Constitutional Law Commons^™

Keynote Address, Justice John Paul Stevens (Ret.)

University of Miami Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Limits Of Education Purpose Limitations, Elana Zeide

University of Miami Law Review

While student privacy has been a public issue for half a century, its contours change in response to social norms, technological capabilities, and political ideologies. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) seeks to prevent inaccurate or inappropriate information about students from being incorporated into pedagogical, academic, and employment decisionmaking. It does so by con- trolling who can access education records and, broadly, for what purposes.

New education technologies take advantage of cloud computing and big data analytics to collect and share an unprecedented amount of information about students in class- rooms. Schools rely on outside, often for-profit, entities …

Reforming Sec Alj Proceedings, Joanna Howard

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Note considers the current constitutional challenges to SEC administrative proceedings and suggests process reforms to enhance fairness for respondents. Challenges have developed since the Dodd-Frank Act expanded the SEC’s ability to use administrative proceedings. Arguments that there is a pre-existing flaw in the method of appointing administrative law judges provide the most potential for success. The Tenth Circuit’s December 2016 decision against the SEC in Bandimere has created a split, diverging from the D.C. Circuit’s analysis of that question in Lucia. Resolution by the Supreme Court may be inevitable. Even if the challengers do ultimately succeed, this will …

Preventing An Air Panopticon: A Proposal For Reasonable Legal Restrictions On Aerial Surveillance, Jake Laperruque

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Pricing The Fourth Amendment, Miriam H. Baer

William & Mary Law Review

Critics have long decried the Fourth Amendment’s lack of an adequate remedy to secure its compliance. Neither the exclusionary rule nor the threat of civil liability deters police misconduct, leaving scholars to cast about for alternative measures. The emphasis on penalties, however, overlooks a different problem: detection. Because of policing’s fast-paced nature, even so-called “flagrant” Fourth Amendment violations trigger insufficient liability due to low probabilities of detection.

This Article addresses this problem by drawing on the Pigouvian tax literature. The Pigouvian tax—sometimes referred to as a “corrective tax”—is a pricing instrument imposed by regulators in an amount equal to the …

Legislative Exhaustion, Michael Sant’Ambrogio

William & Mary Law Review

Legislative lawsuits are a recurring by-product of divided government. Yet the Supreme Court has never definitively resolved whether Congress may sue the executive branch over its execution of the law. Some scholars argue that Congress should be able to establish Article III standing when its interests are harmed by executive action or inaction just like private parties. Others, including most prominently the late Justice Antonin Scalia, argue that intergovernmental disputes do not constitute Article III “cases” or “controversies” at all. Rather, the Framers envisioned the political branches resolving their differences through nonjudicial means.

This Article proposes a different approach to …

Mccrory V. Harris: Constitutional Prohibitions On Racial Classifications And The Requirements Of The Voting Rights Act In Redistricting, Alex Dietz

Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy Sidebar

In McCrory v. Harris, the Supreme Court is faced with yet another redistricting case: Are the first and twelfth Congressional Districts in North Carolina the result of impermissible racial gerrymandering? The parties' dispute centers around two questions: In what circumstances is race the predominant factor in a state legislature's redistricting plan? And in what circumstances is the use of race as a predominant factor in redistricting plans an impermissible racial gerrymander? This Commentary will provide a summary and analysis of the arguments presented for the Court's review, and argue that both North Carolina Congressional Districts should be struck down …

Why You Should Doubt Reports That The First Amendment Would Protect Gen. Flynn From Prosecution Under The Logan Act, Timothy Zick

Popular Media

No abstract provided.

Do Foreign Nationals Really Have Constitutional Rights?, John M. Greabe

Law Faculty Scholarship

[Excerpt] "Last month, President Trump issued an executive order that has become known as the "travel ban." Among other things, the ban sought to temporarily exclude from the United States foreign nationals from seven predominantly Muslim countries.

Almost immediately, a number of plaintiffs sued and succeeded in obtaining "stays" preventing the ban from going into effect until the cases can be tried. Courts granted these stays because they found that the ban was likely to violate, among other things, anti-discrimination principles embedded within the First and Fifth Amendments to the United States Constitution.

February 26, 2017: What’S The Worst Thing President Trump Is Doing?, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “What’s the Worst Thing President Trump is Doing?“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

February 22, 2017: Harry Jaffa, No Trump Supporter, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Harry Jaffa, No Trump Supporter“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

Moore V. Texas: Balancing Medical Advancements With Judicial Stability, Emily Taft

Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy Sidebar

In Moore v. Texas, the Supreme Court will consider whether the Eighth Amendment requires States to adhere to a particular organization’s most recent clinical definition of intellectual disability in determining whether a person is exempt from the death penalty under Atkins v. Virginia and Hall v. Florida. Generally, the Supreme Court has carved away at the death penalty with each new case it takes. This commentary argues that the Supreme Court should not continue that trend in this case and should find for Texas because the state’s intellectual disability determination is consistent with the Eighth Amendment under Atkins …

Flight Risk Or Danger To The Community? Rodriguez And The Protection Of Civil Liberties In The U.S. Immigration System, Charlie Kazemzadeh

Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy Sidebar

Upon arrival to the United States, foreign nationals are required to prove beyond a doubt that they comply with the various requirements for admission into the country. For those who fail to meet this standard, there are only two options: accept immediate removal to their country of origin, or fight removal. For many who contest their deportation, their fate is civil incarceration until their case is adjudicated, which can take several years. The case of Jennings v. Rodriguez addresses the constitutionality of prolonged civil incarceration without the access of mandatory, periodic bond hearings for these individuals.

February 18, 2017: What The Rule Of Law Looks Like, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “What the Rule of Law Looks Like“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

Political Ripples Ahead For Supreme Court Confirmation, Michael S. Ariens

Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.

Newsroom: Slate: Goldstein On Travel Ban 02-17-2017, Jared A. Goldstein

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Breaking The Cycle: Countering Voter Initiatives And The Underrepresentation Of Racial Minorities In The Political Process

Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy

This Article examines issues of inequality in education, minority representation, and access to the political process. The Article considers constitutional protections and other legal mechanisms available to racial minorities to nullify or circumnavigate majoritarian voter initiatives that seek to override federal constitutional guarantees and United States Supreme Court holdings on the validity of the use of race in university admissions decisions. Voter initiatives have been used to undermine the socio-economic and political interests of vulnerable communities. In the education realm, affirmative action opponents are increasingly adopting this instrument to defeat race-conscious admissions policies. This Article focuses on several seminal cases …

Enlightened Originalism, Ian Farrell

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

This Article proposes a novel, unique theory of constitutional interpretation, namely “enlightened originalism.” According to enlightened originalism, when contemporary constitutional actors give meaning to the terms of the Constitution, they should use the meaning those terms had when the relevant provisions were originally adopted. But we do not find the original meaning of terms such as “equal protection,” “due process,” and “cruel and unusual punishment” by seeking the meaning intended by the relevant framers or ratifiers; nor by looking to any original public meaning. These terms incorporate moral concepts, the meaning of which is objective and independent of the views …

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."

February 12, 2017: The Ninth Circuit Decision, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “The Ninth Circuit Decision“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.