Constitutional Law Commons^™

Legislative Ethics: Improper Influence By A Lawmaker On An Administrative Agency, Mark W. Lawrence

Maine Law Review

Moral and ethical dilemmas are inherent in the legislative process. Representative democracy raises a fundamental ethical conflict for lawmakers: choosing between representing constituent views or following personal convictions. Recent moral crises of elected officials have demonstrated the complex, diverse, and problematic nature of political ethics, yet the belief that these guardians of the public trust must successfully distinguish among the subtle distinctions of political ethics remains an integral tenet of American political thought. One of the most perplexing moral dilemmas a legislator faces is deciding what degree of influence can be exerted on an administrative agency to obtain a result …

Solicitation By Lawyers: Piercing The First Amendment Veil, Louise L. Hill

Maine Law Review

Historically, the legal profession has considered the solicitation of business inappropriate. The profession has articulated this condemnation of solicitation, which developed as a principle of good taste among a small and homogeneous group of practitioners, in the form of specific rules prohibiting its members from engaging in certain forms of conduct. In recent years, the United States Supreme Court has considered various rules that restrict the commercial speech of lawyers. Reviewing these proscriptive rules, the Court struck down categorical bans on lawyer advertising and targeted, direct mail solicitation as violative of the first amendment. Because the free flow of information …

The Child Witness In Sexual Abuse Cases In Maine: Presentation, Impeachment, And Controversy, Kermit V. Lipez

Maine Law Review

In any sexual abuse trial, the entry of the child into the courtroom is a dramatic moment. The large door to the courtroom opens. A small child enters, accompanied by a victim advocate who walks with the child toward the witness stand. At the end of the public seats, the child is turned over to a court officer who escorts the child to the witness stand. In the typically high-ceilinged, expansive courtroom where we conduct our jury trials, the small child looks even smaller. Some children slouch in the witness chair, as if they were trying to hide. The jurors …

The Problem With Direct Collateral Review, Jaden M. Lessnick

Pepperdine Law Review

Federal habeas review of state convictions is sharply circumscribed for a reason: Granting the writ of habeas corpus disrupts the federalism and finality interests that lie at the heart of state sovereignty over criminal law. Both the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) and the Supreme Court’s equitable bars to relief reflect the structural dangers inherent in collateral review of state convictions. Given the increasing unavailability of federal habeas relief, state prisoners have turned to another vehicle for collateral federal review, one that bypasses AEDPA’s demanding standard: direct review of state post-conviction proceedings. And regrettably, the Court has entertained …

A Government Of The People: Popular Engagement In U.S. Constitutional Democracy, Floersheimer Center For Constitutional Democracy

2024–2025 Flyers

No abstract provided.

A Government Of The People: Popular Engagement In U.S. Constitutional Democracy, Floersheimer Center For Constitutional Democracy, Wilfred U. Codrington Iii

2024 Event Invitations

Please join us for a fascinating discussion about the place and power of the people in constitutional practice and government design, including critical areas that feature prominently in today’s public conversation in light of recent Supreme Court terms and the upcoming election.

This event will feature three panelists—Alicia Bannon (Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law), Corey Brettschneider (Brown University and Fordham Law School) and Joshua Douglas (University of Kentucky J. David Rosenberg College of Law), the latter two of whom have recently published books that center the people in core matters of political decision making—in conversation with …

Lgbtqia2s+ Inclusive Language (Handout), Elizabeth Banks

Justice Festival at Morehead State University

A handout for the presentation, titled "LGBTQIA2S+ Inclusive Language," given by Elizabeth Banks at the Justice Festival held on the campus of Morehead State University on October 8, 2024.

Lgbtqia2s+ Inclusive Language, Elizabeth Banks

Justice Festival at Morehead State University

A PowerPoint presentation, titled "LGBTQIA2S+ Inclusive Language," given by Elizabeth Banks at the Justice Festival held on the campus of Morehead State University on October 8, 2024.

De-Normalizing Violence: The Bystander Intervention Solution, Megan Rookard, Tabitha Riffe, Becky Davison

Justice Festival at Morehead State University

A PowerPoint presentation, titled "De-Normalizing Violence: The Bystander Intervention Solution," given by Megan Rookard, Tabitha Riffe, and Becky Davison at the Justice Festival held on the campus of Morehead State University on October 8, 2024.

