Constitutional Law Commons^™

Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover: Using State Constitutions To Escape The Dead Hand Of Article V, Meg Penrose

Faculty Scholarship

Thomas Jefferson believed that “the earth always belongs to the living generation.” His constitutional approach would empower twenty-first century Americans to decide twenty-first century problems regularly determined by the United States Supreme Court. Article V, the formal method for constitutional change, seemingly relegates these decisions to the Supreme Court because amending the federal Constitution is nearly impossible.

Unfortunately, our fixation on federal constitutional law often eclipses the power of state constitutional law. State constitutions balance our relatively static federal Constitution with responsive state governments. There is no need to debate what the Framers thought about modern issues when Americans can …

Court-Stripping, Court-Packing, And Court Defying: Revisiting The Supreme Court’S Essential Functions, Curtis A. Bradley, Neil S. Siegel

Faculty Scholarship

The "essential functions thesis" is one of the most famous structural arguments in the field of federal courts. The thesis, which has been endorsed by a number of prominent scholars and the executive branch, posits that there are implicit, structural limits on Congress's authority to "strip" the Supreme Court of its appellate jurisdiction. Court-stripping, the thesis contends, is not allowed if it would undermine the essential functions of the Court-in particular, maintaining the supremacy and uniformity of federal law. In this Article, we revisit that thesis with three goals in mind. First, we aim to show that the structural arguments …

Supreme Court And Presidentialism: When Judges Stand In The President’S Way, Michael Procopio Avelar

LL.M. Essays & Theses

This article examines the conditions under which constitutional courts are able to resist executive attempts at institutional capture during periods of democratic erosion. Instead of concentrating on the mechanisms through which courts are attacked, it focuses on how courts effectively behave in the long term when operating under sustained political pressure. The central claim is that judicial resistance cannot be explained solely by formal institutional design or by a general commitment to constitutional principles. It depends on the interaction of three variables: judicial replaceability, external support, and enforcement capacity.

The article develops a typology of judicial responses to executive aggrandizement, …

A Constitutional Black Box: Critically Assessing The Constitutional And Algorithmic Implications Of The Netchoice Cases, Sam Merkatz

Bates College Undergraduate Law Review

In 2024, the Supreme Court of the United States jointly heard Moody v. NetChoice, LLC and NetChoice, LLC v. Paxton, cases challenging Florida and Texas statutes that restricted the capacity of social media platforms to moderate content. While remanding the cases, the Court reaffirmed that content moderation and curation qualify as protected expression under the First Amendment. This paper critically assesses the Court's majority opinion and its nonbinding dicta regarding the expressive nature of algorithmic moderation.

Specifically, drawing on Justice Alito’s concurrence in judgement only, this paper argues that the Court fails to account for fundamental differences between traditional …

Public Opinion And State Abortion Policy, Gender, Age, And Ideology: Agreement With Dobbs Vs. Jackson Women’S Health Organization (2022), Jack Mcroberts

Bates College Undergraduate Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Paradox Of Equal Protection: Anti-Subordination Rhetoric In Service Of Anti-Classification Ends, Aanya Ghosh

Bates College Undergraduate Law Review

This article examines the evolution of Equal Protection jurisprudence through the competing lenses of anti-classification and anti-subordination. Anti-classification holds that the Constitution prohibits governmental use of racial categories regardless of purpose; anti-subordination holds that the Equal Protection Clause targets the perpetuation of racial hierarchy rather than the mere use of racial categories. Beginning with the foundational ambiguity of Brown v. Board of Education (1954) and tracing the doctrinal trajectory through Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978), Grutter v. Bollinger (2003), Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 (2007), and Students for Fair Admissions …

Understanding Government Regulation On Food And The Constitutionality Of Banning High Fructose Corn Syrup For National Defense, Charlotte Bernhard

Bates College Undergraduate Law Review

The following work explores a hypothetical scenario in 2029 where President Gavin Newson  hopes to decrease obesity to increase the number of Americans eligible for the draft. As tensions rise in North Korea, the President considers sending around 200,000 troops to South Korea and Japan, yet with high levels of obesity in the United States, a low number of eligible Americans for deployment may put unnecessary strain on troops. Therefore, the President considers banning high fructose corn syrup-containing products to decrease obesity rates.

This work explores how the President and American government can constitutionally limit foods containing high fructose corn …

Putusan Arbitrase Asing Dapat Dibatalkan Di Indonesia, Tineke Teugeh Longdong

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

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Dimensi Hukum Tentang Penanganan Ketertiban Di Dki Jakarta, Mura P. Hutagalung

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

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From Chains To Handcuffs: Confronting The Racial Legacy Of Prison Labor And The Urgency Of Reform, Hibah Hasan

Criminal Law Society Blog

This article examines prison labor in the United States as a system rooted in the 13th Amendment’s exception clause and shaped by post–Civil War practices such as Black Codes and convict leasing. It argues that, although formally abolished, the racialized logic of forced labor persists through modern mass incarceration, where incarcerated individuals—disproportionately Black men—perform essential work for little to no pay and without basic labor protections. The article analyzes how this system reflects a continuation of historical exploitation and proposes reforms, including fair compensation, voluntary participation, and expanded labor protections, to align prison labor with principles of rehabilitation and justice.

Separate But Equally Funded: Reforming Education Savings Accounts For Homeschoolers, Matthew Mcguire

Senior Honors Theses

Public commodities require public access. I review twenty-one state-funded education savings accounts (ESAs) funded by general fund revenues to argue that limiting home-education access violates principles of public access—The General Availability Doctrine. To the dismay of many home-educated students, nine state-funded ESAs require parents to terminate their home-education status as a condition for public funds. At least five state-funded ESAs require public school attendance as a prerequisite to receive funds, thereby precluding homeschooling students. Three state-funded ESAs treat home-education negatively by reducing funding based on a student's home-education status. The discriminatory treatment of home-educated parents and students raises First and …

Pelaksanaan Azas·Azas Pemilu Dalam Undang-Undang Pemilu (Studi Kasus Dki Jakarta Tahun 1987), Abdu! Bari Azed

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

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Menanti Lahirnya Undang-Undang Pinjaman Luar Negeri, Yuli Indrawati

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

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Mereposisi Hubungan Yudikatif Dengan Eksekutif Dan Legislatif Dalam Konteks Amandemen Uud 1945, Abdul Bari Azed

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

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Pembatasan Hak Presiden Untuk Menuangkan Kebijakannya Melalui Pembuatan Keppres, Heri Tjandrasari

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

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Efektivitas Dan Reorientasi Sistem Pendidikan Dalam Menciptakan Aparat Penegak Hukum Yang Terpercaya Dan Profesional, M. Hamdan

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

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Peranan Ketentuan More Valuable Right (Mfr) Pasal Vii (I) Dalam Pelaksanaan Konvensi New York 1958, Tineke Tuegeh Longdong

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

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Masalah-Masalah Kewarganegaraan Dalam Konteks Perubahan Uu Tentang Kewarganegaraan Ri, Abdul Bari Azed

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

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Penerapan Lembaga "Rechtsverwerking” Untuk Mengatasi Kelemahan Sistem Publikasi Negatif Dalam Pendaftaran Tanah, Arie S. Hutagalung

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

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Perbandingan Hukum Dan Pendidikan Hukum, Wahyono Darmabrata

Jurnal Hukum & Pembangunan

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