Constitutional Law Commons^™

April 20, 2014: A Joyous Easter To All Christians—And Go See Particle Physics, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “A Joyous Easter to All Christians—and Go See Particle Physics“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

April 17, 2014: Cowardice And Hypocrisy At Brandeis, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

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

April 14, 2014: Ross Douthat's Magical Thinking, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Ross Douthat's Magical Thinking“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

April 11, 2014: More Secular Yearning For God, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

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

Carbon Outlasts The Law: States Walk The Constitutional Line, Steven Ferrey

Suffolk University Law School Faculty Works

State carbon policies to control climate warming and our energy future are under legal attack. A successful barrage of litigation now invokes the dormant Commerce Clause and the Federal Power Act as interpreted through the Filed Rate Doctrine, as well as the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, to challenge the legal validity and sustainability of these state carbon-based laws. California and other states have survived these legal challenges sparingly, and then often only by prevailing with procedural defenses that dismiss the case before a decision on the legal merits of their state energy regulation. This Article examines and analyzes …

Recent Developments In The Use Of Excessive Force By Law Enforcement, Karen M. Blum, Jack Ryan

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Whistleblowing And Free Speech: Garcetti's Early Progeny And Shrinking Constitutional Rights Of Public Employees, J. Michael Mcguinness

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Qualified Immunity Defense: What's “Clearly Established” And What's Not, Karen M. Blum

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Absolute Immunity: General Principles And Recent Developments, Erwin Chemerinsky

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Petition For A Writ Of Certiorari, Volume 1 Of 2 (Petition With Appendix Pages 1a-563a). Lynch V. Alabama, 135 S. Ct. 53 (2014) (No. 13-1232), 2014 U.S. Lexis 5672, Larry T. Menefee, Edward Still, Eric Schnapper, James U. Blacksher

Court Briefs

QUESTIONS PRESENTED

(1) The district court found that several provisions of the Alabama Constitution of 1901 were adopted for the purpose of limiting the imposition on whites of property taxes that would pay for the education of black public school students. The first question presented is: Do black public school children and their parents have standing to challenge the validity under the Equal Protection Clause of state constitutional provisions adopted for the purpose of limiting the imposition on whites of property taxes that would be used to educate black public school students?

(2) In 2004 the District Judge in Knight …

A Tradition Of Sovereignty: Examining Tribal Sovereign Immunity In Bay Mills Indian Community V. Michigan, Meredith L. Jewitt

Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy Sidebar

This commentary previews an upcoming Supreme Court case, Bay Mills Indian Community v. Michigan, in which the Court may decide whether the doctrine of Tribal Sovereign Immunity prohibits Michigan's attempt to enjoin Indian gaming in the state or whether Congress expressly allowed the suit when passing the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

April 6, 2014: The Death Of A Grandmother, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

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

Ministry Of Palestinian Prisoners V. Minister Of Defense, Edna Arbel, Isaac Amit, Uri Shoham

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.]

The Petitions request shortening the periods of detention prescribed in the security legislation in the West Bank, including in the Order Regarding Security Provisions [Consolidated Version] (Judea and Samaria) (no. 1651), 5770-2009 (hereinafter: the “Order”), such that they match the periods applicable to Israeli citizens in the West Bank and those of detentions prescribed in Israel.

The High Court of Justice (Justice E. Arbel, …

April 3, 2014: Now Get Rid Of The $2600 Limit, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Now Get Rid of the $2600 Limit“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

Summary Of State V. Cantsee, 130 Nev. Adv. Op. 24, Sean Daly

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Court determined (1) whether a police officer’s citation to an incorrect statute is a mistake of law that invalidates an investigatory traffic stop under the Fourth Amendment, and (2) whether a failure to identify and argue a statute in an opposition to a motion to suppress constitutes a waiver of that argument in the motion’s hearing.

Summary Of Angel V. Cruse, 130 Nev. Adv. Op. 25, Kelsey Bernstein

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Court determined (1) whether the district court properly granted summary judgment in a complaint alleging unconstitutional retaliation in violation of the inmate’s First Amendment rights, and (2) whether the proper test to determine whether retaliatory actions “chill” protected First Amendment speech is objective or subjective. Summary by Kelsey Bernstein.

Constitution Making: The Role Of External Actors, Muna B. Ndulo

Southern African Journal of Policy and Development

In the past three decades new constitutions have been developed in many parts of the world, often in the aftermath of conflicts, but also in response to demands for more democratic political systems or for the resolution of institutional crises. In these processes, the international community often plays an important role. This article considers the role that external actors play in the elaboration and development of new constitutions in post-conflict societies. It identifies both the negative and the positive roles external intervention can play and suggests approaches that could be adopted by external actors to maximize their impact while avoiding …

The Fifth Circuit Buries Intrastate Economic Protectionism In St. Joseph Abbey V. Castille, Antonios Roustopoulos

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

The Emerging Structures Of Socialist Constitutionalism With Chinese Characteristics: Extra-Judicial Detention And The Chinese Constitutional Order, Larry Catá Backer, Keren Wang

Washington International Law Journal

China is developing its own distinctive path towards socialist constitutionalism and rule of law, one that reflects China's history and its unique circumstances but also conforms to the general principles of transnational constitutionalism. The Chinese constitutional order is grounded on a principal of separation of powers that distinguishes between an administrative power assigned to the government and a political authority assigned to the Chinese Communist Party (“CCP”). This constitutional order is reflected in two related but distinct legal contexts—laojiao (the system of administrative detentions, re-education through labor, or “劳动教养”) and shuanggui (the system of intra-CCP discipline of its cadres, …

In Sight, It Must Be Right: Judicial Review Of Va Decisions For Reasons And Bases Vs. Clear Error, David E. Boelzner

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Beyond Backlash: Legal History, Polarization, And Roe V. Wade, Mary Ziegler

Scholarly Publications

On its fortieth anniversary, Roe v. Wade serves as the most prominent example of the damage judicial review can do to the larger society. Scholars from across the ideological spectrum have related how Roe helped to entrench the ideological positions held by those on either side of the abortion issue, precluding any form of productive compromise. This criticism, which the Article calls the “beyond backlash” argument, has profound legal consequences, serving as both a justification for overruling Roe and as a case study of the benefits of varying interpretive methods.

