Constitutional Law Commons^™

Jurisprudence And Personality In The Work Of John Rawls, David G. Carlson

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The article argues that John Rawls's concept of the person undergoes a significant shift between A Theory of Justice and Political Liberalism, necessitating a corresponding change in jurisprudence. In A Theory of Justice, Rawls employs a "correlative jurisprudence," where law is determinate, complete, and judges merely apply existing law. This approach is tied to a narrow, passive view of personality, treating individuals as mere loci of liberty and rights. In contrast, Political Liberalism presents a dynamic, contradictory conception of the person as a union of moral capacity and a determinate conception of the good. This shift, the article contends, requires …

Apple Of Gold: Constitutionalism In Israel And The United States, Michel Rosenfeld

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No abstract provided.

Still Naked After All These Words, A. Michael Froomkin

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No abstract provided.

With All Deliberate Speed? A Reply To Professor Sunstein, Marc A. Fajer

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No abstract provided.

The Imperial Presidency's New Vestments, A. Michael Froomkin

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No abstract provided.

Rethinking Rawls' Theory Of Liberty And Rights, James W. Nickel

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No abstract provided.

The 'Right To Die': A Catchy But Confusing Slogan, Yale Kamisar

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Some 30 years ago an eminent constitutional law scholar Charles L. Black, Jr., spoke of "toiling uphill against that heaviest of all argumental weights-the weight of a slogan. I am reminded of that observation when I confront the slogan the "right to die." Few rallying cries or slogans are more appealing and seductive than the "right to die." But few are more fuzzy, more misleading, and more misunderstood.

Assisted Suicide And Euthanasia: The Cases Are In The Pipeline, Yale Kamisar

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When I first wrote about this subject 36 years ago, the chance that any state would legalize assisted suicide or active voluntary euthanasia seemed minuscule. The possibility that any court would find these activities protected by the Due Process Clause seemed so remote as to be almost inconceivable. Not anymore. Before this decade ends, at least several states probably will decriminalize assisted suicide and/or active voluntary euthanasia. [Editor's note: In November, Oregon became the first state to legalize physician-assisted suicide, allowing doctors to prescribe lethal medication for competent, terminally ill adults who request it.] A distinct possibility also exists that …

Federalist Society Roundtable Discussion, Timothy Dyk, Robert Bork, Nadine Strossen, John O. Mcginnis, Theodore B. Olson

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This discussion took place at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on October 12, 1993.

Hardening Of The Attitudes: Americans' Views On The Death Penalty, Phoebe C. Ellsworth, Samuel R. Gross

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American support for the death penalty has steadily increased since 1966, when opponents outnumbered supporters, and now in the mid-1990s is at a near record high. Research over the last 20 years has tended to confirm the hypothesis that most people’s death penalty attitudes (pro or con) are based on emotion rather than information or rational argument. People feel strongly about the death penalty, know little about it, and feel no need to know more. Factual information (e.g., about deterrence and discrimination) is generally irrelevant to people’s attitudes, and they are aware that this is so. Support for the death …

Illusion, Illogic, And Injustice: Real-Offense Sentencing And The Federal Sentencing Guidelines, David Yellen

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No abstract provided.

Unfunded Mandates, Hidden Taxation, And The Tenth Amendment: On Public Choice, Public Interest, And Public Services, Edward A. Zelinsky

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Few contemporary issues concern state and local policymakers as intensely as unfunded mandates. Mayors, county executives, city councilmen, and the professional associations representing them routinely argue that the federal and state governments have, in recent years, imposed at an accelerating rate expensive requirements on municipalities without granting corresponding funds for compliance, thereby irresponsibly straining the fiscal capacity of municipalities, hampering their ability to provide essential services, and improperly infringing upon the scope of local control. The complaints of municipal policymakers have provoked a variety of proposals for restraining unfunded mandates: obligatory disclosure of the projected costs of proposed mandates, requirements …

A Further Word Against Consensus, John O. Mcginnis

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In their Response to my Essay, Professors Strauss and Sunstein not only take issue with a few of my arguments but also suggest a measure of consensus between their views and mine on the confirmation process.1 While I very much appreciate their proffer of half an olive branch, upon reflection I believe that the differences between us concerning the confirmation process remain very great and illustrate even more profound differences concerning the premises and structure of our republican Constitution.

The President, The Senate, The Constitution, And The Confirmation Process: A Reply To Professors Strauss And Sunstein, John O. Mcginnis

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No abstract provided.

Lee V. Weisman: A New Age For Establishment Clause Jurisprudence?, Elizabeth Brandt

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No abstract provided.

"The Door That Never Opens"?: Capital Punishment And Post-Conviction Review Of Death Sentences In The United States And Japan, Daniel H. Foote

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The capital punishment system and current standards for collateral review of capital sentences appear quite similar in the United States and Japan. On a deeper level, though, the systems are moving in very different directions. Given. the extensive literature on capital punishment and capital habeas in the United States, this article focuses chiefly on Japan, examining the process by which the standards governing postconviction review have been relaxed and the impact of that change. Japan's Supreme Court bears the image of being a highly conservative, passive institution resistant to dramatic .change of any sort. Yet this examination reveals that, in …

Social Justice And Fundamental Law: A Comment On Sager's Constitution, Terrance Sandalow

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Professor Sager begins his very interesting paper by identifying what he considers a puzzling phenomenon: the Constitution, as interpreted by courts, is not coextensive with "political justice." "This moral shortfall," as he refers to it, represents not merely a failure of achievement, but a failure of aspiration: as customarily interpreted, the Constitution does not even address the full range of issues that are the subject of political justice. Sager regards that failure as surprising-so surprising that, in his words, it "begs for explanation."'

