Constitutional Law Commons^™

Embracing Race-Conscious College Admissions Programs: How Fisher V. University Of Texas At Austin Redefines "Affirmative Action" As A Holistic Approach To Admissions That Ensures Equal, Not Preferential, Treatment, Nancy L. Zisk

Marquette Law Review

In Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, the United States Supreme Court affirmed well-established Supreme Court doctrine that race may be considered when a college or university decides whom to admit and whom to reject, as long as the consideration of race is part of a narrowly tailored holistic consideration of an applicant's many distinguishing features. The Court's latest decision heralds a new way of thinking about holistic race-conscious admissions programs. Rather than considering them as "affirmative action" plans that prefer any one applicant to the disadvantage of another, they should be viewed as the Court has described …

Science As Speech, Natalie Ram

All Faculty Scholarship

In April 2015, researchers in China reported the successful genetic editing of human embryos using a new technology that promised to make gene editing easier and more effective than ever before. In the United States, the announcement drew immediate calls to regulate or prohibit
outright any use of this technology to alter human embryos, even for purely research purposes. The fervent response to the Chinese announcement was, in one respect, unexceptional. Proposals to regulate or prohibit scientific research following a new breakthrough occur with substantial frequency. Innovations in cloning technology and embryonic stem cell research have prompted similar outcries, and …

A Tipsy Balance: Dormant Commerce Clause Limits On A State's Prerogatives Under The Twenty-First Amendment, Sherry Truong

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

The Eighteenth Amendment, which prohibited alcohol distribution and sales nationwide, signaled a shift in American culture that valued temperance and lawfulness. States exercised their expanded plenary powers by creating and enforcing laws banning alcohol within state borders, giving rise to continual challenges to regulatory schemes that arguably ran afoul of the Commerce Clause. Over a decade later, the prohibitionist movement faltered as public support waned, paving the way for the ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment and thereby abolishing Prohibition, leaving the Supreme Court with the task of balancing and enforcing limits on state power to regulate alcohol. In Granholm v. …

Dignity And The Death Penalty In The United States Supreme Court, Bharat Malkani

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

The concept of dignity is central to moral and legal issues about the death penalty. The United States Supreme Court has justified the use of dignity to retain the use of the death penalty. However, this article argues that dignity should not be used as a means to uphold the use of capital punishment. Instead, the concept of dignity involves the relationship between the "human dignity" of the people involved in the crime, the dignity of the wider community in whose name the death penalty is being imposed, and the dignity of the legal institution that administers capital punishment. As …

The Reproducibility Of Evolving Social Science Evidence And How It Shapes Equal Protection Jurisprudence, Penney P. Azizi

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

In Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court ruled that state laws establishing segregation in schools were unconstitutional, overturning Plessy v. Ferguson. In its decision, the Court discussed and cited to social science evidence, which garnered criticism from many legal scholars and ignited a debate as to whether the use of such evidence had a place in Equal Protection jurisprudence. Over thirty years later, in McClesky v. Kemp, the Court rejected the incorporation of social science data in its decision and, instead, applied the Intent Doctrine. Since McClesky, the Court has consistently upheld the use of the Intent Doctrine …

Protecting Our Defenders: The Need To Ensure Due Process For Women In The Military Before Amending The Selective Service Act, Kelsey L. Campbell

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

On January 1, 2016, all previously closed frontline military occupations were opened to women for the first time in U.S. history. Shortly thereafter, several military leaders and politicians stated that due to the change in policy, women were then "equal to men" in the military and, therefore, should be required to register for Selective Service-the system that maintains a list of Americans fit for service in the event a military draft is requested by the president. While the recent change extended employment opportunity to women within the military, a number of polices and laws prevent women from achieving equality in …

The Corporation In The Marketplace Of Ideas, 51 J. Marshall L. Rev. 19 (2017), Matthew Telleen

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Constitutionality Of Claiming Jail, Paul E. Salamanca

Kentucky Journal of Equine, Agriculture, & Natural Resources Law

No abstract provided.

An Undetectable Constitutional Violation, Jill Wieber Lens

Kentucky Law Journal

In Philip Morris USA v. Williams, the Supreme Court mandated that lower courts implement procedural protections to ensure that the jury, when awarding punitive damages, properly considers evidence of the defendant's harming nonparties. The jury can consider that evidence when determining the level of the defendant's reprehensibility, but punishment for causing that nonparty harm would violate the defendant's constitutional rights. Ten years later, this Article is the first to examine lower courts' attempts to comply with Philip Morris. The Article first seeks to clarify how evidence of nonparty harm can demonstrate reprehensibility, a clarification necessary before courts can even begin …

Anti-Gay Curriculum Laws, Clifford Rosky

Utah Law Faculty Scholarship

Since the Supreme Court’s invalidation of anti-gay marriage laws, scholars and advocates have begun discussing what issues the LGBT movement should prioritize next. This article joins that dialogue by developing the framework for a national campaign to invalidate anti-gay curriculum laws—statutes that prohibit or restrict the discussion of homosexuality in public schools. These laws are artifacts of a bygone era in which official discrimination against LGBT people was both lawful and rampant. But they are far more prevalent than others have recognized. In the existing literature, scholars and advocates have referred to these provisions as “no promo homo” laws and …

