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Full-Text Articles in Jurisprudence

Texans Shortlisted For The U.S. Supreme Court: Why Did Lightning Only Strike Once?, The Honorable John G. Browning Aug 2023

Texans Shortlisted For The U.S. Supreme Court: Why Did Lightning Only Strike Once?, The Honorable John G. Browning

St. Mary's Law Journal

No abstract provided.


The Divine Right Of Judges: How Christian Thought Shaped The American Judiciary, Elise Mclaren Villers Jun 2023

The Divine Right Of Judges: How Christian Thought Shaped The American Judiciary, Elise Mclaren Villers

St. Mary's Law Journal

This Essay continues a discussion on the authority of courts, executives, and legislators to govern nations where the law diverges from necessity or morality. In a previous Comment, P. Elise McLaren, Answering the Call: A History of the Emergency Power Doctrine in Texas and United States, 53 St. Mary’s L.J. 287 (2022), I asked whether necessity or emergency ever supersedes the law, i.e., whether “emergency powers” exist. In this Essay, I ask whether the government is held accountable to a force other than the people themselves, namely, religious influence. As was done with respect to emergency powers, I ask …


Jazz Improvisation And The Law: Constrained Choice, Sequence, And Strategic Movement Within Rules, William W. Buzbee Jan 2023

Jazz Improvisation And The Law: Constrained Choice, Sequence, And Strategic Movement Within Rules, William W. Buzbee

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This Article argues that a richer understanding of the nature of law is possible through comparative, analogical examination of legal work and the art of jazz improvisation. This exploration illuminates a middle ground between rule of law aspirations emphasizing stability and determinate meanings and contrasting claims that the untenable alternative is pervasive discretionary or politicized law. In both the law and jazz improvisation settings, the work involves constraining rules, others’ unpredictable actions, and strategic choosing with attention to where a collective creation is going. One expects change and creativity in improvisation, but the many analogous characteristics of law illuminate why …