This Article reevaluates the beyond backlash claim through a careful …

Making The Right Call For Confrontation At Felony Sentencing, Shaakirrah R. Sanders

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Felony sentencing courts have discretion to increase punishment based on un-cross-examined testimonial statements about several categories of uncharged, dismissed, or otherwise unproven criminal conduct. Denying defendants an opportunity to cross-examine these categories of sentencing evidence undermines a core principle of natural law as adopted in the Sixth Amendment: those accused of felony crimes have the right to confront adversarial witnesses. This Article contributes to the scholarship surrounding confrontation rights at felony sentencing by cautioning against continued adherence to the most historic Supreme Court case on this issue, Williams v. New York. This Article does so for reasons beyond the unacknowledged …

The Transformative Twelfth Amendment, Joshua D. Hawley

Faculty Publications

This paper argues that the Twelfth Amendment represents far more than a mechanical adjustment of the electoral college. Rather, it is the constitutional text that gives us the political presidency that we know today. The Twelfth Amendment worked a major structural change in the relationship between the legislative and executive branches and for that reason bears directly on the debate over the unitary executive and the meaning of “executive power.” Specifically, presidential removal power is best justified not by the original Article II, but by the constitutional structure the Twelfth Amendment created. And the scope and definition of executive power …

A Tale Of Two Minority Groups: Can Two Different Minority Groups Bring A Coalition Suit Under Section 2 Of The Voting Rights Act Of 1965, Sara Michaloski

Catholic University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Globally Speaking - Honoring The Victims' Stories: Matsuda's Human Rights Praxis, Berta E. Hernández-Truyol

UF Law Faculty Publications

Globally speaking, international law and the vast majority of domestic legal systems strive to protect the right to freedom of expression. The United States’ First Amendment provides an early historical protection of speech—a safeguard now embraced around the world. The extent of this protection, however, varies among states.

The United States stands alone in excluding countervailing considerations of equality, dignitary, or privacy interests that would favor restrictions on speech. The gravamen of the argument supporting such American exceptionalism is that free expression is necessary in a democracy. Totalitarianism, the libertarian narrative goes, thrives on government control of information to the …

The Obligation Of Members Of Congress To Consider Constitutionality While Deliberating And Voting: The Deficiencies Of House Rule Xii And A Proposed Rule For The Senate, Russ Feingold

Vanderbilt Law Review

Most scholarly attention on constitutional interpretation is focused on the judicial branch and its role in our system of separation of powers. Nonetheless, constitutional interpretation should not take place solely in the courts. Rather, history suggests our Framers envisioned that members of Congress, as well as the President and the courts, would have an independent and important role to play in interpreting our Constitution. Yet this obligation has eroded such that House Speaker John Boehner, with the support of the Tea Party and his Republican colleagues, called for a "sea change" in the way the House of Representatives operates, with …

The Institutional Progress Clause, Jake Linford

Scholarly Publications

There is a curious anomaly at the intersection of copyright and free speech. In cases like Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the United States Supreme Court has exhibited a profound distaste for tailoring free speech rights and restrictions based on the identity of the speaker. The Copyright Act, however, is full of such tailoring, extending special rights to some copyright owners and special defenses to some users. A Supreme Court serious about maintaining speaker neutrality would be appalled.

A set of compromises at the heart of the Copyright Act reflects interest-group lobbying rather than a careful consideration of …

Complicity And Collection: Religious Freedom And Tax, Jennifer Carr

Scholarly Works

This Article focuses on how the Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund Bill might be improved so that members of Congress enact it. The bill would allow war tax resisters who qualify as pacifists to direct their tax money to a separate fund not to be used for military spending. At present, the IRS is expending time and resources trying to track down tax resisters, which results in loss of revenue for the government. This Article argues that passage of an amended version of the Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund Bill would eliminate the tension between the IRS and war tax …

The Necessary And Proper Clauses, John Mikhail

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The Article's main purpose is to provide a new and more accurate account of the origins of the Necessary and Proper Clauses. I refer to the Necessary and Proper “Clauses” rather than to the Necessary and Proper “Clause” to emphasize that the relevant constitutional text is comprised of three distinct provisions, only the first of which concerns the enumerated powers in Article I, Section 8:

1. “Congress shall have Power . . . To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers”
2. “Congress shall have Power . . . To make all Laws …

The Value Of Life: Constitutional Limits On Citizens’ Use Of Deadly Force, F. Patrick Hubbard

Faculty Publications

This Article argues that most states have unconstitutionally overbroad authorizations for citizens to use deadly force in the context of crime prevention, citizen’s arrest, and defense of one’s “castle.” Similarly, some authorizations of deadly force for self-defense in public areas may be unconstitutional. The starting points of this argument are the fundamental value of life, the state’s monopoly of deadly force, and the fundamental constitutional right to life. Because of the state’s monopoly of deadly force, any use of such force is either legitimate or proscribed. The lack of a third category of “private” use of deadly force affects constitutional …