Note: From Deference to Restraint: Using the Chevron Framework to Evaluate Presidential Signing Statements
By David C. Jenson. Full text here. Presidential signing statements are creeping into judicial opinions with increasing frequency, leading to a resurgence of interest in the issue and several attempts, by Congress and others, to limit the use of signing statements or to challenge their constitutionality. This Note contends that the paramount separation of powers concern…
Continue ReadingTerms of Use
By Mark A. Lemley. Full text here. Electronic contracting has experienced a sea change in the last decade. Ten years ago, courts required affirmative evidence of agreement to form a contract. No court had enforced a “shrinkwrap” license, much less treated a unilateral statement of preferences as a binding agreement. Today, by contrast, it seems widely…
Continue ReadingThe Jurisdictional Heritage of the Grand Jury Clause
By Roger A Fairfax, Jr. Full text here. For the first 150 years of our constitutional history, a valid grand jury indictment was deemed to be a mandatory prerequisite to a federal court’s exercise of criminal subject matter jurisdiction. Under that view of the Grand Jury Clause, a defendant in a federal felony case could neither…
Continue ReadingIn Defense of Redistribution Through Private Law
By Daphna Lewinsohn-Zamir. Full text here. Most people agree that enhancing individuals’ well-being and promoting equality among them are important goals of the state. Much more controversial, however, is the question of which means should be used to redistribute welfare. An ongoing debate centers on whether redistribution should be attained solely through taxes and transfer payments,…
Continue ReadingNote: Fruit of the Poison Tree: A First Amendment Analysis of the History and Character of Intelligent Design Education
By Todd R. Olin. Full text here. Since the famous Scopes Trial in 1925, religious groups have struggled to introduce into public school science education a theory of human origin predicated on a supernatural creator. The latest theory to challenge evolution is Intelligent Design. Although this theory makes no explicit reference to religion or God, it…
Continue ReadingNote, Pharmacist Refusals: Dispensing (With) Religious Accomodation Under Title VII
By Amy Bergquist. Full text here. Pharmacists with greater frequency are refusing to fill certain prescriptions on religious grounds. These employees contend that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act requires pharmacies to accommodate refusing pharmacists by allowing other pharmacists to fill objectionable prescriptions. Some employers embrace this view and accommodate refusing pharmacists by sending customers…
Continue ReadingReview Essay: A Psychology of Emotional Legal Decision Making: Revulsion and Saving Face in Legal Theory and Practice
By Peter H. Huang and Christopher J. Anderson. Full review essay here.
Continue ReadingThe Problem of Authority: Revisiting the Service Conception
By Joseph Raz. Full text here. Why ought we subject our will to authority? How is a person with authority justified in demanding that we subject our will? What does it mean to be a legitimate authority? This is the problem of authority that Professor Raz addressed many years ago under the title of the…
Continue ReadingWhy the Defense of Marriage Act Is Not (Yet?) Unconstitutional: Lawrence, Full Faith and Credit, and the Many Societal Actors That Determine What the Constitution Requires
By Mark D. Rosen. Full text here. When Hawaii seemed poised to be the first state in the Union to permit same-sex marriage in the 1990s, Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). DOMA provides that states need not recognize same-sex marriages (or judgments in connection with such marriages) performed in sister states. Though many…
Continue ReadingThird-Party Copyright Liability After Grokster
By Alfred C. Yen. Full text here. This Article studies the construction of third-party copyright liability after the recent Supreme Court case Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd. This inquiry is important because third-party copyright liability has become a controversial area of law that affects the viability of entire industries. Unfortunately, the law governing third-party copyright…
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