CLARITY AND REASONABLE DOUBT IN EARLY STATE-CONSTITUTIONAL JUDICIAL REVIEW CHRISTOPHER R. GREEN*
I.
INTRO DU CTION ............................................................................... 170
II.
EARLY CASES AND MATERIALS ON CLARITY AND REASONABLE DOUBT FORMULATIONS OF THE PRESUMPTION OF CONSTITUTIONALITY .....................................................................
A. B. C. D. E. III. IV. V.
172 Background.: The Presumptionof Constitutionalityin Early FederalCases and Other Material......................................... 172 Doubt Simpliciter and Other Standards.................................. 173 Clarity .................................................. 176 R easonableDoubt ................................................................... 179 Clarity v. ReasonableDoubt ................................................... 182
THE SYNONYMY OF CLARITY AND PROOF BEYOND REASONABLE D OUBT ..................................................................... 183 THE CONTINGENCY OF CLARITY AND AN OVERTON-PARKSTYLE REQUIREM ENT .................................................................... 187 IS CLARITY OBSOLETE 9 ............................. . . . . .. . . . . .. . . .. . . . .. . . . .. . . . .. . . . .. 191
A. B.
Is Obsolescence Relevant? ...................................................... Two Basic Rationalesfor a Presumptionof Constitutionality...................................................................... 1. The High Stakes andRelative Unsusceptibilityto CorrectionofJudicialReview ........................................... 2. Respectfor the Elected Branches...................................... C. Are the Rationales Obsolete?..................................................
V I.
C ON CLU SIO N ..................................................................................
191 192 192 194 195
197
* Associate Professor of Law and H.L.A. Hart Scholar in Law and Philosophy at the University of Mississippi School of Law; affiliated faculty member in the Department of Philosophy and Religion; affiliated scholar, Center for the Study of Constitutional Originalism at the University of San Diego; Fall 2015 Ann and Herbert W. Vaughan Visiting Fellow, James Madison Program at Princeton University. Thanks to Larry Alexander, Michele Alexandre, Randy Barnett, Will Baude, Will Berry, Tucker Carrington, Ben Cooper, Matt Estrin, Elizabeth Price Foley, Clark Gibbs, Matthew Hall, Catherine Janasie, Douglas Kmiec, Stacey Lantagne, John McGinnis, Jack Nowlin, Stephanie Showalter Otts, Mike Ramsey, Mike Rappaport, Lee Strang, David Upham, and Brad Wilson for comments and discussion, and the Lamar Order of the University of Mississippi for support. Please send comments to crgreen@olemiss.edu.