Constitutional Commentary articles from December 2001

Constitutional Commentary archives from December 2001

Ode to conservative judicial activism. (but cf....).(Poem)
December 22, 2001... ODE TO CONSERVATIVE JUDICIAL ACTIVISM Don't know much about activism, Don't know whether courts should run a prison. Don't know if a judge's gut reaction Should destroy affirmative action. But I do know, when all's said...

Constitutional law haiku. (but cf....)(Poem)
December 22, 2001... CONSTITUTIONAL LAW HAIKU Writing on water, the Court chooses our leader. Without precedent! Turning back the clock: Nineteen thirty-six returns; the commerce clause shrinks. The judgment below is...

What does the Second Amendment restrict? A collective rights analysis.
December 22, 2001... I. INTRODUCTION According to the collective rights model, the Second Amendment only grants people the right to keep and bear arms within the militia. Moreover, the Amendment does not apply to private militias but only to the militia...

"Uniform throughout the United States": limits on taxing as limits on spending.
December 22, 2001... The power to spend sits oddly alongside the diminutive list of regulatory powers with which the United States Constitution invests the nation's legislature. If Congress may harness the wealth of the nation to regulate any subject, why the...

Economic activity as a proxy for federalism: intuition and reason in United States v. Morrison.
December 22, 2001... The Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (VAWA) created a private right of action pursuant to the Commerce Clause and [section] 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment for victims of gender-based violence. Christy Brzonkala, a young woman who credibly...

Rating the presidents of the United States, 1789-2000: a survey of scholars in political science, history, and law.
December 22, 2001... The reputations of presidents rise and fall. As experts on the presidency gain more perspective, their rankings of some presidents, such as John Kennedy, have fallen, while their impressions of others, such as Harry Truman, have risen. Even...

The Marbury mystery: why did William Marbury sue in the Supreme Court?
December 22, 2001... In 1801, when William Marbury petitioned the Supreme Court to issue a writ of mandamus ordering Secretary of State James Madison to deliver his commission as justice of the peace, he initiated one of the most important cases in the Court's...

Brennan and Democracy.(Book Review)
December 22, 2001... BRENNAN AND DEMOCRACY. By Frank I. Michelman. (1) Princeton University Press. 1999. Pp. 176. $25.95. Robert McCloskey once wrote that the "propensity to hold contradictory ideas simultaneously is one of the most significant qualities of...

The Republic According to John Marshall Harlan.(Book Review)
December 22, 2001... THE REPUBLIC ACCORDING TO JOHN MARSHALL HARLAN. By Linda Przybyszewski. (1) University of North Carolina Press. 1999. Pp. xii, 286. Hardcover, $49.95; Paper, $19.95. Is there reason to rejoice? Clearly, there ought to be only one answer:...

The Warren Court and American Politics.(Book Review)
December 22, 2001... THE WARREN COURT AND AMERICAN POLITICS. By Lucas A. (Scot) Powe, Jr. (1) Harvard University Press. 2000. Pp. 566. $36.95. Scot Powe has written a marvelous book--every page challenging, provocative, stimulating, and just a pleasure to read....