CategoryDiscourse

In the 1967 case In re Gault, the U.S. Supreme Court revolutionized juvenile criminal proceedings by holding that children were constitutionally entitled to legal counsel and the privilege against self-incrimination. In contrast to Miranda v. Arizona, decided the previous year, the Court’s reasoning was not centered on preventing involuntary confessions. Instead, the Court was concerned that...

Responding to the argument that homeowners who strategically default on their mortgages are immoral and socially irresponsible, this Article argues that defaulting on a mortgage contract is not only morally acceptable, it may be the most responsible course of action when necessary to fulfill more important obligations to one’s family.

In his New Reading article, Professor Oliar set forth a detailed and, in many respects, plausible reconstruction of the Framers’ intent when drafting the Intellectual Property (IP) Clause. But it is a reconstruction predicated on conjecture and supposition in the absence of any historical record actually setting forth such intent. He contends that the Framers’ intent is important because it has...

This Essay provides analysis and some criticism of the argument that international human rights treaties should focus more on development and welfare and less on basic negative rights. It argues that “welfarist” treaties that completely ignore human rights concerns will in theory harm heterogeneous societies with significant minority populations. In focusing only on development goals—for example...

The case of Bush v. Gore stands out as the seminal decision that decided the disputed presidential election of 2000. For legal researchers, it was a herald of a different sort. With the citation in the per curiam opinion to an online newspaper article, Bush v. Gore fired the first salvo in the death of twentieth-century authority. While courts in the past relied on a select group of print...

On December 9, 2009, the Knesset voted to advance legislation requiring that the handover of any land under the administrative and judicial authority of the State of Israel pass a national referendum. The legislation—termed the Golan Heights and Jerusalem Referendum Bill—passed its first reading by a margin of sixty-eight to twenty-two (with one abstention). It now returns to committee for...

An irony of American free speech law is that it provides more protection for ranting on a street corner than speaking out at a public meeting. This is partly a quirk of the United States Supreme Court’s complicated First Amendment jurisprudence and partly a recognition that such meetings are venues for administrative business and not just citizen engagement. And yet all across the country, city...

For much of the twentieth century, corporations pursued a simple strategy: maximize shareholder wealth. This strategy led to significant gains for shareholders, but too often came at the expense of the public. This dynamic was on display in the past two years, as high-risk financial instruments brought down the global economy. These instruments, including credit default swaps and mortgage-backed...

A response to Getting the Framers Wrong: A Response to Professor Geoffrey Stone Professor Samuel Calhoun insists that my thesis is “wrong,” that I “overstate” the evidence, present “a misleading view,” “distort” the authorities, argue by “assertion,” offer “no convincing corroborating evidence,” “mislead my readers,” and defend a “historically indefensible” position. In short, Professor Calhoun...

A response to The World of the Framers – A Christian Nation? Professor Geoffrey Stone’s Essay, The World of the Framers: A Christian Nation?, seeks to state “the truth about . . . what [the Framers] believed, and about what they aspired to when they created this nation.” Doing so will accomplish Professor Stone’s main objective, helping us to understand what “the Constitution allows” on a host of...

A response to Muneer I. Ahmad, Interpreting Communities: Lawyering Across Language Difference, 54 UCLA L. Rev. 999 (2007).