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Full-Text Articles in Courts

Socioeconomic Bias In The Judiciary , Michele Benedetto Neitz Jan 2013

Socioeconomic Bias In The Judiciary , Michele Benedetto Neitz

Cleveland State Law Review

Judges hold a prestigious place in our judicial system, and they earn double the income of the average American household. How does the privileged socioeconomic status of judges affect their decisions on the bench? This Article examines the ethical implications of what Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinski recently called the “unselfconscious cultural elitism” of judges.** This elitism can manifest as implicit socioeconomic bias. Despite the attention paid to income inequality, implicit bias research and judicial bias, no other scholar to date has fully examined the ramifications of implicit socioeconomic bias on the bench. The Article explains that socioeconomic bias …


Stare Decisis In The Inferior Courts Of The United States, Joseph Mead Jul 2012

Stare Decisis In The Inferior Courts Of The United States, Joseph Mead

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

While circuit courts are bound to fallow circuit precedent under "law of the circuit" the practice among federal district courts is more varied and uncertain, routinely involving little or no deference to their own precedent. I argue that the different hierarchical levels and institutional characteristics do not account for the differences in practices between circuit and district courts. Rather, district courts can and should adopt a "law of the district" similar to that of circuit courts. Through this narrow proposal, I explore the historical stare decisis practices in federal courts that are not Supreme.


Safeguarding The Safeguards: The Aca Litigation And The Extension Of Structural Protection To Non-Fundamental Liberties, Abigail R. Moncrieff May 2012

Safeguarding The Safeguards: The Aca Litigation And The Extension Of Structural Protection To Non-Fundamental Liberties, Abigail R. Moncrieff

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

As the lawsuits challenging the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) have evolved, one feature of the litigation has proven especially rankling to the legal academy: the courts' incorporation of substantive libertarian concerns into their structural federalism analyses. The breadth and depth of scholarly criticism is surprising, especially given that judges frequently choose indirect methods, including the structural and processbased methods at issue in the ACA litigation, for protecting substantive constitutional values. Indeed, indirect protection of constitutional liberties is a well-known and well-theorized strategy, which one scholar recently termed "semisubstantive review" and another theorized as "judicial manipulation of legislative …


The Ideological Divide: Conflict And The Supreme Court's Certiorari Decision , Emily Grant, Scott A. Hendrickson, Michael S. Lynch Jan 2012

The Ideological Divide: Conflict And The Supreme Court's Certiorari Decision , Emily Grant, Scott A. Hendrickson, Michael S. Lynch

Cleveland State Law Review

This Article bridges a gap in existing literature by evaluating, from an empirical perspective, the impact of conflict among the lower courts on the Supreme Court’s decision to grant or deny a petition for a writ of certiorari. Specifically, this Article looks at the political ideology of the lower courts involved in a split of authority on federal law and compares those positions to the political ideology of the Supreme Court itself. This Article concludes that the ideological content of lower court opinions in a conflict case impacts the Supreme Court’s certiorari decisions in a statistically significant way, and thus …


Demosprudence In Comparative Perspective, Brian E. Ray Jan 2011

Demosprudence In Comparative Perspective, Brian E. Ray

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

This article critically examines the debate over demosprudence. It adopts a comparative - specifically South African - perspective to consider what it means for a court to act demosprudentially and why the practice may have particular value in developing democracies like South Africa. Guinier connects demosprudence to the broader concept of democratic constitutionalism developed by Reva Siegel and Robert Post. Democratic constitutionalism in turn is part of what Jack Balkin describes as "a renaissance of liberal constitutional thought that has emerged in the last five years." This renaissance is characterized by three major themes: constitutional fidelity, democratic constitutionalism, and redemptive …


A Definite Claim On Claim Indefiniteness: An Empirical Study Of Definiteness Cases Of The Past Decade With A Focus On The Federal Circuit And The Insolubly Ambiguous Standard, Christa J. Laser Oct 2010

A Definite Claim On Claim Indefiniteness: An Empirical Study Of Definiteness Cases Of The Past Decade With A Focus On The Federal Circuit And The Insolubly Ambiguous Standard, Christa J. Laser

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

This empirical study of patent claim definiteness cases of the past decade makes several novel findings including: (1) slightly more than half of final Federal Circuit definiteness cases hold the asserted claims not indefinite; (2) the percentage of non-Federal Circuit definiteness cases holding claims not indefinite increased approximately 60 percentage points over the ten-year period focused on in this analysis;(3) the Federal Circuit more often held chemical claims not indefinite, but electrical claims indefinite; and (4) the Federal Circuit more often held claims with term clarity issues not indefinite, but claims with means-plus-function issues indefinite. These differences partially result from …


