Law Commons^™

Rawls And Reparations, Martin D. Carcieri

Michigan Journal of Race and Law

In the past two years, four related events have sharpened debates on race in the U.S.: President Obama's election, the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, that Court's ruling in Ricci v. DeStefano, and the arrest of Obama's friend, Harvard professor Henry Gates. The President has spoken of a "teaching moment" arising from these events. Moreover, his writings, speeches and lawmaking efforts illustrate the contractual nature of Obama's thinking. The President (and all concerned citizens) should thus find useful an analysis of racial policy and justice in light of the work of John Rauls. Rawls may …

Trade And Inequality: Economic Justice And The Developing World, Frank J. Garcia

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article attempts to lay the foundation for such a framework in the area of international trade law. More specifically, this Article develops the argument that the principle of special and differential treatment, a key element of the developing world's trade agenda, plays a central role in satisfying the moral obligations that wealthier states owe poorer states as a matter of distributive justice. Seen in this light, the principle of special and differential treatment is more than just a political accommodation: it reflects a moral obligation stemming from the economic inequality among states.

Justice, Gender And The Family, Christine A. Pagac

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Justice, Gender and the Family by Susan Moller Okin

Contract Law, Default Rules, And The Philosophy Of Promising, Richard Craswell

Michigan Law Review

Among the topics addressed by moral philosophy is the obligation to keep one's promises. To many philosophers, there is something strange (or, at least, something calling for explanatie1n) in the idea that moral obligations can be created simply by an individual's saying so yet this is what seems to happen when a person makes a promise. Consequently, there is by now a large body of literature attempting to identify the exact source and nature of this moral obligation.

Part I of this article presents a more detailed survey of recent philosophical writings about promises, for the benefit of legal readers …

Justice In The International System, Thomas M. Franck, Steven W. Hawkins

Michigan Journal of International Law

"Justice," Rawls claims in A Theory of Justice," is the first virtue of social institutions…" The principles of justice of which Rawls speaks, however, except for a brief excursion, "apply only within the borders of a nation-state." Our purpose is to see whether justice is also the first virtue of the international system, the social institutions of the community of nations. More specifically, is justice the definitive virtue by which to judge international law? This article seeks to answer those questions by examining the concept of justice as developed by various theorists, culminating in the contemporary Rawlsian theory of …

Arguing About Rights, Charles M. Yablon

Michigan Law Review

A Review of by Rex Martin

Law. Liberalism And Free Speech, M. Sean Laane

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Law, Liberalism and Free Speech by D.F.B. Tucker