Constitutional Law Commons^™

Defensively Invoking Treaties In American Courts--Jurisdictional Challenges Under The U.N. Drug Trafficking Convention By Foreign Defendants Kidnapped Abroad By U.S. Agents, Thomas Michael Mcdonnell

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This Article unravels the non-self-executing treaty doctrine, examines the invocation of a treaty as a defense to governmental action, and develops a test for when an individual (rather than a government) may assert a treaty defensively in state or federal courts. Lastly, this Article applies this test to state-sponsored kidnapping and the U.N. Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances. The parties to this treaty, which was sponsored by the United States, barred one country's law enforcement agents from operating without permission on another country's soil and rejected a provision requiring a country to extradite its own …

Natural Law And The Limits To Judicial Review, David F. Forte

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

The very premise of judicial review in America is rooted in the structure of natural law. Judges have no authority to make any kind of law. They can only enforce and apply authoritatively passed positive law. But if the positive law has not been enacted, either in form or substance, without proper authority, then if the judge should enforce such a law, he would in fact be making new positive law, and would be acting outside of his authority.

“Attitudinal” Decision Making In The Federal Courts: A Study Of Constitutional Self Representation Claims, John R. Quinn

Scholarly Works

This Article reports on the performance of a study based on and inspired by Segal and Spaeth's work. It examines the possible attitudinal bases of the entire corpus (over 100 cases) of federal district court decisions involving constitutional self-representation claims. As explained in greater detail below, this area of jurisprudence was selected for study because decisions often are dependent upon the exercise of judicial discretion-Segal and Spaeth's attitudinal factors. This study both elucidates the attitudinal methods of Segal and Spaeth and "proves" an exception to the attitudinal model hypothesized by Segal and Spaeth. That exception is the salience of doctrine …

Section 1983 Litigation, Martin A. Schwartz

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Admissibility Of Investigatory Reports In § 1983 Civil Rights Actions - A User's Manual, Martin A. Schwartz

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

On Conduits And Voices, Thomas Morawetz

Faculty Articles and Papers

No abstract provided.

Lochner For Women: The Ideology Of Separate Spheres In Muller V. Oregon, Anne Dailey

Faculty Articles and Papers

No abstract provided.

Democracy And Feminism , Tracy E. Higgins

Faculty Scholarship

Although feminist legal theory has had an important impact on most areas of legal doctrine and theory over the last two decades, its contribution to the debate over constitutional interpretation has been comparatively small. In this Article, Professor Higgins explores reasons for the limited dialogue between mainstream constitutional theory and feminist theory concerning questions of democracy, constitutionalism, and judicial review. She argues that mainstream constitutional theory tends to take for granted the capacity of the individual to make choices, leaving the social construction of those choices largely unexamined. In contrast, feminist legal theory's emphasis on the importance of constraints on …

What's In A Name - Nothing Good If It's Friday: The Seventh Circuit Invalidates Good Friday Public School Holiday, 29 J. Marshall L. Rev. 1031 (1996), Joanne Yasus

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Death Penalty And The Interstate Agreement On Detainers Act: A Proposal For Change, 29 J. Marshall L. Rev. 499 (1996), Edward G. Hild

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Term Limits Case, Bennett L. Gershman

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

In U.S. Term Limits, the Court reviewed an amendment to the Arkansas Constitution, adopted in 1992, that made a candidate for the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives ineligible to have his or her name placed on the ballot for national election if that person had previously been elected to three or more terms as a member of the House, or two or more terms as a member of the Senate. Following a taxpayer's complaint seeking declaratory relief, the state circuit court held that this amendment violated the Qualifications Clauses in Article I, sections 2 and 3, of the U.S. …

After Midnight: The Constitutional Status Of Juvenile Curfew Ordinances In California, Susan L. Freitas

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

Youth is not a crime. Every person, regardless of age, is entitled to the protections of the United States Constitution. This seemingly apparent fact is not a reality for America's children, who are often treated as less than "full citizens" solely because of their age. The explosive proliferation of juvenile curfew ordinances in municipalities across California is one example of such treatment. Curfews have traditionally been used as a method of social control, often imposed in times of great upheaval and emergency, but have recently become the easy solution for communities exasperated by rising juvenile crime and violence. Although curfews …

Note, Civil Forfeiture And Innocent Owners, Deborah Challener

Journal Articles

Although forfeiture is an ancient practice, its constitutional validity has only recently been seriously questioned. Historically, the Supreme Court has relied on a legal fiction-that the property itself is guilty-to confiscate property without regard to the Constitution. Cloaking itself in the "guilty property fiction," the Court has virtually ignored the property owner's culpability. In Bennis, the Court decided whether an owner's interest in property is subject to forfeiture when the owner entrusts the property to a party who uses it to commit a crime, even if the owner has no knowledge of the illegal use.

