Constitutional Law Commons^™

The Limits Of Global Judicial Dialogue, David S. Law, Wen-Chen Chang

Washington Law Review

The notion that “global judicial dialogue” is contributing to the globalization of constitutional law has attracted considerable attention. Various scholars have characterized the citation of foreign law by constitutional courts as a form of “dialogue” that both reflects and fosters the emergence of a common global enterprise of constitutional adjudication. It has also been claimed that increasing direct interaction between judges, face-to-face or otherwise, fuels the growth of a global constitutional jurisprudence. This Article challenges these claims on empirical grounds and offers an alternative account of the actual reasons for which constitutional courts engage in comparative analysis. First, it is …

Covenants For The Sword, Alice Ristroph

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Unwell: Indiana V. Edwards And The Fate Of Mentally Ill Pro Se Defendants, John H. Blume, Morgan J. Clark

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Same-Sex Marriage, Second-Class Citizenship, And Law's Social Meanings, Michael C. Dorf

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Government acts, statements, and symbols that carry the social meaning of second-class citizenship may, as a consequence of that fact, violate the Establishment Clause or the constitutional requirement of equal protection. Yet social meaning is often contested. Do laws permitting same-sex couples to form civil unions but not to enter into marriage convey the social meaning that gays and lesbians are second-class citizens? Do official displays of the Confederate battle flag unconstitutionally convey support for slavery and white supremacy? When public schools teach evolution but not creationism, do they show disrespect for creationists? Different audiences reach different conclusions about the …

Coming Off The Bench: Legal And Policy Implications Of Proposals To Allow Retired Justices To Sit By Designation On The Supreme Court, Lisa T. Mcelroy, Michael C. Dorf

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

In the fall of 2010, Senator Patrick Leahy introduced a bill that would have overridden a New Deal-era federal statute forbidding retired Justices from serving by designation on the Supreme Court of the United States. The Leahy bill would have authorized the Court to recall willing retired Justices to substitute for recused Justices. This Article uses the Leahy bill as a springboard for considering a number of important constitutional and policy questions, including whether the possibility of 4-4 splits justifies the substitution of a retired Justice for an active one; whether permitting retired Justices to substitute for recused Justices would …

Following You Here, There, And Everytwhere: An Investigation Of Gps Technology, Privacy, And The Fourth Amendment, Stephanie Gaylord Forbes

W&M Law Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Law—It Wasn’T Me! Zinger V. State And Arkansas’S Unconstitutional Approach To Third-Party Exculpatory Evidence. Zinger V. State, 313 Ark. 70, 852 S.W.2d 320 (1993)., Bourgon B. Reynolds

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Two Faces Of American Freedom: A Reply, Aziz Rana

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Legislating Preemption, Jamelle C. Sharpe

William & Mary Law Review

Federal preemption is perhaps the most important public law issueof the day. The stakes in preemption cases are enormous, as preemption determines whether the federal government or the statescontrol regulatory policy in a host of politically controversial contexts. Congress clearly has primary constitutional authority insetting federal preemption policy, but, for numerous political and practical reasons, cannot be solely responsible for its implementation.Determining which organ of the federal government is best at implementing preemption policy has therefore become the central preoccupation of the academic literature. While this comparative institutional analysis is certainly important in allocating preemptionpolicy-making business, it has elided a …

The Fourth Amendment Rights Of Children At Home: When Parental Authority Goes Too Far, Kristin Henning

William & Mary Law Review

Although it is virtually undisputed that children have some Fourth Amendment rights independent of their parents, it is equally clear that youth generally receive less constitutional protection than adults. In a search for continuity and coherence in Fourth Amendment jurisprudence involving minors, Professor Henning identifies three guiding principles—context, parental authority, and the minor’s capacity—that weave together children’s rights cases. She argues that parental authority too often prevails over children’srights, even when context and demonstrated capacity would supportaffirmation of those rights. Context involves both the physical settingin which Fourth Amendment protections are sought and the nature of the privacy interest at …

Up Against The Wall: A Guide To The Effective Screening Of Former Government Attorneys In New York, Shira Mizrahi

Cardozo Public Law, Policy & Ethics Journal

The note examines New York Rule of Professional Conduct 1.11, which governs conflicts of interest for former government attorneys transitioning to private practice. It highlights the rule's strict requirements for screening to prevent conflicts and the "appearance of impropriety" standard, which allows courts to disqualify firms even without evidence of wrongdoing. The analysis critiques the rule's effectiveness, particularly in small firms, and proposes reforms to balance public trust, client interests, and attorneys' career mobility.

Isn't It Ironic? The Undermining Of American Public Policy By American Tax Law, And The Ramifications On Middle East Peace, Amanda Berman

Cardozo Public Law, Policy & Ethics Journal

The note critiques the broad and vague definition of "charitable" under U.S. tax law, particularly in the context of domestic organizations operating internationally. It argues that the current system allows organizations to act contrary to U.S. public policy while receiving tax-exempt status, and it calls for reform to prevent the misuse of tax-deductible funds for activities that undermine government policies. The analysis focuses on the IRS's oversight failures and the need for clearer guidelines to ensure charitable organizations align with public interest and policy goals.

