Constitutional Law Commons^™

Courtrooms As Battlefields In The Evolution War: Examining Judicial Behavior And The Outcomes Of Cases Involving Public Education And Religion, Trevor W. Ramsey

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Over the past century, various challenges to the teaching of the theory of evolution have made their way to the courts, with the two most recent dealing with the concept of "intelligent design." The goal of this study is to attempt to find indicators that could help predict how judges will decide these types of cases in the future. Due to the low number of such cases, this study looked at the issue from the broader perspective of conflicts between religion and public schools. Focusing on federal district and appellate courts, sixty-eight cases were selected, with 145 rulings from 121 …

July 30, 2009: Jesus Is Back In The Legislature, Thank God, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

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

July 27, 2009: Food Inc., Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

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

July 25, 2009: Common Ground On Everything But Abortion, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Common Ground on Everything But Abortion“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

July 23, 2009: What Do We Need?, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

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

July 21, 2009: The Rejection Of God Leading To Relativism, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

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

Boaron V. National Labour Court, Esther Hayut, Edmond E. Levy, Dorit Beinisch, Eliezer Rivlin, Ayala Procaccia, Hanan Melcer, Edna Arbel

Translated Opinions

Facts: Four widows who had each been receiving either a dependents allowance or a survivors allowance in accordance with the provisions of the National Insurance Law [Consolidated Version], 5755-1995, received notices from the National Insurance Institute indicating that their allowances had been discontinued — as of the time that the Institute had determined that each had begun living together with a new partner in a common-law marriage. After the relevant regional labour courts ruled in favor of the petitioners, the National Labour Court upheld the discontinuation of the allowances for all of them.

Held: The National Labour Court’s decision involved …

July 19, 2009: Getting Jesus Out Of The Legislature, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

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

July 17, 2009: More On Netroots Panel On Church And State, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “More on netroots 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.

July 15, 2009: The Politics Of The Future, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

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

July 13, 2009: Whatever Works—And Loves, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

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

July 11, 2009: How Secularists Die, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

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

July 9, 2009: How Is The Constitution Interpreted?, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

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

July 8, 2009: What Is The Difference Really Between Believers And Nonbelievers?, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “What is the Difference Really Between Believers and Nonbelievers?“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

Opposition To Petition For A Writ Of Certiorari, Holder V. Humanitarian Law Project, No. 08-1498 (U.S. July 6, 2009), David Cole

U.S. Supreme Court Briefs

No abstract provided.

Conditional Cross-Petition For A Writ Of Certiorari, Holder V. Humanitarian Law Project, No. 08-1498 (U.S. July 6, 2009), David Cole

U.S. Supreme Court Briefs

No abstract provided.

July 4, 2009: How Will The Children Of Secularists Return To Religion?, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “How Will the Children of Secularists Return to Religion?“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

July 2, 2009: Divinity In A Secular World, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

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

The Same-Sex Future, David Cole

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

No abstract provided.

A Closer Look At The Federalization Snowball, Abigail R. Moncrieff

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

While on the academic job market, I presented Federalization Snowballs to several stellar law faculties.1 My argument, in short, was that: (1) federal healthcare spending allows the states to externalize onto the federal government about 40% of the utilization costs associated with their medical malpractice policies (such as the cost of defensive medicine); (2) such an externality systematically distorts a rational state’s incentive to reform medical malpractice; and (3) federalization of medical malpractice is necessary to correct the distortion. In other words, I argued that federalization of healthcare spending through Medicare, Medicaid, and similar programs has snowballed into a need …

States Of Resistance: The Real Id Act And The Limits Of Federal Deputization Of State Agencies In The Regulation Of Non-Citizens, Shirley Lin

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The goal of this Article is to discuss the justiciability of issues arising under immigration federalism by examining the constitutionality of the REAL ID Act. Part I discusses states' authority over non-citizens and the history of "immigration federalism" jurisprudence. Part II explores key provisions of the REAL ID Act, the WHTI, and similar attempts by the federal government to deputize states to engage in citizenship-policing and immigration enforcement. It describes the acute social and economic segregation that the denial of driver's licenses to non-citizens engenders, and examines a number of theories that attempt to capture the impact of the current …

Foreword: Freedom Of Expression: "Precious Right" In Europe, "Sacred Right" In The United States?, Elisabeth Zoller

Indiana Law Journal

Symposium: An Ocean Apart? Freedom of Expression in Europe and the United States. This Article was originally written in French and delivered as a conference paper at a symposium held by the Center for American Law of the University of Paris II (Panthèon-Assas) on January 18-19, 2008.

