Other Law Commons^™

Direct Democracy Is Not Republican Government, Steven William Marlowe

Seattle University Law Review

This Article will initially explain the examples of direct democracy in the states of Washington and Oregon. It will then analyze the United States Constitution's Guarantee Clause. Finally, this Article will argue that state initiative and referendum provisions are inconsistent with a republican form of government and that laws passed through the use of this process are unconstitutional.

History, Legal Scholarship, And Latcrit Theory: The Case Of Racial Transformations Circa The Spanish American War, 1896-1900, Sylvia R. Lazos

Scholarly Works

The period from 1896 to 1900, the period prior to, during, and immediately following the Spanish American War, which became known to Americans as the “splendid little war,” was a momentous time. An in-depth study of this five-year period--the events leading to the Spanish American War, the War itself and its aftermath--yields a rich and deep understanding of themes at the core of LatCrit theory. This is a key turning point in racial formation of Latino/as, American foreign policy, and American democracy. The U.S. abandoned its isolationist stance, and awkwardly embraced its “duty and obligation” as a “benevolent” world power. …

The Fate Of The Native Hawaiians: The Special Relationship Doctrine, The Problem Of Strict Scrutiny, And Other Issues Raised By Rice V. Cayetano, William E. Spruill

University of Richmond Law Review

Harold "Freddy" Rice is a Native Hawaiian in the sense that he was born in the Hawaiian Islands and can "trace[ ] his ancestry to two members of the legislature of the Kingdom of Hawaii, prior to the Revolution of 1893. " He is a taxpayer and a qualified elector of the United States, the State of Hawaii, and the County of Hawaii. When Rice applied to vote in the 1996 election for the trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs ("OHA"), however, his application was denied. Why? Because, according to a state statute, he was not Hawaiian enough.

Initiatives—Enemy Of The Republic, Brewster C. Denny

Seattle University Law Review

The Seattle University Law Review's Symposium on the initiative process in Washington State addresses an issue of both transcendent importance to the health of the Republic and immediate challenge to the welfare of the children of this state. This discussion could not be more timely, and not just locally. Here's why. Devolution, tax cuts for the rich and the super rich, welfare reform, and a more conservative, market-oriented philosophy of government lay on the states and low income parents and children the burden of meeting the most critical needs of children-from prenatal care through college. With twenty percent of our …

A Symposium Précis, Thomas E. Baker

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

W. E. B. Du Bois Fbi Files (Foia), William E.B. Du Bois

United States Department of Justice: Publications

Covers period 1942-1960.

William Edward Burghardt "W. E. B." Du Bois was an American sociologist, historian, civil rights activist, Pan-Africanist, author, writer and editor.

PDF file is 530 pages.

Judicial Review Of Initiatives And Referendums In Which Majorities Vote On Minorities’ Citizenship, Sylvia R. Lazos

Scholarly Works

In this Article, Professor Lazos examines initiatives and referendums in which a majority is in a position to vote on the content of a minority's democratic civic standing. Case law fails to set forth a single test for judicial review; consequently, doctrinal and theoretical coherence in this area is nonexistent. Professor Lazos proposes a test that takes into account social dynamics and focuses on the impact of these measures. First, she examines outcomes over the last three decades of approximately eighty such initiatives and referendums, from the anti-integration movement of the sixties to today's ideological and cultural versions, such as …

Democracy And Inclusion: The Role Of The Judge In A Pluralist Polity, Sylvia R. Lazos

Scholarly Works

The Supreme Court plays a critical role in resolving clashes between majority and minority interests and perspectives. The Equal Protection Clause, and at times the Due Process Clause, have become key vehicles for considering the most problematic intergroup conflicts that divide our society. Prior to this article, the Court heard cases dealing with affirmative action in government procurement programs, legislative districts designed to increase minority representation, state sponsored male-only military schooling, and a state constitutional amendment that would have proscribed antidiscrimination legislation protecting gay men and lesbians. While the Court declined to challenge California's anti-affirmative action referendum (Proposition 209) and …

Identification Of The Unknown Soldier And The Fight For The Right To Anonymity: The Human Genome Project And Implications Of A National Dna Database, Kelly S. Erbes

