Ohio State Law Journal

Article

Police Shootings: Is Accountability the Enemy of Prevention?

by Barbara E. Armacost

Police officers shoot an unarmed man or woman. The victim’s family and community cry out for someone to be held accountable. In minority communities, where a disproportionate number of officer-involved shootings occur, residents suspect that racial animus and stereotypical assumptions about “dangerous black men” played a part. Citizens seek accountability by filing lawsuits and demanding criminal prosecutions...

Article

Part-Time Government

by Kellen Zale

Part-time government is the rule, not the exception, for cities in the United States. The vast majority of the 20,000 cities in the U.S.—eleven out of every twelve—are governed by part-time local legislatures. From small towns to major urban metropolises, the fate of cities collectively responsible for billions of dollars in public revenues and expenditures is determined by city council members who often volunteer their time for minimal pay...

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Schools in Name Only: The Role of the Federal Judiciary in Remedying Our Nation’s Unconstitutional Schools

by Kaela King

Every day, eighteen-year-old Gary B. wakes up in an extremely segregated city and tries his best to learn at a wildly underperforming school.3 He attends Osborn Evergreen Academy of Design and Alternative Energy in Detroit, Michigan and is currently in his senior year. Osborn Evergreen Academy is attended by almost one hundred percent minority students, of which zero percent have attained proficiency in mathematics, science, and social studies...

Article

The Puzzle of the Constitutional Home

by Gerald S. Dickinson

The home enjoys a special place in American constitutional law. A doctrinal thread runs across the first five amendments that demarcates the home as a realm in which rights enjoy elevated protection. That thread covers rights involving smut, guns, soldiers, searches, and self- incrimination, but inexplicably does not extend to takings. This stark dichotomy between the solicitude of the home for most rights and the opposite for takings produces a deep puzzle...

Article

Fixer Upper: Buyer Deposits in Residential Real Estate Transactions

by Tanya J. Monestier

You cannot turn on the television nowadays without being inundated by “property shows”—House Hunters, Flip or Flop, Million Dollar Listing, Fixer Upper, Property Brothers, Love It or List It, and so on. These shows are wildly popular. According to the New York Times, Home and Garden Television, HGTV, is “among the most popular [networks] on television, reaching 1.11 million views in May [2018 alone].” It is rated fourth in prime time viewership...

Note

Straining Territorial Incorporation: Unintended Consequences from Judicially Extending Constitutional Citizenship

by Riley Edward Kane

For nearly a century, the Insular Cases have provided the rickety, constitutionally dubious foundation upon which the law of United States Territories was built. The doctrine of territorial incorporation,1 which serves as its foundation, is approaching the centenary of its unanimous endorsement by the Supreme Court. The doctrine essentially states that the territories are not “a part” of the United States, but are “merely belonging to it.” The Insular Cases...