Remedies
Equity’s Constitutional Source
This Article uncovers the federal equity power’s constitutional source. It argues that, as originally understood, Article III vests the federal courts with inherent power to grant equitable remedies and to adapt the federal system of equity in ways beyond what the Supreme Court’s current cramped, statute-based equity jurisprudence permits.
The Constitution as a Source of Remedial Law
This Essay responds to Owen Gallogly’s Equity’s Constitutional Source. It argues that it is implausible to locate the federal courts’ authority to afford equitable relief in Article III, but it defends a constitutional default rule applicable to legal as well as equitable remedies having its source in the Supremacy Clause.
Partisanship, Remedies, and the Rule of Law
This Essay responds to Don R. Willett and Aaron Gordon’s Review of The Collapse of Constitutional Remedies. I show that Willett and Gordon inaccurately describe Collapse’s main argument; offer an internally inconsistent critique; and fail to understand key terms such as judicial independence and the rule of law.
Rights, Structure, and Remediation
In The Collapse of Constitutional Remedies, Aziz Huq contends federal courts exacerbate societal inequities by overzealously enforcing constitutional limits on government regulation while neglecting individual-rights violations. Though some of Huq’s criticisms are spot-on, others are overstated, and his confessed “redistributive goals” —exalting certain constitutional protections over others—imperil rule-of-law principles.
Reflective Remedies
When the law’s requirements are uncertain, potential remedies for a violation of the law influence how actors behave within that zone of uncertainty. This Note proposes a new class of remedies to handle such problems. It argues that “reflective remedies” encourage socially optimal behavior when certain conditions are met.
Making Black Lives Matter: Properly Valuing the Rights of the Marginalized in Constitutional Torts
Black lives are systematically undervalued by constitutional enforcement remedies. Courts and scholars have unquestioningly adopted tort law’s corrective-justice scheme for § 1983 suits. But corrective justice is unsatisfactory in a context where the government and private parties frequently interact. This Note argues that distributive justice should be considered as a viable alternative.