Constitutional Law Commons^™

Funding Gideon's Promise By Viewing Excessive Caseloads As Unethical Conflicts Of Interest, Heidi Reamer Anderson

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

Some states recently have attempted to legislate around a defendant's constitutional right to effective assistance of counsel via a novel two-step method. Step one is to allocate insufficient funds for public defense, which results in excessive caseloads for public defenders. Step two-the step that has slipped by without sufficient notice or criticism-is to bar a public defender from withdrawing from representation based on his excessive caseload. Ultimately, this statutory two-step further entrenches the systematic deprivation of defendants' Sixth Amendment rights to effective assistance.

In this article, I urge courts to "constitutionalize" the excessive caseload problem via two steps of their …

(Re)Complexioning A Simple Tale: Race, Speech, And Colored Leadership, Angela Mae Kupenda

Journal Articles

Rather than acting as a whitening agent, the law should reflect the natural (re)complexioning of society and adapt to the melting pot that is America. The term "(re)complexioning" is used because the idea that the complexion of America was white at the beginning is false. Prior to the "discovery" of America, native citizens were indeed more deeply complexioned than Whites. Any (re)complexioning of the law since, to reflect the colors of America, then, is just to resort to the recognition of factual premises unjustly rejected when America was usurped from those of color and denied to others of color after …

Proceduralisation's Triumph And Engagement's Promise In Socio-Economic Rights Litigation, Brian E. Ray

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Three of the Constitutional Court's socio-economic rights decisions of the 2009 term are the culmination of a strong trend towards the proceduralisation of socio-economic rights that many commentators have argued fails to fulfill their original promise. This triumph of proceduralisation undeniably restricts the direct transformative potential of these rights. But there is another aspect to this trend - an aspect reflected in the Court's emphasis on participatory democracy and the ability of procedural remedies to democratise the rights-enforcement process. This article considers what the triumph of proceduralisation means for future social and economic rights litigation and argues that properly developed …

Demosprudence In Comparative Perspective, Brian E. Ray

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

This article critically examines the debate over demosprudence. It adopts a comparative - specifically South African - perspective to consider what it means for a court to act demosprudentially and why the practice may have particular value in developing democracies like South Africa. Guinier connects demosprudence to the broader concept of democratic constitutionalism developed by Reva Siegel and Robert Post. Democratic constitutionalism in turn is part of what Jack Balkin describes as "a renaissance of liberal constitutional thought that has emerged in the last five years." This renaissance is characterized by three major themes: constitutional fidelity, democratic constitutionalism, and redemptive …

Taking Stare Decisis Seriously: A Cautionary Tale For A Progressive Supreme Court, James G. Wilson

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

To better understand stare decisis and to normatively explore our constitutional future, this article assumes that President Obama's election signifies a constitutional shift similar to the one occurring after President Nixon won in 1968. From that contentious, self-righteous era to the present day, all American Presidents selected Supreme Court nominees who were more conservative than the members of the Warren Court majority, much less that aggressively liberal duo, Justices Brennan and Marshall. Justice Stevens, appointed by the moderate Republican President Gerald Ford, is arguably the most liberal member on the Court. It is impossible to predict how far the country …

Framing The Fourth, Tracey Maclin, Julia Mirabella

UF Law Faculty Publications

Book Review of "The Fourth Amendment: Origins and Original Meaning", 602-1791. By William J. Cuddihy. Oxford and New York: Oxford Press. 2009. Pp. lxviii, 940. $165. History is again an important element of the Supreme Court’s Fourth Amendment analysis. In Wyoming v. Houghton, Justice Scalia’s opinion for the Court announced that a historical inquiry is the starting point for every Fourth Amendment case. William Cuddihy’s book on the origins and original meaning of the Fourth Amendment will undoubtedly assist the Justices (and everyone else) in understanding the history of search and seizure law. Cuddihy’s historical analysis is unprecedented. As Justice …

The Unconstitutionality Of Oklahoma's Sq 755 And Other Provisions Like It That Bar State Courts From Considering International Law, Penny M. Venetis

Cleveland State Law Review

This paper will discuss SQ 755's many legal deficiencies, focusing primarily on its constitutional infirmities. First, SQ 755 is a clear violation of the Supremacy Clause of Article VI of the U.S. Constitution. The prohibition on looking to international law requires that Oklahoma courts disregard U.S. treaty obligations, and the law of nations (also known as customary international law), which are all binding on American courts. Second, SQ 755 unconstitutionally limits a state's duty to give full faith and credit to the judicial decisions of other states. The law is clear that no state has the authority to condition its …

Why Reparations To African Descendants In The United States Are Essential To Democracy, Adjoa A. Aiyetoro

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Brady-Based Prosecutorial Misconduct Claims, Buckley, And The Arkansas Coram Nobis Remedy, J. Thomas Sullivan

Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Preface, Frank H. Wu

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

No abstract provided.

