Authoruclalaw

Obergefell’s national mandate for marriage equality became possible because marriage equality advocates set out to change social and constitutional meanings by winning over moveable middle voters in ballot question elections. Thus, a new variation on popular constitutionalism was born. The article argues that the same-sex marriage campaign is likely to foreshadow sophisticated social change...

Did backlash to judicial decisions play a destructive role in debates over same-sex marriage, as was so often claimed? The article argues that the Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell was possible not simply because public opinion changed, but also because struggle over the courts helped change public opinion and forge new constitutional understandings. The debate over same-sex marriage...

How should lawyers connect their preexisting advocacy with a broader social movement? Must lawyers be relegated to the background, or might they assume an active role that enhances the leadership of grassroots community members within the movement? What are concrete tools lawyers might deploy in advancing the struggle? Through a case study of challenging traffic court debt in South Los Angeles...

This Article explores courts’ ability to restrict occupational licensing regulations at the state and local level. In recent years, governments have extended licensing requirements well beyond their traditional boundaries. The literature criticizes these requirements as protectionist measures that stifle new entry, entrench inequality, and threaten the emerging sharing economy. The harder...

The limited capacity of juveniles to make good decisions on their own—based on centuries of common sense and empirically supported in recent decades by abundant scientific research—informs almost every field of legal doctrine. Recent criminal justice reforms have grounded enhanced protections for youth at punishment and as criminal suspects on their limited cognitive abilities and heightened...