The Struggle Over The Past, Robert W. Gordon

Cleveland State Law Review

History supplies a set of basic ground rules; the "traditional principles of the common law," from which much modem law, both judge-made and statutory law, is seen as having improperly deviated. As the New Right ideology spreads among elite decision-makers and intellectuals, it poses a serious challenge to the Progressive-liberal consensus about the legal meanings of history that had previously dominated American legal thought for a very long time. The historical claims of New Right ideology in particular have touched off a number of fierce debates among Old (Progressive) Liberal, New Right, and radical legal intellectuals. In Section II, the …

Amending The Constitution: Just Not Every November, Brendon Troy Ishikawa

Cleveland State Law Review

Professor Akhil Amar has defended the idea that Americans may amend the Constitution regardless of Article V's dictates. Professor Amar does not stand alone on this claim. Professor Bruce Ackerman not only agrees, but would actually prefer direct popular amendment over the express Article V procedures. Their arguments, however, ignore the Framers' careful balancing of federal and popular principles in Article V by embracing only the democratic populist aspect of the Constitution. Part I of this Article examines and critiques Professor Amar's argument that the people may directly amend the Constitution without having to comply with Article V. An examination …

States' Repeal: A Proposed Constitutional Amendment To Reinvigorate Federalism, Aaron J. O'Brien

Cleveland State Law Review

The lack of both legislative and judicial integrity led to a governmental system which is federalist in name but centrally planned in reality. Congress regularly passes laws which stretch the conceivable bounds of its powers. By failing to overturn such legislation, the Supreme Court ignores the benefits of federalism and the significance of dual sovereignty. These changes render the individual citizen's opinion rather meaningless while attacking the roots of democracy and threatening the liberties early Americans so earnestly tried to preserve. The People are left without a mechanism through which to speak on a national level. Because of this dissolution …

The Thrift Crisis And The Constitution, Stanley I. Langbein

Articles

No abstract provided.

Notes: Criminal Law — Constitutional Law — Maryland's "Son Of Sam" Statute Does Not Compel A Criminal Defendant To Turn Over Notoriety Of Crimes Contracts To The Attorney General. Curran V. Price, 334 Md. 149, 638 A.2d 93 (1994), Danielle B. Gibbs

University of Baltimore Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Pro-Death, Self-Fulfilling Constitutional Contruct: The Supreme Court's Evolving Standard Of Decency For The Death Penalty, Susan Raeker-Jordan

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

In recent Eight Amendment decisions applying the Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause to substantive challenges to the death penalty, a plurality of the United States Supreme Court has favored employing only the "evolving standards of decency" test of constitutionality, purportedly because it is an objective measurement of cruelty and unusualness. The Article will show, however, that contrary to the assertions of some Court members, the indicia for ascertaining the evolving standard of decency are far from objective. Rather, the evidence gleaned from he "objective indicia" of legislative enactments and jury sentencing behavior can be and has been rigged to favor …

Preaching The Constitution, William E. Wiethoff

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

No abstract provided.

Viewpoint Discrimination, Marjorie Heins

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

Government action that disfavors speech because of its ideas or views is, as the Supreme Court recently said, "an egregious form of content discrimination," and is usually unconstitutional. However, it is not always clear precisely what makes discrimination viewpoint-based. Although the Court has recognized that disfavoring religious perspectives amounts to viewpoint discrimination, it has not yet applied this insight to government actions that target speech because it is deemed to be "political," "controversial," or "offensive." This Article addresses these questions in light of the history and basis of the viewpoint discrimination doctrine and underlying First Amendment values.

Specifically, this Article …

The Judicial System & Equality In Schooling, Frank J. Macciarola, Dorothy Kerzner Lipsky, Alan Gartner

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This Article examines how the concept of equality has played out in the efforts of the courts to define student rights in several important areas. These include school prayer and flag salutation, racial discrimination and cases concerning students with learning disabilities. The Article examines how differences in these areas are first conceptualized and then addressed by the courts. This Article discusses good school practices and addresses the educational methods which have been proven to be effective. The common thread in effective educational doctrine is that programs which integrate and include students are often the most effective education method on many …

Adventures In The Zone Of Twilight: Separation Of Powers And National Economic Security In The Mexican Bailout, Russell D. Covey

Faculty Publications By Year

No abstract provided.

The War Powers In French Constitutional Law, Elisabeth Zoller

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Untying The State Action Knot, Craig M. Bradley

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

The Double Jeopardy Implications Of In Rem Forfeiture Of Crime-Related Property: The Gradual Realization Of A Constitutional Violation, Andrew L. Subin

Seattle University Law Review

Over the past decade, the government has escalated its "war on drugs." Although the "war" has not decreased drug use or limited the availability of drugs on the street, the government continues to sacrifice the constitutional rights of its citizens in an effort to escalate the hostility. Since the "zero tolerance" policy of the Reagan Administration, the government has relied heavily on the forfeiture of property related to drug crimes as a tool to deter and punish the illegal distribution of drugs. The federal forfeiture statute, 21 U.S.C. § 881, allows the government to seize any property used to facilitate …

Cross-Examination

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Cross-Examination

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Cross-Examination

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Double Jeopardy

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.