Constitutional Law Commons^™

Baehr V. Miike

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

Foundational Myths And The Reality Of Dependency: The Role Of Marriage , Ann Shalleck

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do: Comments On Martha Fineman's Cracking The Foundational Myths: Independence, Autonomy, And Self-Sufficiency, , Suzanna Danuta Walters

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

Why Lesbians And Gay Men Should Read Martha Fineman, Nancy D. Polikoff

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

Bursting The Foundational Myths Of Reproductive Labor Under Capitalism: A Call For Brave New Families Or Brave New Villages? , Mary Romero

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

Caretakers, Entitlement, And Diversity , Twila L. Perry

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

Reimagining Democratic Theory For Social Individuals, Steven L. Winter Walter S. Gibbs Distinguished Professor Of Constitutional Law

Law Faculty Research Publications

The Western conception of the individual as a rational, self-directing agent is a mythology that organizes and distorts religion, science, economics, and politics. It produces an abstracted and atomized form of engagement that is fatal to collective self-governance. And it turns democracy into the enemy of equality. Considering the meaning of democracy and autonomy from a perspective that takes the subject as truly social would refocus our attention on the constitutive contexts and practices necessary for the production of citizens who are capable of meaningful self-governance. Under modern conditions, it is in the development of sexual autonomy that we learn …

May It Please The Senate: An Empirical Analysis Of The Senate Judiciary Committee Hearings Of Supreme Court Nominees, 1939-2009, Lori A. Ringhand, Paul M. Collins Jr.

Scholarly Works

This paper examines the questions asked and answers given by every Supreme Court nominee who has appeared to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee since 1939. In doing so, it uses a new dataset developed by the authors. This database, which provides a much-needed empirical foundation for scholarship in emerging areas of constitutional law and political science, captures all of the statements made at the hearings and codes these comments by issue area, subissue area, party of the appointing president, and party of the questioning senator. The dataset allows us to quantify for the fist time such things as which …

January 30, 2011: Amy Chua And The Mommy Wars, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

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

Staub V. Proctor Hospital: Cleaning Up The Cat’S Paw, Hannah Banks

Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy Sidebar

No abstract provided.

January 27, 2011: It Is Not Pro-Life To Kill A Woman, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “ It is not Pro-Life to Kill a Woman“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

January 22, 2011: Americans United For Separation Of Church And State, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Americans United for 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.

January 20, 2011: Religion Dispatches Publishes Ledewitz Piece On The Free Exercise Clause, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Religion Dispatches Publishes Ledewitz Piece on the Free Exercise Clause“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

The Incredible Shrinking Free Exercise Clause, Bruce Ledewitz

Ledewitz Papers

Published scholarship collected from academic journals, law reviews, newspaper publications & online periodicals.

January 18, 2011: So, Is This The Post-Secular Age Or Not?, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “So, is this the post-secular age or not?“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

Harrington V. Richter: Aedpa Deference And The Right To Effective Counsel, Kara Duffle

Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy Sidebar

No abstract provided.

January 14, 2011: The Atheist Wars, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

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

January 9, 2011: The Violence Of The Secular, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

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

Snyder V. Phelps: First Amendment Boundaries On Speech-Based Tort Claims, Michael Villeggiante

Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy Sidebar

No abstract provided.

January 6, 2011: So Why Isn’T The Food Bill Unconstitutional?, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “So Why Isn’t the Food Bill Unconstitutional?“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

Ragen V. Ministry Of Transport, Elyakim Rubinstein, Salim Joubran, Yoram Danziger

Translated Opinions

[This abstract is not part of the Court's opinion and is provided for the reader's convenience. It has been translated from a Hebrew version prepared by Nevo Press Ltd. and is used with its kind permission.]

