Constitutional Law Commons^™

Districtly Speaking: Evenwel V. Abbott And The Apportionment Population Debate, Joey Herman

Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy Sidebar

The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, as interpreted by the Supreme Court, promises substantial equality of population within state legislative districts under the “one-person, one-vote” rule. Most frequently, total population is the basis for state reapportionament, but state citizenship and voter registration populations have also been acceptable bases in certain situations. The case of Evenwel v. Abbott, provides the Court with the opportunity to resolve the permissible population basis for reapportionment of state legislative districts. This Commentary argues that a state may rely upon total population as the basis for apportionment because such an approach is consistent …

United States V. Ramirez-Soberanes: Is Sympathy Towards Minorities A Race-Neutral Reason Under Batson V. Kentucky?, Thomas Galan

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Village Of Willowbrook V. Olech On Disparate Treatment Claims, J. Michael Mcguiness

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Punitive Damages In Section 1983 Actions, John R. Williams

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Municipal Liability Under Section 1983 Independent Of Employee Liability, Karen M. Blum

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Court Of Appeals Of New York, People V. David, Courtney Blakeslee

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Supreme Court Rules In Favor Of Religious Club’S Right To Meet On Public School Premises: Is This “Good News” For First Amendment Rights, Thomas A. Schweitzer

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

County Of Nassau V. Canavan, Robert Kronenberg

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Affronti V. Crosson, Jonathan Janofsky

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

People V. Johnson, Donna A. Napolitano

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Matter Of Anthony "S", Deborah A. Monastero

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

People V. Buie, Deborah A. Monastero

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

The 2000-2001 Supreme Court Term: Section 1983 Cases, Martin A. Schwartz

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Matter Of Baim V. Eidens, Evan M. Zuckerman

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

People V. Boone, Diane Somberg

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Marriage Equality, Workplace Inequality: The Next Gay Rights Battle, Keith Cunningham-Parmeter

Florida Law Review

Same-sex marriage is not the only civil rights issue impacting the gay community. Although the Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges represented a momentous victory on same-sex marriage, workplace protections affect far more people and remain a high priority for many lesbians and gay men. Today, even though the Supreme Court has invalidated state marriage restrictions across the country, federal law still makes it perfectly permissible to fire a gay man for telling a coworker about his sexuality or to discharge a woman for displaying her wife’s picture at work.

This Article critically evaluates the relationship between same-sex marriage …

How The Federal Cause Of Action Relates To Rights, Remedies, And Jurisdiction, John F. Preis

Florida Law Review

Time and again, the U.S. Supreme Court has declared that the federal cause of action is “analytically distinct” from rights, remedies, and jurisdiction. Yet, just pages away in the U.S. Reports are other cases in which rights, remedies, and jurisdiction all hinge on the existence of a cause of action. What, then, is the proper relationship between these concepts?

The goal of this Article is to articulate that relationship. This Article traces the history of the cause of action from eighteenth-century England to its modern usage in the federal courts. This history demonstrates that the federal cause of action is …

Consent Searches And Fourth Amendment Reasonableness, Alafair S. Burke

Florida Law Review

This Article builds on a growing body of scholarship discussing the role of reasonableness in consent-search doctrine. Although the language of “voluntary consent” implies a subjective inquiry into the state of mind of the person granting consent, the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly injected an objective standard of reasonableness into its analysis of a citizen’s consent. Several scholars have characterized the Court’s consent jurisprudence as focusing not on true voluntariness but on the reasonableness of police conduct, which they argue is appropriate because the touchstone of the Fourth Amendment is “reasonableness.”

While the renewed scholarly focus on the role of …

Revisiting Erisa Preemption In Gobeille V. Liberty Mutual, Nicole B. Gage

Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy Sidebar

Under the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause, federal law preempts state law. In 1974 Congress passed the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) governing benefits offered by employers to their employees. The purpose of this statute was ensuring the uniformity of the law applicable to employee benefts. The Supreme Court case of Gobeille v. Liberty Mutual concerns the limits of ERISA’s preemption of state law, specifically whether a state law governing employee benefits is merely peripheral to the core ERISA functions. This Commentary argues that ERISA does not preempt a state law which does not interfere with the administration of ERISA …