Engagement's Possibilities And Limits As A Socioeconomic Rights Remedy, Brian E. Ray Jan 2010

Engagement's Possibilities And Limits As A Socioeconomic Rights Remedy, Brian E. Ray

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

This Article first analyzes the Constitutional Court of South Africa's three engagement decisions. It then divides engagement into two different categories--litigation engagement and political engagement--and offers suggestions for transforming the process into a more effective remedy in each category. Drawing on the work of Charles Epp, this Article argues that political engagement, if structured correctly, offers the greatest potential as an effective mechanism for enforcing socioeconomic rights. Realization of that potential will require a sustained commitment by civil society organizations active in socioeconomic rights issues and a shift from using engagement as a litigation tactic to using it as a …


Residents Of Joe Slovo Community V Thubelisha Homes And Others: The Two Faces Of Engagement, Brian E. Ray Jan 2010

Residents Of Joe Slovo Community V Thubelisha Homes And Others: The Two Faces Of Engagement, Brian E. Ray

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

The Constitutional Court of South Africa's "engagement remedy," at its core, is a simple requirement that government consult with residents before evicting them, as engagement offers a creative and flexible tool for advocates of socio-economic rights to enforce these provisions through both political and legal channels. Absent adequate court oversight, engagement can easily turn into nothing more than a requirement that government inform residents of its redevelopment plans. The Constitutional Court in Joe Slovo recognised these two ‘faces' of engagement and strengthened the remedy by adding components that increase the transparency of the process and enhance court control. This note …


Extending The Shadow Of The Law: Using Hybrid Mechanisms To Establish Constitutional Norms In Socioeconomic Rights Cases, Brian E. Ray Jan 2009

Extending The Shadow Of The Law: Using Hybrid Mechanisms To Establish Constitutional Norms In Socioeconomic Rights Cases, Brian E. Ray

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

This Article challenges the general perception that ADR processes cannot develop public law norms. It follows a recent trend in ADR literature that seeks to define a public norm creation role for ADR in part by connecting these processes to other alternative legal and political problem-solving methods. This Article focuses on a recent South African Constitutional Court case, Occupiers of 51 Olivia Road v City of Johannesburg, in which the court interpreted the right to housing in the South African Constitution. The court held that municipalities must develop processes for negotiating - or, in the court's language "engaging" - with …


Policentrism, Political Moblization, And The Promise Of Socioeconomic Rights, Brian E. Ray Jan 2009

Policentrism, Political Moblization, And The Promise Of Socioeconomic Rights, Brian E. Ray

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

There is an active and heated debate over whether socioeconomic rights should be included in modern constitutions because of their supposed "positive" character and the difficult separation-of-powers and institutional-competence concerns such rights raise. The controversy over the nature of socioeconomic rights and whether constitutions should include them is connected to the issue of how to enforce these rights when they are included. The South African Constitutional Court is the leading example of a court dealing with these enforcement issues, and its early decisions have been hailed by many, including Mark Tushnet and Cass Sunstein, as developing a uniquely effective approach …


The Demise Of The Law-Finding Jury In America And The Birth Of American Legal Science: History And Its Challenge For Contemporary Society, Jonathon Lahn Jan 2009

The Demise Of The Law-Finding Jury In America And The Birth Of American Legal Science: History And Its Challenge For Contemporary Society, Jonathon Lahn

Cleveland State Law Review

This paper proceeds in two parts. The first part is devoted to an historical argument that juries in early American legal systems possessed a broad power to decide questions of law, which corresponded to a conception of the law as emerging from, and intimately bound up with, the experiences and beliefs of the members of a given community--a power that was taken from them in a relatively short period of time due to a variety of social pressures, none of which would have been sufficient to cause the change absent the emergence of a new ideology of law as an …


Reincarnating The “Major Questions” Exception To Chevron Deference As A Doctrine Of Non-Interference (Or Why Massachusetts V. Epa Got It Wrong), Abigail R. Moncrieff Jul 2008

Reincarnating The “Major Questions” Exception To Chevron Deference As A Doctrine Of Non-Interference (Or Why Massachusetts V. Epa Got It Wrong), Abigail R. Moncrieff

