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Full-Text Articles in Law
Dicta And Article Iii, Michael C. Dorf
Dicta And Article Iii, Michael C. Dorf
Cornell Law Faculty Publications
No abstract provided.
The Constitutional Case Against Precedent, Gary S. Lawson
The Constitutional Case Against Precedent, Gary S. Lawson
Faculty Scholarship
A recent, and characteristically illuminating, article by Professor Henry Monaghan confidently announces that "[p] recedent is, of course, part of our understanding of what law is."1 As a descriptive matter, Professor Monaghan is entirely correct. Legal analysis-by lawyers, courts, and academics-typically begins and ends with precedent. Law students are meticulously trained in the art of reading, applying, and distinguishing cases. Court pinions, including Supreme Court opinions, on constitutional matters frequently consist entirely of discussions of past decisions, without so much as a reference to the Constitution itself.' Even in this era of law-and-metatheory, case analysis is still the mainstay of …