The article discusses the court case U.S. v. Davila-Mendoza, wherein the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit restricted the Commerce Clause authority of the Congress over economic activity on foreign waters, particularly the regulation of maritime drug trafficking under the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act.
Journal of International Social Research; Apr2021, Vol. 14 Issue 77, p343-351, 9p
Abstract
Copyright of Journal of International Social Research is the property of Journal of International Social Research and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Journal of Policy History; April 2023, Vol. 35 Issue: 2 p281-306, 26p
Abstract
AbstractIn order to establish a new national budget system during the Progressive Era, Congress had to overcome an earlier convention in which it used detailed appropriations in an attempt to control the budgetary actions of federal agencies and the president served no formal role. Incremental changes to strengthen congressional budgetary controls proved inadequate but provided reformers with an opportunity to supplant the existing orthodoxy, resulting in the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921. Although most studies have focused on the Act in terms of its effects on presidential power and presidential/congressional relations, this study focuses on congressional actions and debates to show how reform was rooted in long-standing congressional concerns about the need to control agency budgetary actions and was understood at the time as a culmination of those efforts, not simply as a case of Congress enhancing presidential power at its own expense.
INTERGROUP relations, POLITICAL affiliation, POLITICAL parties, and STATISTICAL models
Abstract
• Political polarization can take both weak and strong forms, defined by intergroup relations. • Positive and negative political ties can be inferred from patterns of bill co-sponsorship. • Both chambers of the US Congress have grown more polarized since the 1970s. • Trends in congressional polarization are unrelated to which party holds the majority. Claims that the United States Congress is (becoming more) polarized are widespread, but what is polarization? In this paper, I draw on notions of intergroup relations to distinguish two forms. Weak polarization occurs when relations between the polarized groups are merely absent, while strong polarization occurs when the relations between the polarized groups are negative. I apply the Stochastic Degree Sequence Model to data on bill co-sponsorship in both the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, from 1973 (93rd session) to 2016 (114th session) to infer a series of signed networks of political relationships among legislators, which I then use to answer two research questions. First, can the widely reported finding of increasing weak polarization in the U.S. Congress be replicated when using a statistical model to make inferences about when positive political relations exist? Second, is the (increasing) polarization observed in the U.S. Congress only weak polarization, or is it strong polarization? I find that both chambers exhibit both weak and strong polarization, that both forms are increasing, and that they are structured by political party affiliation. However, I also find these trends are unrelated to which party holds the majority in a chamber. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Journal of Law & Politics; Summer2019, Vol. 35 Issue 1, p19-65, 47p
Subjects
JUSTICE administration, DUE process of law, COURTS-martial & courts of inquiry, JUDICIAL power, and SEXUAL assault lawsuits
Abstract
In Ortiz v. United States, 138 S. Ct. 2165 (2018), the majority described the military court-martial system (a commander-controlled process for adjudicating criminal complaints) as judicial in character. It reached this conclusion over Justice Alito’s dissent, which took a diametrically opposed view by describing the system as an Executive Branch entity that could not exercise judicial power. The conflict between these two views is nothing new as they have been at the center o f a debate about the fundamental nature o f courts-martial for more than a century. Since Congress legislates consistent with Justice Alito’s executive view, a rift between the Legislative and Judicial Branches is now apparent. This gives rise to a question about the constitutionality o f the court-martial framework under the Uniform Code o f Military Justice (UCMJ): does the current commander-controlled process comply with the requirements o f due process? The answer to this question is especially relevant in today’s political environment where members o f Congress, operating under an executive view o f courts-martial, pressure senior military leaders to produce convictions in sexual assault cases. Therefore, this Article examines the due-process question, concluding that there is an argument that the UCMJ’s court-marital framework may not meet constitutional muster. In reaching this conclusion this Article highlights the type o f structural reform that is necessary to ensure due-process compliance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Walker, Andrew J., Silva Campo, Ana María, Manners, Jane, Hébrard, Jean M., and Scott, Rebecca J.
The William & Mary Quarterly (Project Muse); August 2022, Vol. 79 Issue: 3 p425-452, 28p
Abstract
Abstract:In 1809 more than three thousand people were claimed as slaves upon arrival in Louisiana, in violation of the 1807 U.S. law against the international trade in persons to be held or sold as slaves. Having lived as free persons in Saint Domingue since the revolutionary emancipations of the 1790s, these people had been swept into a large exodus of war refugees in 1803, as the Napoleonic expeditionary assault ravaged the colony. When France and Spain went to war in 1808, the Spanish government in Cuba expelled the "French" refugees. More than ten thousand soon made their way toward Louisiana. Before their departure, one hundred prosperous white refugees penned a petition to President James Madison, seeking to bring into the United States those whom they coyly described as their "domestics." In June 1809 the U.S. Congress passed, and the president signed, a law granting the requested "remission of penalties" for those from Saint Domingue via Cuba who had violated the 1807 law. The Louisiana legislature, in turn, authorized putative owners to buy and sell those they now claimed as slaves. The dynamics of these acts of peremptory enslavement reframe our understanding of Caribbean connections in the early U.S. Republic, and of the 1807 law.
