International Stalemate: The Need For A Structural Revamp Of The U.N. Security Council,
2016
Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
International Stalemate: The Need For A Structural Revamp Of The U.N. Security Council, Jessica Elbaz
Cardozo Public Law, Policy & Ethics Journal
The note advocates for urgent reform of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), focusing on abolishing the veto power of the five permanent members (P5) and expanding membership to improve representation and efficiency. It argues that the current structure often leads to gridlock, hindering effective action on global crises, and proposes replacing the veto with a composite majority voting system. The analysis emphasizes the need for reforms to address modern challenges, ensure timely interventions, and prevent violations of the UN Charter’s principles of peace and security.
Representation On The Courts? The Effects Of Trial Judges' Sex And Race,
2016
Washington University in St. Louis School of Law
Representation On The Courts? The Effects Of Trial Judges' Sex And Race, Christina L. Boyd
Scholarship@WashULaw
Scholars have long sought to resolve whether and to what degree political actor diversity influences the outputs of political institutions like legislatures, administrative agencies, and courts. When it comes to the judiciary, diverse judges may greatly affect outcomes. Despite this potential, no consensus exists for whether judicial diversity affects behavior in trial courts -- i.e., the stage where the vast majority of litigants interact with the judicial branch. After addressing the research design limitations in previous trial court-diversity studies, the statistical results here indicate that a trial judge's sex and race have very large effects on his or her decision …
The Comparative Outputs Of Magistrate Judges,
2016
Washington University in St. Louis School of Law
The Comparative Outputs Of Magistrate Judges, Christina L. Boyd
Scholarship@WashULaw
Do federal magistrate judges make different decisions and produce distinct judicial outputs from district judges? To provide initial empirical evidence on this question, this study utilizes federal district court data covering issue areas including employment discrimination, broader civil rights, intellectual-property rights, and personal-injury torts. The data indicate that magistrate judges are actively involved in civil cases, with as many as sixty-seven percent of cases having one or more magistrate judges serving in some role. These magistrate judges commonly preside over settlement conferences, decide discovery motions, issue reports and recommendations on dispositive motions, preside over status, management, and scheduling conferences, and …
In The Shadows Of Sunlight: The Effects Of Transparency On State Political Campaigns,
2016
University of Southern California Gould School of Law
In The Shadows Of Sunlight: The Effects Of Transparency On State Political Campaigns, Abby K. Wood, Douglas M. Spencer
Publications
In recent years, the courts have invalidated a variety of campaign finance laws while simultaneously upholding disclosure requirements. Courts view disclosure as a less-restrictive means to root out corruption while critics claim that disclosure chills speech and deters political participation. Using individual-level contribution data from state elections between 2000 and 2008, we find that the speech-chilling effects of disclosure are negligible. On average, less than one donor per candidate is likely to stop contributing when the public visibility of campaign contributions increases. Moreover, we do not observe heterogeneous effects for small donors or ideological outliers despite an assumption in First …
Separations Of Wealth: Inequality And The Erosion Of Checks And Balances,
2016
University of Michigan Law School
Separations Of Wealth: Inequality And The Erosion Of Checks And Balances, Kate Andrias
Articles
American government is dysfunctional: Gridlock, filibusters, and expanding presidential power, everyone seems to agree, threaten our basic system of constitutional governance. Who, or what, is to blame? In the standard account, the fault lies with the increasing polarization of our political parties. That standard story, however, ignores an important culprit: Concentrated wealth and its organization to achieve political ends. The only way to understand our current constitutional predicament—and to rectify it—is to pay more attention to the role that organized wealth plays in our system of checks and balances. This Article shows that the increasing concentration of wealth and political …
How Presidents Interpret The Constitution,
2016
University of Colorado Law School
How Presidents Interpret The Constitution, Harold H. Bruff
Publications
No abstract provided.