Of All The Gin Joints: Harris And The Supreme Court’S Reluctant Jurisprudence On Partisanship In Redistricting, Andrew Bellis

Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy Sidebar

As interpreted by the Supreme Court, the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause protects the voting power of citizens. Thus, drawing state legislative districts resulting in dilution of citizens’ voting power may violate the Constitution. However, the question of what factors a state may take into account when redistricting has not been settled. In the upcoming Supreme Court case of Harris v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission, the Court faces the question of whether partisan makeup of the population and whether an attempt by a state to obtain federal preclearance for redistricting are valid factors a state can take into account …

Sexual Exploitation In The Rhetoric Of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lisa Shawn Hogan

ConLawNOW

In this essay, Lisa Hogan explores Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s attacks on marriage, including her critique of the institution of marriage and her support of liberal divorce laws. It reveals that Stanton’s most controversial writings addressed woman’s sexuality in a broader context, including discussions of sexual exploitation and infanticide.

The Origins Of Constitutional Gender Equality In The Nineteenth-Century Work Of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Tracy Thomas

ConLawNOW

This introduction to the symposium previews the colloquium held at the Center for Constitutional Law at Akron on the intellectual work of pioneering feminist Elizabeth Cady Stanton. It highlights the talks from scholars in law, history, and women’s studies, published in this symposium issue, that explore Stanton’s philosophical and political work for gender equality in the political, domestic, and religious spheres.

March 7, 2016: Bill Mckibben Proves Me Right On Campaign Finance, Though He Probably Doesn’T Agree, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Bill McKibben Proves Me Right on Campaign Finance, Though He Probably Doesn’t Agree“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

March 5, 2016:Will Negative Ads And So Forth Hurt Trump?, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Will Negative Ads and so forth Hurt Trump?“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

Public Law Litigation In The U.S. And In Argentina: Lessons From A Comparative Study, Martin Oyhanarte

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Declarations Of Unconstitutionality In India And The U.K.: Comparing The Space For Political Response, Chintan Chandrachud

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Fixing Bail, Samuel R. Wiseman

Scholarly Publications

A large portion of the jail population consists of criminal defendants whose guilt has yet to be established. A growing number of states have attempted to reduce jail populations in light of budget concerns, and many federal and state statutes already direct judges to detain defendants only if alternative conditions will not protect society or prevent pretrial flight. Despite these legislative directives, judges continue to jail too many defendants pretrial. Indeed, although statutes often direct judges not to impose financial conditions leading to detention, many pretrial detainees are in jail because they could not afford the bond set by a …

The Riddle Of Harmless Error Revisited, John M. Greabe

Law Faculty Scholarship

Half a century ago, in Chapman v. California, the Supreme Court imposed on appellate courts an obligation to vacate or reverse criminal judgments marred by constitutional error unless the government demonstrates that the error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. But the Court did not explain the juridical status of this obligation or its relation to the federal harmless-error statute, 28 U.S.C. § 2111. In the intervening years, commentators have struggled to make sense of Chapman. Some see it as a constitutional mandate. Others view it as an example of constitutional common law. In THE RIDDLE OF HARMLESS ERROR, written …

Binding Authority: Unamendability In The United States Constitution—A Textual And Historical Analysis, George Mader

Marquette Law Review

We think of constitutional provisions as having contingent permanence—they are effective today and, barring amendment, tomorrow and the day after and so on until superseded by amendment. Once superseded, a provision is void. But are there exceptions to this default state of contingent permanence? Are there any provisions in the current United States Constitution that cannot be superseded by amendment—that are unamendable? And could a future amendment make itself or some portion of the existing Constitution unamendable?

Commentators investigating limits on constitutional amendment frequently focus on limits imposed by natural law, the democratic underpinnings of our nation, or some other …

A Right Not To Marry, Kaiponanea T. Matsumura

Fordham Law Review

In Obergefell v. Hodges, the United States Supreme Court recognized a constitutional right for same-sex couples to marry. Although the decision is an important milestone in the struggle for equality, it also threatens to destabilize the relationships of those who previously entered into civil unions or domestic partnerships and may, for a variety of reasons, prefer not to trade their existing status for marriage. That is because states have routinely responded to the legalization of same-sex marriage by eliminating their nonmarital statuses. Some states have terminated such statuses and have required couples to opt into marriage to continue receiving …