manage to "count to five" to forge a majority on the sometimes fractious center-left of the court.

What Is The Sound Of A Corporation Speaking? “Just Another Voice,” According To The Supreme Court, Linda L. Berger

Scholarly Works

When the Supreme Court overrules itself, and reaches a result different from the conclusions of Congress, the Executive Branch, and more than 20 state legislatures, the Court has the burden of persuasion. Did the five justices in the majority in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission meet that burden? The author argues that the answer is no, setting aside the question of whether the majority reached the "right" conclusion about the constitutionality of limiting corporate spending in election campaigns. In this essay, the author explains her answer and addresses a related question: did the Citizens United majority observe the rules …

Keep Negroes Out Of Most Classes Where There Are A Large Number Of Girls': The Unseen Power Of The Ku Klux Klan And Standardized Testing At The University Of Texas, 1899-1999, Thomas D. Russell

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

The draft of this paper created controversy, garnered a great deal of media interest, and led the Regents of The University of Texas to remove a Klansman's name from a UT dormitory.

Two amicus briefs to the United States Supreme Court in Fisher v. University of Texas cite the published article, which appeared in the South Texas Law Review. These are the Brief of the Advancement Project and the Brief of the Black Student Alliance at the University of Texas at Austin, the Black Ex-Students of Texas, Inc., and the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc.

The article appears …

March 12, 2010: “In God We Trust” Upheld By The Ninth Circuit, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “ “In God We Trust” Upheld by the Ninth Circuit“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

Panel I: The Patent Landscape With Bilski On The Map, Jeanne Fromer, James W. Dabney, Clarisa Long, Brian P. Murphy

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Astrachan And Easton: Fight Wikileaks Case In Court, Not In Cyberspace, James B. Astrachan, Eric Easton

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Supreme Court Of The United States, October Term 2009 Preview, Update: February 22, 2010, Georgetown University Law Center, Supreme Court Institute

Supreme Court Overviews

No abstract provided.

John Paul Stevens And Equally Impartial Government, Diane Marie Amann

Scholarly Works

This article is the second publication arising out of the author's ongoing research respecting Justice John Paul Stevens. It is one of several published by former law clerks and other legal experts in the UC Davis Law Review symposium edition, Volume 43, No. 3, February 2010, "The Honorable John Paul Stevens."

The article posits that Justice Stevens's embrace of race-conscious measures to ensure continued diversity stands in tension with his early rejections of affirmative action programs. The contrast suggests a linear movement toward a progressive interpretation of the Constitution’s equality guarantee; however, examination of Stevens's writings in biographical context reveal …

January 23, 2010: Thoughts On Citizens United, The Supreme Court Corporate Speech Case, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Thoughts on Citizens United, the Supreme Court Corporate Speech Case“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

Jaunary 21, 2010: What’S Religion Got To Do With It?, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “What’s religion got to do with it?“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

January 12, 2010: The European Court Of Human Rights, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “The European Court of Human Rights“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.