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

This Article proceeds as follows. Part I describes the birth of the major questions exception in MCI and Brown & Williamson and the death of the exception in Massachusetts. Part II identifies the three forms of the major questions rule that the Court and the literature have proposed to date and rejects all three, concluding that the rule ought not to be reincarnated if it cannot also be reformed. Part III proposes the noninterference form of the Chevron exception, demonstrating its foundations in the history of the major questions cases and demonstrating its similarities to other noninterference rules. Part IV …


Responding To Foreclosures In Cuyahoga County: A Pilot Initiative, Interim Report, Alan C. Weinstein, Kathryn W. Hexter, Molly Schnoke May 2008

Responding To Foreclosures In Cuyahoga County: A Pilot Initiative, Interim Report, Alan C. Weinstein, Kathryn W. Hexter, Molly Schnoke

Law Faculty Reports and Comments

The Center for Civic Education and the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law released their report, on May 12, 2008. The report, prepared for the Cuyahoga County Board of Commissioners, is an assessment of the County's comprehensive approach to addressing foreclosures on two levels: 1) Making foreclosure proceedings faster and fairer and 2) Creating an early intervention program to help residents prevent foreclosure.


Slavery, Federalism, And The Constitution: Ableman V. Booth And The Struggle Over Fugitive Slaves , Earl M. Maltz Jan 2008

Slavery, Federalism, And The Constitution: Ableman V. Booth And The Struggle Over Fugitive Slaves , Earl M. Maltz

Cleveland State Law Review

The Article will discuss and analyze the forces that shaped Ableman v. Booth, one of the most dramatic confrontations in the long-running dispute over fugitive slaves, the Supreme Court's disposition of the case, and the aftermath of the decision. The Article will begin by describing the state of the dispute over fugitive slaves in the mid-1850s. The Article will then recount the events that brought Ableman to the Supreme Court and analyze the Court's opinion. Finally, the Article will discuss the aftermath and significance of the dispute.


Responding To Foreclosures In Cuyahoga County: An Assessment Of Progress, Alan C. Weinstein, Kathryn W. Hexter, Molly Schnoke Nov 2006

Responding To Foreclosures In Cuyahoga County: An Assessment Of Progress, Alan C. Weinstein, Kathryn W. Hexter, Molly Schnoke

Law Faculty Reports and Comments

In August 2006, Cleveland State University was asked to conduct an initial assessment of the Cuyahoga County Commissioners' Report and Recommendations on Foreclosure that would assist the county in planning for future phases of the project. This report presents the findings of this initial assessment of the first 18 months of the initiative. It documents the process undertaken by the county, assesses the progress made toward reaching goals, identifies successes and concerns, and offers some preliminary recommendations about program operations. It also offers suggestions for a more formal evaluation process going forward


Payments To Medicaid Doctors: Interpreting The “Equal Access” Provision, Abigail R. Moncrieff Apr 2006

Payments To Medicaid Doctors: Interpreting The “Equal Access” Provision, Abigail R. Moncrieff

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

This Comment analyzes the circuit split that has arisen as courts have confronted challenges to Medicaid payments. Part I provides background on the Medicaid program and the circuit split, and it identifies and explicates two competing rules for measuring adequacy of Medicaid payments: the Fifth and Seventh circuits' "access metric" and the Ninth Circuit's "cost metric." Parts II and III identify problems with these two rules, and criticizes them as inconsistent with the statute's text, purpose, and intent. Part IV proposes a new rule, an "MCO metric," and explains why that rule is the best interpretation of Medicaid's reimbursement provision.


Goodbye To Affidavits - Improving The Federal Affidavit Substitute Statute, Ira Shiflett Jan 2006

Goodbye To Affidavits - Improving The Federal Affidavit Substitute Statute, Ira Shiflett

Cleveland State Law Review

Thirty years ago, Congress recognized that the costs of notarization generally outweighed the benefits. In 1976, Congress enacted 28 U.S.C. § 1746, intending to limit the circumstances in which a notary would be required. Section 1746 provides that whenever a document is required to be supported by a notarized statement other than a deposition, an oath of office, or an oath required to be taken before an official other than a notary, a declaration under penalty of perjury is a sufficient substitute. Congress recognized that it could be inconvenient to find a notary, especially on the weekends or for people …


Squeezing Subjectivity From The Doctrine Of Unconscionability, Paul Bennett Marrow Jan 2005

Squeezing Subjectivity From The Doctrine Of Unconscionability, Paul Bennett Marrow

