Time for a New Privilege: Allowing Unmarried Cohabitating Couples to Claim the Spousal Testimony Privilege

Jun 8, 2007 | Notes, Number 4, Print Edition, Volume 40

The American court system recognizes marriage as one of the most highly regarded institutions.  More often than before, couples cohabitate without getting married, either by choice or because the law affords them no other option.  As traditional stigmas against...

Maintaining Educational and Athletic Integrity: How Will Schools Combat Performance-Enhancing Drug Use?

Jun 8, 2007 | Case Comments, Number 4, Print Edition, Volume 40

The recent steroid controversy in professional sports may only be the beginning of this nation’s relationship with physical and cognitive enhancement drugs.  The market for enhancement drugs is growing at an alarming rate, raising serious ethical, legal, and social...

Selecting Supreme Court Justices: Preserving the System, Protecting with Professionalism

Jun 8, 2007 | Lead Articles, Number 4, Print Edition, Volume 40

Unsurprisingly, the American public is cynical toward lawyers and the government.  While Senators, the President, and members of the executive administration all strive to improve our country, many times continuous political bickering leaves a distaste in the public’s...

Constitutional Law—The First Circuit Denies Private Parties Standing to Assert Tenth Amendment Commandeering Claims—Medeiros v. Vincent, 431 F.3d 25 (1st Cir. 2005), cert. denied, 126 S. Ct. 2968 (2006)

Jun 8, 2007 | Case Comments, Number 4, Print Edition, Volume 40

The Tenth Amendment reserves state sovereignty where the federal government is not constitutionally authorized to act.  Although states have the right, under the Tenth Amendment, to challenge federal regulatory schemes that “commandeer” state legislatures, it is...

A Final Frontier in Prisoner Litigation: Does Bivens Extend to Employees of Private Prisons Who Violate the Constitution?

Jun 8, 2007 | Notes, Number 4, Print Edition, Volume 40

Over the past few decades, corporate America has accrued influence and power in a most unlikely arena:  the nation’s prison system.  States and the federal government, citing economic and logistical advantages, have enlisted corporations to construct, staff, and...

Criminal Procedure—Court of Appeals Independently Reviews Evidence While Claiming to Defer to District Court’s Factual Findings—United States v. Smith, 423 F.3d 25 (1st Cir. 2005), cert. denied, 126 S. Ct. 2287 (2006)

Jun 8, 2007 | Case Comments, Number 4, Print Edition, Volume 40

The United States Constitution guarantees “[t]he right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.”  A seizure of the person occurs when a law enforcement officer takes control of a person by...