Law Commons^™

Individual Conscience And The Law, Laura S. Underkuffler

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

In The Wake Of Thoreau: Four Morden Legal Philosophers And The Theory Of Nonviolent Civil Disobedience, Stephen R. Alton

Faculty Scholarship

This Article opens with a discussion of Thoreau's philosophy of civil disobedience and then examines the ideas of four modem legal philosophers, Joseph Raz, Kent Greenawalt, John Rawls, and Ronald Dworkin, on the subject. Next, the Article compares the respective thinking of all five men regarding the circumstances that would justify the use of civil disobedience. To facilitate the comparison as well as to make it more relevant to the reader, the Article examines five related contemporary illustrations involving situations in which the use of civil disobedience might arguably be morally justified. This Article concludes with some general thoughts on …

A Comment On Cass Sunstein's Equality, Emily Sherwin

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Federal Judgments Law: Sources Of Authority And Sources Of Rules, Stephen B. Burbank

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Talking About Rights, Carl E. Schneider

Reviews

In recent years, a growing recognition of the power of rights talk in American law and life has surfaced in the writing of legal academics, along with a gnawing doubt about that power. In Rights Talk The lmpaverishrnent of Political Discaurse, Mary Ann Glendon, a professor of law at Harvard University, gives those doubts systematic, thoughtful, and lucid expression. Glendon has long been one of our most penetrating students of family law and one of our most enlightening students of comparative law. In this book (as in its predecessor and forebear, Abartion and Divorce in We5tem Law), she brings this …

The Eichmann Trial, The Jewish Question, And The American-Jewish Intelligentsia, Pnina Lahav

Faculty Scholarship

The abduction, trial, and execution of Adolf Karl Eichmann by the state of Israel, fifteen years after the shutdown of the crematoria at Auschwitz, challenged the American Jewish intelligentsia to confront the Jewish question.4 What does it mean to be a Jew in America and who is an American Jew? Is the Jewish history of anti-Semitism and the Holocaust also a part of American-Jewish history? Is there a lesson in the destruction of European Jewry-the triumph of anti-Semitism, the failure of assimilation-relevant to American Jews? Is there a national component to being Jewish? Are Jews a people? If so, is …

The Channelling Function In Family Law, Carl E. Schneider

Articles

On an occasion such as this, we are called to step back from our daily work to seek what Justice Holmes called a "liberal view" of our subject. Today, I propose to do so by exploring a function of family law that I believe is basic, that underlies much of family law, that resonates with the deepest purposes of culture but that is rarely addressed expressly-namely, what I call the "channelling function." As I will soon explain at length, in the channelling function the law recruits, builds, shapes, sustains; and promotes social institutions. My exploration of this topic will have …

Being A Teacher, Of Lawyers: Discerning The Theory Of My Practice, Howard Lesnick

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Making A Commitment To Social Change: Extending The Canon Of Dispute Processing Research, Frank W. Munger

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

Covenant And Feminist Reconstructions Of Subjectivity Within Theories Of Justice, Janet Moore

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

This Article bridges the dichotomy between communitarian and liberal social contract conceptions of subjectivity by excavating the deeply rooted meaning of covenant as a promissory relationship constitutive of identity. I trace the covenant paradigm’s role in formative debates over the creation of “We the People” as a constitutional subject. I connect tensions in that debate with polarities between freedom and equality and between the private and social construction of first-order value claims. I argue that feminist-intersubjectivist critiques of Rawls’ Theory of Justice can benefit from a careful mining of the covenant paradigm’s emancipatory potential for metaethical and constitutional doctrine.

I Hear A Rhapsody: A Reading Of The Republic Of Choice, Donald J. Herzog

Reviews

Readers coming to another volume by Lawrence Friedman might well expect a tightly crafted legal history. But this book is quite different. It offers a sweeping account of the transformation of modern law, a synoptic overview of what is finally distinctive about our legal culture, even a broadbrushed portrait of Western individualism. It does so breathlessly, in prose style and velocity. It's sometimes an engaging read, sometimes a distressing one, but-and here's what really matters-never a persuasive one. Or, worse yet, when it is persuasive it's because of its poetic and ideological features, not any kind of rigorous analysis.

"If He Speaks Italian It's Better": Metapragmatics In Court, Marco Jacquemet

Communication Studies

No abstract provided.

Homicide And History, Edward L. Ayers

History Faculty Publications

Violence seems more threatening today than in the relatively recent past. For centuries, crime was kept out of sight. The "criminal classes" were segregated from the rest of society. Newspapers, police, and courts paid relatively little attention to crimes among the poor. Today, things are different: television news thrives on scenes of flashing lights, distraught parents, and bloody sidewalks. Police continually patrol parts of town they used to ignore. Modern transportation permits members of the "dangerous classes" to range more widely than before. As a result, the general population is far more aware of violence now than in the past.

