Anyone who thinks that debate over the values of federalism-the place of state and local interests in the affairs of the American nation-is largely a concern of academicians need only look at recent opinions of the United States Supreme Court. In April 1980, the Court ruled that municipalities being sued under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (a civil rights statute dating back to 1871) may not plead as a defense that the governmental official who was involved in the alleged wrong had acted in "good faith" (a defense which the official, if sued personally, could assert). Four justices dissented, complaining, among other things, that "ruinous judgments under the statute [section 1983] could imperil local governments."' The Court made even more news when it held in June 1980 that plaintiffs could use section 1983 to seek redress of claims based on federal statutes generally-in that case, the state of Maine had denied a family welfare benefits to which they were entitled under the federal Social Security Act.' Three dissenting justices argued unsuccessfully that section 1983's reference to federal "laws" was in fact "a shorthand reference to equal rights legislation enacted by Congress."' They saw the Court's ruling as "a major new intrusion into state sovereignty under our federal system."' The decision's implications for state and local budgets were made the more significant by the Court's additional holding that under a 1976 federal statute a plaintiff who prevails in a section 1983 action is entitled to recover his attorney's fees.
For the over half-million people currently homeless in the United States, the U.S. Constitution has historically provided little help: it is strongly...
The Environmental Law and Community Engagement Clinic at the University of Virginia School of Law filed this amicus brief on behalf of San Bernardino...
President Joe Biden promised during his State of the Union address on March 7, 2024, that he would make the right to get an abortion a federal law.
“If...
Gradualism should have won out in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, exerting gravitational influence on the majority and dissenters alike. In general...
Today, legal culture is shaped by One Big Question: should courts, particularly the US Supreme Court, have a lot of power? This question is affecting...
Research correlating stringency in land-use regulation to low housing supply, high housing costs, and segregation relies on surveys of planners about...
On December 15, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued its decision in Illumina, Inc. v. FTC. Although the court vacated and...
On January 17, the Supreme Court heard arguments in what are potentially the most significant commercial law cases of the last decade. In the...
Constitutional review is the power of a body, usually a court, to assess whether law or government action complies with the constitution. Originating...
Cities have been largely absent from the theory and legal doctrine of federalism, especially in the United States, where federalism is understood to...
This Article introduces the Jurist-Derived Judicial Ideology Scores (JuDJIS), an expert-sourced measure of judicial traits that can locate nearly...
It is widely believed that President Donald Trump’s judicial appointments reflected a strategy of appeasing evangelical Christians and other religious...
Cyber stalking involves repeated, often relentless targeting of someone with abuse. Death and rape threats may be part of a perpetrator’s playbook...
Income inequality is a national preoccupation, and the public’s imagination is captured by the astronomical incomes of Valley tech billionaires and...
We apply a dynamic influence model to the opinions of the U.S. federal courts to examine the role of the U.S. Supreme Court in influencing the...
During times of crisis, governments often consider policies that may promote safety, but that would require overstepping constitutionally protected...
The United States has granted reparations for a variety of historical injustices, from imprisonment of Japanese Americans during the Second World War...