Challenging Gender Stereotypes: Addressing Misconceptions In Women's Sports, Angel Daugherty, Steve Chen

Justice Festival at Morehead State University

A PowerPoint presentation, titled "Challenging Gender Stereotypes: Addressing Misconceptions in Women's Sports," given by Angel Daugherty and Steve Chen at the Justice Festival held on the campus of Morehead State University on October 8, 2024.

Transition Living Program (Tlp), Kaleb Crenshaw, Monica Himes

Justice Festival at Morehead State University

A PowerPoint presentation, titled "Transitional Living Program (TLP)," given by Kaleb Crenshaw and Monica Himes at the Justice Festival held on the campus of Morehead State University on October 8, 2024.

The Impact Of Gender Stereotypes On The Educational Well-Being Of Women, Katty Ann Taylor, Olivia Stepp, Mikaela Warford, Lynn Guerin

Justice Festival at Morehead State University

A PowerPoint presentation, titled "The Impact of Gender Stereotypes on the Educational Well-Being of Women," given by Katty Ann Taylor, Olivia Stepp, Mikaela Warford, and Lynn Guerin at the Justice Festival held on the campus of Morehead State University on October 8, 2024.

The Social Justice Of Archaeology, Saylor Fortner

Justice Festival at Morehead State University

A PowerPoint presentation, titled "The Social Justice of Archaeology," given by Saylor Fortner at the Justice Festival held on the campus of Morehead State University on October 8, 2024.

Utopia Exercise Interactive Workshop, Bernadette Barton

Justice Festival at Morehead State University

A PowerPoint presentation, titled "Utopia Exercise Interactive Workshop," given by Bernadette Barton at the Justice Festival held on the campus of Morehead State University on October 8, 2024.

2024 Annual Justice Festival Program, Caudill College Of Arts, Humanities, And Social Sciences

Justice Festival at Morehead State University

The program for the 4th Annual Justice Festival held on October 8, 2023 on the campus of Morehead State University.

Emotional Well Being & Academic Rigor In The Undergraduate Classroom, Katie Goldey

Justice Festival at Morehead State University

A PowerPoint presentation, titled "Emotional Well Being & Academic Rigor in the Undergraduate Classroom," given by Katie Goldey at the Justice Festival held on the campus of Morehead State University on October 8, 2024.

Poverty And Neglect In Child Welfare Law, Laken Albrink, Cameron M. Stamper

Justice Festival at Morehead State University

A PowerPoint presentation, titled "Poverty and Neglect in Child Welfare Law," given by Laken Albrink and Cameron M. Stamper at the Justice Festival held on the campus of Morehead State University on October 8, 2024.

Cy Pres Silliness: Remedies That Do Not Remediate The Harm, Phil Pillari

Northwestern University Law Review

Class actions play an important role in civil litigation, but they suffer from a serious problem. No matter how many plaintiffs are in the class, the individual claims are often miniscule, which can make distributing the inevitable settlement futile. Very few people make a claim, and it often costs more to mail the check than the check is worth. To solve this problem, Steven Shepherd proposed importing the cy pres doctrine (a trusts and estates device that allows courts to rewrite an unenforceable trust) into the class actions context. Shepherd’s framework instructs courts to devise the next best alternative for …

Judicial Preferences And Aggrandizement Effects, Jason Marisam

ConLawNOW

Scholars increasingly portray the Supreme Court as power hungry and self-aggrandizing. This aggrandizement literature, though, lacks a robust causal theory. This essay argues that judicial aggrandizement is not the product of a power-maximizing agenda but a function of judicial preferences and legal background conditions. Aggrandizement occurs in cases where legal background conditions do not align with judicial policy preferences and the justices assert power to create their preferred policy outcomes. This theory has significant prescriptive and normative implications. For example, counterintuitively, this essay shows that more judicial aggrandizement could be a sign of a healthier institution under some conditions.

