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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Back To The Sources? What’S Clear And Not So Clear About The Original Intent Of The First Amendment, John Witte Jr.
Back To The Sources? What’S Clear And Not So Clear About The Original Intent Of The First Amendment, John Witte Jr.
Faculty Articles
This Article peels through these layers of founding documents before exploring the final sixteen words of the First Amendment religion clauses. Part I explores the founding generation’s main teachings on religious freedom, identifying the major principles that they held in common. Part II sets out a few representative state constitutional provisions on religious freedom created from 1776 to 1784. Part III reviews briefly the actions by the Continental Congress on religion and religious freedom issued between 1774 and 1789. Part IV touches on the deprecated place of religious freedom in the drafting of the 1787 United States Constitution. Part V …
The Runaway Presidential Power Over Diplomacy, Jean Galbraith
The Runaway Presidential Power Over Diplomacy, Jean Galbraith
All Faculty Scholarship
The President claims exclusive control over diplomacy within our constitutional system. Relying on this claim, executive branch lawyers repeatedly reject congressional mandates regarding international engagement. In their view, Congress cannot specify what the policy of the United States is with respect to foreign corruption, cannot bar a technology-focused agency from communicating with China, cannot impose notice requirements for withdrawal from a treaty with Russia, cannot instruct Treasury officials how to vote in the World Bank, and cannot require the disclosure of a trade-related report. And these are just a few of many examples from recent years. The President’s assertedly exclusive …
White Supremacy, Police Brutality, And Family Separation: Preventing Crimes Against Humanity Within The United States, Elena Baylis
White Supremacy, Police Brutality, And Family Separation: Preventing Crimes Against Humanity Within The United States, Elena Baylis
Articles
Although the United States tends to treat crimes against humanity as a danger that exists only in authoritarian or war-torn states, in fact, there is a real risk of crimes against humanity occurring within the United States, as illustrated by events such as systemic police brutality against Black Americans, the federal government’s family separation policy that took thousands of immigrant children from their parents at the southern border, and the dramatic escalation of White supremacist and extremist violence culminating in the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. In spite of this risk, the United States does not have …
Ostracism And Democracy, Alex Zhang
Ostracism And Democracy, Alex Zhang
Faculty Articles
The 2020 Presidential Election featured an unprecedented attempt to undermine our democratic institutions: allegations of voter fraud and litigation about mail-in ballots culminated in a mob storming of the Capitol as Congress certified President Biden’s victory. Former President Trump now faces social-media bans and potential disqualification from future federal office, but his allies have criticized those efforts as the witch-hunt of a cancel culture that is symptomatic of the unique ills of contemporary liberal politics.
This Article defends recent efforts to remove Trump from the public eye, with reference to an ancient Greek electoral mechanism: ostracism. In the world’s first …
Law Library Blog (October 2020): Legal Beagle's Blog Archive, Roger Williams University School Of Law
Law Library Blog (October 2020): Legal Beagle's Blog Archive, Roger Williams University School Of Law
Law Library Newsletters/Blog
No abstract provided.
Disappropriation, Matthew B. Lawrence
Disappropriation, Matthew B. Lawrence
Faculty Articles
In recent years, Congress has repeatedly failed to appropriate funds necessary to honor legal commitments (or entitlements) that are themselves enacted in permanent law. The Appropriations Clause has forced the government to defy legislative command and break such commitments, with destructive results for recipients and the rule of law. This Article is the first to address this poorly understood phenomenon, which it labels a form of “disappropriation.”
The Article theorizes recent high-profile disappropriations as one probabilistic consequence of Congress’s decision to create permanent legislative payment commitments that the government cannot honor without periodic, temporary appropriations. Such partially temporary programs include …
Delegating Or Divesting?, Philip A. Hamburger
Delegating Or Divesting?, Philip A. Hamburger
Faculty Scholarship
A gratifying feature of recent scholarship on administrative power is the resurgence of interest in the Founding. Even the defenders of administrative power hark back to the Constitution’s early history – most frequently to justify delegations of legislative power. But the past offers cold comfort for such delegation.
