The Great One takes on Substantive Due Process

Spring semester exams are upon us.  First up, Con Law, tomorrow morning.

One of the thorny topics that has come up along the way: substantive due process, which could be summed up as the court intervening when they believe that life, liberty, and property have been taken away in ways they don't like/that make them uncomfortable.  One of the themes of the course has been moving past our own personal beliefs in thinking through the line of cases and looking at them on the basis of the constitution, the textual check on the democratic process.  With respect to judicial review, our prof's general position has been that once they reach a conclusion concerning constitutionality, the court's job is done.  The political implications and public reaction are none of their business.  

Tomorrow, I may spend an hour writing an essay fleshing it all out.  For now, I'll let the Rock sum it up. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETShkg-65fY

Hey, it's Enrico Pallazo!

Today in Property, takings and the question of conceptual severance. Can a piece of land be parceled out, or will it be treated as a whole, when affected by government regulation?

One of the cases that came up was Palazzolo v. RI, where a corporation, which was basically one guy, bought some land, dissolved for failure to pay incorporation taxes, then the guy took title.   His name was Palazzolo.

With it being the last week of class, student attention is understandably flagging.  Once I saw this, the first thing that I thought was, "Hey, it's Enrico Pallazo!"

Enjoy.