Constitutional Law Commons^™

Quick Change Justice, Sonja R. West, Dahlia Lithwick

Popular Media

The architecture of the U.S. Supreme Court Building is rife with turtles. There are turtles holding up the lampposts in the courtyard and turtles engraved in the stone decor. You can buy turtle coffee mugs at the gift shop. The turtle is said to represent the slow and deliberate pace of justice. This is an institution, the turtle tells us, that moves slowly, deliberately, and removed from the knee-jerk pace of the political branches.

Yet moments before they adjourned for their summer recess, the justices proved they can act quite quickly and recklessly when it comes to violating the terms …

Summary Of Jones V. Eighth Jud. Dist. Ct., 130 Nev. Adv. Op. 53, Kylee Gloekner

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Court determined (1) whether a criminal defendant’s access to the courts can be restricted by the district court when he or she is challenging a judgment of conviction and sentence or the computation of time served under a judgment of conviction; and (2) whether there is an established approach courts should take when restricting the access.

July 1, 2014: Another Reason To Hate Religion, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Another Reason to Hate Religion“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

Corrosion Of The Confrontation Clause In North Carolina: A Comparison Of State V. Brewington And State V. Ortiz-Zape With State V. Craven, Michelle M. Weiner

North Carolina Central Law Review

No abstract provided.

Raising The Floor Of Company Conduct: Deriving Public Policy From The Constitution In An Employment-At-Will Arena, Steven J. Mulroy, Amy H. Moorman

Florida State University Law Review

No abstract provided.

The New Racial Justice: Moving Beyond The Equal Protection Clause To Achieve Equal Protection, Emily Chiang

Florida State University Law Review

Since handing down Washington v. Davis and Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development, the United States Supreme Court has significantly curtailed the ability of plaintiffs to bring disparate impact claims under the Equal Protection Clause. Many academics continue to talk about the standards governing intent and disparate impact. Some recent scholarship recognizes that reformers on the ground have shifted away from equality-based claims altogether. This Article contends that civil rights advocates replaced the old equal protection framework some time ago and that they did so deliberately and with great success. It expands upon and refines the strategy shift some …

The Visible Effects Of An Invisible Constitution: The Contested State Of Transdniestria's Search For Recognition Through International Negotiations, Nadejda Mazur

Maurer Theses and Dissertations

Most scholars agree that modern states share several defining characteristics: a population, territory, government, and the capacity to enter into international relations. More recently, this list has expanded to include the criteria of democracy, the rule of law, and the protection of human rights. These traditional and contemporary criteria for statehood are likewise essential for settling the status of de facto states, entities that seek international recognition yet are rebuffed by the world community.

By examining the criteria for international recognition from the perspective of constitutional law, this dissertation reveals the existing but overlooked relationship between the recognition process and …

Keynote Speech: A Letter From The Original Cause Lawyer, F. Michael Higginbotham

All Faculty Scholarship

This symposium speech is a short piece which talks about why there is a need for law students to become cause lawyers, the symposium being: cause lawyers and cause lawyering in the sixty years after Brown v. Board of Education. The writer creates an allegorical scene where he's snowed in in his home during a snowstorm, lightning strikes his computer, and the computer comes to life in the form a message being typed, and "channeled" to him by Thurgood Marshall. The former Justice of the Supreme Court proceeds to state the many reasons why there is still a need for …

A Common Law Constitutionalism For The Right To Education, Scott R. Bauries

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

This Article makes two claims, one descriptive and the other normative. The descriptive claim is that individual rights to education have not been realized under state constitutions because the currently dominant structure of education reform litigation prevents such realization. In state constitutional education clause claims, both pleadings and adjudication generally focus on the equality or adequacy of the system as a whole, rather than on any particular student's educational resources or attainment. The Article traces the roots of the currently dominant systemic approach, and finds these roots in federal institutional reform litigation. This systemic focus leads to a systemic, rather …

Constitutional Criminal Procedure, Charles E. Cox Jr.

Mercer Law Review

Each year the United States Supreme Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit issue numerous decisions concerning the rights afforded to criminal defendants by the United States Constitution. This Article surveys selected Eleventh Circuit and Supreme Court decisions issued in 2013 that will likely be of interest to criminal law practitioners.