Police Abuse: Can The Violence Be Contained?, David Rudovsky

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Speaking Of Rights, Janet Ainsworth

Faculty Articles

Professor Janet Ainsworth reviews Rights Talk: The Impoverishment of Political Discourse, by Mary Ann Glendon. The thesis of Mary Ann Glendon's book is a provocative one: that the way in which Americans talk about rights is dangerous to our political and social well-being as a nation. Professor Ainsworth explores the specifics of rights discourse that Glendon describes, and provides a thorough critique of Rights Talk.

Nurturing The Impulse For Justice, Lynne Henderson

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Exit: Power And The Idea Of Leaving In Love, Work, And The Confirmation Hearings, Martha R. Mahoney

Articles

No abstract provided.

Judicial Choice And Disparities Between Measures Of Economic Values, David S. Cohen

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

An important idea, which characterizes law in society, is a reluctance to move from the status quo. In general, one can argue that legal institutions and legal doctrine are not engaged in the redistribution of wealth from one party to another. This paper explores a possible explanation for that principle. The authors' research suggests that, across a wide range of entitlements and in a variety of contexts, individuals value losses more than foregone gains. The paper argues, as a matter of efficiency, that law and social policy might have developed in a manner consistent with this valuation disparity. Furthermore, this …

A Modern Proposal, Sidney Delong

Faculty Articles

This article humorously explains Jonathan Swift’s intention when he wrote “A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Ireland from Being a Burden to Their Parents or Country.” Swift was not writing satirically, his analysis was purely written from an economic standpoint as was Landes and Posner’s modern proposal. Landes and Posner recognized the allocative efficiencies and wealth gains that can be realized when property rights are created in noncommodities, such as people, as did Jonathan Swift.

The Economics And Politics Of Emergency Health Care For The Poor: The Patient Dumping Dilemma, Maria O'Brien

Faculty Scholarship

As the numbers of uninsured mount⁴ because of job dislocations, exhaustion of benefits, and unaffordably high premiums, the incidence of "dumping" by private hospitals is, predictably, on the rise. Dumping occurs when a hospital, in violation of federal or state law, transfers an emergency patient to another (usually public) hospital or simply refuses any treatment based on the patient's inability to pay.5 In addition to the completely uninsured, favorite dumping targets include Medicare and Medicaid patients, AIDS patients, and cancer patients whose therapy may cost more than the maximum reimbursement under private insurance.

Dumping is merely a part of …

Altruistic Communities And The Responsible Use Of Legal Power, John W. Ragsdale Jr

Faculty Works

When an animate, conscious body - individual, collective, economic or political - is imbued with a strong central vision or focus, the ongoing actions of the body automatically become coordinated and subordinated to the dictates of that core imagery. When the center is affirmative and qualitative, then the body has a distinct capacity for self-sufficiency, endurance, and equilibrium. If, however, the central focus is negative or linear, then the capacity for internal homeostasis is greatly lessened. A core of fear, anger, or endless material craving can prompt the exercises of power that herein will be called irresponsible. Such exercises of …

Unfocused Governmental Interests, Robert F. Nagel

Publications

No abstract provided.

Mysteries Of Violence And Self-Defense: Myths For Men, Cautionary Tales For Women, Marianne Wesson

Publications

No abstract provided.

Tort Law As A Comparative Institution, Claire Oakes Finkelstein

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Jurisprudence Of Jane Eyre, Anita L. Allen

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

"The Black Community," Its Lawbreakers, And A Politics Of Identification, Regina Austin

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

'Coming To Our Senses': Communication And Legal Expression In Performance Cultures, Bernard J. Hibbitts

Articles

This article examines how semi-literate or largely non-literate cultures having little or no experience with writing ("performance cultures") communicate and express law and legal meaning through the orchestrated use of the physical senses. It first examines how each of the senses - hearing (sound), sight, touch, smell and taste - is brought to bear in the cultural and legal experience of performance-based societies. It then considers how and why members of performance cultures "perform", i.e. use and combine various sensory media in single messages, and describes how and why they use the same strategy in creating law and legal expression. …

Jewish Lawyering In A Multicultural Society: A Midrash On Levinson Colloquy, Russell G. Pearce

Faculty Scholarship

When we acknowledge the contradiction between the project's goal and the reality of group influence, we are led to consider the alternative strategy of creating community. Such a strategy would invite lawyers to begin a community dialogue regarding how each of our group identities, and the responses of others to our identities, interfere with our efforts to realize the goal of equal justice. While significant to the understanding of group dynamics, consideration of Jewish lawyering probably has limited value as a predictor of an individual lawyer's professional conduct. The actual and potential influence of Jewishness on lawyering is quite diverse, …

Autonomy's Magic Wand: Abortion And Constitutional Interpretation, Anita L. Allen

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Hobbes, Formalism, And Corrective Justice, Anita L. Allen, Maria H. Morales

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.