The Criminal Justice Black Box, Samuel R. Wiseman

Scholarly Publications

"Big data "-- the collection and statistical analysis of numerous digital data points -- has transformed the commercial and policy realms, changing firms' understanding of consumer behavior and improving problems ranging from traffic congestion to drug interactions. In the criminal justice field, police now use data from widely dispersed monitoring equipment, crime databases, and statistical analysis to predict where and when crimes will occur, and police body cameras have the potential to both provide key evidence and reduce misconduct. But in many jurisdictions, digital access to basic criminal court records remains surprisingly limited, and, in contrast to the civil context, …

Agent Narc Is Not Your Client: Reflections On The Proper Understanding Of The Relationship Between Prosecutors And Investigating Agencies, Carrie Leonetti

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

Assistant United States Attorneys increasingly conceive federal lawenforcement agents as their "clients" in criminal prosecutions. As both a descriptive and normative matter, this cannot be right. As a descriptive matter, official interpretations by the Department of Justice, the bench, the bar, and academic commentators almost always reject this "client" conception. It is inconsistent with the conception of prosecutorial obligations espoused by Brady v. Maryland, the American Bar Association model rules of ethics, federal statutes, and evidentiary law. As a normative matter, it could have serious implications for the law of attorney malpractice, prosecutorial immunity, the disclosure of favorable evidence to …

Family Responsibilities Discrimination In The Public Sector: Maximizing The Use Of Section 1983 To Enforce Constitutional Rights, Stephanie Dominguez

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

Family responsibilities discrimination ("FRD") claims have become a far more prevalent issue in employment cases. FRD is a workplace discrimination based on an employee's actual or perceived responsibility to care for a family member, including pregnancy discrimination. Although some states and local jurisdictions have passed legislation that specifically prohibits FRD in the workplace, no federal statute expressly prohibits FRD. This Note focuses on how state and local government employees who face FRD can use federal employment statutes such as 42 U.S.C. section 1983 ("Section 1983") to enforce their constitutional due process and equal protection rights. Part I of this Note …

Constitutional Protection For Future Generations From Climate Change, Ylan Nguyen

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

This Note offers a comprehensive look at the constitutional rights of future generations with respect to climate change. On August 12, 2015, Our Children's Trust filed a lawsuit against the federal government asserting that the government has failed to protect present and future generations from a human caused climate catastrophe. Inspired by Our Children's Trust's lawsuit, this Note seeks to establish that future generations are entitled to constitutional protection from climate change.

This Note consists of five sections aimed at showing that future generations are entitled constitutional protection from climate change and seeks to establish that the federal government has …

Constitutional Implications On Block Pricing In The California Water Market, Deeba Fahami

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

Due to the severity of the recent drought, those residing in California have realized the devastating effects of climate change. As California continues to experience amplified weather conditions and diminished water supply, the state must adapt to drought conditions and mitigate the impacts of droughts. In order to do so, municipal water pricing mechanisms that send price signals to consumers to conserve water should be enforced to ensure the longevity of California's water supply. In particular, increasing block-pricing structures are a favorable market-based solution that disincentivizes heavy water consumption while allowing essential water use to remain affordable.

The California Constitution …

An Offensive Mark On Offensive Lines: The Question Of Violating The First Amendment Through The Cancellation Of The Washington Redskins' Trademark, Gabriela M. Kirkland

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

There is a contentious debate about whether it is the government's place to determine whether offensive trademarks should receive legal protection. The Washington Redskins have been embroiled in a legal battle to protect the trademark for their team name. Currently, the cancellation of the Washington Redskins' trademark will not go into effect until the appeals process has been exhausted. The United States Supreme Court's decision on this issue will determine whether trademark owners will have the freedom to choose names without fear of losing legal protections. This Note will argue that though the Washington Redskins' may be considered an offensive …

Johnson V. United States: The Impact On Texas' Habitual Offender Statute, Emily Frances Lynch

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

In 2015, the Supreme Court struck down the residual clause of a major federal "habitual offender" statute in Johnson v. United States. The Court determined that combining the ambiguously worded "residual clause" with a pure "categorical approach" for interpreting qualifying crimes violated the notice provision of the Due Process Clause. Additionally, the Court identified an inability to create a clear and consistent standard of application for applying the residual clause as a second independent ground for holding the residual clause unconstitutional. Although the Court's holding specifically applied to a federal sentencing enhancement scheme, the holding is undoubtedly applicable to state …

Postmodern Free Expression: A Philosophical Rationale For The Digital Age, Stephen M. Feldman

Marquette Law Review

Three philosophical rationales--search-for-truth, self-governance, and self-fulfillment--have animated discussions of free expression for decades. Each rationale emerged and attained prominence in American jurisprudence in specific political and cultural circumstances. Moreover, each rationale shares a foundational commitment to the classical liberal (modernist) self. But the three traditional rationales are incompatible with our digital age. IN particular, the idea of the classical liberal self enjoying maximum liberty in a private sphere does not fit in the postmodern information society. The time for a new rationale has arrived. The same sociocultural conditions that undermine the traditional rationales suggest a self-emergence rationale built on the …

Brief Of Scholars Of The History And Original Meaning Of The Fourth Amendment As Amici Curiae In Support Of Petitioner: Carpenter V. United States, Margaret Hu

Scholarly Articles

Law enforcement officials wanted to learn where Petitioner Timothy Carpenter was at the time of certain robberies. To figure that out, they obtained records from his cellular service provider showing the movements of his cell phone. Examining those records, they were able to track Carpenter’s whereabouts over a four-month period. Obtaining and examining those records was a “search” in any normal sense of the word—a search of documents and a search for Carpenter and one of his personal effects. It was therefore a “search” within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment. When the Amendment was ratified, to “search” meant to …

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 …