The death penalty is in retreat. Three recent legal developments have shaken the foundations of modern death penalty jurisprudence, established over forty years ago.On June 29, 2015, in Glossip v. Gross, Justice Breyer, joined by Justice Ginsburg, argued in
Legislation Law Prof Blog
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The Energy Efficiency Divide: Hidden Costs of Poverty
In public housing, energy costs amount to about 40% more per square foot than in private or market rate housing. While differences in occupant behavior may account for some of this disparity, a large portion has been attributed to energy-efficient…
The Voting Rights Act, in cases and in comics
By Kevin Barry
From the New York Times, an interesting Voting Rights Act decision out of the Fifth Circuit:“A federal appeals panel ruled Wednesday that a strict voter identification law in Texas discriminated against blacks and Hispanics and violated the Voting Rights Act…
New Scholarship on Legislative and Regulatory Issues Related to Mortgage Foreclosures
By Sara Rankin
As part of the Legislation Law Prof Blog effort to spotlight relevant new scholarship, today we are featuring an article submitted by Professor Christopher Odinet concerning legislative and regulatory issues related to the mortgage foreclosure crisis. An abstract and link…
An Increased Elderly Population Calls for Modernizing Nursing Home Care
With an increasing elderly population and a predicted need for continuous care facilities there will be an increased cost associated with these facilities. On average the cost of a nursing home private room exceeds $83,000 per year and nursing…
Is a win for direct democracy necessarily a loss for legislatures – or a win for the people?
By COWS
This post was written by Nate Ela, of COWSIf you were following news earlier this week about the end of the Supreme Court term, you probably read that Arizona State Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission was a win for…
King v. Burwell: Upcoming Ruling
Over the next month, roughly 6.4 million people may be losing subsidies for health insurance. The United States Supreme Court has heard oral arguments for the King v. Burwell lawsuit and a ruling is expected sometime in late June or…
Michigan Governer Signs Religious Freedom Adoption Bill
On Thursday June 11, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder (R) signed legislation that would allow private adoption agencies to refuse adoption services to individuals based on religious grounds.Critics of the bill are concerned that the legislation would permit faith-based and religiously…
The Radical Reordering of Death Penalty Repeal: Nebraska Goes Retro
By Kevin Barry
On May 29, just two days after Nebraska became the nineteenth state to abolish the death penalty, Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts announced that he still plans to execute Nebraska’s ten death row inmates. Death penalty foes say he can’t do…
In Redistricting, Who Counts?
By COWS
When a state legislature takes census data and carves up new voting districts, how should it count who is in those districts? Should it count all residents, or only eligible voters? This is the question presented in Evenwel v. Abbott…