Are Laws Against Assisted Suicide Unconstitutional?, Yale Kamisar

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On 15 February of this year, shortly after the number of people Dr. Jack Kevorkian had helped to commit suicide swelled to fifteen, the Michigan legislature passed a law, effective that very day, making assisted suicide a felony punishable by up to four years in prison. The law, which is automatically repealed six months after a newly established commission on death and dying recommends permanent legislation, prohibits anyone with knowledge that another person intends to commit suicide from "intentionally providing the physical means" by which the other person does so or from "intentionally participat[ing] in a physical act" by which …

The Bar Against Challenges To Employment Discrimination Consent Decrees: A Public Choice Perspective, John O. Mcginnis

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No abstract provided.

The 1991 Supreme Court Term: Review And Outlook, John O. Mcginnis

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The 1991 Supreme Court Term was the first during which justices originally appointed by Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush-Sandra Day O'Connor, Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, David Souter, and Clarence Thomas-constituted a majority. The term's main surprise, however, was that this majority of five-indeed, a majority of six when Chief Justice William Rehnquist, elevated to that position by President Reagan precisely because of his judicial philosophy, is included-did not forge a consistent jurisprudential majority characterized by the strict interpretative approach favored by their sponsoring presidents. While, generally speaking, the Court's decisions certainly continued to represent a departure from the expansive …

James Madison And Public Choice At Gucci Gulch: A Procedural Defense Of Tax Expenditures And Tax Institutions, Edward A. Zelinsky

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Few academic doctrines can claim the intellectual and political success of tax expenditure analysis. In roughly a generation's time, Professor Surrey's procedural and substantive critique of tax subsidies has become entrenched in the law school curriculum and in legal scholarship. More impressively, the tax expenditure concept has been enshrined in federal law and become part of the daily discourse of the national budget process.

A Treaty Is A Treaty Is A Treaty, Malvina Halberstam

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No abstract provided.

Choosing Between Normative And Descriptive Versions Of The Judicial Role, Michael E. Herz

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No abstract provided.

Dilemmas Of Justice, Stephen J. Schulhofer, Michel Rosenfeld

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The Hungarian Constitutional Court's decision to invalidate a retroactivity law aimed at prosecuting crimes committed during the prior regime highlights a tension between rule-of-law principles and demands for retributive justice. The court ruled that extending or reopening statutes of limitations violated constitutional guarantees of legal certainty, non-retroactivity, and the protection of rights previously conferred. The decision underscores the court's commitment to an expansive interpretation of constitutional rights, emphasizing the importance of predictable and foreseeable legal consequences. While the ruling prioritizes rule-of-law values, it leaves unresolved the question of how to address past injustices in post-totalitarian societies.

Deference Running Riot: Separating Interpretation And Lawmaking Under Chevron, Michael E. Herz

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No abstract provided.

The Fall And Rise Of The Criminal Contingent Fee, Peter Lushing

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The article argues that the ban on contingent fees for criminal defense attorneys, established by the American Bar Association in 1969, is outdated and should be repealed. It contends that the ban is rooted in historical prejudice and unfounded concerns about conflicts of interest, rather than empirical evidence. The author suggests that the Supreme Court's 1989 decision implicitly approving contingent fees in certain criminal cases presents an opportunity to reconsider this prohibition. Repealing the ban could benefit middle-class defendants and allow for regulation and data collection to address potential issues.

Metro Broadcasting, Inc. V Fcc: Affirmative Action At The Crossroads Of Constitutional Liberty And Equality, Michel Rosenfeld

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The article examines the Supreme Court's inconsistent approach to affirmative action, particularly through the lens of *Metro Broadcasting, Inc. v. FCC*, which upheld the FCC's race-based policies to promote broadcast diversity. While the decision aligns with constitutional values of equality and free speech, the Court's opinions fail to coherently reconcile liberty and equality principles. The article argues for a more integrated framework to address the complexities of affirmative action jurisprudence and its intersection with First Amendment rights.

Does The Camel Have Its Nose In The Tent: Individual Religious Freedom V. Prayer In Public Schools, Elizabeth Brandt

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No abstract provided.

Confessions And The Right To Silence In Japan, Daniel H. Foote

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In several highly-publicized recent cases in Japan, individuals convicted of murder and sentenced to death were acquitted in retrials obtained after decades on death row. These so-called "death penalty retrial cases'" generated great controversy and considerable reflection about the criminal justice system in Japan. A central, substantive issue presented by these cases relates to the procurement and use of confessions; each of these cases-and several other major recent Japanese cases in which defendants have been acquitted following bitterly contested trials-turned on the validity of repudiated confessions.

Consequently, much recent commentary has focussed on conf essions and related issues. Not surprisingly, …

Putting The Dormancy Doctrine Out Of Its Misery, Richard D. Friedman

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Justice Antonin Scalia has put on the academic table the question of whether the doctrine of the dormant commerce clause should be abandoned. That is a significant contribution, for this is an issue that should be debated thoroughly. But Justice Scalia's campaign against the doctrine has been notably ambivalent. On the one hand, he argues that the doctrine lacks justification in constitutional text, history, and theory.1 On the other hand, assertedly feeling the pressure of stare decisis,2 he has gone along with, and even led, applications of the doctrine, although within narrow limits.3 In this essay, I argue that Justice …