The Price Of Privacy, 1973 To The Present, Mary Ziegler

Scholarly Publications

The legal academy has not been kind to the privacy rationale set forth in Roe v. Wade. Roe is seen to have promoted a single-issue agenda based on the importance of privacy and choice. Because Roe so quickly came under attack, its defense became a priority, and activists speaking out in favor of the opinion felt encouraged to defend it on its own terms. If the abortion issue were a matter of ordinary politics rather than constitutional law, the argument goes, activists would be free to develop more compelling claims for reproductive rights and to pursue a broader reproductive-health …

Unpopular Constitutionalism, Mila Versteeg

Indiana Law Journal

Constitutions are commonly thought to express nations’ highest values. They are often proclaimed in the name of “We the People” and are regarded—by scholars and the general public alike—as an expression of the people’s views and values. This Article shows empirically that this widely held image of constitutions does not correspond with the reality of constitution making around the world. The Article contrasts the constitutional-rights choices of ninety countries between 1981 and 2010 with data from nearly one-half million survey responses on cultural, religious, and social values conducted over the same period. It finds, surprisingly, that in this period, the …

Ethics, Advocacy, And The Child Client, Suparna Malempati

Cardozo Public Law, Policy & Ethics Journal

The article argues that lawyers representing children in abuse and neglect proceedings should act as traditional advocates, respecting the child's autonomy and adhering to ethical standards, rather than adopting a paternalistic role akin to a guardian ad litem. This approach ensures that children's voices are heard and their legal rights are protected.

Emerging Patterns Of Global Constitutionalization: Toward A Conceptual Framework, Karolina Milewicz

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

Global constitutionalization is a recent phenomenon that is decisively changing the character of the international order. This argument was put forward recently by scholars of international law and has gained significance in the institutional school of thought. However, the notion of "global constitutionalization" is often used imprecisely and has so far been largely neglected in the field of international relations. It still lacks a consistent and operational definition, which would enable political scientists and international relations scholars to conduct empirical research. This article explores a preliminary framework for the concept of global constitutionalization.

Global Constitutionalism – Process and Substance, Symposium. …

North Carolina's Declaration Of Rights: Fertile Ground In A Federal Climate, Grant E. Buckner

North Carolina Central Law Review

No abstract provided.

Systematic Ict Surveillance By Employers: Are Your Personal Activities Private?, Arlene J. Nicholas

Faculty and Staff - Articles & Papers

This paper reviews the various methods of information and communications technology (ICT) that is used by employers to peer into the work lives and, in some cases, private lives of employees. Some of the most common methods – such as computer and Internet monitoring, video surveillance, and global positioning systems (GPS) – have resulted in employee disciplines that have been challenged in courts. This paper provides background information on United States (U.S.) laws and court cases which, in this age of easily accessible information, mostly support the employer. Assessments regarding regulations and policies, which will need to be continually updated …

Graphic Labels, Dire Warnings And The Facile Assumption Of Factual Content In Compelled Commercial Speech, Nat Stern

Scholarly Publications

No abstract provided.

Gideon V. Wainwright--From A 1963 Perspective, Jerold H. Israel

Articles

Gideon v. Wainwright is more than a “landmark” Supreme Court ruling in the field of constitutional criminal procedure. As evidenced by the range of celebrators of Gideon’s Fiftieth Anniversary (extending far beyond the legal academy) and Gideon’s inclusion in the basic coverage of high school government courses, Gideon today is an icon of the American justice system. I have no quarrel with that iconic status, but I certainly did not see any such potential in Gideon when I analyzed the Court’s ruling shortly after it was announced in March of 1963. I had previously agreed to write an article for …

The Mandatory Death Penalty In Ghana: A Comparative Constitutional Perspective On Dexter Johnson V. Republic, Andrew Novak

Cardozo Public Law, Policy & Ethics Journal

The article examines the Supreme Court of Ghana's decision to uphold the mandatory death penalty, contrasting it with the global trend towards abolition. It highlights the tension between the court's textual interpretation of the constitution and international human rights pressures, emphasizing the need for legislative reform to align with human rights standards.

Mandatory Life Without Parole Sentences For The Intellectually Disabled: A Violation Of The Eighth Amendment, Nick Bonham

Cardozo Public Law, Policy & Ethics Journal

The note argues that mandatory life without parole (LWOP) sentences for intellectually disabled individuals violate the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. It contends that such sentences fail to account for the diminished culpability and rehabilitative potential of the intellectually disabled, rendering them disproportionate and unconstitutional. The analysis builds on precedents like Atkins v. Virginia, Graham v. Florida, and Miller v. Alabama, which established protections for groups with reduced moral responsibility. The note advocates for individualized sentencing to align with evolving standards of decency and constitutional safeguards.