Constitutional Law Commons^™

Evaluating Congressional Constitutional Interpretation: Some Criteria And Two Informal Case Studies, Mark V. Tushnet

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

I begin this Essay by identifying some problems with conducting an empirical inquiry into Congress's performance in constitutional matters. I argue that there is actually only a small set of issues for which we have a reasonably clean record to evaluate. With the problems I have identified in the background, I then examine some aspects of Congress's performance in the impeachment of President William J. Clinton and, more briefly, some aspects of its response to a presidential military initiative taken without formal prior congressional endorsement. I conclude that Congress's performance in the impeachment, however flawed, was reasonably good, and that …

Nationalized Political Discourse, Robert F. Nagel

Publications

No abstract provided.

Getting Beyond Formalism In Constitutional Law: Constitutional Theory Matters, Erwin Chemerinsky

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

Replies To Professor Chemerinsky, David W. Levy, Harry F. Tepker Jr., Arthur G. Lefrancois, Kevin W. Saunders, Michael A. Scaperlanda, Katheleen R. Guzman, Lindsay G. Robertson

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

Further Thoughts, Erwin Chemerinsky

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Law: United States V. Viefhaus And The Demise Of The Libertarian Philosophy In Free Speech Jurisprudence, Stephanie D. Wade

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

What Is It Good For? War Power, Judicial Review, And Constitutional Deliberation, J. Richard Broughton

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Law: Establishment Clause V. Free Expression: Adler V. Duval County School Board, Ron Shinn

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Law: United States V. Morrison: The Gender Motivated Violence Act Takes A Beating By The Supreme Court's New Commerce Clause Jurisprudence, Jodi Fowler Jayne

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Case Of Unconstitutional Immigration: The Importation Of England's National Curriculum To The United States, Jaime S. Boutwell

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The decline in the quality of the American educational system continues to spawn debate and criticism across the nation. Despite many suggestions and arguments on how to improve American schools, such as voucher systems, smaller class size, and higher teacher qualifications, the concern, while deeply felt, appears to be empty rhetoric. Teachers' low salaries, the disparity in funding among schools, and the lack of parent and community involvement demonstrate America's apathy towards education reform. To effectuate meaningful changes in education, American communities must reach consensus on education's purpose and importance.

The failure of schools requires America to take action. State …

Legislative Constitutional Interpretation, Neal K. Katyal

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This is an Essay about "the how" of constitutional interpretation. Much attention has been devoted to the question of how the Constitution is interpreted in courts. Rather little attention has been devoted to the question of how the Constitution is interpreted elsewhere in the government. The Constitution tells us that Congress, the President, and state legislators and courts must adhere to its terms, but it does not tell us how much interpretive power each actor should have, nor does it prescribe rules for each actor to use when interpreting the text. I argue that constitutional interpretation by Congress is, and …

Tales Out Of School--Spillover Confessions And Against-Interest Statements Naming Others, Christopher B. Mueller

Publications

No abstract provided.

Towards A Constitutional Architecture For Cooperative Federalism, Philip J. Weiser

Publications

In this Article, Professor Weiser calls for a new conception of federal-state relations to justify existing political practice under cooperative federalism regulatory programs. In particular, Professor Weiser highlights how Congress favors cooperative federalism programs--that combine federal and state authority in creative ways--and has rejected the dual federalism model of regulation--with separate spheres of state and federal authority that current judicial rhetoric often celebrates. Given the increasing dissonance between prevailing political practice and judicial rhetoric, courts will ultimately have to confront three fault lines for current cooperative federalism programs: the legal source of authority for state agencies to implement federal law, …

The Original Meaning Of The Commerce Clause, Randy E. Barnett

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The U& Supreme Court, in recent cases; has attempted to define limits on the Congress's power to regulate commerce among the several states. While Justice Thomas has maintained that the original meaning of "commerce" was limited to the "trade and exchange" of goods and transportation for this purpose, some have argued that he is mistaken and that "commerce" originally included any "gainful activity." Having examined every appearance of the word "commerce"in the records of the Constitutional Convention, the ratification debates and the Federalist Papers, Professor Barnett finds no surviving example of this term being used in this broader sense. In …

The Idea Of The Common Law In West Virginia Jurisprudential History: Morningstar V. Black & Decker Revisited, James Audley Mclaughlin

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Remarkable Career Of Joe Grano, Robert A. Sedler

Law Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.