A case in point is Delegation at the Founding by Professors Julian Davis Mortenson and Nicholas Bagley. Not content to defend the Supreme Court’s current nondelegation doctrine, the article employs history to challenge the doctrine – arguing that the Constitution does not limit Congress’s delegation of legislative power. But the article’s most …
Rights And Retrenchment In The Trump Era, Stephen B. Burbank, Sean Farhang
Rights And Retrenchment In The Trump Era, Stephen B. Burbank, Sean Farhang
All Faculty Scholarship
Our aim in this essay is to leverage archival research, data and theoretical perspectives presented in our book, Rights and Retrenchment: The Counterrevolution against Federal Litigation, as a means to illuminate the prospects for retrenchment in the current political landscape. We follow the scheme of the book by separately considering the prospects for federal litigation retrenchment in three lawmaking sites: Congress, federal court rulemaking under the Rules Enabling Act, and the Supreme Court. Although pertinent data on current retrenchment initiatives are limited, our historical data and comparative institutional perspectives should afford a basis for informed prediction. Of course, little in …
Constitutional Barriers To Congressional Reform, John M. Greabe
Constitutional Barriers To Congressional Reform, John M. Greabe
Law Faculty Scholarship
Americans celebrate our Constitution as a beacon that can guide us through difficult situations. And justly so. But at times, the Constitution also has stood as a barrier to necessary reform.
Sexual Misconduct And Congressional Self-Governance, John M. Greabe
Sexual Misconduct And Congressional Self-Governance, John M. Greabe
Law Faculty Scholarship
[Excerpt] "Over the past year, a number of prominent politicians (including President Donald Trump) have been publicly accused of serious sexual misconduct and abuse of power. The question therefore has arisen: Can these politicians either be barred from taking office or removed from office on the basis of these accusations?
There is only way to remove a sitting president: impeachment by the House of Representatives and conviction by the Senate. But the topic of impeaching and removing a president warrants its own column. This column will instead focus on what Congress may do when its members and members-elect face charges …
The Power To Block The Affordable Care Act: What Are The Limits?, John D. Kraemer, Lawrence O. Gostin
The Power To Block The Affordable Care Act: What Are The Limits?, John D. Kraemer, Lawrence O. Gostin
Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works
Though Supreme Court upheld most parts of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Congress’ goals in enacting it could still be frustrated by non-implementation. During his campaign for president, Governor Romney promised “to issue Obamacare waivers to all fifty states.” While such blanket waivers would likely violate the Constitution’s Take Care Clause, the ACA does permit other waivers. To be lawful, however, they must meet certain requirements designed to enhance access and lower cost. A president who opposes the ACA might be able to limit its implementation by refusing to issue premium subsidies in federally operated insurance exchanges, and this might …
Brief Of Amici Curiae Thirteenth Amendment Scholars In Support Of Plaintiff-Appellee And Affirmance, William M. Carter Jr., Dawinder S. Sidhu, Alexander Tsesis, Rebecca E. Zietlow
Brief Of Amici Curiae Thirteenth Amendment Scholars In Support Of Plaintiff-Appellee And Affirmance, William M. Carter Jr., Dawinder S. Sidhu, Alexander Tsesis, Rebecca E. Zietlow
Amici Briefs
In the case of United States v. Hatch, the defendant in a hate crimes prosecution brought the first major challenge to the constitutionality of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009. This amicus brief argues that the Act is constitutional under the Thirteenth Amendment.