Cleveland State Law Review

Issues of unconscionability are most often encountered in two arenas: commercial agreements and family law agreements. In the first arena this Article proposes that the analysis should focus on the impact of a suspect term on the integrity of the contracting system or to an enabling statute. If a contract term materially undermines or compromises the integrity of the system for contracting or the integrity of an enabling statute, it should be found unconscionable. In the family law arena things differ because of the substance of the relationships involved and because the need for mutual consideration is de-emphasized. Accordingly, in …


Re-Mapping Equal Protection Jurisprudence: A Legal Geography Of Race And Affirmative Action,, Reginald Oh Aug 2004

Re-Mapping Equal Protection Jurisprudence: A Legal Geography Of Race And Affirmative Action,, Reginald Oh

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Oh argues that when the United States Supreme Court decided Richmond v. Croson in 1989 and imposed strict scrutiny on state and local government affirmative action programs, it marked a critical moment and turning point in the evolution and development of public and legal discourse on race, racism, and race relations in America. Although many scholars have critically examined the Croson opinion, curiously, scholars have yet to recognize its full ramifications and implications. Aside from the technical doctrinal changes made to equal protection law, the Croson decision is also important because of the way the Court produced and mapped a …


A Critical Linguistic Analysis Of Equal Protection Doctrine: Are Whites A Suspect Class, Reginald Oh Apr 2004

A Critical Linguistic Analysis Of Equal Protection Doctrine: Are Whites A Suspect Class, Reginald Oh

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

This Article contends that the linguistic structure of equal protection doctrine has played a major role in shaping and influencing its evolution and development. To show how linguistic structure shapes substantive legal discourse, this Article will examine a fundamental question that deals with equal protection law: when should the Court subject a law to heightened judicial scrutiny? Typically, when dealing with equal protection challenges to governmental action, the Court will generally defer to legislative judgment, presume the constitutionality of the legislation, and uphold the statute. However, under some circumstances, the Court will remove the presumption of constitutionality and subject certain …


Supreme Court Watch, Reginald Oh Jan 2004

Supreme Court Watch, Reginald Oh

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Discusses the Supreme Court decision Lawrence v. Texas, 123 S. Ct. 24 72 (2003). Writing for the majority, Justice Anthony Kennedy held that the Texas anti-sodomy statute, by criminalizing adult consensual sexual conduct, violated the petitioners' vital interests in liberty and privacy as protected by the substantive due process doctrine under the Fourteenth Amendment.


Appellate Jurisdiction In Ohio Over Final Appealable Orders , Gary L. Garrison Jan 2003

Appellate Jurisdiction In Ohio Over Final Appealable Orders , Gary L. Garrison

Cleveland State Law Review

This article focuses on the rules for determining finality and appealability of judgments under section 2505.02 and Ohio R. Civ. P. 54(B). To that end, this article addresses not only the various categories of "final orders" but also the procedural mechanisms by which interlocutory appeals are taken from judgments on one part of a case while the rest of the case remains pending. The objective of this article is two-fold. First and foremost, it provides a resource and guide to appellate practitioners and trial court judges for understanding the "final order rule" and for navigating its various provisions in the …


Merging Technology With Justice: How Electronic Courtrooms Shape Evidentiary Concerns, Nicole J. De Sario Jan 2002

Merging Technology With Justice: How Electronic Courtrooms Shape Evidentiary Concerns, Nicole J. De Sario

Cleveland State Law Review

This Note will explore the evidentiary issues raised by the Electronic Courtroom, state how they are presently handled, and highlight the need for the adaptation of the Rules to allow for the smooth integration of such technology into the courtroom. Part I explains why the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts began funding Electronic Courtrooms and how they have grown in numbers. Part II gives details about the type of equipment typically employed in the Electronic Courtroom, using Courtroom 575 as a case study. The observable impacts of technology on a trial also will be noted. Part III contains an …


Introduction, Toward More Reliable Jury Verdicts?: Law, Technology And Media Developments Since The Trials Of Dr. Sam Sheppard, Patricia J. Falk Jan 2001

Introduction, Toward More Reliable Jury Verdicts?: Law, Technology And Media Developments Since The Trials Of Dr. Sam Sheppard, Patricia J. Falk

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

As the Ohio Supreme Court noted almost one-half century ago, the Sheppard case had it all—“Murder, mystery, society, sex[,] and suspense were combined in this case in such a manner as to intrigue and captivate the public fancy to a degree perhaps unparalleled in recent annals.” But apart from the tantalizingly lurid details of the murder of Marilyn Sheppard and the curious way the case became a national cause celebre, the Sheppard case is of historical significance and academic interest because of the many important and ground-breaking aspects of the case. In actuality, there have been three (and perhaps four) …


