Constitutional Law Commons^™

Section 7: Individual Rights, Institute Of Bill Of Rights Law, William & Mary Law School

Supreme Court Preview

No abstract provided.

September 23, 2010: Why Global Warming Cannot Be Happening, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Why Global Warming Cannot be Happening“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

The Holocaust Insurance Accountability Act Of 2010: Hearing Before The United States House Of Representatives, Committee On The Judiciary, Subcommittee On Commercial And Administrative Law. 111th Congress, 2nd Session, Michael P. Van Alstine

Congressional Testimony

The testimony explores the essential legal issue of the extent to which executive agreements related to H.R. 4596 have any force as law in the United States. The agreements made it clear that they did not, by themselves, “provide an independent legal basis for dismissal” of claims of Holocaust victims filed in any courts of the United States. Instead, the executive branch simply agreed to file a “statement of interest” in such lawsuits to the effect “that U.S. policy interests favor dismissal on any valid legal ground.” Some lower courts have nonetheless given the statements of interest preemptive effect as …

Salazar V. Buono And The Future Of The Establishment Clause, Christopher C. Lund

NULR Online

Commentators often complain that Establishment Clause jurisprudence is incoherent and unprincipled. That accusation usually seems overwrought—perhaps we should not expect so much consistency from a Court that decides only the cases that come before it, holds multiple values, operates with continually changing personnel, and gives significant but unquantifiable weight to precedent. Yet of the areas of Establishment Clause litigation, this complaint carries the most force in the context of passive-display cases—cases where the government passively displays a religious symbol, like a cross or a crèche, a Ten Commandments monument, or an illuminated Bible. Here the critics have a point.

Balanced Budget Amendment Is Dangerous Gimmick, Not Solution, Nathan B. Oman

Popular Media

No abstract provided.

September 18, 2010: How Should A Hallowed Secularist Live: Like A Believer, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “How Should a Hallowed Secularist Live: Like a Believer“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

Right Labels, Wrong Categories: Some Comments On Steven D. Smith's, 'Why Is Government Speech Problematic?', Alan K. Chen

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

This essay is a response to a paper presented by the noted First Amendment scholar, Steven D. Smith, at the 17th Ira C. Rothgerber, Jr. Constitutional Law Conference, “Government Speech in Transition.” In his thoughtful paper, Professor Smith addresses the theoretical underpinnings of free speech analysis as applied to the confounding problem of government speech. He argues that much of the confusion surrounding government speech can be addressed by reaching a clearer understanding of three problems – the unnecessary problem (a misguided commitment to government neutrality), an unnoticed problem (the issue of institutional capture), and the “big” problem (the lack …

Brief Of Amicus Curiae Id Software Llc In Support Of Respondents, Paul E. Salamanca, James T. Drakeley, D. Wade Cloud Jr., Kevin J. Keith, J. Griffin Lesher, Amy Yeung

Law Faculty Advocacy

No abstract provided.

September 16, 2010: What Is The Problem With Secularists?, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “What is the Problem with Secularists?“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

Salazar V. Buono: The Cross Between Endorsement And History, Mary Jean Dolan

NULR Online

The striking image of a white cross on stark rock, silhouetted against the desert sky, now symbolizes not only Christianity and, arguably, World War I military sacrifice, but also the equally dramatic, prolonged saga of the Salazar v. Buono litigation. The photos invoke the most recent Supreme Court battle in the legal and cultural war to define religion’s role in the public square. Competing approaches stress either preserving history or avoiding government endorsement of religion; this brief article analyzes a potential new synthesis suggested by Buono.

The original cross war memorial was erected in 1934 by a local group …

September 11, 2010: What Did Rick Santorum Mean?, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “What Did Rick Santorum Mean?“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

September 8, 2010: How Is Forgiveness Possible?, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “How is Forgiveness Possible?“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

September 6, 2010: George F. Will As A Know-Nothing, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “George F. Will as a Know-Nothing“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

September 4, 2010: The Reaction To Daniel Quinn, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “The Reaction to Daniel Quinn“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

Salazar V. Buono: Sacred Symbolism And The Secular State, Ian Bartrum

NULR Online

After oral argument, Salazar v. Buono looked like it might be a dud. As Adam Liptak observed in the New York Times, the Justices spent most of their energy pressing then-Solicitor General Elena Kagan and her opponent, Peter Eliasberg of the ACLU, on the case’s tangled procedural history, and “only Justice Antonin Scalia appeared inclined to reach the Establishment Clause question” that gave rise to the legal controversy. But, in the intervening months, the case has gotten more and more interesting. First, most members of the Court did—in at least some way—reach the substantive merits in the decision; …

September 1, 2010: Is Eat Pray Love Religious?, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Is Eat Pray Love Religious?“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

A Parent's Choice V. Governmental Regulations: A Bioethical Analysis In An Era Of Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis, Michael Gortakowski

Buffalo Public Interest Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Kids Are Different, Stephen St.Vincent

Michigan Law Review First Impressions

The Supreme Court recently handed down its decision in Graham v. Florida. The case involved a juvenile, Graham, who was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted as an adult of a nonhomicidal crime. The offense, a home invasion robbery, was his second; the first was attempted robbery. Due to Florida's abolition of parole, the judge's imposition of a life sentence meant that Graham was constructively sentenced to life without parole for a nonhomicide crime. Graham challenged this sentence as unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment. Somewhat surprisingly, the Supreme Court invalidated Graham's sentence by a 6-3 majority. By a …

Commerce In The Commerce Clause: A Response To Jack Balkin, Robert G. Natelson

Michigan Law Review First Impressions

The Constitution's original meaning is its meaning to those ratifying the document during a discrete time period: from its adoption by the Constitutional Convention in late 1787 until Rhode Island's ratification on May 29, 1790. Reconstructing it requires historical skills, including a comprehensive approach to sources. Jack Balkin's article Commerce fails to consider the full range of evidence and thereby attributes to the Constitution's Commerce Clause a scope that virtually no one in the Founding Era believed it had.

Overcoming Defiance Of The Constitution: The Need For A Federal Role In Protecting The Right To Counsel In Georgia, Stephen B. Bright, Lauren Sudeall Lucas

Faculty Publications By Year

In their issue brief, Mr. Bright and Ms. Lucas discuss the problems that have existed in Georgia’s indigent defense system since Gideon was handed down. They contend that “[a]ll three branches of Georgia’s government have failed in their constitutional responsibility to ensure that poor people accused of crimes are effectively represented by competent lawyers.” They also argue that “[t]he federal government, which has made immense contributions to the prosecution of criminal cases in Georgia through grants to law enforcement, prosecutors, and courts, shares responsibility for the integrity of Georgia’s criminal justice system and the enforcement of the constitutional right to …