Our Partisan Foreign Affairs Constitution
By Jide Nzelibe. Full text here. The conventional wisdom tends to treat constitutional arrangements, such as the allocation of foreign affairs powers, as efficiency enhancing constraints that yield benefits for all societal actors. This Article argues, on the contrary, that partisan actors can often manipulate the scope of the foreign affairs powers to achieve narrow ideological…
Continue ReadingDoes International Law Matter?
By Shima Baradaran, Michael Findley, Daniel Nielson, & J.C. Sharman. Full text here. The importance of international law has grown in an increasingly global world. States and their citizens are interconnected and depend on each other to enforce and comply with international law to meet common goals. Despite the expanding presence of international law, the…
Continue ReadingNote: Stifled Justice: The Unauthorized Practice of Law and Internet Legal Resources
By Mathew Rotenberg. Full text here. Advances in computer technology are effectively commoditizing the law and revolutionizing the ways in which individuals seek and receive legal services. Internet Legal Providers (ILPs) present tremendous potential for increased access to legal services, which is vital to an increasing number of unrepresented litigants, as well as to combat shrinking…
Continue ReadingNote: Jurisprudential Innovation or Accountability Avoidance? The International Criminal Court and Proposed Expansion of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights
By Kristen Rau. Full text here. From Nuremburg to The Hague, international criminal justice has evolved dynamically and at times unpredictably. Among recent developments is a proposal to expand the subject matter jurisdiction of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights (ACJHR) to include a mandate to prosecute individuals for serious international crimes. Expansion of…
Continue ReadingOriginalism and Political Ignorance
By Ilya Somin. Full text here. Original meaning originalism may now be the most popular version of constitutional theory in the legal academy. The methodology has been endorsed by at least two Supreme Court justices and well-known scholars from across the political spectrum. Original meaning is usually interpreted as focusing on the public understanding of the…
Continue ReadingWater Bankruptcy
By Christine Klein. Full text here. Many western states are on the verge of bankruptcy, with debts exceeding assets. And yet, they continue to take on additional debt through contracts and other commitments. Although such distress may sound like an outgrowth of the 2008 recession, this crisis involves water, not money. In particular, the problem concerns…
Continue ReadingTechnological Leap, Statutory Gap, and Constitutional Abyss: Remote Biometric Identification Comes of Age
By Laura K. Donohue. Full text here. Federal interest in using facial recognition technology (FRT) to collect, analyze, and use biometric information is rapidly growing. Despite the swift movement of agencies and contractors into this realm, however, Congress has been virtually silent on the current and potential uses of FRT. No laws directly address facial recognition—much…
Continue ReadingThe Use and Abuse of Special-Purpose Entities in Public Finance
By Steven L. Schwarcz. Full text here. States in the American federal system increasingly are raising financing by issuing bonds through special-purpose entities. Although this represents a significant portion—in some cases, the majority—of state financing, relatively little is known or has been written about these entities. This Article examines state special-purpose entities, comparing them to special-purpose entities used…
Continue ReadingNote: Warrantless Search Cases Are Really All the Same
By Will Stancil. Full text here. Fourth Amendment jurisprudence confounds. Even with thousands of cases and hundreds of repeated fact patterns to rely on, courts are not able to come up with consistent rules. In order to address the problem, this Note proposes a new way of thinking about warrantless searches. It ignores the debate over…
Continue ReadingNote: It Can Do More Than Protect Your Credit Score: Regulating Social Media
By Nathan J. Ebnet. Full text here. A growing number of employers are factoring job candidates’ social media profiles into their hiring decisions. Employers value social media pre-employment screening because it provides access to previously unobtainable applicant information. However, job candidates are wary of social media pre-employment screening due to concerns over the trustworthiness and authenticity…
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