ACS Issue Briefs
See below all issue briefs since January 2017. Click here for past issue briefs.
The U.S. Constitution Meets Democratic Theory: The Puzzling Cases of Puerto Rico and D.C.
In a new ACS Issue Brief, professors Guy-Uriel Charles, Edward and Ellen Schwarzman Professor of Law at Duke University Law School, and Luis Fuentes-Rohwer, Professor of Law and Class of 1950 Herman B Wells Endowed Professor at Indiana University Maurer School of Law, examine the case for statehood for the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. “The harsh reality,” they contend, is that “[t]he present treatment of territorial and ‘seat of government’ residents is hard to square with our modern democratic commitments. … While statehood need not be the required solution, a solution is necessary.”
Read MoreThe Aftermath of Janus v. AFSCME: An Ongoing Assault on Public Sector Unions
February 25, 2020 With the Supreme Court having overruled precedent and declared public sector “fair share” fees unconstitutional in Janus v. AFSCME, anti-union forces now have a new target: repayment of the fees paid to unions prior to the 2018 decision. Arguing that Janus should be retroactive, these advocates are seeking “millions of dollars from public sector […]
Read MoreTo Save and Not to Destroy: Severability, Judicial Restraint, and the Affordable Care Act
"When a statute is partially unconstitutional, courts must endeavor to save, not destroy, the rest of the law,” explains David Gans, Director of the Human Rights, Civil Rights, and Citizenship Program at the Constitutional Accountability Center in a new ACS issue brief.
Read MoreRacial Exclusion Through Crime-Free Housing Ordinances
Housing policy in the United States has created and preserved racial segregation and exclusion, from explicit Jim Crow-era racial zoning laws and racially restrictive covenants to the facially neutral yet racially biased policies of exclusionary zoning and redlining that arose in the 20th century.
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