Cleveland State Law Review

The focus of this writing is the use of DNA for identification purposes and the issues that arise when genetic traits and/or predisposition to physical or mental conditions are linked to the individual specifically, along with the implications of a national DNA database as a system of identification. It has become the general rule that it is not an unreasonable invasion of privacy to take DNA for the purpose of identifying criminal offenders through a DNA database. This writing will examine the potential for nonconsensual inclusion of nearly everyone into such a system, as well as the ramifications in the …

Reevaluating Substantive Due Process As A Source Of Protection For Psychiatric Patients To Refuse Drugs, William M. Brooks

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Race, Angst And Capital Punishment: The Burger Court's Existential Struggle, Katherine R. Kruse

Scholarly Works

This article chronicles the Burger Court's inability to fashion a suitable remedy for racism in the discretionary system of capital sentencing. The article discusses the Court's initial response, “remedial paralysis,” which is evident, not only in McGautha v. California, where the Court refused to find that the Due Process Clause was violated by standardless death sentencing, but also in Furman v. Georgia, where the Court decided to abolish the death penalty. The article further explores the Court's reinstatement of the death penalty, and two of the Court's forays into “bad faith” denial that sustained the death penalty, particularly the Court's …

Deconstructing Homo[Genous] Americanus: The White Ethnic Immigrant Narrative And Its Exclusionary Effect, Sylvia R. Lazos

Scholarly Works

This Article examines why the assumption of sameness is so pervasive in our society, and why the very idea of diversity is so resisted. The assumption and the corollary mandate to be the same are embedded in American cultural ideology, in how Americans think of themselves, in the stories that we tell regarding who we are and where we come from, in how we construct our values and norms, and in how Americans make sense of our chaotic social world. The assumption and mandate of sameness not only influence American culture, they also guide judges' thinking and decision-making in key …

Tort Law (Symposium: The Supreme Court And State And Local Government Law: The 1996-97 Term), Leon D. Lazer

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

The Term Limits Case, Bennett L. Gershman

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Florida's Property Rights Act: A Political Quick Fix Results In A Mixed Bag Of Tricks, Sylvia R. Lazos

Scholarly Works

This Article discusses Florida’s 1995 Property Rights Act, which grants to private property owners an alternative cause of action, outside of takings law, when they are permanently denied reasonable use of their land by regulatory actions. The Act also grants alternative procedures for property owners, outside of the judicial and administrative process. Thus, the Act does not change Florida takings law nor does it alter the substance of Florida's sometimes controversial growth management laws.

This article reviews the political climate that made passage of the Act possible and places the property rights initiative in the historical context of populist politics. …

Medical Concerns About Physician-Assisted Suicide, Peter M. Mcgough, M.D.

Seattle University Law Review

The November 8, 1994 passage of Oregon's Measure 16, which permits physicians to comply with the request of a competent adult patient with less than six months to live for a prescription for lethal drugs, has intensified the debate over the legalization of physician-assisted suicide following the defeats of similar initiatives in Washington and California. Subsequent legal challenge to Measure 16 and the present preliminary injunction3 has shown that passage and popularity of a public initiative does not ensure its legality. The issue of physician-assisted suicide is most likely headed for the United States Supreme Court. This Article is intended, …

Physician Involvement In Life-Ending Practices, Thomas A. Preston

Seattle University Law Review

This Article explains that we need to acknowledge physicians' widespread involvement in ending patients' lives by a variety of means, from withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment to euthanasia. Our inquiry should move from appearance and professional acceptance of practices to the conditions under which society allows physicians to be involved in ending patients' lives.

Seeking Compassion In Dying: The Washington State Law Against Assisted Suicide, Edward J. Larson

Seattle University Law Review

From a constitutional standpoint, the decision by Judge Rothstein is more significant than the Oregon initiative because her reasoning calls into question statutes against assisted suicide that are currently in effect in most American states and are part of traditional Anglo-American law. Her ruling goes far beyond the Oregon initiative (now the Death With Dignity Act), which created a narrow statutory exception in the law against assisted suicide. It establishes a broad, new constitutional right that will restrict legislative efforts to address this controversial social issue. The decision was unprecedented; no prior court had limited a state's authority to outlaw …

Reconstructing The Bill Of Rights: A Reply To Amar And Marcus's Triple Play On Double Jeopardy, Susan Herman

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Practical Implications For Health Care Providers In A Physician-Assisted Suicide Environment, Donald E. Spencer, Ed.D.

