Author: Richard Albert
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The Modern Liberum Veto
—Richard Albert, Boston College Law School For many, the bête noire in the United States Constitution is Article V. Sanford Levinson says that it “brings us all too close to the Lockean dream (or nightmare) of changeless stasis.” Bruce Ackerman calls it an “obsolescent obstacle course.”
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The First Amendment’s Global Dimension
—Timothy Zick, William & Mary Law School In my forthcoming book, The Cosmopolitan First Amendment (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2013—Part I of the book is available here), I discuss the manner in which the First Amendment’s various guarantees relate to and intersect with international borders.
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Constitutional Text and Political Reality in China
—Richard Albert, Boston College Law School The New York Times recently published an interesting article on the Chinese Constitution. As the article reports, Chinese reformers are lobbying the government to live up to the commitments entrenched in the Constitution. These reformers see a disjuncture between the constitutional text and political reality in China, and they want…
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The First Haitian Constitution
—Richard Albert, Boston College Law School As we follow Haiti’s slow march toward democracy in the news, media reports often highlight that Haiti is the poorest nation in the western hemisphere and the world’s first independent black republic. Yet what is often if not always missing is this: Haiti adopted one of the first written…
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Toward a New European Abortion Constitutionalism?
—Ruth Rubio Marin, European University Institute Modern constitutionalism, born at the end of the 18th century with the French and American Revolutions, is a historically grounded venture. At the time, women did not enjoy civil equality, their freedom being largely dependent on their marital status, nor political citizenship–female enfranchisement not becoming a widespread reality until…
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Fiji’s Continuing Constitutional Crisis
—Richard Albert, Boston College Law School In the latest twist in Fiji’s continuing constitutional crisis, the Fijian military government has rejected the new draft constitution proposed by the Constitution Commission. It is believed that the military rejected the draft constitution because the draft proposed dramatically to curb the powers of the military.
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International Arbitration and the Transformation of Comparative Law
—Donald Childress III, Pepperdine University We are in the midst of a monumental shift in the way international law views the state. While at one time, the nation-state claimed near absolute authority over prescribing, adjudicating, and enforcing law, today we see many non-state actors competing for legal competence.
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Clapper v. Amnesty International: Still Trying for a Day in Court
—Sudha Setty, Western New England University School of Law In the last decade, U.S. courts have consistently blocked civil suits seeking damages for government overreaching in its counterterrorism programs. Most cases have been dismissed at the pleadings stage, as courts have found plaintiffs to be without standing and/or have found that plaintiffs who have standing…
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The Surprising Cascade of Pro-Gay Marriage Decisions in Latin America
—David Landau, Florida State University College of Law Ten years ago, Latin America would have been one of the last places where one would have expected an avalanche of same-sex rights decisions and policies. But that’s indeed what has happened recently, bookmarked by a December decision of the Mexican Supreme Court.
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The New Framework Agreement between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front
—Anna Su, S.J.D. Candidate, Harvard Law School, A new Framework Agreement between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front was signed with much rejoicing and fanfare last October 15. To be sure, the Framework Agreement is not yet a peace agreement.