Articles

A Misplaced Bright-Line Rule: Coercive Population Control in China and Asylum for Unmarried Partners

The United States provides statutory asylum rights for victims of forced abortion or sterilization. Congress created these rights as a response to the plight of Chinese victims of coercive population control. Although current case law provides that a spouse may claim asylum on the basis of his wife's abortion or sterilization, the Board of Immigration Appeals ("BIA") has refused to extend similar asylum rights to unmarried partners. By refusing to grant similar rights to unmarried partners, t...

A Small Step Backwards: Foreign Convictions as Predicate Offenses After the Supreme Court"s Decision in Small v. United States

Under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g), it is a federal crime for anyone who has been "convicted in any court of a crime punishable by imprisonment of a term exceeding one year" to possess a firearm. In Small v. United States, the Supreme Court held that foreign convictions cannot serve as predicate offenses under § 922(g). In doing so, the Court adopted a new presumption regarding the extraterritoriality of predicate offenses and a curious definition of the word "any." This Note suggests an alte...

Constitutional Collectivism and Ex-Offender Residence Exclusion Laws

I. Introduction. -II. Fear and Loathing (in One's Own Backyard). -III. The Current Judicial Terrain and Its Consequences: A. Doe v. Miller. B. The National Consequences of Exclusion. -IV. A National Solution for a National Challenge: A. Collectivist Traditions. B. Tramps, Trash, and Individual State Interests. C. Prospects for Remedy. V. Conclusion

Facial Challenges, Legislative Purpose, and the Commerce Clause

Over the past decade or so, the Supreme Court has issued an extraordinary and highly controversial series of decisions concerning the scope of Congress's power. Yet beneath the surface of the debate over the federalism cases lies a parallel dispute that has received far less scholarly notice. This dispute concerns the proper mode of judicial review in cases testing the scope of congressional power. The uncertainty is greatest in the Commerce Clause area, where the Court's recent cases-includi...

Law, Norms, and the Breakdown of the Board: Promoting Accountability in Corporate Governance

This Article considers the dominant claim in corporate law literature that extra-legal mechanisms such as markets and social norms provide adequate safeguards against corporate mismanagement and opportunism. After noting recognized deficiencies in the arguments from market discipline, the Article draws on psychological insights to show that certain behavioral phenomena prevent social norms from appropriately constraining corporate conduct. It then argues that because neither markets nor so...

Substantive Due Process, Plenary-Power Doctrine, and Minimum Contacts: Arguments for Overcoming the Obstacle of Asserting Personal Jurisdiction over Terrorists Under the Anti-Terrorism Act

Congress enacted the Anti-Terrorism Act to create a federal cause of action for torts arising out of acts of international terrorism that cause injuries to U.S. citizens. Even though victims have benefited from the Act, they have also faced significant hurdles in bringing their causes of action. Meeting the requirements for personal jurisdiction has been one of these major difficulties. Concerns over the lack of minimum contacts between the terrorist defendants and the United States sufficien...

The Federal Judiciary Emergency Special Sessions Act of 2005: Allowing Ongoing Criminal Prosecutions During Crisis or Hindering Compliance with the Speedy Trial Act?

The devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina in late August 2005 prompted Congress to pass the Federal Judiciary Emergency Special Sessions Act of 2005. This Act allows federal courts (district, circuit, and bankruptcy) to relocate temporarily if emergency conditions render use of courthouses in their statutorily defined locations unreasonable. Legislators expressly intended that the Act allow continuous criminal prosecutions in times of crisis. However, the ability to hold special sessions in...

The Price of Pretrial Release: Can We Afford to Keep Our Fourth Amendment Rights?

Introduction. -I. The Law Governing Pretrial Detention and Release Conditioned on a Fourth Amendment Waiver: A. The Bail Reform Act of 1984. B. The Ninth Circuit's Decision in United States v. Scott. C. The Word From the Supreme Court: 1. The Government Can Detain Arrested Persons Prior to Trial. 2. The Government Can Search Probationers' Homes Without a Warrant. 3. The Government Can Search a Parolee's Person Without Reasonable Suspicion and Absent a Warrant. D. Post-Conviction Blanket Fourt...