Citizens, United And Citizens United: The Future Of Labor Speech Rights?, Charlotte Garden

William & Mary Law Review

Within hours of its announcement, the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. FEC came under attack from progressive groups. Among these groups were some of America’s largest laborunions—even though the decision applies equally to unions and for profit corporations. The reason is clear: there exist both practical andstructural impediments that will prevent unions from benefittingfrom Citizens United to the same extent as corporations. Therefore,Citizens United stands to unleash a torrent of corporate electioneering that could drown out the countervailing voice of organized labor.

This Article, however, takes a broader view of Citizens United to explore a possible silver lining …

When Delegation Begets Domination: Due Process Of Administrative Lawmaking, Evan J. Criddle

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Judicial Power And The Inferior Federal Courts: Exploring The Constitutional Vesting Thesis, A. Benjamin Spencer

Faculty Publications

Although the Constitution vests the "Judicial Power" of the United States in the Supreme Court and in any inferior courts that Congress establishes, both Congress and the Court have long propounded the traditional view that the inferior courts may be deprived cognizance of some of the cases and controversies that fall within that power. Is this view fully consonant with the history and text of Article III? One possible reading of those sources suggests that the Constitution vests the full Judicial Power of the United States in the inferior federal courts, directly extending to them jurisdiction over matters that Congress …

Remarks Of William Van Alstyne On The Brandenburg Panel, William W. Van Alstyne

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Stare Decisis And Constitutional Text, Jonathan F. Mitchell

Michigan Law Review

Almost everyone acknowledges that stare decisis should play a significant role when the Supreme Court of the United States resolves constitutional cases. Yet the academic and judicial rationales for this practice tend to rely on naked consequentialist considerations, and make only passing efforts to square the Court's stare decisis doctrines with the language of the Constitution. This Article offers a qualified defense of constitutional stare decisis that rests exclusively on constitutional text. It aims to broaden the overlapping consensus of interpretive theories that can support a role for constitutional stare decisis, but to do this it must narrow the circumstances …

A Brave New World Of Stop And Frisk, Ronald J. Bacigal

Law Faculty Publications

In this article, the author Ron Bacigal discusses the editorials, The Shame of New York by Bob Herbert and Fighting Crime Where the Criminals Are by Heather MacDonald. These editorials were prompted by the New York City Police Department's release of figures regarding "stop and frisk" incidents within New York City.' MacDonald and Herbert reacted to the same statistical report by putting two very different spins on the raw data. While it's always helpful to compile empirical evidence, Bacigal suggests that we also need to look beyond the mere numbers. If you put aside anecdotal versions of encounters between minorities …

Madison's Full Faith And Credit Clause: A Historical Analysis, Charles M. Yablon

Cardozo Law Review

The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) has created a new wave of interest in the Full Faith and Credit Clause and its apparent contradictions. Important recent scholarship has shown that American lawyers in the eighteenth century often viewed the term "full faith and credit" as referring to an evidentiary rule. This interpretation ameliorates, but does not actually resolve, the apparent conflict between the first sentence of the Clause, which seems to create a mandatory rule of sister state deference, and the second sentence of the Clause, which seems to give Congress plenary power to abrogate that rule. Rather than seek …

September 28, 2011: The End Of Religious Legal Theory, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

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

State Constitutions As Interactive Expressions Of Fundamental Values, Justin R. Long

Law Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.

September 25, 2011: Justice Scalia At Duquesne Law School, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Justice Scalia at Duquesne Law School“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

September 22, 2011: Unions And The Separation Of Church And State, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

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

September 19, 2011: No Clergy At The 9/11 Ceremony, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “No Clergy at the 9/11 Ceremony“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

September 14, 2011: What Does A Resurgent Marxism Look Like?, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “What Does a Resurgent Marxism Look Like?“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

September 10, 2011: Remember The Ten Year Anniversary Of 9/11 By Eliminating Firefighter Unions, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Remember the Ten Year Anniversary of 9/11 By Eliminating Firefighter Unions“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

Grutter V. Bollinger 123 S. Ct. 2325 (2003), Soraya Fata, Amy Schumacher

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

Driving Into Unreasonableness: The Driveway, The Curtilage, And Reasonable Expectations Of Privacy, Vanessa Rownaghi

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

Infinite Hope And Finite Disappointment: The Story Of The First Interpreters Of The Fourteenth Amendment, Elizabeth Reilly

University of Akron Press Publications

Infinite Hope and Finite Disappointment details the aspirations and promises of the 14th Amendment in the historical, legal, and sociological context within which it was framed. Part of the Reconstruction Amendments collectively known as "The Second Founding," the 14th Amendment fundamentally altered the 1787 Constitution to protect individual rights and altered the balance of power between the national government and the states. The book also shows how initial Supreme Court interpretations of the Amendment's reach hindered its applicability. Finally, the contributors investigate the current impact of the 14th Amendment.

Contents Infinite Hope: The Framers as First Interpreters The Antebellum Political …

September 8, 2011: Check Out Religion Dispatches On Church, State, And The Crisis In American Secularism, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Check Out Religion Dispatches on Church, State, and the Crisis in American Secularism“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.