March, 2018
Funding Restrictions and Separation of Powers
Mar. 13, 2018—Funding-Restrictions-and-Separation-of-Powers ABSTRACT Congress’s “power of the purse”—its authority to deny access to public funds—is one of its most essential constitutional authorities. A crucial check on executive overreaching, it may provide authority to stop presidents in their tracks. Yet Congress and the executive branch have developed widely divergent views on the scope of this authority. During the...
The Origins (and Fragility) of Judicial Independence
Mar. 13, 2018—The-Origins-and-Fragility-of-Judicial-Independence ABSTRACT The federal judiciary today takes certain things for granted. Political actors will not attempt to remove Article III judges outside the impeachment process; they will not obstruct federal court orders; and they will not tinker with the Supreme Court’s size in order to pack it with like-minded Justices. And yet a closer look...
Interpreting an Unamendable Text
Mar. 13, 2018—Interpreting-an-Unamendable-Text ABSTRACT Many of the most important legal texts in the United States are highly unamendable. This applies not only to the Constitution, which has not been amended in over forty years, but also to many framework statutes, like the Administrative Procedure Act and the Sherman Antitrust Act. The problem is becoming increasingly severe, as...
The Shifting Tides of Merger Litigation
Mar. 13, 2018—The-Shifting-Tides-of-Merger-Litigation ABSTRACT In 2015, Delaware made several important changes to its laws concerning merger litigation. These changes, which were made in response to a perception that levels of merger litigation were too high and that a substantial proportion of merger cases were not providing value, raised the bar, making it more difficult for plaintiffs to...
Sink or Sell: Using Real Estate Purchase Options to Facilitate Coastal Retreat
Mar. 13, 2018—Sink-or-Sell-Using-Real-Estate-Purchase-Options-to-Facilitate-Coastal-Retreat ABSTRACT Despite the political contention surrounding climate change, scientists almost universally agree that sea levels are rising and will continue to do so. In light of this inevitability, commentators and policymakers have begun to recognize that retreat—the withdrawal of people and development from coastal areas—will become necessary, at least in certain areas. Even so,...
Invisible Bars: Adapting the Crime of False Imprisonment to Better Address Coercive Control and Domestic Violence in Tennessee
Mar. 13, 2018—Invisible-Bars-Adapting-The-Crime-of-False-Imprisonment-to-Better-Address-Coercive-Control-and-Domestic-Violence-in-Tennessee ABSTRACT On average, three or more women are murdered by their intimate partners in the United States every day. Despite the now well-known correlation between coercive control—the strategic use of oppressive behavior to control primarily female partners—and intimate partner homicide, most states continue to focus their criminal domestic violence laws solely on physical violence....