This Petition concerns bus lines operated by the Second and Third Respondents, where segregation between men and women had become customary. It was argued that these arrangements violate the principle of equality, the constitutional right to dignity and to freedom of religion and conscience and that they have been put in place without lawful authorization. Against the First Respondent (hereinafter: the Respondent) it was …

January 3, 2011: The Incredible Shrinking Free Exercise Clause, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “The Incredible Shrinking Free Exercise Clause“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

Resolving The Qualified Immunity Dilemma: Constitutional Tort Claims For Nominal Damages, James E. Pfander

Faculty Working Papers

Scholars have criticized the Court's qualified immunity decision in Pearson v. Callahan on the ground that it may lead to stagnation in the judicial elaboration of constitutional norms. Under current law, officers sued in their personal capacity for constitutional torts enjoy qualified immunity from liability unless the plaintiff can persuade the court that the conduct in question violated clearly established law. Pearson permits the lower courts to dismiss on the basis of legal uncertainty; it no longer requires the courts to address the merits of the constitutional question. This essay suggests that constitutional tort claimants should be permitted to avoid …

The Oberlin Fugitive Slave Rescue: A Victory For The Higher Law, Steven Lubet

Faculty Working Papers

This article tells the story of the Oberlin fugitive slave rescue and the ensuing prosecutions in federal court. The trial of rescuer Charles Langston marked one of the first times that adherence to "higher law" was explicitly raised as a legal defense in an American courtroom. The article is adapted from my book -- Fugitive Justice: Runaways, Rescuers, and Slavery on Trial -- which tells this story (and several others) in much more detail.

In the fall of 1859, John Price was a fugitive slave living in the abolitionist community of Oberlin, Ohio. He was lured out of town and …

The Many Faces Of Iqbal, Rosalie Berger Levinson

Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Illegal Aid: Legal Assistance To Immigrants In The United States, Geoffrey Heeren

Law Faculty Publications

There is an enormous unmet need for immigrant legal aid in the United States. This is partly due to regulations that bar federally funded legal services organizations from representing many types of immigrants. The possible repeal of these restrictions is rarely discussed as a means to expand immigrant access to counsel. Federal funding for immigrant legal aid appears to have become taboo, despite the fact that for much of its history, legal aid was deeply connected to immigration. This forgotten history reveals that there was once broad national consensus in favor of immigrant legal aid; it became contentious and faced …

Doma And Diffusion Theory: Ending Animus Legislation Through A Rational Basis Approach, David J. Herzig

Law Faculty Publications

Same-sex couple rights are the topic of much discussion and debate. There are court challenges to the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”) as well as proposed marriage statutes. The message and the structure for the recognition of same-sex rights need to be modified. This Article proposes applying, for the first time in the area, modern sociology theory, specifically Diffusion Theory, to change how the message is delivered. Using Diffusion Theory to change the message frame will change judicial decisions. By using the backdrop of the Florida adoption statute, a comparison between the successful challenges to the Florida …

Popular Constitutionalism On The Right: Lessons From The Tea Party, Christopher W. Schmidt

All Faculty Scholarship

In this Article, I consider the lessons that the Tea Party offers for scholars of popular constitutionalism. Specifically, I argue that the experience of the Tea Party should spark a reconsideration of some assumptions that tend to drive much of the interest in popular constitutionalism. Some who have embraced popular constitutionalism seem to assume that popular constitutional mobilization is a vehicle particularly well suited for advancing progressive constitutional claims. Alternately, some have assumed that popular constitutionalism has no particular ideological or partisan valence - that it is basically a neutral vehicle for advancing constitution claims of all kinds. But the …

Money Talks But It Isn't Speech, Deborah Hellman

Faculty Scholarship

This Article challenges the central premise of our campaign finance law, namely that restrictions on giving and spending money constitute restrictions on speech and thus can only be justified by compelling governmental interests. This claim has become so embedded in constitutional doctrine that in the most recent Supreme Court case in this area, Citizens United v. FEC, the majority asserts it without discussion or argument. This claim is often defended on the grounds that money is important or necessary for speech. While money surely facilitates speech, money also facilitates the exercise of many other constitutional rights. By looking at these …

Money And Rights, Deborah Hellman

Faculty Scholarship

This chapter looks at when constitutionally protected rights are interpreted by courts to include a concomitant right to spend money to effectuate the underlying right and when they are not. It concludes that there are two strands in our constitutional law: the Integral Strand, in which a right includes the right to spend money and the Blocked Strand, in which it does not.