Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Constitutional Law Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

32,372 Full-Text Articles 17,943 Authors 19,849,398 Downloads 253 Institutions

All Articles in Constitutional Law

Faceted Search

32,372 full-text articles. Page 1 of 800.

The Gross Injustices Of Capital Punishment: A Torturous Practice And Justice Thurgood Marshall’S Astute Appraisal Of The Death Penalty’S Cruelty, Discriminatory Use, And Unconstitutionality, John D. Bessler 2023 University of Baltimore School of Law

The Gross Injustices Of Capital Punishment: A Torturous Practice And Justice Thurgood Marshall’S Astute Appraisal Of The Death Penalty’S Cruelty, Discriminatory Use, And Unconstitutionality, John D. Bessler

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

Through the centuries, capital punishment and torture have been used by monarchs, authoritarian regimes, and judicial systems around the world. Although torture is now expressly outlawed by international law, capital punishment—questioned by Quakers in the seventeenth century and by the Italian philosopher Cesare Beccaria and many others in the following century—has been authorized over time by various legislative bodies, including in the United States. It was Beccaria’s book, Dei delitti e delle pene (1764), translated into French and then into English as An Essay on Crimes and Punishments (1767), that fueled the still-ongoing international movement to outlaw the death penalty. …


The Court And Capital Punishment On Different Paths: Abolition In Waiting, Carol S. Steiker, Jordan M. Steiker 2023 Harvard Law School

The Court And Capital Punishment On Different Paths: Abolition In Waiting, Carol S. Steiker, Jordan M. Steiker

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

The American death penalty finds itself in an unusual position. On the ground, the practice is weaker than at any other time in our history. Eleven jurisdictions have abandoned the death penalty over the past fifteen years, almost doubling the number of states without the punishment (twenty-three). Executions have declined substantially, totaling twenty-five or fewer a year nationwide for the past six years, compared to an average of seventy-seven a year during the six-year span around the millennium (1997-2002). Most tellingly, death sentences have fallen off a cliff, with fewer the fifty death sentences a year nationwide over the past …


Privacy And Property: Constitutional Concerns Of Dna Dragnet Testing, E. Wyatt Jones 2023 Bridgewater College

Privacy And Property: Constitutional Concerns Of Dna Dragnet Testing, E. Wyatt Jones

Honors Projects

DNA dragnets have attracted both public and scholarly criticisms that have yet to be resolved by the Courts. This review will introduce a modern understanding of DNA analysis, a complete introduction to past and present Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment jurisprudence, and existing suggestions concerning similar issues in legal scholarship. Considering these contexts, this review concludes that a focus on privacy and property at once, with a particular sensitivity to the inseverable relationship between the two interests, is Constitutionally consistent with precedent and the most workable means of answering the question at hand.


Rectifying An Empty Gesture: Why Placement On Paid Administrative Leave Should Constitute "Adverse Employment Action" For The Purposes Of A First Amendment Retaliation Claim, Andrew White 2023 University of Cincinnati College of Law

Rectifying An Empty Gesture: Why Placement On Paid Administrative Leave Should Constitute "Adverse Employment Action" For The Purposes Of A First Amendment Retaliation Claim, Andrew White

University of Cincinnati Law Review

No abstract provided.


Taking The American Dream – A Remedy For Home Equity Theft Following The Sixth Circuit's Ruling In Harrison V. Montgomery County, Ohio, Elizabeth Black 2023 University of Cincinnati College of Law

Taking The American Dream – A Remedy For Home Equity Theft Following The Sixth Circuit's Ruling In Harrison V. Montgomery County, Ohio, Elizabeth Black

University of Cincinnati Law Review

No abstract provided.


The Eleventh Amendment And Nondiverse Suits Against States, Collin Hong 2023 University of Cincinnati College of Law

The Eleventh Amendment And Nondiverse Suits Against States, Collin Hong

University of Cincinnati Law Review

Since Hans v. Louisiana (1890), the Supreme Court has maintained that the Eleventh Amendment protects states from suits by plaintiffs who are citizens of other states and by citizens of that state, despite the text of the Eleventh Amendment specifying that only suits from citizens of other states are barred. Scholars have noted that what therefore protects the states from suits against their own citizens is not the Eleventh Amendment, but rather a common-law immunity that existed between nations at the founding. That immunity applied both to states and to foreign nations. This article argues that just as Congress has …


Freedom Of Algorithmic Expression, Inyoung Cheong 2023 University of Cincinnati College of Law

Freedom Of Algorithmic Expression, Inyoung Cheong

University of Cincinnati Law Review

Can content moderation on social media be considered a form of speech? If so, would government regulation of content moderation violate the First Amendment? These are the main arguments of social media companies after Florida and Texas legislators attempted to restrict social media platforms’ authority to de-platform objectionable content.

