American Politics Commons^™

Different Voices : Measuring Female Judges' Influence On Women's Rights Issues In The U.S. Courts Of Appeal., Alyson E Hendricks

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

Beginning with President Carter and continuing with each successive president, the federal bench has become more diverse. This has caused scholars to turn their attention to how personal characteristics such as race and sex affect judging. Understanding the effects of gender and race on judging is crucial because white female and minority female judges may bring a different perspective to the bench than their male counterparts due to their shared experiences with discrimination. To fill a gap in the literature, this study examines the impact of women in terms of legal influence and voting behavior. The results demonstrate that women …

Capture Theory & State Regulation Of Animal Cruelty, Kyla Henderson

Political Science Theses and Capstones

In this thesis I theorize that regulatory capture impacts animal cruelty laws in several different ways. Capture theory is the process by which regulatory agencies eventually come to be dominated by the industries they were charged with regulating. Regulatory capture happens when a regulatory agency, formed to act in the public’s interest, eventually acts in ways that benefit the industry it is supposed to be regulating, rather than the public. Animal cruelty regulations are an important factor in the way that everyday products are produced. Capture theory affecting animal cruelty is an important look at the growing concern with animal …

The Trouble With Transitions: Preserving Government Records During A Presidential Transition, Sarah C. Slinger, Nicholas Mignanelli

Scholarly Works

Times of transition from administration to administration are often, if not always, trying periods for the United States and its people. In particular, concerns arise over the preservation of documents from one administration to the next. This is especially true when the torch of executive power passes from one party to the other. Although preservation of information is a seemingly objective endeavor, it is difficult to abstain from politics when the documents involved are inherently political. Recently, the Trump Administration has expressed its intentions to scale back the size of government and take key offices—such as the Department of Energy—in …

In Solidarity, Musselman Library, Salma Monani, Sarah M. Principato, Dave Powell, Brent C. Talbot, Charles L. Weise, Bruce A. Larson, Scott Hancock, Mckinley E. Melton, David S. Walsh, Jennifer Q. Mccary, Kristina G. Chamberlin

Next Page

This edition of Next Page is a departure from our usual question and answer format with a featured campus reader. Instead, we asked speakers who participated in the College’s recent Student Solidarity Rally (March 1, 2017) to recommend readings that might further our understanding of the topics on which they spoke.

Judicial Supremacy Revisited: Independent Constitutional Authority In American Constitutional Law And Practice, Mark A. Graber

William & Mary Law Review

The Supreme Court exercises far less constitutional authority in American law and practice than one would gather from reading judicial opinions, presidential speeches, or the standard tomes for and against judicial supremacy. Lower federal court judges, state court justices, federal and state elected officials, persons charged with administering the law, and ordinary citizens often have the final say on particular constitutional controversies or exercise temporary constitutional authority in ways that have more influence on the parties to that controversy than the eventual Supreme Court decision. In many instances, Supreme Court doctrine sanctions or facilitates the exercise of independent constitutional authority …

The Supreme Court’S Countermajoritarianism? What Impact Does Public Opinion Have On The Supreme Court Decisions?, Evan Tompkins

Political Science Theses and Capstones

Although normative questions about the role of the Supreme Court as a countermajoritarian institution have been commonly debated in political science research, an updated empirical question on Mishler and Sheehan’s (1993), study on public opinion and its impact on the Court must be asked. It has been 25 years since the publication of their study and numerous high profile cases such as Bush v. Gore, Citizens United v. FEC, and Obergefell v. Hodges have brought nationwide attention to the Supreme Court and how it interacts with public opinion. Results from empirical measurements of the Supreme Court’s decisions and what impact …

Why Congress Does Not Challenge Judicial Supremacy, Neal Devins

William & Mary Law Review

Members of Congress largely acquiesce to judicial supremacy both on constitutional and statutory interpretation questions. Lawmakers, however, do not formally embrace judicial supremacy; they rarely think about the courts when enacting legislation. This Article explains why this is so, focusing on why lawmakers have both strong incentive to acquiesce to judicial power and little incentive to advance a coherent view of congressional power. In particular, lawmakers are interested in advancing favored policies, winning reelection, and gaining personal power within Congress. Abstract questions of institutional power do not interest lawmakers and judicial defeats are seen as opportunities to find some other …

Race Relations In The Post-Obama Era, Ron Miller

Jerry Falwell Library Events

No abstract provided.

Textualism And Originalism In Constitutional Interpretation, John M. Greabe

Law Faculty Scholarship

[Excerpt] "In a 2016 lecture at the Case Western Reserve University School of Law, Judge Neil Gorsuch warmly praised former Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's approach to constitutional interpretation. Because President Trump has nominated him to serve on the Supreme Court, it is important to understand the approach Judge Gorsuch favors."

