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Is Life Imprisonment Without Parole Still Degrading Treatment Under the ECHR?
Get PDFAfter the European Court of Human Rights (“ECtHR”) decided Hutchinson v. The United Kingdom in 2017, debates about ECtHR’s position on life sentences without the possibility of parole arose. Some scholars deem the decision a departure from the ECtHR’s principles in Vinter and Others v. The United Kingdom, which held that non-reducible life sentences are a violation of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Although the ECtHR came to different conclusions in Hutchinson and Vinter, the ECtHR still considers life imprisonment without parole inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Irreducible life imprisonment is still incompatible with Article 3
Legal Reforms and Women’s Rights Advocacy in Africa
Get PDFAlthough Gambia enacted the Women’s (Amendment) Act in 2015, which criminalized female genital mutilation and imposed penalties of up to three years in prison, the parliament is currently deliberating on a bill to overturn the Act.
The prospect of Gambia becoming the first country to reverse legislation against female genital mutilation is alarming, not only for its immediate implications on women’s health, but also for the precedent it could set for other states. It serves as a reminder of the fragility of women’s rights protections in the face of deeply entrenched social practices and underscores the urgent need for a comprehensive approach to address gender inequality
Barriers Beyond the Border: Addressing the Economic and Racial Disparities Created by CBP One
Get PDFCBP One is a mobile app that allows asylum seekers to schedule appointments for inspection before entering the United States ( U.S. ). First, this paper will discuss the ethical issues posed by CBP One—specifically asylum seekers\u27 unequal access to the app. Second, this paper will examine the equal protection implications posed by CBP One and the application of constitutional rights to noncitizens inside and outside the U.S. Next, it will address the ongoing litigation concerning the extension of constitutional rights to noncitizens arriving at the southern border. Lastly, it will discuss the incompatibility of CBP One with the Immigration and Nationality Act ( INA ) and how that incompatibility may be addressed under the Administrative Procedure Act ( APA )
Centering the People’s Voice in Teaching and Learning First-Year Criminal Law
Get PDFThis article proposes a people-centered approach to teaching first-year criminal law that elevates the people’s voice by using rap music to understand complex legal concepts. Incorporating rap music transforms the classroom and the practice of law to include those it has previously excluded and provides a people-centered means to expand legal education more broadly
Tax Class
No full textTax law is not just about numbers! It is the system that weaves our economic lives and our social policies together to make a just (or unjust) society. The federal income tax class is the introductory class to the world of taxation at most U.S. law schools. It introduces students to the foundational concepts in tax law using the personal income tax as the vehicle. In this podcast, Prof. Ben Leff interviews some of the best tax professors in the country to deconstruct one day from their semester and explore their pedagogy. None of the information presented constitutes legal advice. Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0xvV8nihogJp1RK8LP88W1 Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tax-class/id1764093187 Amazon Music/Audible: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/0d684aaa-e409-473b-99d8-fa78c864233f/tax-clas
The Repeal of Religious Accommodations -- A Constitutional Analysis
Get PDFUnder modern Supreme Court jurisprudence, the First Amendment ordinarily imposes no heightened standard of review upon neutral laws of general applicability that coincidentally burden the free exercise of religion. To relieve or minimize this burden, however, lawmakers are generally free to promulgate exemptions from, or accommodations to, such laws for the benefit of religious adherents. Such accommodations are common.
When a law is not neutral with respect to religion, or when the law is not generally applicable, then it will be subject to the exacting test of strict scrutiny to the extent that it burdens the free exercise of religion. Should the law fail this test, the Constitution requires—at a minimum—an exemption from the law to protect those whose religious exercise is burdened by its application.
An undertheorized phenomenon in this area is the repeal of a religious accommodation that had been previously granted. Although such an accommodation may not have been constitutionally required ex ante, it is far from clear that its repeal can be freely executed ex post. By its very terms, any such repeal would typically appear to be non-neutral with respect to religion, thereby implicating the test of strict scrutiny.
The Article addresses this lacuna in constitutional thought, concluding that, unless a religious accommodation is repealed alongside all other applicable exemptions to the law in question, such a repeal would indeed be subject to the text of strict scrutiny, and, consequently, most likely unconstitutional
Taking A Step Back: Have We Already Seen Judicial Takings?
Get PDFIn Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Justice Scalia’s plurality opinion held that the Takings Clause is not addressed to a single government actor, but rather applies to all government actions, including those effected by the judicial branch. Consequently, regardless of which branch affects the taking, just compensation is required. Despite promulgating the existence of judicial takings, the Court then went on to say that no established property right was “taken” for Fifth Amendment purposes. Without an application or a clear-cut delineation, Justice Scalia’s promulgation of judicial takings was rendered as merely advisory to future cases. Essentially, Stop the Beach created only a literal and legal line in the sand.
This Comment argues that to constitute a judicial taking, the court holding must consist of a change in established rights and a transfer to a public beneficiary. First, a change in the established right is assessed by the property owner’s expectations of the outcome of the case. These expectations are established either by precedent or common law. Thus, a rejection or overruling of the prevailing law in the jurisdiction will constitute a taking. Further, in determining what constitutes a judicial taking, a necessary element is the beneficiary of the transfer. Either a transfer directly to a private entity, or a transfer favoring public policy and public rights will qualify. Finally, the government’s purpose is integral in assessing whether a private-to-private transfer qualifies as a taking. When a court is acting in favor of forward-looking policy, rather than merely arbitrating between the current parties, this is a taking. Applying these principles to prior court holdings, this Comment concludes that the Court has discernibly affected judicial takings before; these cases just were not categorized as such
New Book about Birth in Times of Despair
No full textThe N.Y.U. Press has published Carina Heckert\u27s book Birth in Times of Despair: Reproductive Violence on the US-Mexico Border
FIFA\u27s One Association - One Vote Rule: Does Democratic Governance Ensure Its Corporate Integrity?
Get PDFThis article suggests that in the absence of any requirement in favor of democratic governance of corporations and non-profit entities in national law, as well as in light of a general practice of bifurcated systems (oscillating between de jure equality and power-based governance) in respect of intergovernmental organizations, a nondemocratic governance structure in international sports federations would not deviate from the general rule. What is clearly at stake in complex organizations is effectiveness in achieving the aims of the organization, irrespective if all members are satisfied. The deceptively democratic nature of sporting federations such as FIFA is very much the reason for its criticism and the basis for many of alleged or proven corruption scandals. The replacement of democratic governance with effective governance, which is the standard corporate model, has proven to be successful and resilient. This is all the more so since FIFA, the International Olympic Committee, and other sporting federations have assumed the functions of corporate actors. The article goes on to propose an overhaul to FIFA’s Congress, the entity that decides which state will host the lucrative World Cup competition. It is suggested that the one association-one rule system be replaced with regional/confederation block votes in the mold of the World Bank’s special drawing rights
Institutional Investors as Climate Activists: Curb Your Enthusiasm
Get PDFInstitutional investors control a sizable portion of all votes in major public corporations. In contrast to their traditional deference to management, some institutional investors have begun to lobby portfolio companies for reductions in greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions because even broadly diversified portfolios are vulnerable to the systemic risks associated with climate change. In theory, this logic could align the interests of diversified investors and those of society at large, resulting in welfare-enhancing climate activism. However, because of the chasm between the portfolio-level goal of GHG reduction and the company-level goal of value maximization, climate activism by institutional investors is bound to trigger conflicting fiduciary duties on several levels. This paper analyzes how these economic and legal limitations make it unlikely that the enormous financial power wielded by institutional investors will ultimately translate into similarly massive decarbonization effects