Australians' "Right" To Be Bigoted: Protecting Minorities' Rights From The Tyranny Of The Majority,
2016
Brooklyn Law School
Australians' "Right" To Be Bigoted: Protecting Minorities' Rights From The Tyranny Of The Majority, Jillian Rudge
Brooklyn Journal of International Law
Australia’s Racial Discrimination Act (RDA) is a federal statute prohibiting behavior that offends, insults, humiliates, or intimidates people based on their race, nationality, ethnicity, or immigration status. It appropriately limits the right to freedom of expression where the exercise of that right encroaches on other, equally fundamental rights to equality and freedom from discrimination. The RDA is one of Australia’s few human rights laws focused on fighting racism. It is especially important for protecting the rights of minorities since Australia lacks a constitutional or federal bill of rights. Unfortunately, in 2014 and 2015, conservative politicians called for a repulsion of …
A Tribute To Judge Kaye,
2016
Brooklyn Law School
A Tribute To Judge Kaye, Nicholas W. Allard
Brooklyn Law Review
This collection of remarks from scholars, practitioners, and judges serves as a tribute to the life of the beloved and esteemed Judge Kaye and her commitment to the New York State Constitution. The collection culminates with Judge Kaye’s final essay, written for the Brooklyn Law Review, with her reflections on opportunity in life and law and New York’s State Constitution.
The Making Of A Judge's Judge: Judith S. Kaye's 1987 Cardozo Lecture,
2016
Brooklyn Law School
The Making Of A Judge's Judge: Judith S. Kaye's 1987 Cardozo Lecture, Henry M. Greenberg
Brooklyn Law Review
This collection of remarks from scholars, practitioners, and judges serves as a tribute to the life of the beloved and esteemed Judge Kaye and her commitment to the New York State Constitution. The collection culminates with Judge Kaye’s final essay, written for the Brooklyn Law Review, with her reflections on opportunity in life and law and New York’s State Constitution.
For Judith S. Kaye,
2016
Brooklyn Law School
For Judith S. Kaye, Susan N. Herman
Brooklyn Law Review
This collection of remarks from scholars, practitioners, and judges serves as a tribute to the life of the beloved and esteemed Judge Kaye and her commitment to the New York State Constitution. The collection culminates with Judge Kaye’s final essay, written for the Brooklyn Law Review, with her reflections on opportunity in life and law and New York’s State Constitution.
Judge Judith Kaye At Skadden, Arps,
2016
Brooklyn Law School
Judge Judith Kaye At Skadden, Arps, Barry H. Garfinkel
Brooklyn Law Review
This collection of remarks from scholars, practitioners, and judges serves as a tribute to the life of the beloved and esteemed Judge Kaye and her commitment to the New York State Constitution. The collection culminates with Judge Kaye’s final essay, written for the Brooklyn Law Review, with her reflections on opportunity in life and law and New York’s State Constitution.
A Tribute To Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye,
2016
Brooklyn Law School
A Tribute To Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye, Hon. Janet Difiore
Brooklyn Law Review
This collection of remarks from scholars, practitioners, and judges serves as a tribute to the life of the beloved and esteemed Judge Kaye and her commitment to the New York State Constitution. The collection culminates with Judge Kaye’s final essay, written for the Brooklyn Law Review, with her reflections on opportunity in life and law and New York’s State Constitution.
Reflections On Opportunity In Life And Law,
2016
Brooklyn Law School
Reflections On Opportunity In Life And Law, Judith S. Kaye
Brooklyn Law Review
This essay was written by Judge Kaye in the fall of 2015 for the Brooklyn Law Review. She reflects on her life, her time on the bench, and the significance of New York’s Constitutional Convention. Through the lens of dual constitutionalism and her own life story, Judge Kaye opines on the opportunities in life and law that are not to be missed.
