Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 3 of 3
Full-Text Articles in Jurisprudence
From Natural Law To Natural Inferiority: The Construction Of Racist Jurisprudence In Early Virginia, Allen P. Mendenhall
From Natural Law To Natural Inferiority: The Construction Of Racist Jurisprudence In Early Virginia, Allen P. Mendenhall
Allen Mendenhall
Science informed American jurisprudence during the age of the Revolution. Colonials used science and naturalism to navigate the wilderness, define themselves against the British, and forge a new national identity and constitutional order. American legal historians have long noted the influence of science upon the Founding generation, and historians of American slavery have casually noted the influence of science upon early American racism as organized and standardized in slave codes. This article seeks to synthesize the work of American legal historians and historians of American slavery by showing how natural law jurisprudence, anchored in scientific discourse and vocabulary, brought about …
The Law Review Approach: What The Humanities Can Learn, Allen P. Mendenhall
The Law Review Approach: What The Humanities Can Learn, Allen P. Mendenhall
Allen Mendenhall
This essay describes how the law review process generally works and then discusses what the humanities can learn and borrow from the law review process. It ends by advocating for a hybrid law review/peer review approach to publishing. The law review process is not a panacea for our publishing ills. It has several drawbacks and shortcomings. This essay highlights the positives and notes some of the negatives of the law review publishing process, but a lengthy explanation of all that is good or bad about law reviews is not my aim. Every law review has its idiosyncrasies and methodologies, but …
Justice Holmes And Conservatism, Allen P. Mendenhall
Justice Holmes And Conservatism, Allen P. Mendenhall
Allen Mendenhall
Conservatives and libertarians have been harsh critics of Justice Holmes, but Holmes was not the progressive that these critics make him out to be. Holmes’s jurisprudence lends itself to conservative and libertarian jurisprudence, in particular in the areas of federalism and judicial restraint. Holmes disdained the politics of the young socialists who adored him, and Richard Posner goes so far as to cast Holmes as a free market capitalist. A common mistake is to take Holmes’s deference to the mores and traditions of states and localities as evidence of his shared belief in those mores and traditions. Holmes did not …