This article examines whether social media companies’ arguments have valid legal grounds. To this end, the article proposes three elements to determine that algorithms classify as “speech:” (1) the algorithms are designed to communicate messages; (2) the relevant messages reflect cognitive or emotive ideas beyond mere operational matters; and (3) they …


Endnotes, SDLP 2023 American University Washington College of Law

Endnotes, Sdlp

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.


Toxic Criminals: Prosecuting Individuals For Hazardous Waste Crimes Under The United States Resource Conservation And Recovery Act, Dr. Joshua Ozymy, Dr. Melissa Jarrell Ozymy 2023 American University Washington College of Law

Toxic Criminals: Prosecuting Individuals For Hazardous Waste Crimes Under The United States Resource Conservation And Recovery Act, Dr. Joshua Ozymy, Dr. Melissa Jarrell Ozymy

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

The U.S. Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”) contains criminal provisions which allow prosecutors to seek substantial penalties when individuals commit hazardous waste crimes involving significant harm or culpable conduct. However, our empirical understanding of enforcement outcomes is limited. We used content analysis of 2,728 criminal prosecutions derived from U.S. EPA criminal investigations from 1983 to 2021 and examined all prosecutions of individual defendants for RCRA violations. Our results show that 222 prosecutions were adjudicated, with over $72.9 million in monetary penalties, 755 years of probation, and 451 years of incarceration levied at sentencing. Seventeen percent of prosecutions centered on …


It's Time To Trash Consumer Responsibility For Plastics: An Analysis Of Extended Producer Responsibility Laws' Sucess In Maine, Marina Mozak 2023 American University Washington College of Law

It's Time To Trash Consumer Responsibility For Plastics: An Analysis Of Extended Producer Responsibility Laws' Sucess In Maine, Marina Mozak

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

Consumer responsibility for waste is a historic relic, dating back to a time when nearly all of a consumer’s waste was compostable, reusable, or marketable. Today, with the rise of plastics and complex goods like electronics, consumers lack the expertise, time, and ability to personally break down the products they consume for reuse. Much of our household waste goes to the curb and into a single stream of municipal solid waste (“MSW”). This includes a variety of wastes which each require specialized processing. Recycling this complex waste falls to municipalities which are woefully underfunded and underqualified to process such complex …


Ohio House Bills 168 And 110: Just Another Drop In The Bucket For Brownfield Redevelopment?, Mia Petrucci 2023 American University Washington College of Law

Ohio House Bills 168 And 110: Just Another Drop In The Bucket For Brownfield Redevelopment?, Mia Petrucci

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

This article examines Ohio House Bills 168 and 110. These House Bills provide liability protection to purchasers of brownfield sites, allocate $500 million dollars to brownfield funding—with $350 million allotted for investigation, cleanup, and revitalization of brownfield sites and $150 million for demolition of vacant/abandoned buildings—and create a new Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program, for the revitalization of properties surrounding brownfield sites. In the first three Sections of this article, the concept of brownfield redevelopment is introduced, the associated challenges with brownfield projects are discussed, and attempts by federal and state governments to address brownfield remediation challenges in the …


About Sdlp, SDLP 2023 American University Washington College of Law

About Sdlp, Sdlp

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

The Sustainable Development Law & Policy Brief (ISSN 1552-3721) is a student-run initiative at American University Washington College of Law that is published twice each academic year. The Brief embraces an interdisciplinary focus to provide a broad view of current legal, political, and social developments. It was founded to provide a forum for those interested in promoting sustainable economic development, conservation, environmental justice, and biodiversity throughout the world.


Editors' Note, Rachel Keylon, Meghen Sullivan 2023 American University Washington College of Law

Editors' Note, Rachel Keylon, Meghen Sullivan

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

For more than two decades, the Sustainable Development Law and Policy Brief (SDLP) has published works analyzing emerging legal and policy issues within the fields of environmental, energy, sustainable development, and natural resources law. SDLP has also prioritized making space for law students in the conversation. We are honored to continue this tradition in Volume XXIII.


