Morrison, Edmond, and the Power of Appointments
Andrew Croner · June 2009 77 GEO. WASH. L. REV. 1002 (2009) The power of appointments under the Constitution is governed by the Appointments Clause. On its face, the Appointments Clause appears to be a model of clarity among the many more vague commands of the Constitution;the procedures used for the appointment of federal officers... Read More
Early to Bed for Federal Regulations: A New Attempt to Avoid “Midnight Regulations” and Its Effect on Political Accountability
Christopher Carlberg · June 2009 77 GEO. WASH. L. REV. 992 (2009) After serving either four or eight years as the most powerful person in the world, no President of the United States likes to think that his influence will suddenly vanish on his successor’s Inauguration Day. History has shown that most presidential administrations exert... Read More
Is a Competent Federal Government Becoming Oxymoronic?
Peter H. Schuck · June 2009 77 GEO. WASH. L. REV. 973 (2009) Thoughtful books on governmental effectiveness are always in short supply, and never more so than today. The Bush Administration was a sink of incompetence (or worse). Examples abound, but I shall identify only five. Even many of the most ardent supporters of... Read More
Transparency and Public Participation in the Federal Rulemaking Process: Recommendations for the New Administration
Cary Coglianese, Heather Kilmartin & Evan Mendelson · June 2009 77 GEO. WASH. L. REV. 924 (2009) Virtually every major aspect of contemporary life is affected by government regulation. For good or ill, the administrative process affects the food people eat, the water they drink, and the air they breathe. Economic activity depends on the... Read More
Are Administrative Patent Judges Unconstitutional?
John F. Duffy · June 2009 77 GEO. WASH. L. REV. 904 (2009) Under 35 U.S.C. § 6, administrative patent judges of the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (“BPAI”) are appointed by the Director of the Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”). That method of appointment is almost certainly unconstitutional, and the administrative patent judges... Read More
Agency Self-Regulation
Elizabeth Magill · June 2009 77 GEO. WASH. L. REV. 859 (2009) Discretion is at the center of most accounts of bureaucracy. It is no mystery why this is so. While agencies are hemmed in by statutes, the President, and courts, they still possess enormous discretion that they can exercise in ways that matter to... Read More
The Pollution Delusion: A Proposal for a Uniform Interpretation of Pollution in General Liability Absolute Pollution Exclusions
Christopher Meeks · April 2009 77 GEO. WASH. L. REV. 824 (2009) This Note proposes a uniform method for interpreting the term pollution to address the problems associated with an unclear definition of pollution in the absolute pollution exclusion. Specifically, this Note argues that state courts should first find that the term pollution is ambiguous,... Read More
The “Bong Hits” Case and Viewpoint Discrimination: A State Law Answer to Protecting Unpopular Student Viewpoints
Evan Mayor · April 2009 77 GEO. WASH. L. REV. 799 (2009) Ever since the Supreme Court declared that students and teachers do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate,” the Court has been struggling to determine what level of First Amendment protection it should provide to... Read More
A Snake in the Grass?: Section 798 of the Espionage Act and Its Constitutionality as Applied to the Press
Andrew Croner · April 2009 77 GEO. WASH. L. REV. 766 (2009) The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (“FISA”) establishes the statutory framework for foreign intelligence operations involving electronic surveillance. It requires that NSA secure warrants based on probable cause prior to conducting electronic surveillance that targets the communications of any United States citizen located in... Read More
Cooperative Noncooperation: A Proposal for an Effective Uniform Noncooperation
Christopher Carlberg · April 2009 77 GEO. WASH. L. REV. 740 (2009) As long-term residents of a country that has not authorized their presence, undocumented immigrants in the United States live in “shadow populations” on the periphery of their communities, in constant fear of deportation. These undocumented immigrants are frequently the victims of crime, fraud,... Read More