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Constitutional Law

Selected Works

Samuel J. Levine

Jewish law

Publication Year

Articles 1 - 6 of 6

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Rethinking Self-Incrimination, Voluntariness, And Coercion, Through A Perspective Of Jewish Law And Legal Theory, Samuel J. Levine Mar 2012

Rethinking Self-Incrimination, Voluntariness, And Coercion, Through A Perspective Of Jewish Law And Legal Theory, Samuel J. Levine

Samuel J. Levine

No abstract provided.


Unenumerated Constitutional Rights And Unenumerated Biblical Obligations: A Preliminary Study In Comparative Hermeneutics, Samuel J. Levine May 2011

Unenumerated Constitutional Rights And Unenumerated Biblical Obligations: A Preliminary Study In Comparative Hermeneutics, Samuel J. Levine

Samuel J. Levine

In his 1986 Yale Law Journal article, Robert Cover wrote of an explosion of legal scholarship placing interpretation at the crux of the enterprise of law. As part of the continuing emphasis on hermeneutics in constitutional interpretation, a body of literature has emerged comparing constitutional textual analysis to Biblical hermeneutics. This scholarship has been based on the recognition that, like the Constitution, the Bible functions as an authoritative legal text that must be interpreted in order to serve as the foundation for a living community. Levine looks at a basic hermeneutic device common to both Biblical and constitutional interpretation, the …


Miranda, Dickerson, And Jewish Legal Theory: The Constitutional Rule In A Comparative Analytical Framework, Samuel J. Levine May 2011

Miranda, Dickerson, And Jewish Legal Theory: The Constitutional Rule In A Comparative Analytical Framework, Samuel J. Levine

Samuel J. Levine

In this Essay, Professor Levine briefly explores Dickerson v. United States, the important 2000 decision in which a divided United States Supreme Court held that the standard established in Miranda v. Arizona continues to govern the admissibility of confessions, notwithstanding a federal statute enacted subsequent to Miranda that provided an alternative standard. Levine addresses broader theoretical implications of the approaches adopted by the majority and dissenting opinions in Dickerson. Drawing a parallel to the interpretation of the Torah in Jewish legal theory, he proposes a comparative framework for analyzing the division between the majority and dissent over the concept and …


Jewish Legal Theory And American Constitutional Theory: Some Comparisons And Contrasts, Samuel J. Levine May 2011

Jewish Legal Theory And American Constitutional Theory: Some Comparisons And Contrasts, Samuel J. Levine

Samuel J. Levine

In this article, Levine explores some of the ways in which Jewish law may shed light on issues in American constitutional theory. While acknowledging that there are fundamental differences between a religious legal system and a secular one, he attempts to show that certain conceptual similarities between American law and Jewish law allow for meaningful yet cautious comparison of the two systems. Part I provides a broad historical and analytical overview of interpretation in Jewish law. Part II of the Article offers a specific conceptual framework for comparing Jewish law with American law. Levine considers questions of flexibility in legal …


Of Inkblots And Omnisignificance: Conceptualizing Secondary And Symbolic Functions Of The Ninth Amendment, In A Comparative Hermeneutic Framework, Samuel J. Levine May 2011

Of Inkblots And Omnisignificance: Conceptualizing Secondary And Symbolic Functions Of The Ninth Amendment, In A Comparative Hermeneutic Framework, Samuel J. Levine

Samuel J. Levine

In this Essay, Levine focuses on a particular hermeneutic approach common to the interpretation of the Torah and the United States Constitution: a presumption against superfluity. This presumption accords to the text a considerable degree of omnisignificance, requiring that interpreters pay careful attention to every textual phrase and nuance in an effort to find its legal meaning and implications. In light of this presumption, it might be expected that normative interpretation of both the Torah and the Constitution would preclude a methodology that allows sections of the text to remain bereft of concrete legal application. In fact, however, both the …


Teaching Jewish Law In American Law Schools – Part Ii: An Annotated Syllabus, Samuel J. Levine May 2011

Teaching Jewish Law In American Law Schools – Part Ii: An Annotated Syllabus, Samuel J. Levine

Samuel J. Levine

Ordained Rabbi, and professor of law, Samuel J. Levine, presents an annotated syllabus illustrating the structure of a course in Jewish Law. The syllabus is in outline form, organized according to different stages of the course, together with annotations describing the purpose of the materials included in each section. Course sections include: An introduction to the sources and structure of Jewish law; legislation; interpretation, including ritual and civil law; issues in Jewish law that parallel issues in the American legal systems; intersections of Jewish law with other legal systems; and a modern application of Jewish law in the Israeli legal …