Rethinking The Fundamentals: Applying The Evolving Standards Of Decency Test To The Court’S Evaluation Of Fundamental Rights., Nick Wolfram

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

In 1910, the Supreme Court recognized in Weems v. United States that a constitution “must be capable of wider application than the mischief which gave it birth.” This principle led to the creation of the Court’s two-pronged “evolving standards of decency,” test: (1) evidence of an objective indicia of a national consensus, and (2) the reviewing court’s own independent judgment. To this day the Court has yet to apply this test outside of the Eighth Amendment context. But can the “evolving standards of decency,” test identify and protect other fundamental rights? This Article explores how the Court could apply the …

The Constitutional Right To Peremptory Challenges In Jury Selection, Richard Lorren Jolly

Vanderbilt Law Review

The peremptory challenge is one of the oldest and most well-established jury selection procedures. Its use dates back to the earliest days of English common law, and it was a firmly established and protected practice at the United States’ founding and into the early twentieth century. But while peremptory challenges are foundational, they remain perhaps the most controversial aspect of jury selection today. This is because they are regularly used by the government and private parties to advance racist, sexist, and bigoted ends. For this reason, over the last three decades, calls to abolish the practice have been regularly made …

The Process Before The Promise: Ensuring Indigenous Recognition From The Chilean Constitution, Michaela Mazzeo

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

Part I of this Note provides a background and overview of the relatively recent surge in the constitutionalization of indigenous rights and recognition in Latin America, and the state of constitutional reform in Chile. Part II lays out a theoretical understanding of the powers of a constitution as a mechanism for societal reformation and as a platform for bringing legal claims, as played out in Brazil and Bolivia. Part III demonstrates the ways in which practical manifestation of that theoretical power stops short. More specifically, both intentional and incidental barriers dampen the effectiveness of the constitutional mechanism for ensuring indigenous …

Masthead

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

No abstract provided.

Editor-In-Chief’S Foreword, Megan Stupi

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

No abstract provided.

The Ninth Circuit’S Rfra Standard Of “Substantial Burden” As Applied To Native American Sacred Sites, Erik Renner

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

This paper focuses on the Ninth Circuit’s understanding of the “substantial burden” standard under RFRA as it is applied to Native American sacred site cases. This paper looks at the old Ninth Circuit’s standard as set out in Navajo Nation, and its new standard as set out in Apache Stronghold. By understanding how the courts, specifically the Ninth Circuit, have limited their definition of the “substantial burden” under RFRA in sacred site cases, this paper will argue that the standard should be expanded to include “preventing religious exercise.” This expansion of what is a “substantial burden” under RFRA will better …

How To Impeach A Verdict: A Response To Melanie C. Regis, Cynara Hermes Mcquillan

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Popularity Contest: Is An Independent Judiciary Compatible With Popular Constitutionalism?, Lulu S. Faulk

Indiana Law Journal

Can the theory of popular constitutionalism—where the people have authority to shape constitutional law—exist alongside judicial independence? On the surface, these two ideas seem like contestants in a popularity contest: Popular constitutionalism embraces the will of the people in defining constitutional law, while judicial independence insists that judges disregard any and all external pressure in an effort to uphold the tenets of the Constitution even when they are unpopular. The contrast of these competing ideas is all the more evident with recent Supreme Court decisions such as Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, demonstrating a deviation from majority opinion in …

Table Of Contents - Cardozo Journal Of Equal Rights & Social Justice, Vol. 31, Iss. 1

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

No abstract provided.

The Obvious Violation Exception To Qualified Immunity: An Empirical Study, Bailey D. Barnes

Washington Law Review

Qualified immunity shields government officials from civil suits for discretionary actions, as long as the violated right is not clearly established. A right is deemed established when every reasonable official would understand it based on precedent, placing it beyond debate, such that only the plainly incompetent may be held liable. Consequently, even when an act infringes on one’s civil rights, a court may deny relief owing to a lack of factually comparable precedent. However, in 2020, the Supreme Court indicated its distrust for overreliance on precedent in certain contexts. In Taylor v. Riojas, the Court held that prison officials …

Transportation Racism And State-Created Danger: A Civil Rights Litigation Strategy For Pedestrians Harmed By Traffic Violence, Riley Freedman

Washington Law Review

Pedestrian fatality rates in the United States are markedly high compared to peer nations and are on the rise. The distribution of these deaths shows an alarming racial gap: Black pedestrians are twice as likely to be killed compared to white pedestrians. One significant factor that explains the disparity is the greater presence of wide, high-speed roads—built to move traffic quickly at the expense of pedestrian safety—in Black neighborhoods. In some cases, there is evidence that governments intentionally placed roads through and around Black neighborhoods for racially discriminatory reasons.

This Comment argues that a pedestrian harmed or killed by a …