Constitutional Law Commons^™

Dun & Bradstreet, Inc. V. Greenmoss Builders, Inc.: Does The Actual Malice Standard Of Gertz V. Robert Welch, Inc. Apply To Speech On Matters Of Purely Private Concern?, Jeff Boykin

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Supreme Court Refused To Expand The Right Of Privacy To Include Homosexual Sodomy In Bowers V. Hardwick, Richard J. Wittbrodt

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

In All Fairness: Us Airways V. Mccutchen And The Use Of Equitable Defenses In Erisa Reimbursement Claims, Ravi Patel

Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy Sidebar

This commentary previews an upcoming Supreme Court case, US Airways v. McCutchen, in which the Court will decide whether courts are permitted to use equitable principles to rewrite contractual language for benefit plans under ERISA. In so doing, the Court must decide whether to give effect to the Third Circuit's holding, that ERISA does permit this use of equitable principles, which runs contrary to the majority of circuits.

Civil Rights, Charter Schools, And Lessons To Be Learned, Derek W. Black

Florida Law Review

Two major structural shifts have occurred in education reform in the past two decades: the decline of civil rights reforms and the rise of charter schools. Courts and policy makers have relegated traditional civil rights reforms that address segregation, poverty, disability, and language barriers to near irrelevance, while charter schools and policies supporting their creation and expansion have rapidly increased and now dominate federal policy. Advocates of traditional civil rights reforms interpret the success of charter schools as a threat to their cause, and, consequently, have fought the expansion of charter schools. This Article argues that the civil rights community …

Seeing Red: The Legal Backlash Against Red-Light Cameras In Florida, Nicole Kuncl

Florida Law Review

This Note will examine Florida’s Mark Wandall Traffic Safety Act, which authorizes the use of traffic infraction detectors (red-light cameras) to enforce traffic laws. Florida, like many other states, currently finds itself in the midst of a heated debate over the use of redlight cameras to issue traffic citations. Strong arguments can be made both for and against this policy, but there are some who absolutely refuse to accept it, for both constitutional and practical reasons. If opponents hope to end all use of red-light cameras in the state, however, they will need to acknowledge that judicial opinion is overwhelmingly …

Confronting Coventurers: Coconspirator Hearsay, Sir Walter Raleigh, And The Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause, Ben Trachtenberg

Florida Law Review

Using the example of a recent major terrorism prosecution, this Article addresses “coventurer hearsay” in the context of the ongoing Confrontation Clause debate concerning the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Crawford v. Washington. Courts have recently begun admitting hearsay evidence pursuant to a revisionist interpretation of the coconspirator statement exception to the hearsay rule. Under the new “lawful joint venture” theory, a hearsay statement may be admitted as a coconspirator statement if made in furtherance of a “joint undertaking”—defined as pretty much any cooperative activity—even if the “conspiracy” is not illegal. Because this new interpretation of an old …

No History, No Certainty, No Legitimacy . . . No Problem: Originalism And The Limits Of Legal Theory, Gary Lawson

Florida Law Review

Professor Martin H. Redish is on the warpath. Like General Sherman marching toward Atlanta (or Justin Tuck marching toward Tom Brady), Professor Redish, together with Matthew Arnould, lays waste to every constitutional theory that he encounters. Originalism, with its “belief that constitutional interpretation should be characterized exclusively by an effort to determine the Constitution’s meaning by means of some form of historical inquiry,” generates “an often contrived and opaque veil of historical inquiry” that provides “an ideal smokescreen behind which judges may pursue their personal[,] moral, political[,] or economic goals with relative impunity.” Nontextual theories, for their part, “permit[] selective …

The Elusive Quest For Value Neutral Judging: A Response To Redish And Arnould, Erwin Chemerinsky

Florida Law Review

In October 2012, the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin and again faced the question of whether colleges and universities can consider race as a factor in admissions decisions to benefit minorities and enhance diversity. As was true when the Court last considered this issue in Grutter v. Bollinger in 2003, the central question for the Justices was whether colleges and universities have a compelling interest in having a diverse student body. As I read the paper by Martin Redish and Mathew Arnould, I wondered how they would have the Court …

Judicial Review, Constitutional Interpretation, And The Democratic Dilemma: Proposing A “Controlled Activism” Alternative, Martin H. Redish, Matthew B. Arnould

Florida Law Review

No problem generates more debate among constitutional scholars than how to approach constitutional interpretation. This Article critiques two representative theories (or families of theories), originalism and nontextualism, and offers a principled alternative, which we call “controlled activism.” By candidly acknowledging the judge’s creative role in constitutional lawmaking, controlled activism promises real limits on judicial discretion.

Intramilitary Tort Immunity: A Constitutional Justification , Kevin M. Fillo

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Nollan V. California Coastal Commission: You Can't Always Get What You Want, But Sometimes You Get What You Need, Timothy A. Bittle

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Benign Sex Discrimination Revisited: Constitutional And Moral Issues In Banning Sex-Selection Abortion , George Schedler

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

January 24, 2013: What Was President Obama’S Speech About?, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “What Was President Obama’s Speech About?“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

This Land Was Made For You And Me: Public Participation In Land Use Decisions In Singapore, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

No abstract provided.

Gottesman V. Vardi, Uzi Vogelman, Salim Joubran, Noam Sohlberg

Translated Opinions

[This abstract is not part of the Court's opinion and is provided for the reader's convenience. It has been translated from a Hebrew version prepared by Nevo Press Ltd. and is used with its kind permission.]

The Second Appellant (hereinafter referred to as "Gottesman") is an architect who designed a unique dwelling (hereinafter referred to as "the house") for the Respondent (hereinafter referred to as "Vardi"). Gottesman asked to photograph the house in order to showcase it on his firm's website. Vardi refused. In addition, Gottesman published computer simulations of Vardi's house on the website without giving details that would …

Thompson V. Oklahoma: Debating The Constitutionality Of Juvenile Executions, Susan M. Simmons

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Coy V. Iowa: A Constitutional Right Of Intimidation, John A. Mayers

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

United States V. Kozminski: On The Threshold Of Involuntary Servitude , Kenneth T. Koonce Jr.

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

States Escape Liability For Copyright Infringement?, Michelle V. Francis

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Judicial Sentencing Error: Thomas V. Morris And The Double Jeopardy Clause , Paul G. Flynn

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.