Constitutional Problems With the Kentucky Proposal (Supported by Mitch McConnell) to Change the Way U.S. Senate Vacancies Are Filled

VIKRAM DAVID AMAR

In this second of a series of columns, Illinois Law dean and professor Vikram David Amar comments on the Kentucky proposal to change the way U.S. Senate vacancies are filled. Dean Amar argues that the Seventeenth Amendment precludes such a proposal, which would allow the state legislature to substantively constrain the governor’s choices in making a temporary appointment.

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Haas v. Commonwealth

Docket: 191580

Opinion Date: March 25, 2021

Judge: Per Curiam

Areas of Law: Criminal Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the circuit court convicting Defendant of raping and taking indecent liberties with a minor, holding that any error in the circuit court's ruling excluding certain testimony was harmless. On appeal, Defendant argued that the circuit court erred by excluding the testimony of the complaining witness's aunt to impeach the complaining witness's credibility. The court of appeals ruled that the statement was not admissible impeachment evidence. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that, assuming without deciding that the court of appeals erred by ruling that the proffered testimony was inadmissible, any such error was harmless.

Shoemaker v. Funkhouser

Docket: 191218

Opinion Date: March 25, 2021

Judge: McCullough

Areas of Law: Personal Injury

The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the trial court dismissing this wrongful death action, holding that the Recreational Land Use Act, Va. Code 29.1-509, did not provide Defendants with immunity under the circumstances of this case. Shawn Nicely was visiting his grandparents, Richard and Anna Funkhouser, when Gina Shoemaker was visiting her mother, Dorothy Nesselrodt, a neighbor of the Funkhousers. According to the complaint, the Funkhousers gave Nicely permission to shoot targets on their property in the direction of Nesselrodt's home. One of the bullets did penetrate the walls of Nesselrodt's house, striking and killing Shoemaker. The circuit court dismissed this case brought by the administrator and personal representative of Shoemaker, concluding that the Funkhousers did not owe Nesselrodt or her visitors a duty and that the immunity afforded to landowners under the Act foreclosed this suit. The Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) landowners have a limited duty in tort to prevent activity on their property that could harm other persons not on the property; and (2) the Act did not immunize the Funkhousers.