Articles - Minnesota Law Review

Judicial Interpretation in the Cost-Benefit Crucible

January 16, 2012

Jonathan R. Siegel

By Jonathan R. Siegel. Full text here. Professor Adrian Vermeule’s new book, Judging Under Uncertainty, argues that while no one can empirically determine whether any net benefits arise from judicial use of legislative history or other interpretive methods that go beyond simple enforcement of plain text, such interpretive methods do impose substantial costs. Vermeule concludes,…

State Habeas Relief for Federal Extrajudicial Detainees

January 16, 2012

Todd E. Pettys

By Todd E. Pettys. Full text here. Nearly 150 years ago, the United States Supreme Court rebuffed efforts by the Wisconsin Supreme Court to free an abolitionist and an unhappy teenaged soldier from federal confinement. Since that point in history, it has been widely understood that state courts lack the power to grant habeas relief to…

Note: Toward a Robust Separation of Powers: Recapturing the Judiciary's Role at Sentencing

January 14, 2012

Hans H. Grong

By Hans H. Grong. Full text here. Twenty years ago, Congress fundamentally changed the procedure for sentencing criminal defendants in the federal system by creating the United States Sentencing Commission to promulgate the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. The Guidelines were an attempt to increase transparency and decrease disparities in criminal sentences. Unfortunately, as the Supreme Court recognized…

Note: A Mock Funeral for a First Amendment Double Standard: Containing Coercion in Secondary Labor Boycotts

January 14, 2012

Dan Ganin

By Dan Ganin. Full text here. The secondary boycott provision of the National Labor Relations Act prohibits labor unions from using coercive tactics to induce “neutral” parties to sever economic ties with others. Although the judiciary has failed to clearly delineate the concept of coercion, secondary labor picketing has been deemed categorically coercive and subject…