Confounding Ockham's Razor: Minilateralism And International Economic Regulation,
2016
Brooklyn Law School
Confounding Ockham's Razor: Minilateralism And International Economic Regulation, Eric C. Chaffee
Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law
In Minilateralism: How Trade Alliances, Soft Law, and Financial Engineering Are Redefining Economic Statecraft, Professor Chris Brummer embraces the complexity of the global economic system and its regulation by exploring the emerging role and dominance of varying strands of economic collaboration and regulation that he collectively refers to as “minilateralism.” In describing the turn toward minilateralism, Brummer notes a number of key features of this new minilateral system, including a shift away from global cooperation to strategic alliances composed of the smallest group necessary to achieve a particular goal, a turn from formal treaties to informal non-binding accords and other …
The Art Of Nailing Jell-O To The Wall: Reassessing The Political Power Of The Internet,
2016
Brooklyn Law School
The Art Of Nailing Jell-O To The Wall: Reassessing The Political Power Of The Internet, Bryan Druzin, Jessica Li
Journal of Law and Policy
Political observers commonly argue that, given the unique characteristics of the Internet, democratization is an inevitability of its widespread use. The critical role that social media played in the wave of demonstrations, protests, and revolutions that swept across the Arab world in 2011 cemented this perception in the minds of many. Yet China defies this simplistic paradigm—China has been stunningly successful at constraining the political power of its Internet. We argue that the political importance of Internet technology has been overstated, particularly with respect to China. As support for this thesis, we cite recent political events in Hong Kong known …
Police Impunity In Mexico: Creating Openings For Justice In A New Democracy,
2016
Colby College
Police Impunity In Mexico: Creating Openings For Justice In A New Democracy, Emily Boyce
Honors Theses
In this project, I investigate why police impunity has persisted in Mexico, and why the application of justice, when it does occur, happens unequally. Mexico has undergone a democratic transition with a specific focus on increasing accountability in the judiciary. These persistent trends of police impunity and unequal application of justice are especially puzzling in the face of these recent shifts. Existing literature argues that the institutional changes that occur as a result of democratization should yield changes that further the individual rights of citizens. A majority of the scholarly work regarding police impunity and justice in Mexico focuses on …
'"Ideology" Or "Situation Sense"? An Experimental Investigation Of Motivated Reasoning And Professional Judgment,
2016
William & Mary Law School
'"Ideology" Or "Situation Sense"? An Experimental Investigation Of Motivated Reasoning And Professional Judgment, Dan M. Kahan, David Hoffman, Danieli Evans, Neal Devins, Eugene Lucci, Katherine Cheng
Faculty Publications
This Article reports the results of a study on whether political predispositions influence judicial decisionmaking. The study was designed to overcome the two principal limitations on existing empirical studies that purport to find such an influence: the use of nonexperimental methods to assess the decisions of actual judges; and the failure to use actual judges in ideologically-biased-reasoning experiments. The study involved a sample of sitting judges (n = 253), who, like members of a general public sample (n = 800), were culturally polarized on climate change, marijuana legalization and other contested issues. When the study subjects were assigned to analyze …
Backlash Against International Courts In West, East And Southern Africa: Causes And Consequences,
2016
Duke Law School
Backlash Against International Courts In West, East And Southern Africa: Causes And Consequences, Karen J. Alter, James T. Gathii, Laurence R. Helfer
Faculty Scholarship
This paper discusses three credible attempts by African governments to restrict the jurisdiction of three similarly-situated sub-regional courts in response to politically controversial rulings. In West Africa, when the ECOWAS Court upheld allegations of torture by opposition journalists in the Gambia, that country’s political leaders sought to restrict the Court’s power to review human rights complaints. The other member states ultimately defeated the Gambia’s proposal. In East Africa, Kenya failed in its efforts to eliminate the EACJ and to remove some of its judges after a decision challenging an election to a sub-regional legislature. However, the member states agreed to …
Public Sector Personnel Economics: Wages, Promotions, And The Competence-Control Trade-Off,
2016
Duke Law School
Public Sector Personnel Economics: Wages, Promotions, And The Competence-Control Trade-Off, Charles M. Cameron, John De Figueiredo, David E. Lewis
Faculty Scholarship
We model personnel policies in public agencies, examining how wages and promotion standards can partially offset a fundamental contracting problem: the inability of public sector workers to contract on performance, and the inability of political masters to contract on forbearance from meddling. Despite the dual contracting problem, properly constructed personnel policies can encourage intrinsically motivated public sector employees to invest in expertise, seek promotion, remain in the public sector, and develop policy projects. However, doing so requires internal personnel policies that sort "slackers" from "zealots." Personnel policies that accomplish this task are quite different in agencies where acquired expertise has …
Agenda-Setting In The Regulatory State: Theory And Evidence,
2016
Texas A&M University School of Law
Agenda-Setting In The Regulatory State: Theory And Evidence, Cary Coglianese, Daniel E. Walters
Faculty Scholarship
Government officials who run administrative agencies must make countless decisions every day about what issues and work to prioritize. These agenda-setting decisions hold enormous implications for the shape of law and public policy, but they have received remarkably little attention by either administrative law scholars or social scientists who study the bureaucracy. Existing research offers few insights about the institutions, norms, and inputs that shape and constrain agency discretion over their agendas or about the strategies that officials employ in choosing to elevate certain issues while putting others on the back burner. In this article, we advance the study of …
