Nonexclusive Functions and Separation of Powers Law
By Ilan Wurman. Full Text. The Constitution’s text, structure, and history suggest that some governmental functions strictly and exclusively appertain to a particular branch, and to the exercise of a single vested power. Many governmental functions, however, are nonexclusive: their exercise has some combination of legislative, executive, and judicial characteristics and, as a result, can…
Continue ReadingBrady Lists
By Rachel Moran. Full Text. Brady lists, named after the Supreme Court’s 1963 decision Brady v. Maryland, are lists some prosecutors maintain of law enforcement officers with histories of misconduct that could impact the officers’ credibility. The lists serve as tools for prosecutors to track officer misconduct and disclose that information to defense counsel where…
Continue ReadingEssential Property
By Timothy M. Mulvaney and Joseph William Singer. Full Text. For a sizable swath of the U.S. population, incomes and wealth are insufficient to cover life’s most basic necessities even in the most ordinary of times. A disturbingly resilient explanation for this state of affairs rests on the view that resource inequities are avoidable through…
Continue ReadingHow the Liberal First Amendment Under-Protects Democracy
By Tabatha Abu El-Haj. Full Text. This Article advances a distinct theoretical account of the First Amendment that stresses its role as the underwriter of a republican form of government. Predicated on a more accurate description of the processes of self-governance, the advanced theory delivers a construction of the First Amendment that actually protects democracy…
Continue ReadingHandling the Mayo Powder Keg: Emphasizing Preemption in § 101 Biotechnology Inquiries
By Zachary M. Robole. Full Text. To incite a jury’s emotions, attorneys have stated that the “clear and convincing” evidentiary standard required to invalidate a patent is the same standard of proof required to justify taking a child away from a parent. Although such statements are likely an evidentiary rule violation, the point is illustrative…
Continue ReadingA Century of Business in the Supreme Court, 1920–2020
By Lee Epstein and Mitu Gulati. Full Text. A decade and a half into its life, we ask: how pro-business is the Roberts Court? Using a simple objective measure—how often does business win in the Court when it is fighting a non-business—we find that the Roberts Court may be the most pro-business Court in a…
Continue ReadingTerm Limits and Embracing a Political Supreme Court
By Guha Krishnamurthi. Full Text. In the run up to the 2020 Presidential election, then-candidate Joseph R. Biden, Jr. lamented the increasing dysfunction of the United States Supreme Court and campaigned on rectifying the august institution. This was indeed part of Biden’s general message: a return to norms, normalcy, and mutual respect. The problems with…
Continue ReadingAntitrust Reformers Should Consider the Consequences of Mandatory Treble Damages: What the Admonition Against Putting New Wine in Old Wineskins Can Teach Us About Antitrust Reform
By Henry J. Hauser, Tiffany L. Lee, and Thomas G. Krattenmaker. Full Text. The debate over antitrust reform is reaching a crescendo. Several proposals have been introduced in Congress and state legislatures to expand the scope of substantive antitrust rules governing marketplace behavior. Missing from the current discussion, however, is careful consideration of whether these…
Continue Reading“What Has Always Been True”: The Washington Supreme Court Decides That Seizure Law Must Account for Racial Disparity in Policing
By Aliza Hochman Bloom. Full Text. In June, the Washington Supreme Court held that courts must consider an individual’s race as part of the totality of circumstances when determining whether that individual has been seized by a police officer. Like the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, Washington’s parallel constitutional provision requires that the determination…
Continue ReadingGruel and Unusual: Prison Punishment Diets and the Eighth Amendment
By Jackie Cuellar. Full Text. For as long as prisons have existed, food has been used as a mechanism of prisoner control. One of the earliest forms of food as punishment was the aptly named “bread-and-water diet,” providing prisoners with just 700 calories per day. The diet was later deemed cruel and unusual in violation…
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