The Haitian Refugee Litigation: a Case Study in Transnational Public Law Litigation

In reading about the history behind this lecture series, I was struck by how Lawrence I. Gerber is described: as a man born in New York City of immigrant parents who went on to attend City College and NYU Law School, who loved the law and remained faithful to it through 60 years of practice. His, in short, was the story of the American dream, a dream that all of us have shared-of a nation of immigrants and law, of hope, struggle, and ultimately, promise fulfilled

A Tribute to Justice Harry A. Blackmun

Harry Blackmun taught by example. The first time I met him, he was the honored guest at my sister\u27s college graduation, and we were part of the milling crowd. When we called his name, he turned, smiled, and graciously shook hands with our whole family. He seemed so ordinary, soft-spoken, slight of build. Could this be one of the most powerful men in America

In Memoriam: Robert F. Drinan, S.J.: Father Drinan\u27s Revolution

Father Bob Drinan was not one of those lawyers who loved human rights but couldn\u27t stand human beings. What made him special was his unique ability to fight fiercely every day for human rights, while just as fiercely loving every human being he met. Like other happy human rights warriors-like Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu-Bob Drinan lived his life both as a fearless advocate and as a joyous human being. I know, because I benefited from both faces of Bob Drinan: the generous man who loved human beings and the scholar-advocate who loved human rights. It was because of Bob that my father became a lawyer, and it was because of Bob that the global human rights revolution that has been my life\u27s work became possible

Symposium: 50 Years with the 25th Amendment: Interpreting the Twenty-fifth Amendment: Major Controversies

In recent months, probably no constitutional provision has been more discussed, but less well understood, than Section Four of the Twenty-fifth Amendment. In its fifty-year history, the provision has never been triggered. But were that to happen, that constitutional provision could lead to the permanent separation of an American President from his powers and duties within less than one month. The Amendment\u27s text raises numerous interpretive questions. This lecture functions as a reader\u27s guide to Yale Law School Rule of Law Clinic\u27s Reader\u27s Guide to the Twenty-Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which seeks to answer those questions. The lecture focuses on the Guide\u27s conclusions concerning activation, definition and proof of presidential inability, institutional roles, the morning after completion of the process, and how Congress could better regularize process under the Amendment. In offering such a primer to the public, the Guide and this lecture seek to clarify how an as-yet-unused, but vitally important, constitutional process should function in a future, highly charged moment of national crisis

Note, The Constitutionality of Municipal Advocacy in Statewide Referendum Campaigns

Municipal governments regularly communicate ideas and information to their citizens at the public expense. When municipal speakers engage in unchecked political advocacy, however, their speech may arouse serious objections. Although few citizens would disapprove of a mayor\u27s occasional exhortations against littering, for example, all citizens would feel outraged if municipal government officials spent the entire city budget to promote their own reelection