Vol. 139 No. 8 Originalism — a school of constitutional interpretation defined by the pursuit of the Constitution’s original meaning — has long been celebrated and criticized for its forceful prescriptions for...
I. Introduction The Notwithstanding Clause of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is a constitutional innovation (albeit colored by historical statutory analogues) first...
Vol. 139 No. 2 The United States government now gives an extraordinary amount of money to colleges and universities. If it threatens to withhold some of that money, it might be able to achieve important and legitimate goals. It can also create serious risks to educational institutions, perhaps even existential risks, and it might be able to use its power to move institutions in its politically preferred directions.
Vol. 139 No. 2 In recent years, the Supreme Court has developed the “major questions doctrine,” an interpretive presumption that Congress must speak clearly before delegating to an...
Vol. 139 No. 2 Today, it seems obvious that criminal defendants can waive constitutional rights. Plea bargains make up the vast majority of criminal convictions, and defendants routinely trade their rights — to indictment, to remain silent, to an attorney, to a jury — in exchange for a faster trial or a lesser charge. The modern criminal legal system is a regime of negotiated justice. Rights used to have more force.
Vol. 138 No. 8 Eighty-year-old Lavetta Langdon was convicted of shooting and killing her husband, Larry Langdon, while he slept. She later described decades of abuse by her...
Vol. 138 No. 8 The Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment provides that when the government takes private property for a public purpose, it must compensate the property...
Vol. 138 No. 8 “God hates you wicked baby killing whores,” “cocksucker,” “fucking cunt,” and “shut your fucking mouth, you bitch” are statements that start fights. In 1791,...
Vol. 138 No. 7 In his important article, Determining Rights, Professor Jud Campbell correctly observes that “[t]wo central problems in rights jurisprudence are figuring out who should make” “specifications” about what a right “demands in particular situations” and “how to make them.”
Vol. 138 No. 7 Introduction Like many widows, Sandy Meadows faced economic uncertainty after her husband passed away. She, however, had a knack for arranging flowers and found...