A Decision Theory Of Statutory Interpretation: Legislative History By The Rules, Victoria Nourse
A Decision Theory Of Statutory Interpretation: Legislative History By The Rules, Victoria Nourse
Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works
We have a law of civil procedure, criminal procedure, and administrative procedure, but we have no law of legislative procedure. This failure has serious consequences in the field of statutory interpretation. Using simple rules garnered from Congress itself, this Article argues that those rules are capable of transforming the field of statutory interpretation. Addressing canonical cases in the field, from Holy Trinity to Bock Laundry, from Weber to Public Citizen, this article shows how cases studied by vast numbers of law students are made substantially more manageable, and in some cases quite simple, through knowledge of congressional procedure. …
Misunderstanding Congress: Statutory Interpretation, The Supermajoritarian Difficulty, And The Separation Of Powers, Victoria Nourse
Misunderstanding Congress: Statutory Interpretation, The Supermajoritarian Difficulty, And The Separation Of Powers, Victoria Nourse
Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works
Every lawyer's theory of statutory interpretation carries with it an idea of Congress, and every idea of Congress, in turn, carries with it an idea of the separation of powers. In this article, the author critiques three dominant academic theories of statutory interpretation--textualism, purposivism, and game theory--for their assumptions about Congress and the separation of powers. She argues that each academic theory fails to account for Congress's dominant institutional features: "the electoral connection," the "supermajoritarian difficulty," and the "principle of structure-induced ambiguity." This critique yields surprising conclusions, rejecting both standard liberal and conservative views on statutory interpretation.
"Plain" meaning, it …
The Thirteenth Amendment And Interest Convergence, William M. Carter Jr.
The Thirteenth Amendment And Interest Convergence, William M. Carter Jr.
Articles
The Thirteenth Amendment was intended to eliminate the institution of slavery and to eliminate the legacy of slavery. Having accomplished the former, the Amendment has only rarely been extended to the latter. The Thirteenth Amendment’s great promise therefore remains unrealized.
This Article explores the gap between the Thirteenth Amendment’s promise and its implementation. Drawing on Critical Race Theory, this Article argues that the relative underdevelopment of Thirteenth Amendment doctrine is due in part to a lack of perceived interest convergence in eliminating what the Amendment’s Framers called the “badges and incidents of slavery.” The theory of interest convergence, in its …
Slides: Forest And Rangeland Planning, Nepa Analysis And Decisions, Glenn Casamassa
Slides: Forest And Rangeland Planning, Nepa Analysis And Decisions, Glenn Casamassa
The Future of Natural Resources Law and Policy (Summer Conference, June 6-8)
Presenter: Glenn Casamassa, Forest Supervisor, Arapahoe-Roosevelt National Forest
17 slides
Slides: The Roadless Rules And The Roles Of States And Communities, Sharon Friedman
Slides: The Roadless Rules And The Roles Of States And Communities, Sharon Friedman
The Future of Natural Resources Law and Policy (Summer Conference, June 6-8)
Presenter: Sharon Friedman, Director of Planning, USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region
13 slides
Slides: Dam Building And Removal On The Elwha: A Prototype Of Adaptive Mismanagement And A Tribal Opportunity, William H. Rodgers, Jr.
Slides: Dam Building And Removal On The Elwha: A Prototype Of Adaptive Mismanagement And A Tribal Opportunity, William H. Rodgers, Jr.
The Future of Natural Resources Law and Policy (Summer Conference, June 6-8)
Presenter: William H. Rodgers, Jr., Stimson Bullitt Professor of Environmental Law, University of Washington School of Law
77 slides
Saving Special Places: Trends And Challenges With Protecting Public Lands [Outline], Robert B. Keiter
Saving Special Places: Trends And Challenges With Protecting Public Lands [Outline], Robert B. Keiter
The Future of Natural Resources Law and Policy (Summer Conference, June 6-8)
7 pages.
Includes bibliographical references
"Robert B. Keiter, Wallace Stegner Professor of Law, University of Utah, S.J. Quinney College of Law"
Slides: The Future Of Oil And Gas Development On Federal Lands, Mike Chiropolos
Slides: The Future Of Oil And Gas Development On Federal Lands, Mike Chiropolos
The Future of Natural Resources Law and Policy (Summer Conference, June 6-8)
Presenter: Mike Chiropolos, Lands Program Director, Western Resource Advocates
44 slides
Justice Delayed: A Tribal Attorney’S Perspective On Elwha River Dam Removal And Ecosystem Restoration, Russell W. Busch
Justice Delayed: A Tribal Attorney’S Perspective On Elwha River Dam Removal And Ecosystem Restoration, Russell W. Busch
The Future of Natural Resources Law and Policy (Summer Conference, June 6-8)
Presenter: Russell W. Busch, Attorney for the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe
10 pages.
