Reason in Law,9780321202291

Reason in Law

by ;
Edition: 7th
ISBN13: 9780321202291
ISBN10: 0321202295
Format: Paperback
Pub. Date: 2005-01-01
Publisher(s): Longman
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List Price: $68.88

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Summary

This lively and insightful book is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding why judges made the decisions they did in such current cases as the the Alabama federal courthouse Ten Commandments” case,Ashcroft v. Oregon (Oregon's "right to die" law) andLawrence v. Texas (constitutionality of sodomy laws). The book also examines recent legal controversies over internet music file-swapping and the targeting of "ordinary people" by record companies, internet pornography, the Pledge of Allegiance, and Victoria's Secret. What Legal Reasoning Is, and Why It Matters; Common Law; Interpreting The United States Constitution; Law and Politics; Introduction to Legal Procedure and Terminology; Bush v. Gore. Anyone who wants to know more about recent legal controversies and why judges make the decisions they do.

Table of Contents

Preface xi
About the Authors xiii
Reason in Law xv
What Legal Reasoning Is, and Why It Matters
1(20)
An Overview of Law and Politics
1(4)
The Law Is All Around Us
2(1)
The Rule of Law Keeps the Peace
3(1)
The Critical Importance of Judicial Impartiality
3(2)
A Definition of Law
5(3)
A Definition of Legal Reasoning
8(1)
Legal Reasoning Does Not Discover the ``One Right Answer''
9(1)
The Structure of Legal Reasoning
9(4)
Case Facts
10(1)
Social Background Facts
10(1)
Rules of Law
11(1)
Widely Shared Values
11(2)
Sources of Official Legal Texts
13(1)
The Choices that Legal Reasoning Confronts
14(2)
Illustrative Case
16(4)
Questions about the Case
20(1)
Change and Stability in Legal Reasoning
21(15)
Sources of Unpredictability in Law
23(5)
The Disorderly Conduct of Words
23(1)
The Unpredictability of Precedents
24(4)
Is Unpredictability in Law Desirable?
28(1)
Vertical and Horizontal Stare Decisis: A Stabilizing and Clarifying Element in Law
29(2)
Illustrative Cases
31(4)
Questions about the Cases
35(1)
Common Law
36(32)
Origins of Common Law
36(2)
Reasoning by Example in Common Law
38(10)
The Cherry Tree
40(4)
The Pit
44(1)
The Diving Board
45(3)
Keeping the Common-Law Tradition Alive
48(11)
Making Common Law without Close Precedents
49(4)
Horizontal Stare Decisis in Common Law
53(6)
The Common-Law Tradition Today
59(5)
Illustrative Case
64(3)
Questions about the Case
67(1)
Statutory Interpretation
68(38)
What Are Statutes?
68(3)
Four Misguided Approaches to ``First Instance'' Statutory Interpretation
71(13)
Literalism: Sticking to the Words
72(2)
The Golden Rule
74(2)
Canons of Statutory Construction
76(2)
Legislative Intent
78(6)
Purpose: The Key to Wise Statutory Interpretation
84(7)
The Centrality of Statutory Purpose
85(1)
Determining Purpose: Words Can Help
86(1)
Determining Purpose: The Audience
86(1)
Determining Purpose: The Assumption of Legislative Rationality and the Uses of Legislative History
87(1)
Illustrations of Statutory Purpose
87(4)
A Final Complication
91(1)
Stare Decisis in Statutory Interpretation
91(10)
Major League Baseball, Haviland's Dog and Pony Show, and Government Regulation of Business
93(5)
The Case against Increased Adherence to Precedent in Statutory Interpretation
98(3)
A Summary Statement of the Appropriate Judicial Approach to Statutory Interpretation
101(1)
Illustrative Case
101(4)
Questions about the Case
105(1)
Interpreting the United States Constitution
106(28)
``The Supreme Law of the Land''
107(4)
Conventional Legal Reasoning in Constitutional Interpretation
111(5)
Words as Channels of Meaning
111(3)
Original Intent and Purpose
114(1)
Stare (In) Decisis
115(1)
Judicial Review and Democratic Theory
116(8)
Theories of Judicial Self-Restraint
118(3)
Political Constraints on the Court
121(3)
The Turn to Individual Dignity
124(1)
Illustrative Case
125(6)
Questions about the Case
131(3)
Law and Politics
134(24)
The Rule of Law
134(2)
Three Threats to the Rule of Law
136(6)
Democracy
136(2)
Attacks on Judicial Legitimacy
138(2)
National Crises
140(2)
The Rule of Law as Liberal Justification
142(16)
A Recap
142(1)
Impartiality and Trust
143(1)
Impartial Judgment
144(4)
The Value of Impartiality
148(2)
Applying the Theory
150(5)
Illustrative Case
155(3)
Appendix: Introduction to Legal Procedure and Terminology 158(5)
Credits 163(2)
Index 165(6)
Index of Cases 171

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