The Shore Line Status Quo Requirement, Daniel R. Elliott Iii Jan 1998

The Shore Line Status Quo Requirement, Daniel R. Elliott Iii

Cleveland State Law Review

This article examines the Supreme Court’s 1969 decision in Detroit & Toledo Shore Line Railroad v. United Transportation Union. It discusses the decisions following 1969 that weakened the Shore Line holding and thus undermined one of the principal purposes behind the Railway Labor Act. Part I lays out the background of the Railway Labor Act status quo requirements. Part II delves into the Shore Line decision. Part III explains the effect subsequent status quo decisions have had on the Shore Line holding. Part IV discusses related case law that also impacted the Shore Line holding. And finally, Part V points …


Right To Talk: Has Justice Antonin Scalia Compromised His Objectivity With A Public Remark?, Lloyd B. Snyder Jan 1997

Right To Talk: Has Justice Antonin Scalia Compromised His Objectivity With A Public Remark?, Lloyd B. Snyder

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

With two assisted suicide cases scheduled for argument before the Supreme Court this term, Justice Antonin Scalia already has publicly staked out his position on the issue. While sentiments he expressed in 1990 in Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health, 497 U.S. 261, are well-known, Scalia told an audience at Catholic University late last year that it is "absolutely plain there is no [constitutional] right to die." Is it proper for sitting judges to make such statements? While no one would deny Scalia his First Amendment right to say what he pleases, that hardly quells concerns about the advisability …


Centralized Wisdom - Derolph V. State And The Rise Of Judicial Paternalism, Joseph P. Rodgers, John F. Rodgers Jan 1997

Centralized Wisdom - Derolph V. State And The Rise Of Judicial Paternalism, Joseph P. Rodgers, John F. Rodgers

Cleveland State Law Review

This Comment critically evaluates DeRolph v. State and asserts that the supreme court's decision is dangerous precedent, inasmuch as it dispirits the sacrosanct role a legislature assumes in a democratic society and overtly legitimizes judicial policymaking. This Comment suggests the court's vision of a thorough and efficient school system, via more economic parity, ultimately undermines the General Assembly of the State and will not extricate Ohio schools. Part II explores the current system of financing public schools in the State of Ohio. This section will not delve into the minutia that have come to define school finance, but will instead …


Please Senator, I Want Some More: The General Assembly Gets An F Form The Derolph Court , Ronald M. Mcmillan Jan 1997

Please Senator, I Want Some More: The General Assembly Gets An F Form The Derolph Court , Ronald M. Mcmillan

Cleveland State Law Review

On March 24, 1997, the Ohio Supreme Court took an important stand against the impoverishment of our state's schools. In DeRolph v. State, the court ruled that a state school funding system violates state constitutional provisions because the state school funding system fails to meet the constitutional mandate to provide a "thorough and efficient" system of public schools. Part II of this Comment will describe the procedural history of the DeRolph matter. Part III will discuss the majority opinion and its rulings on the justiciability of the matter, the inadequacies of Ohio's school funding system, and the history of the …


Noam Chomsky And Judicial Review, James G. Wilson Jan 1996

Noam Chomsky And Judicial Review, James G. Wilson

Cleveland State Law Review

This Commentary will consider four authorities who are hardly considered standard-bearers of the Left: Aristotle, Edmund Burke, James Madison, and Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes. Insights from Aristotle, Burke, Madison, Holmes, and Chomsky will be combined into following set of propositions: (1) the Supreme Court has a constitutional and historical obligation to resist tyranny and other forms of constitutional perversion and factionalism; (2) the Supreme Court has a unique duty and capacity to combat abuses of private power; (3) private corporations and the well-to-do have gained so much power that they have become a dangerous faction that is turning our government …


The Judge As Political Candidate, Hans A. Linde Jan 1992

The Judge As Political Candidate, Hans A. Linde

Cleveland State Law Review

Judges are expected to satisfy two conflicting ideals. First, they are to follow the law without fear or favor, regardless of personal sympathies and preferences, to "adjudicate" rather than to "legislate." Second, they are to reach results that are preferred by or at least acceptable to their communities. The first ideal requires judicial independence and job security. Elective judgeships are sometimes defended as serving the second. We have gone through a third public examination of a Supreme Court nominee in which the Senate and the public considered it important to question the nominee about his views of the major issues …