Constitutional Law Commons^™

September 15, 2009: Religion Dispatches Magazine Continues Church/State Debate, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

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

September 12, 2009: More Pope Benedict On Religious Certainty In Politics, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “More Pope Benedict on Religious Certainty in Politics“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

September 11, 2009: Political Certainty And Religion, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

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

September 9, 2009: How Did Corporations Get Constitutional Rights?, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “How Did Corporations Get Constitutional Rights?“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

On Cross-Petition For A Writ Of Certiorari To The United States Court Of Appeals For The Ninth Circuit, Holder V. Humanitarian Law Project, No. 09-89 (U.S. Sept. 8, 2009), David Cole

U.S. Supreme Court Briefs

No abstract provided.

The Sixth Amendment And Expert Witnesses In Criminal Tax Cases, Steve R. Johnson

Scholarly Publications

Recently, in the Baxter case, a federal district court vacated the sentence imposed as a result of a guilty plea in a criminal tax case. The court held that the failure of defense counsel to retain the services of an expert in tax crimes sentencing violated the defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to effective representation.

This installment of the Tax Crimes column explores Baxter. Part A briefly notes the civil and criminal tax contexts in which tax experts are used. Part B describes Baxter and its holding. Part C asks whether defense counsel in criminal tax cases should always retain a …

September 5, 2009: “Debate” Over Obama Speech An Unpatriotic Disgrace, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “ “Debate” Over Obama Speech an Unpatriotic Disgrace“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

September 4, 2009: Blurring Of Church And State On Healthcare, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Blurring of Church and State on Healthcare“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

September 2, 2009: Chardin’S Challenge To Secularists, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

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

Not Your Mother's Remedy: A Civil Action Response To The Westboro Baptist Church's Military Funeral Demonstrations, Chelsea Brown

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Police Paternalism: Community Caretaking, Assistance Searches, And Fourth Amendment Reasonableness, Michael R. Dimino, Sr.

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Aspirational Constitution, Michael C. Dorf

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Suspicionless Laptop Searches Under The Border Search Doctrine: The Fourth Amendment Exception That Swallows Your Laptop, Ari B. Fontecchio

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Constitutionality Of Decolonization By Associated Statehood: Puerto Rico's Legal Status Reconsidered, Gary S. Lawson, Robert D. Sloane

Faculty Scholarship

International and constitutional law arguably collide in the legal arrangement between the United States and Puerto Rico. As a matter of international law, it is unclear that this arrangement conforms to customary international and treaty obligations. As a matter of national law, it is unclear that the Constitution permits an arrangement between Puerto Rico and the United States—short of separation (independence as a State) or integration (admission to the Union as a state)—that could conform to these international obligations. In particular, the Appointments Clause and the Constitution’s voting provisions may well be in tension with contemporary international law relative to …

August 31, 2009: Is Everything Mysterious Vacuous?, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Is Everything Mysterious Vacuous?“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

August 29, 2009: Declare Healthcare Victory And Go Home?, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Declare Healthcare Victory and Go Home?“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

August 26, 2009: Getting Out By Going In, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Getting Out by Going In“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

August 21, 2009: God Is God, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

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

August 19, 2009: What The Healthcare Debate Says About America, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “What the Healthcare Debate Says About America“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

Rising Tides--Changing Title: Court To Mull Takings Issue, John R. Nolon

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The United States Supreme Court has granted certiorari in Walton County v. Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc., where novel questions arose concerning sea level rise and constitutional property rights of beachfront landowners. In Florida, the state government owns in trust, all beach property below the mean high tide water line, while beachfront landowners own the rights to any land above the mean high tide water line. The line shifts along with beachfront as the beach expands and contracts. In this Florida case, landowners challenge a state statute, which precludes the ocean property line from shifting in favor of the private …

August 16, 2009: Religion Dispatches Discusses Netroots Nation Panel On Church And State, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Religion Dispatches Discusses Netroots Nation Panel on Church and State“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

August 15, 2009: Higher Law At Netroots Nation, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Higher Law at Netroots Nation“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

August 13, 2009: Netroots In The City Paper, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

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

August 12, 2009: Healthcare Trouble In Pennsylvania An Extension Of Clinging To Guns And Bible, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Healthcare Trouble in Pennsylvania an Extension of Clinging to Guns and Bible“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

August 10, 2009: New Livestream Address For Friday's Panel, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “New Livestream Address for Friday's panel“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

August 9, 2009: Hallowed Secularism At The Netroots Nation Convention, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

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

Privatizing And Publicizing Speech, Nelson Tebbe

NULR Online

When should we allow governments to deploy private-law rules in order to circumvent public-law obligations? Two cases this year call that question to mind. They ask the Supreme Court to explore interactions between property law and constitutional rules concerning free speech and antiestablishment.

On the one hand, the Court recently handed down Pleasant Grove City v. Summum, which involved a Ten Commandments monument that a private religious organization donated to a city. The Court concluded that the permanent monument became government speech when the city accepted the gift, displayed it in a municipal park, and formally took ownership of …

August 8, 2009: End Of Life Counseling, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

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

August 4, 2009: Posting The Declaration Of Independence In Public School Classrooms, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Posting the Declaration of Independence in Public School Classrooms“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

Legal Obligations: The Proper Role Of White House Lawyers, William Michael Treanor

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

An opinion issued on Aug. 1, 2002, by Assistant Attorney General Jay S. Bybee of the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel held that the federal statute that makes it a crime to commit torture outside the United States should not be read to “apply to the President’s detention and interrogation of enemy combatants pursuant to his Commander-in-Chief authority.” The opinion further concluded that if the statute did criminalize interrogations ordered by the president, it was unconstitutional.

The memorandum, which has become known as the “torture memo,” figures prominently in the ongoing public debate about whether there should be …