The Censorship Constraint And Rulemaker State Action: Are Section 230'S Immunity Provisions Unconstitutional Content-Based Regulations?, Scot A. Reader 2023 West Virginia University

The Censorship Constraint And Rulemaker State Action: Are Section 230'S Immunity Provisions Unconstitutional Content-Based Regulations?, Scot A. Reader

West Virginia Law Review

Even casual watchers of T.V. crime dramas understand the Fourth Amendment’s exclusionary rule. Under this rule, evidence obtained by the police in a search of a criminal suspect’s premises that exceeds the scope of a judicial warrant is almost always inadmissible in the suspect’s criminal trial. The rule is designed to deter unreasonable governmental intrusion into private affairs and applies without regard for the suspect’s guilt or innocence. This Article proposes that the First Amendment includes an analogous rule against governmental censorship. Under this rule, content-based speech regulations exceed the legislature’s speech rulemaking warrant and are almost always invalid. This …


The Supreme Court And New Frontiers In Religious Liberty, Floersheimer Center for Constitutional Democracy 2023 Yeshiva University, Cardozo School of Law

The Supreme Court And New Frontiers In Religious Liberty, Floersheimer Center For Constitutional Democracy

Event Invitations 2023

The Floersheimer Center for Constitutional Democracy is proud to present The Supreme Court and New Frontiers in Religious Liberty. Join us for a conversation with First Amendment experts to discuss the future of First Amendment Free Exercise and Establishment Clause jurisprudence.

Professor Michael Pollack will lead a discussion on the Court’s jurisprudence and its impact on civil liberties, religious liberty, and separation of church and state.

Panelists:

  • Nelson Tebbe, Cornell Law School
  • Mark L. Movsesian, St. John's University School of Law
  • Elizabeth Reiner Platt, Columbia Law School
  • Giselle Klapper, Sikh Coalition

Click here to view the flyer.


Redlining Reimagined: "Race-Neutral Alternatives" In The Likely Wake Of Affirmative Action, Margaret Kruzner 2023 Duke Law

Redlining Reimagined: "Race-Neutral Alternatives" In The Likely Wake Of Affirmative Action, Margaret Kruzner

Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy Sidebar

For a decade, Justice Clarence Thomas has sharply criticized the Court's treatment of affirmative action, the race-conscious university admissions processed used to pursue the educational benefits associated with diverse classrooms. Calling affirmative action a "faddish theory" that the "Constitution abhors," Justice Thomas signaled his readiness to overrule Grutter v. Bollinger, which endorsed the practice in 2003.

Justice Thomas and the Court's originalist Justices have a new opportunity to strike down affirmative action in the Students for Fair Admissions litigation. Students for Fair Admissions, a non-profit organization founded by Edward Blum, is suing Harvard College and the University of North …


Moore V. Harper: The Independent State Legislature Theory And The Court At The Brink, Braden Fain 2023 Duke Law

Moore V. Harper: The Independent State Legislature Theory And The Court At The Brink, Braden Fain

Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy Sidebar

Moore v. Harper tasks the Supreme Court with considering a fringe legal idea known as the Independent State Legislature Theory (ISLT). Donald Trump gave ISLT new life by invoking the theory during his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Instead of presidential elections, the litigation in Moore concerns congressional elections and partisan gerrymandering. Were the Court to accept ISLT, the theory would render states effectively impotent to curb gerrymandering and would aggrandize the Court's authority in federal elections. Scholars have recognized the theory's threat to American democracy and have accordingly produced a detailed record debunking the ISLT. …


The Supreme Court And New Frontiers In Religious Liberty, Floersheimer Center for Constitutional Democracy 2023 Yeshiva University, Cardozo School of Law

The Supreme Court And New Frontiers In Religious Liberty, Floersheimer Center For Constitutional Democracy

Flyers 2022-2023

Click here to view the event invitation.


Testamentary Restrictions On Marriage: A Reexamination Of In Re Estate Of Feinberg In Light Of Obergefell V. Hodges, Christian Poppe 2023 University of St. Thomas, Minnesota

Testamentary Restrictions On Marriage: A Reexamination Of In Re Estate Of Feinberg In Light Of Obergefell V. Hodges, Christian Poppe

University of St. Thomas Journal of Law and Public Policy

No abstract provided.


Hamiltonian Constitutionalism Through The Ages: In Defense Of Public Goods, Dr. Charles J. Reid, Jr. 2023 University of St. Thomas School of Law, Minnesota

Hamiltonian Constitutionalism Through The Ages: In Defense Of Public Goods, Dr. Charles J. Reid, Jr.

University of St. Thomas Journal of Law and Public Policy

No abstract provided.


Digital Commons powered by bepress