Freedom Of Expression In The Federal Republic Of Germany, Oliver Jouanjan

Indiana Law Journal

Symposium: An Ocean Apart? Freedom of Expression in Europe and the United States. This Article was originally written in French and delivered as a conference paper at a symposium held by the Center for American Law of the University of Paris II (Panthèon-Assas) on January 18-19, 2008.

Free Speech And National Security, Geoffrey R. Stone

Indiana Law Journal

Symposium: An Ocean Apart? Freedom of Expression in Europe and the United States. This Article was originally written in French and delivered as a conference paper at a symposium held by the Center for American Law of the University of Paris II (Panthèon-Assas) on January 18-19, 2008.

Civil Rights In International Law: Compliance With Aspects Of The "International Bill Of Rights", Beth Simmons

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

International law has developed what many might consider a constitutional understanding of individual civil rights that individuals can claim vis-à-vis their own governments. This article discusses the development of aspects of international law relating to civil rights and argues that if this body of law is meaningful, we should see evidence of links between acceptance of international legal obligation and domestic practices. Recognizing that external forms of enforcement of civil rights is unlikely (because doing so is not generally in the interest of potential "enforcers"), I argue that international civil rights treaties will have their greatest effect where stakeholders-local citizens-have …

Introduction: Global Constitutionalism From An Interdisciplinary Perspective, Anne Peters, Klaus Armingeon

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

Global Constitutionalism – Process and Substance, Symposium. Kandersteg, Switzerland, January 17-20, 2008

The Merits Of Global Constitutionalism, Anne Peters

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

Global constitutionalism is an agenda that identifies and advocates for the application of constitutionalist principles in the international legal sphere. Global constitutionalization is the gradual emergence of constitutionalist features in international law. Critics of global constitutionalism doubt the empirical reality of constitutionalization, call into question the analytic value of constitutionalism as an academic approach, and fear that the discourse is normatively dangerous because it is anti-pluralist, artificially creates a false legitimacy, and promises an unrealistic end of politics. This article addresses these objections. I argue that global constitutionalization is likely to compensate for globalization induced constitutionalist deficits on the national …

Defragmentation Of Public International Law Through Interpretation: A Methodological Proposal, Anne Van Aaken

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

Fragmentation of public international law (PIL) is perceived as a growing problem and answers to it are proliferating. International courts and tribunals are adjudicating ever more on issues that would be considered-were they not transnational or international in nature-constitutional problems. In national law, countervailing values, or intra-constitutional conflicts, are reconciled through a balancing of those values that is usually embedded in the application of the proportionality principle. A similar mechanism in PIL remains underdeveloped from a methodological point of view. This article aims to develop a methodological proposal for defragmentation through interpretation, drawing on legal theory, to be more precise …

International Rule Of Law And Constitutional Justice In International Investment Law And Arbitration, Ernst-Ulrich Petersmann

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

Judicial administration of justice through reasoned interpretation, application and clarification of legal principles and rules is among the oldest paradigms of constitutional justice. The principles of procedural justice underlying investor-state arbitration remain controversial, especially if confidentiality and party autonomy governing commercial arbitration risk neglecting adversely affected third parties and public interests. There are also concerns that rule-following and formal equality of foreign investors and home states may not ensure substantive justice in the settlement of investment disputes unless arbitrators and courts take more seriously their customary law obligation of settling disputes in conformity with human rights obligations of governments and …

Is There An International Environmental Constitution?, Daniel Bodansky

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

The surge of interest among international lawyers in "constitutionalism" represents one of several efforts to reconceptualize internationa governance; others include the research projects on global administrative law and legalization. The article applies the constitutionalist lens to international environmental law-one of the few fields of international law to which constitutionalist modes of analysis have not yet been applied. Given the protean quality oft he terms "constitution"and "constitutionalism,"t he article begins by unpacking these concepts. By disaggregating these concepts into a number of separate variables, which have more determinate, unambiguous meanings, we can answer the question, "Is there an international environmental constitution?", …