The text of the Constitution nowhere mentions God; the document is, as some scholars put it, quot;godless.quot; What is the significance of that silence? This brief essay, written for a discussion conference on religion, multiculturalism, and citizenship, considers and criticizes two possible...

The presence of Mexican law - as the applicable foreign law - continues to grow considerably in American courts. This phenomenon is significant in California and the southwestern states, as well as in Illinois, New York and Washington, D.C. It is unquestionable that deciding cases based on...

For purposes of acquisition of real estate by foreigners and foreign legal entities, the Republic of Mexico is divided into two large areas: a) the Restricted Zone; and, b) the Permitted Zone. The Restricted Zone is the real estate located in a strip of 64 miles along Mexico's border with the...

Conventional delegations - statutes delegating Article I, section 8 authority - are familiar enough and have spawned a large literature regarding their constitutionality. Rather than discussing whether Congress may delegate these powers, we wish to shift the focus to delegation of other powers....

A recent and widely received study by Lauren Cohen, Umit G. Gurun, and Scott Duke Kominers finds that non-practicing entities (NPEs) — pejoratively known as “patent trolls” — are “opportunistic” because they target defendants that (1) are cash-rich (particularly compared to...

The Supreme Court's recent landmark decisions interpreting the Sixth Amendment confrontation clause have taken an originalist turn, by treating common-law procedure contemporaneous with the founding as illustrations of the constitutional text. The Crawford trilogy holds that trial courts should...

Arthur Andersen LLP v. Carlisle is the first investor suit involving a failed Son-of-BOSS tax shelter to reach the Supreme Court. Although the Court rests its decision on procedural grounds under the Federal Arbitration Act, the case offers a tantalizing glimpse into the structure of the shelter...

Is a tax shelter that purports to eliminate more than $200 million of gain, with an investment of $2 million and no realistic possibility of profit, quot;too good to be truequot;lsquo; According to the Court of Federal Claims, which filed its decision in Stobie Creek Investments, LLC v. United...

The foreign tax credit is a cornerstone of the United States’ international tax regime and enjoys broad bipartisan support. Yet despite its enduring popularity, careful analysis reveals that the foreign tax credit is surprisingly arbitrary. Taxes are creditable in their entirety or not at all,...

The slated expiration of the Bush Administration's tax cuts in 2010 highlights the instability of the current 15% rate on dividends and capital gains. Meanwhile, pressure has mounted to reduce U.S. corporate tax rates to improve competitiveness in an increasingly global economy. Much of the 1986...