Review of International Affairs (04866096); Sep-Dec2022, Vol. 73 Issue 1186, p33-60, 28p
Subjects
RUSSIAN invasion of Ukraine, 2022-, UNITED States armed forces, CHINA-United States relations, and CHINESE people
Abstract
Copyright of Review of International Affairs (04866096) is the property of Institute of International Politics & Economics and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
University of Cincinnati Law Review; 2018, Vol. 86 Issue 2, p797-822, 26p
Subjects
NEIGHBORHOODS and COASTAL surveillance
Abstract
The article offers the information on the Amagansett as New York as an attractive East Hampton neighborhood. The article mentions about the many mansions that populate Amagansett is a historic Coast Guard station that sits just off Atlantic Avenue beach.
In contrast to the thesis that the War Powers of the U.S. Congress are defective and dysfunctional, congressional behavior can be understood as rational and strategic: First, members of Congress evaluate electoral interests when choosing to support or criticize presidential war policies. Second, congressional members assess whether the use of force abroad is aimed at preventing threats to US security interests. Such "wars of necessity" are likely to summon congressional support, whereas Congress is more skeptical towards humanitarian interventions ("wars of choice"). The thesis will be illustrated by comparing the two most recent cases of military interventions (Libya 2011, ISIS 2014). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
UNITED States legislators, LEGISLATIVE voting, DEMOCRATS (United States), REPUBLICANS, PRACTICAL politics, and PARTISANSHIP
Abstract
Copyright of EurAmerica is the property of EurAmerica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
ARCHIVAL materials, INTERNATIONAL relations, ARCHIVES, and UNITED States senators
Abstract
Copyright of Pregled is the property of University of Sarajevo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Tax Law Review; Summer2014, Vol. 67 Issue 4, p555-611, 57p
Subjects
LAW teachers, UNITED States tax laws, TAX cuts, TAX reform, and FISCAL policy
Abstract
The article focuses on the role of legal academics in understanding the tax legislative process of the U.S. Topics discussed include need of disposing expiring tax cuts that were enacted during the presidential term of George W. Bush, the need of reforming the tax cut and other fiscal policies implemented by the House of Representatives of the Congress on low and middle income tax payers under the Tax Reform Act of 1969, and the refusal of the President Barack Obama for increasing tax cuts.
Zeitschrift für Parlamentsfragen; 2017, Vol. 48 Issue 2, p249-270, 22p
Abstract
In the 2016 Congressional elections in the USA, the Republican Party succeeded in confirming its majorities in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Although they lost two seats in the Senate and six seats in the House they managed to win a majority of the decisive battleground states. The Republicans managed to retain an advantage in the House for the foreseeable future thanks to gerrymandered seats and a shrinking number of competitive seats in this chamber. The results can be interpreted as an endorsement of the status quo on Capitol Hill. The re-election rates of 97 percent (House) and 93 percent (Senate) are among the highest numbers in recent years. The 2016 elections turned out to be a successful year for incumbents both Republican and Democratic. President Donald Trump enjoys therefore a unified government, at least until the midterm elections of 2018. It will be interesting to see whether he will succeed in implementing his legislative agenda within the U.S. system of checks and balances with a Republican party that offers internal divisions, as could be seen in his (first) attempt to abolish the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) in March 2017. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Fordham Law Review; Apr2021, Vol. 89 Issue 5, p1895-1940, 46p
Subjects
UNITED States appellate courts, CONSTITUTIONAL law, and UNITED States. Judiciary Act of 1789
Abstract
This Article describes the original constitutional plan for the U.S. Supreme Court and the lower federal courts as set out in Article III of the U.S Constitution, debated at the Constitutional Convention and state ratifying conventions, implemented by the First Congress, and realized with the first case docketed at the Supreme Court, from 1787 to 1792. In so doing, it relies on close readings of three primary sources: Article IX of the Articles of Confederation, the Judiciary Act of 1789, and the Process Act of 1789. The First Judiciary Act is well known but not often read and analyzed holistically as a single, integrated enactment designed to address concerns voiced during the state ratification conventions. Article IX and the First Process Act are neither well known nor identified as key sources of Article III of the Constitution and its original meaning. This Article enlarges modern conventional wisdoms about the early U.S. federal courts by showing: • Their distinctly pro-foreigner orientation as befitting a new weak state, in sore need of inbound foreign trade, credit, and investment; • The essentiality of the Supreme Court's original jurisdiction to promote international and interstate peace and harmony; • The controversial nature of the Court's appellate jurisdiction "both as to Law and Fact" when the Constitution was discussed and adopted (1787-1788), based on the example of the national appeals court for captures under Article IX of the Articles of Confederation; • The limited scope of state law rules of decision and procedures within the Article III categories of federal judicial power that the First Congress actually vested; • The relatively limited importance of Article III "arising under" federal jurisdiction as an original matter outside of federal crimes and revenue laws; and The overall "nationalist" orientation of the federal courts, to subordinate state interests to the overwhelming national survival interest in international and interstate peace and commerce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Pepperdine Law Review; 2024, Vol. 51 Issue 1, p75-122, 48p