The Fear Factor: Exploring The Impact Of The Vulnerability To Deportation On Immigrants' Lives, Shirley P. Leyro

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This qualitative study explores the impact that the fear of deportation has on the lives of noncitizen immigrants. More broadly, it explores the role that immigration enforcement, specifically deportation, plays in disrupting the process of integration, and the possible implications of this interruption for immigrants and their communities. The study aims to answer: (1) how vulnerability to deportation specifically impacts an immigrant’s life, and (2) how the vulnerability to deportation, and the fear associated with it, impacts an immigrant’s degree of integration. Data were gathered through a combination of six open-ended focus group interviews of 10 persons each, and 33 …

Capitalism And Unfreedom: Louis D. Brandeis And A Liberty Of The Left, Eric L. Apar

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The American Right features a well-developed—and well-heeled—infrastructure for promoting a conception of freedom as inextricable from capitalism. The American Left, by contrast, has seemed content to cede the territory, abandoning the ground of freedom for the terrain of “equality,” “justice,” “fairness,” and “prosperity.” This paper is an effort to address this asymmetry in the public discourse over the meaning of freedom. Its principal objective is to capture the vision of freedom embodied in the political and economic thought of Louis D. Brandeis, one of the American Left’s ablest expositors of freedom.

In addition, the paper has three subsidiary objectives. The …

A Taxonomy Of Independent Electoral Reapportionment Systems, James Ruley

Indiana Journal of Constitutional Design

This paper addresses a means of checking legislative gerrymandering, which I have called the Independent Electoral Reapportionment Commission (IERC). Its purpose is to prevent self-interested politicians from drawing biased constituency lines. While scholars have researched gerrymandering, few scholars have researched commissions designed to limit such gerrymandering, and no comprehensive work details the global means of accomplishing this goal.

Thus, the purpose of this paper is not to normatively prescribe the best practices for composing and empowering an IERC, but rather to descriptively show how different countries conduct this process. While Part II makes some determinations about which commissions may conceptually …

Domicile, Student Voters And The Constitution, John M. Greabe

Law Faculty Scholarship

[Excerpt] "The wisdom of using the Electoral College to choose our president is a hot topic. For the second time in 16 years (and the fifth time in our history), the "winner" of the national popular vote lost the presidential election in the Electoral College. To many, this "undemocratic" outcome seems wrong."

Does The Constitution Allow President To Ban Muslims?, John M. Greabe

Law Faculty Scholarship

[Excerpt] "The president-elect has stated that he intends to protect national security by banning Muslim immigration into the United States. He also has signaled an openness to some form of Muslim registration program. Does the Constitution impose barriers to the adoption of such policies?"

What Impact Is Felony Disenfranchisement Having On Hispanics In Florida?, Angel E. Sanchez

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This research produces original empirical estimates of Hispanics in Florida’s Dept. of Corrections (FDOC) and uses those estimates to measure the impact felony disenfranchisement is having on Hispanics in Florida. Research institutions find that data on Hispanics in the criminal justice system, particularly in Florida, is either lacking or inaccurate. This research addresses this problem by applying an optimal surname list method using Census Bureau data and Bayes Theorem to produce an empirical estimate of Hispanics in FDOC’s data. Using the Hispanic rate derived from the empirical FDOC analysis, the rate of Hispanics in the disenfranchised population is estimated. The …

Baseball And The U.S.-Cuban Diplomatic Relationship: Why Did Baseball Serve As An Ineffective Diplomatic Tool For The United States And Cuba?, Abbygale Sarah Martinen

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

Today's Challenges To Religious Liberty In Historical Perspective, Gerard V. Bradley

Journal Articles

From the Introduction

Many people say that religious liberty in our country is now under attack more than ever before. That's true as far as it goes, and in what follows I shall supply some reasons why I think so. But the chief aim of this Article is not to try to establish that religious liberty is in its most parlous state ever, as if some common threat-level metric is higher today than it was, say, a hundred or fifty years ago. As a matter of fact, Mormons and Native Americans in the late-nineteenth century faced government actions more hostile …

The Fcc And Quasi-Common Carriage: A Case Study Of Agency Survival, Brent Skorup, Joseph Kane

Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology

No abstract provided.

Fear And Firearms, Darrell A. H. Miller

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Render Unto Caesar: How Misunderstanding A Century Of Free Exercise Jurisprudence Forged And Then Fractured The Rfra Coalition, John S. Blattner

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis provides a comprehensive history of Supreme Court Free Exercise Clause jurisprudence from 1879 until the present day. It describes how a jurisdictional approach to free exercise dominated the Court’s rulings from its first Free Exercise Clause case in 1879 until Sherbert v. Verner in 1963, and how Sherbert introduced an accommodationist precedent which was ineffectively, incompletely, and inconsistently defined by the Court. This thesis shows how proponents of accommodationism furthered a false narrative overstating the scope and consistency of Sherbert’s precedent following the Court’s repudiation of accommodationism and return to full jurisdictionalism with Employment Division v. Smith …

Navigating The Post-Shelby Landscape: Using Universalism To Augment The Remaining Power Of The Voting Rights Act, Jesús N. Joslin

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Abstract forthcoming.

