Civil Liberties Outside the Courts

When critics of a countermajoritarian judiciary agonize over the cost to civil liberties of deference to the elected branches, they proceed on a false historical premise. They assume that courts were inextricably tied to the American tradition of expressive freedom and minority rights that emerged in the aftermath of the First World War. In fact, even the staunchest interwar advocates of civil liberties shared deep misgivings about judicial power. Many imagined and administered alternative regimes for civil liberties enforcement—methods that marshaled state power to counteract distortions in the marketplace of ideas and to advance substantive rights. Surprisingly, these early proponents of civil liberties linked the term, above all, to workers’ rights to organize, picket, and strike. As partisans of organized labor, they were profoundly skeptical of judicial intervention. The court-centered strategy that ultimately prevailed was fiercely contested throughout the New Deal, well after the foundational First Amendment victories. Reconstructing these competing visions of civil liberties and the corresponding experiments in civil liberties enforcement before and after the “Constitutional Revolution” of the New Deal provides an important corrective to contemporary debates over court-based constitutionalism. In areas ranging from same-sex marriage to racial equality, recent decades have witnessed a resurgence of interest in extrajudicial approaches to advancing civil rights. Endorsements of popular constitutionalism and calls for constitutional amendment and judicial restraint manifest a growing aversion to the court-centered rights mobilization that dominated legal academia and the liberal imagination for almost half a century

Freedom of Conscience in War Time: World War I and the Limits of Civil Liberties

This Article examines the relationship between expressive freedom and freedom of conscience as the modern First Amendment took shape. It focuses on efforts by the American Union Against Militarism and National Civil Liberties Bureau¿the organizational precursors to the ACLU¿to secure exemptions from military service for conscientious objectors whose opposition to American involvement in the First World War stemmed from socialist or radical labor convictions rather than religious scruples. Although such men asserted secular, ethical objections to war, advocates strained to expand the First Amendment¿s Free Exercise Clause to encompass them. Concurrently, they sought to import a generalized theory of freedom of conscience into constitutional constructions of freedom of speech and press, within and outside the courts. The conception of liberty of conscience that they advanced, which they linked to an ¿Anglo-Saxon tradition¿ of individual rights, clashed with progressive understandings of democratic citizenship and failed to gain broad- based traction

The GoodHope Ehlers Danlos Syndrome Clinic: development and implementation of the first interdisciplinary program for multi-system issues in connective tissue disorders at the Toronto General Hospital

Abstract Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) are a heterogeneous group of genetic connective tissue disorders, and typically manifests as weak joints that subluxate/dislocate, stretchy and/or fragile skin, organ/systems dysfunction, and significant widespread pain. Historically, this syndrome has been poorly understood and often overlooked. As a result, people living with EDS had difficulty obtaining an accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment, leading to untold personal suffering as well as ineffective health care utilization. The GoodHope EDS clinic addresses systemic gaps in the diagnosis and treatment of EDS. This paper describes a leap forward—from lack of awareness, diagnosis, and treatment—to expert care that is tailored to meet the specific needs of patients with EDS. The GoodHope EDS clinic consists of experts from various medical specialties who work together to provide comprehensive care that addresses the multi-systemic nature of the syndrome. In addition, EDS-specific self-management programs have been developed that draw on exercise science, rehabilitation, and health psychology to improve physical and psychosocial wellbeing and overall quality of life. Embedded into the program are research initiatives to shed light on the clinical presentation, underlying mechanisms of pathophysiology, and syndrome management. We also lead regular educational activities for community health care providers to increase awareness and competence in the interprofessional management of EDS beyond our doors and throughout the province and country