Race And The Australian Constitution: From Federation To Reconciliation, George Williams

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

The framing of the Australian Constitution initiated a pattern of discrimination against Australia's Indigenous peoples. They were cast as outsiders to the nation brought about in 1901. This pattern was broken in 1967 by the deletion of the discriminatory provisions from the Constitution. Today, there is strong community support in Australia for the reconciliation process, which would involve recognition of Indigenous peoples as an integral and unique component of the Australian nation. However, this has yet to be translated into substantive legal outcomes. The author analyses the interaction of issues of race and the Australian Constitution as it has affected …

Disentangling Deregulatory Takings, Jim Rossi, Susan G. Rose-Ackerman

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Constitutional takings protections, such as those in the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution, create a potential for state liability for changes in regulatory policy by governments. This Article critiques takings jurisprudence in the context of two infrastructure investment issues: the stranded cost problem facing United States utility industries, which has given rise to claims of compensation for deregulatory takings; and the development of standards to protect direct foreign investment in developing countries. In both contexts, traditional legal doctrines do not adequately provide for the type of remedy sought so courts are in need of standards to assist them …

Assessing The New Judicial Minimalism, Christopher J. Peters

All Faculty Scholarship

In this article, which has been published in slightly revised form at 100 Colum. L. Rev. 1454 (2000), I critique some recently prominent arguments for "judicial minimalism" in constitutional decisionmaking. Current minimalist arguments, I contend, are primarily "policentric," that is, focused on the role the judiciary can play in bolstering the accountability and deliberativeness of the political branches. Drawing in part on a previous article, I offer an alternative approach to minimalism that is "juricentric" - focused on the inherent democratic legitimacy of the adjudicative process and the unique competence of that process to produce decisions about individual rights. I …

The Jurisprudence Of Tradition And Justice Scalia's Unwritten Constitution, J. Richard Broughton

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Suing States For Money: Constitutional Remedies After Alden And Florida Prepaid, Michael Wells

Scholarly Works

On June 23, 1999, the Supreme Court handed down three noteworthy decisions bearing on the law of constitutional remedies. Alden v. Maine struck down an attempt by Congress, acting under its Article I powers, to subject states to suits in state court on federal statutory grounds. Florida Prepaid Postsecondary Education Expense Board v. College Savings Bank curbed Congress' power under Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment to authorize suits against state governments on constitutional grounds, reasoning that a case cannot be made for the federal cause of action unless state law remedies are inadequate. A companion case, College Savings Bank …

The Case For Including Marks V. United States In The Canon Of Constitutional Law, Maxwell L. Stearns

Faculty Scholarship

In this essay, I would like to suggest adding a single case, with appropriate commentary, to the canon of constitutional law, as presented in introductory casebooks. Specifically, I suggest including Marks v. United States, as a principal case, or in the form of a detailed summary, immediately before or after the first major plurality decision. I should note that the case is rather short – nine pages in the U.S. Reports – and that it nominally involves obscenity doctrine. I would suggest, counterintuitively perhaps, that the case is more fruitfully presented toward the beginning of an introductory course in constitutional …

Government Of The Good, Abner S. Greene

Vanderbilt Law Review

Government "speaks" both directly through its own pronouncements and indirectly through funding private speech. Many scholars of both political theory and constitutional law have argued that government should not use its persuasive powers to promote contested notions of the good life. Whether the issue is providing information about childbirth without also providing information about abortion or insisting on adherence to decency standards when awarding cultural grants, scholars generally have maintained that government should avoid taking sides.

In this Article, Professor Greene supports the contrary position, advocating a vigorous role for government speech even in areas of great social contest. Government …

Vehicle Searches – The Automobile Exception: The Constitutional Ride From Carroll V. United States To Wyoming V. Houghton, Martin L. O'Connor

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

State Taxation Of Interstate Commuters: Constitutional Doctrine In Search Of Empirical Analysis, David Schultz

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Prosecution Of Christian Scientists: A Needed Protection For Children Or Insult Added To Injury, Daniel Vaillant

Cleveland State Law Review

A young child is dead. The death occurred because the parents refused to take their child to a doctor. Now, ordinarily, this refusal to obtain medical attention for a dying child would result in immediate indictments against the parents for involuntary manslaughter. But what if the parents are Christian Scientists? This question of whether Scientists should be treated differently because of their faith is a very controversial one in America today. If we allow the Scientists to practice their religion without government interference, children who could be medically treated and possibly saved may die. If, on the other hand, we …

Constitutional Design: An Oxymoron?, Donald L. Horowitz

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Law: Hutchins V. District Of Columbia: The Constitutional Dilemma Over Juvenile Curfews, William L. Foreman

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

Eleventh Amendment Schizophrenia, Carlos Manuel Vázquez

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This article argues that conflicting analytical strains run through the Supreme Court's recent majority opinions in the area of state sovereign immunity. The "supremacy" strain stresses that, despite the Eleventh Amendment, the states remain obligated to comply with federal law, and that the Constitution envisions the "necessary judicial means" to enforce these obligations against the state. These means include suits by the federal government, private suits for injunctive relief, and suits seeking damages from state officials in their individual capacities. Thus, according to the supremacy strain, state sovereign immunity is unimportant because it merely bars unnecessary means of enforcing the …

First Amendment Cases In The 1998-99 Term: The Calm Before The Storm, Joel M. Gora

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.