Intersecting Disadvantages: Race, Gender, And Age Discrimination Among Attorneys., Todd Collins, Tao L. Dumas, Laura Moyer

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

This article explores the impact of race, gender, age, and intersectionality on attorneys’ perceptions of unfair treatment by other lawyers and on satisfaction with their legal careers. Using an original survey of over 2,000 attorneys, ordered logit is utilized to analyze attorneys’ perceptions of disparate treatment based on race, gender, and age and to test whether minority female attorneys face unique barriers within their professional relationships. We find that minority women are more likely than others to perceive unfair treatment based on race, gender, and age. This also contributes to lower career satisfaction for attorneys who are women of color …

Military Cyber Professionals Have An Important Part To Play In The Obama-Trump Transition, Michael V. Hayden

Military Cyber Affairs

Over the course of decades in service, I have experienced multiple presidential transitions. Each new Commander in Chief updates policies, personnel, and priorities…especially when the transition involves a new political party. In this respect, the current transition from the Obama to the Trump administration is no different. While this periodic exercise of our democracy may seem disruptive to some, it is a true opportunity for military cyber professionals to help shape our future national security posture.

Interior Department And Army Corps Announce Restoration Of Tribal Lands For The Three Affiliated Tribes Of The Fort Berthold Reservation; Transfer Restores Nearly 25,000 Acres Of Tribal Homelands Lost To The Garrison Dam Project, Department Of The Interior, Assistant Secretary Of The Army For Civil Works

US Government Documents Related to Indigenous Nations

This news release, dated December 20, 2016, from the United States (US) Department of the Interior and the US Assistant Secretary of the Army announces the return of 24,959 acres of land on the Fort Berthold Reservation to the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation. The returned land was part of the 153,000 acres of land taken by the United States Government for construction of the Garrison Dam. The authority of this transfer is granted by the Fort Berthold Mineral Restoration Act of 1984 (Public Law 98-602). This press release provides some background on the Garrison Dam Project …

Commentary: Justice Who Follows Scalia's Path Would Hurt The Working Class, Bruce A. Larson

Political Science Faculty Publications

During the campaign, Donald Trump released a list of 21 conservatives from which he promised to pick Supreme Court justices, should he win the election. With President-elect Trump apparently nearing a decision on a nominee to replace the late Justice Scalia, Senate Republicans are no doubt eagerly awaiting the chance to confirm Trump's pick and restore a conservative majority on the court. [excerpt]

Difficult Questions For The Senate Minority, John M. Greabe

Law Faculty Scholarship

This column is the first in a biweekly Constitutional Connections series that will examine the constitutional implications of various topics in the news. The author, John Greabe, teaches constitutional law and related subject at the University of New Hampshire School of Law. He also serves on the board of trustees of the New Hampshire Institute for Civics Education.

A New Era Of Islamophobia: Muslim Women Fight To Find Place After Trump Fueled Hate, Doha Madani

Capstones

"A New Era of Islamophobia: Muslim Women Fight to Find Place After Trump Fueled Hate" focuses on the trend of violence and harassment against Muslim women from 2015 to 2016. The story weaves personal stories and expert opinions about the trend, which seemingly sparked from Donald J. Trump's campaign rhetoric regarding Muslims and minorities.

https://dohamadani.atavist.com/a-new-era-of-islamophobia

The Korean War Through The Eyes Of Ray Deweese, Yulissa Y. Lara

Korean War

Ray DeWeese was born in Cleveland, TN on May 10, 1928 and has lived in Cleveland most of his life. He enlisted in the Marine Corps at 17 years old and fought towards the end of World War II and went off to be a pilot and officer during the Korean War. This interview depicts Mr.DeWeese’s experience during World War II but digs deeper into the difficulty of being a pilot during the brutal Korean War. As Mr. DeWeese recounts his traumatic experience he emphasizes how his diligent training, hardworking comrades, and his Faith in God got him through the …

United States Federal Courts And Inter-Branch War Powers, Erica Lindsey Fields

Posters-at-the-Capitol

US Federal Courts and Inter-Branch War Powers

Author: Erica Fields, with Dr. Jasmine Farrier and Dr. Laura Moyer

Department of Political Science- University of Louisville

Introduction

When a separation of powers issue arises between the branches of the United States government, they can seek remedy in the federal courts. This has become especially relevant in the area of war powers. Over the past 40 years, members of Congress have challenged Presidential encroachment of war powers 10 times in the courts.

Purpose

To determine if the rulings in the 10 war powers cases could best be explained by the ideologies of …

Why Kim Davis Is Being Sued To Pay Gay, Straight Couples' Legal Fees, David Laconangelo

Media Collection

No abstract provided.