Democracy, Gender Equality, And Customary Law: Constitutionalizing Internal Cultural Disruption, Susan H. Williams

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

Customary law often includes gender discriminatory rules that violate women's rights under constitutional equality guarantees. Dialogic democracy theory offers valuable tools that can help a legal system both to protect customary law and to protect the equality of its women citizens. By focusing on the need for challenge and on the dialogue within the cultural community, the legal system can create incentives and conditions to support the capacity of women to shape the customary law of their own communities. This approach is necessary because legal rights for women, when imposed by the larger society, often result in backlash within minority …

Abuse Of Power And Corruption In Kenya: Will The New Constitution Enhance Government Accountability, Migai Akech

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

This article suggests that corruption in the Kenyan government is largely an institutional problem, rather than a cultural one. It attributes such corruption to the predominance of arbitrary power, especially in the statutory (as opposed to constitutional) order. The statutory order grants executive, legislative, and judicial actors broad powers without establishing effective procedural mechanisms to circumscribe their exercise. In the absence of effective regulation, law often aids the abuse of power and corruption. Although the new constitution establishes principles and mechanisms that may enhance government accountability, the statutory order must be aligned with the values and principles of this new …

Measure 26: Fear Mongering, Self-Execution & Potential Implications For Birth Control, Jonathan Will

Journal Articles

Depending on what we mean by “fertilization,” there could be impacts on many reproductive choices including birth control, fertility treatments like in vitro fertilization (IVF), and of course, women’s ability to choose to have an abortion. Certain proponents of Measure 26 suggest that even discussing these implications (other than perhaps abortion) amounts to fear mongering. While primarily focusing on birth control, the goal of this essay is to introduce readers to why the concerns regarding these reproductive choices are very real, and how these concerns are further complicated by the issue of whether, if passed, Measure 26 would be deemed …

Rethinking Proportionality Under The Cruel And Unusual Punishments Clause, John F. Stinneford

UF Law Faculty Publications

Although a century has passed since the Supreme Court started reviewing criminal punishments for excessiveness under the Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause, this area of doctrine remains highly problematic. The Court has never answered the claim that proportionality review is illegitimate in light of the Eighth Amendment’s original meaning. The Court has also adopted an ever-shifting definition of excessiveness, making the very concept of proportionality incoherent. Finally, the Court’s method of measuring proportionality is unreliable and self contradictory. As a result, a controlling plurality of the Court has insisted that proportionality review be limited to a narrow class of cases. …

Rebel Without A Clause: The Irrelevance Of Article Vi To Constitutional Supremecy, Gary S. Lawson

Faculty Scholarship

With Stare Decisis and Constitutional Text, 1 Jonathan Mitchell has produced what I think is the most interesting and creative textual defense2 (or at least partial defense) to date of the use of horizontal precedent in federal constitutional cases.3 Mitchell’s careful analysis of the Supremacy Clause is fascinating and instructive, and he does an impeccable job of drawing out the implications of his premise that the Supremacy Clause prescribes only a very limited choice-of-law rule—a rule that does not, by its own terms, specifically elevate the Constitution above federal statutes and treaties. His innovative and intriguing framework yields four distinct …

Levinson Is To Mr. Justice "Isaiah" As St. Paul Was To The Prophet Isaiah, Richard H. Weisberg

Articles

The article critiques Professor Sanford Levinson's defense of compromise in constitutionalism, arguing that while compromise is ubiquitous, it is not inherently just or morally sound. The author, Richard Weisberg, contends that Levinson's flexible hermeneutic approach risks degrading textual integrity and ethical standards, particularly when compromise is elevated to a norm. Weisberg advocates for maintaining the integrity of sacred and legal texts, emphasizing the dangers of interpretive flexibility, especially in emergencies, and draws parallels to historical examples like Vichy France's complicity in Nazi policies.

Guardianship For Persons With Mental Illness - A Legal And Appropriate Alternative?, Leslie Salzman

Articles

The article critiques the U.S. guardianship system for individuals with psychosocial disabilities, arguing that it often unnecessarily restricts their autonomy by removing their legal right to make decisions. It advocates for supported decision-making models as a less restrictive alternative, aligning with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The analysis emphasizes the importance of maximizing integration and participation in social, economic, and civic life, while highlighting the need for safeguards to ensure effective support without undue bureaucratic complexity.

About Face: Using Moral Rights To Increase Copyright Enforcement In China, Heidi Hansen Kalscheur

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

While copyright protections are provided by nations around the world, the application and enforcement of copyright protections are not always consistent. Even between nations that have copyright treaties, conflicts have not always been avoided. With some nations, the United States has worked to increase copyright protections by lobbying for the adoption of a Western-style copyright law because United States economic policy seeks robust protections for international and domestic intellectual property.

A more effective way to achieve consistent application and enforcement of copyright protections specifically in China may be possible by encouraging a practice widely practiced by civil law nations: basing …

The California Resale Royalty Act: Droit De [Not So] Suite, Emily Eschenbach Barker

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

It is a generally accepted principal that an artist owns certain rights to exploit the economic value of his works. In the United States an artist's rights are protected by various provisions of the federal copyright laws. These pecuniary rights exist largely in the same form across the globe, however, some countries, and now the state of California, have begun to recognize personal rights of artists in their work. These moral rights, or droit moral, are retained by the artist even after a work is sold. The particular moral right that my manuscript is concerned with is the droit de …

Examining Copyright Exemptions For Web Mashups In The International Context: Applying American Constitutional Considerations As Guideposts For The Trips Three-Step Test, James De Los Reyes

UC Law Constitutional Quarterly

The proliferation of web mashup websites, which combine information from various online sources into new integrated works, has spurred the emergence of a mashup industry and a culture that uses the medium as a new avenue for expression and communication. By remixing content and presenting information in new ways, web mashups can benefit their creators, consumers, and even the public at large. However, concerns regarding possible copyright infringement have also become more prominent as web mashup creators incorporate greater amounts of online data and content-which may belong to other copyright holders-into their composite works with increasing ease. To determine whether …