UNLV Political Science Faculty Publications: Bowers

Although the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States unequivocally states that" Congress shall make no law... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press...", it is clear to even the most casual observer that not all speech is absolutely protected by the Constitution and that government may abridge speech in various constitutionally-acceptable ways. For example, government may prohibit speech in order to regulate its...

In recent cases the US Supreme Court, as well as other inferior tribunals in the judicial system, has been presented with a constitutional controversy over the meaning of the first amendment's press clause.'Judicial interpretations of the press clause have traditionally been in the more common areas of litigation such as obscenity, libel and prior restraint. Although difficult, these types of litigation allowed the courts to base their decisions on the...

Over one hundred fifty years ago, the French writer and observer Alexis de Tocqueville noted that "there is hardly a political question in the United States which does not sooner or later turn into a judicial one."' It is clear to even the most casual observer of the American political system that the transformation phenomenon about which de Tocqueville wrote has grown exponentially since the time he first observed it. The first years of the twenty-first century find judges embroiled in a host of highly important and controversial issues such as abortion, prison reform, religious liberty, education reform, and even determining the eventual victor in the 2000 presidential election. In addition, these judges regularly decide all sorts of more pedestrian issues, such as divorce, child custody, and guilt or innocence in criminal cases, that may ultimately be far more important to citizens' lives than the landmark decisions taught in universities and law schools.

As originally ratified in 1864, the Nevada Constitution established no limit to the number of four-year terms that could be served by the state's governor.' In spite of the constitution's generosity, however, "no governor ever served more than two terms, and all three who attempted election to a third term failed in their reelection bids."' In 1970, the state's legislature and voters adopted a constitutional amendment limiting governors to no more than two full terms plus up to "two years of a term" for which someone else was elected? Thus, in addition to the previously existing age and residency requirements, the 1970 amendment added the proviso that no ".... person [shall] be elected to the office of governor more than twice; and no person who has held the office of Governor, or acted as Governor for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected Governor shall be elected to the office of Governor more than once."4

It is no secret that even the strongest constitutional argument cannot win without money to finance its presentation. Yet the judicial process literature contains little reliable data on the financing of litigation. This article analyzes the litigation fi-nances of four landmark Supreme Court cases: Moore v. Demp-sey, 1 Powell v. Alabama, 2 Brown v. Mississippi, 3 and Everson v. Board of Education, 4 as well as the cost of a recent case in which the Court...