Seattle University Law Review

In this Article, I present key practical implications that the attorney and health care providers need to consider. I also present implications for public policy. I do not take a stand in the Article for or against physician-assisted suicide, either morally, ethically, or legally. Other articles in this Review and numerous other professional publications do. Instead, this Article begins the discussion of procedures for health care providers in an environment of legal physician-assisted suicide. An attorney who advises legal review of proposed procedures for handling physician-assisted suicide requests will serve the health care provider well. The procedures must meet the …

Exposing Some Myths About Physician-Assisted Suicide, Giles R. Scofield

Seattle University Law Review

From my perspective, the fuss about physician-assisted suicide is about as important as re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Given the current state of our health care system, which remains in a state of crisis regardless—and perhaps because of—what did not happen last year, the legalization of physician-assisted suicide is morally essential only to those who are indifferent to the health care needs and concerns of most Americans. You now know that I do have something to say about this issue. Instead of engaging in the debate, however, I intend to engage the debate. By that, I mean that …

Physician Aid In Dying: A Humane Option, A Constitutionally Protected Choice, Kathryn L. Tucker, David J. Burman

Seattle University Law Review

This Article presents the argument that the Fourteenth Amendment protects the individual decision to hasten death with physician-prescribed medication and that statutes prohibiting physician-assisted suicide deny equal protection, guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment, to competent, terminally-ill adults who are not on life support.

Double Jeopardy All Over Again: Dual Sovereignty, Rodney King, And The Aclu, Susan Herman

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Tail That Wagged The Dog: Bifurcated Factfinding Under The Federal Sentencing Guidelines And The Limits Of Due Process, Susan Herman

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Immunity From Regulatory Price Squeeze Claims: From Keogh, Parker, And Noerr To Town Of Concord And Beyond, Keith A. Rowley

Scholarly Works

On September 21, 1990, the First Circuit handed down its decision in Town of Concord, Massachusetts v. Boston Edison Co. This case, the most recent in a growing line of court of appeals decisions examining the antitrust implications of public utility rate structures, represents the first time a United States court of appeals has unequivocally stated that an antitrust action based upon a “price squeeze” could not be maintained against a utility whose wholesale and retail rates were both fully regulated. Town of Concord notwithstanding, the courts are far from agreeing whether investor-owned electric or natural gas utilities are immune …

Beyond Parity: Section 1983 And The State Courts, Susan Herman

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Terrorism, Law, And Our Constitutional Order, Christopher L. Blakesley

Scholarly Works

We have all suffered moments of vicarious terror over the past few years as we watched news accounts of terrorist incidents, such as the downing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. There, some institution, government, or group used innocent children, women, and men as fodder for their “war.” Some have claimed that the pusillanimous carnage was in retaliation for the slaughter of equivalent innocents aboard the Iranian Air Bus, similarly destroyed by American forces during the summer of 1988. Others suggested that it was committed by those interested in thwarting prospects of peace in the Middle East.

Combatting …

Terrorism And The Constitution, Christopher L. Blakesley

Scholarly Works

How do terrorism and the Iran-Contra hearings relate to the Constitution? My thesis is that there is a tendency for the executive of this or any nation to eschew even constitutionally mandated avenues of problem solving considered to be cumbersome, inefficient, or inimical to the executive’s vision of the national interest in foreign affairs. There is also a tendency to consider one’s own conduct and the conduct of one’s allies and friends to be justified when it is directed at goals deemed by the executive branch to be good. Constitutional provisions based on the checks and balances and separation of …

Drugs And Small Arms: Can Law Stop The Traffic?, Christopher L. Blakesley

Scholarly Works

Professor Blakesley presides over this panel discussion on laws combating the illegal importation of drugs and small arms, and their implications for international and domestic law.

A Status Report On The Balanced Budget Constitutional Convention, 20 J. Marshall L. Rev. 29 (1986), William T. Barker

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.