Slides: Meaningful Engagement: The Public's Role In Resource Decisions, Mark Squillace
Slides: Meaningful Engagement: The Public's Role In Resource Decisions, Mark Squillace
The Future of Natural Resources Law and Policy (Summer Conference, June 6-8)
Presenter: Mark Squillace, Director, Natural Resources Law Center, University of Colorado Law School
22 slides
Slides: What's In A Name? The Story Of The Utah Wilderness Reinventory, James R. Rasband
Slides: What's In A Name? The Story Of The Utah Wilderness Reinventory, James R. Rasband
The Future of Natural Resources Law and Policy (Summer Conference, June 6-8)
Presenter: James R. Rasband, J. Reuben Clark Law School, Brigham Young University
23 slides
What’S In A Name? The Story Of The Utah Wilderness Reinventory, James R. Rasband
What’S In A Name? The Story Of The Utah Wilderness Reinventory, James R. Rasband
The Future of Natural Resources Law and Policy (Summer Conference, June 6-8)
14 pages.
Includes bibliographical references
"James R. Rasband, Associate Dean of Research & Academic Affairs and Professor of Law, J. Reuben Clark Law School, Brigham Young University"
Some Preliminary Thoughts On Contrasts And Convergence In Environmental And Natural Resources Law, Karin P. Sheldon
Some Preliminary Thoughts On Contrasts And Convergence In Environmental And Natural Resources Law, Karin P. Sheldon
The Future of Natural Resources Law and Policy (Summer Conference, June 6-8)
16 pages.
Includes bibliographical references
Historical Evolution And Future Of Natural Resources Law And Policy: The Beginning Of An Argument And Some Modest Predictions, Sally K. Fairfax, Helen Ingram, Leigh Raymond
Historical Evolution And Future Of Natural Resources Law And Policy: The Beginning Of An Argument And Some Modest Predictions, Sally K. Fairfax, Helen Ingram, Leigh Raymond
The Future of Natural Resources Law and Policy (Summer Conference, June 6-8)
8 pages.
Includes bibliographical references
"Sally Fairfax, UC-Berkeley, Helen Ingram, UC-Irvine, and Leigh Raymond, Purdue University" -- Agenda
Law Casebook Description And Table Of Contents: Constitutional Environmental And Natural Resources Law [Outline], Jim May, Robin Craig
Law Casebook Description And Table Of Contents: Constitutional Environmental And Natural Resources Law [Outline], Jim May, Robin Craig
The Future of Natural Resources Law and Policy (Summer Conference, June 6-8)
6 pages.
"James May, Widener University School of Law" -- Agenda
Procedure, Politics And Power: The Role Of Congress, Stephen B. Burbank
Procedure, Politics And Power: The Role Of Congress, Stephen B. Burbank
All Faculty Scholarship
No abstract provided.
Term Limits On Original Intent--An Essay On Legal Debate And Historical Understanding, Polly J. Price
Term Limits On Original Intent--An Essay On Legal Debate And Historical Understanding, Polly J. Price
Faculty Articles
This Essay is divided into five Parts. Part I sets the stage for the historical debate by evaluating the text of the Qualifications Clauses as well as the limited evidence of what the Framers and the ratifiers thought about these provisions. Part II shows that many states, immediately after the federal Constitution was ratified, behaved as though the Qualifications Clauses did not prevent them from adding qualifications for congressional office-holding. Part III compares this early evidence of state behavior with a debate in Congress after the Civil War concerning the meaning of the Qualifications Clauses. Part IV returns to the …
What A Federal Natural Resource Management Agency Can Do To Avoid Takings, John D. Leshy
What A Federal Natural Resource Management Agency Can Do To Avoid Takings, John D. Leshy
Regulatory Takings and Resources: What Are the Constitutional Limits? (Summer Conference, June 13-15)
6 pages.