A trojan horse goes to court: Bolger v. Youngs Drug Products Corp

In Bolger v. Youngs Drug Products Corp., the Supreme Court held that a statute prohibiting the mailing of unsolicited advertisements for contraceptives was unconstitutional as applied to Young's advertisements for condoms. The decision rested on a balancing of the first amendment's grant of free speech with the Government's interest in safeguarding an individual's privacy. The Court noted that the advertisements promoted the flow of information on contraception, and pertained to constitutionally protected private activity. This Case Comment argues that the Court's decision is sound and criticizes the view of the concurring opinion that shielding individuals from potentially offensive speech is a substantial governmental interest. The Comment concludes that the Court's decision expands upon precedent which established an individual's right of privacy regarding the use of contraceptives.     

MANDATORY VISITATION

The term visitation rights connotes that noncutodial parents have the discretion, not the responsibility, to visit their children. This article examines the assertion that visitation rights should instead be viewed as an obligation owed by noncustodial parents to their children. Excluding circumstances in which visitation would be injurious to a child, the expectation of visitation should be enforced by the courts.     

Tribes and States: A New Era in Intergovernmental Affairs

The history of tribal-state conflict and the role of the federalgovernment is nearly two centuries old. In recent years, themost contentious source of conflict between American Indiantribes and states has been Indian gaming. The Congress attemptedto compromise and resolve the issue by passing the Indian GamingRegulatory Act (IGRA) in 1988, but the law has only exacerbatedand opened up new avenues of conflict. The scope and stakesof Indian gaming can be seen in the history of Indian gamingin New Mexico where the defects in IGRA have been readily apparent.As Indian gaming has grown, so have efforts to curtail it andother aspects of tribal sovereignty, including tribal sovereignimmunity. These efforts are currently underway in the Congress.     

Political markets, property tax referenda, and local school spending

For better or worse, fiscal decisions made through property tax referenda allow local political markets to work. Demand, supply, and voting process components of such markets are estimated for those Oregon K-12 school districts that held referenda between 1981 and 1986. Various attributes of the median voter were related to school spending, but supply decisions by school boards and administrators were also important. Large districts used state aid to substitute for local property tax revenues on nearly a one-for-one basis, while relying on reversion budgets (inadequate property tax bases and implicit threats of school closures) to extract greater-than-desired spending levels from the median voter.     

The Omani Pursuit of a Large Peninsula Shield Force: A Case Study of a Small State's Search for Security

After the failure of a small Peninsula Shield Force (PSF) to protect Kuwait in the lead up to the Gulf War in 1991, Sultan Qaboos, the ruler of Oman, proposed to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) that it develop a large-standing army of 100,000 troops. Although Oman was not wholly successful in achieving its objective during the main negotiation period up to 1995, it did manage to contribute to small shifts in GCC security policy during periods of conflict. Nevertheless, it took the Arab Uprisings in 2011 to achieve a fundamental re-orientation of GCC security policy which favoured higher numbers of PSF troops. This paper analyses the factors which facilitated and constrained Omani policy during the 20-year period and argues that Oman is only able to further its security interests when they are framed in a way that are conducive to the overriding political interests of the GCC.