Subjects
FORCED labor (International law) and SLAVE labor
Abstract
Congress enacted the Trafficking Victims Protection Act CTVPRA" or "Act") in 2000, which, through its amendments, gives victims of human trafficking, including jorced labor or slave labor, a private right of action against those who knowingly benefit from the abusive labor practices perpetrated on them. Even though slave labor, particularly child labor, isaperceived evil in the foreign supply chains of many domestic companies, courts appear uncomfortable with the some of the civil-liability provisions of the TVPRA. This Article examines recent cases brought under the TVPRA, and how, in some cases, courts have eviscerated the private right of action for these foreign victims. This Article also analyzes how some of these recent interpretations do not comport with prior precedent or legislative intent and attempts to offer an explanation as to the judicial discomfort with victim-based claims for damages under this Act. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
SMU Law Review; Fall2023, Vol. 76 Issue 4, p701-724, 24p
Subjects
GUN laws and LEGAL judgments
Abstract
The current majority of the Supreme Court has significantly increased access to firearms. In last year's New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen decision, the majority curtailed legislative options for protecting U.S. citizens from the danger presented by unfettered access to life-threatening weapons. The majority refused to acknowledge the danger inherent in firearms and the substantive difference in function between an antique flintlock and an AK-47. The Court's refusal to consider the change that technology has brought to firearm capabilities has resulted in a dramatically reduced ability for any legislation to address the danger of firearms in a constructive manner. However, this reduction is not necessarily an elimination. Even with the historically inaccurate and logically flawed decision of the current majority, there are still measures that can be taken. Modern technology can be used to limit the harm posed by rampant gun possession even under the Court's recent interpretation of the Second Amendment. The majority in Bruen embraced analyzing the purpose of the Second Amendment to hold that people should be allowed to carry a gun outside their home and on the streets of every city in America. The adoption of purpose analysis, however, can not only enlarge gun rights but also constrain gun harms, such as via technological means. This same purpose analysis can be used to establish meaningful safeguards to help reduce unnecessary deaths that even this majority will be hard-pressed to deem unconstitutional. Legislators should use purpose analysis to establish regulations that will help protect Americans from gun violence. This Article proposes the introduction of methods like gun tagging to promote greater safety in our country. The contributions of this work are thus two-fold: an analysis of the Bruen decision both from a historical and legal perspective, and the introduction of gun tagging as a mechanism to enhance public safety in the United States. This analysis shows the flaws in the majority opinion in Bruen but simultaneously highlights the fact that the proposal in this Article works under that regime until the members of the Court are changed and that law can be overturned. This solution balances the concerns of gun skeptics with the judicial embrace of gun rights, for better or for worse, in our nation's history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
SOCIAL movements, ENVIRONMENTALISM, LEGISLATORS, and LOBBYISTS
Abstract
This article considers the role of social movement allies in Congress in advancing proenvironmental legislation. We argue that compared to sponsors of legislation who hold moderate views, sponsors with extreme ideological positions will be less likely to produce legislation desired by the environmental movement. We also argue that protest and organizational advocacy by constituents will increase the rate at which sponsors enact environmental legislation. Using event history techniques that follow over 12,000 environmental bills from 1973-1996, we find support for the argument that environmental bills are more successful when sponsored by legislators who have environmental voting records closer to the median voter in Congress, compared to bills sponsored by representatives holding more extreme positions. We also find that the number of environmental lobbyist organizations has a positive effect on the speed of enactment of environmental legislation, but that protest by constituents does not affect the speed of the bill's passage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]