Nov
13
The Original Intent of the Recall Power
Posted by: Edward A. Fallone | November 13, 2011 | 1 Comment
Some opponents of the effort to recall Governor Scott Walker have claimed that the recall provisions of the Wisconsin State Constitution are intended solely to permit the recall of elected officials when they have engaged in criminal or grossly unethical conduct. The latest example of this claim can be seen in the column by Jonathan [...]
Nov
4
Fleeting Indecencies and Enduring Constitutional Doctrine
Posted by: Scott C. Idleman | November 4, 2011 | Leave a Comment
[Editor's Note: This month, faculty members will discuss upcoming judicial decisions of particular interest. This is the first post in the series.] On June 27, 2011, near the end of its October 2010 Term, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari review in FCC v. Fox Television Stations, a case arising in 2010 out the Second [...]
Nov
1
Orcas and the Thirteenth Amendment
Posted by: Scott C. Idleman | November 1, 2011 | Leave a Comment
This last week, a lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California alleging that SeaWorld’s captivity and exploitation of five wild-captured orcas, or so-called killer whales, amounts to slavery and involuntary servitude in violation of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The nominal plaintiffs are the orcas themselves—Tilikum, [...]
Oct
10
The Extrajudicial Killing of Anwar al-Awlaki
Posted by: Christopher Ehrfurth | October 10, 2011 | 1 Comment
On Friday, September 30, 2011, Anwar al-Awlaki (Aulaqi), a U.S. citizen and well-known al-Qaeda figure, was targeted and killed during a U.S. drone strike in Yemen. Samir Khan, also a U.S. citizen, was killed in the same attack. Khan was the editor of Inspire, an English-Language al-Qaeda magazine that, among other things, publishes how-to articles [...]
Oct
8
Not a Pretty Picture: Potential Challenges to Wisconsin’s Voter ID Law
Posted by: Edward A. Fallone | October 8, 2011 | 10 Comments
In August 2011, The League of Women Voters of Wisconsin publicly announced its intention to file a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the new Wisconsin Voter ID law. While no complaint has been filed as of date, and it is undoubtedly foolish predict the likelihood of success of any lawsuit without first reading the complaint, [...]
Oct
5
One Public Domain to Rule Them All
Posted by: Bruce E. Boyden | October 5, 2011 | 2 Comments
The Supreme Court heard oral argument this morning in Golan v. Holder, which considers the constitutionality of Section 104A of the Copyright Act, added in 1994 by the obfuscatorily named Uruguay Round Agreements Act. The constitutional issue is whether Congress can, consistent with the Copyright Clause and the First Amendment, remove works from the public [...]
Sep
27
Evolution and the Constitution
Posted by: Edward A. Fallone | September 27, 2011 | Leave a Comment
Recent news reports make much of the fact that, with one exception, none of the current Republican candidates for President has been willing to embrace the theory of evolution as the commonly accepted explanation of how the multiple forms of life currently existing on our planet came to be. Instead, several of the Republican hopefuls have argued pointedly that [...]
Sep
25
The Supreme Court and the Fate of the Ministerial Exception
Posted by: Scott C. Idleman | September 25, 2011 | Leave a Comment
In 1999, Cheryl Perich began service as a lay teacher at the Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School in Redford, Michigan. A year later, she became a “called teacher,” selected by the congregation to serve as a commissioned minister and charged with duties of a more pastoral nature, such as teaching religion classes, leading the [...]
Aug
22
The Constitutional Right of Recall
Posted by: Edward A. Fallone | August 22, 2011 | 4 Comments
The largest newspaper in Wisconsin, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, continues to take the editorial position that the public’s right to recall elected officials should only be exercised in cases of misfeasance in office or of criminal conduct. The editorial page actively disparages the use of the recall process in cases where voters simply disagree with the [...]
Aug
18
The Constitutional Equality of Women
Posted by: Lisa A. Mazzie | August 18, 2011 | Leave a Comment
For young women coming of age today, their equality with men seems assured. As youngsters they’ve played on co-ed sports teams; they’ve often been more successful than boys in school; they’ve pursued careers in previously male-dominated fields like math and science, medicine and law. For them, women have always been able to vote, abortion has [...]
Jul
29
Trying to Hire a Hit Man? Don’t Answer Your Cell Phone
Posted by: Michael M. O'Hear | July 29, 2011 | 1 Comment
A new Seventh Circuit decision underscores the jurisdictional breadth of the federal murder-for-hire statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1958(a). Although solicitation to commit murder would seem a prototypical state offense, it can be prosecuted federally if money was involved and a “facility of interstate commerce” was used. And it takes very little indeed to satisfy the latter [...]
Jul
29
Florida’s “Strict-Liability” Drug Law Found Unconstitutional
Posted by: Michael M. O'Hear | July 29, 2011 | 1 Comment
Are there any constitutional limits on the power of a legislature to restructure state-of-mind elements as affirmative defenses? The Supreme Court has suggested that such limits do exist, but has not clearly delineated what they are. However, an interesting habeas case now moving through the lower federal courts may provide a good opportunity to clarify [...]
Blog Editors
- Alan Borsuk
- Bruce E. Boyden
- Edward A. Fallone
- Melissa L. Greipp
- Scott C. Idleman
- Lisa Mazzie
- Michael M. O'Hear
- Ryan Scoville
