University of California Hastings College of the Law
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The Cycle of Delegitimization: Lessons From Dred Scott on the Relationship Between the Supreme Court and the Nation
No full textThis Article examines how Chief Justice Taney’s opinion in Dred Scott v. Sandford sparked a cycle of delegitimization that parallels contemporary debates about the Supreme Court’s legitimacy crisis. Part I explicates how one family’s fight for freedom in Missouri reached the Supreme Court, the resulting radical decision, and the nation’s reaction to show the initial stages of this cycle. Part II examines the impact of Dred Scott on politics and law during the James Buchanan administration (1857–1861). During this period, the federal government, Southern states, and some Western territories swiftly implemented the decision, for example by expelling free Black residents. The opinion and its implementation horrified Northerners and inspired their efforts to resist Dred Scott, including by passing legislation to expand Black rights and repudiating Dred Scott in judicial opinions such as Lemmon v. People of New York. The widespread Northern belief that Dred Scott was illegitimate propelled Republicans, who promised to defy its holdings, into national power. Part III explores how Republicans during the Lincoln and Andrew Johnson administrations (1861–1868) flouted and systematically dismantled Dred Scott by passing laws and implementing executive policies to contradict its holdings. These efforts culminated in the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment, superseding Dred Scott and completing the cycle of delegitimization. Finally, Part IV uses the lessons of this nineteenth century cycle of delegitimization to scrutinize the Supreme Court’s current legitimacy crisis. It argues that recent decisions including Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization could inspire a similar cycle of delegitimization
Injustice Anywhere: A Comparative Law Analysis of Saudi Arabia’s Criminal Justice System
No full textA narrow understanding of other nations’ judicial systems begets unsupported assumptions about the way a justice system should operate. While many western commenters have publicized the failures of Middle Eastern societies to protect individual rights, much of the existing literature fails to analyze the legal structures which perpetuate injustice and the motivations that keep the institutions in place. This article illuminates the goals Saudi Arabia’s justice system, inspects how those goals parallel the goals of other common law and civil law systems, and evaluates whether Saudi Arabia’s system is able to effectively accomplish its aims.
This article argues that Saudi Arabia’s criminal justice system accomplishes its goals with precision, but that the nation sacrifices justice in its pursuit of religious fervor and citizen compliance. This article concludes that Saudi Arabia’s judicial system misses its mark and perpetuates injustice even where it pursues the same goals as western judicial systems. Ultimately, Saudi Arabia’s justice system is in dire need of dramatic overhaul but is too practically deficient to implement reform
Trickle-Down Compliance: How Codifying the Mandatory Presidential Audit Can Improve Tax Morale and Tax Compliance
No full textA functioning government requires tax revenue, and democratic legitimacy requires a nation’s leaders be subject to the same laws as its citizens. The president’s tax behavior is an opportunity to address both needs. With a projected increase in the tax gap, there is a need for a politically viable, cost-effective way to increase revenues. In December 2022, the House Ways and Means Committee released a report revealing that the IRS failed to perform mandatory annual audits of former President Donald Trump’s taxes. The revelation imperils public trust in tax administration, requiring a new approach to guarantee accountability for a president’s tax behavior. Thus far, discussion of Trump’s taxes has focused on voluntary disclosure and possible repercussions for Trump himself. This Note is novel in its focus on the presidential audit and its proposed implications for tax morale. First, it establishes the symbolic significance of presidents’ tax behavior and the power of tax morale to increase tax compliance. Then, the Note proposes a codified mandatory presidential audit that maximizes the impact of the audit on taxpayers’ compliance
